Critical Bilingual Authorization

Bilingüismo y Justicia

Our community has always been multilingüal. Long before laws have declared multilingüalism desirable, we were communicating in infinite ways. Now, it is the time to grow and expand, to make your city, California, the US, the world, rich with a language that honors experiences and legacies. ¡El bilingüismo es justicia!

The SJSU Lurie College of Education Critical Bilingual Authorization Pathway (CBAP), Bilingüismo y Justicia, prepares teachers to obtain an authorization to serve in dual immersion or bilingual school settings in California. The pathway specializes candidates in pedagogy, practices, and ability to identify linguistic assets and potential for students and empowers candidates to be changemakers in their own context. 

To learn more about the Critical Bilingual Authorization Program, Bilingüismo y Justicia (Spanish), please contact bernadette.rodriguez@sjsu.edu.

To learn more about the Critical Bilingual Authorization Program (Mandarin/Vietnamese), please contact Dr. Yu Zhang (yu.zhang@sjsu.edu)

Bilingüismo y Justicia Program Overview

  • Fundamentos Críticos: Three bilingüal sections in foundations courses foster a critical lens to appraise bilingüalism and education in the world, in the US, in California, and in your community. Through these courses on (1) sociology of education, (2) language pedagogy, and (3) literacy development, we seek to empower candidates and feed the liberatory potential of multilingüalism.
  • Comunidad Crítica Bilingüe: In our bilingüal seminar we engage with bilingüal possibilities and issues, embracing, nourishing, and challenging our perspectives and identities. We ambitiously envision a multilingüal world through our daily experience in the program. We commit to discussions using the full wealth of our language tools. Above all, we support one another. Somos una comunidad crítica.
  • Experiencias en el Salón: Our program offers 2 semesters of field placement in bilingüal classrooms, supported by bilingual mentors and bilingüal supervisors. The field placement seminar where those experiences are discussed is integrated in the bilingüal seminar. Theory and practice go hand in hand to make a critical difference.
  • Apoyos Bilingües Críticos: We care, deeply. The members of our community are supported with a variety of optional, student-centered, sustaining, and critical workshops on effective bilingüal communication and how to get the job you aspire to. Additionally, we push the rigor and sharpen our critical thinking with events like the bilingüal speaker series, or our professional development minigrants.

CBAP - Bilingüismo y Justicia (Spanish)

Do you want to put your Spanish skills to a transformational purpose? What is the Spanish Critical Bilingual Authorization Program (CBAP) about? How does it work in relation to my credential program?  What is the work that I have to do? Are there related costs? What will this program provide me with?

See here for more information! (Spanish) [pdf]

CBAP - Bilingualism is Justice (Asian Languages) 

Do you have Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean skills and want to build a multilingual California? What is the Asian Language Bilingual Authorization Program? How does it work over time? What are my options to take the authorization courses? What supports can I get? What will the program provide me with?

Currently there are CSU grants that could pay for your credential program (20k!) limited to those who apply for a bilingual authorization in an Asian language. Don´t miss this scholarship opportunity! We will support you to apply!

Regarding CSU Summer/Fall 2025 scholarships, the deadline to apply is March 1, 2025. You may find the application link here:

See here for more information! (Mandarin, Vietnamese) [pdf]

Add-on Bilingual Authorization Courses:
Mandarin or Spanish

Do you want to make a life-changing difference for your students and yourself? Add a bilingual authorization to your teaching credential. Whether you have the credential already or you are in the process of obtaining it, getting a bilingual authorization and being able to teach your subject matter bilingually will take your professional satisfaction to a new level. Further, it will dramatically increase your potential to be hired, whether in a bilingual or an English context because it prepares you to embrace California´s linguistic and cultural diversity. Last but not least, it will support you in getting community impact and opening new ways for excellence and equity. Bilingüismo y Justicia´s authorization program will be there to learn with and from you along the way. 

Upcoming Info Sessions

Click the RSVP button to see a list of upcoming dates. For Applicants interested in the bilingual pathway, see below.

Bilingüismo y Justicia pushes the envelope

Listen to Lurie College faculty Luis Poza and Eduardo Muñoz-Muñoz discuss Bilingüismo y Justicia in further detail in our Innovations Podcast below.

 

Meet Some Bilingüismo y Justicia Students

Fanny Camacho is earning her multiple subject teaching credential and bilingual authorization. Fanny was also a recipient of a California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) grant.

Bilingüismo y Justicia students Rubby Barajas, Olivier Castañeda, Heather Simonovich, Stephanie Muñoz, Adriana Priego, Jazmin Mendez, and Raul Leon received grants to use towards professional development. Learn about how they utilized their grants during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the program has prepared them to become transformative bilingual teachers.

