Bilingual-Bicultural Teachers' Cultural Competence Development Blueprint in Predominantly Subtractive Bilingualism Contexts: Insights from Research Literature

Authors

• Valentin Ekiaka Nzai,, Texas A&M University - KingsvilleFollow
• Jenelle Reeves, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

Spring 2010

Citation

TABE Journal (Spring/Winter 2010) 12(1&2).

Comments

Copyright 2010, TABE. Used by permission.

Abstract

Recent studies on quality education for diverse classrooms suggest cultural competence as a prerequisite for culturally responsive teaching. A critical analysis of teacher education strategies aimed at increasing pre-service teachers’ cultural competence, in mostly white-serving and traditional teacher education programs, reveals that such approaches generally situate white teacher candidates only as closely as the periphery of bilingual students’ cultures. Further, while a number of diversity-oriented educational programs have been designed for white pre-service teachers, there currently exists no coherent and comprehensive framework for developing U.S.-born bilingual pre-service teachers’ bilingual-bicultural competences in predominantly white-serving and traditional teacher education programs. This paper crafts an initial draft of such a framework for U.S.-born bilingual teacher candidates’ cultural competence development. The authors suggest a six-stage model of cultural competence development as a blueprint for preparing culturally responsive U.S.-born bilingual-bicultural teachers. Taking a community of practice approach, the authors outline some suggestions and implications for dual-language education in predominantly subtractive bilingualism settings.