What is Dual Language Immersion

The chapter describes School Home Interactive Curriculum Development, a process of structured collaboration between educators and families used to cyclically co-construct thematic, interdisciplinary curriculum units in first grade classrooms of a Spanish/English Dual Language Immersion bilingual program. While not a formal case study, the chapter describes the case of the authentic situation where classroom teachers partnered with families of historically disenfranchised communities (linguistic, immigrant, economic) to develop culturally responsive pedagogy and practice in public school classrooms. The process was sustained and refined over a six-year period. A primary aim of this process was to legitimize the knowledge and perspectives of the families and communities within the public school institution and to support students to develop a sense of agency as owners and creators of valuable knowledge.