ABSTRACT
This chapter explores an innovative iteration of the teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) practicum via a residency model, wherein TESOL teacher candidates (TCs) completed three years of their four-year university-level teacher education program via coursework and field experiences embedded in US K-12 public school. We conceptually orient the residency practicum experience toward culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy, which we define as pedagogy that acknowledges, responds to, and celebrates students’ cultural backgrounds as well as draws upon linguistic repertoires to access complex language demands of content-area formal school settings. Various practicum goals in the residency include: application of theory to practice, observation of experienced educators, planning and delivery of lessons, and peer/self-reflection on developing identities and practices. These are accomplished such that TESOL teacher candidates learn about and engage in pedagogical practices via an authentic, community-embedded context. As we reflect on this unique model, we identify challenges and benefits, as well as steps forward, in the implementation of a residency model to achieve culturally- and linguistically oriented TESOL practicum goals.
