Learning and Teaching en Dos Idiomas: Critical Autoethnography, Translenguaje, y Rechazando English Learner

Language usage in US K–12 classrooms and beyond continues to be an issue of equity (Navarro Martell, 2021; Palmer et al., 2019). Teachers expect racialized students who appear to be Latinx to know and perform as if their native language is Spanish, mientras a otros se les celebra sus intentos de usar el español; otro idioma colonizador. Some educators know language can be used as a tool to teach content y que muchos adultos translenguamos mientras navegamos espacios profesionales y personales, not because of our lack of mastery of English or Spanish, pero porque tenemos la habilidad y el poder de navegar y vivir en varios idiomas. Entonces, why are many educators determined to force students to use only one language at a time cuando el translanguage es tan común (Martínez et al., 2015)? This essay provides reflections and lessons learned of one immigrant, formerly labeled “English learner,” who was once a fourth and eighth grade math and science dual language teacher. Inspired by critical autoethnography, this manuscript is written by a current math and science bilingual methods teacher educator and supporter of translanguaging in the P–20+ classroom.

Transfer of Learning: The Missing Ingredient

The achievement scores of the Lebanese students that participated in the international exams such as TIMSS and PISA are unsatisfactory and they are not getting better with time. As a matter of fact, this is the case for many countries in the MENA region. In order to address this challenge, a precursor is to identify the main root causes for such a performance. For this purpose, this study aimed at examining whether a sample of Grade 8 students are able to demonstrate transfer of learning in the context of math and science. The findings showed that the examined students couldn’t answer the questions that require conceptual understanding or higher-order thinking; thus they couldn’t practice transfer of learning. An implication for this study is that transfer of learning is not something that happens by coincidence nor it’s something that can be overlooked.

The influence of self-efficacy, interest, and stereotype threat on career intentions and choices related to math and science.

Women continue to be underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers/sectors. Concurrently, negative stereotypes about women’s abilities to perform in STEM persists. This research examined whether gender stereotypes influence women’s STEM-related intentions and choices and the mediating influence of cognitive predictors based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). In total, 194 women from Ryerson University were randomly assigned to a stereotype threat (n =65), stereotype nullification (n = 65), or control condition (n = 64). Participants completed questionnaires assessing math self-efficacy, math and science interests and intentions, and a math/verbal choice task. In support of SCCT, math self-efficacy and math/science interests predicted math/science intentions and choice on the math/verbal test. Furthermore, “math identified” participants in the stereotype threat condition reported lower math/science intentions. This research has implications for current interventions designed to increase women’s participation and retention in STEM.

The influence of self-efficacy, interest, and stereotype threat on career intentions and choices related to math and science.

Women continue to be underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers/sectors. Concurrently, negative stereotypes about women’s abilities to perform in STEM persists. This research examined whether gender stereotypes influence women’s STEM-related intentions and choices and the mediating influence of cognitive predictors based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). In total, 194 women from Ryerson University were randomly assigned to a stereotype threat (n =65), stereotype nullification (n = 65), or control condition (n = 64). Participants completed questionnaires assessing math self-efficacy, math and science interests and intentions, and a math/verbal choice task. In support of SCCT, math self-efficacy and math/science interests predicted math/science intentions and choice on the math/verbal test. Furthermore, “math identified” participants in the stereotype threat condition reported lower math/science intentions. This research has implications for current interventions designed to increase women’s participation and retention in STEM.