Antero Garcia (he/him)

Our profession is one that is built on a foundation of imagination and dreaming. We get the privilege of working alongside students and families, asking “what if?” about the conditions of the world around us. These are joyful practices, and I am honored to be able to serve our National Council of Teachers of English in a moment that demands collective dreaming, advocacy, and healing.

Considering the deep challenges that the teaching profession faces, I am excited to work within a profession where we center, unapologetically, the brilliance of teachers of multiple marginalized identities and hyphenated lives. The storytelling practices of Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color regularly remind us that more free and more joyful worlds can exist.

The mentorship, leadership, and friendship of NCTE have shaped my personal and professional life in immeasurable ways. I hope my work in the coming years might support others similarly. Whether online, in the hallways of our various conferences, or via an email, I encourage folks to reach out with any questions or ideas as we dream new worlds together. 

Antero Garcia is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. His research explores the possibilities of speculative imagination and healing in educational research. Prior to completing his PhD, Garcia was an English teacher at a public high school in South Central Los Angeles. His recent research explores learning and literacies in tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons and the civic learning possibilities in various learning environments. Based on his research, Antero co-designed the Critical Design and Gaming School—a public high school in South Central Los Angeles. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books about the possibilities of literacies, play, and civics in transforming schooling in America. His recent books include All Around the Town: The School Bus as Educational Technology; Everyday Advocacy: Teachers Who Change the Literacy Narrative; and Civics for the World to Come: Committing to Democracy in Every Classroom. Antero currently coedits La Cuenta, an online publication centering the voices and perspectives of individuals labeled undocumented in the US. Antero received his PhD in the Urban Schooling division of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.