ABSTRACT
As a critical DLBE teacher, Andrea saw the development of critical consciousness in herself and her colleagues as central to their work. With administration approval and support, she started a professional learning community with the teachers in her school’s DLBE strand. Through this learning process, teachers reflected critically on the state and district DLBE policies, their positionalities, students, and practices. This chapter focuses on the critical policy analysis activities in the professional learning community, how Andrea and her colleagues engaged in analyzing local DLBE state policies, the insights they gained, and the actions they took to transform their local DLBE context. The case narrative addresses the topics of recruitment and enrollment demographics, promotional materials and media coverage, teacher credentialing requirements, and language separation policies. Portrayed are practitioners’ eagerness to think through DLBE equity implications for students designated as English learners and the importance of practitioners feeling empowered to address equity in DLBE throughout their careers. This type of professional learning community supports critical consciousness development and activism by allowing teachers to see how marginalized students and communities are served in their local contexts and facilitating the planning and action steps needed to transform the educational system for social justice.
