Bilingual Science: How K–8 Dual Language Teachers Cultivate Language and Content Equity in Their Classrooms

• In Event: Countering Deficit Ideologies Surrounding English Language Learners in K–12 Settings

Abstract

This phenomenological study documented how six critically conscious dual language science teachers (CCDLSTs) serving bilingual learners (BLs) from vulnerable backgrounds designed equitable, brave, and democratic spaces for learning science and language. Given the era of new standards and the number of BLs with underprepared teachers, this paper will advance an understanding of what CCDLSTs do in classrooms to draw upon the assets of BLs while implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and create equitable, brave and democratic spaces for BLs. Observations, multiple interviews and field notes were utilized to document research-based examples of the instructional processes and practices CCDLSTs use in their dual-language science learning environments.

Author

• Melissa Arabel Navarro, San Diego State University