Faculty First: The Challenge of Infusing the Teacher Education Curriculum with Scholarship on English Language Learners

The increasing number of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools requires rethinking teacher education (TE). Most teachers have received little preparation in how to educate ELLs. Change in TE programs is needed to ensure that TE students are prepared to teach ELLs. Such change begins by educating TE faculty first. One catalyst for change, a faculty institute in which faculty, doctoral students, and public school personnel participated, is described here. Analysis of the process, the content, and course changes illustrated this TE program’s efforts to infuse the curriculum with ELL scholarship. Change occurred with respect to individual faculty knowledge and awareness and resulted in changes to course syllabi. Emerging issues during the process illustrate how context influenced this change effort. TE programs need to adopt changes in order to graduate teachers confident in their knowledge of and preparation for multilingual and multicultural populations in order to serve all pupils effectively.