Contra la marea: Testimonios of an Effective Bilingual Education Teacher Preparation Program in California

• In Event: Cultivando maestr@s bilingües: Testimonios on Highly Effective Bilingual Teacher Preparation Programs at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Abstract

1.Objective: To share and explore the realities of bilingual education teacher preparation program in California. The Department of Dual Language & English Learner Education is the only autonomous, ad largest bilingual teacher education program in CA that prepares bilingual and cross-cultural teachers, administrators, and other educators who are reflective and transformational practitioners in addressing the needs of ethnically and linguistically diverse learners through collaboration with schools, families and community. This panel will share testimonios of survival and new pioneering pedagogies around the training of bilingual educators. Testimonios will include the over 20yrs that the program has been in existence and preparing bilingual educators.
2. Perspectives: The Dual Language program philosophy is based on the principles of a pedagogy of empowerment that views all K-12 students from an educational benefits model. This Grown Your Own (Valenzuela, 2019 )model values and integrates the language, culture and social context of the student into the school curricula giving equal status to home, community and school experiences. In addition, the department philosophy is based on the belief that all students want to self-actualize, that students, if properly nurtured, have high expectations of themselves to realize their potential. Furthermore, the department values the transformation of schools that seek to produce students that are multiculturally, biliterately competent.
3 Methods and Data Sources: Using Qualitative research,Lat Crit, and Chicana/Latina testimonio methodology (Delgado Bernal, Burciaga & Flores Carmona, 2012), we will present the experiences of both programmatic and pedagogic of creating a top tier bilingual education program (Alfaro, 2018), and it will address new innovative ways of addressing bilingual education teacher shortage in California.
5. Results: Preliminary results and analysis of qualitative data and testimonios show that building a sense of Hermandad and/or familia ( Ruiz, & Machado-Casas, 2013) around issues of social justice and bilingual education across borders is part of what makes our program successful. Additional findings, suggest that understanding, and working with our students realities is also key when working with future bilingual educators.
6. Scholarly significance: Because bilingual education is still an area of high need and as a field one of the fastest growing programs in the US, HSI need to look into how to increase and better prepare bilingual educators who are equipped to be reflective practitioners and resource specialists in bilingual and multicultural settings ( Banks and Banks, 1997; Freire, 1972; Genesee, 1994; Nieto, 1996; Pearl & Knight, 1999). Our panel contributes to both the knowledge production and practice of better serving bilingual teacher candidates at HSI. Furthermore, explores the ways in which bilingual education programs need to find new innovative ways to future bilingual educators in order to be prepared to work towards the transformation of schools that seek to produce students that are academically and socially competent.

Authors

• Margarita Machado-Casas, San Diego State University

• Alberto M. Ochoa, San Diego State University

• Cristina Alfaro, San Diego State University

• Sera Jean Hernandez, San Diego State University

• Saul Isaac Maldonado, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Alberto Esquinca, San Diego State University

• Guillermo Castillo, Butte County Office of Education and SDSU