Gilberto P. Lara, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
Contact
Bio
Dr. Gilberto P. Lara is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio. A former bilingual education and ESL classroom teacher, he has a quarter-century of experience in emergent bilingual education across dual-language, ESL/Sheltered Content Instruction, and teacher education settings. His research explores bilingual and biliterate pedagogical practices, community cultural wealth, multicultural children’s literature, and pathways that support young Latino men entering the teaching profession.
His scholarship also examines how bilingual, bicultural, raced, and gendered identities are shaped through linguistic practices. His work has appeared in the Bilingual Research Journal, Urban Education, Linguistics and Education, education encyclopedias and handbooks, and the book The Reading Turn-Around with Emergent Bilinguals.
Graduate Mentorship
Lara mentors doctoral and master’s students in bilingual education, biliteracy, raciolinguistics, multicultural literature, and culturally sustaining pedagogies. He serves as dissertation chair, committee member, and graduate mentor for students across bilingual education, literacy, and social justice-oriented research areas.
Teaching
- Foundations of Bilingual Studies
- Critical Pedagogies in Bilingual/Bicultural Content Instruction
- Biliteracy in Bicultural-Bilingual Classrooms
- Theoretical Foundations of Bicultural-Bilingual Education
- Multicultural Literature for Children
- Advanced Topics in Bilingual and Dual Language Education
- Critical Literacies, Biliteracy, and Second Language Literacy
Research Interests
- Bilingual pedagogies
- Biliteracy
- Latina/o/x identity
- Raciolinguistic ideologies
- Gender studies
- Culturally sustaining pedagogy
- Multicultural children’s literature
- Social justice education
Degrees
- PhD, Curriculum and Instruction, Bilingual/Bicultural Education, The University of Texas at Austin, 2015
- MEd, Curriculum and Instruction, Bilingual Education, Boise State University, 2007
- BA, Bilingual Education/ESL, Minor in Spanish, Boise State University, 2003
Honors and Awards
- BESO Professor of the Year
- Year Awarded: 2024
- Graduate School Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award
- Year Awarded: 2023
- Literacy Research Association STAR Fellow
- Year Awarded: 2017
- National Association for Bilingual Education Outstanding Dissertation Award, Second Place
- Year Awarded: 2016
Presentations
- Extending Cultural Congruence: Translanguaging and Literacies in Motion Across Contexts. Invited presentation.
- Venue: Literacy Research Association
- Presenter: Lara, G. P.
- Presentation Date: December 2026
- Developing Linguistic Justice and Critical Literacy in Teacher Education through Literature Circles with an Award-winning Novel.
- Venue: National Council of Teachers of English
- Presenter: Lara, G. P.
- Presentation Date: November 2026
- Understanding and Addressing Language Ideologies in Bilingual Teacher Education Programs.
- Venue: American Educational Research Association
- Presenters: Lara, G. P., Henderson, K. M., & Lindahl, K.
- Presentation Date: April 2026
- The Right to Belong: Minority Male Teachers’ Reflections in a Post-Secondary Teacher Preparation Mentoring Program.
- Venue: American Educational Research Association
- Presenters: Lara, G. P., Loredo, X., Martin, V. H., & Clark, L. D.
- Presentation Date: April 2026
- Platicando y Haciendo el Camino al Andar: Illuminating Bilingual Teacher Educator Praxis.
- Venue: National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies
- Presenters: Solís, J. L., Lara, G. P., & Howard, T.
- Presentation Date: April 2026
Grants, Patents and Clinical Trials
- Language ideologies in bilingual teacher education
- Translanguaging and biliteracy development in dual language classrooms
- Literature circles and critical literacy in teacher preparation
- Minority male teacher pathways and belonging
- Family literacy and university-school partnerships
- MEMMIST – Minority Male Educator Mentor Initiative of South Texas
- Role: Co-Principal Investigator
- SELFIES National Professional Development Grant Project
- Role: Faculty Affiliate
- University-school partnerships supporting family literacy and biliteracy development
- TEAMS – Teachers Educating All Multilingual Students
- Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Publications
- Associate Editor, Bilingual Research Journal (2019–2024)
- Reviewer for Urban Education, The Reading Teacher, Teaching and Teacher Education, Linguistics and Education, International Multilingual Research Journal, and Bilingual Research Journal
- Conference proposal reviewer for AERA, NCTE, NABE, TABE, LRA, and AAAL
- Literacy Research Association Area Chair Committee (2026–Present)
- Lara, G. P., Vargas, K. M., Leija, M. G., Alanís, I., Ek, L. D. (2025). Bilingual Interactive Read-alouds: A Space for the Emergence of Spanish Heterogeneity. NABE Journal of Research and Practice. 15(3-4), 1–20.
- Lara, G. P., Yazan, B., Solís, J. L., Lindahl, K., McConnell, J., Leija, M. G. (2025). “You have a master’s degree, but you speak so ghetto”: Secondary content area teachers navigating raciolinguistic ideologies. Urban Education.
- Lara, G. P. (2025). "Es como kind of tonta:" Counternarrating gendered master narratives through children's literature in the bilingual classroom. Bilingual Review/Revista Bilingüe.
- Lara, G. P., Guerra, M. J., Ek, L. D., & Vargas, K. M. (2025). Latine emergent bilinguals’ translanguaging in family literacy practices in Texas. Linguistics and Education.
- Lara, G. P., Henderson, K. M., & Lindahl, K. (2026). Understanding and addressing language ideologies in bilingual teacher education programs. In Handbook of Bilingual Teacher Education. De Gruyter Mouton.
