“We Teach Who We Are”: A Study of Two Latino Transformative Educators

Abstract

This yearlong ethnographic study explored the work of two Latino teachers who identified themselves as critical literacy teachers and who taught ninth‐grade Latino students whose scores on standardized reading tests fell in the bottom 20th percentile. Framed in critical pedagogy and multimodality, this study sought to answer the following questions: (1) What experiences do two Latino teachers identify as significant in their approach to teaching from a critical and social justice perspective? (2) What pedagogical choices do these teachers make and what literacy practices do they exhibit that evidence this perspective? With the significant growth in numbers of Latino students in the United States and in public school classrooms, this study compels literacy educators and researchers who work with diverse student populations to pay close attention to the critical, reflective, and transformative practices of Latino teachers who engage students most at risk for dropping out.