ESL Introduction – Anton T. Brinckwirth, Ph.D.

UVA PGMT ESL Track

Introduction

ESL Home

Hi/Hola!

My name is Anton Brinckwirth. I am a student in the postgraduate Master of Teaching (PGMT) program at the University of Virginia (UVA). One of the program requirements is to complete a teaching portfolio demonstrating competencies in the primary content area. I chose the ESL track because international education has been an integral part of my research and practice throughout my career. Completion of the PGMT program will lead to the M.T. degree from a top-ranked teacher preparation program and professional licensure with endorsements in ESL and Spanish.

The ESL Track component of my portfolio draws from the knowledge and experiences I gained in UVA PGMT courses and in my clinical internships. There are multiple components to my e-portfolio. Feel free to explore the site and any pages and artifacts that may be of interest to you.

Thank you for visiting my site.

Anton T. Brinckwirth, Ph.D.
Teacher Education
PGMT Class of 2022
University of Virginia

Introduction

I enrolled in UVA's PGMT program to leverage the full potential of my Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction. The School of Education and Human Development is ranked among the nation's top 10 public graduate schools of education – and 19th overall. The PGMT program has provided a rigorous research-based curriculum. I will be graduating with a Master's degree, professional licensure, and endorsements in ESL and Spanish.

Why ESL?

Although my primary content area is world languages (Spanish and Portuguese), I have been working with ESL learners since I was an undergraduate student when I discovered a serendipitous connection to the international student community. It was a life-changing experience.

I devoted a significant portion of my career to connecting domestic and international students with similar language learning goals, fostering better opportunities for language learning, building global learning communities, improving the language curriculum, and connecting world languages and ESL to other subject areas.

My career objective is to be in a position to show through research, ways to improve the quality and effectiveness of ESL and world languages curricula. It is also my profound wish to counter biases, discrimination, and social inequities in secondary and post-secondary schools through education, advocacy, action research, and culturally responsive teaching.