Teacher Perceptions of Integrated Science and Language Professional Learning in a New Immigrant Community

• In Event: Teacher and Staff Perceptions of Emergent Bilinguals

Abstract

This paper presents a phenomenological study of teachers’ perceptions of their changes in practice as a result of being part of an integrated science and language PL initiative, as well as their perceptions of students’ changes in participation. Through an analysis of teacher interviews, we discuss two preliminary findings 1) teachers’ comments overwhelmingly center scientific practices and 2) an emergent noticing of their EBs’ bi/multilingual repertoires. Implications suggest the space of science inquiry serves as an opening where EBs bi/multilingual repertoires and their multiple ways of knowing are more visible; however, there is a need to make translanguaging pedagogies (Celic & Seltzer, 2012) more explicit within science inquiry.

Authors

• Frances Nebus Bose, The Pennsylvania State University

• Megan Elaine Lynch, The Pennsylvania State University

• Carla Zembal-Saul, The Pennsylvania State University