Creating Equitable Access to Engineering Learning for English Learners in Bilingual and Dual-Language Education (Work in Progress)

Alberto Esquinca; Idalis Villanueva; Marialuisa Di Stefano

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Pre-College Engineering Education Division Poster Session
Page Count: 8
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41251
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41251
Download Count: 365

Paper Authors

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Alberto Esquinca San Diego State University

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Alberto Esquinca is a professor of bilingual education at San Diego State University.

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Idalis Villanueva University of Florida

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For the past 10 years, Dr. Idalis Villanueva has worked on several engineering education projects where she derives from her experiences in engineering to improve outcomes for minoritized groups in engineering using mixed-and multi-modal methods approaches. She currently is an Associate Professor in the Engineering Education Department at the University of Florida. In 2019, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) award for her NSF CAREER project on hidden curriculum in engineering. Dr. Idalis Villanueva has a B.S. degree is in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez and a M.S. and Ph.D. degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Soon after, she completed her postdoctoral fellowship from the National Institutes of Health in Analytical Cell Biology in Bethesda, Maryland and worked as a lecturer for 2 years before transitioning to a tenure-track in engineering education. Her experiences as a first-generation engineer, Latinx, woman of color, introvert, and mother has shaped the lens and research-informed practical approaches that she uses in her research.

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Marialuisa Di Stefano University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Assistant Professor in Language, Literacy, and Culture

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Abstract

Socioeconomically marginalized students, particularly those classified as English learners (ELs), are often provided with inequitable access to high-quality educational opportunities. Socioeconomically marginalized students have, on average, less access to effective teaching, including attending schools with underprepared teachers. Dual-language and bilingual education (DLBE) was originally created to explicitly provide ELs from immigrant families with equitable learning opportunities (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017). DLBE is founded upon the pillars of a) high academic achievement, b) sociocultural competence and c) bilingualism and biliteracy.

We worked with cohorts of DLBE teachers in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico (n=24). Our training and data collection was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants engaged in a virtual spring institute (4 hours) and were provided with lesson design tools (i.e., a lesson-planning template, lesson planning resources and examples), and focused guidance in the form of coaching meetings. Participants demonstrated their current work in a virtual summer teacher institute, in which they gave each other feedback. Teachers made additional changes based on the feedback. Participants completed surveys before and after the institute.

Our research questions for this paper are: How do participating K-5 BLDE teachers apply culturally-sustaining, equity principles and pedagogical practices in and for engineering learning? What attitudes and beliefs about culturally-sustaining, equity-focused engineering learning do participants express?

Teachers were enthusiastic about participating in the training, especially the opportunity to obtain practical tools in engineering since they seldom receive any specialized training for DLBE. At the same time, teachers were reluctant to apply the principles of CSP, in particular as it pertained to translanguaging.

In our work with BDL teachers, including those who worked in dual language programs that favor strict language separation, our emergent findings suggest that K-5 DLBE teachers must often find a balance between applying policies that disfavor translanguaging and, at the same time, creating spaces for equity and socially-just learning. Often, they work at schools that promote engineering learning, equity-minded, culturally-sustaining pedagogical approaches, but may not favor translanguaging pedagogies. Thus, teachers must balance between these competing interests.

Socioeconomically marginalized students, particularly those classified as English learners (ELs), are often provided with inequitable access to high-quality educational opportunities. Socioeconomically marginalized students have, on average, less access to effective teaching, including attending schools with underprepared teachers. Dual-language and bilingual education (DLBE) was originally created to explicitly provide ELs from immigrant families with equitable learning opportunities (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017). DLBE is founded upon the pillars of a) high academic achievement, b) sociocultural competence and c) bilingualism and biliteracy.

We worked with cohorts of DLBE teachers in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico (n=24). Our training and data collection was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants engaged in a virtual spring institute (4 hours) and were provided with lesson design tools (i.e., a lesson-planning template, lesson planning resources and examples), and focused guidance in the form of coaching meetings. Participants demonstrated their current work in a virtual summer teacher institute, in which they gave each other feedback. Teachers made additional changes based on the feedback. Participants completed surveys before and after the institute.

