Building on a strong, ongoing collaboration, Penn GSE and the University of Guadalajara are expanding their partnership to advance transnational literacy and civic participation, focusing on Mexican youth and underserved communities.
The schools are renewing a memorandum of understanding signed five years ago. The partnership includes jointly presenting at conferences, having students visit one another's institutions, and engaging in combined research. Two graduates of the University of Guadalajara’s master’s program have gone on to enroll in Penn GSE Ed.D. programs. Penn students have also visited Guadalajara for academic conferences and research activities. Most recently, the partnership received funding from Penn Global to launch the Penn Educational Alliance for Change and Equity (PEACE) research institute.
Speaking at “Education and Civic Literacies: A Binational Seminar,” Penn GSE Dean and George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education Katharine Strunk said the partnership “is exactly in line with our new strategic vision, which centers on community-engaged scholarship and programs, and really thinking about how we do research with communities instead of to communities.”
“We need to ensure that we are bringing everyone’s voices to the table and valuing all the different stakeholders in our communities,” Strunk added. “We all have an important part to play in the research.”
Penn GSE Professor Gerald Campano and the University of Guadalajara’s Dr. Patricia Rosas Chávez organized the two-day conference held Oct. 14–15 on Penn’s campus. Researchers, practitioners, and students explored how literacy fosters civic engagement. About 27 representatives from the University of Guadalajara attended.
Penn GSE researchers have collaborated with their Guadalajaran counterparts for nearly a decade to improve literacy and community engagement in Mexico. Teams from both countries work with youth and community organizations to support education. The partnership is centered on engaging communities and democratizing research. For example, teachers are invited to investigate their own practice, youth to inquire into their experiences through the sharing of narratives, and leaders to reimagine public spaces. The goal is to foster literacy learning in and out-of-school.
Rosas Chávez highlighted the partnership's impact, which has led to a master’s program in literacy, the addition of “literacy” to the Mexican constitution, and a growing community of literacy researchers.
Campano, who leads the Guadalajara initiatives, works alongside Penn GSE Professor Manuel González Canché, Penn GSE alum María Paula Ghiso (now a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College), several Penn GSE doctoral and master’s students, and Penn undergrads. They frequently travel to Mexico for seminars, research, and fieldwork.
“Educators need to think transnationally because the lives and learning of our youth traverse political borders and social boundaries,” Campano said. “We are supporting them in researching their local contexts, to learn from their students’ experiences and continually identify ways to transform schools for the better.”
Their collaborative projects in Mexico range from addressing femicide in the literacy curriculum to the experiences of migrants who have returned to Mexico from the U.S., some of whom identify English as their first language. Other studies focus on implementing culturally responsive curricula for Guadalajara’s deaf community, creating LGBTQ+ affirming spaces in rural school districts, and supporting first-generation women entering science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) fields.
Literacy and community organizations play a central role across the projects. Young people share their stories, highlighting resources critical to their education, identity, and well-being.
“As teachers, scholars, and practitioners, researchers learn from students’ stories and experiences. They think about how they can change their own teaching and pedagogy and what larger policies could support students,” Campano said.
In Guadalajara, the project adds a new dimension by integrating qualitative findings with quantitative methods, thanks to González Canché’s expertise in mapping and equity. The team combines stories from Mexican youth with spatial and statistical data to identify trends in educational access and service gaps. For instance, when a student credits a community organization with their success, researchers can identify similar resources in other areas — especially rural ones — to understand where additional support is needed.
“Literacy can help young people engage with the world,” said Campano, “and this partnership is playing an important role in supporting youth and families in advocating for educational equity and access.”
RSS