A case study examination of exemplary literacy teaching in a cross-linguistic, cross-cultural learning environment

ABSTRACT

This case study examined the experiences of one non-Latina bilingual teacher who was nominated as being an exemplary literacy educator of bilingual learners in a cross-linguistic and cross cultural learning environment. Findings demonstrated three characteristics that accompanied the focus teacher’s conventional knowledge of literacy teaching. These characteristics included a) an ongoing and evolving self-reflection on language and culture; b) an unwavering commitment to understanding bilingual identities; and c) a mindset oriented in action and advocacy. The implications for teacher education programs emphasize a focus on guiding students in traversing borders, cultivating quality practices, and building capacity for equity-oriented actions. This research was conducted through sociocultural-constructivist and culturally responsive frameworks with the intent of understanding ways of educating all teachers to be effective in classrooms of culturally and linguistically diverse learners.

KEYWORDS:

• Exemplary teaching
• bilingual learners
• cross-cultural and cross-linguistic environments
• English learners

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The terms bilingual learner and emergent bilingual are used in this article to represent students who have Spanish as their home language, and both Spanish and English as languages in their daily learning experiences. These terms highly value the knowledge that students already have in their first language framework and hold developing bilingualism as significant and promising.

2. All participant and school names are presented as pseudonyms in this article.

3. The phrase cross-cultural and cross-linguistic learning environments, in this study, describes a variance in linguistic and cultural backgrounds between teachers and their students.

4. The term English learner is used in this article to describe instruction, policy, or legal jargon that specifically uses this designation to reference children who have a non-English home language and are learning English.