Building and Sustaining una Escuela Bilingüe: Pillars as Anchors of Practice

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Entre Mundos Elementary School (pseudonym) was founded in 2013 as a public community school in an urban east coast city. This session will share how the founders developed, reflected upon, revised and enacted the four pillars that anchor the school’s approach and philosophy. These pillars are: 1) Bilingüismo, biliteracidad y multiculturalismo; 2) Las familias son partners, leaders and advocates; 3) Investigaciones and hands-on learning; and 4) Partnerships with universities, organizations y la comunidad. This study looks holistically within a bilingual school in a manner that can serve as a model for how to start and sustain a program that is anchored in an approach that centers bilingual students, families, and communities.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Bilingual Education Research

Chair

• Tatyana Kleyn, City College of New York - CUNY

Papers

• Pillar 1: Bilingüismo, Biliteracidad y Multiculturalismo (Bilingualism, Biliteracy, and Multiculturalism) - Rebeca Madrigal, New York City Department of Education

• Pillar 2: Las Familias son Partners, Leaders and Advocates - Consuelo Villegas, New York City Department of Education; Yesenia Moreno, New York City Department of Education; Tatyana Kleyn, City College of New York - CUNY

• Pillar 3: Investigaciones and Hands-On Learning - Alcira Jaar, New York City Department of Education

• Pillar 4: Partnerships With Universities, Organizations y La Comunidad - Victoria K. Hunt, New York City Public Schools

Discussant

• Deborah K. Palmer, University of Colorado - Boulder