Erika D. Garcia

Dr. Erika D. Garcia is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Literacy, Early, Bilingual and Special Education (LEBSE) and the Professor in Residence for the Madera Teacher Residency Program. 

Dr. Garcia is a first generation college-student, born and raised in Long Beach, California.  She is the proud daughter of immigrants from Mexico. Dr. Garcia was labeled an “English Learner,” upon entry into the U.S education system and positioned as lacking the “right” literacy skills despite her bilingualism.  She was fortunate to have the opportunity of a bilingual education during an era when Proposition 227 aimed to eliminate bilingual education in California.  She is an advocate and proponent of bilingual education programs that sustain not only the languages but also the cultures, histories and ways of being of emergent bilinguals/multilinguals.  

As a former bilingual education teacher, her research examines how teachers can leverage the cultural and linguistic funds of knowledge of emergent bilinguals in the classroom curriculum. She is especially interested in how teachers leverage the linguistic and cultural assets of Indigenous communities within dual immersion programs.