‘They might know a lot of things that I don’t know’: investigating differences in preservice teachers’ ideas about contextualizing science instruction in multilingual classrooms

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the results from a qualitative study of 72 preservice teachers’ initial ideas about contextualizing science instruction with language minority students. Participants drew primarily on local ecological and multicultural contexts as resources for contextualizing instruction. However, preservice teachers enrolled in the bilingual certification program articulated more asset-oriented and less stereotypical ideas than those not seeking bilingual certification. Results can inform teacher education programs that aim to prepare graduates for teaching science in multilingual classrooms.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Sara Tolbert is a former secondary science teacher and currently assistant professor of science education and teacher education at the University of Arizona. Through research, teaching, and service, she collaborates with novice and experienced teachers toward expanding opportunities for minoritized students to learn and use science to achieve justice-oriented outcomes. Corey Knox is a doctoral candidate and graduate research associate at the University of Arizona. She is investigating how science teachers and community organizations take up local justice issues in/through science curricula.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Institute of Education Sciences [grant number R305M060065].