“My language learners seemed like ghosts”: A rural teacher’s transformational journey implementing the seal of biliteracy

Abstract

This paper describes the personal and professional journey taken by one secondary Spanish teacher to implement the Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) for English Learners (ELs) in a rural Florida school district. The teacher’s goal was to promote bilingual pride among her ELs and to validate and build their bilingual abilities, which had been frequently unrecognized in the community. This promising practice in a rural Florida district demonstrates two important transformations: first was the teacher’s personal views about bilingualism as an asset rather than a deficit, and second was the instructional practices she employed and fiercely advocated for on behalf of the ELs. Ultimately, the work of the teacher disrupted inequities that her bilingual students faced and positively affected their views of bilingualism and their lives in the rural school community.