Dual Language Bilingual Education

A timely and critical window into the experiences of teachers tasked with implementing DLBE programs in new policy contexts

This book explores the role of the teacher in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) implementation in a time of nationwide program expansion, in large part due to new and unprecedented top-down initiatives at state and district level. The book provides case studies of DLBE teachers who: (a) implemented the DLBE model with fidelity; (b) struggled to implement the DLBE model; and (c) adapted the DLBE model to meet the needs of their local classroom context. The book demonstrates the way teachers as language policymakers navigate and interpret district-wide DLBE implementation and the tensions that surface through this process. The research, conducted over four years using a variety of methods, highlights the challenges and opportunities faced by teachers implementing DLBE, and will be of interest to both teachers and administrators of DLBE programs as well as scholars working in bilingual education.

Kathryn I. Henderson is an Assistant Professor of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies in the School of Education at The University of Texas at San Antonio, USA. Her research interests include language ideologies, language policy and dual language bilingual education programs.

Deborah K. Palmer is a Professor of Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA. Her research interests include bilingual education policy and politics, critical additive bilingual education, translanguaging, teacher preparation for linguistically/culturally diverse teaching contexts, language, power and identity, and bilingual teacher leadership/agency.

Kathryn I. Henderson is an Assistant Professor of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies in the School of Education at The University of Texas at San Antonio, USA. Her research interests include language ideologies, language policy and dual language bilingual education programs.

Deborah K. Palmer is a Professor of Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA. Her research interests include bilingual education policy and politics, critical additive bilingual education, translanguaging, teacher preparation for linguistically/culturally diverse teaching contexts, language, power and identity, and bilingual teacher leadership/agency.

As dedicated scholars and advocates for bilingual education, Henderson and Palmer bring to readers an insightful account of the impacts of ideology, identity and policy in bilingual classrooms. Their careful analysis of practitioners in Texan schools point to urgent issues as well as possibilities facing bilingual education and language policy in the United States.