Nelson Flores

Biography

Nelson Flores is a professor of educational linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, where he is affiliated faculty with the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies and the Department of Linguistics. He serves as director of the Ph.D. program in Educational Linguistics, faculty advisor for Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, and chair of the Penn Faculty Senate Committee on Faculty and the Academic Mission.

An internationally recognized scholar of language, race, and education, Dr. Flores's research examines how historical ideas about language continue to shape educational policy, institutional practice, and public understandings of human difference. His scholarship has been foundational in developing the raciolinguistic perspective, an interdisciplinary approach that examines how contemporary beliefs about language are inseparable from histories of colonialism and racialization. His current work spans historical, policy, and community-engaged research and is informed by his prior experience as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher.

Dr. Flores has led and collaborated on numerous research initiatives that connect scholarship with educational practice, including the CUNY–New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals, the Philadelphia Bilingual Education Project, The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL), and, most recently, Navegando Juntes: Creating Innovative Models for Community-Engaged Research and More Equitable Postsecondary Readiness, a project that partners with Latinx youth, families, and community organizations to develop more equitable pathways to higher education.

His scholarship has been recognized with numerous national honors, including the 2022 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Early Career Award, the 2020 CUNY Graduate Center Graduate of the Last Decade Award, the 2019 James E. Alatis Prize for Research on Language Planning and Policy in Educational Contexts, the 2017 AERA Bilingual Education Research SIG Early Career Award, and a 2017 Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Education

Ph.D. (Urban Education) The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 2012
M.A. (Teaching English as a Second Language) Lehman College, 2007
B.A. (Political Science & Education) Swarthmore College, 2003

Areas of Expertise

Language, race, and education
Language education policy
Community-based participatory research
Bilingual education

Links

Dr. Flores's blog

Academic Programs

Educational Linguistics, Ed.D.
Educational Linguistics, Ph.D.
Language, Globalization, and Intercultural Studies, M.S.Ed.
Principal Certification
School Leadership, M.S.Ed.
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, M.S.Ed.

Research Interests and Current Projects

Dr. Flores's historical research explores how ideas about language became central to the ways people understand belonging, identity, and human difference. He examines how these ideas have changed across different historical moments, how they became intertwined with broader understandings of race, religion, empire, and nation, and why these histories continue to matter for education today. His current book project traces a genealogy of Latinidad from the Renaissance to the present. Rather than treating Latinidad as a modern identity, the project examines the successive historical formations through which language and education became central to defining belonging within emerging religious, imperial, racial, and national communities.

Dr. Flores's policy research examines how educational policies define social problems, determine who deserves support, and justify particular solutions. Rather than treating policy debates as isolated moments, he explores how changing political priorities build on, transform, or challenge longer histories of thinking about language, learning, and human difference. His current project examines how recent shifts in federal education funding and language policy under the Trump administration are reshaping educational opportunities for multilingual learners and other historically marginalized communities. Focusing on the Philadelphia region, the project combines policy analysis with interviews with educators and community leaders to examine how changing federal priorities are experienced, interpreted, and navigated in local educational contexts.

Dr. Flores's community-engaged research explores how participatory methods can generate new ways of understanding educational experiences and imagining more equitable futures. Rather than treating communities as subjects of research, he works alongside educators, youth, families, and community organizations to identify shared questions, generate knowledge collaboratively, and develop responses to educational challenges. His current project partners with Latinx youth and adults in an intergenerational participatory action research initiative exploring how families and communities communicate about postsecondary futures. By engaging participants as collaborators throughout the research process, the project examines how educational aspirations are shaped through intergenerational dialogue while supporting communities in generating knowledge about their own experiences and envisioning more equitable educational pathways.

Publications

Featured Publications

Becoming the System: A Raciolinguistic Genealogy of Bilingual Education in the Post-Civil Rights Era

Nelson Flores

Oxford University Press

July, 2024

Bilingualism for All?: Raciolinguistic Perspectives on Dual Language Education in the United States

Nelson Flores

Multilingual Matters

December, 2020

The Oxford Handbook of Language and Society

Nelson Flores

Oxford University Press

December, 2016

Flores, N. (2024). Becoming the system: A raciolinguistic genealogy of bilingual education in the post-civil rights era. Oxford University Press.

Flores, N., & McAuliffe, L. (2022). “In other schools you can plan it that way”: A raciolinguistic perspective on dual language education. International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism, 25, 1349–1362. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1760200

Flores, N., Phuong, J., & Venegas, K. (2020). “Technically an EL”: The production of raciolinguistic categories in a dual language school. TESOL Quarterly, 54, 629–651. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.577

Flores, N. (2020). From academic language to language architecture: Challenging raciolinguistic ideologies in research and practice. Theory into Practice, 59, 22–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1665411

Flores, N., Tseng, A., & Subtirelu, N. (Eds.) (2020). Bilingualism for all? Raciolinguistic perspectives on dual language education in the United States. Multilingual Matters.

Flores, N., & Chaparro, S. (2018). What counts as language education policy? Developing a materialist anti-racist approach to language activism. Language Policy, 17, 365–384. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-017-9433-7

Rosa, J., & Flores, N. (2017). Unsettling race and language: Toward a raciolinguistic perspective. Language in Society, 46, 621–647. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404517000562

Flores, N. (2016). A tale of two visions: Hegemonic whiteness and bilingual education. Educational Policy, 30, 13–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904815616482

Flores, N., & Rosa, J. (2015). Undoing appropriateness: Raciolinguistic ideologies and language diversity in education. Harvard Educational Review, 85, 149–171. https://doi.org/10.17763/0017-8055.85.2.149

Related News

All News

Nelson Flores examines bilingual education in new book

News | December 17, 2024

Topics

Nelson Flores’ Becoming the System examines how bilingual education has historically framed Latinx students through a deficit lens, urging new narratives that empower students to define their own identities.

Penn GSE faculty and students to share expertise at AERA 2024 in Philly

News | April 07, 2024
Topics
Gerald Campano will also be honored with a lifetime achievement award for his professional achievements and mentorship work.
Faculty and students head to Chicago for AERA Annual Meeting

News | April 10, 2023

Nearly 100 Penn GSE-affiliated presenters are attending the leading international conference on education research, April 13-16.
Penn GSE faculty, students in San Diego for leading international conference on education research

April 21, 2022

Eighty-seven Penn GSE faculty, staff and students are presenting at AERA 22, the world’s largest gathering of education researchers. The conference runs through April 26 in San Diego, CA.
Race on campus: What does ‘Latinx’ mean?

In the Media | The Chronicle of Higher Education March 16, 2021

Nelson Flores said that instead of debating whether or not an institution should use the word “Latinx,” people should try to understand why the word is used.
A question of identity: Examining use of the term ‘Latinx’

In the Media | Diverse: Issues in Higher Education October 06, 2020
Topics
- Language, Literacy & Culture,
- A question of identity: Examining use of the term ‘Latinx’
Nelson Flores said shifts in language often start with a small group of marginalized people, rather than with majority rule. “I think the relevant question for me isn’t whether people should be using the term. It’s how people who use the term Latinx are trying to differentiate themselves from people who use the term Hispanic and people who use the term Latino,” he said. “Why do they feel like those terms don’t really reflect the political identities they’re trying to articulate through the term Latinx?”