Helping Overwhelmed Teachers Become Empowered: Language Teacher Educators Leading Professional Development in NYS Standards Reform

• In Event: You're Speaking My Language: Critical Perspectives on Identity, Equity, and Professional Learning to Support Multilingual Learners

Abstract

In 2021, New York State adopted revised world language learning standards prioritizing real-world communication and intercultural competence, requiring major shifts in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. This study explores how language teacher educators designed and facilitated professional development (PD) to help teachers implement these standards. Drawing on ethnographic data from three years of PD sessions and interviews with four teacher educators, this research highlights teachers’ emotional and instructional challenges and how those were addressed through sustained, responsive, practice-based PD. Preliminary findings suggest empowerment comes not from delivering information but from fostering reflection, modeling, experimentation, and collaborative learning. This study offers a timely insight into the crucial role of world language teacher educators in bridging the gap between policy and classroom practice.

Authors

• Seyyedeh Mobina Hosseini, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Erin Kearney, University at Buffalo - SUNY