Our third volume, Transforming Ourselves Through the Power of Mediated Instruction (1996, Fall), focuses on the Fable Writing Project which was evolved into ‘la nueva fábula’ literacy framework. The writing project involved 150 students in three urban schools, spanning K-5 bilingual education classrooms, with the involvement of nine teachers, and three principals. In the fall of 1996 and spring of 1997, respectively, two volumes, Cuéntame una fábula and Cuéntame más fábulas, were published, showcasing over 150 children’s original fables.

PDF files: Volume Three is included at the conclusion of this post, along with the two Fable Writing Project publications.

This post includes three sections:

In Section One, an authored essay titled “Students Writing Fables: From Traditional to Modern” features the evolution and procedures of the Fable Writing Project. It highlights the collaborative relationship between public school teachers, principals, and the University of Houston. The project involved faculty and students at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The University of Houston’s Center for Mexican American Studies provided funding for the project.

Section Two focuses on the development of the project into a framework of culturally relevant literacy practices. It emphasizes integrating authentic orality and culturally sensitive discourse patterns into instruction, fostering transformative, dialogic engagement among teachers, students, and parents. By incorporating students’ cultural identities and experiences into literacy activities, “la nueva fábula” empowers them to comprehend their world and effect or enact positive change. An authored paper titled “Exploring ‘Story as Guide’ in la nueva fábula” presents both theoretical and practical applications.

In Section Three, the discussion is centered on mediated-instruction practices, emphasizing meaningful, reflective classroom and whole school engagements. This culturally responsive literacy practice incorporates student-teacher dialogue, fostering transformational relationships in-the-school and out-of-school environments. An authored essay presents the theoretical framework, and an interview excerpt features the exemplary work of a fifth-grade teacher of students that participated in the Fable Writing Project.

Included in the PDF file are articles written by Dr. Sugar Martínez, Samuel Sarabia and an interview with Cathy Amanti, co-author of articles on the Funds of Knowledge for Teaching, Volume Four. Special thanks to Lockie Kirksey, co-editor, and to the undergraduate and graduate students in the Bilingual Education Program at the University of Houston.

We respect the privacy of the individuals in our research in Bilingualfrontera.com. To protect confidentiality, pseudonyms are used for teachers, students, and schools, and identifying details have been modified where necessary.

Unless otherwise noted, content on Bilingualfrontera.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). You may share and adapt the material for noncommercial purposes only, provided you give appropriate credit, link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

Students Writing Fables: A Traditional Genre Gets a Modern Facelift

The oral tradition of storytelling is deeply embedded in many Latino cultures. People of all ages can often recall a story, a proverb (or dicho), a fable, or a parable that someone, usually a family member, related to them in an oral tradition custom.

Dr. Irma N. Guadarrama

The use of fables as a literacy event in the bilingual education classroom is a natural continuation of this tradition. Used as a means by which to help students write original works in their native language, fables are also powerful vehicles to help students learn how to self-educate or self-edify. In Section Two, I provide the rationale for using the fable, which I define as ‘la nueva fábula,’ along with a literature review in the article, “Multicultural Literature in Bilingual Education: Exploring the Story as Guide.”

The first part of the article summarizes the fable writing project in some detail. Secondly, I include descriptive profiles based on interviews of the lives of some of the young fabulists along with their fables. Lastly, I provide an overall analysis of all of the fables by focusing on thematic strands.

The Project

1) Goals of the project. The project had two main goals. One was to engage participating students in a literacy event that included listening, discussing, and creative writing, using the fable genre. Another goal was to form a collaborative between myself, a university teacher educator, and the teachers of the participating students.

2) The participants: A total of seventy 4th and 5th graders participated from three bilingual education classrooms in three schools. The schools, with the majority of students being Hispanic, were in urban areas in one of the state’s largest school districts. The classrooms that met the criteria were selected randomly. The criteria were that the students and teachers be bilingual in the 4th or 5th grades, and interested in collaborating with the university educator. The sites selected were schools with which I had prior working relationships and/or planned to have one in the future. The intermediate grades were selected over the lower grade levels because of the likelihood that the students would have prior knowledge of the fable genre from their language arts program.

3) Method or procedure. After selecting the classrooms, I discussed the project with each teacher and gave them a written outline of my plan. The project was divided into three consecutive days, plus an additional day for which students presented their fables. Each session lasted about an hour and was conducted entirely in Spanish. On Day One, I introduced myself and the project to the students. I began with a cooperative learning activity. I divided them into small groups and asked them to line themselves up in alphabetical order according to their last names. Then, I asked them to reflect on the lessons learned from this activity. We discussed the significance of a lesson and how lessons serve as guides throughout our lives. Then, I read and dramatized three fables from Arnold Lobel’s book Fábulas. I selected the ones I felt had relevance to the students’ lives since my intention was to generate dialogue with students after reading each fable. I also looked for fables that lend themselves to the use of improvisation and simple costumes. I informed the students that I wanted them to write their own fable and that we would share these on the 4th day of the project. I also explained my intention of publishing their fables in a book and mailing each a copy over the summer. On Day 2, I read more fables, dramatized them, and discussed their lessons and their relevance to our lives. I also introduced the structure of the fable as a literary genre using a chart to point out the main and supporting elements of the fable. I called on different students to assume the role of teacher and lead a discussion on identifying the elements of the fables. We had discussed whether the students enjoyed their role, and their classmates responded positively. Day 3 followed a similar agenda as Day 2 with few exceptions.

I shared with the students a fable that I had written titled “La hermosa mariposa,” (“The Beautiful Butterfly”). By then, many students had already written a fable and read it out loud to their classmates. Day 4, which was about a week after Day 3, was specifically planned for the students to present their fables to their classmates. Two of the classes opted to use a karaoke microphone, which I furnished. The third class decided to go to the cafeteria and use the stage and the stand-up microphone. I was pleasantly surprised when two of the classes performed skits to dramatize their fables. Each student received a certificate for participating in the Fable Writing Project. Also, each student received through the mail a copy of the entire collection of fables as I had told them earlier. Additionally, six fables were selected from each group, and the student authors received a book as a reward. The title of the book was Fábulas y leyendas Americanas by Ciro Alegría.

4) Conclusion. I asked teachers for their impressions of the project, specifically, how well the students learned the value of using fables to achieve instructional objectives, and about my role in the project. Their responses were in general very positive. The overwhelming response was on how well the students responded to the fable writing assignment. They were even surprised by the responses of some of their students. They also remarked on the brevity and inappropriate timeliness of the project. Their consensus was that I should have started it at the beginning of the year and extended it for a longer period of time.

In all, I collected 79 original fables from 70 students. I observed most of the students read and/ or act out their fables. In some cases, I observed students who courageously struggled to read their fables after much coaxing to read in front of their peers. They seem to have conquered their reading difficulties or fears, at least for the moment. I was very pleased with the students’ discussion on lessons. The students seemed to catch on to the idea of a lesson – how we learned them, who teaches us lessons, and how a fable is structured to illustrate a lesson. The students seemed to reflect profoundly on their own life experiences to think of the lessons that they’ve learned. It seemed that the students were quite capable of generating appropriate lessons to guide them safely and wisely throughout their lives. Besides working with the students on the fable writing project, another goal I wanted to achieve was to work collaboratively with the teachers. At best, our working relationship was cooperative rather than collaborative, primarily since I initiated the project. Also, the brief time frame and the straightforward procedure disallowed us the flexibility to elaborate on the project. However, one teacher prepared a notebook containing excerpts of the fables from Lobel’s book and illustrations to use as a teacher resource. Two of the teachers commented on their intention to focus more on the fable genre in the future.

The Fables

In this section, I summarize the interview transcripts of five students who participated in the Fable Writing Project. After each summary, I include each student’s fable. Since the fables are written in Spanish, I provide an interpretive summary in English. For purposes of this publication, all of the fables have been edited slightly. The interviews and their fables are located in the page listed below their names. All of the children’s fables described here are in the volume, Cuéntame una fábula, embedded at the end of this post. Please note that due to privacy concerns we are unable to disclose the real names of the children and their teachers.

Beatriz

Born in El Salvador 13 years ago, Beatriz is the youngest sister of a family of five children. Her parents came to the United States to work when she was a little girl, leaving Beatriz with her grandmother while her siblings stayed with the other set of grandparents. Her grandmother was no longer able to care for her, so she was the first of the children to join her parents in their new country.

p. 50

If she were in El Salvador today, she wouldn’t be in school. She thinks that teachers don’t care there if children go to school and they don’t keep students from fighting each other.

She likes her fifth-grade teacher where she attends school today because he tells a lot of jokes and is the best teacher she has ever had. Beatriz has aspirations to become a lawyer to defend the rights of others. To the question of whether there are many injustices in El Salvador, she replied, “There are many.” She and her grandmother witnessed a man beating to death another in what appeared as a vengeful attack. She felt afraid but wanted to scold the man and tell him that someone could do the same thing to him. She also recalled a frightening experience of being followed by a man presumably to kidnap her. She had heard of this man who ripped the hearts out of little girls. What she wants most in the world is that people respect and love one another so they won’t fight and kill each other.

Beatriz knows that she will have to stay on track to stay in school. She recalled one of her sister’s frightful experience in which she was forced to join a gang in El Salvador douche but she resisted and came to join her parents in the United States. All three of her sisters are in high school, and they each have a part-time job. She’s often alone at night while her family works. She watches television and is afraid to go out of her apartment.

Beatriz’s fable titled “The Lost Swan” is about a swan that gets lost trying to return to his home. He asked a dog, a cat, and a duck for help, but each one directed him to the other. Then he asked the owl, who was very kind and helped the swan find his way home. For his help, the swan gives the owl a special place in a tree and assurance that if he were ever to get hungry, the swan would surely feed him. The lesson is you ought to know where you’re going, where you’re going, and where you come from so you won’t get lost. Don’t be embarrassed to ask others for directions if they laugh at you.

Marcos

Marcos will turn 13 this August. He enrolled in his school in December, just six months ago. His parents moved to the United States long before Marcos and his younger brother joined them. They had lived on a farm in Guanajuato, México. He and his brother had stayed with his aunt and uncle. Marcos doesn’t like the United States. He misses his friends. He doesn’t know whether he wants to stay or not. He likes to read but is not enthusiastic or excited about school. However, if he stays in the United States, he will continue his education.

pp. 51–52

Marcos spoke very little during my conversation with him. He seemed sad, frustrated, and I assumed it was just primarily because he is just beginning to learn. His fable is about an eagle and an owl. The two meet and strike a friendship. The owl is hungry, and the eagle is lonely. By helping each other, the owl satisfies his hunger, and the eagle is no longer lonely. The lesson is that one should be able to trust your friends and not your enemy, and that one should not have to go hungry.

Araceli

Araceli is a precautious 10 year-old who arrived at the school one year ago. She and her family, consisting of her parents and a 5 year-old sister, are from Monterrey, Mexico. Her father had been in the United States for eight years before the rest of the family joined him. During his time away from home, she would see him only at Christmas. To the question of why he came to the United States, she simply replied for the same reason as everyone’s – freedom.

pp. 52–53

The family is here to stay but plans to visit Monterrey occasionally. Compared to her previous school, her current school is very similar, except that this school has a cafeteria, and school hours are longer. She likes her fifth-grade teacher a great deal and credits him for helping her do well in math, even though it has always been her worst subject. He makes learning fun and interesting by using dramatics and making them think.

She has learned a great deal of English in the years she’s been here. She believes that bilingualism is important. Eventually, she would like to finish college and own a business. She doesn’t like the political corruption in México and the fact that the dollar is worth more in the U.S. than in México. She thinks that there are too many children buying drugs and other dangerous things. She recalls the violence that she has seen around her apartment complex and how hopeful she is that in a few years her father will be able to buy a house for them.

If she had one wish, it would be that the violence in the world would stop. She thinks people fight mostly because of greed. I asked her how school can be a better place for students. She responded by saying that teachers should listen more to their students and make them work harder. Also, if teachers would make the books come alive, children would pay more attention.

Araceli had written an essay about immigration in the United States. I asked her to elaborate on her ideas. She has analyzed the hostility that Americans have toward immigrants and has concluded that Americans don’t like them because they steal their space. An immigrant family has too many children, but what would the United States look like without immigrants? Immigrants help to harvest the food we eat. They help make the clothes we wear. They contribute fundamentally to our lives. That if immigrants stopped coming to the United States, it would not be so wealthy. She believes that everyone deserves an opportunity. I asked her about what opportunities she has had as a student. She claims that students have the opportunity to go to school to college and to learn English. Her parents don’t have that opportunity. When students refuse those opportunities, they are making a big mistake. But why do some students take advantage of their opportunities and others do not? To that question, she responded by saying that sometimes the violence in the homes drives students to become involved in gang life. Once they do, they stop attending school or, if they do go to school, they are easily distracted and their grades suffer. All of this is because they don’t get the love and affection they need at home.

Araceli’s fable is about a squirrel and a turtle. The squirrel is a hard worker, and the turtle is a slacker. When winter came, the turtle didn’t have a place to live or food to eat. The squirrel admonished the turtle but nevertheless offered him a place to live and some food. The lesson is that persons should fulfill their responsibilities to avoid getting sick or dying from the cold.

Magda

Magda has attended school as an Emergent Bilingual student since she was in kindergarten. A fifth-grader, she is eleven years-old, has an 18 year-old sister, two younger sisters, and a brother ages 6, 7, and 9, respectively. Her parents are from El Salvador, but she and her younger siblings were born here. At the time that I talked with Magda, she was looking forward to her annual visit to El Salvador.

pp. 53–54

I asked her to describe where she will be staying for over a month. She will play with her cousins in an open area more spacious than what she has in the apartment complex where she lives. They will go to the fields to milk the cows and pick fruits such as oranges. She commented that she has forgotten many of the Spanish words. She will also visit her another set of grandparents who live nearby fields of banana and mango trees. She also enjoys swimming in the river.

I asked her if she wants to go back to live in El Salvador. She replied that she would because she feels so much happier there. She can go anywhere she wants. It’s too dangerous to do that here. Her parents immigrated to the United States before she was born. Her older sister has never lived with them. She is waiting for her visa papers. Meanwhile, she lives on her own with the money her parents send her. Magda also wants to live in Boston, even though she’s never lived there. Her aunt, uncle, and cousins have lived there for many years, and they occasionally come to visit Magda and her family. She says that from the stories they tell her, Boston seems like a nice place to live, even though it’s also dangerous. She likes the idea that it snows in Boston. Her college plans are to study law because she wants to defend people.

Magda’s fable is about three circus animals: a dog, a lion, and a bear. The dog is mad because the bear told him he was too fat. He confided in his friend, the lion, who assured him that he wasn’t fat at all. Why then did the bear tell him that? So they confront the bear and press him for answers. The bear responded that he wanted to make him mad but he still wants to be his friend. The dog remains his friend. The lion also remains the dog’s friend, and they have fun playing together. The lesson is that people need to believe in themselves and to resolve your problems with others by talking to him or her.

María Elena

Twelve year-old María Elena has been attending school here for only seven months. She and her 10-year-old brother came from El Salvador to be with their parents. A 7 year-old brother still waits to join them at a later time. María, a fifth grader, likes her school but feels frustrated because she’s just learning English. She likes her teacher; he’s a good person and makes them laugh. In El Salvador, there were as many as 50 students in a class. If the students misbehaved, they were punished by getting swatted on the hands with a ruler.

pp. 54–55

María has experienced her share of pain, disappointments, and fear in her brief life. She talked about the numerous gangs called maras who were involved with drugs and violence. Some of the gangs are known to force girls to join them. She was threatened by a gang member who wanted to beat her up if she didn’t join them, but she was able to fend them off. The harsh economic conditions were distressing for the entire family. People suffered, she said, “because everything costs so much and the jobs don’t pay very well.”

Her worst experience, however, occurred when she was six years old. She recalled the fierce shooting around the city one day. She and her family witnessed a horrifying death. She remembered she had to stand on her bed to reach the window. She saw men with knives slitting the throats of other men, decapitating them. She and her family had to sleep outside because the bullets were going through their house. Another source of pain for María is the memory of her father. She has not seen him in nine years. She talked about him with mixed emotions of confusion, disappointment, pain, and yearning. When I asked her to tell me her one biggest desire in the world, she replied that she wanted to see her father and to learn English. María Elena loves to write. She wants to work in a profession for which she can write, maybe even become a teacher.

María’s fable is about a flea who was known as the racing champion. A horse challenged the flea to a race, and he accepted. The horse called the other animals together and told them they must beat the flea so she could get out of town. During the race, the flea was at the front of the line and jumped on the back of a dog and won the race.

Analysis

For purposes of analyzing the thematic strands in each of the three groups, I selected 61 fables that had discernible lessons. I categorized them by themes and tabulated their recurrences. The results are listed in the three tables below. The fables of a fifth grade class, which I called Los fabulosos, are analyzed in Table 1. Fables from the 4th grade class, Los maravillosos, are analyzed in Table 2, and another fifth grade class, Los fantásticos, are in Table 3. General analysis of the themes reveals the influence of the students’ experiences as they attempt to shape their notions of lessons into the fable genre. The themes are varied and reflect ideas or feelings of compassion, distrust, responsibility, and practicability. Some are more comical, such as the one in the group, Los maravillosos, “don’t hurt an extraterrestrial creature.” Certainly, it’s very good advice. I didn’t expect the high degree of originality that I found in all of the groups. Students usually imitate literary patterns in their attempts to create original compositions. These students seem to create fables with confidence and understanding, as I pointed out earlier. Their teachers indicated how surprised they were when they realized the high quality of their students’ work, and their understandings of the purpose of the fable genre. This could be partially due to the students’ familiarity with the fable as an oral tradition genre.

Conclusion

When I first met the students for the interviews, they appeared happy, enthusiastic, and friendly, but I didn’t realize how involved their lives were. Their worlds were anything but simple. In actuality, they seemed to be trying to make sense of their two worlds: the present one and the one they left behind. They seem to possess a magnetic psychological pull toward their homeland. I’m struck by the commonalities of their lives. They have each experienced a traumatic interruption in their childhood marked primarily by the separation from family members. The uprootedness from a home that signifies their cradle is a traumatic experience that surely has taken a toll on their emotional and psychological well-being.

It is important to note how they seem to want to grow up quickly as if to flee their childhood memories that have left them with psychological scars that are exceedingly painful and frustrating. But once in their new country, the road doesn’t get any easier. They must battle through the language barrier and arrive at some sense of the contradictions and conflicts that they experience in their new cultural environment. They must deal with societal perceptions that bombard them with hostile, negative messages. Climbing up the mountain of success can be extremely difficult, and the stumbling blocks are plentiful.

I have learned so much from the students by observing them through our dialogues and their fables. They have revealed to me a world that was partly familiar to me, but there was so much I didn’t know. In our conversations, I noticed how often I would relate my own life story to them as a way of sharing an understanding – a ‘situated definition’ (Dixon Krause, 1996). In this way, I was serving as a mediator to smooth out the pathways, or soften the blow, so to speak. I too couldn’t speak English when I entered school for the first time, and I remember a lot of painful experiences because I was the daughter of immigrant parents. María, and I also shared a moment in which we could talk about the experience of losing a father through abandonment. The Fable Writing project allowed us the opportunity to share our lives with one another and, as a result, opened a door that will never be closed, not as long as we think about how much we learned from each other.

TABLE 1: LOS FABULOSOS

TABLE 2: LOS MARAVILLOSOS

TABLE 3: LOS FANTASTICOS

References

Alegría, C. (1982). Fábulas y leyendas Americanas. Espasa-Calpe.

Dixon-Krauss. L. (1996). Vygotsky in the classroom: Mediated literacy instruction & assessment. Longman.

Guadarrama, I.N. (1995). Multicultural literature in bilingual education: Exploring story as guide in la nueva fábula. Emerging Literature of the Southwest 1, 57-69.

Multicultural Literature in Bilingual Education: Exploring ‘story as guide’ in la nueva fábula

Dr. Irma N. Guadarrama

Since the mid-20th century, multicultural literature has been a source of enjoyment, inspiration, and enlightenment for both students and teachers. It has addressed a significant gap in children’s literature that previously overlooked the voices of children of color and other underrepresented or marginalized groups. Although there is still much progress to be made, multicultural educational literature has greatly enriched our understanding of diversity by portraying people through various lenses, including culture, gender, language, and disability.

Multicultural literature is often described metaphorically as both a window and a mirror. The “book as a window” aptly captures its purpose of offering realistic and accurate depictions of a diverse range of people. Meanwhile, the “book as a mirror” highlights how these stories allow readers to see themselves reflected in characters who often take on heroic or protagonist roles. A third metaphor, and the focus of this article, is the “book (or story) as a guide.”

The ‘book as guide’ perspective emphasizes how such literature helps students develop essential skills like problem-solving and reasoning within their sociocultural and linguistic contexts. The guiding aspect of multicultural literature, as in the ‘story as guide,’ is particularly evident in stories that deliver didactic messages similar to the moral lessons found in traditional fables.

This article explores the role of multicultural literature in bilingual education, specifically how traditional fables can be transformed into powerful tools for teaching important literary and sociocultural lessons. These lessons equip students to navigate complex identity and cultural issues effectively. In the context of bilingual and bicultural education, this type of fable is referred to as “la nueva fábula” or “the new fable,” as it maintains its traditional instructional quality while addressing the contemporary concerns and challenges faced by students in bilingual education programs today.

Since its inception in the 1970s, multicultural education has faced numerous challenges, as many schools have either refused to accept it as a legitimate part of the curriculum or have only incorporated it superficially (La Belle & Ward, 1994; Banks, 1994). At its core, multicultural education calls for a commitment to improving the sociocultural climate of our schools and fostering understanding and diverse perspectives among students. This approach aims to build a better future for our country by reducing and ultimately eliminating injustice, bias, discrimination, and racism (Baruth & Manning, 1992; Banks & Banks, 1993; Banks, 1994). Achieving this is particularly challenging for schools with a history of systematically discriminating against underrepresented groups. For language minority groups, the potential for discrimination remains evident, with policies that prohibit students from speaking their native languages on school grounds. Punishments for defying these policies can often have detrimental effects for students (Skutnabb-Kangas & Cummins, 1988).

Over the past decade, there has been significant development of curricular models for multicultural education. Banks (1994) outlines several key goals to guide teachers in choosing and creating instructional activities. These goals include fostering decision-making and social action skills, enhancing the ability to assess events from multiple viewpoints, cultivating cross-cultural competencies necessary for thriving in a diverse society, aiding students in forming clear, reflective, and positive ethnic and national identities, and acquiring literacy and computational skills (see pp. 61-62). Sims-Bishop (1994) offers criteria for selecting and developing multicultural literature. Key considerations include the literature’s ability to enhance understanding and appreciation of all people, presenting positive visions of a pluralistic society, fostering empathy and new perspectives, and providing children with opportunities to recognize and value both differences and similarities among people. Few experts would dispute the widespread agreement that multicultural education theory and practice have significantly expanded over the past 20 years.

