Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Seeking Truth About Muslims: Critical Media Literacies In An Era Of Islamophobia, Matthew Deroo

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Across various forms of media, Muslims are often portrayed as a homogenous group prone to violence, yet scholars have increasingly called upon schools and teachers to transcend stereotypes and prepare students to understand Muslims in more thoughtful and nuanced ways. This qualitative case study recounts how students and a teacher in a high school multicultural studies class investigated problematic media materials about Islam sent by an organization called the Christian Seniors Association. Drawing upon Mihailidis’s (2014) 5A’s of Media Literacy heuristic, I analyzed field notes from classroom observations, interviews, and student produced artifacts. Findings revealed how a teacher’s use of …

An Exploration Of Black Church Leaders' Intentions To Develop Critical Consciousness Among African-American Students, Taheesha Quarells

Dissertations

African-American students experience human capital opportunity and achievement gaps. Researchers have called for culturally relevant strategies to help close the gaps. The historic Black Church, a part of many African-American students’ culture and community, is a historic and current source of social capital for positive human capital development outcomes. Critical consciousness develops positive human capital outcomes, such as academic achievement, in African-American and other minority students. Much of the literature on critical consciousness is quantitative in nature and therefore does not include the intentions or the willingness of organizations to develop critical consciousness. Therefore, there is a need to understand …

A Structured Literacy Approach To Support Striving Readers In Secondary Grades: Meaningful Transactions Through Morphological Awareness And Fluency Building, Samantha Bart-Addison, Robert A. Griffin

Georgia Journal of Literacy

A high school English teacher and a university literacy professor provide secondary teachers with structured literacy strategies to support striving readers in the middle and high school grades. The authors present strategies that can be utilized with diverse texts across learning contexts. As a structured literacy approach, morphological awareness and prosodic fluency are emphasized to foster deeper, more meaningful transactions between students and texts. An example of a full structured literacy lesson is also provided that includes multiple strategies and is based on a gradual release model with guided and independent reading cycles. Applicable strategies for delivery of these skills …

“We Treat Them Like Animals In A Cage”: A Dialogic Exploration Of Refugee, Rachelle Kuehl

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Immersion in fiction narratives like Alan Gratz’s (2017) Refugee can help students recognize and acknowledge our common humanity when discussed in a dialogic classroom using a critical literacy pedagogy. Following the literature on using novel discussions to help students understand pressing societal issues (e.g., Boas, 2012; Hsieh, 2012; Thein et al., 2011) and guided by critical multicultural analysis (Botelho & Rudman, 2009), a dialogic (Bakhtin, 1981) and critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970) was used to lead a small group of sixthgrade students in biweekly discussions of Refugee. Prior to each of 10 sessions, students wrote dialogue journal entries in response …

Connecting A Community Through A Family Literacy Project And Virtual Writing Collaboration: University Students Facilitate Access To Literature During The Pandemic, Anne Katz Ph.D., Alexandria Sledge-Tollerson B.A. In Early Childhood Education

Georgia Journal of Literacy

The importance of accessing and sharing children’s literature took on new meaning as educators pivoted to remote and online learning models over the course of the past school year. In light of the pandemic, College of Education pre-service educators enrolled in a Fall 2020 Language and Literacy Development course (which is usually scheduled to meet face-to-face twice a week) was re-structured as hybrid, where a group of students were scheduled to meet partially face-to-face and partially online on a weekly basis. I planned to adapt my family literacy project collaboration with a local community center, an academic service learning assignment …

Cariño Pedagogy: A Framework Of Corazón, Ferial Pearson, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo, Gabriel Gutiérrez

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Change in the world of education has never been new or unexpected. However, the pandemic that swept the world at the beginning of 2020 caused our world to spin off its axis and force its practitioners into quickly re-evaluating their praxis, their priorities, and their professional responsibilities. Through this reflection, three BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) colleagues in the Teacher Education Department at a midwestern state university examine twelve months of teaching during the pandemic and the strategies they turned to, to stay true to their pedagogical values to ensure their students were taken care of personally and …

Full Issue

Journal of Response to Writing

No abstract provided.

Brilla: Shining On Through A Pandemic, Tracey R. Jones, Erica Silva

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This article highlights the community partnership between a primary school Dual Language program and university Spanish students. In this submission related to personal experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of classroom teachers within the BRILLA (Bilingual Readiness through Interaction, Language, Literacy and Alliances) program is explored. Teachers are the light bearers who make human connection and authentic learning happen in-person and over screens; pandemic, or no pandemic, they shine.

