ABSTRACT
Bilingual teaching artist Sindy Castro, born in Nicaragua and raised in the United States, asserts the benefits of a multilingual approach in the classroom to create avenues for artistic expression. Taking a stand against the practice in American schools of teaching ESL students in English only, the author uses examples of specific residencies in which she was able to alter the classroom structure by fostering individual learning grounded in the students’ home language with cultural referencing. Challenging the monolinguistic approach, Castro advocates for a translanguaging stance, through storytelling, playmaking, songwriting, and theatre games. Castro brings to the fore how working from the home language more fully engages immigrant children; thereby, producing creative work that fosters a sense of pride and belonging to a population of young people too often denied such things in a rigid educational system. The author celebrates the variety and integrity of a diverse population of learners, rather than attempting to blend them into a melting pot that negates identity.
