Abstract
Designing culturally and linguistically relevant and sustaining programs is needed at all levels. Specifically including this approach in teacher education programs is a crucial goal, as what is learned turns into a multiplicative process through new teachers' implementation of this approach in their future classes. This chapter introduces the conceptualization and work of the Teacher Education Collaborative in Language Diversity and Arts Integration (TECLA) program designed to support the development of Elementary Education Teacher Candidates' readiness to teach and work with culturally and linguistically diverse learners through Arts-Integration. This chapter describes five focus areas of the program model in relation to a main event in the program, the Oral History Classroom Museums and we discuss how this process contributed the Teacher Candidates' Identity as Teachers as well as to nurture their pedagogical practices. Examples of each area and affordances and challenges faced in this program are discussed.
TopIntroduction
“The words teaching and teacher evoke in almost everyone particular memories and images. For some, these memories are dull, even fearful—they include boredom, routine, and worse. For those of us who construct lives in teaching, these images are necessary changing and growing, and while they are sometimes vivid and concrete, they can often be characterized by wonder. In either case, images of teaching can fill us with awe, and we can choose to see within them an abiding sense of challenge.” (Ayers, 1993, p. 1)
Our diverse world presents itself as a challenge or an asset depending on how one understands it. The goal of providing a culturally relevant and responsive education to a diverse learner population has been a concern for an extended time (Gay, 2002; Ladson-Billings, 1999; Moll & Greenberg, 1990; Nieto, 2000; Sleeter, 2001; Villegas & Lucas, 2002). The quality of the actual relationships that take place between school and community, especially between teachers and students (Ladson-Billings, 1999; Paris, 2012; Yosso, 2005) are central to promote the development of a mutual learning process that supports nurturing relations. Such responsive and nurturing relations for teachers can be addressed earlier through proactive and developmental processes in Teacher Education (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Feiman-Nemser & Buchmann, 1985; Gay, 2002; Villegas & Lucas, 2002).
In this chapter, we describe our experiences and insights resulting from a deep commitment to addressing this concern by presenting our work, collaboration, and framework of a teacher education program. The Teacher Education Collaborative in Language Diversity and Arts Integration (TECLA) program supports the development of Teacher Candidates’ (TCs) readiness to teach and work with culturally and linguistically diverse learners (Darling-Hammond, 2006). The TECLA program was designed to respond to the needs of the larger sociocultural-political context of a U.S. Southwest majority-minority university. This state’s population nationally comprises both the largest statewide population percent of Hispanics (i.e., 48%), and the second largest statewide population percent of Native Americans (9-10.6%) (World Population Review, 2019). In fact, at school, Hispanic or Latinx students represent 61.3% of the student population (Ruszkowski & Vazquez, 2018); and in general, 76% of students in public schools are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (NMUSD, 2013-17); and statewide 35% of students speak a language other than English at home (U.S. Census, 2017). More than half of public-school students are considered low-income, and about 66 million, or one out of five U.S. residents, speaks a language other than English at home (Ziegler & Camarota, 2018). Furthermore, the need of a culturally and linguistically relevant and responsive education was recently highlighted by the NM court ruling that the educational system has not provided a multicultural and linguistically relevant education for all students (Gudgel, 2018).
Preparing and retaining educators who have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to reach students from a broad range of racial, cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds is essential (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Nieto, 2000). Despite these changing demographics, K-12 teachers currently have few opportunities to work in settings that support this kind of diversity. For example, bilingual education programs have been eliminated in several states, and ethnic studies programs are consistently threatened with extinction (Baker, 2011). A clear need exists to cultivate teachers who can work effectively across student differences by affirming and drawing upon home languages and cultures.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Culturally Sustaining and Responsive Pedagogy: Educational approach that nurtures student learning by affirming, responding to, and sustaining students’ cultures and ways of being and knowing within school curriculum to successfully navigate serve, and develop their local and extended communities.
Teacher Education Program: Set of curricular activities, knowledges and field experiences that support the preparation of future teachers or teacher candidates.
Classroom Museums: Pedagogical events that focus on investigating and writing processes (developed through practice, trial, and error) of topics that are relevant to students and the school curriculum. The display of student work (writing and story-related artifacts) motivates them to focus on their work.
Arts Integration: An educational approach of inquiry and integrated curricula designed with the goal of promoting deep experiences and meaningful learning for students by centering on students’ language skills and identities.
Oral Histories: Pedagogical process that combines historical investigation with ethnographical skills. Through interviews developed by students, interviewees recall their lived experiences. It helps students learn historical content, related disciplines, research and basic writing skills, and develop personal connections to their family and community.