Advocacy and Collective Efficacy can go a long way to assist our ELL students
Advocacy and Collective Efficacy can go a long way to assist our ELL students
Advocacy is a powerful word. Advocacy for ELLs is very influential and can lead to positive results for the entire school community. If even one or two teachers stand up for the ELL students, this can yield a favorable outcome.
If one or two teachers get together and decide that they want to create change, they can influence other teachers to feel the same. If all teachers agree and begin to actively work together for a goal, there is collective efficacy. According to the article Creating a Culture of Creativity Risk-taking and Innovation, “ Schools will improve for the benefit of every student only when every leader and every teacher are members where the culture reflects a synergy in problem solving and emotional and practical support.” I would love to see this happen at my school! I would love to get our staff together to discuss how we can arrange for more funding for ELL students. Of course, as a staff we would need to get together often over the course of a few months to plan this initiative. We would also need to make sure that the changes proposed would be reflective in measurable data in order to convince the “powers that be” to allocate more funding for our ELL students.
Advocacy can take many forms. It does not have to be about funding-it can take on more of a role where a teacher establishes a rapport with ELL students and makes sure that ELL students are being accommodated in their classes. This would possibly be challenging if it were to involve discussions with classroom teachers about changing the way they are teaching ELL students, so one would have to be very careful about their approach.However, according to George Couros, “Sometimes trust is built when you choose to do what is right for your community or organization as long as it is always done in a respectful way.” Advocacy could also include making sure that all classroom teachers integrate cultural teachings into their curriculum which can be very beneficial for these students.
What is very important to remember is that it only takes one person to initiate a change. And while change can be hard to adapt to, change is also contagious and often others will feel inspired to join in with the project.
Works Cited:
Couros, George, 5 Characteristics of a Change Agent, https://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/3615
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