Self-reflexive inquiry in teacher education for diversity: Tapping and leveraging resources for language teachers’ career trajectories

This chapter draws upon a program of research focused on how self-reflexive inquiry into language and culture may support learning and teaching in multicultural teacher education. Such inquiry can foster metalinguistic awareness as prospective teachers reflect on their language development histories, inventory the linguistic repertoires they tap into for multiple uses, and reflect on the varied ways in which contexts and audiences shape their language choices. Through such inquiry, future teachers also articulate their conceptions of language and ways their language ideologies shape their ideas and practices for teaching. This articulation of experiential knowledge, enabled by reflection and supported by human and material resources, can help to leverage the special perspectives and understandings that bilingual preservice teachers of color bring to their work of teaching English to linguistically diverse learners.