A Catalyst for Positive Changes and Professional Growth: The Lived Experience of Teaching ELs

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 5:25 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: School and Teaching Renewal on Multicultural Practices (Table 1)

Abstract

This qualitative phenomenological study explored 12 elementary teachers’ perceptions of teaching English Learners (EL). Participants included 11 females and 1 male who teach in rural, suburban, and urban districts in five midwestern and southern states in the United States. Drawing on sociocultural, cultural brokering, and coculturation theories, three themes emerged. These themes included, Teaching ELs Fostered Affirmative Dispositions, Teaching ELs Cultivated Shifts in Cultural Concepts, and Teaching ELs Enhanced Professional Growth. Implications from this study offer insights for teachers’ professional development, training and supporting teachers, teaching ELs and supporting ELs’ language and literacy development.

Author

• Jennifer Stegall, Louisiana State University of Alexandria