Bilingual education is known for allowing students to learn in their home language while learning in English, fostering cross-cultural understandings and developing critical consciousness that’s needed in our globalized world. At City College, educators like Dr. Tatyana Kleyn — a professor in the Bilingual Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages programs — play an essential role in advancing the field by bridging education, language and migration.
Dr. Tatyana Kleyn. Photo Credit: CCNY.
Born in the former Soviet Union, now Latvia, Kleyn and her family immigrated to the United States, where she struggled with literacy in English, considering she never learned to read or write in her home language.
“I never really liked school as a child or as an adolescent,” Kleyn confided in an interview with The RICC. “I always thought it was because I wasn’t smart, but what I’ve learned over time is that I wasn’t the problem, but it’s the way the system works for students new to English that can be problematic.”
Her challenging educational experience led her to pursue a career that addressed the gaps she encountered, particularly focusing on bilingual education and immigrant students.
Kleyn then obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education, followed by a doctorate of education in international educational development with a focus on bilingual and bicultural education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Her primary research interests lie at the intersection of language, education and migration.
“I’m interested in how students’ migration experiences impact their educational experiences, which includes their learning and sometimes unlearning of languages and their experiences crossing cultural, linguistic, and educational borders,” Kleyn explained.
Kleyn’s latest project includes a recently published book titled “Lessons from a Dual-Language Bilingual School.” The book highlights the experiences and challenges of students, educators and families at fully bilingual Dos Puentes Elementary School in Washington Heights, which she co-founded and where instruction is conducted in both English and Spanish.
Dos Puentes Book Cover. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Kleyn.
At City College, Kleyn supervises bilingual student teachers primarily in Spanish but has also supported Bengali, Arabic and Chinese programs, aiming to build strong relationships with public schools and support student teachers in their communities.
Kleyn is also involved in grant projects. She is the Principal Investigator of the CUNY- Initiative on Immigration and Education (CUNY-IIE), funded by the New York State Education Department (NYSED). Through CUNY-IIE, Kleyn has worked extensively to support the creation of public-facing resources for educators to learn, act, and advocate in support of immigrant students and their families.
Kleyn strongly encourages students to consider bilingual education, highlighting the importance of promoting cultural awareness and a commitment to fostering inclusive learning environments.
CUNY-IIE 2025 Conference Flyer. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Kleyn.
“There is a huge need for bilingual educators and professors, particularly in diverse classrooms across New York City,” Kleyn explains. “We need people who have had experiences becoming bilingual. It is a field that requires a lot of advocacy; it’s not just about learning strategies and teaching. It’s a very political field, and bilingual education is especially political in the United States.”
Sofia is a graduate student at CUNY Brooklyn College, where she’s pursuing her M.S. in Media Studies. In addition to writing for The RICC, she’s a writer for the features section of Brooklyn College’s student-run newspaper, The Vanguard. She is also a dedicated writer for the Brooklyn News Service.