Philosophy of Bilingual Education:



I believe bilingual education to be deeply rooted in communication, authenticity and inquiry.  By interacting with multiple cultures and languages, students and teachers alike are given the opportunity and access to multiple knowledge bases and a wealth of experiences.  True communication fosters equity within the classroom.  Each student deserves the freedom to learn in the best way possible for him/her which may include the use of art, music, movement, gesture or any combination of "languages" present in the classroom.  When the focus is shifted from the "best" score on an exam to the best way to communicate and learn, the classroom becomes a radically different place.

 

In addition to communication, authenticity is necessary in the bilingual-bicultural classroom.  Authenticity requires work.  It requires knowing the students themselves, knowing their care-takers, community support, and administrative support.  In order to effectively communicate with a student, it is important to consider that student´s whole world.  By speaking with care takers or community members, we, as educators, are able to gain a wider view of the students´ lives outside the classroom.  This in turn, allows educators to make more conscious decisions about what kinds of communication and what kinds of sources of knowledge are introduced within the classroom community.

 

Inquiry is also a key part of any bilingual classroom.  As any language learner will admit, learning a new language requires taking chances.  It might be taking a chance to try out a new phrase or vocabulary word.  It might be taking the chance to communicate in a second or third language.  Inquiry based instruction is a way for students to authentically practice a second language while exploring content areas.  As a community, the bilingual program continually stretches itself in all aspects of language acquisition. This struggle and constant grappling with linguistic concepts in addition to content area knowledge is what makes the bilingual community a strong and proud force in the educational and professional world.  



Overall, and perhaps most importantly, I believe that bilingual education, its practices, scaffolds and innovative teaching strategies are all part of good teaching that can benefit all students.  There has never been a classroom of 25 students that are perfectly alike with backgrounds that match.  Each student is different, and none of them come with an instruction manual.  The challenge and art of teaching is finding a way to reach these children, whether they learn and play in one, two, or even more languages.