Stop the Deficit: Preparing Pre-service Teachers to Work with Bilingual Students in the United States

Abstract

This chapter explores the education of bilingual students from an American teacher education perspective. Bilingual students in the United States are often diminished to their student status of “English Language Learner” (ELL). Not only does this ELL designation assume a one-size-fits-all approach to education for and understanding of bilingual children, but the label itself implores a deficit perspective which neither captures nor values bilingual children in the United States. Driven by the goal to model and introduce assets-based pedagogies to our pre-service English as Second Language (ESL) teachers, the main question guiding our work was, as teacher educators, how can we challenge pre-service teachers to not only acknowledge but act against ingrained deficit perspectives for working with bilingual students? To address this question we first synthesize relevant approaches in the areas of bilingualism and teacher education, focusing on funds of knowledge, translanguaging, and challenging deficit language. We then present key moments from our own work as teacher educators that illustrate the complexity of pre-service teachers shifting or attempting to shift towards assets-based pedagogical practices. The chapter concludes with recommendations for teachers and teacher educators about how to not only acknowledge but integrate and actively support bilingual students in American public schools.