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Published in Chapter:
Towards Social Justice Through Arts and Language-Based Learning
Rebecca M. Sánchez (University of New Mexico, USA), Karla V. Kingsley (University of New Mexico, USA), Amy Sweet (Albuquerque Public Schools, USA), Eileen Waldschmidt (University of New Mexico, USA), Carlos A. LópezLeiva (University of New Mexico, USA), Leila Flores-Dueñas (University of New Mexico, USA), Nancy Pauly (University of New Mexico, USA), Sylvia Celedón-Pattichis (University of New Mexico, USA), and Hollie Putnam (University of New Mexico, USA)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-5098-4.ch005
Abstract
The Teacher Education Collaborative in Language Diversity and Arts Integration (TECLA) initiative prepares elementary teachers at a Southwest majority-minority university. TECLA emerged from a social justice commitment to prepare teachers to work in linguistically and culturally diverse schools. The program integrates interdisciplinary arts-based approaches and culturally sustaining language acquisition strategies throughout the teacher education experience. TECLA conceptualizes social justice through a sociohistorical lens. Social justice is experienced when all people have equitable access to meaningful opportunities to participate in and (re)shape the social structures in which they live and work. TECLA relies on an expanded definition of social justice that includes building on students' home cultures, languages, and experiences to design rigorous educational experiences.