Community-Engaged Pedagogy for Equitable HSI Teacher Preparation: Bridging Community, School, and University Cultures

ABSTRACT

Drawing on interview data collected as part of a qualitative study among thirty-two local educators and community advocates in the borderlands context of the Lower Rio Grande Valley (RGV), we inquire about the fundamental characteristics of being a community-engaged teacher for sustainable and equitable Latinx student teaching and learning. The ultimate purpose is to collectively develop a model of community-engaged pedagogy that will bridge school and university cultures. Based on our findings, a community-engaged teacher preparation approach should prioritize that teacher candidates can establish rapport and relationship with students and their families; grapple with the contradictions entrenched in a prevalent deficit model, and embrace advocacy in terms of valuing bilingualism, critically curtailing biases, and setting high expectations for students.

KEYWORDS:

• Community-engaged pedagogy
• HSI teacher preparation
• cultural and linguistic sustainability
• borderlands

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity grant (2021).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity grant (2021).