Critical projects of Latino cultural citizenship: literacy and immigrant activism

The research presented in this paper argues for the consideration of cultural citizenship as a theoretical framework for pedagogies that situate the social locations of transcultural students as positions from which students are able to participate, learn and work for greater civic, social and cultural rights. Through a 5-year case study conducted in a middle school English as a New Language class, the paper explores the writing of Latino immigrant youths across three critical projects. The analyses of the students' curricular and reflective texts produced through the projects demonstrate how the students engaged in the work of cultural citizenship, suggesting that language and literacy can be productive pedagogical spaces for immigrant youths to draw on their identities to work towards full recognition and rights as members of their schools and communities. Within larger efforts for culturally responsive and appropriate education, the study contributes a theoretical and pedagogical framework from which to consider our work as educators and points to several promising practices for teaching from a stance of cultural citizenship.