Exploring bilingual and dual language teachers’ perspectives on asset-based professional development in science and engineering

ABSTRACT

In this article, we report on a mixed method study conducted through a previously validated bilingual instrument. The purpose was to understand elementary bilingual and dual language (BDL) teachers’ perspectives of science and engineering (S&E) teaching in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico with the goal of developing situated professional development in science and engineering (S&E). Our findings suggest that an asset-based, and content-language integrated approach is needed to develop BDL professional development models attuned to specific locations, program models, and grade levels. Implications for our findings transferred to academic practices for BDL teachers are included.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2022.2118195

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by NSF Award # 1814258 AND 2128479 see link https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1814258&HistoricalAwards=false AND https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2128479&HistoricalAwards=false

Notes on contributors

Marialuisa Di Stefano

Marialuisa Di Stefano, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research focuses on enhancing STEAM identities, disciplinary biliteracy and content knowledge development in bilingual and dual-language settings under an equity and social justice lens. She works with educators, leaders, and researchers on the development of linguistically and culturally sustaining praxis, transformative apprenticeship, and ethical mentorship in integrated STEAM and bilingual and dual-language settings.

Idalis Villanueva Alarcón

Idalis Villanueva Alarcón, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Engineering Education at the University of Florida in their Engineering Education Department. She previously was an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education at Utah State University. Her research areas are primarily in science and engineering education around topics of hidden curriculum, mentoring, motivation, learning spaces and environments, and bilingual/dual language instruction. In 2019, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) award for her National Science Foundation CAREER award on developing advocacy mentoring models around hidden curriculum in engineering.

Elizabeth McEneaney

Elizabeth McEneaney, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies at UMass-Amherst. A former math and science teacher, she utilizes mixed methods approaches to investigate equity and access in STEM fields in K-16, as well as processes of curricular stability and change from a comparative and international perspective. With Martina Nieswandt, she has been researching small group dynamics in high school science with support from the National Science Foundation.

Edwin Marte Zorrilla

Edwin Marte Zorrilla, is a Ph.D. student in Engineering Education at the University of Florida. He received a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, in 1998, and a master’s degree in Educational Technology from The Universidad Tecnologica de Santiago, in 2018, both in the Dominican Republic. His research interests include the exploration of motivation and learning pathways in science and engineering education.

Alberto Esquinca

Alberto Esquinca, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education at San Diego State University (SDSU). He was selected as SDSU’s Inaugural LGBTQIA+ Pride Faculty Scholar. He researches emergent bilinguals’ (trans)languaging in academic contexts, especially in science and engineering. He is particularly interested in issues of identity construction and languaging among transnational/ tranfronterizx children and youth. At SDSU he collaborates with Mexican teacher preparation programs as part of binational and transnational teacher preparation initiatives.