However, a serious problem persists in the availability of quality children’s literature that promotes multicultural themes. In examining literature written by and for Latino children, the recent data reveal that a dismal market share of 11 to 12 % of children’s books are written by Latino authors, and 6 to 7% feature Latino characters. The data for African American children’s literature is similar with 13 to 14% published by Black authors, and 10 to 13% feature Black characters as protagonists.  

Story as Window

A perusal of titles in children’s literature with multicultural themes reveals that most books focus on describing aspects of life with the intent of accurately and poignantly bringing out the human qualities of its characters. Indeed, this is the most prevalent well-defined focus of multicultural literature, notably underscoring the “story as window” whose protagonistic characters promote positive images of underrepresented or marginalized groups (Sims-Bishop, 1994; Day, 1994). Some examples of criteria used to assess the quality of multicultural literature titles include the following: 1) students of diverse backgrounds feel pride in their own identity and heritage; 2) both mainstream students and students of diverse backgrounds learn about diversity and the complexity of American society; 3) all students gain more complete and balanced views of the historical forces that shaped American Society; and 4) all students can explore issues of social justice (Au, 1993, p.178).

The emergence of multicultural literature in this country can be traced back to a milestone in 1932 when Waterless Mountain by Laura Armer, a coming of age novel featuring a young Native American, won the Newberry Medal. In 1949, Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi won the first Caldecott Award given to a book with a Latino protagonist. In 1975, Virginia Hamilton became the first African American woman to receive the Newbery Award for her book, M.C. Higgins, the Great.

In 2016, Matt de la Peña became the first Hispanic or Latino author to win the Newbery Medal for Last Stop on Market Street, a book about a little boy and his grandmother who take the bus instead of driving a car. The boy asks his grandmother why they have to take the bus, and she responds by pointing out that observing the city in intimate detail allows him to find beauty and kindness all around. The major themes of the story include gratitude, empathy, and finding joy in simple things. The narrative also briefly touches on issues of race and class.

While a Latino has yet to covet a Caldecott Medal, author Yuyi Morales received a 2015 Caldecott Honor for her book Viva Frida, which features the art of Frida Kahlo. Likewise, author Juana Martinez-Neal earned a 2019 Caldecott Honor for her book Alma and How She Got Her Name, a story for young children about an inquisitive little girl who asks her father why her name includes so many last names. Her father explains that each name belongs to a family member, and together, they create the rich story of her life.

Story as Mirror

Although many authors of children’s literature strive to address these goals, their efforts can sometimes overlook the diverse challenges faced by children of color as they navigate a society where racism is institutionalized and social issues are rife with prejudice, inequality, and bias. This is not to say that multicultural books addressing social themes are absent. In fact, numerous talented writers and illustrators,  have produced a remarkable collection of well-crafted, focused books. Nevertheless, the selection remains limited given the significant need to fulfill the goals of a multicultural curriculum—particularly the need for a broader range of literature that encourages teachers and students to engage in meaningful dialogues. These dialogues should facilitate the exchange of ideas, attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and opinions while examining relevant issues, framing problems, and proposing solutions.

The use of books as a tool for addressing and solving social, developmental, and even clinical issues has been the focus of numerous research studies in recent years. Advocates of bibliotherapy trace its origins back to ancient Greece, with manuscripts such as “The Healing Place of the Soul” or “The Medicine Chest for the Soul” being recognized as early treatments. Bibliotherapy is considered an effective method for helping students reflect on their situations and engage in thought-provoking discussions. For instance, a child who has lost a parent might gain a better understanding of their grief by reading a book about a child in a similar situation. This mirroring technique becomes a powerful tool that teachers can use to support students effectively.

It is worth noting that Louise Rosenblatt’s transactional theory of reading highlights two distinct purposes for engaging with texts. The first, efferent reading, involves examining literature to acquire specific knowledge, a common and practical approach in most educational curricula. The second purpose, aesthetic reading, aligns more closely with Rosenblatt’s concept of the transactional view of reading, where the act of reading serves as a mirror, allowing readers to gain as much from the text as they contribute to it. In aesthetic reading, readers form a psychological connection with the text and may even identify with characters within the story.

“La Nueva Fábula” is designed to engage students socially and culturally, and to provide avenues for discussing relevant issues. It combines the ancient tradition of using literature as a therapeutic tool with contemporary topics of interest. Written in the native language of Spanish-speaking children, “La Nueva Fábula” acts as a powerful catalyst for engaging teachers and students in meaningful, culturally appropriate interactions. At a time when quality Spanish-language materials are both scarce and urgently needed, “La Nueva Fábula” helps to fill this important gap.

Literature with multicultural themes used in bilingual education must adhere to the same criteria as in any classroom. However, in bilingual programs, children are in the process of learning a second language and culture, which adds unique considerations. The lack of sufficient quality literature in students’ native languages, particularly Spanish, is not easily explained. The need for quality, authentic children’s literature in Spanish is well-documented by Huddleson, Fournier, Espinosa, and Bachmann (1994). Their article highlights publishers’ and distributors’ failure to recognize and utilize teacher input as a valuable resource in selecting and producing Spanish language literature. As a result, bilingual educators often rely on their resourcefulness to find suitable children’s literature. The authors identify three major concerns for educators: the significant shortage of Spanish language titles, the limited number of award-winning English titles translated into Spanish, and the poor quality and higher cost of many translations. While the authors emphasize the importance of high-quality translated books, they prefer those originally written in Spanish.

When children, particularly those from language minority backgrounds, are denied access to quality literature in their native languages, it becomes essential to analyze the social and political contexts surrounding this issue. Historically, we can draw parallels to the period of slavery in the United States, where African Americans were often prohibited from becoming literate (see Babb, 1993). Despite the severe punishments they risked, many enslaved individuals pursued literacy as an act of defiance and a potential pathway to freedom. Slave owners recognized the empowering potential of literacy, fearing that educated enslaved people could challenge the status quo. Similarly, African American slaves viewed literacy as a means to achieve freedom, as evidenced by their narratives in rare manuscripts from the late 1700s.

Today, the lack of adequate native language literature for language minority students raises concerns about the equity of their education. In a hegemonic educational system, these students face disadvantages reminiscent of the enforced illiteracy experienced by enslaved Africans. The systematic denial of access to authentic literacy resources in students’ native languages represents a significant developmental issue. Social literacy historian Harvey Graff provides compelling accounts of how dominant classes have historically controlled the education of working classes, ensuring literacy was accessible only to the extent that it prevented rebellion while restricting empowerment opportunities (see Gee, 1990). Language minority students not only encounter a controlled educational approach due to limited access to native language literature, but their entire culture and language also suffer devaluation in the process.

Developing and implementing a literacy curriculum that emphasizes pluralistic educational themes is a daunting task, especially when considering the diverse social, cultural, historical, and linguistic factors within a schooling community. Although this comprehensive topic exceeds the scope of this paper, several practical principles for literacy program development are proposed. The “la nueva fabula” project framework integrates a definition of literacy that fundamentally explores the relationship between discourse patterns and literacy, emphasizing the importance of leveraging students’ resources as a foundation for literacy instruction. The teacher’s crucial role underscores the need for background knowledge and understanding of the purpose and applications of la nueva fabula literacy. As Harvey Graff poignantly argues (Gee, 1990), the significance of literacy lies in what students do with it. This perspective emphasizes literacy development beyond school, engaging the community in social literacy practices. Contrary to the traditional view of literacy as a means to become an ideal citizen working toward a common goal—what Graff calls the “literacy myth”—the la nueva fabula approach is deeply embedded in the context of students’ specific language and culture.

The focus on literacy as a societal need aligns with Scribner and Cole’s (1999) work with the Vai people in Liberia. Their study assessed the relationship between schooling and literacy among 700 Vai adults, some of whom had formal education while others did not. The researchers found that Vai literates were not cognitively superior to their non-literate counterparts on any measures used. This evidence supports the argument that literacy alone does not foster the cognitive capabilities suggested by Graff’s mythical view of literacy. Additionally, the authors observe that different literacies require independent analysis and that reading and writing should focus on specific achievements. Although general conclusions cannot be drawn from this research, valuable lessons can be extrapolated. Scribner and Cole’s study clearly demonstrates that literacy is a social phenomenon, arising from societal needs and nurtured within its norms and expectations.

Gee (1993) summarizes this idea in this analogy of literacy as a loaded gun:

Contrary to the literacy myth, nothing follows from literacy or schooling. Much follows however,  from what comes with literacy and schooling, what literacy and schooling come wrapped up in, namely the attitudes, values, norms, and beliefs (at once social, cultural, and political) that always accompany literacy and schooling. …  A text whether a written on paper, or on on the soul (Plato), or on the world (Freire), is a loaded weapon. The person, the educator, who hands over the gun, hands over the bullets (the perspective), and must own up to the consequences. There is no way out of having an opinion, an ideology, and a strong one, as did Plato, as does Freire. Literacy education is not for the timid. (p. 42)

Another significant finding from research on the relationship between schooling and literacy is the strong connection between oral and written language. As highlighted in the Scribner and Cole study, the Vai people’s oral traditions and informational structures provided them with the necessary skills to navigate their daily lives effectively. Similarly, Shirley Brice Heath’s 1983 study of African American and white rural families in the Piedmont Carolinas revealed a close relationship between oral and literate language. These studies demonstrate the interdependency between orality and literacy, with each form being utilized by speakers based on specific needs, special occasions, or contexts. Together, they form an essential component of an individual’s overall communication repertoire and discourse patterns.

In a related line of research, linguistic anthropologists Ron and Suzanne Scollon (1981) examined how differences in discourse patterns—specifically, the ways individuals use language to communicate—contribute to breakdowns in interethnic communication. Their study focused on the interethnic communication patterns between English speakers and the Athabascan people in Alaska. They identified areas of confusion from both perspectives: English speakers often perceive Athabascans as “keeping silent, avoiding situations of talking, never saying anything about themselves, and being slow to take a turn in conversation.” Conversely, Athabascans view English speakers as “talking too much, always talking first, not giving others a chance to speak, and only discussing topics they are interested in” (p. 36). These differences in communication styles create their own social context and produce various consequences, one of which is the challenge faced by Athabaskan students in reading and writing.

The Scollons discuss the difficulties Athabascans face in adapting to English-speaking discourse, which they term the “essayist prose style.” This style, emblematic of literacy in general, is notably decontextualized. From the Athabascan perspective, the essayist style aligns closely with mainstream English-speaking discourse, making learning to read a broader social endeavor than it is for English-speaking children. Indeed, a challenging task for students’ initial encounter with literacy in their second language. Scribner and Cole elaborate: “We suggest from this that because learning to read and write in the essayist manner is, in fact, learning new patterns of discourse, literacy for any Athabascan is experienced as a change in ethnicity as well as in a perception of reality” (p. 52).

Heath’s (1983) study highlights the significant impact of differing discourse patterns between schools and three distinct family groups on children’s learning experiences, resulting in varied learning difficulties. Two of these groups, Trackton and Roadville, exhibit similar discourse characteristics, such as a lack of emphasis on decontextualization, contrasting with the more successful mainstream group, which values this aspect. Additionally, Trackton and Roadville families adopt an experiential, holistic learning approach, whereas the mainstreamers favor an analytical methodology. Notably, there are further distinctions in literacy development practices; Roadville families, like the mainstreamers, engage in parental tutoring, a practice not shared by Trackton families. Conversely, both Trackton families and mainstreamers appreciate imagination and fictionalization, including the ability to understand diverse perspectives as both author and audience, which is not a characteristic of Roadville families. Despite some Trackton children being capable readers, they face early academic challenges, while Roadville children, despite initial similarities with mainstreamers, encounter difficulties later due to insufficient creativity and fictionalization skills needed at advanced levels. The study underscores how the mainstreamers’ success is largely attributed to the alignment between family practices and the school’s curriculum. In contrast, families from Trackton and Roadville face cultural and social challenges that contribute to lower achievement rates.

Writing difficulties among Athabascan students can often be attributed to a mismatch between their inherent discourse patterns and those prevalent in educational settings, as noted by Scollon and Scollon (1981). They observed that Athabascan speakers are capable of creating coherent texts on familiar subjects when they feel it is appropriate to assert authority. However, when it comes to writing tasks, the Scollon study points out that Athabascan students struggle to express themselves effectively, even on topics related to their own culture. They conclude, “It is only to the extent that he or she is modernized, has come to identify as an English speaker, that he or she can operate within the essayist ideal of literacy” (p. 53).

Similarly, Yetta Goodman (1992) highlighted challenges faced by Tohono O’odham children in Arizona during a two-year writing project. Goodman noted various factors influencing writing, including parental, cultural, and community values, societal attitudes toward young authors, classroom dynamics, and the personal histories of the writers (p. 218).

Research such as these studies expands our understanding of literacy and underscores the significance of context. However, our application of this knowledge is often superficial. The challenge lies in the absence of a universal approach that can be uniformly applied across classrooms, as such prescriptive measures would undermine the essence of social literacy research. Educational strategies that succeed with Tohono O’odham children in Arizona, for instance, may not necessarily be effective for Latino children in Houston, TX, and vice versa.

This discussion proposes integrating authentic orality by incorporating culturally sensitive discourse patterns into instruction. The concept of “la nueva fábula” offers a framework for implementing appropriate literacy practices using culturally embedded literature in students’ native languages. This approach involves two main criteria: (1) Pedagogy should incorporate students’ discourse patterns and deepen understanding of how students and their families utilize literacy, aligning this knowledge with the school’s discourse patterns; and (2) Emphasis should be placed on transformative, dialogic engagement among teachers, students, and parents, focusing on cultural transactional issues and seeking action-oriented solutions.

The Strength of Cultural Identity

The relationship between social and cultural factors and literacy development has been extensively studied from cognitive and psychological viewpoints. Research provides compelling evidence that cultural and social differences between home and school can negatively impact student achievement. This is exemplified by the Athabascan youth, who face identity crises when acquiring literacy skills (Erickson, 1984; Trueba, 1991). Studies suggest that students learn best in educational settings that are culturally and linguistically relevant (Tharp & Gallimore, 1988; Au, 1993).

 Ferdman (1991) argues that the success or failure of literacy development in linguistically and culturally diverse students is closely linked to the strength of their cultural identity. His research indicates that literacy education can have a significant impact on an individual’s cultural identity, which can be either constructive or destructive. When individuals lose the ability to explore and create meaning in culturally significant ways, their literacy development gradually deflates, much like a balloon drifting aimlessly through empty space. Ferdman emphasizes the importance of students maintaining a healthy self-concept and an open-minded perception of others. Achieving this requires students to have a positive self-view and self-acceptance, which are essential for appreciating and valuing others—an important objective in multicultural education (Banks, 1994).

Thus, self-acceptance is closely tied to how students engage with the literacy curriculum. Ferdman explains: “In a more subtle but no less powerful way, the reading and writing activities that children are asked to engage in at school, to the extent that they’re accepted, will ultimately affect not only the children’s sense of who they are but the ways in which they can figure out their cultural identity” (1991, p. 363).

It is crucial, therefore, to consider literacy activities from the family’s perspective to determine how these can be integrated or aligned with school or mainstream literacy programs. In a pioneering ethnographic study, Concha Delgado-Gaitan (1990) examined the literacy practices of 20 Spanish-speaking families who identified as Mexicans in a small California community. Her research provides valuable insights into how home literacy is interwoven with everyday activities and social interactions, ranging from emotional support for children’s education to parents reading storybooks (p. 105). Delgado-Gaitan includes transcript excerpts that showcase a variety of oral and literacy activities between parents and children. These interactions illustrate how parents effectively convey their values, beliefs, and attitudes through a variety of interactions. For instance, a mother and her three children share a photo album, exchanging comments and reminiscing about their life in El Rancho (the ranch) compared to city living. In another example, a father engages in a playful dialogue with his young son and daughter using the story of “Caperucita Roja” (Little Red Riding Hood), adding absurd details to the delight of his son. The study provides ample evidence that these families engage in typical oral and literacy activities in Spanish, as one might expect in English.

Delgado-Gaitan’s observations note that when schools respect and incorporate families’ cultures into the curriculum and involve parents in decision-making, everyone involved is empowered. This empowerment leads to increased parental involvement; informed parents, in turn, inform others; and leadership and organizational skills among parents improve. This empowerment process also has a positive effect on children and teachers.

Delgado-Gaitan’s research highlights the significant role of oracy and literacy in strengthening parent-child relationships through problem-solving and decision-making activities. Parents often respond to their children’s displeasures or whims with negotiation and authority, contributing to the moral development of the children. Delgado-Gaitan’s transcripts document how parents view and uphold their lifelong parental responsibilities. For example, one parent noted that respect in older children stems from being taught obedience in their early years (p. 88).

Spanish-speaking families also utilize strategies such as “dichos”—proverbs or sayings—to impart lessons of morality and responsibility. Bilingual classroom activities often include dichos, whether embedded in stories or in read-alouds (e.g., Ada, 1993). These proverbs, rich in wisdom, are used intentionally in social interactions with both children and adults. When directed toward children, the meaning is typically didactic.

Fables belong to the same didactic category as “dichos” (sayings) and are crafted primarily to impart morals in an engaging manner. These simple tales typically feature animal characters to convey their messages. Originating in ancient oral traditions across the world, one of the most renowned collections is “Aesop’s Fables,” so named after the Greek storyteller who lived in the 6^th century BCE, compiled and published by Samuel Richardson in England in 1740 (Noel, 1975). Although the fable’s literary appeal began to wane by the 19th century, it has remained a cornerstone of children’s literature. Notable Spanish language fabulists include José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi and José Rosas Moreno from Mexico, as well as Tomás de Iriarte and Félix María Samaniego from Spain (de Pina, 1963).

As a literary genre, the fable is celebrated for its practicality and simplicity, adhering to a straightforward formula: a “pithy narrative using animals to act out human foibles and consequent moral, either explicit or implicit” (Noel, 1975, p. 1). Unlike basic narratives, imagination plays a crucial role in fables. By employing this formula alongside culturally relevant lessons, fables become powerful tools for engaging children in meaningful and potentially transformative discussions.

The teacher plays an essential role in fostering meaningful dialogue, akin to the critical analysis described by Freire and Macedo (1986) as a core component of critical literacy. To effectively engage students, teachers must be acutely aware of their students’ cultural, social, and political contexts. Recognizing the oppressive power dynamics within society is crucial for teachers to involve students in a transformative process central to la nueva fabula. Through this process, teachers empower students to develop a literacy that enables them to understand their world and equips them with the responsibility and courage to enact necessary changes. However, true transformation is reciprocal. It requires teachers to undergo a parallel enlightenment—not identical to that of their students, but genuine nonetheless. Teachers, therefore, must also embrace the courage that Gee (1990) refers to in his loaded gun analogy.

The transformative nature inherent in the pedagogy that results from the literacy event using la nueva fabula has the potential of creating the language of “hope and possibility” which Hermán Garcia (1995) alluded to in his keynote speech to the Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE) conference participants. He states: “Nuestra lucha pedagógica tiene que llevar en sí un lenguaje de esperanza y posibilidad, que nutra a las nuevas construcciones de docencia y aprendizaje, y que nos permitan realizar el potencial académico e intellectual, que necesitamos desarrollar para nuestras perspectivas instruccionales. (p.9)

Our pedagogical struggle has to include a language of hope and possibility that nurtures the new constructions of teaching and learning that allow us to realize the academic and intellectual potential that we need to develop for our instructional perspectives.

“La nueva fábula” provides teachers and students with a platform to engage with significant themes pertinent to today’s society. These themes mirror the universal ideals found in the philosophy for children’s curriculum (Lippman, Sharp, and Oskanian, 1980), such as truth, friendship, caring, growth and change, self-confidence, conflict mediation and resolution, and self-analysis and reflection in problem-solving. The transformative potential of “la nueva fábula” exemplifies the classroom environment that Miller (1993) advocates, where motivated discussions, supported by teachers at critical points, incite critical reflection. Miller emphasizes that, to cultivate powerful literacy in our complex multicultural world, classrooms must encourage discussions that provoke critical thought. Central issues like social justice, intercultural and inter-ethnic interactions, and peaceful coexistence are vital in contemporary society (p. 262).

In line with Freire’s (1986) concept of education as problem-posing rather than answer-giving, “la nueva fábula” raises more questions than it answers, aiding teachers, students, and their parents in focusing on reflective and critical analysis of social issues. Its potential is unlocked when teachers understand the power of literacy inherent in “la nueva fábula,” and are willing to create their own fables, becoming fabulists themselves. This process encourages children to write their own fables, share them with their parents, and invite their parents to write fables as well. Through this collaborative exploration, these fábulas become tools for students to explore, analyze, reflect, and ultimately transform themselves and their world, fostering a community of inquirers.

Summary

Multicultural literature, particularly “la nueva fábula” or “the new fable,” serves as a powerful tool in bilingual education. These fables, while maintaining traditional instructional qualities, address contemporary sociocultural issues faced by students. By providing a “story as a guide” perspective, they help students develop essential skills and navigate complex identity and cultural challenges.

The lack of quality bilingual literature, particularly in Spanish, presents challenges for language minority students. This issue mirrors historical patterns of literacy suppression, highlighting the need for culturally relevant and authentic literature. The “la nueva fabula” project framework emphasizes leveraging students’ resources and community engagement to develop literacy programs that empower students and challenge dominant cultural norms.

Inherent in the ‘story as guide’ as a literacy curriculum model is the importance of culturally relevant literacy practices, particularly through the framework of “la nueva fábula.” This approach integrates authentic orality and culturally sensitive discourse patterns into instruction, emphasizing transformative, dialogic engagement among teachers, students, and parents. By incorporating students’ cultural identities and experiences into literacy activities, “la nueva fábula” empowers students to understand their world and enact positive change.

References

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Creating the Magical World of a Mediated Curricular Model

Dr. Irma N. Guadarrama

Metaphors and visualizations serve as potent tools for re-framing theoretical perspectives, particularly those that lack clear connectivity to its intended application. In this article, I delve into the Ecliptic Convergence Curricular model, which represents a convergence of the internal and external worlds within and outside of schools, respectively, that fill the microcosms of students. At the core of this model lies the student’s engagement in learning, facilitating connections within their socio-cultural and linguistically diverse contexts and their teachers. The teachers, with the sole objective of fostering meaningful learning, create a learning environment based on a well-planned, deliberate, and mediated instructional model. The uniqueness of this pedagogy is its transformative force, enabling the curriculum to undergo a positive metamorphosis of learning for both students and teachers. 

