Claudia G. Cervantes-Soon – författare

Working-class girls in Ciudad Jue1rez grow up in a context marked by violence against women, the devastating effects of drug cartel wars, unresponsive and abusive authorities, and predatory U.S. capitalism: under constantly precarious conditions, these girls are often struggling to shape their lives and realize their aspirations. Jue1rez native Claudia G. Cervantes-Soon explores the vital role that transformative secondary education can play in promoting self-empowerment and a spirit of resistance to the violence and social injustice these girls encounter. Bringing together the voices of ten female students at Preparatoria Altavista, an innovative urban high school founded in 1968 on social justice principles, Cervantes-Soon offers a nuanced analysis of how students and their teachers together enact a transformative educational philosophy that promotes learning, self-authorship, and hope. Altavistas curriculum is guided by the concept of autogestif3n, a holistic and dialectical approach to individual and collective identity formation rooted in the students experiences and a critical understanding of their social realities. Through its sensitive ethnography, this book shows how female students actively construct their own meaning of autogestif3n by making choices that they consider liberating and empowering. Jue1rez Girls Rising provides an alternative narrative to popular and often simplistic, sensationalizing, and stigmatizing discourses about those living in this urban borderland. By merging the story of Preparatoria Altavista with the voices of its students, this singular book provides a window into the possibilities and complexities of coming of age during a dystopic era in which youth hold on to their critical hope and cultivate their wisdom even as the options for the future appear to crumble before their eyes.

Working-class girls in Ciudad Jue1rez grow up in a context marked by violence against women, the devastating effects of drug cartel wars, unresponsive and abusive authorities, and predatory U.S. capitalism: under constantly precarious conditions, these girls are often struggling to shape their lives and realize their aspirations. Jue1rez native Claudia G. Cervantes-Soon explores the vital role that transformative secondary education can play in promoting self-empowerment and a spirit of resistance to the violence and social injustice these girls encounter. Bringing together the voices of ten female students at Preparatoria Altavista, an innovative urban high school founded in 1968 on social justice principles, Cervantes-Soon offers a nuanced analysis of how students and their teachers together enact a transformative educational philosophy that promotes learning, self-authorship, and hope. Altavistas curriculum is guided by the concept of autogestif3n, a holistic and dialectical approach to individual and collective identity formation rooted in the students experiences and a critical understanding of their social realities. Through its sensitive ethnography, this book shows how female students actively construct their own meaning of autogestif3n by making choices that they consider liberating and empowering. Jue1rez Girls Rising provides an alternative narrative to popular and often simplistic, sensationalizing, and stigmatizing discourses about those living in this urban borderland. By merging the story of Preparatoria Altavista with the voices of its students, this singular book provides a window into the possibilities and complexities of coming of age during a dystopic era in which youth hold on to their critical hope and cultivate their wisdom even as the options for the future appear to crumble before their eyes.

This book features case studies that address dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs, which offer content instruction in two languages to help youth develop fluent bilingualism/biliteracy, high academic achievement, and sociocultural competence. While increasingly popular, the DLBE model is a framework that comes with unique hurdles and challenges.Applying a pioneering critical consciousness approach, the volume provides readers with narratives, awareness, and tools to support culturally and linguistically diverse students and their families. Organized around four major areas—policy, leadership, family and community engagement, teaching and teacher learning—the volume’s case studies bring together stories from policymakers, educational leaders, family and community members, and teachers. The case studies spotlight examples in which power imbalances have been identified and shifted through critically conscious actions and offer insight into how to ensure all DLBE programs are nurturing, empowering, multilingual environments for all students, particularly racialized, immigrant, and transnational students. Accessible and varied, the case studies address important topics such as anti-Black racism, digital access, disability, school-district relations, working with undocumented families, and more. Each chapter includes a case narrative, teaching notes, discussion questions, and/or teaching activities to support stakeholders who wish to develop and enact equity in their DLBE policies, classrooms, and professional development. A key resource for supporting student needs and transformative inquiry in the classroom, this book is ideal for graduate students, professors, leaders, educators, and other stakeholders in bilingual education and language education.