About

Carla España is a college professor, teacher educator, researcher, writer, speaker, and consultant

Long Bio:

Dr. Carla España’s teaching, writing and research live at the intersection of ethnic studies, critical literacy, bilingual/ multilingual education, children’s literature, translanguaging, curriculum development, teacher education, and Latinx studies. 

Dr. España is a teacher, literacy consultant, researcher, author, and co-founder of the En Comunidad Collective. Her love of stories and teaching comes from her roots in Chile and has been nurtured by hundreds of teachers and students across schools in New York City and beyond.

She is currently Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education and Puerto Rican/Latinx and Latin American Studies in the Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Prior to joining Brooklyn College, Dr. España was an instructor at Bank Street College, doctoral lecturer at Hunter College, literacy consultant with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, English teacher at two independent schools in New York City, and bilingual middle grade teacher at the New York City Department of Education.

She has a BS in communication studies from New York University, an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, an MA in childhood education with a bilingual extension from Hunter College (City University of New York), and a Ph.D. in urban education from the Graduate Center (City University of New York).  You can read her dissertation, “Escribiendo para desahogarme: Release and Resistance in a Middle School Bilingual Writing Workshop” here.

Dr. España’s teaching journey began in Harlem, New York with bilingual sixth graders. She has facilitated literacy curriculum planning and lesson demonstrations with K-12 staff in New York City public schools, international schools in Bogotá, Colombia and Santiago, Chile and across different states in the United States. She has worked with educators in Guadalajara, Mexico and international educators in South Asian schools.

Dr. España served as an elected member (term 2018-2022) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Middle Level Section Steering Committee, the governance body of the Section. In addition, she is also a member of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York State Association of Bilingual Education (NYSABE), and New York State TESOL. Dr. España has published in the ALAN Review (from the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the NCTE), NCTE Voices from the Middle, the Bank Street College Occasional Paper Series, the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, and the International Literacy Association magazine, Literacy Today.

Dr. España is co-author of En Comunidad: Lessons for Centering the Voices and Experiences of Bilingual Latinx Students with Dr. Luz Yadira Herrera. Drs. España and Herrera also created the Penguin House Translanguaging Collections and authored the Translanguaging Collections: Affirming Bilingual and Multilingual Learners Handbook. Drs. España and Herrera have also collaborated on book chapters in the following books:

• Critical Consciousness in Dual Language Bilingual Education: Case studies on policy and practice

• Transformative Translanguaging Espacios: Latinx students and their teachers rompiendo fronteras sin miedo

• Translanguaging and Transformative Teaching for Emergent Bilingual Students: Lessons: Lessons from the CUNY-NYSIEB Project.

Dr. España enjoys reading children’s literature and supporting educators in developing curriculum using diverse texts. Dr. España has written the educator guides to the following books:

• Alejandria Fights Back! ¡La lucha de Alejandria!

• Latinitas: Celebrating 40 big dreamers by Juliet Menéndez (co-authored with Dr. Luz Yadira Herrera)

• Latinitas: Una celebración de 40 soñadoras audaces (co-authored with Dr. Luz Yadira Herrera)

• The Moon Within

• Land of the Cranes

• A Seed in the Sun (co-authored with Dr. Luz Yadira Herrera)

Short Bio:

Carla España, Ph.D. is a New York-based educator from Chile, researcher, writer, and co-founder of the En Comunidad Collective. Dr. España partners with K-12 schools and teacher preparation programs to support teachers, librarians, coaches, and administrators. Her teaching, writing, research, and workshops live at the intersection of ethnic studies, critical literacies, bilingual/ multilingual education, children’s literature, language ideologies, curriculum development, Latinx studies, and teacher education. Dr. España is Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education and Puerto Rican/Latinx and Latin American Studies in the Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College, City University of New York.