Biography

Julia López-Robertson is a Professor of Teacher Education at the University of South Carolina.  Her scholarly interests are built on a commitment to children, families, and teachers to advance understandings of bilingual/multilingual students. This work is the foundation for the transformation of teachers and teacher education to ensure equitable and socially just teaching for all, but especially for underserved children and families. She grounds these important topics in the use of culturally relevant children’s literature to investigate literacy development and the nexus between home and school literacies.  She has published articles in Language Arts, The Bilingual Research Journal, Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, The Journal of Children’s Literature and Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Education among others.

Education

• Ph.D. in Language, Reading, and Culture from the University of Arizona 
• Master of Arts in Bilingual/Multicultural Education from the University of Arizona
• Bachelor of Science, Elementary Education, Northeastern University

Books

López-Robertson, J. & Wells, M. S. (2024). Re-envisioning Family Engagement and Literacy in Early Childhood Classrooms: “Porque así ya conocemos”. Routledge.

López-Robertson, J. (2021). Celebrating our cuentos: Choosing and using Latinx literature in elementary classrooms. Scholastic Publishers.

Selected Refereed Publications and Chapters

López-Robertson, J. (2023). Why Latinx children’s literature is essential for all Classrooms. In X. Chen & S. Browne (Eds.), Teaching preschool-grade 3 children with multicultural books: A guide for classroom teachers.  Rowman & Littlefield.

López-Robertson, J. with Haney, M. J. (2021). Toward culturally sustaining pedagogy: Engagements with Latina mothers through Latino/Latina children’s literature. In K. Nash, C. Glover & B. Polson (Eds.), Toward culturally sustaining teaching: Early childhood educators honor children with practices for equity and change. Pp. 61-81. Chicago, IL: National Council of Teachers of English/Routledge.

López-Robertson, J., Fain, J.G. & Schall, J. (2019). “Arte reaches beyond the word”: Examining agency and immigration in My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aquí hasta allá. The Dragon Lode.

Schall, J, López-Robertson, J. & Fain, J.G. (2019).  Examining the visual in Latinx immigrant journey picture books. In K. Short, J. Mathis, & H. Johnson, (Eds.)., Critical content analysis of picturebook illustrations. New York: Routledge. pp. 59-76.

López-Robertson, J. (2017). Diciendo cuentos/Telling Stories: Learning from and about the Community Cultural Wealth of Latina Mamás through Latino Children’s Literature. Language Arts, 95, (1), 7-16.

López-Robertson, J. (2016).  Explorations of Identity by Latina Mothers.
In K. G. Short, D. Day & J. Schroeder (Eds.). Teaching Globally: Reading the World through Literature. New York: Stenhouse. pp 83-99.

López-Robertson, J. & Haney, M.J. (2016). Making It Happen: Risk-Taking and Relevance in a Rural Elementary School. In S. Long, M. Souto-Manning, and V. Vasquez (Eds.). Courageous Leadership: Administrators Taking a Stand for Social Justice in in Early Childhood Education, Practice and Promise. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Pp. 102-112.

López-Robertson, J. (2012). “Está página me recordó”: Young Latinas using personal life stories as tools for meaning-making. Bilingual Research Journal: The Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education, 35(2), 217-233.

Laman, T., Miller, E. & López-Robertson, J. (2012). Noticing and Naming as social practice: Examining the relevance of contextualized field-based early childhood literacy methods course. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education 33(1),  3-18. DOI: 10.1080/10901027.2011.650785

Selected Awards

• 2013 Co-winner of the Taylor & Francis Distinguished Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education [JECTE] Article of the Year for 2012
• 2011 College of Education Early Career Award in Service, University of South Carolina
• 2005 Dissertation of the year; American Educational Research Association:
• Literature SIG