“I love languages — learning languages, listening to, reading, and speaking them — so I majored in Spanish and minored in French. My goal for my undergraduate degree was to study in as many countries as possible. This paved the way for my studies in cross-cultural education and learning and second language development,” says Associate Professor of Education Dr. Margarita P. Wulftange, who teaches people who want to be elementary and bilingual teachers.
She studied in Mexico, Spain, Canada, France, Ireland, Ecuador, and Costa Rica and has since traveled around the globe to research more ways about how children learn. Dr. Wulftange says offering bilingual education fully enforces the New Mexico constitution. “All the decisions you make as a teacher impact your students’ futures and their families, so valuing the languages students come to school with is important.”
Also the assessment coordinator for the WNMU School of Education, Dr. Wulftange is dedicated to helping WNMU students earn their degrees. “I want to make sure we’re not just a Hispanic-enrolling institution, that we’re a Hispanic-graduating institution,” she says. “I take being a Latina role model very seriously. I am honored to be able to ensure more teachers of color are well trained.”
Western New Mexico University is celebrating Women’s History Month in March by profiling the female movers and shakers in the Mustang community online and in the Spring 2020 Westerner, themed Women Of Western. To read more about Dr. Wulftange, subscribe to or flip through a digital copy of the WNMU alumni magazine here.