Multilingual multiliteracies of Emergent Bilingual families: Transforming teacher’s perspectives on the “literacies” of family engagement

ABSTRACT

Emergent Bilingual families interact with their children across their shared languages and resources, creating unique literacy activities. As a form of family engagement, teachers can observe these created literacies within Emergent Bilingual families, and attempt to transport such practices into classrooms. There is, however, a danger that the different dynamics of classrooms may constrain how Emergent Bilingual students express themselves, affecting how they are mis/understood by others. In this paper, teachers explore the family literacies of one Emergent Bilingual family from their classroom, identifying how families use print, media and school resources to create unique literacies or multilingual multiliteracies. Because teachers see themselves as literacy experts, they often translate what they learn from Emergent Bilingual families’ literacy practices into technical classroom strategies, intending to garner more connections across home and school. These family generated strategies, however, can foreclose on the curiosity and reciprocity between teachers and families that is central to family engagement. The discussion identifies different ways to conceptualize and plan for school literacy events, flipping expertise from teachers to Emergent Bilingual families.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional resources

1. Breiseth, L., Robertson, K., & Lafond, S. (2011). A guide for engaging ELL families: Twenty strategies for school leaders. https://www.colorincolorado.org/sites/default/files/Engaging_ELL_Families_FINAL.pdf#page=28

In this weblink/article, a variety of strategies are shared about how to effectively engage Emergent Bilingual families. The authors denote not only the need for quality translation and interpretation, but that Emergent Bilingual’s families input is garnered at frequent intervals, so that decision-making includes their contributions. Further, the authors detail how all educators are involved in this family exchange and not only when issues emerge.

2. Ellison Justice, J., & Tenore, B. F. (Eds.). (2018). Becoming critical teacher educators: narratives of disruption, possibility, and praxis (1st ed.). Routledge.

In this book, different teachers share their experiences of becoming critical teachers, disrupting their ways of thinking by listening to the perspectives of their students and families. For teachers, the book provides a space to see themselves as advocates for students and families, by learning through and among families.

3. Mirra, N., & Morrell, E. (2011). Teachers as civic agents: Toward a critical democratic theory of urban teacher development. Journal of Teacher Education, 64, 408-420. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487111409417

This article looks at how school accountability has created conditions for teachers to be “transmitters” of a prescribed school agenda instead of reflecting deeply on their teacher praxis. Teachers are encouraged to become civic intellectuals and engage in solidarity with their local communities to create social change. Specific narratives demonstrate how this can be accomplished.

Notes

^1. Emergent bilingual is used to reference students who are gaining English as an additional linguistic repertoire with a focus on bilingualism versus an English-only aim (García, 2009). Further, they are transnational” or “emergent” bilinguals rather than “English Learners;” these terms indicate that they have traversed cultures, have one or more foreign-born parents, and speak language(s) other than, or in addition to, English at home (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017, p. 406).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Education [T365Z170072 and T365Z170213].