Using Critical Reflection to Develop Emerging Bilinguals' Writing in Catholic, K–8, Two-Way Bilingual Education Program

• In Event: Writing Instruction Across Bilingual Education Contexts: Mapping the Landscape and Illuminating Promising Practices

Abstract

This paper describes the experience of two Catholic schools collaboratively building teacher capacity using reflective cycles around dual language writing. The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate how critical reflection can simultaneously promote both student and teacher learning as school communities grow more culturally and linguistically responsive.
We draw upon two major theoretical frameworks to inform our analysis. One is reflective cycles to build teacher capacity (Buczynski & Hansen, 2010; Hall & Simeral, 2015), a process of examining teacher learning, and transferring that knowledge into practice. Reflective cycles invite teachers to study, experiment, and engage in critical conversations about bilingualism. Another major influence on this work is that of the research on holistic bilingualism, which considers the bilingual learning process as a unified whole rather than two independent processes (Grosjean, 1982; Garcia, 2009; Garcia & Wei, 2014; Soltero-González, et al.,2012). The majority of the reflective cycles centered around looking at more holistic ways of viewing bilinguals’ writing rather than the traditional monolingual view of each language as a separate entity. It was important to connect holistic bilingualism with the reflective cycle framework so that teachers knew and shared with students that examining and learning occurs as a cycle.
The study took place across two different elementary dual language Catholic schools, one in the Southwest and the other in the Mid-Atlantic region. Both elementary schools follow a dual language immersion program model (Spanish/English), while the school in the Southwest also has a Mandarin/English program. Each class includes both emerging bilinguals and native speakers at all proficiency levels. The schools follow a 50/50 model, which means literacy and content areas are delivered in both languages with the goal of developing biliteracy in the heritage and target languages.
Data sources included observational notes during the professional development sessions and reflective memos by the mentor teachers working with each respective school. Additionally, teacher surveys and reflections were also part of the data collected. Finally, student writing samples were collected that served as the catalyst for engaging in the reflective cycle. Each mentor initially went through the data using open coding procedures (Charmaz, 2006) and themes emerged through this process (Saldaña, 2015).
Findings reveal how, as a result of the reflective cycles, teachers began to notice their practices and anticipate ways to scaffold language with a developmental bilingual perspective. Initial discussion about using holistic bilingual rubrics made some teachers feel uneasy about evaluating student writing. Several of them explained that they had limited experience evaluating bilingual writing. Another finding is that teachers developed explicit tools they could use to provide feedback (Soltero-González, et al., 2012).
Building teacher capacity through reflecting on writing while incorporating a more holistic assessment lens in analyzing student writing encouraged teachers to be more culturally and linguistically responsive. Providing a broader literacy approach and using reflective cycles encouraged teachers and administrators to view linguistically diverse students as having different literacy trajectories rather than literacy deficiencies.

Authors

• Margarita Gómez, Loyola University Maryland

• Gloria Ramos Gonzalez, California Association for Bilingual Education