Growing Our Own Bilingual Teachers in English-only Arizona Borderlands: Challenges and Barriers 1

• In Event: AERA Research-in-Progress Roundtable Session 1
  In Invited Roundtable: Leadership and Professional Development for Language Learner Education (Table 5)

Abstract

Bilingual Teachers in the state of Arizona struggle to navigate the 2000 Proposition 203 English-only law, preventing and limiting the breadth of teacher language practice development and growth. Bilingual teachers who participate in teacher preparation programs at the university level receive pedagogy and guided teaching experience, yet the restrictions and prescribed hours of the English language development has negative effects on the teacher practice needed for developing student’s linguistic wealth in K-12 classrooms. In a Grow Your Own bilingual teacher program in the southern Arizona borderland, I have found that there are barriers in place that affect the necessary support and ongoing professional development to build an effective retention rate while overcoming specific language challenges experienced in both pre-/in-service teachers.

Author

• Maria L Orozco, University of Arizona