Valuing learners’ full
linguistic repertoires.
Instruction at The Garzón School is English-Spanish bilingual, albeit moving away from the strict separation of languages that dominates bilingual education today. So that TGS graduates emerge as empathetic global citizens, we promote language equity in our learning spaces: valuing each child’s full linguistic and cultural repertoire to enrich and deepen learning. Beyond developing academic proficiency in English and Spanish, TGS encourages and supports the development of mother tongues.
“Translanguaging refers to both the discourse practices of bilinguals, as well as to pedagogical practices that use the entire complex linguistic repertoire of bilingual students flexibly in order to teach rigorous content and develop language practices for academic use.” (García, 2016)
Every nest has two educators: an English lead and a Spanish lead. Learners work with both educators simultaneously on coherent units of inquiry, with project output carefully balanced between English and Spanish depending on the language profile of each individual. This approach favours language acquisition, fosters engagement, and improves student confidence and sense of identity. To model our approach beyond the classroom, every member of our School’s team is fully English-Spanish bilingual.
“The journey of implementing translanguaging has been a continuous process of growth and learning. Our students’ intrinsic motivation to engage with both English and Spanish literacy highlights the effectiveness of translanguaging in nurturing language development.”
Fiorella Carrazzone, Literacy Lead
Fall in love with learning again.
Apply to join The Garzón School in 2025!