Advocating for Bilingual & Culturally-Responsive Higher Education

ABC HigherEd Project

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Jhonatan Henao-Muñoz, M.A.s (él - elle / he - they)

Assistant Professor of Practice & ABC HigherEd PI

W.A. Franke Honors College & Office of General Education

University of Arizona

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Some concepts we will mention during this presentation:

Bilingualism

Bicultural

Biliteracy

Translanguaging

Servingness

Linguistic Servingness

Culturally-responsive approach

Culturally-sustainable approach

Open Educational Resources (OERs)

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On servingness …

"Servingness" Defined: Engaging Latina/o/x students through culturally enhancing, equitable approaches that offer transformative experiences leading to both academic and non-academic outcomes. (Garcia & Koren, 2020)

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The Need for Linguistic Servingness

"Bilingualism and biliteracy are assets in higher education, yet they remain undervalued. Our work at the University of Arizona, located in the U.S.-México borderlands, aims to challenge this status quo. Through the ABC HigherEd project, we advocate for linguistic servingness by supporting bilingual faculty, students, and institutional structures. This initiative seeks to strengthen Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and redefine what it means to be truly inclusive in academia."

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On linguistic servingness…

Yet we cannot deny that Spanish is an important language for many of the students who attend HSIs. Spanish makes folx feel like they belong on campus, including students, faculty, and staff. Within the servingness framework we call this “validation.” To honor the linguistic abilities of the people in HSIs is an important form of validation, and HSIs should make this a part of their servingness efforts. Spanish is also an essential way to serve families in HSIs.

(Garcia, 2023)

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Project Overview

Goals of ABC HigherEd:

1. Build professional development opportunities for bilingual faculty.

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1. Establish a Bilingual Writing Space.

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1. Host an Annual Bilingual Initiatives Symposium.

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1. Promote bilingualism and multiculturalism as personal, academic and professional assets.

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Bilingual Faculty Professional Development

• Training for faculty on bilingual pedagogy and translanguaging practices.

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• Support for integrating bilingual materials into UNIV 101 and 301 courses.

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UNIV 101 - Introduction to the General Education Experience is a undergraduate course for First-year (who often are also First-gen) students. UNIV 301 - the Gen Ed e-Portfolio.

OER

Wildcat perspectives

Wildcat reflexions

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Bilingual Faculty Professional Development

• Training for faculty on bilingual pedagogy and translanguaging practices.

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• Support for integrating bilingual materials into UNIV 101 and 301 courses.

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UNIV 101 - Introduction to the General Education Experience is a undergraduate course for First-year (who often are also First-gen) students. UNIV 301 - the Gen Ed e-Portfolio.

OER

Wildcat perspectives

Wildcat reflexions

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Bilingual Faculty Professional Development

(BF ProDev)

A Webinar series - modules - covering Bilingualism and

• Child Development - Dra. Arizmendi, Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, CoS
• Cognition - Dra. Leal, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, COH
• Translation - Dra. Colina National Center for Interpretation, COH
• Linguistics, languaging and translanguaging, Prof. Henao-Muñoz, WAFHC/OGE
• Sociocultural Aspects & Culturally-Responsive Practices, Dr. Austin, WAFHC/OGE
• Instructional Design - Dra. Zeitler University Center for Assessment Teaching and Technology UCATT
• Biliteracy - Dra. Reyes, TLS, College of Education
• Translanguaging in Writing, Dra. Barto, Writing Skills Improvement Program WSIP

(Topics to be determined - and Webinar to be launched by June 2025)

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Bilingual Writing Space

• Dedicated space at the GSC for students to receive writing support in English and Spanish.

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• Collaboration with the Writing Skills Improvement Program (WSIP).

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• Writing Across the Curriculum

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Bilingual Writing Workshops

• For monolingual faculty and bilingual faculty without BF ProDev

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• For bilingual students.

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• Bilingual Writing Mentoring (in-site student workers)
• Mini-workshops

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Bilingual Writing Workshops

• For monolingual faculty and bilingual faculty without BF ProDev

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• For bilingual students.

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• Bilingual Writing Mentoring (in-site student workers)
• Mini-workshops

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Annual Bilingual Initiatives Symposium

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• Collaboration with Guerrero Student Center, National Center for Interpretation, and staff and faculty across campus.

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• Space to share academic, research, and admin bilingual initiatives and bridging connections with stakeholders across campus… and beyond!

