In the bilingual education world, José Medina is a superstar. A former teacher-turned-principal-turned-researcher, Medina spreads his message about validating and acknowledging a student’s native language and expression on social media and in schools across the country with a sassy, no-nonsense style, telenovela-level energy, and strong research to back it up. Medina, 54, is co-author of the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education and provides training and coaching for dual language schools nationwide. He has tens of thousands of online followers on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. In one of his most viral TikTok videos, which has over 250,000 likes, he calls on teachers to respond positively if a child mixes languages by saying something like “My mom is planching my clothes,” combining the Spanish word for ironing, “planchar,” with the English “ing” ending. “We say, ‘Oh my goodness, look at you, moving the parts of language that you needed!’” he says, snapping his fingers. He says teachers have been taught to be what he calls “linguistic oppressors” — telling students that the way they speak a language is wrong. “Once we own the fact that we’re linguistic oppressors, we can become linguistic oppressors in recovery. And that is where the sauciness, the awesomeness lies,” he said. “The way we recover is by implementing biliteracy instructional practices that value everything that a child brings into the space.” As a child in El Paso, Texas, in the early 1970s, Medina did not feel valued. He was called a “wetback” as a young child and…
