La evolución de un school leader: A case study

Abstract

ABSTRACTAs American children grow more culturally and linguistically diverse, many teachers, school leaders, researchers, and policy makers are implementing bilingual instruction as a means to assist these students. There are a variety of bilingual teaching methods, just as there are a variety of English language learning students. From English as a Second Language to Sheltered English Instruction, and from transitional bilingual teaching to two-way immersion, there are a number of ways to teach students in more than one language.This case study examines the experiences of one principal as he implemented a two-way immersion (TWI) program for his urban, parochial school located in a city in the Southwest United States, referred to in this study as “River City.” The school’s context is considered as well: a parochial elementary school—not far from the city center in a highly diverse metropolis, in a highly diverse state. This study examined the principal’s evolving leadership strategy in implementing the bilingual curriculum as a member of a national network of parochial schools transitioning to such teaching. In so doing, the study is situated within a broader discussion of school leadership that occurs in changing school environments, as well as the complexities leaders face when responding to the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students and their families. The study asks: What is the social and historical local context for the school in which TWI implementation takes place? And in what ways does a school principal learn to respond effectively to the school’s context?