Equity in Multilingual Schools and Communities

This book honors the impactful contributions of Guadalupe Valdés toward equity in multilingual schools and communities. As one of the first language education scholars to examine the vibrant language practices of bilingual users in the US Southwest, her work marked a departure from traditional foreign language approaches and sparked a movement focused on valuing heritage languages and creating more equitable educational systems for young people from linguistically minoritized backgrounds. Influenced by the work of Professor Valdés, the contributors to this book draw on multiple aspects of her research to look at new ways of addressing equity and social justice for multilingual users in schools and communities. Chapters focus on three major areas of her work: the nature of languages and literacies in multilingual contexts, language development in classrooms and communities, and equity and access. At the end of each section, short interludes describe contributors’ personal experiences of learning from and with Professor Valdés, providing insight into the practices of mentorship and professional development within the field. This volume will appeal to students and researchers across bilingualism, applied linguistics and education, offering an overview of developments in these fields and directions for future research on equity in multilingual educational settings.

This book is a fitting tribute to the esteemed scholar, Professor Guadalupe Valdés. Beyond serving as a tribute, this anthology affords readers chapters of high quality, written by scholars who have been influenced by her work and who continue her challenge of orthodoxy, especially in support of language-minoritized communities. Outstanding!, Guadalupe Valdes’ contributions are wonderfully documented in this exciting collection by a superb sample of her many students and colegas. They show that languages are living, ever-adapting, embodied ways of knowing and projecting the many social and cultural world views of multilinguals as they creatively navigate transborder systems of policies, national and institutional identity, and human relations anchored in community and family solidarity and pursuit of human rights.

Amanda K. Kibler is Professor in the College of Education at Oregon State University, USA. Her scholarship focuses on better understanding the language and literacy development of multilingual children and adolescents from immigrant backgrounds.Aída Walqui is Principal Investigator and Director of the National Research and Development Center to Improve the Education of English Learners in Secondary Schools, housed at WestEd, USA. Her work focuses on the development of teacher expertise to realize the immense potential of multilingual learners.George C. Bunch is Professor and Education Department Chair at the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. His research focuses on curricula, policies, and teacher preparation designed to serve multilingual learners in K-12 and higher education.Christian J. Faltis is Professor of Bilingual Education and Chair of Educational Programs at Texas A&M International University, USA. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis, USA. His research focuses on bilingualism and bilingual teacher education. He is also an artist.