Book Announcement: Valenzuela, A. (Ed.) (in press). Growing Critically Conscious Teachers: A Social Justice Curriculum for Educators of Latino/a Youth

   

Blog Readers, Friends, and Colleagues:

I am happy to announce this edited volume, currently in press with Teachers College Press and the National Latino/a Education Research and Policy Project (co-pub.) (April, 2016, expected publication date) with a Foreword by Dr. Sonia Nieto and an Afterword by Christine Sleeter.  It is titled, Growing Critically Conscious Teachers: A Social Justice Curriculum for Educators of Latino/a Youth. View the wonderful endorsements below by Antonia Darder and Linda Darling-Hammond.

Thanks to all of the contributors (see Table of Contents below).  This has truly been a labor of love.

Many thanks, as well, to the gifted Latina artist, Tanya Torres, for her permission for me to use "Cacibayagua," this symbol of a Taino goddess, for the book cover.

It represents well what this volume conveys, namely, that growing critically conscious teachers isn't simply about creating pathways for them into the teaching profession, but also about growing consciousness—or concientización, as expressed by the late Brazilian educator, Paolo Freire.

Here are artist Tanya Torres' words about "La Cacibayagua."

Cacibayagua
by Tanya Torres

"From Cacibayagua came the majority of
the people who settled the island."
Fray Ramón Pané

I thought the cave Cacibayagua, from which the Taínos are said to have come, might be a place of earth and river water from whose veins flows life.

Cacibayagua is earth, and she is also water.
Like the Black Virgin, she is the color of the Earth.

Water, cave, virgin goddess, like the ancient
Goddess, mother of all.

The Relación of Fray Ramon Pane

Contents

Foreword Sonia Nieto 

Acknowledgments

Preface: Uses of the Handbook

1.   True to Our Roots: NLERAP and the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Institutes Initiative
Angela Valenzuela

2.   Teacher Capacities for Latino and Latina Youth
Carmen I. Mercado

3.   Teaching for Critical Consciousness: Overarching Topics, Themes, Frameworks, and Instructional Activities
Adele Arellano, José Cintrón, Barbara Flores, and Margarita Berta-Ávila

4.   PAR Entremundos: A Practitioner’s Guide
Julio Cammarota, Margarita Berta-Ávila, Jennifer Ayala, Melissa Rivera, and Louie Rodríguez

5.   Social Justice Education Project (SJEP): A Case Example of PAR in a High School Classroom 
Julio Cammarota

6.   Conclusion: El Árbol/The Tree: Returning to the Root 
Angela Valenzuela 

Afterword Christine Sleeter

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Endorsements:

Growing critically conscious teachers: A social justice curriculum for educators of Latino/a Youth 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 perspective the volume raises significant questions that must be at the forefront of Latino education. This excellent volume is a must read for teachers truly committed to educational practices of social justice in schools today.

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Antonia Darder

Leavey Endowed Chair of Ethics and Moral Leadership

Loyola Marymount University

In this wonderful book, Angela Valenzuela and her colleagues have condensed a wealth of knowledge about how successful teachers of Latino/a children and other students of color, can be prepared and supported to transform their students’ lives.  Addressing some of the most pressing problems in teaching and teacher education, this inspirational collection is a must read for all who care about teaching for social justice.
 

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Linda Darling-Hammond

Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Teaching and Teacher Education

Emeritus at Stanford University and President of the Learning Policy Institute

You may learn about my other books and publications here.