23 Students and 23 Teachers: Socio-Cultural Mediation in the Early Childhood Classroom

Abstract

It is essential for teachers to provide a setting where student interaction is fostered as a mediational tool for learning, thus expediting the natural transfer of language and knowledge among students (Cummins, 1979). Doing so provides students a way of learning in an additive environment (Soltero, 2004). Could such a classroom have the potential to transform and empower students to feel valued, impacting their cognitive and self-identity growth? This reflective paper looks at the experience of one Dual Language Kindergarten class through the lens of socio-cultural mediation (Donato & MacCormick, 1994) while considering the Communities of Practice as a theoretical framework (Wenger, 1998) for Dual Language classrooms. Implications indicate that these classrooms could potentially be communities for transformative pedagogy where interactive practices are developed in a way that advances life-long academic success for Spanish-speaking students and English-speaking students alike.