Introduction

In a nutshell, this chapter is about two linguists setting out to learn from teachers and elementary school students about how linguistics education might fit into a particular elementary school. We sometimes describe our experiences as having taken a journey. Looking back, we can say that our journey had a beginning, during which we made various kinds of preparations, checking them again and again. It had a middle, during which we met and interacted with individuals and institutions with unfamiliar ways of operating, and almost incomprehensible ways of explaining and understanding things. During this time, we experienced positive but also uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. Finally, our journey came to an end of sorts: a time when we had the luxury of a period of reflection. It was then that we came to appreciate that we had done nothing less than traverse “cultures” (largely unknowingly) between the university and the kindergarten to 12th-grade (henceforth, K-12) schools. We tell our yet unfinished story here, focusing on its beginnings, in hopes of encouraging other linguists to embark on similar journeys.

Preliminaries and preparations

The state of New York requires that public school teachers be certified. The requirements for permanent certification include both a baccalaureate degree and a master's degree. Hence the connection between the university and the schools: every teacher has to have a master's degree.