"No One Knows Who I Am": What School Leaders Can Learn From ESL Teachers' Voices to Provide Equitable Education for Emergent Bilinguals

• In Event: Leading for Language Learning: Equity, Excellence, and Deficit Resistance

Abstract

Despite the urgency for school leaders to advocate for emergent bilingual students (EBs), numerous studies have indicated that English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers face a great deal of challenges in meeting the needs of these students. This presentation reports school leaders’ actions or inactions in supporting EBs’ education and the consequences for teaching through the voices of ESL teachers. Data from a case study show that the areas of inaction appeared to be more frequently voiced by the ESL teachers. We suggest transformative leaders to adopt a language-as-a-resource view which will support both ESL teachers and equitable education, develop shared leadership with ESL teachers, and reconsider distribution of school funding to meet the needs of students and teachers.

Authors

• ChiuYin Cathy Wong, Monmouth University

• Sultan Turkan, Queen's University - Belfast