Honors Colloquium: “Valuing and Leveraging Bilingual Students Ways of Communicating” with Dr. Enrique (Henry) Suárez

The session will be facilitated by Dr. Enrique (Henry) Suárez, Assistant Professor of Math, Science, and Learning Technologies at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst. Dr. Suárez will present on the opportunities for multilingual students in learning science and communicating their knowledge. He will also explain equitable responsive teaching strategies to support learning of science. The afternoon session will participate in a more technical session, explaining his research in more depth and the particulars in applying this work for multilingual learners.

Districts are encouraged to bring a team of three representing curriculum work, multilingual learners, and science leadership. Participants are encouraged to attend the morning if they plan on attending in the afternoon.

Facilitator Bio:

Dr. Enrique (Henry) Suárez is committed to making science learning equitable for students and teachers, emphasizing the importance of knowing about the natural world through investigation. Drawing on a range of learning theories, Enrique works in partnership with K-12 schools and communities to make science learning more equitable for learners from historically underserved communities. Enrique has extensive experience teaching elementary science methods courses, co-designing and co-facilitating professional development for K-12 science teachers, and developing physics-based K-12 curriculum. Enrique is an astrophysicist who did cosmology research for five years before choosing a career in K-5 science education.