The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to understand how four in-service Spanish teachers interpreted their participation in a summer study abroad program and how the experience contributed to their ongoing professional development and language proficiency. Using a multiple case design (Simons, 2009; Stake, 2005; Yin, 2009), the researchers…

Knowledge of teachers' beliefs is central to understanding teachers' decision-making in the classroom. The present study explores Norwegian language teachers' beliefs about multilingualism and the use of a multilingual pedagogical approach in the third-language (L3) classroom. This study analysed data collected via focus group discussions with 12…

Based on a qualitative study documenting how Spanish teachers bear an especially heavy burden as unofficial translators, interpreters, and school representatives, this article documents how some Latina high school Spanish teachers struggle to form social networks with Latino students in new Latino school communities. Employing social frameworks,…

In this qualitative study, we explored the perspectives of three adolescent immigrants regarding learning English in an American High School. We learned that 1) academically English was the primary venue of instruction and considered the primary pathway to educational success. 2) The students claimed their ability to communicate in English had…

This qualitative study investigated the language ideologies and instructional practices of an entire Spanish language faculty at a high school in a new gateway state for immigration. The study examined additive and subtractive practices of teachers as they strived to teach Spanish to heritage language learners (HLLs) enrolled in mixed…

This ethnographic study aims to foreground the voices of 34 first through twelfth graders who belong to first-generation immigrant families from Mexico and Central America and attend Nueva Vida Church (fictitious name) in a Midwestern US city. They insightfully reflect upon their language, culture and citizenship during Sunday school class focus…

This study builds on research examining the in-school technology practices of adolescent language learners by exploring the patterns of classroom literacy practices that emerge when a telecollaborative project is introduced into a conventional secondary language classroom. We draw on the conceptual frameworks and discourse analytical tools…

Social reproduction scholars and the literature on critical race theory and student resistance contend that schools are not neutral institutions existing in a vacuum free of the political and social struggles for rights and resources (Delgado Bernal, 1998; Fine, 1991). Instead, schools can be institutions that reproduce dominant ideologies and…

Although enrollments in secondary school Spanish have risen over the past few decades, the Spanish-speaking world (Latin America, in particular) tends to be underrepresented or absent in history textbooks. Given that not all students who take entry-level Spanish classes will continue to more advanced levels, the first-year Spanish textbook may be…

Using a New Literacy Studies perspective that recognizes multiple literacies that are meaningful within their sociocultural traditions, this collective case study investigated the range, form, and purpose of the out-of-school literacies of four Latina/o adolescent English learners. The qualitative methodology employed constructivist interviews,…

This qualitative research study documented the way in which two Latina bilingual teachers advocated for the language rights of emergent bilinguals who attended and resided in two particular school districts in Arizona. Drawing from qualitative and ethnographic approaches, we collected data from teacher interviews, classroom/school observations,…

The growing "Latinization" of the United States is drastically changing the demographics of the students served in PK-12 public schools (Irizarry, 2011). To understand how educational leaders can best serve this changing student population, we used Critical Bilingual leadership, "Liderazgo," to interrogate the aim to create a…

Thousands of children and teens labor as migrant farmworkers across the United States. These youngsters, many who are immigrants, face challenges in completing their education and breaking the cycle of agricultural work. Such barriers are influenced by geographic instability, poverty, and sociocultural marginalization. Beyond these factors, and…

This study examines how teachers in 4 urban newcomer high schools conceptualized and implemented social studies education for Latino/a newcomer youth through an emerging framework of culturally and linguistically relevant citizenship education. Through a multi-site, collective case study design, the perspectives and decision making of social…

Classrooms tend to be absolute spaces, places where fluidity is rejected and nearly everything--from people, to ideas, to practices and policies--is viewed and organized through binary logic. Because binary logic is implicitly accepted as the natural order in schools and the structures resulting from it are highly unmalleable, individuals who…