Teacher Proof

Abstract

This study examines the experience of four student teachers in an intentional community of practice focused on culturally relevant pedagogy for ELs who learn of the implementation of a newly-adopted scripted literacy curriculum in their ethnically diverse elementary school. As students are more motivated to learn when curricula are relevant to their lived experiences (Howard, 2003), it is incumbent upon teachers and district leaders to consider ways in which to tailor pedagogy to their unique student populations. In the current sociopolitical educational climate of accountability and standardization, this goal is increasingly more difficult for educators to achieve. With ten percent of the United States’ student population made up of English learners (ELs), amounting to 4.6 million students (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2017), it is imperative that school systems shift to support culturally relevant practices.