Chapter 18: Teachers of English Language Learners: Tracking Personal Practical Knowledge, Reflection, and Narrative Authority

INTRODUCTION: SETTING THE TONE The focus of this article is to bring to the fore, the prospect that experiences directly influence who we are and what we do as teachers. I believe that experiences teachers bring into the classroom profoundly influence the ways they teach, what their students learn and how they engage students in their learning (Dewey, 1938; Eisner, 1998; Schon, 1988). Consider the following questions: what happens to our experiences when we become teachers? What compelled us to become teachers in the first place? When we are teaching, are we a different person than the one who plans dinner, worries about traffic, schedules meetings? I suggest to you that there is more to "us" as teachers than most people see. As Brunner (1994) suggests, a classroom teacher who "recognize[s] what one believes in is important [and] how those beliefs impinge on future practices is another matter and may depend on how we approach teacher education" (p. 235). This notion of how resonates with me. Trying to find a balance between our experiences and our desire to become teachers of English language learners is essentially what guides my work as a teacher educator. Particularly when my experiences have led me to believe that often, Latino teachers find themselves juxtaposed between two languages and two cultures (Lima & Lima, 1998; Pedrana, 2004; Valdes, 1996). The Latino teacher candidates I work with often experience a tension between the two languages and the two cultures that become one more epistemological dilemma (Clandinin & Connelly, 1995) they will face as teachers. Furthermore, teachers who work with second language learners often begin their careers in schools that demand a great deal more from them as teachers because the students are also juxtaposed between two languages and two cultures alongside their academic life (Del Valle, 2003; Garcia & Baker, 1995; Nieto, 2000, 2002, 2003). The dynamics of Latino teachers working with Latino students, particularly in bilingual education contexts, hinges on the teacher's ability to find equilibrium--personally and professionally--between the languages and cultures they navigate as Latino teachers working with Latino English language learners. This is particularly relevant in schools that practice the use of high stakes testing. Groups of students (and therefore their teachers) can influence how the school is rated annually (Valenzuela, 1999, 2004). As such, the experiences teachers bring into the classroom profoundly influence the ways they teach, which impact what their students learn and how they learn (Allport, 1955; Apple, 2002; Baez, 2002; Dewey, 1938; Freire, 1970, 1998). Becoming aware or understanding how personal experiences are the threads that are woven into our teaching philosophy and practice is critical when helping teacher candidates prepare to become teachers (Kozol, 1981; Olson, 1993, 2000; Sarason, 1999). This awareness is important for all teachers, but for Latino bilingual teachers it is tantamount to being role models to Latino students. Latinos who have learned to navigate through: a null curriculum (Eisner, 1998, 2002a, 2002b); competing stories (Clandinin & Connelly, 1995); the hidden curriculum (Palmer, 1983, 1998); and cognitive dissonance (Elbow, 1986; Loewen, 1995; van Dijk, 1998); and have become teachers, are able to help their students address the same issues while in school. In Bruner's (1986) words: the medium of exchange in which education is conducted--language--can never be neutral, . it imposes a point of view not only about the world to which it refers but toward the use of mind in respect of this world -- language necessarily imposes a perspective in which things are viewed and a stance toward what we view. (p. 121) The narrative inquiry that follows was undertaken to explore teacher candidates' experiences of being "juxtaposed between their personal practical knowledge of language, teaching and learning and the education of children" (Pedrana, 2004. …