Introduction: Teaching English-Language Learners Is a Major Problem in Social Studies

Pahl, Ronald H.

doi:10.3200/tsss.98.5.179

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…In addition, they asserted that culturally diverse student backgrounds result in gaps in the knowledge necessary to grasp new, culturally specific concepts. Phal (2007) supported this argument, adding that the language in social studies is difficult even for native speakers, and that classroom teachers must create environments where ELs can learn English while learning social studies to ensure that they excel academically. Callahan et al (2008Callahan et al ( , 2010, found links among social studies achievement, curriculum access, and school contexts with voter registration and civic engagement and immigrant youth.…”

Section: English Learners and Social Studiesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Exploring how Institutional Structures and Practices Influence English Learners’ Opportunity to Learn Social Studies

Heafner

Plaisance

2016

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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Background/Context Current research addresses the marginalization of social studies and trends in teaching English learners (ELs) in monolingual schools; however, few studies have examined the way in which support services provided to ELs impact their exposure to social studies instruction. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Social studies is a difficult content area for ELs, as they grapple with culturally specific concepts in addition to language barriers. School structures and institutional practices sometimes result in less access to social studies instruction for ELs than their English-speaking peers. We sought to describe ELs’ opportunities to learn social studies in the face of educational reforms designed to increase accountability. We also examined how institutional structures, such as ESL programs, influ-enced ELs’ exposure to the social studies curriculum. Setting The study took place in a suburban elementary school with a moderate population of ELs, situated within a large, urban school district in the southeastern United States. Participants Six classroom teachers, three instructional specialists and one administrator participated. Research Design We present a qualitative participatory inquiry that was guided by an opportunity to learn theoretical framework, in addition to research that suggests an important relationship between the quality and intensity of classroom instruction and students’ academic success. Data Collection and Analysis Data were collected across one academic year and included transcribed interviews, field notes from observations, classroom artifacts, teacher journals, and district resources. We employed a multitiered inductive analysis using a three-phase coding process. Findings/Results Our findings suggest that ELs do not receive an equitable opportunity to learn social studies. Factors included variance in social studies time, instructional schedule design, the ESL program structure, and communication/collaboration gaps. Additionally, we found disparities between the type and general overall quality of social studies for these linguistically diverse learners and their native speaking peers. Conclusions/Recommendations We recommend the inclusion of instructional specialists, such as the ESL teacher, in planning, professional development, and decision-making. Furthermore, we advocate for flexible, yet monitored scheduling of special services to ensure curricular access to all content areas. Furthermore, we emphasize that administrators must have a clear understanding of the needs of their ELs and that they must adopt a long-term vision for these students that includes simultaneous support for their content and language development.

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Section: English Learners and Social Studiesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Exploring how Institutional Structures and Practices Influence English Learners’ Opportunity to Learn Social Studies

Heafner

Plaisance

2016

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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The Thread That Binds: Building on the Stories of Adolescent English Language Learners in Mainstream Social Studies Classrooms

Lin

2018

The Social Studies

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Modeling Collaboration for ESL Teacher Candidates

DelliCarpini

2014

The New Educator

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This article reports on a semester-long project where a TESOL professor and English Education professor modeled collaborative teaching and explicitly taught collaboration skills to a coscheduled teaching methods class consisting of TESOL and Secondary English teacher candidates. Data were collected in the form of pre-and postsemester surveys. In addition to the quantitative survey data, reflections from the candidates were analyzed as were focus group discussions from both groups. The data suggest that explicit instruction and modeling have a positive effect on knowledge and beliefs of preservice teachers relating to professional collaboration.

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Introduction: Teaching English-Language Learners Is a Major Problem in Social Studies

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Exploring how Institutional Structures and Practices Influence English Learners’ Opportunity to Learn Social Studies

Exploring how Institutional Structures and Practices Influence English Learners’ Opportunity to Learn Social Studies

The Thread That Binds: Building on the Stories of Adolescent English Language Learners in Mainstream Social Studies Classrooms

Modeling Collaboration for ESL Teacher Candidates

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