On Sunday, April 19th, 5-6p (EST)  I had Drs. Carla España and Luz Yadira Herrera on Encuentros Politicos/Political Encounters. 

Earlier this year, educator-scholar-changemakers España and Herrera published the book En Comunidad: Lessons for Centering the Voices and Experiences of Bilingual Latinx Students (Heinemann Publishers). In the book, the authors weave their personal journeys, experiences as educators, and work as researchers to provide a series of insightful lessons that invite young people and educators to center their linguistic and cultural lives as a means to creating transformative classrooms for U.S. bilingual Latinx students. España and Herrera are on the show to discuss the book and much more.  

Tune in to Political Encounters on Sundays from 5-6p (EST) at usalamedia.com

Download the podcast (On Spreaker): https://www.spreaker.com/episode/25813264

 

Book Description (From Heinemann)

Drs. Carla España and Luz Yadira Herrera’s schooling and teaching journey reveal the power of educators to create either liberating or dehumanizing spaces and experiences for bilingual Latinx students.

En Comunidad brings bilingual Latinx students’ perspectives to the center of our classrooms. Its culturally and linguistically sustaining lessons begin with a study of language practices in students’ lives and texts, helping both children and teachers think about their ideas on language. These lessons then lay out a path for students’ and families’ storytelling, a critical analysis of historical narratives impacting current realities, ways to develop a social justice stance, and the use of poetry in sustaining the community.

As the largest group of bilinguals in the U.S., bilingual Latinx students need teachers to not just welcome them into their classrooms, but also to advocate with and for them, for their languages, and for their lives. En Comunidad offers classroom-ready lessons that amplify the varied stories and identities of Latinx children.

Each sequence of lessons follows a critical bilingual literacies framework for any educator teaching bilingual Latinx children and:
• focuses on issues of language, literacies, and power
• recommends carefully-curated texts and multimodal resources featuring Latinx voices
• centers a translanguaging pedagogy that honors bilingual Latinx students’ language practices.

Download the podcast (On Spreaker): https://www.spreaker.com/episode/25813264

Bios

Dr. Carla España is an instructor in the Bilingual/TESOL program at Bank Street College Graduate School of Education. 

Dr. España received her Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Dr. España’s teaching and learning from bilingual Latinx students began in Harlem, NYC with sixth graders.

Dr. España’s research examines the ways teachers and bilingual students make meaning of their language practices and schooling. Her teaching and research interests include bilingual education, children’s literature, translanguaging, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and teacher preparation. Follow her on Twitter @ProfesoraEspana.

 

Dr. Luz Yadira Herrera is an Assistant Professor of Multilingual and Multicultural Education in the Kremen School of Education and Human Development at California State University, Fresno.

Dr. Herrera received her Ph.D. from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She has over 15 years of experience in the education of emergent bilinguals.

Her teaching and research centers on culturally and linguistically sustaining approaches to teaching emergent bilinguals, translanguaging, critical pedagogies, and bilingual education policy. Find her on Twitter @Dra_LuzYadira

Download the podcast (On Spreaker):

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/25813264

Tune in on Sundays at 5p EST: http://www.usalamedia.com/radio/

#EnComunidad #EncuentrosPoliticos #PoliticalEncounters