Dr. Ana María Ferreira, chair of the University of Indianapolis Department of Global Languages & Cross-Cultural Studies, was named one of Indianapolis’s leaders in shaping multilingual education by the Multilingual Education and Reform Collective of Indianapolis (MERCI) in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month.
MERCI is an organization that supports school leaders in the implementation of multilingual education. For Hispanic Heritage Month, the organization recognized Hispanic and Latino multilingual educators and researchers whose work shapes how multilingual teachers and students are supported.
Dr. Ferreira feels honored that her passion for multilingual education is recognized, and she enjoys teaching her students about the importance of the cultural context within a language.
“Being recognized as a leader in multilingual education means a great deal to me,” said Dr. Ferreira. “Being in the classroom and working directly with students is my favorite part of the job. Seeing students learn and appropriate the tools we give them in creative and sometimes unexpected ways is very rewarding, and it is a process that never ceases to excite me. Many people think about languages simply as a language acquisition process, but it is so much more. There is no language without people and their cultures, and all that cultural context is what we hope will make a difference in the world.”
