Why Must I Do This? The Drawbacks, Benefits and Challenges with EL Inclusion and the Impetus for General Educator Preparation in EL Inclusion

Chapter Aims and Topics

• Discuss the history and rationale for English learner (EL) inclusion and general educator preparation.

• Describe EL inclusion.

• Detail the benefits of EL inclusion.

• Reveal the impact of changes to demographics and the educational landscape on teachers' instruction and preparation.

• Depict the current preparation of general educators to include ELs into their courses.

• Deliberate the rationale for the inclusion of ELs into general education courses.

• Highlight educators' concerns regarding EL inclusion.

• Delineate the challenges to teacher preparation for EL inclusion.

History and Rationale for General Educator Preparation in EL Inclusion

Efforts to provide children with the least restrictive learning environment have been labelled the 'inclusion movement' and are realised by including all learners into the general education classroom despite their unique needs (e.g. special needs or English language learner [ELL]). The inclusion movement is an outgrowth of the civil rights movement of social equity and desegregation, making all public school classrooms accessible to minority populations of individuals of colour, individuals with special needs (i.e. physical, emotional, behavioural and cognitive differences) and individuals from linguistically diverse home environments. Most people think of the 1960s as the peak of civil rights work and influential educational law suits, such as Lau vs. Nichols (1974) in the US, but such laws did not come into effect until the 1970s. A sea change occurred during that time to permanently alter the educational landscape and laws were implemented to address issues of equality based on race, gender, class and ablism (Education for All Handicapped Children Act, 1975; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 1997; the Lau Remedies, 1975; the Equal Opportunities Act, 1974) (Platt et al., 2003). Advances in EL inclusion accompanied the inclusion movement of learners with special needs (Westby et al., 1994). According to Reeves (2006: 132), the inclusion movement and 'universal access' gained popular acceptance also due to the standards and accountability movements of the 1990s. Philosophically, then, equal access for all learners by providing the least restrictive academic environment possible became the norm.

The resulting open access differentiates the US public school policy, and several other Western countries' school policy, from public schools in many other countries of the world. In many countries, such as Peru and Ukraine, students who do not speak the majority language are frequently excluded from educational opportunities or they must learn the language of instruction independently prior to accessing the educational system. Imagine if you and your family were sent to work in Peru, but your children were not allowed to attend school since they did not speak Spanish at all or not enough to participate actively in schooling.

The US has experienced dramatically increased enrolments of ELs in the last 20 years. Along with these increased enrolments, there has been a shift in the location and diversity of EL enrolments. No longer are ELs and their families living only on the coasts and in the south-west or Florida (NCELA, 2010). Ramirez (2007: 47) noted, 'Most of them [ELs] are in border states in the Southwest, but the fastest growth recently has been in the Carolinas, Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee. They are seeking more opportunities (i.e., pull-factors, such as jobs, affordable housing, and community attitudes) and migrating into areas that have not seen much in the way of immigration for decades. Furthermore, in Fairfax County, Virginia, public "schools serve 21,000 students who speak more than 140 languages"'. When working with current populations of ELs, teachers must be mindful of the diversity of home languages and cultures. For example, many educators think that EL educators work with Spanish speakers from Mexico. In reality, ELs come from all over Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. There is even more complexity in these descriptions too. For example, the 'Mexican' child may have been born in the US and might not be highly proficient in Spanish or his/her native Quechan. It is important that teachers working with ELs have positive attitudes and dispositions about working with learners from the world over.

Various educational systems, teachers, aids, reading specialists and administrators are being asked to include more diverse learners in areas where the systems are new to these changes. In differing states, political debates continually make headlines over immigration policy or access to public schools based on residency status. With all these changes, educators are expected to stretch their skills and dispositions in new directions.

What does EL Inclusion Look Like?

There are several realisations of inclusive classrooms, including 'full inclusion' in which the language learner is present in the general education class for the entire day with or without the assistance of a trained general educator, English as a second language (ESL) educator or paraprofessional (Harper & de Jong, 2004; Turnbull et al., 1995). When the learner is placed in a general education class with no support either in the class from an ESL-trained general educator or ESL/bilingual support staff or from pull-out tutorials, the realisation is called 'sink or swim'. ELs without any language clarity or language learning assistance will tune out, shut down and fail or they will seek to overcome the language barrier and thrive.

Imagine coming to a new country with your family. Everything is new, exciting and scary. You go to school and are placed in a classroom with children who do not speak your...