Advocating for English Language Learners in ECE

This is a topic that has become close to my heart as I have watched the diversity in my classroom change from white, black, and Hispanic children to African children speaking Kirundi, Swahili, and French and Arabic children and Burmese children speaking Karen, along with white, black, and Hispanic children. I have had the experience of teaching in a classroom that was bilingual (English/Spanish) and there was a teacher that spoke English (myself) and a teacher that spoke Spanish ( my assistant). This was an ideal setting and a rich environment for all children and families. We were able to combine cultures, languages, and experiences in a way that all children were able to benefit, see themselves represented in the classroom, and all children were supported in their native language.

I interviewed several teachers and family resource workers that have experience working in bilingual programs and asked their thoughts on this topic. Everyone agrees that native language support is a critical aspect for the progress of children in the classroom. If you are teaching a child in English and they have no way of connecting what you are saying to anything they know due to the language barrier, you are not teaching them. Visuals and gestures may help to bridge the gap but they do not replace spoken language. I see this first hand in my classroom. If I am working with a child that speaks Arabic and I show them something that is black and say black, giving them the labels, it means nothing to them. But if I am able to show them the same color, label it in Arabic, aswad, now it has meaning. Once I know they have learned to label the color in their native language I can then connect the English word to the Arabic word, now it has meaning. Aswad = black. Until you have experienced these exchanges in the classroom or tried to communicate with families to no avail you really can't understand the impact this has on the entire classroom community.

So where do we find all of this native language support? And how do we make it available to the children in multiple classrooms? And how do we extend this to families? I would need a Kirundi speaking support person, an Arabic speaking support person, a Swahili speaking support person, and someone that knows ASL just for my classes this year.

Of the teachers I interviewed, none are aware of advocacy efforts outside of the Spanish speaking population. However, we can see the progress that has been made in this area by the efforts of Spanish speaking families, teachers, and support staff and perhaps we can find ways to create the same levels of awareness for all of our families. I can see the importance of becoming involved in organizations and especially staying active in seeking professional development in these areas but I also desire to empower families to seek the best experiences for their children. And that can be done through advocacy. Now I need a plan of action.