Minnesota licenses first ever Karen language teachers

NINA MOINI: We have an update now to a story we first started covering last year here on Minnesota Now. A state program created by a 2023 law allows teachers to become licensed to teach heritage languages. So back in July, 15 Minnesota teachers became the first in the state who are licensed to teach Hmong language. Now, a new group of teachers have become licensed to teach Somali and Karen. Sahan Journal education reporter Becky Dernbach wrote about this recently, and she joins me now. Thanks for being here again, Becky.

BECKY DERNACH: Hi, Nina, glad to be here.

NINA MOINI: And also joining me is Ehtalow Zar, a math teacher who also teaches Karen language and culture at Johnson Senior High in St. Paul. She's one of two teachers who just became the first licensed to teach Karen in the state, and maybe even the nation. Thank you for being here, Ehtalow.

EHTALOW ZAR: Thank you so much for having me.

NINA MOINI: Well, I'd like to start with you as a teacher, Ehtalow. First of all, congratulations on getting this new license. I'm sure you had a lot of feelings about it. You've been teaching-- you're in your third year at Johnson? Why was this important for you to get this new license and certification?

EHTALOW ZAR: Well, this is important to me, because I think teaching Karen, I believe, is an opportunity for me to empower our students to connect with their heritage, culture, their native language, just as I wish I had the chance to do that when I was younger, when I was in school, and just to preserve and celebrate our culture and providing that gift to our next generation.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. Because it's hard when-- you know, I was a kid who was five years old, trying to learn English for the first time, and it can be really hard to preserve the first language that you learn. So how does it feel for you to be able to share that, and how do the students respond?

EHTALOW ZAR: I think students have developed a great appreciation for the culture and the history. And they feel more connected to the parents and the wider community. And the students are gaining that ability to read and write in Karen and just being able to understand the language. And they are more confident in their skill and also able to connect with their elders or their parents and just be able to engage. And I think that's very important. And they are more motivated in their learning journey.

NINA MOINI: Confidence, pride. Becky, I don't know if folks know, but Becky Dernbach is one of my all-time favorite reporters.

[LAUGHTER]

I think you do wonderful work as an education reporter in our state. And through your wonderful reporting, I understand that this was years of advocacy that went in for this. So can you describe who was pushing for this change? And how did it actually come to be?

BECKY DERNACH: Yeah. So there were several programs that were being developed in schools around Minnesota to start Hmong heritage language programs in Brooklyn Center, Somali heritage language programs in Minneapolis. And the teachers who were developing those programs were running into obstacles, because there was really no good way to become licensed to teach that language.

So that came with a whole bunch of other problems. Because you could get a temporary permission to teach that language through the state, but you could only get five of those-- five lifetime permissions to do that, that last one year. So those were-- it was easy to run through those.

And that also meant that there wasn't a lot of security for those teaching licenses or those programs. And it also meant those teachers were often not eligible for things like pay raises. So there was a lot of passion and interest from teachers and students and parents for creating programs like this.

But the state really didn't have the infrastructure to support the teachers to get the teaching license they needed to be able to do that. So some of the teachers who were starting-- who were starting those programs approached a group called Education Evolving, which is an advocacy group, and they co-authored a report. And there were just years of advocacy that went into it.

And ultimately, in that landmark 2023 legislative session, there was a provision in the education bill that created a program through the state of Minnesota to get licensed through a portfolio process, which means that teachers can put together their work and experience and demonstrate their knowledge of the language and teaching methods, and get support from the state to do that. And so they have a cohort program. The first cohort, which Ehtalow is part of, has 47 teachers, and about 1/3 of them already have completed the requirements and have either been licensed or are waiting to get their license.

NINA MOINI: OK. So Ehtalow, piggybacking off of what Becky is describing, how has the infrastructure changed? And has it enabled you to better do this job and really work it into your career?

EHTALOW ZAR: Well, I think the first thing was that we were already-- as a community, we were coming together that we wanted to have a current teacher in the district. And so we were working really hard to bring the community together, and then learning how to-- like, how can we get started by just starting the program?

And then, the next step was finding teachers who are already teaching in school and who have the license to teach. And then, I have four friends who are working with me that-- we worked together to create the license. And so we were already building that up.

And none of us, of course, had the current license. So we all have some kind of teacher license but did not have any current. So this program was like a way to get to that license program, which none of us have.

And I think it was a great way for me. It was really nice, because with my ESL license, I was able to create a portfolio, and my portfolio was already-- the work was already done. And it was just, like, how can we show that we have done this work?

Because we're already teaching it. We already planned the curriculum. We already work as a community to build this curriculum. And so how do we show to the license program that we are able to-- we are able to be licensed teachers, like the current license teachers?

NINA MOINI: Yeah, so a lot of work, a lot of collaboration, it seems, went into this. Becky, has your reporting uncovered yet what might be next for the program or how it might grow?

BECKY DERNACH: Yeah. So I think that-- I mean, first of all, so this program through the state is coming at the same time as programs at Concordia, which you covered with the Hmong cohort that you mentioned earlier last year. And the University of Minnesota is developing a program as well. So there are now multiple ways that people can get licensed to teach these languages, which is really exciting.

And there's now a push for-- well, there's going to be another cohort through the state. And there's also a push for-- so these languages licenses are technically world language licenses, which you might-- world language is something you teach to somebody who doesn't have background in the language. So technically, that's the classification. But they want to make a new classification for heritage language, for people whose background and culture it is as well. So that's-- yeah, so that's something people are excited about coming next.

NINA MOINI: Before I let the both of you go, Ehtalow, there might be people listening in Minnesota who may have lost some of their own language that they were first surrounded by. Do you have any advice for people who might want to maybe study their native language or reconnect with their culture?

EHTALOW ZAR: Yes. Thank you for asking me that. One of the things, for me, is that although one of the reasons why I still have-- I'm still able to read and write is that I was able to, you know, have conversation with my parents, talking to my parents. And I came here in 2004, and I didn't know how to speak English.

So my goal was just to learn English. And of course, I had forgotten a lot of my native language. And the only thing that kept me to keep going and speaking my language was I started to teach Sunday school, and that was kind of like the-- and that was the only resource kind of book that we could read in our native language for our current students. So whatever resource you have, whatever way to keep that native language that you have, I think it's really important.

And speaking to your-- speaking to your kid in your first language, practicing, and then just-- I think now, there are more resources online, with technology, with social media. People are doing music and stuff. So just keep going on those things.

NINA MOINI: I think you hit it on the head, though, when you said "practice," which is sometimes the hardest thing to get yourself to do, because it can be challenging. Well, Becky and Ehtalow, I thank you both so much for your time, and excited to see the future of this effort.

BECKY DERNACH: Thanks so much, Nina.

EHTALOW ZAR: Thank you so much.

NINA MOINI: Thank you. Becky Dernbach is Sahan Journal's education reporter, and Ehtalow Zar is a teacher at Johnson Senior High School in St. Paul.