Chapter 2: Strengths and Needs of Immigrant Teachers: Working With English Language Learners

Many researchers have argued that immigrant teachers bring a unique set of skills that help children reach their potential (Phillion, 2003). For example, these teachers bring multiple perspectives and insights and experiences from which all children could learn (Delpit, 2001). Also, immigrant teachers often create alternative teaching practices and focus on social justice issues in teaching (Subedi, 2008). Given these benefits, many scholars claim that there is a need to explore these teachers’ experiences because of the unique characteristics of diverse teachers’ instructional planning, classroom management, and styles of interaction (Torres, Santos, Peck, & Cortes, 2004).

Through life history narratives from interviews and observations of teaching practices and participant-generated drawings, this chapter describes a qualitative study that explored experiences and beliefs of six Russianspeaking immigrant teachers. It looks at their roles as teachers, and how their beliefs were implemented in teaching practices with English language learners (ELLs). The results demonstrate that although teachers struggled with the English language and cultural understandings of their teaching roles, they were engaging and passionate about their work, dedicated to students’ learning, and exhibited the desire to develop professionally. The study has implications for professional development of immigrant teachers and teacher education programs.