The Language Access Lectern | a PGLS Podcast | Episode 3
In the latest episode of The Language Access Lectern, host Mark Byrne speaks with Dr. Misael Nascimento, president and CEO of Camino Education Consulting Group and former executive director of bilingual and multicultural services at Rockford Public Schools. Misael has had a distinguished career servicing multilingual families across the country and, as a result, has observed the evolution of language access to better support multilingual students and families.
You can listen to the full episode here. Keep reading for an engaging recap of Mark and Dr. Nascimento’s conversation, including Dr. Nascimento’s vision for the future of multilingual learning.
From Multilingual Student to Language Access Advocate
Mark: Tell us about your experience as a multilingual educator and language access advocate.
Dr. Nascimento: I’ve been doing this for a long time. I love it because I am an English learner. I came to the United States without knowing the language. I come from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Mark: How did language barriers impact your experience moving to the United States?
Dr. Nascimento: I came at age 22, and learning English when you are older is pretty rough. I was going to college, but I couldn’t go [in the U.S.] because I couldn’t speak the language, so instead, I went to ESL courses. The first impact of coming in with an education and not being able to continue at school was very frustrating. But, I was able to learn enough English to go back to school, and since 1987, I’ve never left. To this day, I still make an effort to learn it.
Mark: How did you feel that you were received as somebody who had challenges speaking English?
Dr. Nascimento: That first impact, how diverse America is, it was fascinating. The mix of learners within the ESL courses was mostly Spanish speakers, fellow Portuguese speakers, and also people from everywhere. I went to Lake View Learning Center in Chicago. I’m not sure if it’s still around. There was a teacher there, Mrs. Rivera, I never forgot her name. She helped me to keep on and get to university.
Mark: Teachers who are supporting multilingual families, just know that there’s incredible warmth, respect, and admiration for the work that you do.
Dr. Nascimento: One of these days, I’m gonna go back in there and say thank you for what you do, because a lot of times people don’t think that they have that kind of impact.
Mark: There are 7,000 multilingual learners within Rockford Public Schools, which is the third largest school district in Illinois and certainly among the most diverse.
Dr. Nascimento: Working in a large school district with 29,000 students and 7,000 multilingual learners, to know I have helped a bit in their journeys—10, 20, 30 years down the road—is such a humbling experience.
Developing ESL Programs for Multilingual Students
Mark: Talk to me about the strategy for developing programs to support these students. A lot of listeners are multilingual program directors.
Dr. Nascimento: I kept building on what we had: the translation department, the data department, the family support groups, hiring teachers, an ESL program. When I started, there were ESL classes in only some schools. There were 41 total schools, and so many students were not receiving the proper services.
I went to the superintendent and proposed ESL classes in all 41 schools. He said you’re going to need a lot of teachers. We had 13 ESL teachers when I arrived, and by the time I left, we had 38. When people believe in what you’re doing, that allows everything to change, but it takes a little bit of time.
Mark: Talk to me about building that support and getting that trust. When somebody who’s in your shoes wants to bring this information to a school superintendent, how do you recommend they go about doing that?
Dr. Nascimento: First, be patient. Show people that you know what you’re doing because you’re talking about taxpayers’ money. You want to create things that are effective and cost-effective. Let people see that you have every good intention to get there and that you are taking steps. You will make mistakes, of course, but you keep on moving. Be creative, go to a conference or workshop, learn something and bring it in.
The Past, Present, and Future of EL Instruction
Mark: Your career spans 40 years. Say more about the evolution of educating multilingual learners.
Dr. Nascimento: When I hear, my grandparents came to America and they learned English by themselves, in many cases they had a supervisor or a foreman who spoke their native language and they found a job to survive. That’s not what we want for students today. Instead, we want them to be taught English through content so they can leave and be successful in college or a career. Today, we teach English through social studies, science, math, and language arts. We want teachers to take the content of the English language and teach English as a second language (ESL).
Mark: Say more about the impact of shelter instruction.
Dr. Nascimento: When teachers go to college, they don’t expect people from other countries to come into their classrooms. But there are strategies, including shelter instruction, to help general education teachers do what ESL teachers do.
Mark: What advice do you give to teachers learning how to support multilingual students?
Dr. Nascimento: My advice to them is to be patient and get creative. We can’t expect the kids to learn English overnight, and every student comes to us from a different situation. But you can’t keep teaching them the same way. People will gripe that it’s more work, and it is. This teacher I know is spending 15 minutes before a lesson, and their four EL students are learning. They are now excited to learn. If you can get that excitement going, it will bring results. In my district, they launched a double period of ESL that is 90 minutes long, so the teachers can really get in their element and students have the opportunity to grow.
Mark: What are your strategies for creating that spark within students and bringing out their best?
Dr. Nascimento: Tap into available resources. For example, I was observing an eighth-grade math classroom and twelve of them were English learners who spoke Spanish. The teacher did not know what to do. I grouped the EL students together. They would not be teaching what the teacher is saying, but at least they would get an explanation from their peers. Then, I said, let’s talk to the principal and see if we can find someone. They had a paraprofessional who was a Spanish speaker, and we brought them in to help with those groups. The teachers who do these things help get their students excited about learning and coming back. It takes patience and creativity to make it work.