Centering Multilingual Learners and Countering Raciolinguistic Ideologies in Teacher Education: Principles, Policies and Practices(3 Language, Education and Diversity)

This book details a three-year, multi-stranded study of teacher education programs that prepare future teachers to work with multilingual learners. The book examines how racism and linguicism collaborate to shape the conditions under which teacher candidates learn how to teach. The analysis traces dynamic shifts in thinking and practice as participants reflected on their personal, professional and academic experiences in relation to formal curriculum and assessment policies to interpret what it means to work with multilingual learners in the classroom. The book offers guiding principles – above all, learning from multilingual learners, not only about them – and presents a suite of teacher-education practices to disrupt the interplay of language and race that so deeply shapes teacher-candidate learning about multilingual learners.

Table of Contents:
Figures and Tables Acronyms Acknowledgments About the Authors Chapter 1. Jeff Bale and Antoinette Gagné: Contradictions of Stability and Change Chapter 2. Jeff Bale, Shakina Rajendram, Mama Adobea Nii Owoo, Katie Brubacher and Wales Wong: The Research Design and the People Behind it Chapter 3. Jeff Bale: Framing the Study Chapter 4. Shakina Rajendram, Mama Adobea Nii Owoo, Katie Brubacher, Wales Wong, Jennifer Burton and Jeff Bale: Who are Multilingual Learners in Ontario Imagined to Be? Chapter 5. Shakina Rajendram, Mama Adobea Nii Owoo, Yiran Zhang, Julie Kerekes and Jeff Bale: Preparing Teacher Candidates to Support Multilingual Learners: Insights from the Field Chapter 6. Jeff Bale, Katie Brubacher, Elizabeth Jean Larson and Yiran Zhang: STEPing into Deficit Thinking  Chapter 7. Jeff Bale, Shakina Rajendram, Katie Brubacher, Jennifer Burton and Wales Wong: (Un-)Learning Translanguaging Pedagogies     Chapter 8. Jeff Bale, Shakina Rajendram, Antoinette Gagné, Katie Brubacher, Wales Wong and Jennifer Burton: Practices and Principles of Change    Elizabeth Jean Larson: Appendix: Overview of the PeCK-LIT Test and Additional Analyses

About the Author :
The authorship team all worked on the research project which forms the core of this book, some as faculty and some as doctoral researchers at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada.

Review :
This book provides an essential and timely contribution to the field of multilingual teacher education. Drawing on the concept of raciolinguicized subjectivities and situated within the sociopolitical and policy shifts of Ontario, Canada, this study of a teacher education program has much to offer to researchers and teacher educators. An example of carefully, collaboratively conducted critical research, this book is realistic as well as encouraging, precise as well as broad, situated as well as expansive, and formulated into an accessible, yet deeply intellectual narrative that is poised to move our field toward truly disrupting the inequitable, racist, and linguistic status quo. A must-read for every current and future teacher educator. Based on an extensive empirical study in Ontario, Canada, this impressive work provides sound insights into how racial structures inscribed in official language policies are reflected in teacher education. The conclusion for practicians to counter racism by putting multilingual learners and their experiences with language and learning right at the center of pedagogic moves is most convincing. [This book] not only contributes to the growing body of research advocating for inclusive educational environments and positive discourse for MLs but also equips readers with practical strategies tailored to their different contexts. The book’s comprehensive analysis provides a profound understanding of how raciolinguistic ideologies have taken shape, underpinned by policies and societal norms that perpetuate whiteness as the standard in teacher education. The book emerges as a foundational critique against the prevailing educational norms by weaving together extensive data and incisive criticism [...] It urges educators, policymakers, and academics to collectively counter raciolinguistic ideologies and valorize the diverse linguistic assets that MLs contribute to the educational landscape. [This book] stands out as a unique and impactful contribution in the field as longitudinal research design and robust findings around disrupting deficit ideologies surrounding multilingual learners for years to come. I highly recommend this book as it is an essential read for researchers, teachers, teacher-educators, teacher-candidates, and administrators to begin considering alternatives for change “beyond reflection and toward concrete actions that challenge the collaboration of race/racism and language in shaping school life”. Jeff Bale and colleagues thoughtfully weave narratives set to disrupt the inequality and racism that have often gone unaddressed in language teaching and teacher training. The book offers a timely and insightful exploration of the intersection of language, race/racism, and teacher education, drawing on rich empirical research and theoretical frameworks.