Embodied Empathy: Language, Identity, and Pedagogical Reception in a Hispanic-Serving Institution

Author Information

Petra Baruca, Texas A & M University, United States
Elizabeth Olaoye, Texas A & M University, United States

Abstract

In this presentation, we critically reflect on our teaching practices as multilingual instructors and how our linguistic and cultural identities (as second-language speakers of English) inform what scholars have described as empathetic pedagogy. Situated within the sociocultural context of Texas A&M University–San Antonio, a Hispanic-Serving Institution where our First-Year Composition supports this work by valuing linguistic diversity, validating students’ language practices and privileging cultural knowledge, we explore how our experiences as transnational educators, one from Slovenia in Europe and the other from sub-Saharan Africa, shape our orientation toward teaching, relationality, and classroom dynamics. Drawing on theories of culturally responsive pedagogy and teacher identity, we examine how our linguistic and cultural backgrounds predispose us toward fostering inclusive and empathetic learning environments, particularly for students from historically marginalized linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. However, we also interrogate the reception of this pedagogy by analyzing patterns in student evaluations over the past two semesters. These reflections reveal not only the advantages of an empathetic, identity-aware pedagogy, but also the tensions that emerge when pedagogical intent meets diverse student expectations and institutional norms. We argue that our translingual and transcultural identities offer distinctive pedagogical affordances that can enhance student engagement and classroom belonging. At the same time, these identities complicate the reception and interpretation of our teaching practices in a Hispanic-serving institutional context. This presentation contributes to broader conversations about linguistic diversity among faculty, pedagogical equity, and the affective labor involved in teaching across cultural and linguistic boundaries.

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