TCSD Career Expo 2019

In this session, students will learn about the incredible demand for bilingual teaching candidates, what it is like working as a teacher in a bilingual education program, and what it takes to obtain a teaching license. Dual immersion programs are expanding across the country, and thousands of teaching positions across the country are offered annually to teachers from Teton County 'Grow Your Own' Initiative: Addressing the Shortage of Bilingual Educators, who are only able to work for 3-5 years due to the bilingual teacher shortage. Districts, however, would much prefer to hire candidates who understand our educational system and can identify with the students sitting in their classrooms. Barriers that disproportionately burden underrepresented teacher candidates are all too familiar, making it unsurprising that a diversity gap exists between the white, monolingual teacher workforce and the racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse student population. There is burgeoning research that demonstrates the benefits of remedying the student-teacher diversity gap. Research indicates, for example, that students of color exhibit positive social and academic outcomes when they have teachers with whom they identify. It is also well-documented that teachers of color tend to hold higher expectations for their students of color and exhibit more cultural competency than their white peers. Aside from their benefit to students of color, these teachers get high marks from students of all races for creating engaging and supporting learning spaces. Because Grow Your Own (GYO) programs have emerged as a promising way to achieve much-needed racial parity between teachers and students, they are drawing national interest. These programs take a variety of forms: some are aimed at attracting high school students into the teaching profession while others provide opportunities for para-educators, substitutes, and local community members to become licensed educators. Since these programs make deliberate efforts to recruit diverse candidates who are more representative of the student population, they are one promising approach to produce a more diverse workforce and meet critical shortages in key subject areas, such as bilingual education or dual immersion programs.