Although the Ecliptic Convergence model draws inspiration from an expanded version of Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), its primary focus is on constructing the convergence zone within a school community, but it also extends beyond the classroom and school setting. This convergence event functions as a collaborative space where the entire school community actively contributes to the construction of meaning. Teachers, staff members, students, and indeed all members of a community of learners engage in reflective and socially constructed experiences that align with well-structured, student-centered educational goals and objectives. 

The image of the Ecliptic Convergence symbolizes a curriculum that has been gradually evolving, akin to the sun and moon intersecting during an eclipse. However, an enhanced interpretation of this image represents a total eclipse that illuminates student success rather than obscures it. This suggests that the significance of centering the curriculum is achieved through mediation in its various forms and by different stakeholders. Classroom teachers play a crucial role as mediators by providing the means through which students can utilize their own experiences and resources to transcend their state of knowing, guiding their newly internalized learning toward transformative levels. Transformative knowledge often arises from meaningful collaboration among a community of learners. In this process, the teacher as mediator, is key to the meaningful evolution of change. Critical mediation in the classroom is a shared process in the social construction of new knowledge and understandings within a broad socio-historical context in which education occurs (Freire, 1970, 1985). 

The theory and practice underpinning this Ecliptic Convergence Model are derived from a collaborative research project known as the Fable Writing Project. Key participants include the author, who assumes the role of university educator and researcher, and three groups comprising of fourth and fifth-grade students, each accompanied by their respective teachers from distinct schools within the same school district. The data collection encompasses the original fables crafted by the students and transcribed interviews conducted with some of the participating teachers, coupled with the author’s field notes. The data analysis yielded a comprehensive dataset that was subsequently organized into objectives, activities, and outcomes of the Ecliptic Convergence framework. This framework was further structured into six interconnected areas, many of which intersect within the praxis state. These include: 1) learning as a mutually transformative act; 2) teacher commitment; 3) language mediation; 4) a responsive curriculum; 5) intersubjectivity; and 6) extensions beyond the school curriculum. 

Interactive Collaborative Action Research: Contextualizing Theory

The following narrative outlines the sequence of events that led to the creation and development of the Fable Writing Project. In the personal narrative, the author combines reflective narrative experience with the theory-building process of the Ecliptic Convergence framework.

One warm and humid spring morning, I arrived at an elementary school in a large urban school district in Southeast Texas. The school, relatively large with around 800 students, mostly Latino, was situated in an urban neighborhood filled with apartment buildings. My purpose for visiting the school was to learn more about an event involving children and their teacher who had traveled from their home country of Guatemala to share their photography project as part of Foto Fest. Foto Fest, a biennial Global Visions project, funded by a contemporary arts organization, is a city-wide program that encourages and supports individuals to express themselves creatively through photography.

Upon my arrival, several classrooms of upper-grade elementary students and their teachers had gathered in the school’s cafetorium. On stage, four children, three boys and one girl, between the ages of 10 and 12, and their teacher were waiting to share their experiences and insights. The girl wore a customary blouse and skirt adorned with colorful embroidered markings, symbolizing her indigenous origins, while the boys wore a white shirt and dark pants. The four children sat together at a table, eagerly awaiting directions from their teacher. Each had a 35mm camera carefully placed in front of them. At the end of the table stood the teacher next to a slide projector. She was of medium height, in her early thirties, with long light brown hair and dressed casually. 

As soon as the audience appeared ready, she introduced herself and the children. She communicated in her native English and translated most of her messages into Spanish for the benefit of the bilingual audience. She explained that she was a professional photographer originally from the United States who had lived and worked in Guatemala for six years. As a teacher in the Foto Fest project, she had many of her young apprentices take photographs, some as young as five years old. The main purpose of her program was to share selected photographs that were accepted and featured in the Foto Fest project. However, the audience seemed eager to hear from the young, Guatemalan photographers.

The teacher turned her presentation to the slide projector, displaying a large portable screen filled with black-and-white photographs. These photographs, taken by her students and developed by herself, provided a glimpse into the lives of students living in an economically depressed area in Guatemala. The teacher described the families residing in these deprived circumstances, which seemed to be living in humanely uninhabitable conditions. The photographs captured images of garbage strewn throughout the neighborhood, adding to the sense of neglect and hardship. Despite their anxious expressions, the Guatemalan children remained silent throughout the entire slide presentation. In contrast, the children in the audience appeared captivated and intrigued, eagerly viewing each slide with curiosity. The Foto Fest teacher emphasized that these photographs were not just visual representations of life, but rather a window into the perspectives and life experiences of her students. 

Unlike any other similar event, I will never forget the essence of it. I recall some details from one of the photographs: a woman lying in bed, wearing a blouse, skirt, and shoes. Her legs dangled over the side of the bed, as if she were sitting on the bed and had suddenly dropped her head on the pillow. Ironically, a bare bulb hanging above her from the ceiling seemed to brighten a very stark, somber-looking room. The teacher explained that the woman had, in fact, passed out from drinking too much alcohol. This photograph was taken by a student whom the teacher described as extremely quiet and reserved. Indeed, the young apprentice-photographer had very little to say, but his photographs conveyed the story perfectly. Every photograph presented by the teacher was a vivid portrayal of life, collectively forming a resounding narrative that conveyed a story encompassing historical, cultural, and social contexts. 

At that moment, I surveyed the audience and couldn’t help but wonder how many of these children had so much to say but lacked an outlet or means to express themselves. Even if they had some opportunities, I couldn’t help but think about how many of them could comprehend the immense challenges they face in their lives. The program opened my eyes and heart, as I felt it had done for many in the audience, especially the children. Perhaps by learning how the young Guatemalan photographers dealt with their emotions and the need for expression, they felt enlightened about the possibility of finding their own ways to express themselves. 

After the program concluded, the four children and their teacher were escorted to one of the fifth-grade bilingual education classes. I approached the fifth-grade classroom teacher, whom I had learned was Mr. Thompson, and requested permission to visit his classroom. Upon his approval, I joined the fifth graders, who were extremely excited and energetic, along with the four Guatemalan children and their teacher. 

When we arrived at the classroom, I noticed that the fifth graders had prepared to welcome the four visitors. Before the event, they had brought their photographs from home and displayed them on their desks. The students proudly showed the visitors around the room, allowing them to view their personal photographs. Their photographs were in color, and most of the subjects were properly posed. Many of the photographs focused on the students and their family members. The four children seemed to enjoy studying the photographs as they moved quickly from desk to desk. It was evident to me that the children were having an especially, enjoyable time together. 

Mr. Thompson asked his students to share something with the visitors. A few students eagerly volunteered to demonstrate some advanced math operations they had recently learned. They then asked questions directed at the Foto Fest teacher. In one of her responses, the teacher proudly mentioned that the young girl, Margarita, was bilingual, fluent in Spanish and her native Mayan language. Excited by this, some of the 5th graders asked her to speak a few words in her native language. Initially, Margarita was hesitant, indicating that she was unprepared for such requests. 

I was profoundly impressed by the respect, warmth, and friendliness displayed by the fifth graders. I sensed a strong bond among them and with Mr. Thompson. I was eager to learn more about these children and how Mr. Thompson had cultivated such a genuine relationship with them and fostered such joyous enthusiasm.

A few weeks later, I approached Mr. Thompson with a proposal: a bilingual writing project where his students would write their original stories. We would collaborate on a fable writing project, using fables as inspirational guides to help students craft their own stories and life lessons that resonate with them. By reflecting on these stories, the aim was to empower the students. To my astonishment and delight, Mr. Thompson graciously accepted my invitation. 

The Fable Writing Project

The idea of a fable writing project as a literacy event to develop critical thought began as a paper presentation in the fall of 1995 at the first annual international conference of an organization, the Emerging Literature of the Southwest Culture. Mr. Thompson’s classroom project followed a process with several key project activities: 1) the students are given the opportunity to develop and practice literacy skills using a genre that was familiar to most of the students; 2) students, classroom teachers, and university teacher/researcher have the opportunity to participate in a dialogue with students, using their linguistic and cultural resources; all of the activities are conducted bilingually, in Spanish and English; 3) the use of fables allows students the opportunity to reflect upon their own experiences; the lessons learned include the affirmations of empowerment and self-esteem; 4) the culminating activity includes the presentation of the student’s original fable, invitations to read their story to their peers and/or act it out and present it as a skit; and 5) students were informed from the outset that we would publish their fables in a booklet and they would each receive a copy.

Following the successful completion of the project with Mr. Thompson, I was granted permission to collaborate with two other elementary schools, each providing one classroom. Although I initiated the project, the classroom teachers agreed to maintain a collaborative work arrangement. As a result, we published two volumes of the children’s original fables, which every student received: Cuéntame una fábula and Cuéntame más fábulas. 

How Teachers and Students Connect in the Ecliptic Convergence Model 

Vygotsky’s (1962, 1978, 1986), Freire’s (1970, 1985, 1987, 1994), and Bakhtin’s (1981, 1986) theoretical works are widely recognized as foundational in research related to teaching diverse student populations, particularly in social and cultural contexts that focus on marginalized students. However, applying theory to practice requires rigorous examination and analysis of scholarly interpretations, highlighting the theory’s logical yet complex nature. In this section, I outline the theoretical underpinnings inherent in Vygotsky, Freire, and Bakhtin’s theories, which serve as the essential building blocks for the Ecliptic Convergence Model. I analyze excerpts from an interview transcript of a teacher to illustrate their perspective and practical applications of these theoretical concepts. A suitable definition of these essential building blocks is grounded in a belief system where actions and behaviors follow a chain of events. The teacher’s role is crucial in understanding how critical mediation supports students in the deliberation process of empowerment in the classroom and beyond. Teachers’ theoretical notions of teaching and learning intersect with every aspect of the curriculum, often in multidimensional ways. 

1) Learning is a mutually transformative act. Learning is not just transactional; it is also transformational.  Transformative learning is based on a teacher’s belief that success is achieved when the teacher engages students in a mutual quest for understanding and for creating ways of problematizing. Consciousness is defined here as learning for transcendence, encompassing deep critical analysis of one’s own life within a social context. Freire’s (1970) concept of liberating pedagogy explains the need to help students focus on reconstructing conceptual understanding to achieve ownership of the knowledge. When students reconstruct knowledge and make it their own, their limitations for critical consciousness are lifted, and social responsibility and action ensue, freeing themselves from their states of oppressiveness.

Certainly, teachers must assume a purposeful intuitive role in orchestrating mediation that supports a liberating context, one that moves increasingly farther away from a transmissional linear and controlling model of teaching, as in Freire’s (1970) term, the banking model. The aim is for students to self-regulate their own process of learning. As Vygotsky explained in his theory of how learning and teacher are organized within the zone of proximal development through the mediating process, students apply what they learn inter-psychologically, i.e., through transformative interaction with others in a social milieu, and toward the next inner plane of learning intra-psychologically, the application of tasks using their own cognitive resources. In order to help their students move continuously within their ZPD (Vygotsky, 1978), teachers must be cognizant of a wide range of learning that their students have acquired as well as what they need to be to construct or reconstruct in order to achieve consciousness in relation to the instructional objective (Dixon Krause, 1996).

Through engagement in the process of mediation on the part of the teacher and self-regulation on the part of the student, both teacher and student are transformed to the extent that they each learn and benefit from the experience. In this way, education, not simply learning, is transformational.

2) Teachers play significant roles in the lives of their students. Many language minority children and their families in urban schools view their school as the most important aspect in their lives. It symbolizes a gateway to the “better life,” or the only hope to realize any part of the “American Dream.” Teachers who recognize this and make genuine efforts to understand their students and families’ perceptions and empathize with them are in a better position to design an educational program that clearly eliminates the needs of the students. Teacher commitment is signified by the acknowledgement that they will make a significant difference in the quality of the curriculum, and that their program will have positive effects on the lives of their students by design, not by serendipity.

3) Language is a strong mediator according to Vygotsky (1986; Dixon Krauss, 1996). Language is vitally important for second language learners. Critical mediation occurs in optimal states when teachers are cognizant of the levels of tension that students experience in the process of becoming bilingual and bicultural. 

On one level, the student must deal with the pressure of learning English and subject matter simultaneously. According to the research on learning a second language, it takes school-aged children two to seven years to learn English well enough to function successfully in a classroom setting (Collier, 1989). On another level, in a context where the predominant language of school is English, students who have a non-English native language experience daily confrontations in their battle over which of the two languages is more important, or to put it another way, which language should they imbue with respect, power, higher class status, and devote more time learning. The struggle involves more than just language according to Bakhtin’s (1981; 1986) explanation of heteroglossia and patterns of speech genres. Every utterance in Bakhtin’s (1981) view is full of meanings. The “voice” connected with the utterance always expresses a worldview; both voice and utterance are not always focused and fine-tuned to neither the speaker nor the individual to whom the message is intended (Cazden, 1993). For a student, the battle is over language as well as identity, with all its social, political, historical, and cultural ramifications (Wertsch, 1991).

The classroom is the intersection at which the students’ worlds collide and vie for domination, metamorphically aligned with Bakhtin’s notions of the centrifugal and centripetal forces inherent in the social aspects of language (Bakhtin, 1981; Yaegar, 1994). The centrifugal nature of language is evident in the use of the native language and in a mixture of both languages that is generated by students and teachers alike, such as code-switching, or translanguaging, and borrowings at the phonological, syntactical, and semantic levels. The hegemonic influence that positions English as the dominant language, or the language of power and social status, is represented in the centripetal force that is commonly exerted by the authoritarian figures, such as teachers and principals. Students readily predict which language or language variety is to emerge victoriously, and once they acquire the English language, they often perceive their achievement as a Pyrrhic victory for the loss and trauma they endure in the process. In this context, teachers can mediate the dialogic relationships between their students’ two or more languages. The aim is for students to acquire a perspective in which they have control over their identities; to understand that becoming bilingual is not detrimental to their “selves” or to their native cultures. 

The mediation provided by the teachers is not unlike Vygotsky’s (1986) notion of semiotic mediation, whereby the teacher guides the students from simple to higher-level cognitive processes (Dixon Krause, 1996; Wertsch, 1991), but it is also extended by the incorporation of Bakhtin’s (1981) notion of the sociocultural dimensions of language, explaining that language is inclusive of many social languages. This task can be challenging for teachers since they must have knowledge of the student’s ZPD and a clear understanding of the social, cultural, and political context by which institutions such as schools make decisions and/or exert power over the curriculum.

In Freirean (1987) education, language is a powerful tool because it serves to mediate how people interpret reality. Language allows the students and teacher to engage in meaningful dialogue by which students participate actively determining the course of their education in cooperative and participatory formats, posing questions and reflecting, analyzing, and establishing agendas for action (Shor, 1993). Freirean (1970) pedagogy encourages students to tell their own stories; stories that provide the structure of how students’ voices may be heard, especially repressed voices (McLaren & da Silva, 1993). Oftentimes, children are unable to express their innermost feelings or make sense of their complicated lives. The Fable Writing project is designed to allow students the opportunity to experience storytelling by reflecting on their own lives and to acquire a consciousness of control that may be missing from their lives as a mediating filter. The fable represents a safety net that ensures students a degree of comfort in taking risks in expressing themselves perhaps in unprecedented ways. It is, as McLaren and de Silva (1993) mentioned, “the task of the critical educator to provide the conditions for individuals to acquire language that will enable them to reflect upon and shape their own experiences and in certain instances transform such experiences in the interest of a larger project of social responsibility.” (p. 49)

In creating fables, students who participated in the project reflected on their lives and artfully analyzed didactic elements within them and used their imagination to carve out lessons. Their fables are inspiring, affirming what McLaren and de Silva conveyed in their statement: “in fact, making an experience into a story is perhaps the most fundamental act of human understanding.” (p. 73) Furthermore, the contextual and conceptual dialogue propelled by the study and writing of fables formed the basis for the development of interpretive understanding that Gadamer (1984) describes as the essence of humanness. This kind of understanding that takes one beyond the imagined or preconceived situations to think critically is possibly a prime example of a potentially transformative experience.

4) A responsive curriculum is imbedded in the sociocultural historical context that is made relevant to the students. The call for the development of localism, i.e., the incorporation of context in the curriculum by educators, has been a dominant theme among the work of prominent scholars such as Dewey (1966), Goodlad (1984, 1990), and Schwab (1996, 1983). The heart of the matter is that teachers have the strongest influence in shaping the curriculum in a way that is truly relevant to their students. But to engage students in the process of developing critical thought and consciousness teachers must first become intimately knowledgeable with this experience through dialectical thinking, i.e., examining all possibilities of posing and solving critical problems at the individual and social levels.

Teachers must first experience conscientization to achieve the knowing subject role that Freire (1970) describes, alluding to immersing oneself in the learning phase to facilitate students through their self-actualization process. This clearly points to the need for teachers to comprehend broadly and multilaterally the social, cultural, political, and economic issues in our democratic society that control and stratify the distribution of power and control, resulting in repressed mental states and oppressed social and political conditions. For marginalized students in urban schools. these conditions are antithetical to an education that helps them think critically and resolve cultural and social problems.

Several theories and pedagogues (Bowles & Gintis, 1976; Giroux,1983; Apple, 1979; McLaren, 1986; Shor, 1987) have expounded on the hidden curriculum found in our schools that silently but insidiously inculcates the values, ideals, and rituals of the dominant ideology in our society. For students already in marginalized social situations, this serves to further affirm their perceptions of self-acclaimed failure and acceptance of a bleak future. Manifestations of a hidden curriculum include the consistency of certain practices such as the emphasis on rule conformity, passivity, obedience, and the blatant disregard for the integrity of students and their abilities to think critically and creatively. Recognizing how the school plays an integral part in contributing to the repression or oppression of the students is essential if teachers are to take active, deliberate steps to ameliorate the educational pathways and oppose pernicious practices and actions in the school curriculum.

A responsive and empowering curriculum is one that encourages critical thought and incorporates a process by which students can learn about their own personal and family histories as well as the political and social backgrounds and agendas of their immediate and global communities. Teachers can greatly influence students by taking an active part in this process, and in effect, use inquiry and experimental modes that conform to transformative teaching and learning (Freire, 1985; Vygotsky, 1978). Acknowledging and validating student’s native languages and cultures is crucial to students’ self-acceptance and motivation that is necessary to build a future over which they manage self-control.

The use of fables as a literacy event highlights important goals in education that is empowering and liberating. It renders students the opportunity to analyze and critique their moral and ethical views, to examine their perceptions of control about their lives, and consider ways in which they can assume a greater influence. It creates a venue for teachers and their students to become focused on reflecting over their own and others’ perceptions, judgments, and for seeking truth. Teachers can facilitate the process of critical analysis and at the same time learn about and from their students (Freire & Macedo, 1987). The dialogical method in literacy instruction described by Freire & Macedo (1987) highlights the teacher and learner co-investigation pairing to address problem-solving instead of following the traditional one-way transmission model.  

A Genuine and Productive Parent Involvement

Involving parents in the education of their students is one of the most essential aspects of a program that aims for structural, systemic change. The most important kinds of parental involvement are, like the curriculum, very localized. Thus, appropriate means to involve parents may include literacy or other functional, practical classes, depending on their needs and of the community. it may also mean that parents need to take an active leadership in helping others to understand relevant social and political issues, engaging in the social process of enlightenment and action. In Freirean terms (1985), this alludes to the various means by which to shatter the preconception of school as an impervious institution. Parents are more apt to participate in their children’s education when they perceive their involvement with the school as genuine and productive. A responsive environment, characteristic of an Ecliptic Convergence Model, is a whole-school, community effort.

It is the totality of the orchestration by teachers, students, parents, school leaders, and community members that will make the greatest impact on the education of students.

5) Intersubjectivity between the teacher and students illuminates the important role of affect in education. The extent to which a teacher contextualizes meaning for students and genuinely engages in their understandings determines the substantive degree of intersubjectivity between the teacher and students. From a student’s point of view intersubjectivity underscores the ease and extent to which the teacher embodies their lives throughout the curriculum. Students consider this as indicative of their teachers’ acknowledgement and validation of them their language, their culture, and background. A teacher can organize an endless number of strategies and techniques and activities to promote an affable psychological climate and may implement them to achieve an overall effect.

However, a teacher’s greatest influence lies within the perception of his or her himself as a symbol of trust and sincerity for his or her students. Perhaps, the best way for a teacher to exercise his or her influence is by creating a nexus not only between him and herself and the students but between and among students as well. A teacher’s influence is so pervasive that one can argue that every aspect of teacher behavior is dynamic. A teacher may strengthen or weaken the bonds between and among students, depending on whether her actions or words are inviting or meant to trigger delineation and distance. Every utterance made by the teacher is measured by the student psychologically, socially, and politically.

A high degree of intersubjectivity is observable in the substantive, genuine discourse, and consistent invitation of language that the teacher uses and makes significant through example and encouragement. According to Freire (1994), genuine discourse is observable when teachers and students engage in the sharing of subjectivity, leading toward critical consciousness through dialogue based on recognition, trust, and hope. Vygotsky’s emphasizes learning as a product of socially organized collaborative engagement, co-constructed through meaningful participation (1978).

6) A school community must embrace the past, present, and future of its students. A localized school curriculum is affected in great part by the lives of the students and their families. The interactive relationship between curriculum and community must extend beyond the time frame that students spend in the school. In other words, the goals mission and qualities of the school curriculum must be framed by the characteristic of the students before they attend the school, during their enrollment, and after the final school bell. 

In this regard we can argue that a school community exists in space and time; a school curriculum then, is transformative when it reaches students beyond this sphere of actuality, into the sphere of possibilities (Freire, 1985). As such, the students’ futures are just as relevant as are their preschool years. Planning a curriculum for students that encompasses in-school and out-of-school seems like an enormous task, beyond the capability of a school. However, unless a school embraces the educational lifespan of students it cannot be more than a transitional phase resembling the educational programs of late, schooling practices that reproduces ideology and cultural dominance (Freire, 1985).  The basis for planning an all-encompassing program is a process used for collecting the data on the students. Teachers can systematically learn about their students and their families as they collect valuable data using a processual approach to achieve the dual objectives of informing and transforming.

One example of a curricular project that correlates with a transformative model is the Funds of Knowledge for Teaching Project (Gonzalez, 1995; Moll & Gonzalez, 1994). This model combines conceptual knowledge and research methods using anthropological frameworks that coincide with teaching and learning in a social and cultural milieus. Teachers rely on ethnographic skills and understandings to learn about their students’ in-school and out-of-school socio-cultural environment, reflecting upon their experiences within a whole school perspective. Thus, teachers develop a birds-eye view of an effective, wholistic approach to working with students, strengthening their ability to connect and transform, which constitute key curricular elements inherent in an Ecliptic Convergence Model. 

