The Impact of Humanizing Pedagogies and Curriculum Upon the Identities, Civic Engagement, and Political Activism of Chican@ Youth
Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation
Authors Acosta, Curtis William
Publisher The University of Arizona.
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Download date 03/10/2021 13:38:44
Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/556592
THE IMPACT OF HUMANIZING PEDAGOGIES AND CURRICULUM UPON THE IDENTITIES, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM OF CHICAN@ YOUTH.
by
Curtis Acosta
______Copyright © Curtis Acosta 2015
A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the
DEPARTMENT OF TEACHING, LEARNING, AND SOCIOCULTURAL STUDIES
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN LANGUAGE, READING AND CULTURE
In the Graduate College
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
2015
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THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE
As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Curtis Acosta, titled “The impact of humanizing pedagogies and curriculum upon the identities, civic engagement, and political activism of Chican@ youth” and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
______Date: March 12, 2015 Richard Ruíz
______Date: March 12, 2015 Luís Moll
______Date: March 12, 2015 Kathy G. Short
______Date: March 12, 2015 Eliane Rubinstein-Ávila
Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College.
I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement.
______Date: April 30, 2015 Dissertation Director: Richard Ruíz
______Date: April 30, 2015 Dissertation Director: Luís Moll
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STATEMENT BY AUTHOR
This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library.
Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder.
SIGNED: Curtis Acosta
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Without the tireless love and support from my family, the completion of this dissertation would never have been possible. Thank you to my amazing wife Patricia and my two boys, Ollin and Santiago, for all the sacrifices and patience. I am forever indebted to my father and stepmother, Samuel and Christy Acosta for their love and counsel through the pain of losing our beautiful Mexican American Studies (MAS) classrooms, and helping me navigate the political terrain of Arizona by never forgetting that our family is the center of all. For the familias de Santa Maria y Molina, thank you for never wavering in your love and belief in my work.
Tlazocamati to my colegas in MAS for teaching me our cultura and assisting in the healing of my internalized oppression. I would never have been able to love myself as a human being and Xicano without you. Thank you for investing your love and faith in me through the beautiful times building powerful classrooms of liberation, and the days that tested our Huitzilopochtli. You are in all my actions, accomplishments, and deeds forevermore.
I would also like to acknowledge my academic mentor and committee chairperson, Dr. Richard Ruíz for his patience, guidance and belief in me. You are very much missed, maestro. Thank you to Dr. Kathy Short for your indefatigable labor with this dissertation and for always honoring my life and work as a high school teacher. Mil gracias to Dr. Eliane Rubinstein-Ávila for the conversations that kept my spirits up and always believing in my potential as a scholar. I wish to also thank Dr. Luís Moll for his inspiring work and taking the role of chairperson of my committee after the untimely passing of Dr. Ruíz.
Finally, to those who I have lost during this journey, thank you for shaping me into the man and scholar I am today. To Abuelita and Grandpa, thank you for the sacrifices and tireless work ethic that allowed me this opportunity. To Rachel, thank you for being my Chicana Mom and teaching me what it means to be a Tucsonense. To Consuelo, tlazocamati for believing in my potential and dreams toward liberating and emancipating youth through cariño y conciencia. To Albert, gracias por todo, especially the lesson that Chican@s are a diverse and wonderful people who fit no stereotypes.
