Reimagining Dual-Language Schools as Catalyst for Cultural and Linguistic Sustenance Through Culturally Sustaining School Leadership

• In Event: Language Policies and (Trans)Languaging Practices

Abstract

In an era of rote standardization, research turns to school leaders who protest these trends, operating from the assumption that multilingualism and flexible ways of knowing, particularly of minoritized students, are necessary goods worthy of sustenance. Expanding upon the work of culturally responsive and sustaining theories (Khalifa, Gooden, & Davis, 2016; Paris, 2012), this study utilizes a culturally sustaining school leadership framework to examine how principals approach the work of cultural and linguistic sustenance within dual-language education. Parallel to the AERA 2020 theme, this cross-comparative case study draws from semi-participatory qualitative methods to understand how school leaders broaden the spectrum of valued knowledge and ensure the meaningful participation of stakeholders whose culture and language they seek to sustain.

Author

• Sandra E Leu Bonanno, WestEd