We Are Not Neutral: Latinx Literacy Leaders Fostering a Circle of Hope

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 3:45 pm - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Advocacy and Activism to Transgress: Centering Ethnic and Linguistic Identities

Abstract

This study, part of a broader longitudinal project, examines the experiences of Latinx Literacy Leaders (LLLs) as they navigate and disrupt inequitable structures in literacy education. Through testimonios, we explore how LLLs define leadership, draw on their intersecting identities, and advocate for equity, particularly in literacy instruction for emergent bilingual and multilingual learners. Findings reveal how LLLs challenge systems of power while reclaiming marginalized identities, languages, and ways of knowing. Their culturally sustaining leadership fosters collective hope, empowerment, and transformation. This research contributes to scholarship on critical literacy leadership and highlights the need for institutional structures that affirm leaders’ identities, sustain their work, and support the reimagining of literacy education in the service of justice and linguistic, cultural, and educational equity.

Authors

• Madeleine Mejia, California State University - Fullerton

• Laura Keisler, California State University - Fullerton

• Rosario M. Ordonez-Jasis, California State University - Fullerton