Q&A: Rebuilding the Dual Language Classroom to Better Support All Learners

What inspired you to investigate dual language (DL) learning spaces?

Over the past several decades, the United States has undergone major demographic changes that have brought longstanding racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequities in education into sharper focus. As schools work to meet the needs of increasingly diverse student populations, educational alternatives such as dual-language programs have grown rapidly.

These programs are designed to bring students from two language groups together to develop bilingualism, biliteracy, and cross-cultural understanding. While DL programs hold tremendous promise, research—including my own—shows that they do not always function as intended. In many communities, these programs can unintentionally reinforce existing power inequalities or privilege certain groups of students over others. At the same time, they can also serve as meaningful spaces for integration, identity formation, and cultural exchange. This complex mix of possibilities is what drew me to study DL learning spaces more closely.

What does it mean to be named a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow?

Receiving this fellowship is both a profound honor and an affirmation of the meaningful, justice-oriented work I pursue as an educator scholar. It’s designed to support early-career researchers conducting critical and impactful studies in the field, and I see this recognition as validation of my commitment to advancing educational equity and social justice through research.

The fellowship provides a unique combination of professional development, research funding, and sustained mentorship from established scholars. Collectively, these resources will significantly strengthen my trajectory as a researcher by expanding my methodological and theoretical capacities, offering mentorship, and opportunities for collaboration with scholars across disciplines and institutional contexts.

Given its highly competitive nature, the fellowship annually identifies only 25 early-career scholars whose research demonstrates exceptional promise and the potential to make substantial contributions to the field of education. Being included in this group is deeply meaningful and reinforces my dedication to producing research that advances equity and linguistic justice in educational spaces.

What is the focus of the work you’re doing with this fellowship?

My research examines the intersection of social and linguistic dynamics in dual language programs, particularly as they seek to advance educational justice. The study focuses on understanding how dual language learning spaces are created and experienced by the people within them.

Rather than viewing space simply as a physical classroom, I approach it as something co-constructed through interactions, expectations, and relationships—shaped by people’s beliefs, linguistic practices, and the power dynamics at play. The Midwestern U.S. context is crucial for understanding these dynamics. Historically, the region has confronted persistent racial tensions and segregation, primarily rooted in Black–White racialization but also in immigrant and refugee communities.

While some scholarship has examined DL programs in the Midwest, the region remains understudied—especially given significant demographic shifts often described as the “Browning of the Midwest.” These shifts have prompted rapid expansion of DL programs, yet little is known about how spatial, social, and linguistic factors intersect within these evolving contexts. My study seeks to address this gap by analyzing how the spatiality of schooling informs the experiences, interactions, and understandings of those participating in DL programs.

Tell us about where your research will be focused.

The study of the space in which DL programs operate involves examining both the physical environment and the co-constructed social space created through teacher–student interactions. This includes the ideological, relational, and power-laden dimensions of everyday practice that influence how individuals engage with one another. This perspective allows me to examine how everyday moments reveal deeper patterns of identity, inclusion, and inequity.

To explore these dynamics, I am using an ethnographic case study approach, which involves spending extended time in a classroom, observing daily interactions, and developing detailed descriptions of how teachers and students navigate the space together. This method allows me to capture not only what happens, but also how and why it happens, and how individuals make sense of their experiences.

The study will focus on a Spanish/English dual language kindergarten classroom. By beginning with the earliest years of formal schooling, I can observe how young children start to make sense of language, identity, and belonging in a new educational setting. Participants will include the classroom teachers and students, whose everyday interactions will help reveal how language, space, and social dynamics intersect in meaningful ways.

What are you hoping to discover?

This project seeks to deepen our understanding of DL education by exploring how teachers, students, and communities collectively construct and interpret DL learning spaces. The study aims to reveal the subtle ways social and linguistic factors influence the educational opportunities available to multilingual and multicultural learners. Attention to these dynamics can help illuminate not only how DL programs function, but how they feel and operate on the ground for those who inhabit them.

In addition, as DL programs become more widespread, it is increasingly important to examine the motivations behind their creation and the populations they ultimately serve. Questions about access, equity, and the shifting demographics of communities—including concerns about gentrification and unequal benefits—are central to understanding the real impact of these programs. By integrating a spatial lens into these conversations, this study seeks to expand existing scholarship and offer a more comprehensive picture of how DL programs take shape within complex social landscapes. My goal is to contribute work that helps educators, policymakers, and communities develop a shared, critically informed understanding of the realities facing multilingual learners. Such understanding is essential if we are to make meaningful progress toward greater equity and justice in our schools.

How do you foresee this research impacting dual language learners?

My research has the potential to significantly strengthen how DL programs support students—particularly those who are culturally and linguistically diverse. This study will offer a deeper understanding of the sociolinguistic factors that influence students’ opportunities to thrive. These findings can help educators and school leaders design environments that are intentionally anti-racist, inclusive, and empowering. By shedding light on how space, identity, and community dynamics intersect in Midwestern DL programs, the study can illuminate both the possibilities and the challenges of creating truly integrated learning environments.

Ultimately, a clearer understanding of how spatial and social dynamics contribute to inequities—and how they might instead support belonging and success—can guide meaningful change in DL education. I hope that this research will open new pathways to disrupt inequitable practices, shape more just learning spaces, and improve the educational experiences of multilingual students nationwide.