Advice from Dr. José Medina for DL/I Leaders Dealing With Challenges When Schools Return to the Classroom

As the Dual Language Leadership Institute is fast approaching, Dr. Medina spoke with us about what we can expect during his presentation. You can read his insights below and find more information about registering for the institute here.
As we return to DL classrooms, we must ensure that equity and social justice continue to drive all decisions. This includes continued work in the following areas:
- fidelity to the language allocation plan and program model
- curriculum decisions made through a culturally and linguistically sustaining lens
- indigenization/decolonizing of biliteracy instructional practices, to include embracing translanguaging spaces
- movement towards holistic biliteracy assessment
- professional learning that is continuous and systemic, and to include job-embedded coaching for teachers and administrators
- community collaboration that goes beyond superficial sociocultural competence and critical consciousness work
- resources that amplify the partner language and cross-linguistic work
I would advise administrators to always remember the core goal of DL – to create educational access for the students we have linguistically marginalized in U.S. schools. When this is the guiding light, all things become clear.
My sessions will be the following:
Session Title #1: Leading Dual Language Programs Through an Anti-Bias and Anti-Racist Lens
Session Description: Dual language programs must be grounded in the work of equity and social justice. So often, the focus is on bilingualism, biliteracy, and grade level academic achievement. But, leadership must also embrace and model a culturally sustaining ideology that overtly chips away at educational systems that have historically oppressed certain student communities. Through the use of the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education: Third Edition, and specifically, Program Structure (Strand 1), session participants will be critically self-reflective about the systems that guide their DL program, to include next steps as we continue to serve in the midst of a global pandemic.
Session Title #2: The Dual Language Administrator as a Biliteracy Instructional Coach
Session Description: The dual language administrator is, in fact, a biliteracy instructional coach on the school campus and/or district where they serve. So what are the top six things that every DL leader should advocate for, in terms of biliteracy instruction? Via the information delineated in Strand 3: Instruction in the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education: Third Edition, workshop participants will interact with biliteracy instructional recommendations that should guide the DL work, whether facilitation of instruction is taking place in-person, hybrid, or virtual fashion.