Sixth International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education: Connecting Research and Practice Across Contexts

Paper/Best Practice Session (1 hour)

Not Language Specific

One-Way Second/Foreign Language Immersion
Two-Way Bilingual Immersion
One-Way Developmental Bilingual Education

Pre-K
Elementary (K-5)
Middle School/Junior High
High School

In areas of new immigration, school and community leaders want to develop immersion and dual language education, but they lack resources and a knowledge-base. This presentation will describe one state-wide effort to connect advocates and educators across diverse contexts. Discussion will address: How can we sustain such efforts?

Objectives: The goal of this best practice session is to describe one state-wide effort to connect advocates, researchers, and educators in their efforts to develop immersion and dual language education programs. In conversation with the audience, the session will address: How do interested educators and community members get started with efforts like this? Who are important stakeholders to include in such a coalition? How does one develop a website and use social media to develop relationships, spread information, and support dual language/immersion program development?

Background: The Missouri Dual Language Network (MODLAN) was ?rst conceived by Drs. Kim Song and Lisa Dorner of the University of Missouri and their community partners in 2014. Having worked in multilingual, immersion, and dual language communities for years, they saw a need for enhanced educational opportunities and training in Missouri. They began to meet, individually, with educators from across the state who worked at language schools, and invited them to attend an initial planning meeting in February of 2015.

At subsequent meetings, they defined their mission statement and objectives: MODLAN is a group of educators, school and community leaders, and university professors who believe in multilingual education for all students, as linguistically- and culturally-diverse learning opportunities are essential for success in an integrated, transnational society. MODLAN aims to:

• Connect multilingual schools and educators across Missouri
• Share information and research about language education
• Prepare strong teachers and school leaders for dual language/immersion programs
• Advocate for dual language education and multilingualism
• Empower multilingual parents and communities

They have since created Facebook and website pages (www.modlan.org), but need to determine how to reach out beyond their initial communities. This session will not only discuss the success that they have had in organizing, but also ask questions about how to move forward, developing ideas through conversation with the audience.