Challenging the dominant narrative: Critical bilingual leadership (Liderazgo) for emergent bilingual Latin@ students

Abstract

The growing "Latinization" of the United States is drastically changing the demographics of the students served in PK-12 public schools (Irizarry, 2011). To understand how educational leaders can best serve this changing student population, we used Critical Bilingual leadership, Liderazgo, to interrogate the aim to create a culturally and linguistically responsive school. We found that Liderazgo was operationalized across the following themes: promoting dual language programming as the foundation for equity; drawing on experiential knowledge as a strength; fostering relationships through transcaring and exercising instructional bilingual leadership.