Transforming Language Support Practices in Science Through the Collaborative Development of Tools

• In Event: Collaboration, Structures, and Tools in Science Teacher Learning

Abstract

The Next Generation Science Standards offer new opportunities for students to learn language by engaging in the science and engineering practices. However, supporting their engagement requires that teachers rethink the types of language support that they provide in the classroom. We report on a professional learning experience for teachers in which they were asked to critically reflect on expected language practices and develop new language tools to share with others. Drawing from the theoretical frame of ideological contestation, we show how teachers engaged with the assumptions behind their existing language practices and evaluate alternatives. We report on the transformations in their thinking, as well as missed opportunities to engage teachers in reasoning about the relationship between science and language.

Authors

• Emily V. Reigh, University of California - Santa Cruz
  Presenting Author

• Emily Adah Miller, University of Georgia
  Presenting Author

• Maria Chiara Simani, University of California - Riverside
  Presenting Author