Dr. Inmaculada García Sánchez

Biography

Inmaculada M. García-Sánchez is a Professor at the UCLA School of Education & Information Studies. Her research employs a multi-method ethnographic approach to explore the connections between language practices and schooling among immigrant children and youth. García-Sánchez's scholarship critically engages with educational ethnography, linguistic anthropology, and migration studies, particularly focusing on educational justice and the cultural politics surrounding the recognition of belonging for immigrant youth. By centering language and semiotic processes, she combines ethnographic, historical, and discursive analytic approaches to shed light on core issues in educational scholarship. Key themes in her work include the tensions between educational ideologies and classroom practices, linguistic social stratification in educational spaces, and the visibility of learning processes for immigrant children. García-Sánchez has been involved in several research centers at UCLA, notably the Center for Near Eastern Studies and the Center for the Study of International Migration, where she also serves as Associate Director. She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles, obtained in 2009, and has received several awards, including a Distinguished Faculty Fellowship and national fellowships for her innovative contributions to the field.

Research Interests