Understanding the lived experiences of public school in-service early childhood teachers with integrating 21st century educational learning technology in classrooms with Spanish-speaking English Language Learners (ELLs)

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to provide further understanding of the lived experiences of five public school in-service early childhood teachers with integrating 21st century educational learning technology in classrooms with Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) in a southwest border community in New Mexico.;This study draws from two theories (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). I employed a critical theoretical framework informed by Peter McLaren' to help me analyze and understand the teachers' experiences in relation to the notions of race (Hispanic), age (early childhood), and language (English language learners). Also social constructivism from the Russian socio-linguistic Lev Semenovich Vygotsky is used to understand the meaning-making process and representations of reality built through forms of social interactions in relation to culture and society. Portraiture is used as the ethnographic and epistemologically based research method to systematically investigate the lived experiences of the teachers' stories and perspectives. A modification of long interviews (McCraken, 1988) and classroom observations are employed as data collection methods.;The findings of this study included: 1. Participants' knowledge on developmentally appropriate practices for English language learners, second language acquisition, and cultural and linguistic responsive pedagogy with ELLs is not valued; and 2. Early childhood teachers are willing to learn about 21st century educational learning technology, but the lack of professional development that is continuous and personalized to their learning needs prevents them to enhance the learning experience of their ELLs. With this study, I attempt to raise consciousness and add to the body of research literature in favor of democratic education for young English language learners (ELL) with unfavorable social, economic, cultural, ethnic, or linguistic status.;Keywords: teachers' lived experiences, early childhood bilingual education, English language learners, 21st century educational learning technology.