In-service and Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of Transformation and Observed Classroom Teaching Practices to Become Linguistically and Culturally Responsive Content Teachers: Quality Teachers for English Learners

Research reveals that teachers require immediate supports and training to become linguistically and culturally responsive content educators to meet the learning needs of the increasing number of immigrant and refugee students from diverse cultures. The Quality Teachers for English Learners (QTEL) project at a Midwestern university offered Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) courses and professional development (PD) sessions for a cohort of 35 in-service and pre-service teachers (3 administrators) in 2016 in a linguistically and culturally relevant content teacher framework (LCRCT). To examine if and how learning occurred, a transformative learning framework supported the analysis of mixed data addressing the research questions which examined the transformative learning themes of participant-identified disorienting events, perspective transformation, and classroom practice of LCRCT in coursework, professional development, and classroom teaching cases. Data sources were PD surveys, interviews, classroom observations, written and videotaped lessons, and online course data from VoiceThread comments and discussion board posts and reflections. Results revealed participants identifying disorienting events, identifying the need for further training, reflecting on self and prior assumptions in a community of practice, and acquiring instructional strategies and tools in the process of becoming an effective LCRCT practitioner.