Workshop Reflection: The Transformative Power of Translanguaging

Happy New Year! I apologize for the lack of posting. I was in my last weeks of pregnancy when I began writing this blog post and I am now currently on maternity leave.  

In September, I had the absolute pleasure of presenting a workshop to educators from around Japan at Nagoya International School.  The title of my workshop was A Linguistic Pedagogy of Love: Translanguaging in the International Classroom.  

Typically, when I am invited to conduct workshops or consult at schools I charged with the task of giving a very large overview of general EAL mindsets and strategies.  This is an important task as many international schools are trying to properly address the instructional implications of the changing demographics of their clientele; a more linguistically diverse student body and/or host country nationals.  I  applaud schools diving into this work and deeply value their desire to facilitate professional learning for their teachers and meet the needs of their students.

Therefore, it is not often that I really get to dive deeply into translanguaging. It is a topic that I love, as it represents a real intersection of the facets of my field; language, reading, culture, equity.  It is the pedagogical stance and decisions that captures the essence of my graduate work from University of Arizona's Teaching and Sociocultural Studies: Language, Reading, and Culture Department.  For a quick overview of translanguaging may I suggest viewing:

• "What is Translanguaging?" from the NALDIC  Magazine of Practice's EAL Journal.
• "What is Translanguaging?" a video by CUNY-NYSIEB Online Series featuring Dr. Ofelia García.
• "A Pedagogy of Translanguaging" by Improving Literacy and Communication: Language Magazine

Oftentimes when I am conducting the larger overview workshops of EAL mindsets and strategies, I only have about an hour and a half to do a quick introduction to translanguaging. Although there are always participants excited and energized by this topic, it is often met with skepticism and sometimes downright hostility.  Why is that?  I have some hunches. Translanguaging can challenge the mono-linguistic lens that many educators have.  Translanguaging can challenge educators understandings about multilingualism, often clouded with misconception, outdated research, and personal bias. And finally, translanguaging can challenge some mono-linguals educators sense of control; how do I know what the kids are doing if I don't speak their language?  A translanguaging pedagogy, a multilingual ecology in our classrooms asks that teachers embrace and leverage the "translanguaging corriente", the shades of gray, the non-linear language learning paths that reflect how our multilingual students experience the world.

With educators from around Japan, it was a pleasure to explore topics that included:  multilingual brain research, socio/cultural/historical contexts of damaging "English Only" policies, translanguaging instructional and curricular strategies, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and case studies of different language learning contexts that utilize translanguaging classrooms.  Educators dug deeply into their own learning, practice, and schools to better understand these concepts and apply them to their context; from early childhood educators to secondary content specialists. They wrestled with the material, exchanged ideas, asked questioned, and inspired each other.  It really was beautiful to witness. 

Perhaps the most inspiring aspect from my time at Nagoya is Mr. Matthew Parr's message in the Head of School's Weekly notes. I have copied and pasted some of his message for your viewing. 

• "Translanguaging is the process whereby multilingual speakers utilize their languages as an integrated communication system to help them understand, interact with - and shape their world.
  At NIS all our students operate in more than one language to some degree - and some of our students are highly bilingual or multilingual, functioning largely in English while at school, but using their mother tongue at home or outside of school.
  And these languages are not just systems for communication; they are also a representation of identities and cultures. Language is not just how we express ourselves, it is also how we understand ourselves. Consequently, in a multilingual environment such as NIS it is extremely important that children are asked to bring their languages with them to the learning environment.
  Of course our shared community language is English - and it is important that we embrace this as we support one another as a community. But this does not mean that other languages should be ‘checked at the door’. On the contrary, we know that by developing a strong mother tongue it is easier for students to access and learn additional languages. We also know that by using different languages to examine and evolve understanding of content and concepts, students can go deeper with their learning  - and so then find it easier to ‘report out’ in the community language of English."- Matthew Parr, Head of School's Weekly Notes,  Nagoya International School (September 21, 2018)

Not all educational leaders would be so brave to so publicly support translanguaging pedagogy in their schools.  I commend the work that Nagoya International School is engaging in.