The historical exclusion of Latin@ students on university campuses is noted through the lack of diversity in higher education curricula, services, and organizations. The absence of appropriate support systems for Latin@ students is one of the main contributors to high attrition rates among this group as students often feel that they must choose between their cultural community and university community (Arellano & Padilla, 1996; Gloria & Pope-Davis, 1997).
In order to remedy disparities between Latin@ students’ heritage culture and the European-based curricular structure of higher education in the United States, it has been suggested that educators build an academic community that is representative of diversity found in our community as a whole (Gloria, 1997; Pedraza & Rivera, 2006). To this end, educators must be engaged in culturally responsive teaching (Boykin, 1994; Gay, 2010) that acknowledges Latin@ students’ cultural background and reinforces their place in university settings (Diner, 1989; Pappamihiel & Moreno, 2011). Service-learning (SL) is an increasingly popular approach to second language education that can lead to culturally responsive teaching as it invites instructors to facilitate a democratic teaching process that allows students to use their past experiences and future goals to help design course curriculum (Abbott & Lear, 2010). However, most approaches to language-based SL focus on outsourcing L2 students to the same minority-language communities in which many HLs are reared (Barreneche & Ramos-Flores, 2013) and thus lose appeal for HL students.
The current study provides an alternative to traditional language-based SL programs as it was designed to acquaint HLs with the academic communities from which they have been historically excluded. The SL project was part of an advanced Spanish for the Professions course that required students to create and broadcast campus radio programs. This initiative drew upon HLs’ familiarity with popular nationally-broadcasted Spanish radio programs and used said programs as a model to create/broadcast local Spanish-language radio programs for their campus community.
Preliminary findings suggest that the HLs involved in the creation of the Spanish-language radio program experienced a greater sense of belonging in their academic community. The program became a platform from which Latin@ students could establish a presence on campus, voice immediate concerns, and learn skills that prepare them for a career in mass-media. Through this experience, HLs also began to understand their role in creating and maintaining spaces for underrepresented university members. Latin@ radio listeners expressed feelings of validation as topics related to their lives and experiences were broadcast in a university setting.
Culturally Responsive Teaching: Its Application in Higher Education Environments
