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Aida Walqui Presents at National Science Teachers Association Conference

Portrait
Aida Walqui
Day
March 2015

Aida Walqui, Director of the Teacher Professional Development Program at WestEd, shared insights on the Next Generation Science Standards and English language learners in a presentation at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) annual conference. The presentation, The Development of Deep and Generative Practices, proposed a theoretical and pedagogical shift rooted in language as teachers prepare for the Next Generation Science Standards. Walqui emphasized the importance of bridging teaching with an understanding of student knowledge where educators prepare students to actively engage in their level of learning and lead them through increasing levels of linguistic complexity. Through an integrative pedagogical approach, science teachers can scaffold conceptual and contextual  lessons where teachers and students take on multiple roles in the process of teaching and learning. Ultimately, Walqui suggests that a science teacher’s role is to provide a bridge with scaffolds between the student’s “everyday” language and the technical language needed for effective participation in academic activities and goals.