Exploring the Past and Connecting the Present: One Latina Teacher's Story

This study investigated the relationships between teachers' education and their instructional style, focusing on one Latina elementary teacher working with English language learners. It examined what beliefs guided her choice of literacy instruction, how school structure impacted instruction, a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Walker, Nancy T
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published 03.04.2002
Subjects
Access to Education
Bilingual Education
Bilingual Teachers
Cultural Influences
Elementary Education
Elementary School Teachers
English (Second Language)
Gender Issues
Hispanic Americans
Latinas
Literacy Education
Prior Learning
Reading Instruction
School Culture
Spanish
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Summary:This study investigated the relationships between teachers' education and their instructional style, focusing on one Latina elementary teacher working with English language learners. It examined what beliefs guided her choice of literacy instruction, how school structure impacted instruction, and the roles of culture and gender in literacy instruction. The teacher had a Spanish English bilingual classroom within a predominantly Latino working class neighborhood. English was the primary language of instruction, with support provided in Spanish. Data came from observation interviews, and document analysis. Results indicated that the teacher implemented childhood reading techniques in her classrooms while having the choice and the freedom to sift through her experiences and create her own instructional agenda. The dominant culture caused her to perform gender and culture in different ways at home and in school. While she spoke Spanish and shared many cultural experiences with her students, there were differences between her home and school culture. However, at times she resisted the dominant culture mandates in order to provide students access to an education (though she insisted that access to education provided by the school was necessary for her students to succeed). (Contains 35 references.) (SM)