From ESL students to bilingual/ESOL teachers--a journey: The pedagogical experiences of Mexican origin non-native English speaker pre-service teachers in a bilingual/TESOL program

The present phenomenological study investigated the pedagogical experiences of 6 non-native English speakers (NNES) Mexican Origin pre-service teachers enrolled in the bilingual/TESOL teacher preparation program. The importance of this study derives from a lack of literature considering NNES professionals in undergraduate bilingual/TESOL programs and more specifically the lack of studies on Mexican-origin U.S.-based NNES who will join the K-12 teaching force. The primary interest is in what motivated the former ESL students to become bilingual/ESOL teachers. The purpose is to investigate their pedagogical experiences first as ESL students in public schools and secondly as pre-service teachers in a university program.;Data collected during the spring semester of 2006 included a demographic questionnaire, 3 in-depth interviews of 90 minutes with each of the participants and a focus group interview. The benefit of having the 2 interview approaches in this study was first to provide a medium to further examine knowledge and understandings gathered in the in-depth interviews and secondly, to generate collective dialogue in order to support participants in re-constructing their experiences.;The extensive reading of the data revealed several findings related to their early schooling experiences as immigrant students in the US; the contribution of these experiences to their choice of career; their language learning and teaching experiences and finally their experiences as a student in the bilingual/TESOL TPP.;Participants admitted the importance of these experiences for them, given that they, as teachers, can brighten up the schooling experiences of their future students. When reflecting on the process, they recognized the need for teachers to question schooling practices and more importantly, they recognized how necessary they are. Because of their linguistic and cultural background as well as the experiences they went through in the process of schooling, they believe they are the best role models for their future students. They are models of success.