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DEDICATION
For all my students past, present and future,
your voices and lives inspire me
to be a better man and teacher every day.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...... 10 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUTION ...... 12
THE ORIGIN OF TUCSON’S MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES ...... 14 INDIGENOUS EPISTEMOLOGIES & CRITICAL PEDAGOGY IN ACTION ...... 17 TAKING ACTION AGAINST POLITICAL ATTACKS ...... 20 THE CASE STUDIES ...... 24 THE QUESTIONS ...... 25 OPERATIONALIZING ETHNIC AND ACADEMIC IDENTITY ...... 25 OPERATIONALIZING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT & ACTIVISM ...... 27 OVERVIEW OF THE DISSERTATION ...... 28
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMES AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...... 31
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...... 32 Critical Pedagogy ...... 32 Critical Race Theory ...... 39 Centrality and Intersection of Race and Racism ...... 40 Challenging Dominant Ideologies Through Social Justice and Critical Pedagogy ...... 41 Counter Storytelling ...... 42 Interdisciplinary Approach ...... 43 REVIEW OF RELATED RESEARCH LITERATURE ...... 44 Funds of Knowledge, Cultural Capital, and Cultural Wealth ...... 44 Chican@/Latin@ Students and Social Capital ...... 47 Multicultural, Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education ...... 51 DEFINING POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ...... 59 U.S. Political Engagement – The Big Picture ...... 61 Why the Disengagement? Why the Apathy? ...... 62 Factors That Affect Urban and Oppressed Youth Civic Engagement and Participation . 64 Immigrant and Latin@ Youth Participation and Civic Knowledge ...... 65 Chican@/Latin@, Immigrant, & Youth of Color Activism and Resistance ...... 69 Youth Participatory Action Research ...... 72 SUMMARY ...... 76
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ...... 79
RATIONALE ...... 79 THE QUESTIONS ...... 80 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...... 81 METHODS ...... 83 Qualitative Case Study ...... 83 Participatory Action Research ...... 84 Context of Study: Chican@ Literature, Art, & Social Studies Program ...... 87 Participants ...... 88 Positionality ...... 93 Trustworthiness ...... 95 Data Collection ...... 96 Interviews ...... 97 7
Student Artifacts Produced in CLASS ...... 99 Audio Recordings ...... 100 Field Notes in Teacher Research Journal & Reflective Memos ...... 100 DATA ANALYSIS ...... 101 Interview Transcription Analysis ...... 101 Analysis of Student Artifacts ...... 104 Field Notes and Reflective Memos ...... 105 SUMMARY ...... 106
CHAPTER FOUR: CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY OF CLASS ...... 107
NAHUI OLLIN, IN LAK ECH, CRITICAL PEDAGOGY, INQUIRY AND ACTION ...... 108 CURRICULUM OVERVIEW ...... 111 SCOPE AND SEQUENCE OF CLASS ...... 115 DAILY STRUCTURE OF CLASS ...... 117 CURRICULUM IN ACTION ...... 119 Feminism, Sexuality and Agency ...... 119 The Devil’s Highway ...... 124 Ten Little Indians ...... 125 Students Teach CLASS ...... 127 CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND ACTIVISM ...... 131 Desegregation Hearings ...... 131 FMFP and Rethinking Schools ...... 134 CONCLUSION ...... 139
CHAPTER FIVE: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF IDENTITY WITH CLASS YOUTH ...... 141
THE INSTITUTION: PRIOR ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES OF CLASS STUDENTS ...... 142 Isolation and Distrust ...... 142 Deficient Teaching Practices and Low Expectations ...... 148 Racism, Discrimination, and Banning of MAS ...... 152 PEDAGOGICAL AND CURRICULUM IMPACT OF CLASS ...... 158 Re-humanization of the Educational Experience ...... 158 Ethnic and Intersectional Identities ...... 164 Indigenous Epistemologies Revealed Through Student Literary Analysis ...... 174 Academic Engagement – The Real and the Community ...... 179 CHAPTER SIX: AGENCY, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND ACTIVISM OF CLASS YOUTH ...... 187
EMANCIPATING SPACE AND FREEDOM TO GROW AND LEAD ...... 187 POLITICAL ACTIVISM AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ...... 193 DISCUSSION ...... 204 CHAPTER SEVEN: TIPU: A CASE STUDY OF CONNECTIONS ...... 209
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES PRIOR TO CLASS ...... 211 IDENTITY ...... 218 INDIGENOUS EPISTEMOLOGIES AND PEDAGOGIES OF HEALING ...... 222 VALIDATION & THE LESSON ...... 226 ACADEMIC IMPACT ...... 236 SUSTAINABILITY ...... 238 AGENCY AND LA FUTURA ...... 241 8
CONCLUSION ...... 244 CHAPTER EIGHT: SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS ...... 246
OVERVIEW OF THE DISSERTATION ...... 247 Theoretical Underpinnings and Relevant Literature ...... 247 Methodology ...... 248 SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS ...... 250 Findings for Academic Identity and Engagement ...... 250 Findings for Personal and Ethnic Identity ...... 252 Findings for Civic Engagement and Activism ...... 254 IMPLICATIONS ...... 256 Educational Research ...... 256 Afterschool Settings ...... 258 Instruction and Curriculum – Impact on Students ...... 260 Teacher Preparation & Professional Development – Impact on Teachers ...... 265 CONCLUSION ...... 270
APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ...... 274 APPENDIX B: TIPU’S LESSON FOR CLASS ...... 277 APPENDIX C: DECLARATION OF INTELLECTUAL WARRIORS ...... 285 REFERENCES ...... 290
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LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 3.1 ...... 92-93 FIGURE 3.2 ...... 97 FIGURE 3.3 ...... 103-104 FIGURE 8.1 ...... 249-250 FIGURE 8.2 ...... 264 FIGURE 8.3 ...... 268
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ABSTRACT
This dissertation presents two participatory action research case studies focusing upon how students viewed the influence of the pedagogy and curriculum of the Chican@ Literature, Art and Social Studies (CLASS) program upon their personal, ethnic, and academic identities. In addition, these studies examined the various ways that youth perceive their role in addressing critical issues in their lives. I conducted this study as a teacher researcher in collaboration with my students. The first study focuses upon eight of the students in the CLASS program as a collective, and the second study is concentrated upon the only student in CLASS who was not of Chican@/Latin@ descent.
