Social justice and the politics of ESOL teacher certification

• In Event: Issues in ESL/EFL and higher education

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine educational equity for cultural and linguistic minority students across the United States with a spotlight on the state of Alabama through a critical theoretical lens. This research expands on our previous research on impacts of anti-immigrant politics on Latino education.

Conceptual framework

Socially just education implies equity in access and quality for all students including those from marginalized populations. Socially just education has four core contexts: affective and socio-economic, political, socio-cultural and affective (Lynch, 2001). The economic context is of critical concern to this study due to its connection to social class reproduction. Also critical to the education of cultural and linguistic minorities are the political and socio-cultural contexts. This paper examines the political and socio-cultural contexts that help determine quality of ESOL education and therefore the possible economic future of Ells through an examination of requirements for teacher preparation and the politics that shape these requirements. Data will be analyzed through a Critical Theoretical framework.

Methods & Data Sources

This study employs mixed methods. State Department of Education documents are reviewed to gather data on ESOL teacher certification and qualification requirements which are reported statistically. This research describes the spectrum of requirements, compares requirements across states for ESOL and mainstream teachers working with ELLs. The document review is followed by an inquiry to state departments of education into possible alternative ways of qualifying to teach ESOL. Documents reporting state laws and education policy pertaining to language minorities, immigration and education are analyzed for pertinent emergent themes. Cross-state data will be examined to identify key themes, sorted according to emergent categories and compared across sources. A special focus on Alabama illustrates the complex relationship between teacher qualification and certification requirements and anti-immigrant political and social context.

Results and Conclusions

English language learners (ELLs) are an increasingly important segment of students in K-12 classrooms across the United States. Equal educational opportunity for ELL students depends in part on the quality of ESOL and mainstream classroom teachers’ preparation to provide advocacy, English language acquisition, content instruction and acculturation. The quality of preparation for teachers directly serving Ells is shaped by political contexts and the social attitudes that shape political ideology. Some states require extensive training for both ESOL and mainstream teachers working with ELLs while other states require none. The case of Alabama illustrates how anti-immigrant, anti-Latino policy extends to social injustice and educational inequity.

Twigg (2012) contends that building teacher quality would facilitate socially just education. We extend this argument to assert that building teacher quality for all aspects of education, especially those that directly affect cultural and linguistic minority students, would facilitate equitable and socially just education. Through our results, we contend that a socially just education system in the form of qualified teachers for ELLs does not exist across the nation and suggest policy that would move the United States closer to educational equity for ELLs.

Significance to Comparative and International Education

The research centers on policy regarding cultural and linguistic minority immigrant populations.

Authors

• Laureen Fregeau, University of South Alabama

• Robert Leier, Independent consultant

• Clark Robenstine, University of South Alabama