Chandler Patton Miranda

I am an urban ethnographer and education scholar who studies the educational experiences of recently arrived immigrant youth in urban public schools. My research offers a hopeful look at uncommon schools while critiquing U.S. education policies rooted in ideologies of monolingualism, white supremacy, and xenophobia. My findings raise questions about the inherently political nature of learning a new language and culture in an increasingly connected world.  

My interest in the possibilities and limitations of schools began growing up a child of educators and was deepened when I became a classroom teacher. I taught high school science in San Benito, Texas, and in Barranquilla and Bogota, Colombia, for seven years.  As a high school teacher, I met many intelligent, hard-working, and highly motivated students, but I realized that many would be limited by the color of their skin, their ability to speak English, their nationality and documentation status, and the socioeconomic status of their families. My students, past and present, continue to inspire me to do research and teach classes that highlight the possibilities of schools.