University Of Missouri-St. Louis: Education And English Alumna Eleanor Taylor Connects To Students And Family History Through Language

Press release from the University of Missouri-St. Louis:

The teenage girl sitting across from Eleanor Taylor was clearly frustrated. She had just immigrated to the United States, and Taylor was trying to gauge her English proficiency at Pattonville High School.

However, nothing seemed to overcome the language barrier. Eventually, the girl grabbed a piece of paper, scrawled on it quickly and shoved it at Taylor. The paper only contained two words in Spanish: No Inglés.

Taylor was undeterred, though. She would reach that student and help her learn English. By her senior year, the girl had become one of Taylor’s best students and was confident enough in her language skills to write and present an essay for the school’s Writers Week.

“Four years later, I got to sit in an auditorium full of her peers and watch this girl that four years ago had just written ‘No Inglés’ get up and read a multi-page essay in English about why she made this decision to come to the United States and how she was finally going to have the chance to go to college,” Taylor said.

It was one of Taylor’s proudest moments as an English learners teacher, and that unwavering dedication to her students has earned Taylor, a two-time graduate of the University of Missouri–St. Louis College of Education, recognition as one of Missouri’s top teachers.

This spring, the Pattonville School District named Taylor its Teacher of the Year. After winning the district-level award, she became one of 35 Regional Teachers of the Year. In September, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced that she was one of seven finalists for the 2022 Missouri Teacher of the Year.

“Every time I made it to a new level in the process, there was, of course, excitement and pride, but also it was very humbling to think, out of all these incredible educators, I’m still the one being picked,” she said.

Throughout her career, Taylor has also taken opportunities to travel the globe, expanding her horizons and understanding of language education. She completed her student teaching in Fuxin, China, participated in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program and traveled to Senegal to study the country’s education system as a Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms fellow.

Taylor’s first experience with English learning was much closer to home.

Taylor’s grandmother emigrated from Japan to the United States and learned English later in life as an adult. While she achieved a conversational level of English, Taylor saw that she sometimes struggled with more technical aspects of the language.

“For most of her life, my grandfather helped her with things that required a lot of English,” Taylor said. “After he passed, she had to do things like go to the doctor by herself, go to the bank by herself, sign legal documents by herself. I realized the struggles that she was having in how to navigate some of those difficult tasks. That experience really showed me how proficiency in English equates to access to resources, to support and things in the community.”

But those experiences didn’t lead to an immediate calling to education or EL.

“I always knew I wanted to do some kind of social service work, some kind of public service work,” Taylor said. “I wanted to do something where I felt like my profession contributed to my community, but I wasn’t quite sure what that was.”

In addition to service-based work, Taylor was interested in language and came to UMSL to study English. After earning her BA, she worked in the eldercare field for about a year as a recreational therapist at a skilled nursing facility.

The time working at the facility helped Taylor refocus her career path. She loved the work but wanted to use her English degree somehow. She also thought she could make a greater impact working with kids.

After her positive experience in the English program, Taylor decided on returning to UMSL to pursue her master’s in education. She noted that the College of Education did an excellent job providing necessary content knowledge and teaching skills but also creating opportunities for students to pursue specific educational interests.

In 2008, Taylor began working toward an MEd in secondary education and a high school English teaching certificate, but she knew she wanted an EL certificate, as well. The College of Education and UMSL Global offered a unique opportunity to pursue both goals.

This press release was produced by the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The views expressed here are the author’s own.