Both case studies were ten months in duration where I used ethnographic research methods for data collection, which included transcripts from one-on one interviews with the students, as well as artifacts they produced during CLASS. The eight students in this study were an average age of 18.5 years old and all but one had experience in the now defunct Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in
Tucson; a program that produced positive educational outcomes in terms of graduation rates and state standardized tests through culturally responsive and critical pedagogy rooted in Indigenous epistemologies (Cabrera, Milem, Jacquette, &
Marx, 2014). CLASS was a similar in structure and practice to MAS since I was a teacher in both programs. However, due to unprecedented legislation in Arizona banning Mexican American Studies, CLASS became the last vestiges of the former program outside of public school spaces in order to adhere to the law (Acosta,
2014a; 2014b). 11
Implications include the impact of Indigenous epistemologies, decolonizing and humanizing methodologies and theoretical frameworks upon teaching practices for Chican@ students and other students of color. Furthermore, culturally sustaining pedagogies and critical multicultural and responsive curriculum can increase student engagement and the formation of a positive academic identity
(Banks, 2005; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Paris & Alim, 2014; Valenzuela, 1999). Finally, counter narratives (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001), ethnic studies, and social justice curricula (Sleeter, 2011) coupled with Indigenous epistemologies can assist in the development of critical consciousness in students, and serve as a guide to taking collective action in their community and lives.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The Raza Studies (henceforth Mexican American Studies) classes created the foundation of my academic, political and personal life. Throughout my twelve years of public education, I can honestly say, that my last two years were the only ones that prepared me for life and not an exam (Acosta, 2012). Arturo Rodríguez, Class of 2008 Gates Millennium Scholar
In hundreds of visits to schools, I’ve never seen students act rudely and in defiance of authority, except in this one unhappy case. I believe the students did not learn this rudeness at home, but from their Raza teachers. The students are being ill served. Success as adults requires the ability to deal with disagreements in a civil manner. Also, they are creating a hostile atmosphere in the school for the other students, who were not born into their “race” (Horne, 2007). Tom Horne Former Attorney General of Arizona
As a public school teacher in Arizona, these are troubling times. From kindergarten to the university level, education funding has been under direct assault by the Arizona Legislature through massive budget cuts that have placed Arizona near the bottom of many statistical categories. Many people in education are feeling the effects, the stress and pressure.
The trends nationally are not more encouraging. For nearly two decades, high stakes standardized testing and increased education legislation and policy, such as No Child Left Behind, has drastically shifted public education in the United
States, from human-based and socially transformative education theory, towards practices based upon test preparation skills (Banks, 2005; Berliner, 2004; Goodman,
2004). This current political climate toward education has paved the way for a drastic departure from critical multicultural and culturally responsive education. In some cases, such as the elimination of bilingual education and Mexican American 13
Studies in Arizona, decades of civil rights advancements in public education have been purged while the standardization and high-stakes testing movement has flourished.
In the midst of this climate, I was a part of a small group of teachers that created one of the most effective education programs for Chican@/Latin@ youth in
Arizona (Cabrera, Milem, Jaquette, & Marx, 2014), which garnered even further attention from state lawmakers and politicians. To be more specific, the passage into law of Arizona’s HB 2281 led to the dismantling of the Mexican American Studies program in the Tucson Unified School District on January 10, 2012, which included the Chican@/Latin@ Literature classes that I had taught and developed from 2004 until the program ended. As a result, my colleagues and I were directed to completely abandon the curriculum and pedagogy we had created and were monitored by district and state administrators for such compliance.
