Teaching History to English Language Learners in Standards-Based Settings: Implications for Teacher Educators

• In Event: Preparing Social Studies Preservice Teachers to Teach English Language Learners: Pedagogy Promoting the Civic Purpose of Social Studies

Abstract

In the mid-1990s, the Commonwealth of Virginia initiated a massive standards-based reform effort that set expectations for learning in all subject areas, including history, with frameworks that listed the “essential” knowledge and skills that every child is expected to learn. Associated high-stakes multiple-choice exams measure what students learned at the end of each course. In history, these tests largely emphasize the recall of factual content. A growing body of research in Virginia and nationally indicates that teachers feel constrained and pressured to teach to state standards, particularly when a high-stakes test is administered (e.g., Au, 2007; Grant, 2001, 2010; Grant & Salinas, 2008). This work, however, is largely silent on the experiences of teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in high-stakes testing contexts, particularly in a content area like United States history, which relies heavily on collective memory and prior school experience (e.g., Colombo & Fontaine, 2009; Janzen, 2008). It is evident that social studies teachers consistently report feeling unprepared to teach ELLs (Cho & Reich, 2008; Jimenez-Silva, Hinde, & Hernandez, 2013), but what are the implications of teaching ELLs in a standards-based setting?
Given the gap in the literature, as well as the contextual challenges associated with teaching in a standards-based setting and providing history instruction appropriate for ELLs, we conducted a case study of one middle school history teacher (Mr. Henry) in a culturally and linguistically diverse Virginia school district. During our data collection in spring 2014 (including observations, interviews, collection of artifacts and student work) ELLs made up twenty-one percent of the students in the middle school in which the study took place. We employed a theoretical framework that draws on Thornton’s (1991) characterization of the social studies teacher as curricular-instructional gatekeeper and Grant’s (2003) conceptualization of ambitious teaching and learning in order to examine the teacher’s decision-making and meaning-making processes in the context of teaching ELLs in a standardized-based setting.
Findings indicated that the teacher reported that the standardized curriculum formed the basis of his content planning and discussion of subject knowledge. Second, Mr. Henry readily identified student characteristics and displayed a strong understanding of his students. Third, Mr. Henry differentiated his instruction across his classes and focused on skills outlined in the official curriculum in an effort to create space for learning within the high-stakes testing environment. While Mr. Henry used the same lesson plan and instructional materials with all his classes a majority of the time, he modified instruction through the way he grouped students and the time he devoted to individual activities. Mr. Henry also varied his speech patterns, added hand gestures, and used call-and-response as ways of supporting learning among his ELLs.
Implications from our study suggest that students need opportunities to be “active agents” in the classroom if they are to develop the civics skills necessary to be engaged participants in a culturally diverse society. Providing students with opportunities to ask questions, wrestle with compelling dilemmas, and collaborate with peers are key components of promoting the civic purpose of social studies.

Authors

• Paul J. Yoder, Eastern Mennonite University

• Stephanie D. Van Hover, University of Virginia