Growing critically conscious teachers : a social justice curriculum for educators of Latino/a youth

To meet the needs of the fast-growing number of Latino/a English learners, this volume presents an approach to secondary education teacher preparation based on the work of the National Latino/a Education Research and Policy Project (NLERAP). Renowned scholar and educator Angela Valenzuela, together with an impressive roster of contributors, provides a critical framework for educating culturally responsive teachers. They examine the knowledge, skills, and predispositions required for higher education institutions to create curricula for educating Latino/a children, children of color, and language-minority youth. Growing Critically Conscious Teachers illuminates why growing our own teachers makes sense as an approach for not only addressing the achievement gap, but for also enhancing the well-being of our communities as a whole.

Book Features:

A community-based, university- and district-connected partnership model that fosters students' critical consciousness. A framework for participatory action research (PAR) within teacher preparation that promotes community and societal transformation. A curriculum premised on sociocultural and sociopolitical awareness. The wisdom, experiences, and lessons learned from educators who have been change agents in their own schools, communities, and college classrooms across the country.

• Foreword p. ix Sonia Nieto
• Acknowledgments p. xiii
• Preface: Uses of the Handbook p. xv
• 1 True to Our Roots: NLERAP and the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Institutes Initiative p. 1 Angela Valenzuela
• 2 Teacher Capacities for Latino and Latin a Youth p. 24 Carmen I. Mercado
• 3 Teaching for Critical Consciousness: Topics, Themes, Frameworks, and Instructional Activities p. 39 Adele Arellano and José Cintrón and Barbara Flores and Margarita Berta-Ávila
• 4 PAR Entremundos: A Practitioner's Guide p. 67 Julio Cammarota and Margarita Berta-Åvila and Jennifer Ayala and Melissa Rivera and Louie Rodriguez
• 5 Social Justice Education Project (SJEP): A Case Example of PAR in a High School Classroom p. 90 Julio Cammarota
• 6 Conclusion: El Árbol/The Tree: Returning to the Root p. 105 Angela Valenzuela
• Afterword p. 110 Christine Sleeter
• Appendix A NLERAP's Guiding Principles and Expected Teacher Competencies p. 114
• Appendix B Mini-Ethnography: Community, District, School, and Classroom Study p. 115
• Appendix C Transforming Deficit Myths About Language, Culture, and Literacy p. 127
• Appendix D Naming, interrogating, and Transforming Deficit Myths, Fallacies, and "Habitudes" p. 129
• Appendix E BaFa BaFa: Cross-Cultural Diversity/Inclusion Simulation Overview p. 130
• Appendix F White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack Activity p. 133
• Appendix G Critical Pedagogy Framework for Creative Reflection p. 136
• Appendix H Group Work and Second Language Learner Planner p. 138
• Appendix I Productive Group Work Rubric p. 140
• Appendix J Planning for Language and Content Integration p. 144
• Appendix K PAR Process Handout p. 145
• Appendix L Frequently Asked Questions About PAR p. 149
• References p. 153
• Index p. 174
• About the Editor and Contributors p. 182