‘It’s reclaiming who we are’
At dual-language education conference, teachers see way for students to reconnect with identity, get leg up in global community
Shelves of colorfully illustrated Spanish-language books and card games, multilingual e-books, comic books and CDs lined the halls of the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, where 3,000 people gathered Thursday to exchange ideas on how to improve dual-language education.
La Cosecha, Dual Language Education of New Mexico’s 23rd annual conference, drew teachers, presenters and vendors from 41 states, nine Native American tribes and nine foreign nations.
While the overarching goal of the four-day event was for participants to share teaching strategies, many attendees said the current political climate — including a rise in nationalism and the Trump administration’s stringent immigration policies — has heightened concerns about diversity and made it increasingly important to protect cultures and languages.
“A lot of kids are losing their language,” said Raquel Balboa, a longtime volunteer at La Cosecha.
“Most of our kids are being raised like any other American, when they have their own culture,” she said. “It makes me uneasy. … It’s very confusing times right now.”
The conference comes as people traveling in a caravan of Central American migrants that President Donald Trump deemed a “national emergency” are reaching the U.S. border; hate crimes against Latinos are on the rise; and fears of deportation continue to haunt immigrants — and U.S.-born children of immigrants — in Santa Fe and throughout the nation.
It also comes as the New Mexico Public Education Department has announced a growing interest in the state’s 3-year-old Seal of Bilingualism-Biliteracy for high school graduates, a program in which students who achieve fluency in a foreign language
earn a special distinction on their diploma. So far, the state agency says, nearly 1,300 New Mexico grads have earned the seal.
But Dual Language Education of New Mexico, an Albuquerque-based nonprofit that develops and advocates for dual-language programs, says these initiatives are different than bilingual education, an umbrella term given to any level of use of two languages in the classroom.
Dual-language programs instead use a 50-50 approach, giving equal time to reading and writing in each language — for instance, English and Spanish — or even dedicating more than half of class time to the so-called partner or secondary language.
Such programs generally begin at the kindergarten level and extend through high school. The goal is for students to become proficient in all aspects of both languages.
The end result is a gift “for kids to succeed in the 21st century,” said Leslie Sánchez, director of development with the dual-language group. “It’s making our kids more competitive in a global economy.”
In places like New Mexico, which has a high population of immigrants, native Spanishspeaking Hispanics and numerous tribal languages, this type of education is essential, advocates say.
“For so long in our state, speaking Spanish was considered a deficiency,” Sánchez said, adding that such a mindset “created a loss of language and culture.”
Being bilingual is an asset, not a deficit, she said. “It’s reclaiming who we are.”
Balboa said the dual-language organization provides resources to tribal schools within the state that are working to ensure children become fluent in their Native languages and carry on the traditions.
The group also provides resources for immigrant students.
“We have so many kids here from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries,” Balboa said.
Interest in La Cosecha has been steadily growing over the years, Sánchez said, but this year saw a much higher increase in enrollment than usual — between 25 percent and 30 percent more attendees.
This could be because the political climate has made people more aware of what’s happening in schools and more interested in protecting languages and promoting multilingualism, she said.
She also believes interest in the conference is growing because of its unique approach.
“It’s a conference for teachers by teachers,” Sánchez said.
“It’s a place teachers can connect and inspire,” added Barb Hellein, a teacher from Washington state.
Going forward, Sánchez said, she hopes to expand La Cosecha’s mission. Dual Language Education of New Mexico also plans to host its first out-of-state conference within two or three years.
“Who’s in charge as president — that’s secondary,” she said, referring to concerns about Trump. “What matters most are the leaders in the classrooms. … It honestly comes down to the needs of the kids.”