Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Decolonizing And Diversifying French Curriculum In Twin Cities K-12 Schools, Helen Radovic

French Honors Projects

French classes in United States K-12 schools are still largely Paris-Centric and targeted towards a white/upper-class student demographic. The purpose of this study is to examine K-12 French teacher’s strategies in promoting diversity in their classrooms, and what effect this has on student engagement. Participants include eight K-12 French immersion teachers in the Twin Cities (Minnesota). Results from the study are complex and varied, however, they indicate that use of authentic resources and connection to students’ personal interests and culture are major ways in which the French curriculum can be reshaped to promote diversity and engagement.

Investigating Asian American History And Its Roots In New England: A Curriculum For Secondary School Students, Karen Lau

Holster Scholar Projects

Connecticut is the first state to include Asian American and Pacific Islander studies in the K-12 public school curriculum, requiring boards of education to offer AAPI studies by the 2025-2026 school year. This curriculum supports the state’s efforts to teach students about AAPI history with a focus on New England. Under this six-week curriculum, students will learn about the transnational immigration of Asian indentured workers, the legacy of the Chinese Educational Mission, the heroism and resistance of Japanese Americans during World War II, the patriotism of Asian American and Pacific Islanders in the armed forces, and the activism of past …

“It Wasn’T Just About Learning How To Speak Spanish”: Engaging Histories Of Oppression And Enslavement In Spanish Heritage Language Education, Tania Avilés, Anthony J. Harb

Publications and Research

We present a curricular intervention in elementary Spanish heritage language in a Hispanic serving institution located in the US Northeast (Bronx, NYC), that aims to contextualize Latinx students’ experiences and perceptions of Blackness within broader histories of oppression and enslavement. Our practice brings together critical Latinx pedagogy and critical approaches to Spanish heritage language education to facilitate sociohistorical consciousness for both language instructors and students through the use of open-access Latinx archival resources. We outline a three-week unit designed using the First Blacks in the Americas online collection curated by the City University of New York Dominican Studies Institute. During …

An Ethnographic Interpretation Of Latino Perspectives On Family Engagement In Education, Mary Beth Pollema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

In this period of intense demographic change and educational reform that strongly emphasizes the imperative of family engagement, yet implicates minority culture parents as not being involved, it behooves the field of education to take a closer look at the rigidity that schools utilize in their normalized perceptions and practices of parental involvement. Effective involvement can consist of a number of different activities, but only a few are acknowledged in educational discourse. Therefore, it is important to hear the perspectives of families of other cultures in order to bring to light new understanding that will assist schools in building stronger …

Inequality In Ethnic Representation In Secondary-School Literature Textbooks And National Examination In Vietnam, Anh Nguyen

Honors Projects

This essay studies the dynamic between ethnic minorities and majority in the Vietnamese education system. By examining the appearance and representation of ethnic minorities in national literature curriculum, textbooks, and examinations, the analysis reflects the government's perspectives regarding the “appropriate” portrait of ethnic minorities' heritage and relationship with the majority. The study finds that Vietnamese education framework and content comply with the national construct of a Vietnamese identity across ethnicities. The state determines educational materials and selectively permits only aesthetic, politically benign, and Kinh-like narratives of ethnic minorities’ cultures, many written and/or chosen by Kinh authority rather than the ethnic …

Asian American Studies Program: Community-Centered Commitments And Pathways In The Asamst Curriculum, Asian American Studies Program, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

UMass Boston offers the most Asian American Studies courses, faculty, and community linkages of any university in New England. Through culturally-responsive instruction in the classroom and holistic practices of mentoring, community-building, service-learning, and advocacy, we address the social and academic needs of students as well as the critical capacity-building needs of local Asian American communities. Our alumni include teachers, social workers, health care providers, business entrepreneurs, and leaders of local Asian American community organizations where we sustain vital, long-term partnerships.

A Case Study On Perspectives, Whitney Tallarico

Senior Honors Projects

The Rhode Island Training School becomes a home to juvenile offenders of the law. Home, in so far as it is a place that they sleep, eat, and spend a lot of time in, as well as the atmosphere in which learning and growth occur during the adolescent phase of their lives. There is a very high rate of released inmates who return to the facility for things like running away from group homes, not checking in with their parole officers, or other misdemeanors. It is my belief that this is, at least in part, due to the fact that …

Theatre Of The Oppressed A Manual For Educators, Gopal Midha

Master's Capstone Projects

Promoting social equity and justice, I think, are not just important but essential qualities in a good educator. My experience as a graduate student at University of Massachusetts helped me understand and practice different ways in which this could be done. For instance, I learnt how I could promote social justice through changes in curriculum, co-operative learning, inter-group dialogues or multicultural education. However, my search was for a method that did not require literacy as a pre-requisite and that went beyond mere conversations about social justice. One of the key elements of the power structures which lead to oppression, I …

Assessing The Impact Areas Of An International Study Tour For Teachers, Raymond Y. Young

Master's Capstone Projects

In the mid-1970’s, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts became federally designated refugee settlement location for many of the people displaced by violence and conflict in Southeast Asia. Since the, large numbers of individuals and families from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, often escaping horrific conditions, have found new homes in cities and towns across the commonwealth. Today, Massachusetts ranks seventh in the national for the number of Southeast Asian Immigrants and refugees that have resettled in the United States, and is home to the second largest Khmer American population outside of California.

Despite federal, state, and local assistance to the communities and …