Equity-Driven Leadership for Dual Immersion Programs Webinar

As part of the Equity-Driven Leadership for Dual Immersion Programs Fall 2020 webinar series, Bilingüismo y Justicia and the CSU Fullerton Departments of Teacher Education and Educational Leadership teamed up to present “Building Partnerships Against the Bilingual Teacher Shortage."

Meet the Bilingüismo y Justicia Faculty

Eduardo Muñoz-Muñoz, PhD 

Dr. Muñoz-Muñoz focuses on language and identity, Emergent Bilinguals and Heritage Spanish Learners, Dual Immersion Programs, US Spanish and education, critical pedagogy and the development of Critical Language Awareness in (bilingual) teachers. Dr. Muñoz-Muñoz works at the intersection of policy and pedagogy in the growth of the bilingual teacher pipeline in California. In the conduct of his research, Dr. Muñoz-Muñoz also explores the epistemological implications of qualitative design and methods

in educational settings. He has engaged with districts in the actual design and implementation of Dual Immersion Programs and the alignment of supports for Emergent Bilinguals.

Luis Poza, PhD

Luis Poza's research investigates how beliefs about language, language learning, race, and nation are embedded in educational practice and policy. He uses qualitative methods, principally ethnography and participant observation, to examine how these ideologies and their curricular and legal manifestations shape students’ experiences in schools. Dr. Poza also draws upon his research in his teaching to support teacher candidates learning how to best serve students from historically marginalized populations.

Allison Briceño, EdD

Allison Briceño, Ed.D., coordinates the Reading and Literacy Leadership Credential and MA Program. Her research focuses on bilingual teacher preparation and how bilingual students use all of their linguistic resources to understand text. Dr. Briceño’s recent scholarship has appeared in Teacher Education Quarterly, International Multilingual Research Journal, Reading Teacher, Language and Education, and Reading Psychology.

David Whitenack, PhD

David A. Whitenack, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair in the Teacher Education Department (TED). Whitenack's research has focused on educating emergent multilingual students and related professional development. He is currently Co-Director and Co-Principal Investigator of SJSU Teacher Residency Partnerships (TRP), a consortium of collaborative teacher preparation / professional development initiatives with local high-need school districts. The TRP recruits and develops diverse teachers, particularly targeting special education and bilingual education, and places them with mentors in year-long teacher residencies to create a teaching force that more closely mirrors local students, particularly in high-need schools and districts.

Kathryn Ribay, PhD

Dr. Kathryn Ribay began her career as a chemistry teacher in public high schools in New Jersey and earned a Ph.D. in Science Education from Stanford University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of science instruction, teacher education, and justice-centered pedagogy. Dr. Ribay also investigates approaches to cultivating justice-centered bilingual STEM education.

Sandra Zuniga-Ruiz, PhDDra. Sandra Zuniga Ruiz’s research focuses on understanding how teachers come to develop a critical consciousness with and of mathematics through the creation of identity and dignity affirming learning communities. Her work is informed by her experiences growing up in a predominantly Latine immigrant community and her commitment to support and serve the next generation of maestres teaching in the barrio.
Ash Busby, EdD

Ash Busby started their career in education as a bilingual preschool teacher and has worked with multilingual learners across the PK-18 system. Ash earned their Ed.D in Educational Leadership from San José State University where they studied the intersection of culturally responsive teaching and adult social emotional learning. Their research explores how developing teachers’ social, emotional and cultural competencies informs their beliefs, perceptions and classroom practice.

Nora Lang, PhDNora W. Lang has worked as an educator in a variety of multilingual educational contexts in Latin America and received her PhD in Education from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research draws on ecological orientations to explore peer interaction and pedagogical practices that provide meaningful learning opportunities for multilingual immigrant youth.
Ana Ramirez 
Bernadette Rodríguez, EdD   | CBAP Coordinator  Bernadette Rodriguez is a lecturer and supervisor in the Teacher Education Department. She teaches courses focused on emergent multilingual learners and has taught in bilingual classroom settings. Bernadette earned her Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Language, Literacy, and Culture. Her research interests include bilingual literacy development, family involvement, coaching pre-service teachers, and humanizing pedagogies.
Vanessa Zepeda 
Yu Zhang, PhD | CBAP Coordinator Yu Zhang is a lecturer at the Teacher Education Department at San José State University. She has received a PhD degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Florida International University. She has taught courses in language development, second language acquisition theories, language assessment, as well as multicultural education in culturally and linguistically diverse settings. She also gained extremely valuable teaching and supervising experience for Mandarin/bilingual teacher candidates in field-based teacher preparation at various K-12 schools. Her research focuses on the development of effective learning and teaching approaches in bilingual education, application of instructional methods in the classroom settings, and evaluating the effect of learning and teaching approaches in multicultural education.

Contact Us

To learn more about the Critical Bilingual Authorization Program, Bilingüismo y Justicia, please contact teacher-education@sjsu.edu.