MLL Specialists at the Curricular Table

I know an a lot of MLL Specialists that are reluctant to attend or contribute to curriculum focused team meetings. I even know a few that throw their hands up with exasperation saying "they are a waste of my time."  Yet, a strong curriculum is so crucial to strong instruction.  A strong curriculum helps our multilingual students 

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immensely. while making co-planning meetings more efficient. Curriculum is one of the key components of the multilingual ecosystem that we discuss in my professional learning workshops. Schools with a strong commitment to equity and their multilingual learners ensure collaboration time is embedded in their timetables for teaching teams and MLL specialists.

​Why is it then, that so many MLL Specialists experience reluctance, exasperation, or even trepidation when it comes to sitting down with colleagues for the unit design process? That's a question I often explore in coaching, since the answer(s) can be complex and contextualized. For now in this blog post I will share what I believe our role is at the table and possible ways to engage with questions.

Participating in curricular meetings is important for MLL specialists to seek to understand the grade level content. They do not need to be content area experts of course, nor should they be expected to. Curricular meetings are a good time to ask questions to seek to understand in order to 

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aid the design process with a clear eye on the horizon. Its a great time to ask questions like:

• What's the heart of the unit? What's the big picture?
• What do we want all students to be able to know, understand, and do?
• How will students be asked to engage in discourse of the content matter? Will there be writing? Speaking? Presentations? Collaboration? No? Hmmm, where might we integrate a few?
• What structures of discourse are we thinking about? 
• Where are there opportunities to open up this content to offer more choice?
• How will we nurture our multilingual students' sense of agency?

We immerse our learners in language rich classrooms, but remember part of the MLL Specialists job is to facilitate language learning. I find this is something, when done right, that all students benefit from.

• What's the discourse we are seeking that is required of the discipline and subject matter? How are we going to design backwards from that goal?
• What's a "good answer" sound like?  What biases are showing up in our thinking? 
  
• What language functions might be the biggest bang for our buck to prioritize? What grammatical elements do our students need for those functions? 
• What subject area vocabulary is important to make meaning of the content and later share our understandings? What general vocabulary words are important  yet might need some contextualizing?
• How might these experiences and expectations look like and sound like across proficiencies?

As MLL Specialists we have a deep commitment to linguistic equity. We have a deep understanding of bilingualism and the role culture and identity play in our students lives. We can offer contributions to the unit to ensure that our students are seen and see others like them while nurturing their multilingual identity.

• What do our students already know about these concepts? Where can we build connections and partnerships with home? What do these ideas look like in their other languages?
• What thinkers/authors/ideas are we upholding in this unit? Who are we currently excluding? How might we offer a variety of perspectives, narratives, and ideas here?
• Where might we intentionally fold in translanguaging experiences to affirm our students bilingual identities and help deepen conceptual understanding by building connections across languages?

Creating access is an important role that many MLL specialists play at the curricular table. Just be careful! This isn't the only role.  Questions we can ask of ourselves and design for include:

• What building background experiences should we plan for?
• What scaffolds will help make meaning? What scaffolds will help share meaning?
• How might we design so students have choice? What might we make different? Experiences? Task? Materials? Groupings? Why?
• How will our students monitor and reflect upon their progress?

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MLL Specialists are important participants in curricular design.

Questions can be a quiet way of leading collaborative unit design conversations towards equity for our multilingual learners.  Asking questions (even if answers aren't available...yet) also help develop a sense of collective efficacy around all of our students' success. Asking questions helps chip away at deficit mindsets without being preachy.  It also pushes MLL specialists beyond the "magic trick -here's strategies" mode that many of us can fall into.

Go forth and be brave MLL Specialists! Your colleagues depend on you for your insights.  Your multilingual students are counting on you.  If you are interested in exploring these ideas more and incorporating them into your practice reach out to schedule a coaching call today.