Grounded in authentic teaching and learning experiences, this book shows elementary school educators how to create spaces that more respectfully and humanely address the needs of emergent bilinguals with disabilities. While the fields of bilingual education and disability studies have been traditionally kept separate, Martinez-Alvarez argues that many of the constructs researchers and educators employ in their respective fields can be combined to improve instruction. This book establishes a dialogue among important constructs such as issues of assimilation and ableism, and the expansion of identity, agency, and humanistic pedagogies. It then looks at how these constructs can be used to better understand children who have been assigned inflexible labels that do not cohesively represent their bilingual/bicultural identities and their varied ways of learning. The text explores the limitations of categorizing children into "boxes," particularly those of minoritized backgrounds, and focuses on actual practices that will engage and empower learners. Book Features: Combines the fields of bilingual education and disability studies so that bilingual students with disabilities can be understood and taught from a strengths-based perspective. Includes activity invitations to help teachers create high-quality learning spaces. Provides sample work from diverse elementary school-aged children, as well as children's responses to the learning activity. Proposes curriculum to expand what identity and agency look like in schools embracing more humanistic pedagogies.
Patricia Martinez-Alvarez is an associate professor and director of the Bilingual/Bicultural Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Contents Preface ?ix List of Abbreviations ?xv Acknowledgments ?xvii 1. ?Tensions Surrounding the Education of Bilingual Children With a Disability ?1 Cultural Historical Tensions in Teaching and Learning With Bilingual Children ?3 Issues of Disability Identification Disproportionality and Consequences of Labels ?4 Lack of Teacher Preparation Programs for Inclusive Education in Bilingual Contexts ?6 Lack of Inclusive Approaches for Bilingual Education ?8 Bilingual Education: A Space Inclusive of Children With a Disability ?10 2. ?Assumptions and Theories in the Varied Ways of Knowing Project ?13 Assumptions Grounding the Varied Ways of Knowing Project ?15 Theoretical Ideas Guiding the Project: A Hybrid Afterschool Program Space ?15 The Varied Ways of Knowing Project ?22 3. ?Documenting the Varied Ways of Knowing Project ?25 The Role of the Institution of Higher Education ?26 The Varied Ways of Knowing School Context ?26 Varied Ways of Knowing Project: Children and Teacher Candidates ?27 Documenting Learning With Bilingual Children With and Without a Disability ?28 Exploring the Work of the Children and the Teacher Candidates ?29 Reflecting on Roles When Working in Bilingual Contexts ?30 Relevant Questions and Organization of the Chapters ?31 4. ?The Issue of Ableism in Bilingual and Bicultural Education ?35 Metaphors Driving Bilingual Teachers to Enact Ableist Practices ?37 The Learning Identities of Bilingual Children With a Disability ?40 Conclusion ?51 5. ?Teaching Children With Multiple Labels: Manifestations of Assimilation and Turning Points ?53 Parallel Processes of Assimilation: Being Bilingual and Having a Disability ?53 Assimilationist Processes Impacting Children of Immigrant Background ?54 Assimilationist Processes Impacting Children Labeled With a Disability ?55 Interrupting Processes of Assimilation ?57 Children's Experience: Expansive Views Crossing Identities and Cultures ?58 A Contrasting Experience: Susana's Agency and Learning Identity ?68 A Turning Point: "(Susana) Is a Very Strong Girl for Sharing That With All of Us" ?73 Conclusion ?76 6. ?Humanistic Perspectives in Inclusive Bilingual Education ?79 The Significance of Humanistic Perspectives With Bilingual Children With a Disability ?79 The Capas y Escudos (Capes and Shields) Project ?85 Playful Spaces as Tools for Humanizing Pedagogies ?85 Conclusion ?96 7. ?Exploring Disability With Bilingual Children ?98 Identity and Disability ?99 Bilingual and Bicultural Identity ?100 Multiple Identities and Bilingual Children With a Disability ?101 Teaching About Disability and the Disability Rights Movement ?103 Learning and Disability Identity Through a CHAT and DSE Lens ?104 Exploring the Disability Civil Rights Movement and the Rights of People With a Disability ?106 Agency and Collective Learning While Exploring Disability ?106 Conclusion ?122 8. ?Science Learning With Bilingual Children: Learning In-Between Boundaries in a Hybrid Space ?126 Science Education and Emergent Bilinguals ?127 Science Education and Children With a Disability ?129 Exploring Science With Bilingual Children With and Without a Disability ?130 The Relevant Contexts for Science and Landforms Unit ?131 Learning at the Boundary of Knowledges, Disciplines, and Formal/Less Formal Spaces ?132 Conclusion ?145 9. ?Artifact-Mediated Science Content Learning in Inclusive Bilingual Contexts ?148 The Importance of Mediators When Teaching Children With a Disability ?150 The Importance of Mediators When Teaching Bilingual Children ?152 Mediating Science Content Learning With Bilingual Children With a Disability ?153 The Earthquakes, Plate Tectonics, and the Ring of Fire Unit ?154 Artifacts and the Way They Mediate Learning in Inclusive Bilingual Contexts ?155 Children's Volitional Actions: Re-mediating Using Artifacts and Various Knowledges ?156 Language as an Artifact: Tensions Addressing Content Learning and Language Learning ?166 Conclusion ?172 10. ?The Varied Ways of Knowing Project: Teaching Bilingual Students With a Disability ?175 Ableist Practices in Bilingual Education and Implications ?177 Historical Assimilationist Practices and Implications for Bilingual Education ?179 Humanistic Perspectives for Inclusive Bilingual Education ?180 Learning About Disability With Bilingual Children ?185 A Hybrid Space for Science Learning In-Between Boundaries ?186 Conclusion ?189 Epilogue ?191 References ?193 Index ?213 About the Author ?222
