Growing Critically Conscious Teachers

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.

Angela Valenzuela is a professor in the Department of Educational Administration, Education Policy and Planning and Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Cultural Studies in Education at the College of Education, University of Texas at Austin.

"The book has many strengths, and it feels essential for teacher educators who desire to foster critical consciousness in their prospective teachers."

— Bilingual Research Journal

"Growing Critically Conscious Teachers will make an enormous contribution to the field. It will also be a cherished resource and guide for Latino/a and non-Latino/a teachers alike, and for the university faculty and school- and community-based facilitators who help prepare them. As such, it is a welcome addition to the small but growing literature on educating Latino/a students in U.S. schools. "
—From the Foreword by Sonia Nieto, professor emerita, Language, Literacy, and Culture, College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

"Growing Critically Conscious Teachers provides the elemental sparks for essential conversations about culturally responsive teaching and the well-being of youth in our communities. Through a variety of critical perspectives, this volume raises significant questions that must be at the forefront of Latino/a education. This excellent volume is a must-read for teachers truly committed to educational practices of social justice in schools today."
—Antonia Darder, Leavey Endowed Chair of Ethics and Moral Leadership, Loyola Marymount University