The Funds of Knowledge for Teaching Project is featured in Volume Four of the Discovering Our Experiences: Studies in Bilingual/ESL Education (1997) series.

An Interview with an Mr. Thompson

The fifth- grade teacher, Mr. Thompson and his students, were the first classroom group to work with us on the Fable Writing Project. We were very fortunate to have his lead as the school partner collaborator. In his interview, we discover his remarkable ideas and practices that are aligned with the mediation curricular model presented in this feature.

The following is an excerpt of his interview; you can read his entire interview in the PDF file at the end of this post.

Mr. Thompson describes his teaching philosophy and shares his views on how he actualizes the curriculum:

I always think about being meaningful, being real. The first step that I do is re-establish journal writing. I will spend the first two or three months writing to each student, getting to know them, corresponding to them. Once they understand that we relate, that I am serious, that I feel that I care about their future, then we can go from there. So, I see myself with the philosophy that I really want to empower my students. I want them to take positions, to take stands, to understand that, even though you may be in a certain position at this moment but one day it will all be up to you; that you’ll be in control, that you’ll be able to partake within the system, no matter what country that you’re living in. You’re not just a person walking through life; so, I try to establish first of all a sense of trust, a sense of identity; and secondly, I talk about my experience living in this country where I have been and I try to expose them to the idea that there’s more. You can have it all, you’re young enough, you’re bright enough. Let’s go for it. And thirdly, I look at what is it that a child in fifth grade needs. I do a needs assessment. I’m one of very few teachers that asked the child, ‘what do you want me to teach you? ‘what is it that you want to learn?’ And we go from there; of course, you have the requirements: these are things that I would like for them to learn; you have to go out and look for books, you have to brainstorm, you borrow, you ask others ‘what are you doing? what do you think about this?

I had a teacher that I worked with for five years who was my mentor when I first started. I would always call him at the office: What do you think about this, what is it that these kids need? And more than anything they need to first have the joy of the love to read. Once they start to read and then, you show them the penny words versus the five-dollar words vocabulary, that’s very important. I tell my kids, you guys are so smart you’re the best class; you’ve got the best teacher. after they began to feel and see that; they began to show it. So, I do I lot of positive brainwashing and that’s something that’s not written anywhere.

I asked Mr. Thompson about how he worked with his students on the Fable Writing Project.

In this classroom there have been factions because I have transitioned students along with regular students. We have names, cliques within this classroom. We have incidents that will sit with some and that will not with others and they would change. I started out the year by writing sayings on the board. This summer we’re reading a book on a person. I put on the board, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover, and then we decide what that means later on. In Social Studies we read on the Pilgrims – what they said about education. The Pilgrims said that in order to please God a person needs to work hard. We talk about Jose Marti a lot, from his philosophy, on what being honorable means. So, I have brought have brought all that to the students. I have encouraged them to bring things to the classroom to share. So when you shared the fables their lights were turning. They understand. I think my kids are very mature beyond their years; I have an exceptional class. A lot of them bring a lot of unique experiences where they have been betrayed. In this classroom there are what an American would term as dysfunctional families. A lot of my students don’t share a lot of things with me – to allow to tell me. It’s not easy to trust, especially when it comes down to men. They talk to me about that. A lot of them have had really bad experiences because they don’t speak English.

So, what I try to convey is ‘Yes, I understand, but I hope you understand that not all people are the same.’ This is a class of freedom; you can say whatever you want to say as long as you are respectful. It doesn’t matter how you say it; I encourage you not to hold anything in. Sometimes it appears that there’s disorder but there’s order, even in the writing. First you start with disorder; hopefully, by the end you’ll have order within it. The kids are very bright beyond their years. I gave them a model in the beginning. I brought things in the classroom. I brought a parent to come and do a presentation on José Martí. We talk about freedom; everything is coming out of Social Studies, and sometimes, we close the book and say, ‘Let’s analyze this, what does this mean?’ It’s the same process of summary. Tell me what the person is saying in words. I tried to get inside the feelings; you don’t do things unless it’s meaningful. so when they write it’s personal. ‘Don’t tell me what I want to hear, tell me what you feel; if you don’t want to do it this moment, don’t do it; come back and do it.’ That’s what my biggest fear about fables, that you came at the end of the year and then nobody wanted to do it. And when they said they were going to do it, I was shocked. I felt that I had to plead the children of every single ounce and then, I was more shocked the other day when they wanted to invite you back again. In my classroom, I can say that I try to bring in things that give them opportunity to see themselves; try to find books with Hispanic surnames; books that are about their culture. These fables are fantastic; they could relate to them.

I asked Mr. Thompson to elaborate on the kinds of expectations he holds for his students.

“Don’t imitate. We want the original thing here.’ You’ll ask them what I stand for, they will tell you – imagination; what does C stand for- creativity. My basic expression is you want to do this in color (Spanish pronunciation), If you write something, I want to see some color; I want to see some flair; make me want to read. We talk about writing – their dream homes. describe it; make me want to read your story – bring me into it. They understand. First, you give them an example. It’s the same thing in everything. Let’s put a little color into it. Put some music in it. When you read, when you do anything I want to hear music. I will tell them sometimes I don’t hear any music. Sometimes I’ll stop the class and say, ‘Do you hear it?” And they’ll go, ¿Qué? Well, when you hear it, bring your paper back, and they say that I’m crazy.

We learned that we have to laugh at ourselves. It used to be that they had to defend themselves. But now when you say something, we all have names. All my students have names; they’re names that we have given and have adopted. No one has ever gotten upset about the different names. My students have seen me cry on several occasions. There have been kids who have left my classroom; I couldn’t take it. They would ask me, ‘Are you going to cry?’ I said yes, and I’d cry, and that’s just the way it is when I’m upset. I won’t hide it. They know it but I let them know that is normal. Whatever you’re feeling, it is normal. If one day you come into my classroom you say, ‘ I was up late last night and I really didn’t do my homework.’ I say, ‘I understand.’ This is the first class I can say that all my writing projects have been completed. I have a reputation of not knowing when to stop because it’s something that I really and truly enjoy. I tell the kids and their parents I will teach whatever it is that you want to learn but more than anything else I will show you how you can teach yourself. I can only show you but actually you’re going to teach yourself. I’m just going to provide that opportunity.

When I posed a question about how he helped students express their ideas and feelings, he referred to the day the students presented the final draft of their fables. The students took turns reading their fables with a microphone while their classmates improvised them into skits. He added the following:

Everybody has an opinion. Everybody has a voice, and everyone wants to hear it. You notice that when you were ready to leave and I went to take everybody to ancillary, they were fighting to get on stage. I have a group of students that nobody wants to be last; to be disenchanted, left out. What I’ve always taught them is if you think that it’s right when someone says it’s not, you need to address it. There’s a right way and there’s a wrong way to do it. So, I’m teaching to write petitions. Don’t hold anything inside because it will manifest itself later. If you have something to say and you don’t understand it, let’s talk about it. Let’s solve it. If there’s a problem, there must be a solution. The writing is the most important part. You ask the students why do we write and they will answer you, ‘We write to be remembered.’ Anything they do, they want to see their names. What you say people may forget but what you write people will remember.

Mr. Thompson maintains constant communication with many of the parents of his students. Parents often visit him in the classroom. He said the following about parents:

I’m amazed by the amount of love and respect and loyalty that the parents have shown me over the years at Bradford. When one of my students was having immigration problems her mother asked me to adopt her daughter. I was shocked. It was really an honor that someone would actually think well of me to want to adopt their children.

Mr. Thompson’s comments regarding the fact that there’s a general perception of his students as underachievers or cases of lost hope are reminiscent of other teachers who voice their advocacy for their students. He commented the following:

Every one of my students passed the English TAAS except one did not pass the Math. I feel good because a lot of people look at these students and say ‘They can’t do it; I don’t know about this bilingual thing, you’re just wasting your time they’ll never catch up.’ But it’s been done over and over again because no one really knows the ability of the children. I say, ‘Look we’ll do it in English and we’ll do it in Spanish and both of them well.’ It is a good feeling to know ‘Yes, you’re ready to go into the next phase of the program.’

To the question of what he would change in education he responded:

I think our tasks should be revisited. I’m not saying just putting in Spanish surnames in the testing perspectives that appear token. I’m talking about authentic literature. I believe that bilingual education – the way it’s set up today is set up in a segregationist type of environment where the kids are segregated. They don’t have the opportunity to be involved with English-speaking students versus in dual language program where there’s an equal exchange of both of the languages. I would mix the kids more; I would have a lot of distribution of typical Americans: African-Americans, White American students in the same classroom, sharing. Students would be required to go to the lab. I would provide literature and books. I would spend more money on giving them choices. I would not require that every student read the same book. I would have several different types of books in the classroom. I would give the kids better contact with typical American students. The way it is right now at Bradford, if you’re in bilingual education; you’re in a certain stigma; if you’re in a transition then, here you are and if you are regular you’re better than any of them.

In his final comments, Mr. Thompson shares his views about teaching in general and the transformative nature of critical pedagogy.

I tell my students, ‘Yes, I’m your teacher; I like you, I want you to learn the concepts.’ But more than anything else when a child comes into my classroom, I care about their person. I will never turn them down if I cannot rebuild them or make them better. I’ll just leave them alone. What’s important to me is that you really care about students – how they are as people. I feel like if they are whole, everything else will come in time. I want to build them up. This is an additive environment. I’ve learned so much since I’ve been here they’ve made me whole every day. They make me want to get better, do better; it’s a two-way street. I asked them for feedback, ‘What is it that I could do better?’

Reflection & Conclusion

The inspiration and invaluable lessons I gained from collaborating with students and their teachers in the Fable Writing Project were instrumental in my personal and professional transformation. Among numerous observations and insights, the most profound developmental conclusion pertains to the mutually reinforcing intellectual, spiritual, and emotional growth that occurs between teachers and students. This dynamic fosters an inclusive environment that empowers individuals to express themselves freely, and in the process, cultivates a fertile ground for developing critical consciousness. I have gained a heightened awareness of the pivotal role that schools play in students’ lives, recognizing them as institutions that steadfastly transcend conventional perceptions of educational settings.

The theoretical foundation of the Ecliptic Convergence Curricular Model, which serves as the cornerstone of the learning and teaching process, acts as a potent and effective tool for fostering and strengthening the bond between students and teachers. It also cultivates an environment where both students and teachers undergo transformative growth. Indeed, we are naturally connected to each other, but we must learn to recognize, illuminate, and strengthen these relationships to achieve our desired outcomes. The Ecliptic Convergence Model also represents a historical, political, and cultural struggle to localize the curriculum and intentionally and authentically focus on students and their families. I’ve also come to realize the significance of adopting a fresh perspective on critical issues and, in tandem, developing a language that communicates the necessary changes in our schools. This language can only be cultivated through collaborative efforts among teachers, administrators, parents, and university teacher educators.

The overall goals of the university/school collaboration efforts were accomplished; the intended outcomes were evident in two ways: 1) collaborators developed original, localized ideas, framed the problems, and designed action plans, thereby energizing, revitalizing, and creating the language through function and design; and  2) the originality fostered by the collaborations added personal ownership, empowering the participants.  

Collaboration, however, is not always empowering, nor does it automatically lead to change. A transformative collaboration must prioritize the school community as an integral part of students’ and families’ lives. It should result in action plans that are processual, long-term, and extend beyond the school’s physical and temporal boundaries. Critical mediation, a pedagogical tool that bridges the gap between the school and community, empowers teachers to play a pivotal role in guiding students toward academic success.

The enchanting journey that lies ahead is beautifully described by poet and philosopher Antonio Machado, who advises travelers that “there are no clear paths; by walking, we create them.” Indeed, we carve our own paths. We carve them in our journey toward improving the schooling practices for our students. We travel down familiar roads with a fresh and exhilarating perspective, but we also embark on the creation of new pathways toward horizons and experiences never before imagined. We find strength in these ideas when we understand the hopes and dreams of our students and their families.

References

Apple, M. (1979). Ideology and curriculum. Routledge.

Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays (C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Trans.). University of Texas Press.

Bakhtin, M. M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays (V. W. McGee, Trans.; C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Eds.). University of Texas Press.

Bowles, S. & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in capitalist America. Basic Books.

Cazden, C. (1993). Vygotsky, Hymes, and Bakhtin: From word to utterance and voice. In E. A. Forman, N. Minick, & C. A. Stone (Eds.), Contexts for learning: Sociocultural dynamics in children’s development (pp. 197–212). Oxford University Press.

Collier, V. (1989). How long? A synthesis of research on academic achievement in a second language. TESOL Quarterly, 23, 509–531.

Dixon-Krauss. L. (1996). Vygotsky in the classroom: Mediated literacy instruction & assessment. Longman.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Seabury Press.

Freire, P. (1985). Politics of education. Bergin & Garvey.

Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world. Bergin & Garvey.

Freire, P. (1994). Education for critical consciousness. Continuum Publishing.

Gadamer, H. G. (1984). Reason in the age of science. MIT Press.

Giroux, H. A. (1983). Theory and resistance in education. Bergin & Garvey.

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Volume Two, Reflective Practice for Teacher Change was published in the Spring 1995. The role of ‘teacher as leader and researcher‘ in Bilingual/ESL is the primary focus in each article. Co-editor Lockey Kirksey creates a unique layout and design, and guest authors and colleagues, Dr. Kip Téllez and Beti Leone offer their unique perspectives on teachers as researchers.

Volume Two is accessible in its entirety in PDF format at the conclusion of this post.

The excerpts from Volume Two are organized in this post, and divided into three sections:

Section One includes MEET THE TEACHERS, a brief bio on the featured teachers. The interview transcripts are located in the page numbers below the bio. Also in this section is the authored article “Using the Narrative Structure to Discover Our Experiences,”  (p. 44 in the pdf file) which serves as a theoretical framework to present and analyze the narratives of the five teacher interview data.

Section Two: Each of the teacher interviews is summarily analyzed in the article, “Reflections,” (pps.47-53).

Section Three includes the authored article, “Leading With an Eye on the Horizon: Teacher-Leaders in Reflective Practice.” (pps.7-12 in the PDF file) This article presents an overview of the research in teacher research, emphasizing the theories and perspectives of which our Teacher Research Collaborative is anchored.

We encourage the reader to closely notice the teachers’ interviews: their ideas, challenges, concerns, and their passion for teaching. They share so many experiences that we can learn from.

MEET THE TEACHERS

Creative Professionalism

Laura, a kindergarten teacher at an area school, begins her interview by discussing the challenges she faces as the sole bilingual education teacher at her school. She also shares some information about her background and experiences growing up in a Spanish-speaking household and learning English at school.

pp. 14–20

A Family of Learners

Before receiving her teaching certificate, Maryann taught English as a second language to adults in programs sponsored by church groups and recreational centers. She assisted participants in the US Department of Justice amnesty program. Maryann has been teaching in the public schools for three years, two of which have been in mixed-age classrooms as part of a pilot program.

pp. 21–25

Actions With Purpose

At the time of this writing, Diana was teaching in a self-contained bilingual second-grade classroom. She’s currently a doctoral program candidate pursuing a Ph.D. in bilingual education. Besides a second-grade teacher, she has also taught kindergarten and fifth grade. She grew up in west Texas; her parents are originally from South Texas.

pp. 26–31

Committed to Making a Difference

Mark is an elementary school teacher in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. In this interview, he describes his experiences implementing a Newcomer Class at his school.

pp. 32–34

Creating a Risk Free School Community

Suzanne and Richard, experienced professionals and members of the faculty of the International Newcomer Academy in Ft. Worth, share invaluable lessons on how they created the school and work continuously on its development.

pp. 35–43

Using the Narrative Structure to Discover Our Experiences

The narrative approach, a teacher research method, has gained considerable attention within the reflective practice movement. Understanding teachers and fostering their capacity for self-reflection appears to be a pivotal step in formulating effective action plans aimed at enhancing the quality of education. The narrative process serves as a practical inquiry method that enables teachers to actively engage in the implementation of their own research agendas, thereby bolstering their professional roles (Richardson, 1994). It provides avenues for collaboration with fellow teachers, a strategy that frequently leads to the empowerment of teachers as they establish their own community of inquirers (Miller, 1990).

The Narrative Process as Storytelling

The narrative process encompasses comprehensive experiences, often revealing insights into past, present, and future events. Indeed, teacher narratives that describe diverse and numerous experiences frequently produce biographies, some of which can amount to substantial research projects. Research analyzing teacher narratives may also yield data that implies values, feelings, and aesthetic content (Connelly and Clandinin, 1988; Schubert and Ayers, 1992; Hollingsworth, 1992). However, the most effective research technique in the narrative process is not the accumulation of data but rather the skillful pruning and shaping of selected, significant data. For teachers, the narrative process or storytelling serves as an excellent tool for reflection, particularly when it is deliberately focused on profound insights into teaching and the educational process.

Connelly and Clandinin (1988) described the narrative process as “the reconstruction of curriculum meaning from a study of personal experience” (p. 81). Essentially, the narrative process provides teachers with the opportunity to reconstruct or rebuild an experience with the results of clarifying existing knowledge or developing new understandings. The authors elucidate this concept as follows: “It is when we ask ourselves the meaning of a story and tell it in a narrative that we reconstruct the meaning recovered in the story” (p. 81).

Over the past 15 years, research studies on teachers as teachers researchers have provided valuable insights into the utilization of teacher narratives. These studies, conducted by researchers such as Shön (1983) and Richardson (1994), have offered useful lessons for employing teacher narratives in research.

The Narrative Structure

Connelly and Clandinin (1988) have identified several key elements of a narrative structure that facilitate the interpretation and analysis of data. Table 1 succinctly outlines these elements. As in all qualitative research, the success of a research project depends on meticulous attention to the implementation procedures, data collection methods, and interpretation of results. Connelly and Clandinin (1988) offer guidance on this aspect of the research process, emphasizing the importance of focusing the interview process on the past, present, and future. Additionally, they suggest that the recovery of meaning tools should encompass a focus on the subject matter, the milieu, the learner, and the teacher, as well as the relationships between these elements. Furthermore, it is crucial for researchers to determine how teachers interpret theoretical constructs and translate theory into practice.

The research guidance provided by Connelly and Clandinin (1988) and others, has been instrumental in facilitating the implementation of our Discovering Our Experiences: Studies in Bilingual/ESL Project.

Guiding Research Questions

In our endeavors to capture the narratives of teachers, we posed several guiding questions:

1) What are the roles of teachers of language minority students within schools, and how do their relationships to one another evolve in the context of educational reform? How do these roles compare and contrast with those of other teachers? Have these roles undergone any transformations over time?

2) To what extent do trained teachers of language minority students influence decision-making at the school curriculum level, if at all, thereby impacting the overall school process?

3) How can teachers of language minority students effectively collaborate with one another to foster communities of inquiry and enhance the professionalism of the teaching profession as a whole?

Certainly, there are numerous other pertinent inquiries that could have been posed. These inquiries were intended to serve as initial prompts that facilitated the commencement of dialogues. Questions pertaining to curricular decisions, such as the timing and methodology of transferring students from their native languages to English, the strategies employed to foster language and content development, and the incorporation of cultural elements, are but a few of the numerous concerns that teachers and curriculum developers face.

The narrative approach enables us to investigate thematic inquiries that pertain to the most pressing challenges within the contemporary educational system. Additionally, it presents an opportunity to transcend the confines of schooling factors and analyze the broader ramifications of societal impact, thereby determining the nature and extent of relationships between the school, home, and society. Unlike other research methodologies that restrict our perspective on the comprehensive educational process, the narrative approach affords us the flexibility to explore a multitude of related issues and establish ongoing research agendas. Furthermore, it provides an avenue for analyzing specific programmatic areas in ways that may not be feasible or practical when employing quantitative research methodologies.

The Narrative Approach as a Reflective Tool

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the narrative approach is its utility as a reflective tool for educators. While we used interviews to develop teacher narratives, teachers can also create their own narratives and employ similar tools for systematic self-reflection on the purpose of the narrative process. As Altrichter, Posch, and Somekh (1993) explained, the purpose of the narrative process is not to define failures or even successes, but rather to help us recognize the “potential that is implicit in a situation” (p. 175). The exploratory nature of the narrative process allows teachers to assess how effectively their practice aligns with theory or even their intended goals and objectives.

However, it would be overly altruistic to assume that teachers would employ the narrative or any other practical inquiry approach in a natural, unassisted setting. This is particularly pertinent given the unreflective nature of the professional lives of teachers. Consequently, a significant objective in teacher change is to establish the necessary means to facilitate teachers in their endeavors to practice inquiry. Without the efforts of teachers, numerous questions will remain unanswered, and the attempted responses will lack the essential teacher voice that is crucial to the success of any educational program. In fact, the most significant potential contribution to the field of education, particularly in the context of educational reform, lies in the research efforts of teachers. This research is not only vital for the education of language minority students but also for the teaching profession as a whole.

Narratives of Six Teachers

The six teachers whose narratives are presented herein were selected based on our knowledge of their work in research and teaching. Two teachers were interviewed simultaneously, resulting in a total of five narratives. Each narrative has a distinct focus based on the circumstances of each teacher’s work. Four of the narratives are by teachers in elementary education, while one by the two teachers interviewed simultaneously focuses on a secondary school. The following procedure was used for each narrative:

1. Recorded interview: Each interview varied in length, with the longest lasting 90 minutes and the shortest 50 minutes.

2. Transcription: Each interview was transcribed.

3. Editing: The transcripts were edited for narrative smoothness.

4. Feedback: The edited transcripts were sent to each teacher for feedback.

5. Final draft: The final drafts were edited for publication.

The narrative process serves as an appropriate and valuable tool in our endeavors to gain a deeper understanding of the intricate and occasionally chaotic nature inherent in the education of language minority students. The teacher narratives presented in this volume represent pivotal steps in the process of addressing critical issues and challenges in teaching and curriculum development. By doing so, we can at the very least ensure that a coherent plan for resolving problems and enhancing our programs is strategically targeted on the following pages. Each teacher interview is carefully analyzed using the narrative structure approach.

TABLE 1: The Language for Narrative Structures (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988)

REFLECTIONS

Laura: Creative Professionalism

Personal Philosophy

Laura’s understanding of the bilingual process and her concern for the linguistic and cultural needs of her students are partially rooted in her own experiences growing up bilingually. Spanish was the dominant language at home, while English was the dominant language at school. Her personal philosophy centers around developing a balanced curriculum that considers the short-term and long-term effects of schooling on her bilingual students. She draws upon her personal experiences as well as her professionalism as a practicing teacher and teacher-researcher to make critical decisions regarding the curriculum and her relationships with colleagues and principals.

Metaphor

Laura is aware of the political climate within the school. She employs the metaphor of a society to describe the function of the school and the inevitable consequences that students face due to the perceived negative views of the majority members. She clearly acknowledges the role of the school as a comprehensive entity that impacts on her students as it does on all students.

Of course, all bilingual and ESL programs should not be identical because all children are not identical and all school cultures are not identical. You must consider the entire school environment. What we should do is identify the most effective methods, whether they are ESL, bilingual, regular, or special education, to meet the needs of all students.

Practical Principle

Laura emphasizes the importance of tailoring bilingual and ESL programs to meet the diverse needs of students. She asserts that no single program can be universally applicable, as each child and school culture is unique. Instead, she advocates for a comprehensive approach that considers the entire school environment and identifies the most effective methods to address the specific needs of each student.

A practical principle that Laura clearly adheres to is incorporated in her bilingual education program, namely that children whose dominant language is Spanish should receive adequate instruction in their native language. The fact that her principal opposed her strong native language instruction prompted Laura to reconsider her ideas and beliefs. Nevertheless, she remained resolute in the integrity of her convictions and agreed to modify her curriculum to appear as if she was implementing an ESL program rather than a bilingual education. It appears that Laura is assertive in her willingness to actively engage within this political context.

Rhythm

Rhythm plays a significant role in Laura’s decision-making process. She is accountable for the academic progress of her students for the entire academic year. Consequently, she is obligated to provide them with the necessary preparation within that timeframe to ensure their successful functioning in subsequent academic years. One role that Laura assumes is that of a critical teacher, a Freirean term referring to her function as a problem-poser who poses thought-provoking questions. She poses questions on two levels: first, to determine how to tailor the curriculum to meet the needs of her students, and secondly, how to assist her students in becoming more self-conscious of their roles as language learners within a specific cultural, social, and educational environment. Laura also considers the broader school context, particularly in relation to the bilingual students in other classrooms. The definition of knowing as described in Freirean terms is also applicable to the knowledge that Laura possesses. Knowing is associated with learning that is active, a process that enlightens all who are meaningfully involved. Laura’s relentless pursuit of knowledge and her unwavering commitment to problem-solving propelled her into a transformative process that culminated in the development of specialized teaching strategies and methods aimed at influencing her colleagues and principal. The advice Laura provides to teachers underscores her role as a critical thinker:

If I were to offer advice to a new teacher, I would emphasize the importance of maintaining unwavering commitment to the specific language needs of minority children, even in the face of policies that may inadvertently hinder their progress.

Discussion Questions:

In a high-resistance school environment, how would you approach the following challenges:

a) Convincing your principal and colleagues of the fundamental principles underlying bilingual education?

b) Modifying hostile policies to foster greater sensitivity and understanding towards the needs of second-language learners?

Maryann: A Family of Learners

Several striking features are evident in Maryann’s narrative. One notable aspect is the recurring imagery of children her students, which she describes in numerous positive terms. She envisions her students as “proud of themselves, have improved their self-esteem; are able to own their own learning; are decision-makers and problem solvers; have excelled in leadership roles and responsibilities; love to come to school; develop respect for one another; are proud of their culture; have positive self-image; and engage socially with other children.” Maryann likely holds such positive views toward her students, the majority of whom are Latino and second language learners, regardless of the educational program she has created and nurtured. However, she presents a compelling argument in favor of multi-age grouping by elucidating its advantages for her students in the domains of cognitive, affective, and linguistic development. Her arguments are persuasive due to her comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the challenges associated with educating language minority students. Her involvement in the development of curriculum for use in multi-age classrooms has afforded her the opportunity to examine the educational program in novel ways, exploring alternative approaches to achieving academic objectives.

Consequently, her curricular model is comprehensive in scope. She approaches problem-solving by diligently gathering information about her students, both within and outside of the school environment. She recognizes the benefits of parental involvement in schools and makes a concerted effort to maintain regular communication with her parents, even in challenging circumstances. Multi-age grouping enables Maryann to utilize a flexible, customized curriculum that is not readily available in a more conventional structure.

Metaphor

Maryann openly expresses her enthusiasm and affection for Hispanic or Latino culture, language, and society. These sentiments may partially explain her use of the metaphor of a family to describe her educational program. The extended family concept, prevalent among families, emphasizes love, respect, and teamwork. These attributes align with the principles Maryann incorporates into her program.

Personal Philosophy

Maryann does not explicitly articulate her personal philosophy. However, it is evident that her philosophy centers on the imperative of significantly enhancing child-centered, culturally-responsive educational programs. She emphasizes the importance of leveraging the strengths of her students, preparing them for the future, and ultimately providing them with successful experiences. It necessitates mindfulness to discern her professional philosophy from her personal philosophy, as they seem to be intertwined.

Image

Maryann envisions herself as both a leader and a teacher. She describes herself as a facilitator who provides genuine, meticulously planned activities within a nurturing environment, enabling students to learn independently as much as possible. She is dedicated to assisting her colleagues in recognizing the value of multi-age grouping and offers various forms of support, as exemplified in her role in developing the curriculum training guide. Maryann is an active participant and an innovation leader who assumes her teaching responsibilities by being well-informed, well-prepared, and committed to her profession. The teaching profession is fortunate to have such a caring and dedicated professional like Maryann.

Discussion Questions:

If multi-age grouping is deemed appropriate and advantageous for language minority students, why has it not been more extensively implemented? If you were presented with the opportunity to implement multi-age grouping in your classroom, what strategies would you employ?

Diana: Actions With Purpose

Personal Philosophy and Experiential Images

Diana’s educational philosophy is grounded in her extensive expertise in bilingual education. Her practical and personal experiences have significantly shaped her teaching philosophy, incorporating the concepts of image as articulated by Connelly and Clandinin (1988). These encompass her childhood experiences and recent firsthand encounters, which equip her with the ability to observe, analyze, and make critical decisions. Motivated by her innate curiosity, her interest in problem-solving eventually evolved into a teacher-researcher role. She likened her classroom to a laboratory, where she poses research questions and investigates them ethically, prioritizing the well-being of her students. The outcomes of her research significantly enhance her instruction, benefiting both her students and herself. Like a true investigator, Diana approaches her subjects from various perspectives, seeking the truth.

Daina’s Principles and Rules

Diana’s innate teaching expertise and research capabilities have yielded valuable information that benefits educators in two distinct ways. Firstly, the information provides lessons learned, derived from meticulous analysis and observation of actual classroom experiences. Secondly, it is teacher-directed, rendering it applicable and pertinent to other bilingual education and ESL teachers’ practical principles.

Diana has outlined several principles and rules for effective bilingual education and ESL programs.

Practical Principle #1: Collaboration with mainstream teachers is crucial for achieving significant second language learning and academic goals. This involves collaborative planning, scheduling, and team teaching. Diana’s research shows that participating students in both mainstream and bilingual education benefit immensely, which cannot be achieved in a self-contained classroom. This principle has far-reaching implications for all stakeholders, including practitioners and policymakers. Diana’s research has enlightened us all, highlighting the importance of her work and the role of teacher research in general.

Rule #1: Teachers should incorporate cooperative learning techniques to promote authentic language use and ensure linguistic balance within student groups. They should also make provisions to provide second language learners with equal or comparable opportunities to use language optimally, considering individual personality factors and creating comfortable learning environments.

Practical Principle #2: Students in bilingual education programs should continue as long as they benefit from instruction in both languages. Inter-mainstreamed programs should gradually transition students to mainstream education.

Rule #2: The acquisition of English as a second language is a transformative process that requires a supportive environment where children can make personal choices regarding language use without being compelled to speak English.

Rule #3: The strength of a language minority child lies in their native language and culture.

Rule #4: By establishing collaborative partnerships between bilingual education students and regular teachers, the complete mainstreaming of bilingual education students can be effectively postponed, without the need to exit the bilingual education program. This approach enables students to gradually transition into regular programs.

Practical Principle #3: The entire school must take full responsibility for educating second language learners, not just bilingual education teachers.

Rule #5: Regular classroom teachers should be sensitive and knowledgeable about language minority students, as their perceptions of academic abilities can be significantly affected.

Rule #6: Principals are essential for ensuring that all teachers have the knowledge and skills to work with language minority students and facilitate collaboration among them. This helps prevent the isolation that many bilingual education teachers experience. The role of teacher researcher has provided Diana, an intelligent, caring, and dedicated teacher, with an opportunity to use all of her resources to solve very complex problems and, in the process, has become empowered with a sense of profound understanding and confidence.

Diana’s narrative elucidates her approach to managing her teacher-researcher role, which facilitated her professional development through the systematic process of observation, data collection, and documentation. Her experiences underscore the significance of a teacher’s perspective and emphasize the importance of actively listening to such insights. By doing so, we gain a deeper understanding of the intricate process of educating linguistically diverse children.

Discussion Questions:

Do you concur with Diana’s assertion that a high-quality bilingual education program necessitates the active participation of the entire school community? Please provide a detailed explanation to support your position.

Mark: Committed to Making a Difference

Personal Philosophy

Mark’s unwavering commitment to creating, developing, and implementing innovative educational programs for language minority students is grounded in a personal philosophy of positive thinking, perseverance, and inclusivity. His first major decision to meticulously revamp the traditional curriculum, tailored to meet the unique needs of language minority students was a huge success. The learner-centered approach that guided his work led him to the implementation of his school’s inaugural and sole newcomer program for fifth and sixth graders. The program offered students a personalized learning experience and fostered collaboration among teachers. Mark’s leadership qualities are evident in the program’s creative resourcefulness and innovation in problem-solving, and in insuring that the program maintains a well-grounded, student-centered philosophical base.

Image

The images that emerge in Mark’s narrative are those of students who are successful, self-confident and exhibit autonomy and resourcefulness in regard to their educational pursuits. He addresses the common perception of students as academically unsuccessful by offering numerous strategies and activities that empower and resource them.

Practical Principles

Mark believes in the relevance of a purposeful, meaningful curriculum for second language learners, and the fact that his students have achieved considerable academic achievement confirms that belief. A practical principle that he closely adheres to emphasizes providing students with practical, lifelong experiences that ultimately contribute to their success as independent learners.

Metaphor

Mark envisions his classroom without walls. He recognizes that the educational needs of his second language learners are more extensive than what can be accomplished by a traditional curriculum. He considers the value of the larger community in a curriculum designed primarily to help students develop understandings, find purpose, and identify themselves as members of the community.

Mark found his way into a teaching profession by an indirect route. Even so, his determination to provide equal educational opportunities, coupled with his knowledge of educational theory and practice, and his personal and moral beliefs as an educator, suggest a deliberate path to a professional educator career. Mark upholds high standards and ideals for his students and himself. He’s a model teacher who demonstrates creativity, understanding, self-initiative, and excellence.

Suzanne & Richard: Creating a Risk-Free Community

Suzanne and Richard’s missionary spirit is evident in their unwavering commitment to providing the most exceptional educational programs for language minority students at their alternative school. Each brings their unique personal philosophy to the school, shaped by their personal experiences and professional aspirations. Richard’s involvement with immigrant families shortly after completing his stint in the Navy profoundly influenced his philosophy. Even his early teaching experiences, which initially lacked the impact he sought, ultimately contributed to his current philosophy. Suzanne’s passion for teaching blossomed early in life, and the challenge of working with the target population fuels her intellectual growth and motivation.

Metaphor

Suzanne and Richard’s personal worlds converge in a shared vision for their school. This vision centers around building and nurturing a learning community where success is paramount, even in the face of potential failure. Susanne emphasizes this by stating, “Our students are underestimated in traditional forms of education, and we’re here to show what our kids know, not what they don’t know.” Richard envisions the school as “a refuge of support and advocacy for the immigrant community.” He possesses a comprehensive understanding of both traditional and non-traditional educational practices, a solid grasp of the recent research on teaching language minority students, and a willingness to embrace risk-taking. However, they acknowledge that building a community of learners is a collaborative endeavor. Their greatest challenge lies in inspiring others to explore diverse avenues for meeting the unique needs of their student population.

Image

The images that repeatedly appear in their narrative reflect their determined desire to create meaningful ways for students to succeed both in the short term and the long term. Their teaching philosophy is firmly rooted in a learner-centered approach. One of the strengths of their curriculum is their deliberate efforts to get to know their students well and involve the school community, especially their parents, in the decision-making process. This whole-school concept significantly impacts the roles of parents and teachers, effectively engaging them in unprecedented ways. Suzanne and Richard employed the strategy of empowering stakeholders as a proactive mechanism to ensure that students have the best possible opportunities for success. The curriculum they described includes several practical principles and rules. The six principles outlined here emphasize the whole-school concept and the importance of building a community of learners.

Practical Principles

Practical Principle #1: Establish a collaborative school community environment.

This principle is based on the notion that when stakeholders actively participate in the planning and implementation of an educational program, a collaborative spirit naturally emerges. Everyone contributes to the development of a school mission, and decision-making becomes a shared process. Techniques such as focus groups and the Advisory Council are effective ways to achieve this. Additionally, the role of a teacher as a curriculum planner is crucial. Teachers possess remarkable flexibility and responsibility in shaping the curriculum.

Practical Principle #2: Align instruction and assessment with the curriculum and tailor it to the specific needs of the student.

As part of determining instruction and assessment, three groups of students are identified based on factors such as language proficiency and academic record. These groups are used to create different types of assignments, including preliterate and regular classroom assignments, which are tailored to the students’ math and language abilities. Additionally, students who enroll at non-standard times of the year are placed in a late arrivals classroom.

Curriculum planners, including teachers, engage in thoughtful discussions to address various questions. These questions include what the school should look like, how to prioritize content, what students should be able to achieve based on their language proficiency, what students need to do to succeed as second language learners, and how to assess students’ strengths and weaknesses. Teachers also consider how to provide students with opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge in ways other than through language.

Addressing these challenging questions and closely aligning instruction with assessment are two of the main principles underlying the school’s philosophy. In this school, innovation appears to be the norm rather than the exception.

Practical Principle #3:  Provide native language instruction where appropriate.

This principle is clearly pronounced in Richard’s statement: “We firmly believe that if you cannot read and write in your first language, there is no way in a second language. You need the basis of your first language to make transference into a second language.”

Practical Principle #4: Develop a supportive learning environment for students.

Throughout their narrative, Suzanne and Richard outline various activities and strategies that facilitate students’ integration into the school community. These include culture week, which recognizes and celebrates students’ diverse cultures; non-graded curricular activities; active parental involvement; and individualized tutoring. Furthermore, each classroom fosters a risk-free environment, encouraging students to actively engage in the learning process. Recognizing and empowering students as learners and new members of society is a fundamental aspect of the school’s goals and philosophy.

Practical Principle #5: Create meaningful experiences that promote lifelong learning.

As a learner-centered school, the learning activities are based on relevance and building on what students already know. Suzanne states it this way: “We are looking at how they construct the information and make meaning out of it as opposed to how they produce or regurgitate a list of facts. We are looking at both process and product.” A meaningful curriculum is dependent on the extent to which the curriculum matches the students’ self-perceived and actual needs. Another statement from Suzanne stresses this point: “We want the school to meet the needs of our clients, not the other way around. We want to have a setup where kids come in and run a newspaper or a card shop; they produce products, sell them from their own banking system, and have a community within the school so they get hands-on experience.” As part of their plan, the development of an integrated curriculum can facilitate student learning in meaningful, constructive, and relevant ways.

Practical Principles #6: Create opportunities for ongoing professional development for teachers.

Two important roles in which teachers function, i.e., teacher as learner and teacher as curriculum planner, serve to facilitate teachers in their work and in their professional development. The alternative teacher assessment project, which the school is piloting, involves teachers in learner roles, which could also be interpreted as teachers as researchers. Teachers select a small, manageable number of students and explore the use of certain innovative techniques and activities, assessing their usefulness and effectiveness. Two of these include monitoring and assessing students using the portfolio approach and the student review, which involves teachers closely examining and analyzing one student at a time with the idea of learning how to better help students in general. The results benefit both teachers and students, and as Suzanne puts it, “we want more time to focus on kids. We have each of the teachers share what they know about the student, and we put our heads together to see what we can do to help the students have more successful experience here.”

By playing a key role in developing curriculum, teachers gain insights on how best to help students achieve objectives which they have carefully planned. Planning curriculum and conducting student reviews are part of a learning process as long as the teachers are guided and supported well. The guidance and support is evident in the fact that teachers are provided with release time for these and other self-development activities such as peer coaching opportunities.

Teachers are cognizant of the challenges they will face at the outset of their teaching assignments. Careful selection of the teaching staff is perhaps one of the best advantages of starting a new program. The screening and hiring practices are designed to allow teacher candidates to self-select. Unfortunately, it is one of the few advantages. Suzanne and Richard are well aware of the long road ahead of them. Susanne stresses this point in her statement: “We can’t sit back and say, ‘Well, I want this, and I think the school ought to be like this. We’re the ones responsible for making it the way we want, but it will require time.” Considering their commitment, determination, and a solid, genuine philosophy; time is definitely on their side.

Discussion Question:

Respond to a criticism that a newcomer school serves to segregate students and subsequently contribute to their educational failure.

Table 2: Practical Principles Summary

Leading With An Eye on the Horizon: Teacher-Leaders in Reflective Practice

Dr. Irma Guadarrama

What does it mean to be a teacher in today’s multicultural, multilingual society? The current demands confronting our schools are markedly different from the past and seem to continually change in ways in which schools are unprepared to address. Take, for instance, a list of concerns that students, parents, and teachers have today compared to 20 or 30 years ago. Who would have imagined back then that such things as gun control or drug trafficking would even be in a remote sense connected to our schools. The sacred institutions upon which our society has relied to engender our most valued ideals in our children seem to perplex even the most loyal observer.

The changing demography of our country provides an instant index for determining how rapidly the curriculum must be revamped to make it more responsive and inclusive. Urban schools in large metropolitan areas are enrolling more minority students than non-minority students. Many of these schools already have the so-called “minority students” as the majority. This contrasts with the low numbers of teachers who are members of the minority groups represented by the students, and whose numbers are increasing very slowly.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2024), there are currently at least 5.3 million children in the nation that are considered native speakers of another language other than English, or 10.6%  of U.S. public school student population. (See Waggoner, 1994, for a different perspective).* It’s clear that students’ needs extend well beyond what schools have traditionally addressed. Indeed, the paths towards teaching and learning have expanded in depth and breadth to include more socioeconomic, cultural, cultural, and linguistic factors.

The most significant transformations, however, lie in the evolution of teachers’ roles. What are these roles, and what implications do they hold for schools and teacher training institutions in facilitating this transformation? It is crucial that we address these questions in our research, particularly how to provide support to teachers as they lead the reformation of the teaching profession through effective educational reform.

Teacher Research Methodology

Leading teacher researchers have used qualitative methods that have served to close the gap between research and practice and, simultaneously, yield new knowledge about teaching in varying contexts. Ethnographic studies have allowed us to peer through classroom windows in a variety of contexts, providing a firsthand learning laboratory. Because of these studies, we have a better understanding and appreciation of the roles and work of teachers. Most importantly, the acceptance of qualitative methods by leading researchers has encouraged more teachers to pursue research activity, even to the point that it has become a natural part of their teaching responsibilities. There are several kinds of research studies that follow qualitative methodology worth mentioning that can be used as models of current teacher research. These are discussed in the following section under the headings of reflective practice, narrative structures, collaborative conversational method, and practical inquiry.

Reflective Practice

John Dewey’s book (1902/1990) on student-centeredness in education spawned the idea of teacher training being accomplished through staff development. In specific studies, the concept of deliberative reflection points to reflection that is directed to practice. Schön’s (1983) work underscores the importance of solving problems within a practical context using a systematic process. The reflective practitioner is the teacher as researcher, so-called because of the nature of the methods and specificity of the problem researchers are focusing on.

Collaborative efforts between researchers, teacher educators, and teachers to facilitate teacher change are highlighted by Hannah Bissinger, Hatton, and Mahoney (1980-1994). Collaboration is often defined in specific terms, such as “shared inquiry” as described in Students Teaching, Teachers Learning (Branscomb, Goswami, and Schwartz, 1992). The success of collaboration observed, thus far, is evidence of the need to nurture working relationships, and that the change process must involve teachers in an active role, that first and foremost, leads to their empowerment. Reflective practice is an integral part of the process of teacher empowerment, and meaningful collaboration is one of the most successful means by which to facilitate this process.

Narrative Structures

The transformation of teachers’ experiences into narrative structures is evident in several studies. Connelly and Clandinin (1998) transform teachers’ insightful reflections on their teaching practices into relevant story forms. Teacher Lore (Ayers and Schubert, 1992), an honest and inspiring book about teacher experiences, describes a journey of reflection and retrospection and serves as a noteworthy model of the use of narrative structures. A powerful yet subtle message conveyed through the storytelling style invites the reader to explore, examine, and reflect upon the personal, social, and political ramifications of teaching.

Collaborative Conversational Method

One study that uniquely exemplifies the collaborative conversational method was reported by Hollingsworth (1992). The focus of her study of teachers and researchers was clearly based on a feminist perspective, yet the implications she draws can be applied to a wider audience. She writes, “instead of simply validating or uncovering scientific truths about mainstream cultures, feminist research asks questions that lead to social change in oppressed conditions, usually, those of women, but that can also apply to men and children in underpowered life roles” (p.376).

The power of dialogue in the empowering process described by Hollingsworth, then, leads to action that reflects a deepening of once-perspective of social reality. It is important to note that Hollingsworth’s collaborative conversational process emphasizes empowerment as a two-way street by which the researcher and the teacher are mutually transformed.

Practical inquiry

Richardson (1994) describes several approaches to teacher research categorized as practical inquiry. These include three conceptions of teacher research: a) that teaching is research because the teacher works like a researcher from conceptualizing the problem, collecting the data, and using it to resolve the problem; b) that the teacher is a reflective practitioner; and c) that the teacher is an action researcher. Teachers, alone or in collaborative relationships, engage in practical inquiry to answer or address local questions that demand immediate attention and for which they are in the best position to respond. The results are not always useful for all teachers outside this specific context to use; however, regardless of the outcome, the results always satisfy the inquisitive mind. Practical inquiry is appropriately used on a daily basis using informal techniques yet producing results that serve immediate purposes.

Practical inquiry can be formalized by comparing similarities and differences among several studies and incorporating structured empirical techniques. The assumption that research can adequately yield sound and useful results using comparisons within a structured empirical framework has been discussed for decades under the topic of grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). However, formal research cannot replace the immediate and relevant research initiated by teacher researchers in practical inquiry. Both forms of research are obviously appropriate but for different reasons.

The Changing Roles of Teachers in Research

The qualitative research methods employed in the Discovering Our Experiences project yielded the identification of pivotal roles assumed by bilingual ESL teachers within diverse classroom settings. This volume highlights three distinct roles: the critical thinker, the innovation leader, and the action researcher.

1.  Teacher as Critical Thinker. As a critical thinker, a teacher who works with second language learners creates a classroom that serves as a microcosm reflecting the social, political, and economic realities of the larger society. According to Ira Shor, a Freirean education scholar, the teacher’s role as a critical thinker is to challenge the inequality and injustices prevalent in society. Consequently, teachers facilitate reflection on life experiences, pose thought-provoking questions, present problems, and assist students in determining solutions.

Teaching critically establishes a reciprocal relationship between the teacher and students. Through dialogue, the teacher encourages students to engage in thoughtful consideration of problems, issues, and concerns, leading to a deeper comprehension of these concepts. This transformative process enables students to transition from acquiring new knowledge to formulating a plan that translates knowledge into action. As a result of this process, both the teacher and students undergo transformation, gaining a deeper understanding of each other and their perception of reality. Ultimately, both the teacher and students strive towards critical consciousness, which, according to Freire, represents the “highest development of thought and action” (p. 32).

At a deeper level, the teacher, as a critical thinker, acknowledges the shortcomings of employing the conventional curriculum for her or his students. A curriculum that deliberately disregards and overlooks the cultural and linguistic diversity of the students effectively imposes a set of dominant standards and values that encourage students to perceive their differences as deficiencies and to solely attribute their failures to themselves. The role of the teacher as a critical thinker is intrinsically linked to the Freudian concept of education as politics. Ira Shor (1993) succinctly encapsulates Freire’s ideas: “Education is politics because it is one place where individuals and society are constructed. Since human beings and their society are developed in one direction or another through education, the learning process cannot avoid being politics.” (p. 28)

The four qualities of critical consciousness interpreted by Shor (1993), characterize the qualities among teachers as critical thinkers described in the Discovering Our Experiences Project: power awareness, critical literacy, desocialization, and self-education.   

1) Power awareness is crucial for teachers. They must understand how power is distributed, exercised, and used. This knowledge is essential for evaluating the curriculum and finding effective ways to engage students in transformative learning.

2) Critical literacy involves a teacher’s ability to delve beneath surface impressions, comprehend social contexts and their implications, and uncover profound meanings of events, particularly those relevant to their own context.

3) Desocialization occurs when a teacher, as a critical thinker, recognizes and challenges the learned content in mass culture, particularly regressive values like racism, sexism, and class bias..

4) Self-education empowers teachers to transform both their schools and society. By taking initiative, they distance themselves from the authoritarian impositions of rigid standards and the unequal distribution of power.

The ideas and words of Paulo Freire (1970; 1973) are more relevant today than ever before as we continue our work with language minority students. Indeed, the role of the teacher as critical thinker is important in transforming the educational system to one that is more responsive to the needs of our students,

2.  Teacher as innovation leader. Teachers who work with language minority students frequently encounter programmatic changes as a result of reform initiatives. While this experience can be stressful and overwhelming in some instances, it is evident that the teachers who emerge as leaders in the midst of change possess the necessary knowledge, understanding, and commitment to participate successfully in the transformative process.

Risk-taking is crucial in overcoming the challenges of transcending cultural and linguistic barriers. Additionally, vision is paramount, particularly in envisioning the changes that teachers will play in the educational landscape. Without vision and a willingness to take risks, teachers may find it challenging to establish new roles or develop program models of change that align with educational reform efforts.

3. Teacher as action researcher. Teachers of language minority students in bilingual education or ESL, encounter numerous unanswered questions concerning classroom management, curricular materials, and instructional techniques. The availability of solutions is not always immediate or comprehensive. Even when solutions are identified, their appropriateness may vary across different classrooms. Teachers possess the most suitable position to conduct research due to their deep understanding of the challenges and their natural classroom environment, to pursue their inquiries. Collaborative efforts yield the most productive outcomes. This is particularly important for teachers who intend to incorporate research into their teaching, as advocated by proponents of the teacher as researcher model..

The roles that we have identified as evolving within the context of educational reform are not definitive. The crucial element inherent in these roles is teacher change and how this change aligns with contextual issues in the process of identifying these roles. As we continue to facilitate teacher change, the following principles guide our efforts:

1) The role of teacher as researcher is crucial in implementing the necessary changes to enhance educational programs for language minority students. Recognizing this need and facilitating teacher change should be a top priority for professional staff developers.

2) University-level teacher educators must lead the transformation of teacher training programs and adapt to the changes necessitated by their new roles.

3) Teaching is a transformative process. Teachers are most successful when they engage in a two-way process of shared learning that profoundly impacts both the teacher and the students.

4) There’s a need to educate all stakeholders, especially policymakers, who are often removed from the specific needs of students and teachers. These policymakers need to understand how rules and policies impact the daily lives of those who are most affected.

5) Current research in education fails to include the voices of teachers and other practitioners who work with language minority students. National-level reform efforts have been criticized for being shortsighted due to the lack of input from all relevant stakeholders (Borman and Greenman, 1994). Therefore, it is crucial to prioritize efforts in integrating teacher research specifically focused on the education of language minority students into mainstream teacher education research.

Conclusion

To effectively support language minority students, teachers must undergo professional development that addresses their unique needs. This requires comprehensive changes at both the school district and university levels. Structural modifications must be implemented to provide the necessary support and services to achieve training objectives. Key areas of proposed changes include teacher training designs and content, as well as the role of teachers as teacher researchers.

Training Program Structures

Training designs and activities must align with the evolving roles of teachers and their students’ needs. Consequently, schools, colleges, and universities, as well as mentors, peer coaches, resource consultants, and other relevant stakeholders, must establish collaborative relationships that effectively utilize resources and provide training that is focused, relevant, and timely. Training or staff development should be regarded as an integral component of the overall school program, with an ongoing system for identifying training needs, determining activities, and conducting field experiences, including mentorships. University training at the pre-service level can make the most significant contributions to teacher change, provided the programs adhere strictly to a balance of research and practice. This can only be achieved through collaborative relationships with schools, in addition to performance-based designs that utilize portfolio systems and comprehensive, high-quality programs.

Training Content

Both university and school district training programs must provide training that is not only site-based but contextual or specific to the individual needs of the students. The goals of the training programs should be aligned with the school culture and, in fact, should serve to nurture that culture.

Current research studies have provided staff development practitioners with insights into effective strategies and techniques for designing and implementing teacher change. Among the major points discussed in the literature (Briscoe and Peters 1994) are: 1) the need to change teachers’ fundamental beliefs and ideas about curriculum content and teaching strategies; 2) the need to consider how the change will affect teachers on a personal level; and 3) the need for individual and group opportunities for teachers to engage in reflective dialogue, particularly about the change process. Unless we consider these important factors, we may not effectively target the training program.

Teacher Leaders are Teacher Researchers

The historical struggle to elevate the professional status of teachers has been a challenging endeavor (Apple, 1994). Professionalism in education necessitates that teachers possess extensive knowledge and expertise in their respective fields. By integrating research activities into their teaching practices, teachers can fulfill a crucial objective as professional educators. The establishment of support systems to facilitate teachers in this endeavor is of paramount importance.

Teacher leaders who aspire to bring about change within their workplaces encounter a multitude of challenges. The establishment of networks to assist teachers in their endeavors should be a primary objective for all stakeholders. We must persist in our efforts to create pathways for present and future teacher leaders whose vision holds the potential to be the greatest hope for our children.

*This data is the most recent from the National Center of Education.

REFERENCES

Ayers, W., & Schubert, W. (1992). Teacher lore: Learning from our own experiences. Longman.

Apple, M. W. (1994). Is change always good for teachers? Gender, class, and teaching in history. In K. Borman & N. Greenman (Eds.), Changing American education: Recapturing the past or inventing the future? State University of New York Press.

Branscombe, N., Goswami, D., & Schwartz, J. (1992). Students teaching, teachers learning. Cook Heinemann.

Briscoe, C., & Peters, J. (1994, April). Collaborating for change: A case study of one community of teachers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Connelly, F., & Clandinin, D. (1988). Teachers as curriculum planners. Teachers College Press.

Dewey, J. (1902/1990). The child and the curriculum. University of Chicago Press.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Seabury Press.

Freire, P. (1973). Education for critical consciousness. Continuum Publishing.

Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine De Gruyter.

Hannay, L., Bissegger, M., Hason, M., & Mahony, M. (1994, April). Facilitating deliberation: A system approach. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Hollingsworth, S. (1992). Learning to teach through collaborative conversation: A feminine approach. American Educational Research Journal, 29(2), 373-404.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). English learners in public schools. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved May 27, 2026, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgf

Richardson, V. (1994). Conducting research on practices. Educational Researcher, 23(5), 5-10.

Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner. Basic Books.

Shor, I. (1993). Education is politics. In P. McLaren & P. Leonard,  (Eds.), Paulo Freire: A Cultural Encounter. Routledge.

Waggoner, D. (1994). Language minority school-age population now totals 9.9 million. NABE News, 18(1).

Our initial volume, Leadership for Change in Bilingual/ESL Education (1993) focuses on leadership and innovation. Seven articles focus on reflective practices from the perspectives of school principals, state agency directors, and university researchers.

In this section, we present the volume’s front matter that includes the production-level details, a rationale for the series, and pertinent questions we used in guiding the interview sessions. The entire volume is accessible in a PDF file for viewing the original texts. Please note that the edited version reflects the current use of certain terminology, for example, LEP was changed to Emergent Bilingual. The label “Hispanic” is maintained in its original form in most cases.

Following this section, we present excerpts from the interview transcripts. Readers are urged to read the entire interviews in the PDF file at the end of this post. A summary table of the key points from the interviews is included after the last interview.

We include Dr. Flora Roebuck’s summary information from her article, “Who Says You Can’t Do Research?”

Finally, we include the authored essay, “Language Minority Students: Finders or Losers of the American Dream?”

Series Editor’s Preface

“Discovering Our Experiences: Studies in Bilingual & ESL Education” is a serial publication designed for educators, principals, program directors, coordinators, and policymakers who work with language minority students and their educational programs. The publication’s primary objective is to serve as a platform for presenting innovative approaches, addressing concerns, and offering recommendations related to the education of this distinct population. The case studies format, utilizing interviews with practitioners, aims to provide readers with firsthand insights into their daily experiences and foster a deeper comprehension of the educational process for language minority students. By facilitating the exchange of successes and challenges among practitioners, the publication also seeks to enhance communication between the stakeholders within our educational system and policymakers who may occasionally overlook the concerns of the professionals in the field.

Rationale

Recent educational reform initiatives have highlighted the imperative to disseminate information regarding the distinct characteristics of language minority students to effectively address their educational needs. Practitioners and policymakers must prioritize the advancement and integration of innovative approaches that foster both academic excellence and equitable outcomes. The urgency of change is heightened, perhaps more so than ever, considering the challenges faced by educators and the pressing social issues that demand attention. The evolving demographics of our state and nation provide compelling evidence to persuade even the most skeptical individuals: 50% of our state’s school population comprises minority students, and over 16% requires bilingual education. While a significant portion of students previously enrolled in bilingual education still necessitates ESL-based instruction, Texas boasts a diverse linguistic landscape with over 80 languages represented among school-age bilingual students, with 90% of bilingual students proficient in Spanish as their second language. However, the most concerning statistics revealed in the statewide reports indicate a high dropout rate among Hispanic and African American students, as well as a persistent disparity in school dropout and college attendance rates between minority and Anglo students in certain regions. Notably, minority students exhibit a high school dropout rate of up to 60%.

Questions

What are the successful practices that focus on improving the educational process for language minority children? How are these implemented by principals and teachers? What are the concerns of practitioners, and what can policymakers learn from them? These are only a few basic questions that we highlight in these issues. In our premier issue, we focus on leadership. The interview narratives in the first section were interviewed, transcribed, and edited by a team consisting of a faculty member, program coordinator, editor, and graduate research assistant, all of whom are members of the Texas Women’s University community. Interactive and informative format, perhaps the most innovative aspect of this publication, is the format. Besides the case studies, we also invite and will include reader comments, editorials, and other related experimental formats. The procedure is as easy as dialing our toll-free number or writing us at the address below. We are especially interested in including ideas or other innovations that have been implemented by our readers who are teachers or principals in the practice section. We present timely ideas and other information derived from research of the cutting-edge quality and in the point of view section. Authors are provided an opportunity to reflect on perspectives raised in the cases presented and generate discussion on ways to improve the educational process.

We encourage readers to respond to any part of the publication by calling our toll free number, (800) 853-XXXX. Readers wishing to write may do so by using the following address.

Interview Excerpts

María Espinosa, a principal with a fresh perspective, brings her experiences in curriculum development for bilingual education and leadership training to her leadership role. Her lifelong commitment to improving educational opportunities for all children is evident in the changes she and her staff have initiated. These include school-wide literacy projects, promoting the community’s role in education by involving parents, incorporating the native language and culture into the school culture, relocating computers from computer labs to classrooms, multi-aged schooling, and fostering positive and productive teacher-teacher and teacher-student relationships.

The Leadership Challenge

The first time I came to Ferguson, the building was empty, dirty, and run-down. It smelled bad. I went to the physical plant and met with my head custodian and requested cleaning, painting, and repairs. Children need an environment that is clean and conducive to learning. Then I met with my head secretary to see if we could get money for decent furniture because all the furnishings were old and torn. Our facility was built 22 years ago as a temporary structure, and today, it is housing more children than ever intended. As I looked through the files, I found that the Texas Education Agency had been there the year before and noted about 25 areas that were not in compliance with state guidelines. The list included no cross-level articulation among faculty members, too many children accepted into the special education program, too many exemptions for deficiencies in library holdings, and other serious problems regarding inappropriate instruction.

Ms. Espinosa discussed the literacy activities that she and her teachers implemented throughout the entire school. One such project was a school-wide Ferguson Book Buddies program. Older children and younger children were paired to read together two or three times a week. Initially, the older children read to the younger ones, but now they take turns.

They share not just books but personal writings; it’s part of our entire day. Sometimes we find out about a tragic home life, which in turn gets communicated to the counselor. These experiences have ramifications way beyond the curriculum. We mix bilingual and nonbilingual youngsters to give them opportunities to work together socially and linguistically in uncommon academic turf.

Family Dynamics:  Organizing the entire school in family groupings

The configurations of our school were then changed to “families” consisting of kindergarten through third grade, with about four to six teachers per family. The particular needs of the youngsters in each family were the responsibility of those teachers. Teachers worked out the details necessary for planning the days, weeks, and months, placing the children’s needs before grade level assignments. For example, a kindergarten may go right with a first or third grade group. It gives the youngsters opportunities to have their academic needs taken care of without the stigma of being retained. Grouping is fluid so that a second grader may be reading with first graders if it is necessary, without causing any embarrassment as may happen in the traditional grade level classroom. Children are regrouped with regard to interest and ability. That was another big change for us.

Leading by Example and Earning the Right to Make Changes

Change will come if supported by a higher authority like evaluations from the Texas State Teacher Association, but more importantly, teachers see that I am in the classrooms two or three times a day. Being there, I know the children, not only those sent to the office or with discipline problems but the children that are doing well. I see the interaction between teachers and the children. I know firsthand how something worked in the classroom instead of receiving secondhand information. I give teachers encouragement in their boxes and praise in our meetings. Our meetings are no longer for disseminating information; I use the bulletin board for that. Instead, we use our meetings for staff development. I have a whole bunch of books explaining the writing process and shared reading to help children enter instruction. It is a teacher’s job to try it and to share what was new, different, and exciting in their classrooms with their colleagues. The teachers really did it themselves, but it took a great deal of encouragement from me and it took showing them by my actions that I indeed supported these behaviors in their classrooms.

Philosophical Shift

While working with the staff of a regional service center in the area of curriculum instruction, I had the opportunity to come into contact with experts who endorsed whole language teaching approaches for language minority children. One thing had always bothered me: how can we precisely control the phonetic information for the youngsters? It wasn’t until coming into contact with whole language that I began to see a different way of approaching it. Our hang-up was that we believed that children should not go into English until they have totally mastered Spanish. Well, there is something wrong here because no one can master anything totally to any given point, especially a 6-7 or eight-year-old when there is so much linguistic interaction going on that we don’t control. When I opened my reasoning, I looked at education in a different light. I started reading Lucy Calkins, the work going on in Australia, and the writing process. I interface with teachers in a different way. I found teachers willing to work with me, and in three years, we turned around the program. We brought interdisciplinary teaching into the middle school for language acquisition.

Ways to Empower Teachers

Since I had no history as a principal, they judged me on what they saw. I was in the classroom all the time. I was talking curriculum and instruction with them. I was sharing my books. I was letting them make decisions. For example, I asked the bilingual teachers why aren’t you using more books in Spanish? Why aren’t you bringing in the children’s culture into the classroom? They didn’t know. In the past, they had always complied with the principal’s philosophy, and I think prior to me, it was “ let’s keep pretty much to English.” So for our school implementation program, and every school should have one, I said, “Let’s go back and say what we really want to say and let’s do what we really want.” I asked what shall we continue to do from our new implementations. They chose to continue the school-wide authorship program, although I planted the seed. They were excited about it because they got involved in planning and implementing it. In other words, if they hadn’t been given the opportunity to make those decisions, I don’t think the program would have survived.

Re-examining the Role of Principal

It is difficult to move forward without being both a visionary and a good manager. I will be honest with you. I have more vision than I do organizational skills, so I make sure I surround myself with people that can help me organize. I tell them to help keep me honest. I give them some perimeters. I would say I’d really like to see something like this because I am a very global thinker. They will come back and say, “Oh, this is what you mean.” They will give it to me in a much more detailed format, but I do believe unless the principal continues reading, continues growing, continues going to conferences, continues talking to people like you, unless we continue to interact at this level of thinking, there will be no vision. You can have a very well-organized, well-meaning school, but with a limited range of what children will be capable of doing.

Confronting Assessment Issues from Multiple Perspectives

I could see in this school why the test scores were plummeting after I studied the history of how these children were taught. Someone came in and said, “You will not use any more Spanish.” Well, you can’t cut the mother tongue from our children and expect them to feel like worthwhile individuals and learners. I don’t believe you can draw concern for children’s feelings from the other criteria for an effective school. You have to look at the total well-being of the community, and if you look after the well-being of the community, your test scores will reflect that.

As long as instruction is interesting, as long as students feel their culture, their families, and what they stand for is an important part of the school, and as long as they are involved and challenged, I believe they will have children that want to grow and learn. But the key is to make children think for themselves within certain established perimeters. Teach choice and selection. Some parents say to me, “Ms. Espinosa, I can’t believe you can’t control an 6-year-old, but it’s not about control. It’s about teaching children how to make decisions and providing meaningful consequences.”

Ms. Hidalgo’s school, like many urban schools, is undergoing a transformation from a predominantly Anglo middle-class institution to one primarily serving minority students, with most students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. To drive this change, Ms. Hidalgo emphasizes fostering strong relationships among teachers and with their students. One of her innovative ideas involves clustering or teaming teachers and students across grade levels. This approach creates a cohesive yet diverse program that caters to the varied needs of the students.

Ms. Hidalgo held up a huge planning book used by the teams to map out their thematic units. This book facilitates the gradual implementation of new ideas, allowing for preparation time, focused staff development, and research. Additionally, the teams visit other model programs to seek support from the community and organizations. These organizations even donated funds to send staff and parents to visit other programs. Parents actively participate in information meetings, viewing implementation plans as an ongoing process.

To ensure effective communication and maintain low student retention rates, Ms. Hidalgo encourages the school counselor to act as an intermediary. Furthermore, she carefully screens language minority students upon referrals for special education and conducts thorough screenings of prospective teachers.

Adriana Hidalgo, a native of South Texas, grew up in two distinct school districts. One was predominantly Hispanic and African American, while the other had predominantly Anglo student population. As a student in the minority school district, she recalls the teachers’ high expectations for her and her peers, regardless of their race or socioeconomic background. This supportive environment significantly contributed to her self-esteem.

In 1968, Ms. Hidalgo graduated, a year before the consolidation of the school districts. Subsequently, she pursued higher education at a university in central Texas, where she earned her education degree. Her educational philosophy, shaped by her father’s influence and her own experiences, is rooted in the belief that everyone deserves equal opportunities, irrespective of their race or ethnicity.

Throughout her teaching career, spanning 23 years, including 10 years as an administrator, Ms. Hidalgo has embraced various educational approaches and has been trained in multiple methodologies. While serving as a teacher in South Texas, she completed her master’s degree by attending graduate school in the summers. Subsequently, she embarked on her doctoral studies journey, relocating to Dallas to attend a nearby university. In Dallas, she became the principal of Excalibur Elementary School.

Excalibur was founded in 1920 as a prep school. The school has only had five principals in 64 years. They stay a long time. That’s a nice thing too. Teachers come and they stay. The only reason they move on is retirement or their husbands are transferred. And it is the same thing with the children. We have kids whose parents I taught in fifth grade. It is a cycle: teachers’ kids and principals. That is a fact people don’t look at very often. Only one out of 100 of our students move to another school. We are 85% Hispanic and 5% Anglo, and the rest is a combination of Asian and Native American. Everybody cooperates. The families we serve are low as to the socioeconomic status, but our very stable. Some families have been here more than 5 generations. The Hispanic population has grown since I taught here. Only 4th through 6th grades had bilingual classes back then. Now there are approximately 30 sections.

My philosophy is that not everybody is good for everybody, and I may not be the principal for you, just as you may not be the right teacher for every student. This is an obstacle we constantly run into. If a student is not working well with a teacher, then we remove him or her. That doesn’t mean that she is a bad teacher; she’s just not the right one for the student. This is why we make it so easy to move our students. We have clustering; sometimes it’s 66 or 100 students for four teachers, and they regroup them constantly. A teacher may say, “He can’t get math with me, so I will send him over to somebody else.” So the child is not losing.

We have had only 15 retainees out of 1,038 students in the whole school. Teachers understand that I don’t believe in retention unless everything else has been tried. We believe in the premise of developmental learning stages. For example, I should not be punished if it takes me 50 times to pass the driving test while it only took you three times. The Department of Public Safety doesn’t punish you; they don’t ask how many times you practice. You want to go when you were ready. This is the philosophy I have about retention. Even if a child needs extra time to learn a particular thing, he shouldn’t be punished by being retained. He needs to go on anyway. Eventually, it’s going to click for him. Also, from my experience as a student, I know that many times Hispanics were referred to special education because they did not know what they were expected to know. If you didn’t know, you were considered retarded. That’s something that is always in the back of my mind. So at this school, we don’t refer to special education because of language, especially in the case of Hispanic, Native American, or African American children. In fact, we don’t refer to Special Education unless we know everything else has been tried – a process that takes two years.

Teachers of a cluster plan together. They group the students together at the end of every six weeks. They identify who is failing and ask if that student needs to change clusters or teachers. They might try changing students around to see if it works. Kindergarten, first, second, and part of third grade comprise a three-teacher cluster. Fourth grade is a five-teacher cluster with one self-contained classroom; 5th grade is a four-teacher cluster with one self-contained classroom, and four teachers are called intermediates and teach 1st through 4th grades. Next year, we’re going to initiate a multi-age cross-culture unit because we see a need for that. The teachers in each cluster plan together, meet together, and, as they told me not too long ago, it’s like a marriage. They need to know how to congeal and come together as a group. When they don’t congeal, we revamp for the next year. The people are moved without any negative feelings. They discovered they just couldn’t work together.

Advantages for Clustering

Students can hear an objective or be taught at a lesson in three, four, or five different ways. They have more opportunities to learn within the time limit. There is no longer that constraint time: 45 minutes for language arts, 45 minutes for math. They have big blocks of time: 2 1/2 hours. Therefore, when a child has to practice, he has plenty of time. For example, if a third grader needs to spend more time on a lesson, he may do so because his next cluster, say PE, is an hour and a half long. Teachers can work the schedule out so that the child doesn’t feel punished. Also, they don’t have to take the work home, and sometimes our parents cannot help them.

Working with Teachers

When we started our clustering plan, I wanted the teachers to experience being students, so during staff development, I treated them like they were students. Firstly, the assistant principal was very oriented toward the classroom and instruction. We were geared into the reading mode, comprehension skills, and so on. So we had to make the teachers experience the frustration of being a student who was expected to learn something difficult, like statistics. They had to experience the feelings first, then change their attitudes. So we did a lot of staff development. We did a great deal of reading. We visited schools in Houston and brought speakers in from the regional service center. They had a full year of preparation because I didn’t change anything the first year, but I kept telling them, “This is the way we are going, and I want you to come with me.” But if you can’t come with me, then you need to look someplace else. A majority of them decided to stay. We asked the teachers who they wanted to work with if they had a choice of anybody in the building. They were so indoctrinated that kindergarten always met together, first grade always went together, without any mixing of grades. So, we had to make sure the teachers had the opportunities to meet other teachers outside their grade levels – socially. I would call faculty meetings for such mixers because some didn’t know who the other teachers were.

We raised money to visit schools. We got a grant from the Osteopathic Association to visit schools with innovative programs. I took parents with me because I needed their support, too. We had community meetings in the evening so parents could come and act like students and practice running through the schedules. We did a lot of work with students, parents, and teachers in order to get where we wanted to go. In the spring of 1992, we piloted for six weeks to work out the kinks, and the following year was full immersion into the plan. The objective for making these changes and looking at other programs was to help the minority student. If these children can do so well, what more can they achieve? I would tell my teachers, “You guys can’t rest on your laurels. There is somebody out there that’s better than you are.” I wanted them to see it because seeing is believing, so we went and found kindergarteners that were on the same level as our second graders. It was mind-boggling. We began to ask what it is we’re not doing, so we began to revamp and see what we could do. There was a big change of attitude in the teachers.

Problem Solving

The counselor is very important as an intermediary. She is in a position where the teachers know that if they didn’t agree with me and couldn’t tell me, they could tell the counselor, and then the counselor would come and tell me their concerns. But I don’t care how many times teachers disagree with me, I want them to feel free to do it. In fact, I would rather have them tell me than leave the room and undermine what we’re doing. So, I encourage them to go ahead and tell me, just don’t be ugly about it. I say, “You know, I won’t yell at you, and you won’t yell at me.” Because I can always go back and think, for example, “maybe they do have a valid point. Maybe we are moving too fast. Maybe we should go back and reconsider.” And then I would say to the teacher, “that’s a great idea that you have,” and we would implement it. She would feel a part of the team again. It takes a lot of talking and working with each other. We are still working at communicating. Some teachers want me to step in and solve a conflict between themselves and other teachers, but I’m not going to intercede. I believe that if you don’t like what somebody else is doing, you need to find a way to say it to her. It’s not my problem. So my teachers work at it now. They come and tell me we need to have a meeting because we want to discuss the problems we’re having. They come together, we talk, and we resolve it. They have to know sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes it takes 5 or 6 days to resolve an issue.

Faculty Meetings

We don’t have whole faculty meetings because meetings with individual clusters are scheduled by our blocks all week long. By Friday, I have met with every cluster. I don’t run the meetings. I’m just a member. I’m there to answer questions and give guidance if needed. The issues and concerns are different in each cluster. We keep minutes and we talk about it. Then the grade level chairpersons will come to meet with me on Monday afternoons. I tell them the current thing that the district is doing or requiring, such as routine reports, and they in turn go back to the cluster and do whatever needs to be done. But we only have big faculty meetings when I have to introduce new members to the faculty or administer a survey. We are working on improving our curriculum. The teachers are working on it this summer without pay. They do whatever needs to be done with some staying until 7:00 or 8:00 at night. We are all committed.

Ms. Guadalupe Escamilla has been the principal at John Alexander Elementary School for seven years. Alexander, a kindergarten through 3rd grade school, is 89% Hispanic, 54% of whom are students identified as Emergent Bilingual. 51% of the EB population is enrolled in the bilingual education program. 4% of the student body is Asian and attends ESL programs.

Guadalupe Escamilla’s unwavering dedication to educational equity for second language learners is deeply rooted in her theoretical understanding of bilingual education and her extensive experience as a teacher and administrator. As a principal, Ms. Escamilla combines her confidence, knowledge, and experience to create a multifaceted role. However, her visionary skills are most evident in her intense commitment to overcoming any obstacles that hinder her students’ academic achievement goals. She acknowledges the challenges and setbacks in achieving academic success and questions whether bilingual education is necessary, the importance of materials, and why it is essential. Twenty-two years later, these questions remain relevant. Ms. Escamilla’s vision for change is clear, even though it may seem impossible. However, for her, it is attainable in her school and others.

We can learn many lessons from Ms. Escamilla. Among these are the need for significant changes in the system, but there are ways to overcome it. Persistence is key. Teachers and principals must be well-informed about the research in bilingual education and know how to implement it. They must have ownership in the educational programs and principles must facilitate that process. Teachers and principals must establish reliance and trust so that teachers know their principal is behind them and vice versa. Principles play a crucial role in providing educational equity to underrepresented students, and an accountability system should address the effectiveness of principals in that process. Principles have the authority to establish ground rules and determine what is negotiable and what is not in designing and implementing change. However, the effectiveness of this process depends on how well the principal is informed and experienced in bilingual education.

Major Life Influences

The four years I taught in Crystal City, TX, from 1977 to 1981 really made me what I am today. I interviewed for a job when I heard 85% of the teachers had left Crystal City because they did not like the idea of the Mexicans taking over. I was told I would be a second-grade bilingual teacher. I said, “But I’m not elementary certified. I’m secondary. I don’t know anything about little kids!” My Superintendent, Angel Gonzalez, said, “Guadalupe, you’re going to learn real fast.” And he was absolutely right because learn we did! A puro trancoso. It was brand new; we were all just starting out. Raza Unida had just won, and the whole nation was looking at us. We had to succeed. We had to show them that Mexicans could be in control and could succeed. I got to Crystal City ready to march, ready to fight, but all that was left was a lot of hard work. I learned so much these four years. I was in the Teacher Corps and got my master’s in elementary education with a minor in bilingual education. I supervised the bilingual program there. I was assistant principal, the first female administrator in Crystal City. I wrote curriculum. We were correcting history in this curriculum. That is what was so wonderful about it – la verdadera historia del Alamo. I mean the real stuff.

Those experiences were invaluable. If it had not been for that, I would probably still be in the valley teaching and not having much amounted to much. It took something as dramatic as what was going on in Crystal City to shake me up and move me out. Plus, I’m good. I am a hard worker, and once I believe in something, you always want me in your camp. I am a good and loyal friend. I will fight to the end. That’s just me. Having been in Crystal really awakened me in terms of our people, our cause. When I saw people like José Ángel Gutiérrez fighting so hard to make things right for our people, I could not help but fall right in there. We did not do it for what was in it for us. Lord, it was all hard work. A salary of $6,000, thank you, until González, but we did it because we believed in what was going on. Also, I had a lot of nurturing, a lot of push from people. We saw the potential in me, and Kill Gutiérrez, for one, had kept pushing me to get my master’s. José Ángel said, “You can’t settle for intern. You’ve got to be a team leader.” I’d say he’d don’t even know what a team leader is, and he’d say, “Everyone will learn at the same time.” So I said, “ OK, well, OK. I’ll try. I have always been at the right place at the right time.”

From there, I went to Anthony. I was a Title 7 director, and I got to put that good experience from Crystal into practice at Anthony. It was more of a managerial position, so I learned the other side. In Austin, I was a parental involvement specialist. Then, in Dallas, I was a facilitator for the bilingual education program and a resource teacher.

Then I went back to La Jolla for a while and did it all there at the secondary level. I was in charge of ESL at the high school. Then I became director of elementary education, so I worked with all the principals there. I was in charge of all the programs: the gifted and talented, bilingual, and computer. I have had a multitude of experiences. It’s been great. Then I came back to Dallas, and this is my 7th year as the principal. All my experiences have come together at this point in my life. I think it has worked out to my benefit. The questions we were asking back then were: do we need bilingual education? What about materials? We were having to rely on Puerto Rican and teacher-made materials at the time. Why do we need bilingual education? And today, 22 years later, we’re still asking the same questions. You would think we would have progressed from by now to asking how do we improve what we were doing.

It is a shame that some people in our country have taken the stand that English is the language of the world and refused to look at the definite advantages of bilingualism. I am a believer in bilingual education. When done well, it works beautifully, but when done wrong, it hurts our children tremendously. It is really important that whoever is in charge knows what she is doing, has a good, qualified staff, and good materials.

The School

Before I arrived at Alexander, the bilingual program was equivalent to an English-only program. They called it bilingual, but it was not that at all. They were using a whole language strategy, and the teachers were trained exceptionally well in the developmental language experience charts to extract skills. Even though there was a great deal in place, native language instruction was practically nonexistent. Kindergarten only had 1 1/2 hours of native language instruction. I thought it should be the other way around: 1 1/2 hours of second language instruction. I decided we needed to change directions. The importance of bilingual education is critical. Anyone that is familiar with the research will tell you that the fastest way to get children into a second language is if they know their first language well. You only learn to read and write once. After that, everything else is a transfer. If that is the case, you have to make sure you do an excellent job of teaching them to read and write well first because if that is not in place, then they will not have anything solid to transfer into the second language. Much of the bilingual education is based on the premise of transfer. That’s not to say that once you move into English, you drop the Spanish. On the contrary, children need to continue in their native language because that is where higher-level speaking skills are developed. Once children know how to sequence, how to infer, how to predict, and how to summarize, it will be easy to do it in English but have to know how it well in their native language first. So when I became principal and they were teaching math in English to Spanish monolingual students, I said that’s ridiculous. We’re wasting precious time. You see, I believe that we should be learning while learning English, not learning English at the expense of learning. When a principal has such deeply seated beliefs, it is easy to get a good bilingual program in place. I believe that children should have a very strong native language base. Without it, kids will fail or be placed in special education. Then eventually, we’ll drop out. I do not want that. Our children are too smart, and our teachers work too hard to get those kinds of results.

School Implementation Plan

The first thing we did was write it into our school improvement plan that we were going to be doing true bilingual education. We were going to do native language development and test in the native language. We were not going to test our kids at the end of 2nd grade in English, so we purchased the SABE test, and sure enough, our kids were doing well. Of course, they are doing well; of course, they are going to do poorly if they are tested in English after native language instruction. We knew we were on the right track, but we had to improve ourselves. Teachers went to a great deal of teacher training, and they themselves provided training for the district.

Bucking the System

I do not agree with the approach that the district and state are promoting. In fact, I’m trying to get them in line with me. I don’t believe the bilingual immersion model that is being implemented now is good for our kids, and I am the first one out there to say that. I find myself in the role of the advocate for the child who is Spanish dominant, and I will take anybody on. I am dissatisfied with our children, and I do not think many others are saying that. If people do not believe in bilingual education, well, they should get out of the way. Our mission is to succeed. Our numbers are increasing every year, and we cannot continue to have this horrendous problem of dropout. Some say our kids are not achieving because they are LEP students, but I refuse to accept that notion. We found here at John Alexander School that our children who had gone through our developmentally appropriate bilingual education program were outscoring regular kids in 3rd grade. How can this be? Well, let me tell you. With a solid base in their native language, who knows they can do anything.

Reasons for Resistance

I think it is ignorance. People just do not understand bilingual education. It is really hard to understand unless you have been there yourself. I am not saying you have to be bilingual. A bilingual teacher is in order to be a good principal and have a strong bilingual education background. But you know, it sure helps. I have always been a teacher rebel, but now I am on the other side, and I realize I can make or break programs. I can make or break teachers and kids. It is an awesome responsibility when we have people who are undermining bilingual education or who say they have a program but allow their teachers to do native language instruction only once a week, 1 1/2 hours per day. I wonder where is the accountability? I have even heard that some principals say just keep the Spanish materials out, but what these kids really need is English, and that’s what you’re going to teach. If anyone comes to monitor you, just have the Spanish materials out to show that’s what you have been using. I wonder who is holding these people responsible.

Changes and Improvements

If I could change anything, I would want to preserve the child’s self-concept because if there is a positive self-concept, he or she becomes a risk-taker. Risk-takers are going to be trying new things, but somehow we have institutionalized our schooling to the point where you can already see by the 3rd grade which kid has no self-concept, which one is demoralized, and which one is great and can take on the world. That is one thing.

The other thing I would do is get rid of all the teachers that do not like kids. I wish we could change our assessment of teachers. This TTAS is for the birds. It tells you what a dog and pony show should look like, but that is not the problem. It is the day in, day out that is critical right now. The board comes down on us because we have so many teachers scoring so high, and yet the kids are not achieving, and they think we are the bad guys.

The Balancing Act

The challenge is balancing it all: being the collaborator, the bad guy, the friend, the humanist, the big baton. You have to keep a certain momentum going. When you are depressed, you should really stay home because it runs through the building so quickly. You do what you need to do and carry on. You always have to be up for your staff. Let them see that you are smiling and good morning them to death. If you do it consistently, it runs through the building. I want to make our buildings a place where people want to come to work. We work really hard at that.

Tomorrow I’m treating the staff to fajitas. It is Cinco de Mayo and it is also Teacher Appreciation Week.

Mr. Rogelio Gonzalez has served a total of 20 years as a teacher and administrator and is principal of Wayside High School, with seven years as assistant principal and seven years as principal. He has accrued a great deal of experience as a leader. He believes more strongly than ever that the answer to the educational challenge rests with teachers, and he advocates empowering them at every opportunity.

If there was ever a perfect match between a leader and a school, it could be argued that such a match exists between Mr. Gonzalez and Wayside High School. His incredible zeal for change is particularly noteworthy. He is a fearless leader, a master of creating school culture, a persuasive and careful negotiator. Mr. Gonzalez is a strong and relentless advocate for his staff and students. He has maintained high expectations for students, high teaching standards for teachers, and a reputation for making his school a special place where only dedicated and committed individuals are invited to challenge themselves and do their best work. The work that Mr. Gonzalez and his staff have undertaken to improve their educational program for their students demonstrates their solid commitment to their profession.

The School Community

Wayside High School is comprised of 1600 students, 75% of whom are Hispanic. Of this group, 30 to 40% are either EB or in our preliterate program. Other ethnic varieties representing 19 different countries include 12% Asian Vietnamese, Amerasian, Cambodian, and Laotians, but the most frequent language spoken is Spanish. Many of our students are here illegally, most of whom are Hispanic. This is a sad reality because some of our top, top, top graduates are here illegally and don’t qualify for further resistance, but they make do and usually take the junior college route. They are too good to be suppressed. As an example, our valedictorian was a top candidate for the Dallas Morning News scholarship, but he was named GTE All American. All out of 6000 students, he was chosen for a FINA scholarship, but all these organizations require non-immigrant status. He is from Guatemala. A kid like this is going to shine no matter what. Wayside is a comprehensive high school, by that I mean we offer every facet of Texas high school life that our native-speaking counterpart has. We want to continue to do that because it is part of Texana –  it’s part of Americana, and as our students begin to assimilate, they can say in college, “Oh, yeah, I bought an annual, I took part in the band, the choir, or the football team.” Also, when their kids come home mentioning stuff about high school life, they can identify with them. It is a conviction we have that many people may not understand, but we didn’t want to become a magnet for EB students.

Some of the activities that Mr. Gonzalez has implemented include promoting ESL strategies and activities in all of their content area courses, adding a fifth year to their program to accommodate the needs of their pre-literate students, working with the feeder middle school to improve the transitioning process for students, working with the community to increase their involvement in the education of the students, and presenting a forum for teacher self-expression called the family advisory committee. Mr. Gonzalez is especially successful in his role as a public relations agent and has also worked hard to nurture leadership skills among his teaching staff. He values teachers’ contributions and supports them. Besides, we think it’s kind of neat to have a Cambodian quarterback throwing the ball ocean-wide, receiver blocked by a Mexican. Every facet of our program starts from the beginning because our students don’t have a frame of reference.

When ESL is the School

Consequently, we have the most dynamic, aggressive ESL department, which is the largest in the state. We have 24 teachers, and we’ll probably have 27 next year, depending on the LEP population. We work stringently to train our regular subject area teachers and ESL methodology because the regular program no longer exists in this school. This school is an ESL program. The core teachers in regular education are the minority, but they are important because once the student exits ESL, we have to provide a basis for landing in the regular core. Students must be hit with a consistent delivery system from 9th grade through 12th grade. A new way of teaching in visiting classes and looking at test results, we found that although Juan exited ESL in good standing in regular core, he failed. We didn’t know why. We identified a cognitive lag in students between exiting ESL with its nurturing environment and entering the regular classroom with the old paradigm of teaching. So we decided on a consistent address and delivery system of objectives. Our ESL department works very aggressively with the regular core teachers at their request. It is a challenge to convince veteran teachers that they need to look at a new way of teaching.

Making Adjustments

Math, for instance, taught the old way: assignment division – do the odd number problems. The students do not do the homework, so for punishment, they are given the even number problems too, that is, twice as many. They needed a different delivery system: more hands-on, whole language, discovery learning. We weren’t doing that. The teacher would say, “Just read the text, do the questions.” “Read and do questions.” We had to break those habits. We wanted them to touch the stuff. For example, if you teach measurement using litters and go get a three-liter bottle of Pepsi and show them 3 liters, we found out the reason our students are failing history was because history in ESL started at 1865 and went to the present. No background was ever provided prior to 1865. That was no problem. We fixed that, but when students exit ESL, their language problem is still there. For example, in U.S. history, there are the words “flower,” “compact,” and “May.” “Flower” could be a rose or what you use to make tortillas; “compact” could be something small tightly interwoven or the thing your mom uses with powder. “ May” could be something you used to ask permission or Cinco de Mayo, but what the heck is a Mayflower Compact?

The sophistication of applying the vocabulary they’ve learned and synthesizing higher-level skills was not quite there yet because they just learned English a year ago. The concept of osmosis is another example. The biology teacher was wearing himself out using sheltered biology, but the kids weren’t responding. I asked him how he felt. He said, “Man, I know they’re not getting anything. I don’t know what I am not doing.” We started working again, and that’s where we realized the cognitive lag was developing. They didn’t have osmosis as a word in ESL or chromosomes and all that stuff, so now our program is designed so it has ESL for science, ESL for history, a little bit of background, so when they get into core work, they will be prepared. This will prepare them. Plus, the key is the consistent delivery system. I want teachers to understand these kids are not dumb. What they need is to be presented with material in a different way, so this is what we are all about.

Staff Selection

The veterans are harder to convince, but the new people we are hiring, no matter for what class, we ask them, “ Are you ready for this?” They come and observe; it is a test to find out how excited they are about joining our staff. I firmly believe you have to want to teach at Wayside High School and not just a high school in Dallas.

As we add new people, we have a tier system. Prospective teachers interview with me, the Dean, the ESL department head, and the head of their specialty. Then we ask them to come back and visit, walk around, look at the classes, and see the challenge.

We have seen a difference in selecting teachers after they observe. They say, “Hey, I want to go to the next step.” They do demonstration lessons using their own classes if they are at another school and want to transfer. We visit the class of their choice. We send three people and use a simple instrument to see if they are teaching. They come back. We debrief, and it’s either “three-up unanimous,” or we don’t select the person. That has yielded a better product. Plus, we’ve involved our present staff. As a result, the new person already has three pals plus the three that selected him or her and his buddies tried to make sure their brother is going to be good.

Preliterate Program

Four years ago, level one teachers told me their 15 to one ratio level cap was overflowing. A new phenomenon was occurring: students lower than the level one were coming in. I asked what we could do. They said, “Create a new preliterate program,” and we did it. My only problem in implementing this program has been getting out of their way fast enough. The teachers say they need something, and I say, “Well, can you design it?” They say yes, so we do it. For example, we looked at the teacher-to-pupil ratio and allocation of staff members. We made changes all within our budget and with permission.

Because they are in ESL levels, the students move up based on LPAC, the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee, comprised of teachers and counselors. We recognize traditional high school is 4 years, but we have no problem with a five-year program, so we say let us initially elongate the program by design so they finish even if it takes five years. At the end of five years, we’ll have a better product in terms of language acquisition, and they may have greater success on the TAAS. LPAC identifies the students that are acquiring language faster, so we do not slow down those that are sharp.

Coordinating with Feeder Schools

Every year, at least 600 of our students come in with no skills. They are not from our feeder system. We cannot say that they are; however, we have gotten together with our feeder junior high to produce Wayside graduates. I fight for them as well as I do for Wayside. We do staff developments on Saturdays now. Teachers from the junior high can look at our Wayside teachers in the eye and say, “My kids are prepared for you because you told me what you wanted.” I want that teachers’ integrity to be challenged. Man, you have to be prepared. You are going into Gonzalez’s class next year, and he is good. I don’t want him to think less of me for not teaching you this.

So we started a process of accountability this year for those that go through the feeder system. We are trying to make sure teachers know each other because if I’m going to blame you for not preparing this child, I ought to be able to tell you face to face that you are not addressing subjunctive case, and that’s on the TV AAS. You have to help me prepare them for that. I want to create an atmosphere where teachers can peer coach and say, “ I’m next door to you, and you didn’t do so well on that portray chapter.” And then the other teacher would say, “No, I didn’t. Can you help me on it?”

