A Bilingual Special Education Teacher Preparation Program in New York City: Case Studies of Teacher Candidates’ Student Teaching Experiences

ABSTRACT

There is a need to better prepare teachers for bilingual classrooms that have students with and without disabilities. This inspired the creation of a new graduate teacher preparation program for the inclusive bilingual classroom in NYC. The program aims to help candidates understand theories and research across bilingual/bicultural education and the teaching of students with disabilities, and how the intersectionality of differences in ability, culture, and language impact learning. This study reports on two candidates’ student teaching experiences. It highlights ways in which the candidates reflected on the intersectionality of differences through teaching, as well as the multi-layered positive reactions of students and classroom teachers to their teaching, describing the emotional connections and manifold learning outcomes that resulted. The findings from this study provide valuable information for mentor teachers and teacher preparation programs interested in promoting equity in education through the preparation of inclusive bilingual educators, and has implications for policy development.

Acknowledgments

This project was partially funded by a Clinically-Rich Intensive Teacher Institute in Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language program from the New York State Education Department, Office of Bilingual Education and Foreign Language Studies. Award number C402297.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The term “soft” to describe disability categories implies these labels are of “a less tangible nature- perhaps because of their apparent ‘invisibility’-in comparison to physical or sensory disabilities” (Connor & Ferri, 2005, p. 110).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the New York State Education Department [Clinically-Rich Intensive Teacher Institute in Bil].

Notes on contributors

Patricia Martínez-Álvarez

Patricia Martínez-Álvarez is an assistant professor in the program in Bilingual/Bicultural Education in the department of Arts and Humanities at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of bilingualism/biculturalism and critical disability studies. Dr. Martínez-Álvarez is an Early Career AERA Bilingual Education Research SIG Award recipient. Her publications appear in venues such as the Journal of Teacher Education, the Bilingual Research Journal, Urban Education, and the Teachers College Record

Hsu-Min Chiang

Hsu-Min Chiang earned her PhD in special education from Macquarie University in Australia, MEd in special education from Monash University in Australia, and BEd in special education from National Tainan Teachers College in Taiwan. Prior to embarking on an academic career, she worked as a self-contained classroom teacher, resource room teacher, and Chinese language teacher at the early childhood, childhood, and adolescent levels. Her research mainly focuses on individuals with autism and their families.