How Transformational Leadership Can Help Native American Students, Kevin T. Caffrey

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

In this paper, I examine the challenges that Native American students face in higher education and the role that education plays in their lives. I provide data on this topic spanning more than three decades through a literature review of three published articles. Through this literature review, I reveal key challenges that Native American students historically have faced and provide information on what factors play an important role in their success. Furthermore, I expose a research gap on the role that higher education administrators can play in addressing these challenges and inequities. I present strategies and recommendations on how to …

Intercultural Competence Within Focused Diversity Courses: The Role Of Cultural Identification And Experiential Learning Activities, Preston Osborn, Elizabeth J. Sandell

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

Objectives

Compare development of student subgroups after participation in a dedicated diversity course along with three different additional pedagogical activities:

• service-learning
• cultural partnership
• individualized coaching

Explore potential differential impacts of various pedagogical enhancement activities between students identifying with dominant or non-dominant cultures

Translanguaging Views And Practices Of Indiana Dual-Language Bilingual Education Teachers, Amanda Shie

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Fighting For Justice In Education: How Schools Can Lead The Change Towards A More Equitable World, Tara Kirton

Occasional Paper Series

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine the world anew. This one is no different” (Roy, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has had tremendous implications for every aspect of life. School, work, celebrations and everyday social interactions have all felt the repercussions of the pandemic. While the shutdown called for an immediate pivot from our everyday ways of being, it has also provided opportunities for stillness and deep reflection. This moment of pause has provided an opportunity to think, speak and act differently. As a parent my hope is that educators will lead the change.

An Invitation To Imagine Education Otherwise, Grasilel Esperanza Diaz

Occasional Paper Series

This article presents an invitation to imagine education otherwise, what education could be if we took a restorative justice approach and make immediate changes. It focuses on the changes needed to make this vision a reality. Covid-19 has exposed many of the inequalities that exist in education and how these inequalities have negative effects on the neediest students. You are invited to imagine schools as sites of justice and freedom, to think of teaching that is centered on children, caring, and building relationships with families.

Democratic Community As A Public Of Others: Combating Failed Citizenship In Refugees, Susan Haarman

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

Excerpt

Fadi¹ was a surgeon for 15 years before he and his family were resettled from Syria to Chicago. Since arriving here, he’s been able to take work as CNA in a nursing home and has been trying to figure out what of his education may be able to transfer so that he can enroll in nursing school. His wife, formerly a CPA, has had more success with gig economy jobs, but her choppy English has led to several failed interviews for full time work. “She’s absolutely fluent in French, but alas we did not arrive there,” (Haarman, 2020). …

Ever-Present “Illegality:” How Political Climate Impacts Undocumented Latinx Parents’ Engagement In Students’ Postsecondary Access And Success, Stephany Cuevas

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Using the ecological systems theory, this study highlights the significant impact the political climate in the United States (i.e., anti-immigrant sentiments and violence) has on undocumented Latinx parents’ engagement in their children’s education. Drawing from a larger qualitative, interview-based study that explored how undocumented Latinx parents were involved and engaged in their children’s postsecondary access and success (Cuevas, 2019; 2020), this study focuses on undocumented parents’ experiences and processing of the 2016 Presidential Election. Findings illustrate how the explicit racist, anti-immigrant, and nativist narratives then-Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump campaigned under and won forced undocumented Latinx parents to (re)evaluate how …

Book Review -The Struggles Of Identity, Education, And Agency In The Lives Of Undocumented Students: The Burden Of Hyperdocumentation, Arli Mohamed

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

This review explores the chapters in The struggles of identity, education, and agency in the lives of undocumented students: The burden of hyperdocumentation. The review examines the content of the book by defining key terms, such as hyperdocumentation, and provides a short synopsis of each chapter to garner the interest of readers. It also examines the nature of undocumented Latinx students in the United States as discussed by the author through her application of appropriate critical social theories to evaluate the experiences of undocumented Latinx students. While describing each chapter’s content, this review also critiques some elements of the …

Ethnic Studies As A Vehicle Of Empowerment: Students Of Color And Their Educational Journey, Briana Anguiano

