Preparing Preservice Teachers for Linguistically Diverse Students: Enduring Impressions of a Simulated Language Learning Experience

• In Event: 18.071 - Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: 18.071-3 - Attending to the Gray Among the Black and White: Addressing English Language Learner Needs in Southern Louisiana

Abstract

Purposes: In this presentation we will (a) describe a simulated language learner experience for preparing preservice elementary teachers (PSETs) to teach science to English language learners (ELLs); (b) identify enduring impressions from PSETs’ teacher education program, including the simulated language learner experience, coursework, field experiences, and student teaching; and (c) discuss implications for teacher education programs to prepare responsive teachers.

Theoretical framework: The desire to foster educational responsiveness in PSETs drives this research (Cadiero-Kaplan & Rodriguez, 2008). The theory of educational responsiveness calls for teachers to be attuned to and engaged with the cultural, social, and linguistic diversity of their students, promoting learning and high achievement by responding to individual student needs (de Oliveira & Athaneses, 2007; García, 2001; Ladson-Billings, 1994).

Method: The context for this case study is a simulated language learner experience for PSETs enrolled in elementary science methods. The simulation “enable[d] the learning and training of individuals and teams through the re-creation of some aspect of the real clinical situation” (Bradley, 2006, p. 261)—namely working with linguistically diverse students—and consisted of two back-to-back lessons on circuits, both taught in French. Lesson One was didactic, fast-paced, and lacked research-based supports for ELLs; Lesson Two was interactive, slower-paced, and included demonstrations, a word wall, and a hands-on activity to build circuits. The simulation provided a safe learning environment, acquisition of knowledge and skills through experience, and reflective learning opportunities (Hill, Davidson, McAllister, Wright, & Theodoros, 2014).

Data sources: Data came from (a) pre- and post-simulation questions, and (b) a longitudinal questionnaire. Pre-simulation questions elicited PSETs’ perceptions of ELLs’ experiences in science class, including struggles ELLs might face and strategies that might be effective in teaching science to ELLs. Post-simulation questions elicited PSETs’ impressions of each lesson and what they gained from the simulation regarding teaching science to ELLs. From a class of 24 PSETs, the longitudinal questionnaire was completed by a sub-set of 4 PSETs who had completed a year-long student teaching experience as part of a fifth-year MAT program. The questionnaire focused on aspects of undergraduate coursework, field experiences, and student teaching that influenced PSETs’ understandings of and interactions with ELLs.

Results: Previous phases of this research illuminated emotional reactions of PSETs to engaging in science as language learners; instructional, emotional, and cultural take-aways PSETs gleaned from the simulated language learner experience; and the disconnect between ways PSETs anticipated ELLs experienced science class and the ways PSETs, themselves, experienced simulated lessons. This presentation will detail these points generally and for the 4 PSETs who participated in the longitudinal survey. Then, we focus specifically on the ways in which the longitudinal participants reported their perspectives on and work with teaching linguistically diverse students were influenced by (a) the simulated language learner experience, (b) program coursework and field experiences, and (c) student teaching. Implications for teacher education programs will be discussed.

Significance: This research has implications for the ways in which we prepare PSETs to teach linguistically diverse populations, thus impacting students’ access, attainment, and achievement.

Author

• Angela W. Webb, Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge