S11/E7: Independent study for gathering & sharing immigration stories with Dr. Joanna Dreby and Dr. Eric Macias

Highest Aspirations

We have a repeat guest on Highest Aspirations today. I first talked with Dr. Joanna Dreby and some of her students back in March of 2022. We discussed the challenges that US-born children of immigrants face in school, family, and social environments. The two episodes we did were really eye-opening for me and many of our listeners. Joanna and one of the students we profiled in the series - Falmari Rojas-Barrios - will be joining us at our upcoming IMPACT conference to talk more about this topic, but we also decided to put this episode together around some of the other work Joanna and her team are doing at the University of Albany. Dr. Eric Macias has been an integral part of this work, and he joins us in this interview to make connections between what they are doing with undergraduate students and how we might be able to apply their learnings to K-12 settings as well.

We dig into an impactful independent study experience they designed at the University of Albany to facilitate meaningful discussions among undergraduate students on immigration, the strategies they used to create a conducive environment for sharing personal migration stories, how K-12 educators can create inclusive and supportive environments for students to share their immigration experiences, and much more.

As always, thanks for listening to Highest Aspirations and please enjoy our conversation with Dr. Joanna Dreby and Dr. Eric Macias.

, and visit our EL Community blog for additional episode takeaways and a library of free resources for educators of multilingual learners.