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• hsi.arizona.edu/bilingual-initiatives-symposium

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Implementation & Impact

1. Results from Fall 2023 Bilingual UNIV 101 pilot:

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300+ student sign-ups, 100 served due to limited sections. 4 sections 2 instructors.

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• Expansion to 10 sections in Fall 2024 for Bilingual UNIV 101 1st Cohort. 5 instructors

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Reduced to 5 sections due to orientation changes.

3. On-going in Spring 2025 Bilingual UNIV 301 pilot:

108 student sign-ups, 7 week 1 & 2 sessions, 4 sections,

2 instructors.

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UNIV 101 - Bilingual version

• Along the semester lo que más me gustó de la clase fue la manera en la que, sin importar el lenguaje en el que hablara, se me entendía y se me contestaba. Al tener una clase bilingüe, conocí personas que, al igual que yo, hablan español; incluso para muchos esta también era su primera lengua.

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• Me gustó que como el curso fue en español, me ayudó a ajustarme mejor a la universidad porque me sentí más conectada a otra gente como yo. I liked that since the course was in Spanish, I was able to better adjust to the university because I felt like I was connect with others like me.

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UNIV 101 - Pilot

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UNIV 101 - 1st Cohort

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Assignment submissions

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bit.ly/ABCHigherEdNewsletter

Future directions

• Expansion of bilingual course offerings.

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• Research on bilingual student success and faculty development.

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• Pursuit of internal funding (CUES, GATE, Provost Office).

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• Pursuit of external funding (NEH, NSF, U.S. Dept. of Education).

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• How institutions have addressed bilingualism in Higher Ed? How can we replicate the model/s?

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• Ways to collaborate or support bilingual education advocacy.

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National and International Venues 2025

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February

Henao-Muñoz, J., (2025) Austin, M. W.., Zeitler, J. & Iñiguez, I. “ABC HigherEd - Advocating for Bilingual and Culturally-Responsive Higher Education HSI Project”. National Association for Bilingual Education - NABE Conference, Atlanta, GA

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March

Henao-Muñoz, J., (2025) “ABC HigherEd - Project Updates and Collaborations”. - Second Annual Bilingual Initiatives Symposium BIS25 at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

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April

Iñiguez, I., (2025) Henao-Muñoz, J., Austin, M. W., & Zeitler, J. “Advocating for Bilingual & Culturally-Responsive Higher Education: ABC Higher Ed as an Initiative for Institutional Transformation”. AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success - CLASS Conference, San Juan, PR

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May

Austin, M. W., (2025) Henao-Muñoz, J., Zeitler, J., & Iñiguez, I., “Transforming Heritage Language Pedagogy: Fostering Biliteracy and Cultural Inclusivity through Institutional Innovation”. 12th National Symposium On Spanish As A Heritage Language at the University of Northwestern, Evanston, IL

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June

J. Zeitler (2025) Henao-Muñoz, J., & Austin, M. W., & Iñiguez, I.. “Abogando por prácticas bilingües y Culturalmente receptivas en la Educación Superior: La Iniciativa ABC HigherEd”. AATSP 107th Conference, Panama City, Panama

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Q&A

Let’s connect and continue this conversation

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jhenaomunoz@arizona.edu

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linkedin.com/in/jhenaomunoz/

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References

• Cenoz, J. & Gorter, D. (2020). Pedagogical translanguaging: An introduction. System, 92, 102269.
• Cummins, J. (2019). The Emergence of translanguaging pedagogy: A dialogue between theory and practice. Journal of Multilingual Education Research, 9, 19-36.
• García, O., & Li, W. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Garcia, G. A. (2019). Becoming Hispanic-serving institutions: Opportunities for colleges and universities. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Garcia, G. A. (2023). Transforming Hispanic-serving institutions for equity and justice. JHU Press.
• Kiyama, J. M., Rios-Aguilar, C., & Deil-Amen, R. (2017). Funds of knowledge as a culturally responsive pedagogy in higher education. In Funds of knowledge in higher education (pp. 175-188). Routledge.
• Moll, L. C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 31(2), 132–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849209543534
• Shapiro, S. (2022). Cultivating critical language awareness in the writing classroom. Routledge.
• Villarreal, C. D. (2022). Servingness in the Borderlands: A study of faculty hiring at a Hispanic-serving institution on the border. Aera Open, 8, 23328584221099597.

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