Our research questions for this paper are: How do participating K-5 BLDE teachers apply culturally-sustaining, equity principles and pedagogical practices in and for engineering learning? What attitudes and beliefs about culturally-sustaining, equity-focused engineering learning do participants express?

Teachers were enthusiastic about participating in the training, especially the opportunity to obtain practical tools in engineering since they seldom receive any specialized training for DLBE. At the same time, teachers were reluctant to apply the principles of CSP, in particular as it pertained to translanguaging.

In our work with BDL teachers, including those who worked in dual language programs that favor strict language separation, our emergent findings suggest that K-5 DLBE teachers are in a difficult position. While their schools promote engineering learning, equity-minded, culturally-sustaining pedagogical approaches, these teachers are also more likely to face push-back.

Citation
Format

Esquinca, A., & Villanueva, I., & Di Stefano, M. (2022, August), Creating Equitable Access to Engineering Learning for English Learners in Bilingual and Dual-Language Education (Work in Progress) Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41251

TY - CPAPER
AB - Socioeconomically marginalized students, particularly those classified as English learners (ELs), are often provided with inequitable access to high-quality educational opportunities. Socioeconomically marginalized students have, on average, less access to effective teaching, including attending schools with underprepared teachers. Dual-language and bilingual education (DLBE) was originally created to explicitly provide ELs from immigrant families with equitable learning opportunities (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017). DLBE is founded upon the pillars of a) high academic achievement, b) sociocultural competence and c) bilingualism and biliteracy.

We worked with cohorts of DLBE teachers in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico (n=24). Our training and data collection was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants engaged in a virtual spring institute (4 hours) and were provided with lesson design tools (i.e., a lesson-planning template, lesson planning resources and examples), and focused guidance in the form of coaching meetings. Participants demonstrated their current work in a virtual summer teacher institute, in which they gave each other feedback. Teachers made additional changes based on the feedback. Participants completed surveys before and after the institute.

Our research questions for this paper are: How do participating K-5 BLDE teachers apply culturally-sustaining, equity principles and pedagogical practices in and for engineering learning? What attitudes and beliefs about culturally-sustaining, equity-focused engineering learning do participants express?

Teachers were enthusiastic about participating in the training, especially the opportunity to obtain practical tools in engineering since they seldom receive any specialized training for DLBE. At the same time, teachers were reluctant to apply the principles of CSP, in particular as it pertained to translanguaging.

In our work with BDL teachers, including those who worked in dual language programs that favor strict language separation, our emergent findings suggest that K-5 DLBE teachers must often find a balance between applying policies that disfavor translanguaging and, at the same time, creating spaces for equity and socially-just learning. Often, they work at schools that promote engineering learning, equity-minded, culturally-sustaining pedagogical approaches, but may not favor translanguaging pedagogies. Thus, teachers must balance between these competing interests.

Socioeconomically marginalized students, particularly those classified as English learners (ELs), are often provided with inequitable access to high-quality educational opportunities. Socioeconomically marginalized students have, on average, less access to effective teaching, including attending schools with underprepared teachers. Dual-language and bilingual education (DLBE) was originally created to explicitly provide ELs from immigrant families with equitable learning opportunities (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017). DLBE is founded upon the pillars of a) high academic achievement, b) sociocultural competence and c) bilingualism and biliteracy.

In our work with BDL teachers, including those who worked in dual language programs that favor strict language separation, our emergent findings suggest that K-5 DLBE teachers are in a difficult position. While their schools promote engineering learning, equity-minded, culturally-sustaining pedagogical approaches, these teachers are also more likely to face push-back.

AU - Alberto Esquinca
AU - Idalis Villanueva
AU - Marialuisa Di Stefano
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Creating Equitable Access to Engineering Learning for English Learners in Bilingual and Dual-Language Education (Work in Progress)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41251
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41251
ER -