Again, the teachers are the stars we have to hitch our wagon to. When I tell them they’re no good, it becomes a punitive, then adversarial situation. But when I or you tell a peer you need help, that is not threatening. It will take a lot of ego purifying, but we are headed that way.

Self-confidence in Teachers

The teachers here at Wayside used to believe that they were nothing, so in turn, the kids believed they were nothing too. I did things here you are not supposed to be able to do with students. I changed the dress code, I confronted the gangs, I set up reward systems for snitching on graffiti artists, and I called them do-dos, but you should not be able to do this with a student body unless the student body feels it is nothing. The student body should have challenged me, but they didn’t. Now they believed the reality: they are somebody and they can compete with anyone. It bothered me a lot that the teachers were contributing to the problem. They would say these kids can’t. I would say, “What do you mean they can’t? How do you know? Have you tried? Have you asked them again? This is nothing new. People who change things do that.”

Family Advisory Committee

We have a forum for teachers to express their frustrations called the Family Advisory Committee, which is completely anonymous. The ones who trust me come in here, close the door, and blow off steam. Then they go right back to what they need to do. I know some are not comfortable with my style, but they work with the kids, do their jobs, so we are OK.

After I realized teachers were going to need to change with site-based management, I met with every department. I laid down the old paradigm and told them we were going to be needing a lot more energy from teachers in terms of student involvement, direct teaching, and activities. If they were not interested, the district was large enough to assimilate their styles somewhere else. I would help with no hard feelings, but if they wanted to be a part, great. I wanted to use peer coaching. I wanted the department heads to take care of their own. The science department said, “Oh, we don’t want Mr. so-and-so.” I asked, “Did you tell him why?” Do you want me to tell him, they’d say, “Well, you’re the principal”? I say, “Wait a minute. I like the guy. I know he’s not a good teacher, but I like him. Why do you want me to be the bad guy? I didn’t become a principal to be a bad guy.” They asked, “What do we do?” I told them, “ I don’t know. You tell me what you want to do.” They decided to talk to the teacher. I said it up, bought food, stayed after school with them, and had a departmental meeting first. They told the guy he wasn’t carrying his load and they did not appreciate it. I debriefed with him and told him that unless he improved, the other teachers did not want him to stay. He improved, but I don’t know if he could ever mend what he had already done through this experience. The department realized they had the power to change direction.

Dr. Roberto Zamora, holds the position of Executive Assistant to the State Commissioner of Education. His experience, knowledge, and insight make him well-suited to play a leadership role at the state level. Among the many excellent ideas he shared with us, we highlighted the need for change in the traditional role of the principal to a well-informed instructional leader, manager, and problem solver. Dr. Zamora emphasized the importance of implementing change, consensus decision-making, developing partnerships and collaborations, and responding appropriately to the diverse cultural and linguistic needs of our schools.

Dr. Zamora’s commitment to improving education for all students is evident in his deep understanding of the challenges faced by language minority students. He has consistently pointed out the pervasive misconceptions about the capabilities of these students and the negative perceptions toward bilingual education and ESL programs. Dr. Zamora also highlighted the well-documented failure rates among Hispanic students, the destructive tracking practices, low expectations toward language minorities, and overall apathy toward improving the educational process for these students.

However, some of Dr. Zamora’s ideas have yet to be incorporated into the state agencies’ plans for action.

One point of conflict arises from the agency’s rule to promote excellence and equity. Dr. Zamora stated that in light of this role, they expect all students to perform at high levels. This means that if there is a performance gap among different groups, the gap is expected to be closed. However, the accountability system has a different approach to fulfilling its role in ensuring equity. The plan states that if any African American, Hispanic, white, or economically disadvantaged student population comprises more than 20% of the total population, and if the 20% or fewer of that group passes all tests taken, the accountability system will not fulfill its role in ensuring equity. The district accreditation status will be downgraded to “accredited warned.” In other words, districts with low enrollment of language minority students, the majority of whom have consistently failed the state test, will be cited as unacceptable by the agency, even though their overall passing rate among most of the students is acceptable. This strategy can best be described not as having an equity intent but rather as an incentive for schools directly affected to find drastic, often inappropriate, ways to teach to the test.

Secondly, Dr. Zamora, asserted that the agency is now providing appropriate assessments to determine whether students are learning. However, a task group is formulating plans for alternative assessment procedures for language minority students. They also commented that districts have the flexibility to implement programs that will help them achieve desired outcomes. However, the current testing instruments are questionable in their intent to truly measure what they purport to measure. Are they assessing content or English language proficiency in language minority students? It seems that the agency needs to determine what it wants to measure and devise more appropriate ways to do so. For example, why not test students in their native language to assess their mastery of the content and use other means to assess or monitor their progress in learning English as a second language?

Thirdly, Dr. Zamora stated that the state’s role is to set expectations in terms of what students are supposed to learn and provide assessments accordingly. The non-negotiable is student learning, and what is negotiable is the program. Perhaps, herein lies one of the major sources of frustration for many teachers. Having the flexibility to design one’s own program often leads principals to claim a license to implement any program, regardless of whether it complies with state law concerning bilingual education or not, as long as it will lead to increased English test scores among language minority students.

Finally, Dr. Zamora argued for restructuring the system. Does the system include the state agency and its approach and strategies for leading our efforts to an improved educational system? If the agency perceives the need for change, just like Dr. Zamora’s, then, we can begin to feel confident that our leaders at the policy-making levels are indeed worthy of our following.

Advocates of this system may argue about the need for high-stakes testing and the “shape up or perish” approach inherent in the current system. However, in a performance-based accountability system, there is greater responsibility to accurately and appropriately determine what needs to be assessed, and assessment is crucial to educational reform. It is often noted as a driving force behind the wheels of change. With Dr. Zamora’s support, we can successfully accomplish the important goals of ensuring that our programs are the very best for our students. After all, as Dr. Zamora said, when we don’t change our practices to reflect what we know contributes to more learning than we shortchange students, we are not doing our students any favors.

Table 1: INTERVIEW SUMMARIES

“Who says you can’t do research? Educators are researchers every day”

By Dr. Flora Roebuck

Principals and teachers, like practitioners in other professions, engage in research activities almost daily. They design and administer data collection instruments, conduct observations, and aggregate data to describe or compare subjects and groups.

They analyze their data to identify similarities or differences, changes, patterns, or themes, draw inferences from their data, make conclusions, and translate their discoveries into action plans.Unfortunately, these daily investigations and reflections are often not perceived by professional educators as research due to three widely held misconceptions. First, research is considered a precise and highly scientific system of specific methods and procedures conducted for the purpose of generating a body of educational knowledge. Second, it is believed that research cannot be done without statistics. Third, research is seen as a monolithic, unitary block that must be absorbed whole, or not at all.

However, all three of these perceptions are misconceptions. Research may be conducted for various purposes, ranging from describing existing circumstances or problems to making administrative or curricular decisions about specific individuals, programs, or groups. Far from being a single system of methods and procedures, there are more than a dozen currently recognized categories of methodologies for conducting research in education. About half of these methodologies are neither precise nor scientific, although all of them are rigorous and each has its own way of ensuring the validity of results.

As for statistics, only a few research categories, primarily experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational, survey, mega-analysis, and retrospective chart studies, rely to any great extent on statistical validation or inference. In fact, statistics is a relatively recent addition to educational research, adopted from agriculture in the early decades of the 20th century to provide researchers with a way of summarizing and validating the differences and similarities among groups of highly variable individuals.

Furthermore, research does not have to be undertaken in one big gulp. There are at least four different levels of research, each of which can be complete in itself. Table 2 (below) briefly summarizes the four levels and provides examples of research that falls into each category. Educators typically carry out the body of knowledge for each level of education. It began as a collection of professional lore generated by principals and teachers from their daily experiences and shared orally with others. This practice continued until we needed to demonstrate that teaching was a respectable profession. Research became so esoteric and demanding that only specialists could do it.

Currently, that change is reversing. Today, the natural study of educational processes and the teacher’s role as a researcher have once again made it not only acceptable but also imperative for educational practitioners to become involved in the design, conduct, and publication of research. As a case in point, all principals who receive this publication are invited to participate in a stimulus-response survey study of reactions to the Texas statewide accountability system. In this study, persons of varying characteristics in similar but not necessarily identical settings are asked to react to the same stimulus. Their responses to the stimulus are then examined in various ways. If you would like to participate, you will need to read Dr. Guadarrama’s article beginning on page 42 in this issue and then complete the survey questionnaire below.

Table 2: Four Levels of Research

Language Minority Students: Finders or Losers of the American Dream?

For countless children, education serves as the pivotal factor in achieving a superior quality of life. This is particularly concerning for the over six million school-age language minority students nationwide who have been identified as Emergent Bilinguals or English Language Learners.

Dr. Irma N. Guadarrama

In Texas alone, nearly 400,000 school-aged children qualify for bilingual education or ESL programs. However, this figure does not encompass children who have been removed or exited from bilingual education programs but still require instructional support before being fully integrated into an all-English language curriculum.The most recent report from the Texas Education Agency Accountability Office has cast doubt on stakeholders’ belief that education genuinely facilitates access to a superior quality of life. The report evaluated schools and their respective districts based on students’ test scores on state-administered assessments, categorizing them into exemplary, recognized, accredited, unacceptable, and clearly unacceptable performance levels. As anticipated, the majority of ‘unacceptable’ districts and campuses are those with a significant proportion of language minority or ethnic minority students, while the recognized districts and schools are predominantly suburban schools with a majority of White students.

There were few surprises in this report, as it closely resembled the public disclosures of years past, where districts and campuses were hierarchically ranked based on achievement test scores. Fairness to the plan, however, it’s too early to determine its full impact on educational programs for language minority students. Nevertheless, some preliminary observations point to its ineffectiveness, particularly regarding the method used to determine which schools are performing well and which are not, and its effectiveness as part of an educational reform plan.

Firstly, it’s important to recognize that, as state officials have often reminded us, the accountability plan was initiated as a result of a mandate from the legislature, specifically Senate Bill 7*. The bill states that the plan should provide a) a framework for evaluating and improving educational performance and b) a comprehensive integrated framework for the system that will be used to accredit school districts. These mandates are intended to provide the impetus for continual improvement in student performance through “public disclosure of results and the application of specific, sequential rewards, sanctions, and technical support interventions to districts and campuses statewide” (TEA, 1993, p.3). The basis for an accountability system is common among most states across the nation, stemming from an increasing public outcry to improve our educational system. However, the development of the specific plan is the task of the Accountability Office under the direction of the State Commissioner of Education, Dr. Lionel R. Meno. The State Board of Education was presented with proposed academic excellence indicators and subsequently approved them. The Texas Education Agency utilized these indicators in its accountability plan to base its ratings and accreditation system. These seven indicators comprise the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), a set of criterion-referenced tests.

The current plan requires students in third grade to take the math and reading sections, fourth graders to take the content area and writing sections, and eighth and tenth graders to take all sections. Attendance is also a key indicator, with a 97% average yearly attendance rate being specified. Additionally, the dropout rate is calculated as the total number of dropouts in grades seven through 12 divided by the number of students enrolled in those grades for more than 30 consecutive days. High school end-of-course exams in Algebra 1 and Biology are required to be administered in 1993 and 1994. Furthermore, the percentage of graduating students passing the TASP equivalency, or simply the number of students passing the TAAS exam in high school who subsequently received their high school diploma, is another important indicator. Lastly, the high school graduation rate, which is the percentage of students taking and passing the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT), is also a key factor in the evaluation of school districts.

Academic excellence indicators are distinct from one another, but collectively, they represent the same thing: students who struggle to pass all parts of the TAAS exam tend to skip school regularly, perform poorly in science and math, drop out, lack college aspirations, and drop out when they fail the exit TAAS exam. The lack of variability in these indicators results in a biased and narrow view of school performance levels, similar to the assessment practices criticized as socially irresponsible, according to Monty Neil, associate director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, (1993). Neil argues that a socially responsible assessment system first and foremost helps children learn and focuses on the relationship between students and teachers. Additionally, the results should be useful to both teachers and students in improving that relationship.

A socially responsible assessment system is fair and equitable, avoiding labeling or pigeonholing children. Doing so is an injustice to their lives and the community, potentially causing serious harm. Fairness demands a flexible assessment system, not a standardized one, to serve students from diverse cultures equally well. An equitable plan promotes high standards while allowing students to take diverse routes to alternative destinations. Above all, equity emphasizes the importance of not using tests as the sole basis for making decisions about students, despite their inherent claim of fairness and equity.

However, the state accountability plan falls short of these principles. It is unfair and inequitable because it systematically pushes out the marginal student, particularly the student on the brink who needs the most help, such as the students with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and students from low-income families who speak a different language and have access to a different cultural capital incompatible with the schools. The plan considers only a narrow view of these students’ achievements or failures in their schooling process.

In its attempt to improve educational standards, the plan seeks success by publicly denouncing the efforts of teachers, principals, and parents in schools with large populations of ethnic and language minority students, labeling them as failures. It also keeps students who satisfactorily complete the exit TAAS exam from receiving an earned diploma, effectively marginalizing them. Students, especially those from low-performing schools, face harsh realities beyond the classroom. These schools, once considered safe havens, are now stressful and restrictive, often failing to provide the necessary support for students to achieve the success they’ve struggled to attain. The accountability plan, while potentially raising test scores, may not address the root causes of student failure. It risks losing students to dropout statistics as well as dedicated teachers who lose confidence in their leaders.

To illustrate the accountability plan’s failure to consider its impact on students’ learning and curriculum/language policy, let’s consider a real-life scenario in one of the so-called low-performing accredited schools. Ms. D, a third-grade teacher, has a diverse classroom of students who span the entire linguistic spectrum. Some are Spanish monolingual, while others are Spanish dominant or equally proficient in both languages. All require the special teaching skills that Ms. D has acquired through her experiences and education.

Due to state policy, students who are second language learners (EB) are waived from taking the TAAS exam for one year. This means that Ms. D can continue providing her students with the most effective pedagogy, utilizing both their native language and English as a second language strategies. These strategies help her students achieve academically and develop proficiency in English.

However, the following year, in fourth grade, these students will be tested in social studies, science content, and writing skills in English. To excel in these tests, students must master the social and academic levels of English, which are beyond the beginning and intermediate levels. Even some students at the advanced level have shown that it takes five to seven years to acquire the academic language.

In her own experience working with second language learners, Ms. D understands the challenges these students face. She knows that they need more than just academic language skills; they need a comprehensive approach that addresses their linguistic and cultural needs. Ms. D knows that her students must acquire the English language to pass the TAAS exams the following year. She has to decide whether to teach her students using a learner-centered approach, relying on their readiness to transition from their native language to English, or to provide a skewed curriculum and teach to the test. Her principal, under pressure from the district central offices for receiving a low-performance rating, resolves Ms. D’s dilemma to some extent by ordering teachers to transition children from their native language to English, regardless of their state of readiness. However, it seems that Ms. D’s professional judgment concerning the curriculum and pedagogy must be suspended or realigned to accommodate an accountability plan that has clearly overstepped its boundaries and is now the driving force behind curriculum decisions. When children in bilingual education should be transitioned, the plan demands that teachers forestall their professional judgment and follow orders.

The state’s accountability plan has several consequences for districts and schools that fail to increase student test scores. These include evaluation visits by local practitioners trained by the division of accreditation, who should assist campuses according to a specific plan established by that office. The appointment of a monitor, master management team, or board of managers to oversee district and low-performing campus operations, paid by the district, is another consequence. The most serious consequences for districts and campuses that remain in the accredited, warned, or low-performing category for two or more years are district annexation or campus closure, where the commissioner can join the district with another or close a campus and assign students to another campus that adequately meets their educational needs. There are several concerns regarding the intervention measures developed to disrupt schools that fail to comply with mandates. The means of helping districts improve or perish indicate the system’s reliance on external entities rather than facilitating the systematic development of districts or individual campuses. Internal means to identify problems and find unique solutions are lacking, and the idea that schools can be improved by people other than principals is problematic.

Teachers often overlook the valuable contributions and resources available, as well as the unique school culture of each institution. More importantly, the prevailing message of distrust inherent in the mandate is evident to teachers, principals, and parents. Ironically, the high-stakes testing and drastic, unrealistic threats of district annexation and school closures may be ineffective in changing teacher and principal behavior, especially in schools with large numbers of language minority students. Consider a recent national survey conducted by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which found that nearly 80% of the teachers interviewed believe that most of the causes of student school failure are due to factors beyond their control, such as lack of parental support, nutrition, and so on. In 1990, a large number of teachers tended to blame other factors rather than themselves. The only real victims of such an accountability system are the students, who are left in a state of panic. Their teachers are demoralized, disgruntled, and distrustful. Their principals demand a back-to-basics curriculum and an extrinsic transition from their native language to English. Furthermore, whatever progress was made in promoting professionalism and shared decision-making through site-based management must now be suspended.

What Type of System is Required?

Accountability plans that facilitate productivity in the educational process, are based on sound pedagogical practices, and adhere to research findings are deemed the most effective. Accountability systems were established to assist schools in their efforts to provide the most effective education possible for all of their students. Some authors, such as Richard Schlechty (1990), contend that accountability systems are primarily promoted by business leaders who appear to doubt that teachers are working to their full potential. Schlechty has also observed that teachers and administrators who protest or criticize the system are often perceived as irresponsible and attempting to evade accountability, which may explain why teachers and principals’ voices of protest are rarely heard.

Accountability systems are most effective when they are well-coordinated and balanced with other divisional programs at the state, local, and professional levels, such as professional development and bilingual/ESL education. Furthermore, it would be more practical to shift the roles of accreditation staff from their current authoritative positions to those of facilitators and coordinators. These two aspects of an accountability system that facilitates change within schools and professional development of our leaders are briefly addressed in the following sections.

Facilitating Change Within Schools

Over the past decade of educational reform, it has been established that a top-down approach to facilitating change is ineffective in improving education. Instead, the emerging focus is on change tailored to the unique culture of each individual school and the collaborative efforts of school staff to bring about the necessary change. (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993; Barth, 1990; Lieberman, 1988)

For schools to improve from within, they must be provided with effective assistance. When schools develop into communities of learners and engage in the development of self-assessment profiles, the process can be structured to facilitate change from the bottom up. This approach not only helps schools become more effective but also enables the collection of ongoing evaluative data. (Guadarrama, 1992 and in press)

Accountability systems that facilitate this process directly or indirectly can be productive and positive. To assist in this process, a modified model of intervention for the state Accountability Office must be created. Policy must be implemented in a way that facilitates internally controlled bottom-up management.

Leadership Development

To improve the educational experience for all students, especially those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, significant transformations are essential at all levels and in every aspect of the educational process. One of the most crucial changes required is in the leadership development of principals. Leadership development, restructuring, or reforming schools has undergone a significant redefinition in the emerging literature on this topic. In his book, “Leadership for Tomorrow’s Schools,” Patterson (1993) defines leadership as “the process of influencing others to achieve mutually agreed-upon purposes for the organization.” Patterson emphasizes that developing leadership skills in our leaders is a lengthy and intensive process. Influencing others implies that persuasion and interaction prevail over bossing and coercion.

Achieving mutually agreed-upon purposes implies that the goals are supported by those involved and, in turn, support individuals in leadership positions. Patterson asserts that tomorrow’s leaders value a) the active participation of all members of an organization in any discussion or decision affecting them, including diversity in perspectives; b) employees acknowledging mistakes and learning through research, applying technology, and utilizing evaluation data to improve performance; and c) employees recognizing and capitalizing on leverage points to enhance student learning. Patterson outlines several key components of leadership development: reflective practice, which involves giving and receiving feedback while considering past and current actions in light of new information; supporting collegiality, which entails using group process, networking, team building, and fostering trust-building and collaboration; creating leadership density, which involves recognizing and nurturing leadership growth; and identifying leverage points, which entails recognizing and capitalizing on leverage to improve student learning.

Leadership development is paramount in fostering and sustaining innovation that enhances the educational process. Consequently, the imperative for creative and well-trained leaders should be a top priority in schools serving language minority students. Professional development leaders must direct their attention towards staff development strategies and activities that are campus-based and contribute to the creation or nurturing of communities of learners. Leadership at the state level holds particular significance in assisting school districts in their endeavors to ensure that all principals are not only well-informed of research data and state rulings pertaining to bilingual aid and other programs for language minority students but are also implementing the most effective and innovative strategies available.

In conclusion, educational reform will undoubtedly persist for an extended period. Reflecting on lessons learned is crucial if we are to allocate our valuable resources in the most effective manner, ultimately achieving the best possible outcomes. However, if we narrow our evaluative focus excessively and disregard the diverse challenges inherent in teaching language minority children, we risk diminishing our professionalism. Above all, we must not shortchange our students in the pursuit of goals as strictly defined by the state agency. Language minority students deserve an equal opportunity to pursue the American dream. Nevertheless, we must question whether the current policies and programs are facilitating or hindering their progress. Given that thousands of students rely on us, educators and policymakers, to help them realize their dreams, it is imperative that we engage in critical and thoughtful decision-making at every stage of the process.

*Note: Senate Bill 7 has been replaced with House Bill 8: “House Bill 8 (HB 8), passed during the 89th Texas Legislature, 2nd Called Session (2025), repeals and replaces the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) beginning with the 2027–28 school year.” https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news-and-multimedia/correspondence/taa-letters/overview-of-house-bill-8-0

References

Barth, R.S. (1990). Improving schools from within. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Cummins, J. (1981). The role of primary language development in promoting students. Schooling and language minority students: A theoretical framework. California State University, Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center.

Fullan, M.G. (1982). The meaning of educational change. NY: Teacher’s College Press.

Guadarrama, I.N. (1992). Self-Assessment profiles facilitate decision-making in bilingual education. Mentor Teacher Network, Texas Woman’s University. 1(4), 4-5.

Guadarrama, I.N. (In Press). Building communities of learners: The new role of the university in the preparation of bilingual education teachers. Compendium of readings in bilingual education: Issues, and practices.

Lieberman, A. (Ed.). (1988). Building professional cultures in schools. NY: Teacher’s College Press.

Neill, M. (1993, September). A better way to test. The Executive Educator, 24-27.

Patterson, J.L. (1993). Leadership for tomorrow’s schools. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Reaves, C., & Griffith, H. (1992). Restructuring schools. Lancaster, PA: Technomic Publishing.

Schlechty, P.(1990). Schools for the 21^st century: Leadership imperatives for educational reform. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Schmoker, M., & Wilson, R. (1993). Transforming schools through total quality education. Phi Delta Kappan, 74(5), 389-395.

Texas Education Agency. (1993). Statewide accountability system.