Preparing Educators for Emergent Bilingual Learners in Initial Teacher Education

Introduction

Students labeled as English learners (ELs) comprise 10% of the student population in US public schools, with 20% of students using languages other than English at home (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition [NCELA], 2018). Based on standardized proficiency tests of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, this label indicates potential challenges as students develop English simultaneous to learning and demonstrating achievement in math, science, social studies, and other subjects -- often in the language that they are still developing (Linquanti & Cook, 2013). With increasing linguistic diversity across the United States, including urban, suburban, and rural regions from New Mexico to New Hampshire, there is a pressing need to prepare a larger corps of teachers to effectively support this large and growing sub-group, referred to in this chapter by the more strengths-based term of emergent bilingual learners (EBLs; Coady et al., 2016; García, et al., 2010).

In this changing context, many schools have shifted to instructional models of inclusion where EBLs learn in general education settings spanning preschool-through-grade-12 (P-12), rather than utilizing self-contained bilingual or English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms (Villegas et al., 2018). These shifts necessitate the preparation of all teachers to work with EBLs in preservice and inservice settings (Feiman-Nemser, 2001, 2018; Lucas et al., 2008), moving beyond siloed approaches that maintain focus on individual licensure areas. But initial teacher education programs have been slow to respond, with only 38% of US public-school teachers indicating any level of preparation for EBLs prior to teaching (National Center for Educational Statistics [NCES], 2018). Knowing that a teacher’s preparation is integral to their efficacy in the classroom in facilitating students’ learning (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Gándara & Maxwell-Jolly, 2006; Islam & Park, 2015), teacher educators must come together and tap into one another’s strengths to collaboratively prepare all teacher candidates for EBLs.

Research on preparing all preservice teachers for EBLs is still in its infancy with existing studies centering on shifting candidates’ beliefs about EBLs (Feiman-Nemser, 2018; Villegas et al., 2018). Studies have shown the value of particular coursework and fieldwork in promoting teachers’ inclusive mindsets (Jiménez-Silva & Olson, 2012; Pu, 2012; Virtue, 2009) and deconstructing deficit perspectives that situate EBLs as being less capable than peers (Kolano & King, 2015; Markos, 2012). Shifting beliefs is tantamount to preparing general education educators due to the siloed nature of schools that often leads educators to believe that teaching EBLs is someone else’s responsibility; however, only a handful of studies have extended beyond beliefs to focus on pedagogical practices (Feiman-Nemser, 2018). For example, studies have explored candidates’ understanding and use of scaffolding and instructional accommodations for EBLs, typically focusing on a specific licensure and content area like language arts (Athanases et al., 2013) or science (Settlage et al., 2014).

In addition to investigating what candidates learn about EBLs, research has provided insight into how this learning is facilitated. Many scholars have explored their own practice as teacher educators by investigating the efficacy of their own university courses, such as those focused on multicultural education (Jiménez-Silva & Olson, 2012; Kolano & King, 2015), ESL methods (Galguera, 2011; Markos, 2012; Pu, 2012), and content-area methods (Settlage et al., 2014; Virtue, 2009). In these university courses with related fieldwork, teacher educators found value in using collaborative activities for candidates to interact with one another (Galguera, 2011; Jiménez-Silva & Olson, 2012), observations of EBLs engaged in classroom learning (Hutchinson, 2013; Pu, 2012; Virtue, 2009), and working one-on-one with EBLs (Jiménez-Silva & Olson, 2012; Seigel, 2014). While this small but expanding field of research has provided valuable information on how to structure particular courses, it has failed to capture candidates’ longitudinal development and consider lasting influences into their careers as teachers. Scholars have called for research that extends beyond individual courses, considering larger programs of study and progressions into teaching careers (Feiman-Nemser, 2018; Villegas et al., 2018).