The Journey Toward Transformational Translanguaging Pedagogies: The Emergent Praxis of In-Service Teachers

• In Event: Teachers’ Experiences With Translanguaging Theory and Pedagogy Across Contexts

Abstract

Purpose and Framing
Increasingly, research demonstrates how pre-service and in-service teachers negotiate the complexity of translanguaging pedagogies (e.g., Deroo et al., 2022; Deroo & Ponzio, 2019; Machado & Gonzalez, 2019; Pacheco et al., 2019). Yet, due to this complexity, there is a need for further examination of the emergent planning and pedagogical practices of in-service teachers (ISTs) who are new to translanguaging pedagogies. Hence, this qualitative study asks(a) What strategies do ISTs employ in translanguaging lesson plan development? and b) How do ISTs conceptualize translanguaging as part of a culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogical approach?
This study draws from two theoretical bases: translanguaging pedagogies as intentional practice, and emergent praxis as a pathway for transformational praxis. As a pedagogical approach, scholars note the intentionality of incorporating students’ linguistic repertoires via planned strategies (Cenoz & Gorter, 2020; García et al., 2017), By positioning translanguaging pedagogies as a planned and purposeful approach to educators, educators may increasingly legitimize students’ language practices, but also move towards a trajectory of transformational translanguaging approaches.
This study adapts Freire’s (1973) definition of praxis, which is the bridging of theory and practice to move towards social and political change. Emergent praxis can be inferred as the initial stages of negotiating theory and practice in a journey towards social and political change. In this study’s case, emergent praxis occurs at the juncture of introductory understandings of the theories of translanguaging and translanguaging pedagogies and the practice of actually planning and implementing translanguaging in PK-12 classrooms. This study situates emergent praxis as a necessary point towards translanguaging transformational praxis– which recognizes and implements translanguaging pedagogies as part of resistance to monolingual bias and colonial remnants in language teaching (García & Kleyn, 2016; Kleyn & García, 2019; Wei, 2023).

Methods and Data Sources
This study took place within a graduate teacher education program in the Midwest. The focal course, “Introduction to Multilingual Learners,” served as the introductory course for both the “teaching English as a new language” endorsement and the larger program in culturally responsive leadership. The 63 participants in this study were ISTs who teach in a metropolitan school district, inclusive of a variety of contexts and grade levels across PK-12. For most participants, translanguaging was a novel concept, and few teachers had intentionally incorporated translanguaging into the classroom. Multiple stages of open coding and thematic analysis were employed across the data, inclusive of course artifacts, participants’ translanguaging lesson plans and related artifacts, and their subsequent reflective statements on their process and learning related to implementation of translanguaging pedagogies.

Findings and Significance
Preliminary findings found that teachers employed “entry point” strategies such as multilingual vocabulary applications and same-language grouping most often. Additionally, while many of the educators communicated positive dispositions about translanguaging pedagogies, they were challenged in implementation without robust bilingual support and multilingual resources– further emphasizing practice-based obstacles rather than the transformational possibilities. This study offers implications related to the needs of in-service teachers, further advocating for sustained support and training to meet the transformational aims of translanguaging pedagogies.

Author

• Leah Shepard-Carey, Drake University