Arabic-English Bilingual Teachers in Weekend, Private School, and Public Settings: Promoting Culturally Sustaining Practices

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Bilingual Teacher Education

Abstract

This study examines the pedagogical practices and beliefs of well-regarded bilingual Arabic-English teachers across three contexts: public, private, and weekend schools in the Northwest and the Southwest, to compare how these bilingual teachers think about and practice Arabic language teaching and the challenges they face teaching Arabic in the U.S. The study relies on culturally sustaining pedagogies as theoretical framework. Participants for the study were identified and selected by peers the teaching community. Ten teachers from each geographic region were interviewed and had focus group discussions. Findings indicate a difference in culturally sustaining practices across contexts, with private schools doing CSP not found in the other two contexts. These results were similar in the two regions studied.

Authors

• Christian J. Faltis, Ohio State University

• Oraib Mango, California State University - San Bernardino