International Journal of Bilingual
Education and Bilingualism
Editor: Colin Baker, University of Wales, Bangor
Review Editor: Aneta Pavlenko, Temple University, Philadelpia
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Volume: 7 Number: 2 Page: 222–237
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Professional Development for Bilingual Teachers in the United States: A Site for Articulating and Contesting Professional Roles
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Manka Varghese
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Professional development for bilingual teachers has traditionally been viewed as a neutral site for training teachers. In the present study, a professional development for bilingual teachers in the United
States is explored through ethnographic methods, specifically focusing on both the content delivery, and the interactions between teacher educators and teachers. The present study shows how professional
development can become a site for the articulation and contestation of bilingual teacher professional roles. Specifically, it demonstrates how conceptualisations of the roles of bilingual teachers are often
mired with differences and lack uniformity, especially because of the different backgrounds and settings teacher educators and teachers operate within. It points to the need to understand the different
perspectives within the bilingual educational community. This research places bilingual teacher education within current understandings of learning and professional development, emphasising the situated
nature of teaching and learning. Bilingual teachers and their development must be understood as agents who make choices and have differentiated understandings of their profession, rather than as individuals
who replicate the content and way they have been trained. This is especially important when we understand the multifaceted roles of bilingual teachers such as language policy agents and advocates.
Keywords: BILINGUAL TEACHERS, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, TEACHER EDUCATION, TEACHER, LEARNING
© Multilingual Matters 2004
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