Leadership effectiveness is often defined in terms of, a leader's ability to motivate followers towards a collective goal, mission or vision (Knippenberg, Knippenberg, Cremer & Hogg, 2004). However, a leaders' understanding of their own identity; how education, culture, upbringing, values and morals helped shape the "self" (Leary,…

Although sense of belonging has been conceptualized by higher education institutions in marginalizing ways, we reclaim the construct as authentic relationships characterized by humanization, mutuality, and respect for students' cultural assets, values, and social identities. To dismantle colonizing perspectives and foreground Indigenous ways of…

This article examines a unique pedagogical approach imbedded with collective learning experiences that engages students in a continuous cycle of mentorship. The research design is guided by two closely aligned methodologies, narrative inquiry and "testimonios." Narrative inquiry lends itself for the 'study of experiences as story'. A…

In this collaborative autoethnography, 3 scholars of color, who were enrolled in the same doctoral program at a Hispanic Serving Institution located in South Texas between 2012 and 2017, engaged in systematic self-reflection through writing and dialogue to coconstruct meaning regarding the ways in which their interests in giving back through the…

This paper explores my experiences as a Latina/Chicana educator from the borderlands of South Texas and acknowledges my innermost battle with identity through my own "testimonio." The purpose is to re-examine administrator and teacher language ideologies and the detrimental effect on curriculum development for all students learning in…

This article reinforces the use of research for faculty who prepare K-12 educators and leaders for social justice. The author conceptualizes auto-ethnography as a form of professional development and maintains that faculty must first experience an internal revolution before they can expect to model it, especially in a Hispanic Serving Institution…

A bookmaking project in the pre-kindergarten classroom can teach a multitude of concepts related to literacy, but children can also be learning about themselves, their community, and their connections to the past when they create a book about their own personal history. Although pre-kindergarten-age students are unaware that their work could be…

Stella M. Flores writes about how she learned to participate in the American political process through lessons from her immigrant family. As a quantitative scholar, she documents the commitment to rigorous, evidence-based research on equity noting that not all datasets are without politics or bias. From this perspective, the story of the Latino in…

Using theories of figured worlds, we demonstrate how Proyecto Bilingüe, a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction program, constructs a figured world of bilingual education for Latina/o bilingual teachers. We drew from a larger qualitative study to conduct a thematic analysis of interviews with Latina/o bilingual teachers, their written…

This study explores biliteracy as understood and practiced in school and community contexts in a particular region of the US-Mexico borderlands, the Rio Grande Valley of southeast Texas. Drawing on capital theory, we contrast the ambivalent perceptions of Spanish/English biliteracy held by local pre-service and in-service educators with biliterate…

In this paper, we describe how language "autobiographies" are used in a teacher preparation program (TEP) as a healing pedagogy to understand the impact longstanding traditions of symbolic violence in education have had on Latino students who are in the process of becoming teachers. Writing about themselves and their education experience…

While literacy autobiographies, citizenship autobiographies, and family narratives are common first writing assignments in the freshmen composition classroom, they are usually followed by some kind of research proposal, annotated bibliography, or research essay. While there is nothing wrong with literacy and citizenship autobiographies or family…

This qualitative case study examines the relationship of teachers who mentor other teachers. We studied 125 autobiographical portfolios submitted by elementary and secondary teachers who had won awards as outstanding educators from their campuses and were competing at the district level. The research site was a midsize city (population 95,000) in…

Engages students in writing their autobiographies through the Family Heritage Booklet, a student-compiled family history social studies project, designed for Texas seventh graders. Includes objectives, materials, and procedures. Contains letter to parents seeking their knowledge on family history. Suggests project boosts student self-esteem and…

This volume presents the 51st Yearbook of the National Reading Conference. Included in this volume are 28 research reports, six invited and award-winning addresses, and a conference summary by Deborah Dillion. Readers will find quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies throughout the volume about topics ranging from early literacy…