Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award | Katherine Barko-Alva
Katherine Barko-Alva, your deep commitment to your students, inspiring mentorship and passion for advancing equity exemplify excellence in teaching.
Your experiences as an immigrant, English learner and scholar of color have shaped your teaching practice and research agenda, which are defined by hope, compassion and action. You embrace vulnerability and humility, co-creating profound learning spaces with your students and fostering authentic trust in the classroom.
Since joining the faculty at William & Mary, you have created and championed both a certificate and master’s program in ESL/Bilingual Education, inspiring students to pursue teaching careers rooted in inclusion, equity and justice. You foster a deep sense of community in the classroom, going above and beyond to remain accessible and supportive for your students. According to a former student, you “advocate out of love, a ferocious love that is backed by both evidence, experience and a razor-sharp mind.”
Your service to William & Mary is characterized by meaningful collaboration. You have taken on the roles of faculty fellow in the Center for Liberal Arts, supporting faculty in creating courses that address
issues of equity, inclusion and justice; co-director of WMSURE, mentoring 230 undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds as they engage in research; and co-director of the UESTC William & Mary Program, supporting faculty members from our sister university in China as they explore teaching methodologies in higher education.
As an educator with a passion for biography-driven learning, culturally-responsive teaching and innovative family engagement practices, you lead by example through your work in the local community. Together with your students, you collaborate with local faith organizations to support immigrant and multilingual families. When the pandemic struck, you immediately mobilized a team of tutors to support English learners as they and their families navigate virtual learning.
Your impact extends far beyond the boundaries of our campus and local community. You have been involved in numerous initiatives through the Virginia Department of Education to promote multilingual education. You also serve on the ESL advisory board for iCivics, an initiative of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to advance civic education that reaches six million students across the nation.
In recognition of your tireless commitment to a vision of inclusive, high-quality public education for all, and with great expectation for your continued contributions, it is our pleasure to honor you today with the 2021 Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award.
