Expanding Our Reach: Cross-Institutional Collaborations and Teacher Preparation in Hispanic Serving Institutions

Ana K Soltero Lopez,Patricia D Lopez

doi:10.46303/jcve.03.01.8

Abstract

This paper addresses the role of cross-institutional collaborations among Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI). Specifically, we focus on the Enseñamos en el Valle Central Initiative—a five-year, Title V, Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions (DHSI) grant for recruiting and preparing bilingual, Latinx teachers with a strong sense of self and service to their communities. While California four-year state institutions have historically been at the helm of preparing bilingual Kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) teachers, this has not been the case for community colleges, which continue to be the first entry point into higher education for many Latinx communities. We discuss how the process of a two-week summer institute among two- and four-year faculty at two community colleges and one university expands conventional notions of teacher preparation, and how these non-normative approaches can lend to stronger pathways into the profession. Moreover, we share how our faculty development approaches disrupt the status quo in teacher preparation and how non-tenured Faculty of Color navigate the politics of disruption and how these race-gendered experiences hold relevance for how we understand teacher preparation and expanding access to underrepresented Teachers of Color into the teaching profession.

Highlights

This paper adds to the literature by answering the question: What role does teacher preparation and collective partnerships in Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) play in extending the reach of institutions in order to more broadly serve Latinx1 communities in California?Nationally, there remain stark gaps in racial/ethnic demographics between students and teachers
Resources to support community college and Fresno State faculty who seek to situate their content with a strong emphasis on culturally sustaining curriculum and pedagogy, including translanguaging practices, that are responsive to the needs of Latinx and bilingual students
We found that the community college system provides sparse availability and options to support faculty in general, and even less when it comes to responding to the shift to career-specific Associate Degree Transfer (ADT) pathways such as teacher preparation

Summary

Introduction

This paper adds to the literature by answering the question: What role does teacher preparation and collective partnerships in Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) play in extending the reach of institutions in order to more broadly serve Latinx1 communities in California?Nationally, there remain stark gaps in racial/ethnic demographics between students and teachers. The Enseñamos en el Valle Central Initiative is a five-year Title V, Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions (DHSI) grant focused on recruiting and preparing bilingual, Latinx teachers with a strong sense of self and service to their communities.

Results

Conclusion