Integrating Critical Pedagogy for Emergent Bilinguals Through a Linguistically Focused Engineering Professional Development

• In Event: 41.048 - Moving Toward Linguistically Responsive Teaching Across Content Areas

Abstract

Considerable research investigates both K-12 STEM instruction, and strategies for emergent bilingual (EB) students, yet these fields traditionally function as separate and distinct. We argue for a resource orientation toward EBs’ education that optimizes their linguistic and cultural strengths. In this qualitative inquiry, we investigate how teachers’ involvement in a linguistically engaging STEM PD shapes their instructional approach and self-perceptions. Several key themes emerged through the data analysis; here, we examine: 1) self-reported efficacy for teaching both EBs and engineering education, 2) teachers’ perceptions of EB students’ aptitudes, and 3) personal narratives and perspective-taking. Ultimately, we argue that teachers’ shifts in perception support prior scholarship showing that anti-racist teaching must begin with the experiences of minoritized groups.

Authors

• Rebecca M. Callahan, The University of Texas - Austin

• Andrew Hilton Hurie, The University of Texas - Austin