Educating Students of Refugee Backgrounds: Critical Language Teacher Education in TESOL

Abstract

Critical language teacher education (Hawkins & Norton, 2009) describes an approach to TESOL teacher preparation that explicitly attends to the structures of schooling and society that privilege some groups over others. More than presenting methods or theories of TESOL in isolation, the intention of a critical approach is to foster awareness of local policies and practices in relation to possible teacher action for equity—essential for those in the position of welcoming and supporting English learners in US schools. This article explores how this approach was enacted in a domestic travel course for ESL teachers focused on the education of students of refugee backgrounds, an area underdeveloped in teacher education. Implications for TESOL teacher preparation in general, and for TESOL teacher professional learning about refugees specifically, are discussed.