As an educator, I strongly believe in and advocate for the transformative power of education. With this as my guiding principle, I consider the classroom a place of growth, where my role is to guide students in exploring new topics, ideas, materials, and languages. In adopting this growth mindset, I aim to show commitment to social justice by incorporating and promoting practices of inclusion in my teaching, and by regarding accessibility as a guiding principle.

One critical way that I work toward social justice as an educator is through my curriculum design. Over the years, I have updated my curriculum to better reflect an authentic student population, to include recent findings about appropriate teaching practices, and to engage students in thinking critically about language and society. For instance, when designing syllabi, I incorporate diverse references to showcase a variety of perspectives and to avoid providing my students with a unilateral point of view regarding the topic at hand. In my courses, be it beginner or intermediate Spanish, advanced conversation, or linguistics classes, I emphasize the intersection between language and social justice. Specifically, at the beginning of each course, I familiarize students with the concept of language variation. In taking the time to explain to students that there are multiple ways in which a language can be spoken or signed, I also touch upon linguistic prescriptivism, the belief that there are “good” or “correct” language practices. By recognizing the power structures that give validity to one language practice over another, I aim to empower students, both heritage and second language speakers, to think critically about the societal power ascribed to a language or linguistic practice and, subsequently, validate them as authentic speakers of their varieties. I further expand this discussion to my evaluation criteria, for which I use rubrics that move away from notions such as “correct use of grammar”, and instead focus on “structures that are common in Spanish-speaking communities or groups (regardless of the language variety or dialect)”.

Another way in which I engage in social justice practices in my teaching praxis is by considering students’ diverse backgrounds and intersecting identities when developing my curriculum. This means that I view students as a whole and make a conscious effort to look at my own teaching materials in critical ways, discover potential biases I may hold, educate myself about them, and make necessary changes so that my courses can affirm students’ existence rather than further advance exclusionary practices. To do so, I actively participate in professional development, such as certificate programs, trainings, and workshops, that allow me to keep up to date with new methodologies and tools that are beneficial in the classroom. I have earned certificates in Teaching with Technology and Improving Classroom Skills from Rutgers University, as well as a Level 1 Badge in Classroom Inclusivity, and I am currently working on my Level 2 certification, for which I am redesigning an entire course to ensure content, activities, and assessments are accessible to all students. In learning more about the ways in which I can change my teaching materials to be accessible to everyone, I became extremely aware of the need and benefits of not treating accessibility as a secondary issue, but rather, prioritizing it from the beginning, as the blueprint of my teaching praxis. To further advance my knowledge of and commitment to accessibility, I am pursuing certificates in Universal Design for Learning, a framework that aims to minimize learners’ barriers to learning by ensuring everyone benefits from a seamless experience in the classroom.

Additionally, to better engage with my students’ diverse backgrounds, I administer a welcome survey in which I ask students to introduce themselves and let me know the ways in which I can support them best, as well as set goals for themselves for the rest of the semester. The purpose of this survey is twofold. On the one hand, it gives me an overview of who my students are in terms of their learning preferences and expectations. Students answer a set of general questions, such as the reason why they are taking my class, what they hope to get out of it, and think about activities that they prefer or perhaps consider too challenging. On the other hand, it allows me to know my students on a more personal level, not just in terms of their academic profile. Through this survey, I also provide a space for students to inform me of their preferred form of address and discuss potential obstacles that they may face that may impact their participation and progress during our course, such as caring for a family member or recovering from an injury. This approach has been received positively by students who have commented, “I can't thank Gabby enough for her kindness and understanding throughout the semester. She understands the importance of taking care of yourself and your mental health, and her teaching style wholly reflects that. She is an incredible professor, and she is a very kind person. I hope that other professors follow her example!”

In terms of the typical structure of a course and class, whether I am teaching in person or online, I use a communicative approach that emphasizes clear language outcomes based on the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. This enables learners to have a strong idea of their learning goals and trajectory. Moreover, I provide students with various opportunities to display their strengths. I design activities that have multiple modes of engagement so that students can participate in a way that authentically reflects the world around them. For example, in the language class, the four language skills, speaking, writing, listening, and reading, are not tackled in isolation, but rather combined so that students can rely on their entire linguistic arsenal when comprehending or producing an oral or written message. By integrating language skills, students become familiarized with a multitude of ways of communicating and they can practice their linguistic skills before using them spontaneously in society. This approach derives from my aim as a language instructor, which is to create a linguistically vibrant and rich space where my students feel comfortable either taking their first steps on the path of discovering a new language system or simply continuing their journey. Recently, I was an instructor for the seven-week immersive Spanish program of the Middlebury Language School in Vermont, and I had the opportunity to not only teach Spanish to a diverse group of students but to witness how they embodied the Spanish language, by forming friendships, connections, sharing experiences, and struggles. This experience has reaffirmed my belief that language is crucial to creating meaningful connections in society.

To sum up, in my teaching, I aim to create an equitable learning environment with accessibility at the forefront, so that all students can benefit from a rich educational experience. I strive to promote social justice by legitimizing and prioritizing student voices and input, as well as recognizing my own shortcomings and pushing myself to further grow.