McNair Research Journal SJSU

Students from marginalized communities often enter classrooms where their cultural heritage is not reflected within the classroom. As a result of being in an environment where one’s culture and experiences are overlooked, students can become disengaged in the classroom. This project investigates the ways in which Ethnic Studies courses hold social promise to inspire better academic performance for high school students. Therefore, the goal of this study is to document, describe, analyze, and advocate for the implementation of ethnic studies scholarship into the California high school curricula. My literature review will ask and answer the following research question: To what …

Existentially Guilty: Where Do I Go From Here?, Devontae Wilson

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

Teachers, students, parents, and even politicians have been forced to confront the by-products of not having difficult conversations about race and class. Political pundits are using this moment in history sparked by recorded injustice and the publicized murders of unarmed black people at the hands of law enforcement to demonize Critical Race Theory (CRT), a framework created to analyze how the law is racialized. This portfolio is largely a result of Dr. Rudine Sims-Bishop’s “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” and contextualizing it through my personal experience as a classroom teacher, as a black man in a majority white, female …

Documenting The Journey Towards Becoming An Anti-Racist White Educator, Heather Mccord

Dissertations

As a White teacher in public education, I have had the great pleasure of educating students from all over the globe. My career began in a district that served predominantly White students from middle class families. The only Black students I interacted with were those bused in from the city while participating in the desegregation program. There were noticeable biases and beliefs teachers held toward those students. However, since I was early on in my career with little experience, I was unaware of damage being done to these students. Once I began working for an extremely diverse district, in a …

The Insistence Of Inclusion: The Black Excellence Project, Cassandra St. Vil

Early College Folio

During the spring semester of 2020, COVID-19 did not stop this group of determined 9th graders at Bard Early College D.C. Together, they embarked on the Black Excellence Project (“BEP @ Bard”) with the partnership of Amateka College Prep. BEP @ Bard provided literacy-instruction while simultaneously teaching Black Excellence: the teaching of historical and contemporary exemplary Black figures who have impacted Washington, D.C. and raised awareness around topics like racism, social justice, and countering anti-Blackness. Throughout instruction, the students learned about multiple Black professionals from a variety of career pathways as they reflected on questions like, “what does Black Excellence …

An Evaluation Of One School's Reading Program To Support Struggling Readers Through The Use Of Data, Gabrielle Jones

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of one school’s reading intervention program, and its impact on struggling readers reading performance. Participants in this study included administrators, Grades 3 through 5instructional staff that directly impact student learning in reading through reading instruction. I collected survey data and analyzed it to determine teachers’ ability to instruct struggling readers with high expectations for student learning. As a result, this evaluation exhibit teachers require more quality planning time to prepare effective reading intervention lessons that includes strategies attained from strategically designed professional development structured to increase students’ reading ability. …

The Latino Achievement Gap: The Role Of Teachers In The Success Or Failure Of Latino Students, Sandra Gonzalez-Adamski

Dissertations

Understanding that the academic achievement of Latino students continues to lag behind their White peers, this study explored the role of the teacher in the success or failure of Latino school-age children. The methodology utilized for this research was qualitative. I used a narrative approach to discuss the thoughts, opinions, and insights of the six teachers interviewed for this study. The in-depth conversations with the participants suggested differences in how Latino and White teachers view their Latino students. Most of the White teachers suggested that academic achievement can be reached through explicit vocabulary instruction, reading a wide variety of books, …

Refugee Higher Education And Participatory Action Research Methods: Lessons Learned From The Field, Hadas Yanay

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Refugee access to higher education is devastatingly low. Recognizing the complex barriers facing refugee learners, global educational initiatives are innovating flexible learning models which promote blended online and in-person learning modalities. This article describes the implementation of a five month, online-based internship pilot offered to 21 refugee participants in qualitative and quantitative research methods, through a participatory action research (PAR) framework in five different countries -- Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, and Lebanon. The internship is part of the Global Education Movement (GEM), which brings refugees accredited online college degree and career development opportunities. Through direct engagement, observation of the …

Being Triggered As Faculty Of Color: Reflections On Teaching Diversity During The Trump Era, Lakia M. Scott

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Much has been written about the Black academic’s experiences of teaching in predominately White spaces. However, less has been shared about being triggered, especially when teaching during the time of the Trump administration. This essay discusses an email encounter with a White female student who was enrolled in a graduate diversity issues course. As articulated in her email response, after declining an informal conferencing opportunity with the instructor, the student critiqued the tenets of the course because of her own conceptions of Whiteness. Many of the comments made were similar to the onslaught of hate-speech and racial bias and intimidation …

