Teaching Through Testimonio: Accessing Community Cultural Wealth in School

Using the concept of community cultural wealth, this article examines the ways that a group of 3rd-grade students engaged in writing testimonios, or personal narratives, to reflect on their cultural and linguistic lives in and outside of the classroom. Countering deficit notions of Latina/o students, families, and communities, this study illuminates the powerful ways that students utilize various forms of community cultural wealth. The findings indicate that testimonio can be an effective pedagogical tool to help students identify their individual and collective community cultural wealth and draw on these forms of knowledge in the elementary classroom.     

Dual language development of Latino children: Effect of instructional program type and the home and school language environment

Latino dual language children typically enter school with a wide range of proficiencies in Spanish and English, many with low proficiency in both languages, yet do make gains in one or both languages during their first school years. Dual language development is associated with how language is used at home and school, as well as the type of instructional program children receive at school. The present study investigates how changes in both Spanish and English proficiencies of Latino, second-generation immigrant children (n = 163) from kindergarten to second grade relate to instructional program type as well as language use at home and school. A series of MANCOVAs demonstrated significant dual language gains in children who were in bilingual classrooms and schools where Spanish was used among the teachers, students, and staff. Furthermore, only in classrooms where both Spanish and English were used did children reach age-appropriate levels of academic proficiency in both languages. Home language use was also significantly associated with dual language gains as was maternal Spanish vocabulary knowledge before controlling for maternal education. Educational implications and potential benefits associated with bilingualism are discussed.     

Building Strong Community Partnerships: Equal Voice and Mutual Benefits

This article explores an urban partnership and service-learning project deliberately created to improve literacy and strengthen learning communities in an urban, Latino neighborhood of Chicago. The project aligns activities and objectives with resources and needs of university participants, a Latino community organization, and local public schools. The needs addressed include (a) improving literacy achievement in Latino students, (b) improving literacy instruction, (c) expanding students’ awareness and engagement with social injustices, and (d) exploring barriers to literacy access in students’ homes and community. This project serves as a model for developing partnerships and outreach between higher education institutions and the community.     

Studying the Impact of Technology-Infused Activities Among Low-Income Spanish-Speaking Immigrant Families

This study examines the impact of an intervention technology program—Community Learning Centers—designed to assist low-income Spanish-speaking parents in learning and using technology for family advancement. The study is based on a sample of 408 participants who completed pre- and post-surveys. Data collection was conducted across 2 years in 2008 and 2009. The findings suggest that the program is achieving its objective of providing technology literacy to parents, creating learning environments for capacity building, as well as empowering parents to become participants in the educational development of their children.     

简迹凉山彝族传统家庭中的父子教育

父子教育在凉山彝族社会传统家庭教育中占有十分重要的地位。其教育内容十分丰富,主要涉及道德教育、性别意识教育、勇敢教育、生产技能教育、家支意识教育、宗教礼仪教育等方面的内容。教学上采用个别谈话法、榜样学习法、案例教学法等方式交替施教,教学场地较为灵活,大多在日常家居生活中的间隙时间进行,也可以在农牧生产或亲友集会时开展。     

Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá: Conceptualizing the self-authorship experience of gay Latino college men using conocimiento

This essay aims to enhance our conceptual understanding of students with intersectional identities, specifically gay Latino men in college. We first explain how ethnic, gender, and sexual identities can act as compounding influences. Second, we review two distinct but complementary developmental theories. Conocimiento captures the disruptive, challenging path experienced by marginalized Latino youth. Self-authorship situates the broader developmental process in and beyond college. Our modified framework—conociéndose y escribiéndose—conceptualizes how college students navigate multiple marginalized identities. Finally, we discuss the implications of this intersectional framework for LGBTQ+ students and institutions seeking to enhance diversity, inclusion, and student success.     

Vidas al Revés /Upside-Down Lives: Educational Challenges Faced by Transnational Children of Return Mexican Families

Drastic immigration policies and economic conditions have resulted in unparalleled return rates to Mexico. Deported parents are faced with the difficult choice of leaving US-born children behind or taking them to their country of origin, where many face significant educational, cultural, and linguistic barriers. This study focuses on six families and the challenges they have faced living with undocumented status in the US, re-adjusting to life in Mexico, and the educational challenges faced by their children in both countries.     

为了忘却的写作:双雪涛、班宇、郑执创作论

双雪涛、班宇、郑执借助东北下岗潮中的父辈故事,书写了独属于子辈的伤痕。下岗潮后人们由富足坠落,抵达贫穷,此种贫穷因其内含的对比与落差而成为敏感少年心中隐痛的伤痕。三位作家在创作中通过重新梳理过去、发掘父辈的力量与信念、植入真善美的理念三种方式,疗治自我的伤痕。但是自我疗治式的写作也有着写作单一、片面的“副作用”,加之写作动机的消解,三位作家在短暂的创作爆发后不可避免地步入了“沉寂”。