Spaces of dissonance in dual language: teacher sense-making of a new biliteracy strategy

ABSTRACT

In this article, we examine the underexplored link between teacher sense-making and professional development on paired literacy approaches. Grounded in a year-long qualitative study in a Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) program in Massachusetts, we recount the experiences of dual language teachers learning about and implementing a biliteracy strategy that connects oracy and literacy, Lotta Lara, for the first time. We found that teachers’ acts of sense-making and sense-giving were meaningful examples of the ways in which spaces of dissonance provide opportunities for critical praxis and transformative change. Based on our findings, we join the extant literature in arguing for the urgency of specialized biliteracy training for dual language teachers.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the formatting assistance of doctoral student Beth Sanders.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We use April Baker-Bell’s (2019) term, white mainstream English, rather than “standard” English, to acknowledge the role that racial dynamics play in the positioning of dominantly situated language practices as idealized and standardized linguistic forms.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Education Research Service Projects (ERSP).

Notes on contributors

Ana Solano-Campos

Ana Solano-Campos is Assistant Professor of Language and (Bi)Literacy at Georgia State University. She specializes in language socialization in linguistically diverse and dual language bilingual education contexts. She examines the implications of language policies and ideologies for literacy teaching and learning and teacher preparation. Her research also examines issues of immigration, transnationalism, and civics in schools.

Meg Burns

Meg Burns is Associate Professor of Literacy at Lesley University. She specializes in the theoretical and pedagogical foundations of bilingual education, with a focus on Spanish-English paired literacy instruction in elementary Dual Language schools. Her research also investigates issues of culture, race, and power in linguistically diverse settings, specifically Two-Way Dual Language schools.