Doris Villarreal

Although the call for teachers to address the demographic imperative has existed for decades, recently, there has been an uptake of frameworks of multicultural education, culturally responsive pedagogies, critical literacy, and others into literacy teacher preparation. In this study, we examine connections that pre-service teachers make as a result of experiences focused on sociocultural knowledge and literacy and barriers they face in building these connections. Areas of connection include examining one’s past; recognizing students’ lives and resources in literacy teaching; considering race, racism, and students’ racial identity; drawing on multilingualism as a strength of students for literacy learning; and engaging actively and inquiring into literacy.

This qualitative case study examines how a teacher's pedagogy during language arts instruction supports biliteracy development and the influence of the teacher's activist stance on language and literacy instruction in a one-way dual language classroom. Drawing on ethnographic data collection methods, I document the ways language (Spanish and English) are used for literacy instruction and learning across interactions in an urban elementary school located in a Latinx working class community. Data corpus includes: participant observation, fieldnotes, video and audio recordings, artifacts of literacy instruction and learning, and semi-structured interviews. Hornberger's (2003) continua of biliteracy and translanguaging (García & Wei, 2014) provide the theoretical underpinnings for this study. Case findings point to the teacher's beliefs about language and understanding of the hegemony of English within language and literacy instruction to facilitate students' biliteracy development. Additionally, case findings point to the teacher's activism and commitment and how it influences the ways in which the teacher views and enacts in activist work inside and outside of the classroom. Furthermore, case findings point to the manifestation of the teacher's activist stance in curricular and pedagogical choices as well as professional opportunities. This study builds on existing research advocating for broader and deeper understandings of language learning and biliteracy development. The findings contribute to research focused on bilingual teacher pedagogies that encourage dynamic bilingualism. The findings also contribute to scholarship centered on bilingual teacher activists and their work in the classroom to support emergent bilinguals as well as their activist work outside of the classroom.

The present study is a narrative analysis of 14 self-created books by Latina/o/x bilingual preservice teachers to describe their biliteracy trajectories. Drawing on the concept of identity and bilingualism, this analysis explores how preservice teachers experienced language and literacy and how these experiences have shaped their bilingual–biliterate identities. The findings of this research study revealed that bilingual preservice teachers (a) narrated Spanish as a significant part of their remembered identities, (b) struggled to maintain their bilingualism and biliteracy, and (c) reconnected and reclaimed their bilingual–biliterate identities through their experiences in their teacher preparation program.

After a multitude of studies across more than a century, researchers have failed to consistently identify characteristics or patterns that distinguish dyslexia from other decoding challenges. Many researchers and educators argue the construct is too vague and contradictory to be useful for educators. Nevertheless, attention to dyslexia in policy and practice has increased at a rapid rate; 37 states now have dyslexia laws, and national legislation was passed in 2016. Employing Bakhtin’s concept of authoritative discourse (AD) as a theoretical lens, we examined the emergence and current state of dyslexia legislation and policy in Texas, Indiana, and Florida, three states that represent various histories of legislation and stages of policy implementation. Our analysis found similarities among the states’ legislation, particularly regarding how the policies emerged and the AD embedded within them. The International Dyslexia Society’s recommendations for a specific intervention approach ...

This qualitative case study examines how one bilingual teacher draws on their critical consciousness to support immigrant students and their families. Drawing on the construct of conscientization, I argue praxis is the embodiment of critical consciousness through acts of responsiveness and actions educators enact to rewrite unjust spaces and practices. Case findings point to the teacher's approach and commitment were rooted in praxis and revealed how the embodiment of their critical consciousness worked to rewrite contexts where anti-immigrant practices took place. Additionally, case findings provide a framework for examining activist literacies as transformative acts in the reimagining and rewriting of unjust spaces.