Due to these actions, this case study was born. In response to the reality that my students and I no longer had the self-determination to study the curriculum of my Chican@/Latin@ Literature class, I created an alternate space for students within our community to keep the pedagogy and curriculum of our highly effective program alive (Cabrera, Milem, & Marx, 2012). Chican@ Literature, Art and Social
Studies (CLASS), a class that met nearly every Sunday during the school year at a local youth center, became the last bastion of our Mexican American Studies (MAS) program. In turn, I was able to continue with my original scholarly intention of designing a study that focused upon the voices of my students in terms of how the educational approach of CLASS may have impacted their identities, civic 14 engagement and political activism. This chapter will serve as an introduction to the machinations that made it impossible to carry this study out in my public high school classroom, and the necessity for finding a different home for our program.
Additionally, this chapter will chronicle the pedagogical and curriculum choices and innovations that my MAS colleagues and I implemented in our classrooms that led to unprecedented success and unprecedented stifling of the civil rights of our students.
It is important to note at this juncture that I will be using a different type of notation for students of Mexican, Caribbean and South American descent in this dissertation. Traditionally the term “Chicano” would be used for individuals of
Mexican descent in the United States and “Latino” is a pan-ethnic term that is inclusive of the people of South American and Central American descent. Due to the gendered nature of languages, the use of Chican@ and Latin@ have become more commonly used in Educational, Feminist, and Ethnic Studies scholarship as a representation of both Chicanas/Chicanos and Latinas/Latinos. It is a way to embrace equality and respect toward everyone.
The Origin of Tucson’s Mexican American Studies:
In the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD), we were privileged to have a
Mexican American Studies Department from 1998-2012 that was created due to a grassroots community movement. For generations in Tucson, Chican@ students were often ignored, marginalized, or directly impeded from having academic success (Sheridan, 1986). The mission for our MAS program had been to empower students by addressing the educational and academic needs of our Chican@ community throughout Tucson. It was due to the hard work of youth, parents, 15 educators, and community leaders that we had such a vibrant presence within our schools, fostering the growth of our classes and program
In the late 1990’s, largely in response to federal and state educational standards set forth by No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Mexican American Studies
Department brought together a team of 15 teachers to address the issue and possible affects of the high stakes standardized test agenda upon our students. In our district, art and music classes were discontinued. Schools were demanding that teachers not supplement their curriculum, or divert from the standards in any way, which meant a further marginalization of cultural/ethnic history and literature.
Initially, even the teaching of poetry was discouraged in accordance with Arizona state standards in Reading and Writing, except for those who taught honors or
Advanced Placement literature classes. It became clear that we needed a plan to counter such limiting experiences for all our students, and specifically our Chican@ students.
From our MAS team meetings, we eventually developed academic spaces, specific classrooms and classes centered on the Chican@ experience, at Central High
Magnet School (pseudonym) where I taught English. With our Chican@ Literature and Studies courses, we were focused upon re-humanizing the educational experiences for our students. My Chican@/Latin@ Literature classes were created to complement our Chican@ History classes, as an academic space that encouraged the authentic exploration of the Mexican American story. Our classes were designed to intentionally attach cultural, historical, and contemporary congruence to inspire the rigorous and beautiful struggle that is education. 16
In the 2003-2004 school year, my Chicana/o Literature class was created to overtly challenge the high stakes testing movement through culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy (Nieto, 1992; Paris, 2012; Sleeter, 2011). I consciously decided to teach reading and writing through a cultural lens with a social justice emphasis, and disregard the stacks of practice tests that were provided for us. As a
Mexican American Studies team, my colleagues and I continued using cultural and critical literacy as a means to provide engaging academic experience. Since we were starting a new program with new classes that were being built from the ground up, our local school administration left us with the academic heavy lifting emphasizing only one edict: Make sure that it complied with the state standards.
Thus, I embraced many contemporary Chican@ writers and other writers of color such as Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, Sherman Alexie and Luís Alberto Urrea to name a few (See Chapter 4 for further details on the curriculum). We wanted our classes to be real and representative of what it means to be Chican@, so our writing assignments were a balance of self-reflection and exploration, along with rhetorical and analytical skills based upon the readings. And since the readings reflected our students’ lives and experiences, they were able to continue to develop and grow in consciousness while sharpening their academic writing. We also supplemented the curriculum with non-fiction reading from many different social justice perspectives including critical race theory, the work of Paulo Freire, Jonathan Kozol, and contemporary educational researchers, historians, and sociologists. Such a critical multicultural approach saw our program grow into the largest Chican@ Studies and 17
Literature programs in the country, and paved the way for other ethnic studies classes to be provided throughout our district.
