Martha Castañeda
Bicultural Intelligence In and Out of the Classroom
Martha Castañeda is professor of Foreign Language Education in the Department of Teacher Education. She teaches language learning and teaching methods classes (core classes for teacher candidates) along with Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) classes. Dr. Castañeda is involved with the Association of Latinx Faculty and Staff (ALFAS) and is the advisor of Miami University Foreign Language Association (MUFLA) which is “an organization that seeks to promote foreign language education, to make networking opportunities available to students interested in the teaching of foreign languages, and to establish professional ties.” Additionally, Dr. Castañeda leads a study abroad program to Belize that starts their TESOL endorsement.
Castañeda with Digna Hernández who gre up in Castañeda's grandmother's house so she could have access to school.
Dr. Castañeda arrived at Miami University in 2007, and at first, she did not feel represented in her identity. At the time, she was the only Latinx member in the entire College of Education, Health, and Society (EHS). However, since joining the EHS team, she has seen a remarkable improvement of Hispanic representation: “The College of Education has done a great job at recruiting [Latinx] faculty.” Due to this increase in diversity and community, she now feels somewhat represented as a Hispanic woman in the College of Education Health and Society at Miami University. She describes the growing community within the College of Education as a family of colleagues and friends that has been wonderful in that they can all collaborate, talk, and work together.
Castañeda at a September 15 celebration, Honduras' independence day.
Early Life
Castañeda’s story begins when her mother, a Chicago area native, decided to join one of the very first Peace Corps groups and was assigned to a small, rural town in Honduras that is known for growing coffee, Marcala. Castañeda’s mother was mainly responsible for teaching nutrition to the local community. It was in that small town that she met Castañeda’s father, a local Honduran. They married and had her and her two brothers. “I had a wonderful, wonderful childhood.” She describes memories of getting up early and playing with all the other children in the community. She would walk to school at 8 a.m. and break for lunch at her paternal grandmother’s with several of her younger family members. Castañeda explained how as a child, she could roam the entire town and walk anywhere. “The whole community takes care of the kids.” She felt protected and safe there.
​
Every Sunday, her family would go to a nearby natural spring and have a picnic. The kids would swim and play all day long with freedom and ease.
She recalls the memory of learning how to swim in this relaxed, beautiful, and joyful environment.
Castañeda remembers some memories of “quite a few of kerfuffles” between Honduras and El Salvador - her hometown was near the border between the two countries. She recalls how she felt a little scared and concerned when she was told not to play outside, due to helicopters and soldier presence in her town. She attributes the growing conflicts to the leftist movements occuring in El Salvador and Honduras being cautious of allowing the movement to spill into their country. This movement can be attributed to the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, an “insurgent group that became a legal political party of El Salvador at the end of the country’s civil war in 1992.”
Eating tamales after her first communion with friend, Gladys Rivera.
Learn more about the FMLN Revolution here and here.
​
Initial Migration to the United States
When Castañeda’s parents got divorced, it was decided that her mother would take Castañeda and her brothers to the U.S. and they settled with her maternal grandmother in a small retirement community in Florida in 1983. Castañeda describes the initial move from Honduras to Florida as hard: “My feelings [on moving] are intertwined with the [feelings from the] divorce. I felt I was leaving quite a bit behind of what I knew. I was leaving my family down there. [There were] typical immigrant moving obstacles that you have to undergo. You leave what you know.” She had to learn how to navigate an entirely new lifestyle and social customs as a young girl. Castañeda was 11 years old, and had only been to the U.S. twice in her life. She did not speak English before moving because her school in Honduras had a lack of resources, as it was in a very remote and rural area. Castañeda was an English Language Learner (ELL) for years, which is an incredibly unique and difficult experience for many young students in the American school system. She explains how she was held back in her academics due to being an ELL. It took the teachers 3-4 years to realize how incredibly bright she was and that she needed to be in higher level classes, especially math.
Throughout her youth, Castañeda and her brothers spent their entire summers in Honduras to spend time with their father, which posed as a stable connection to her Honduran culture over the course of growing up.
Subtle Culture Shocks
Once they moved to the States, Castañeda expressed that she saw her mom in a new light, more aligned with an American work ethos. “She had to prioritize work over the more social aspects of life.” This practice is not uncommon in the stereotypical bustling American society and to single mothers. It is too easy to root our self worth in the degree of productivity we achieve. It comes as no surprise that a child can sense this sentiment and be affected by it. The tertulias, or, relaxed chats, sitting around the dinner table enjoying the presence of family and catching up were few and far between after the move.
I felt I was leaving quite a bit behind of what I knew. I was leaving my family down there. [There were] typical immigrant moving obstacles that you have to undergo. You leave what you know.”
A Journey of Identity
Did Castañeda grow up feeling more American or more Honduran? “I would say neither.” Depending on her environment, she felt too Honduran to be American or too American to be Honduran. Now as an adult, she feels both identities, but it was a journey to get to that point.
“I can switch sometimes at a superficial level. But at the deep understanding of culture, I still cannot switch.” She may seem very American, but deep down she doesn’t feel entirely like it; evidently, the 11 years Castañeda had growing up in Honduras were very formative. In geographical identity, she feels American. However, in core cultural terms,
Castañeda{s brother's birthday party.
she identifies as Honduran. “There are things about this culture that I still do not understand.”
Reconnecting
She still keeps in contact with her friends and family in Honduras, and makes an effort to visit every year or so. These days she finds that when she visits Honduras, she feels like she wants to stay. “It is comfort, it is wonderful.” She misses many aspects of Honduran life, including the amazing food. “I try to replicate it as often as I can. So, I go to Jungle Jim’s.” Castañeda explains how she loves the cultural and social aspects: “There is some ease to things in Honduras.” Castañeda finds her sense of belonging in the strong and ever growing Latinx community at Miami. Her husband is Belizean, which compliments her Honduran roots because the “cultures are similar,” which she finds “very comforting.” They reside in Oxford and celebrate their multicultural household while raising their 9 year old daughter.
​
In 2021, Castañeda was awarded Miami’s most honorable award: The President’s Medal. This is the most prestigious award that Miami bestows upon a faculty member and is given to individuals “who have made significant contributions to Miami University or to those who exemplify the university motto through their extraordinary service to their community.” Read more about Castañeda’s award here.