Sonia Nieto, professor emerita of language, literacy and culture in the School of
Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will present the next
Syracuse University School of Education Landscape of Urban Education Lecture.
Titled "Urban Schools, Diverse Communities: Learning from Caring Teachers," her
presentation will take place Thursday, Dec. 4, at 4 p.m. in the Public Events Room
(Room 220) in Eggers Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public. Paid parking is
available in the Irving Avenue Garage.
A nationally known advocate for improving urban education, Neito writes,
"Although for over a century our nation has advanced the ideal that a high-quality
and excellent public education is the birthright of all children, our schools cannot
fulfill this ambitious and noble purpose unless all of us-parents, policymakers and
the general public-commit ourselves to sustaining education as a public trust and a
promise to future generations." (From "Why We Teach," Teachers College Press,
2005.)
Nieto has taught students at all levels, from elementary grades through graduate
school, and she continues to speak and write on multicultural education, teacher
preparation and the education of Latinos and other culturally and linguistically
diverse student populations.
Nieto was born and raised in Brooklyn and educated in the New York City public
schools. She attended St. John's University's Brooklyn campus, where she received a
B.S. in elementary education in 1965. Upon graduation, she attended New York
University's Graduate Program in Madrid, Spain, and received her M.A. in Spanish
and Hispanic literature in 1966. A junior high school teacher of English, Spanish and
ESL in Ocean Hill/Brownsville, Brooklyn, in 1968 she took a job at P.S. 25 in the
Bronx, the first fully bilingual school in the Northeast. Her first position in higher
education was as an instructor in the Department of Puerto Rican Studies in
Brooklyn College, where she taught in a bilingual education teacher preparation
program co-sponsored with the School of Education. Moving to Massachusetts with
her family in 1975, she completed her doctoral studies in 1979 with specializations in
curriculum studies, bilingual education and multicultural education.
Her book "Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural
Education" (Allyn & Bacon, 5th ed., 2008, with co-author Patty Bode), is widely used
in teacher preparation and in-service courses throughout the nation and beyond. Her
other books include "What Keeps Teachers Going?" (Teachers College Press, 2003)
and "The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities"
(Teachers College Press, 1999). She has published dozens of book chapters and
articles in such journals as Educational Leadership, Multicultural Education, Theory
into Practice and The Harvard Educational Review.
Nieto's many awards for scholarship, advocacy and activism include the 1989
Human and Civil Rights Award from the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the
1996 Teacher of the Year Award from the Hispanic Educators of Massachusetts and
the 2005 Outstanding Educator award from the National Council of Teachers of
English. She also has received several awards from the American Educational
Research Association, including the 2006 Enrique T. Trueba Lifetime Achievement
Award for Scholarship, Mentorship and Service; the 2008 Social Justice in Education
Award; and the Division K (Teacher Education) Legacy Award.
For more information about the lecture, contact Florence DiGennaro at (315) 443-
4696 or fadigenn@syr.edu.
