Preparing preservice teachers for bilingual and bicultural classrooms in an era of political change

Abstract

ABSTRACTAs teacher educators, we continually ask ourselves how to most effectively prepare our teacher candidates with the professional knowledge and critical consciousness to engage in meaningful work with learners who are marginalized by structures of schooling and turbulent mainstream politics. In this article, we discuss our critically conscious teacher preparation framework and four foundations we consider non-negotiable in preparing all teachers to embrace language and culture as the cornerstone from which to build anti-racist, anti-biased, and asset-oriented classroom communities. These four foundations of knowledge include (a) establishing critically conscious pedagogy, (b) disrupting historical regression, (c) revitalizing democratic values in public education, and (d) becoming advocates and action-oriented practitioners. A critically conscious teacher preparation framework maintains the significance of developing knowledge, skills, and dispositions in teachers, but also realizes the call for action central to critical and transformative teacher preparation. A discussion ensues as to how the action-oriented foundations are essential to building a solid identity as a teacher of bilingual learners. Implications for teacher education programs are presented. This work promotes a strong commitment and sense of urgency in preparing critically conscious teachers who will uphold culture and language as central in the schooling of their future learners and understand that teaching and learning are never politically neutral.