About
Cecilia M. Espinosa´s journey as a teacher educator and scholar began in 1986 when she moved from Ecuador to Phoenix, Arizona to begin her A.A. in Early Childhood Education at Scottsdale Community College. She received a BA in Elementary Education with an emphasis on Early Childhood, an M. Ed. in Elementary Education with an endorsement in Bilingual Education, and completed a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Education focused on Language and Literacy from Arizona State University, Tempe.
Cecilia began her teaching career as a teacher assistant in a preschool. She was a multiage bilingual teacher (K-2nd grade) for over a decade. During these years, she published as a teacher researcher and studied descriptive processes under the guidance of Patricia Carini from Prospect Center and Archives for Education and Research. Later on, Cecilia was director of a Dual Language Program at Machan School in Phoenix, Arizona. Her work was deeply influenced by Dr. Sarah Hudelson and Dr. Karen Smith from Arizona State University, Tempe. In 2004 when she completed her Ph.D., she took a position at Long Island University, Brooklyn campus, where she worked with Dr. Cecelia Traugh to deepen her knowledge about Descriptive Processes. More recently, Cecilia’s work on translanguaging has been greatly influenced by her participation in the CUNY NYSIEB Project under the leadership of Ofelia García.
As a Professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Childhood Education at Lehman College/CUNY, Cecilia is committed to continually supporting teacher candidates and practicing teachers in strengthening their pedagogical practices as they work with emergent bilingual students. Cecilia spent joyful years working as an adjunct at Goddard College, Seattle, where her stance towards antiracism and social justice deepened. In 2017, she was appointed to the Doctoral Faculty of the Graduate School and University Center Ph.D. Program in Urban Education (CUNY Graduate Center) where she works with doctoral students. Cecilia’s research interests focus on collaborative research, emergent bilingual children’s writing, translanguaging, diverse children’s literature, descriptive processes, and teacher education in urban settings.
Inside the classroom, Cecilia has high expectations for her students. She is approachable, passionate about her job, and dedicated to her students. Cecilia has committed her career to bilingual education and social justice which she also brings to her work as a consultant with schools. Outside of the classroom, Cecilia is carefree, fun, and passionate about hiking, family, and the well-being of nature. She loves to travel and spend time with her relatives and friends in Ecuador and all over the United States, where she takes hikes with her dogs, and rides horses and her bicycle.
Cecilia is many things, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a friend, an amateur dog trainer, an academic, an author, a life-long learner, a student of yoga and movement, but most of all, una maestra.