The Socio-Dramatic Center as a Space for Equitable Education: Young Children Enacting Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies

• In Event: Honoring Childhood: Centering Young Children's Perspectives, Questions, and Concerns

Abstract

This study explores the socio-dramatic learning center as a culturally sustaining space in which young Latinx children enact their agency in creative and playful ways to reclaim their cultural, linguistic, and literacy backgrounds as valuable sources of knowledge. This research aims to clarify the intricate interactions the socio-dramatic learning center offers to provide equitable educational experiences for bilingual Latinx children. Employing a qualitative case study, the authors use the lens of culturally sustaining pedagogies (Paris, 2021) to explore the children’s dynamics at the socio-dramatic learning center in a Spanish/English dual language prekindergarten classroom.

Authors

• Laura Marcela Cardona Berrio, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

• Iliana Alanis, University of Texas - San Antonio