In a qualitative study, photo narratives from eight students covering eighty total photos were collected and analyzed to understand the existing student experience across eight short-term study abroad programs from three different institutions in Texas. Photos and their connected narrative interviews were examined for compositional focus,…

In this article, Stephanie Alvarez, José L. Martínez, Annabel Salamanca, Erika Salamanca, and Roberto C. Reyna share the impacts of Cosecha Voices, a pedagogical approach used with college students from migrant farmworker backgrounds at one of the largest Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the United States. They argue that Cosecha Voices affirms,…

Although sense of belonging has been conceptualized by higher education institutions in marginalizing ways, we reclaim the construct as authentic relationships characterized by humanization, mutuality, and respect for students' cultural assets, values, and social identities. To dismantle colonizing perspectives and foreground Indigenous ways of…

This narrative inquiry highlights the experiences of three high school students labeled Long-term English learners (LTEL) in a North Texas high school. This narrative inquiry study uses semi-structured interviews to restory the students' lives, emphasizing the emergent themes of family (the strongest pillar) and the language of the home (Spanish).…

Current literature has identified a growing achievement gap experienced by students raised in poverty. However, some students from poverty can defeat the odds and succeed academically with advanced degrees. Nine graduate students self-identified as being raised in poverty participated in this study. The home-related experiences that led to their…

Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." This article presents a pedagogical approach for framing a digital-identity-enhancing ePortfolio that maximizes student engagement and…

This qualitative study examined the evolvement of self-efficacy and the lived experiences of five undocumented Latino/as during their first semester in a Texas college or university. The snowball sampling method was used to identify participants who were undocumented, immigrated as children and enrolled in K-12 public school, and self-identified…

School districts across the U.S. are experimenting with various reforms in an attempt to bridge the gap between secondary and postsecondary education and create greater access to postsecondary education for all students. One such reform initiative is the Early College High School (ECHS) model, which allows high school students to earn a diploma…

The narrative creation of identity by young adolescents has so far been addressed mainly from an identity-in-interaction perspective, focusing attention on the multiplicity and variability of identity negotiation as adolescents interact with others, typically with peers. In contrast, a sociocultural/dialogical perspective draws attention to the…

Drawing from a larger qualitative study, this article examines the narratives of bilingual Latina/o teacher candidates in South Texas. The findings reveal that bilingual teacher candidates are linguistically subordinated by the marginalized status of Spanish in the United States and by deficit perspectives of Spanish of the Southwest. Their…

This article investigates the experiences of aspiring school leaders, predominantly Students of Color, within a predominantly White, male, upper class, Texas university educational leadership program. Based in the tradition of narrative inquiry, written reflections, semi-structured interviews, course documents, and field notes provided data for…

The study aimed to gain a better understanding of the learning experiences of adult Latino college students, as described directly in their own voices. The study was guided by two research questions: RQ1: "How do adult Latinos describe their undergraduate college learning experiences?" and RQ2: "How do culture, gender, and ethnic…

This article draws from a larger study based in South Texas that examines the professional and personal narratives of 63 Latina/o preservice educators preparing to teach in bilingual classrooms. Using qualitative methods, we collected data where participants' voices and opinions regarding U.S. immigration issues were documented during classroom…

With the study rise of the Hispanic population in the United States over the last 25-years there has been a languished progression of this populations' educational attainment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to tap into the "black-box" of ten academically successful Latino students from San Antonio by capturing the life history…

This book explores the country schoolhouses of Texas' rural past. Sources include interviews with dozens of former country schoolteachers and students and first-person narratives collected from written works. Chapters cover the following topics: (1) history of public education and country schools in Texas; (2) distance travelled by teachers and…