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In an increasingly globalized world, emergent bilingual learners need the opportunity to engage in effective and just education. The mission of this chapter is two-fold: (1) to problematize monocultural/monolingual pedagogy for emergent bilingual learners and (2) to introduce biography-driven instruction (BDI) as an instructional method for powerful, culturally responsive teaching and learning within linguistically diverse classrooms. To accomplish this mission, the authors will elaborate on theoretical foundations and critical concepts and discuss biography-driven instructional practices. This chapter will address concerns: What is the role of teachers' biographies and critical reflection in their readiness to serve emergent bilingual learners? How are students' biographies conceptualized? How to nurture a bio-friendly, relational classroom ecology? How can teachers negotiate a bio-driven curriculum? How can teachers cultivate bio-driven, differentiated instructional practices?

For over four decades, bilingual/bicultural paraprofessionals have been vital partakers in the education of English learners (ELs). Scholars have underscored school districts' reliance on them for instructional/learning support and their potential as builders of home-school bridges. Moreover, family-teacher relationships are essential to ELs' positive academic and well-being outcomes. Nevertheless, the paraprofessional's role in bridging relationships between teachers and families of ELs is less understood. This chapter presents a research synthesis of the extant peer-reviewed research literature published in the last 30 years on the role of bilingual/bicultural paraprofessionals in promoting more equitable relationships between the families and teachers of ELs. Three main themes emerged, including (a) building trust, (b) connecting families and teachers via linguistic and cultural brokering, and (c) activating biographical community cultural wealth. The findings also highlight the need for positioning relational brokering as equally crucial as linguistic and cultural brokering. Implications for practice and research are addressed.

This case study examined how the academic advising (hence, advising) component of a Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher program can be tailored to honor bilingual/bicultural paraprofessionals’ (hence, BL/BC paras) assets and differential needs. Data collection strategies included participant observation, interviews, a focus group, field notes, and documentation. Thematic data analysis suggested that socioculturally mediated advising involves some aspects of mentoring and includes (a) taking the time to know and value paraprofessionals’ biographies, (b) personalizing and attending to paraprofessionals’ psychosocial needs, (c) building supportive relationships through the GYO seminar, and (d) advocating for institutional accommodations. Implications for future research consider how socioculturally mediated advising including aspects of mentoring needs to be better understood in BL/BC paras teacher pipeline programs and the field of teacher development.