Sifting Through Shifting Sands: Confronting the Self in Teaching Bilingual Emirati Preservice Teachers

Abstract

This chapter examines how the author, a teacher educator, uses self-study to reframe and reconceptualize her teaching of Emirati preservice teachers. The author describes how conducting self-study helped her shift from using monolingual approaches to teaching Emirati preservice teachers and a focus on improving their English language proficiency, to affirming their bilingual identities, and becoming more culturally responsive. Initially, the researcher posed the question, “how do I frame and reframe my teaching to support the English language learning of my Emirati preservice teachers?” then progressed to asking and answering the question “how can I affirm the bilingual identities of my Emirati preservice teachers and support their English language proficiency?”

Citation

Sowa, P.A. (2018), "Sifting Through Shifting Sands: Confronting the Self in Teaching Bilingual Emirati Preservice Teachers", Self-Study of Language and Literacy Teacher Education Practices (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 30), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 203-221. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720180000030015