Higher education faculty beliefs in preparing the early learning and care workforce to work with dual language learners

ABSTRACT

Dual language learners (DLLs) represent a large portion of children ages birth through five in the United States. California (CA) is one of the states with the largest DLL populations with about 59% of people in CA identifying as DLLs. While DLLs constitute a large portion of children in California, early learning and care (ELC) educators in California do not receive adequate preparation to work with this population. Institutions of higher education (IHE) are key in supporting the ELC workforce to obtain the skills necessary to work with DLL children. A mixed-method study was conducted to identify the beliefs faculty in California hold regarding preparing the ELC workforce to work with DLLs. One hundred and forty-one early childhood education/child development (ECE/CD) faculty throughout California participated in the study. Results indicated that most of the participants have positive attitudes toward embedding DLL content in ECE/CD courses, but some have reservations about offering DLL-specific courses and teaching courses in languages other than English. Implications for IHEs, policymakers, and research are provided.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Giselle Navarro-Cruz

Giselle Navarro-Cruz is an Associate Professor in the Early Childhood Studies Department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Her research, teaching, and advocacy work focus on access and quality to early learning and care, multilingualism in early childhood, family and children’s funds of knowledge, and student parents.  

Norma León

Noma Leon is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology and Social Science departments at Chaffey College, and a Ph.D. student at Claremont Graduate University. Her research focuses on psychosocial factors that influence college student success, such as a sense of belonging, attitude behavior consistency, social identity, and health behavior.

Carolyne Crolotte

Carolyne Crolotte is the Director of Dual Language Learner Programs at Early Edge California, where she leads their DLL-related policy and advocacy efforts at the federal and state level. Her advocacy and research focus on supporting DLL children through assets-based identification, expansion of bilingual programs, and teacher training and preparation.