Overview and Structures of Support of the City University of New York–New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals

• In Event: Translanguaging and Transformative Teaching for Emergent Bilingual Students: Lessons From the City University of New York–New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals Project

Abstract

Objectives: This paper provides an overview of CUNY-NYSIEB, a professional development and research project that launched in collaboration between a state education department, a university system, and K-12 schools that worked to change practices to educate emergent bilingual students. It first outlines the vision and the non-negotiable principles that served as anchors for the work within schools. It then focuses on describing the different structures of support and the lines of scholarly inquiry that resulted from the collaboration. This presentation serves as an introduction to all the other papers in this symposium as they are all conducted as part of the CUNY-NYSIEB work.

Theoretical framework: The theoretical perspectives at the core of the work of CUNY-NYSIEB are dynamic bilingualism, in which language users adapt to specific communicative situations and to the communicative resources provided by others (García, 2009) and more specifically, translanguaging, the communicative practices of multilinguals without watchful adherence to named languages (García & Li Wei, 2014; Otheguy et al., 2015). Throughout the work with teachers, researchers from CUNY-NYSIEB have been studying changes in educators’ ideologies and the implementation of translanguaging practices in different classroom settings, from English-medium to bilingual education (Espinosa, 2018; Authors, 2016, 2018, 2019).

Modes of inquiry: This paper uses a narrative research method (Creswell, 2013) in which reflections of the lived experiences of various members of the CUNY-NYSIEB team were considered in the analysis alongside project documents and materials developed.

Data sources: The data used in the analysis of this paper included reflections and documents created by and for the CUNY-NYSIEB team members, materials created with and for school leaders for teachers and school administrators, and scholarly publications related to the project.

Results: The paper provides an overview of the CUNY-NYSIEB project and its structures of support, including the vision for the work, the non-negotiable principles that guided the work with schools, the organization of the professional development work with schools, and the different areas of scholarly inquiry that have come up from this project. It lays the foundation for understanding the other papers in this symposium.

Significance: The impact of CUNY-NYSIEB has been far-reaching through its multi-faceted approach within New York State, where it began, but also globally as its reach has expanded. The original understandings of translanguaging theory have deepened as the work of CUNY-NYSIEB with schools has grown as the development of pedagogical practices and contributions to newer scholarship on translanguaging in schools. The project has worked to center bilingual students so that their voices can fully emerge in places where English hegemony has been the norm, trying to make the teaching and learning process more equitable and inclusive. This work has been collaborative for those directly involved and accessible for those who seek to learn from this unique initiative.

Author

• Maite Sanchez, Hunter College - CUNY