Using Film As A Multimodal Text In The Language Classroom, Kate Marie Steckmest

MA TESOL Collection

Film is a powerful medium for language acquisition; Not only does viewing films allow learners to experience language used in various real-life contexts, but the medium of film itself is a form of communication. Through the active viewing of films, students can explore how people with diverse backgrounds, accents, and cultures communicate using multiple modes such as gestures, images, and sounds. When learners are familiar with the techniques used by filmmakers to convey meaning, they can use the medium of film themselves to tell their stories and share their perspectives through filmmaking projects. Such projects can be collaborative and engaging …

Still Just White-Framed: Continued Coloniality, Hispanic Serving Institutions, And Latin@/X Students, Ilda Guzman

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

Abstract

Throughout the Pacific Northwest there are a total of 12 Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) with an average Latin@/x undergraduate full-time enrollment rate of 33.7 percent. In order to be designated as HSIs, institutions of higher education must have an enrollment rate of 25 percent or more students who identify as Latin@/x. HSIs became recognized in the late 1980s when a small number of higher education institutions enrolled a large number of Latin@/x students, yet did not have the resources to successfully educate the students (Excelencia, 2019). Since then, HSIs have consistently and continuously risen in Latin@/x enrollments. To date, …

Testimonios Of Cultural Wealth: Racial And Ethnic Identity Development For Latinx Youth In Historically White High Schools, Amanda Montez

Master's Theses

My goal for this study was to study the experiences of Latina/o/x youth as they transition from a middle school that serves Communities of Color to Historically White High Schools. I wanted to know how the change of community impacted participants’ understanding of their racial and ethnic identity. Through testimonios, the five participants question the nuances of race and ethnicity, convey the need for educators to challenge existing structures of oppression, and recognize their moral obligation to be part of the movement for racial justice. Utilizing the frameworks of Community Cultural Wealth and Critical Race Theory, I center the lived …

A Decolonial Middle School Social Studies Curriculum: 19th Century U.S. Westward Colonization, Leah Chatterji

Master's Projects and Capstones

Social Studies education throughout the United States sustains settler futurity, white supremacy, and coloniality, as it rarely engages with Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) hxstories and structural violence. For middle schoolers, this is especially troublesome as social justice pedagogies are minimal for this demographic. To shift this, this field project offers an 8^th grade decolonial Social Studies curriculum on 19^th century U.S. Westward colonization; this topic was intentionally chosen as it is an opportunity to disrupt settler epistemologies. It centers: Land; relationality; and collective liberation. It complements the California unit 8.8 standards, yet different grades, subjects, …

Covid-19 And Racial Justice In Urban Education: Nyc Parents Speak Out, Kelly Brady, Mieasia Edwards, Whitney Hollins, José Luis Jiménez, Wendy Luttrell, William Orellana, David Rosas, Nga Than

Publications and Research

The COVID-19 pandemic and global calls for racial justice surfaced tremendous inequities and revitalized the debate about schooling and its purpose. NYC Parents Speak Out is a public engagement project, based on an interactive survey and interviews that records and reflects NYC family educational experiences during the unprecedented school year of 2020-2021. Our research collective, comprised of researchers, parents, advocates, teachers, and school leaders from the Urban Education Ph.D. Program at The Graduate Center (CUNY) identified three key recommendations based on research findings: to improve communication through family and community engagement; give greater attention to social-emotional and mental health; and …

Mechanisms Of Biases And Cultural Literacy In International Language Education: One Such Story To Carry, Yukari Birkett

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

Despite equity and inclusion initiatives, the English based colonial model has permeated the kindergarten to college systems, teaching/learning, theories and methods, the perception of second language acquisition, multiculturalism, and language education (Knowles et al., 2015; Macedo, 2019; Phillips & Abbot, 2011; Battiste, 2013). Additionally, cognitive neuroscientific discoveries of the complexity of language learning, emotional intelligence, and cultural literacy systematically failed to reach educators. Few studies have focused on what factors impact on cultural biases of foreign language learners, or what factors in learning facilitate the dismantling of durable biases. What are the hidden agendas for teaching and learning foreign languages? …