Spring 2023      Volume 51, Number 2

Professional Development: Let’s Turn Old Models Upside-Down this Spring!
By Sophie Degener, Adelfio Garcia, and Ivy Sitkoski

Document: Article  

Introductory Paragraph:  It’s spring and time to consider some fresh ideas, even if they are about topics we have been considering in an ongoing way in the past few years. As educators, we have always taken on hefty challenges and done important work. Recently, we have been more and more focused on the challenge of creating a more equitable society by turning the deficit model of cultural difference upside-down. The movement to value differences in culture and language as assets, and to embody that view in classrooms, is definitely gathering momentum. More and more books, articles, seminars, and workshops focus on this endeavor. It is not surprising, then, to find that all three of the books in our column for this issue reflect that perspective. One of the books describes highly authentic, deeply informative literacy assessments that help teachers more fully understand students’ identities and the community-based funds of knowledge each one brings to the reading process. Another of the books issues a stirring call to all bilingual educators to reflect on their strength, power, and richness of their own bilingualism; incorporate all of the resources it gives them into their teaching; use the linguistic resources their students bring from home; and work together to advocate for the cultivation of bilingualism. The third book shares the practices of a small group of highly effective teachers who use community building, culturally sustaining practices to celebrate the diverse languages and cultures of their kindergarten through 3rd-grade students and to create an atmosphere of belonging. Sit down with at least one of these books this spring! As nature renews, get some new ideas from the unique insights these books offer.

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.51.2.2023.41

Page Numbers:   41-44