Indigenous Epistemologies & Critical Pedagogy Action
CLASS, and MAS before it, were culturally and community responsive both within the pedagogy and the curriculum, through a blend of local funds of knowledge and critical pedagogy. During my time as a teacher in the MAS program my classes were grounded in Indigenous Mexican epistemologies that my colleagues and I learned through our elders in Tucson, California, and Mexico who have studied
Mexica and Maya codices, and practice Danza Azteca and Indigenous Mexican ceremony (Chavez Leyva, 2003; Tezozomoc, Danza Azteca Huehueteotl, & Danza
Azteca Tenochtitlan, 1997; Serrano Nájera, 2014). The concept of the Nahui Ollin, which in Náhuatl translates to “four movements,” became a common pedagogical and methodological lens (See Chapter 4 for a discussion of the methodology) that my colleagues and I used in MAS for how to engage in the process of learning
(Acosta, 2014b; 2007). In short, the Nahui Ollin represents the principles of
Tezcatlipoca (Self-reflection), Quetzalcoatl (precious and beautiful knowledge),
Huitzilopochtli (the will to act), and Xipe Totec (transformation)(Serrano Nájera,
2014). Within the classroom setting, Tezcatlipoca was used to nurture and cultivate critical consciousness. Academic units in our classes would always contain self- reflective assignments that allowed the students to consistently make connections between the curriculum and their lived experiences. This privileged the development of a personal identity in order to be the foundation for the creation of an academic identity (Acosta, 2007). 18
Simultaneously, students were introduced to new forms of knowledge and required to analyze the literature through a critically reflective lens. Since our classes were rooted in a cultural lens the acquisition of knowledge did not reflect the ideals of schooling, but rather the ideal of learning. Students were able to connect to knowledge in a way that reflected their own humanity and encouraged them to analyze the texts in critical way that could lead to transformative action.
The last two principles of the Nahui Ollin represented that very ideal.
Huitzilopochtli, or the will to act, gave purpose to learning for our students since their education no longer represented, simply a form of social capital for economic ascendancy, but a process to develop an analytical and scholarly lens to best take action in the community toward social change (Acosta, 2014b). This part of the
Nahui Ollin is called Xipe Totec (transformation) and because our students were able to build a critical lens of social inequalities, their activism in the community often led to disruptions to the status quo in Tucson (Acosta, 2014a).
The content of CLASS, encouraged students to be able to reflect upon their own personal experience and build an analytical lens to view the issue in a broader fashion, and to focus on the possibility of transforming the societal situations that led to dehumanization. This also served as an important theoretical foundation for students, and myself as the instructor, who benefitted from hierarchies of inequality and discriminatory practices. By grounding our work together in Tezcatlipoca (self- reflection), we systematically reflected upon the many forms of privilege that entitled some of us to have advantages not afforded to others, and it was these moments that help build a desire to create and institute change in our world 19
(Acosta, 2007; Serrano Nájera, 2014).
The relationship between the human driven concepts of the Nahui Ollin and the work of critical pedagogy scholars is striking. Similar to the work of Paulo Freire and bell hooks, our students were exposed to education as a means to creating a more just world through praxis, or reflective action (Freire, 1970; hooks, 2003c).
CLASS, and MAS before it, also embraced the Mayan principle of In Lak Ech, or you are my other me (Rodriguez, 2014). Not only did this manifest itself in the classroom in the way that students engaged with one another, and was the philosophy behind the caring, honest, safe, and empathetic spirit of the classroom, but also the guiding principle behind how I viewed my role as teacher and facilitator. In traditional public school, power dynamics in the classroom are asymmetrical and unequal. The teacher serves as the authority figure as well as the font of all knowledge, which often marginalizes student voice and agency. Teacher- centered spaces such as these are not democratic and can often serve as dehumanizing for the students, as well as the teacher.
This was the intent of using Indigenous knowledge, such as In Lak Ech
(Rodriguez, 2014) as a pedagogical lens to guide the decisions for how to design how we learned together in MAS/CLASS. It was essential from our very first gatherings that the content of the course be co-constructed and that my role would be one of facilitator of student learning. This included collective decision making over what literature we read, or what types of social justice themes and community issues we should study together. Students also worked collaboratively in
MAS/CLASS in order to share their personal perspectives and analyze their 20 academic assignments. Dialogue and discourse between students was key in developing trust and confidence in one another to take risks and eventually lead classroom activities, projects, and social movements outside of the classroom space.
The growth of students as leaders inside and outside of the classroom space was organic and not teacher-driven; it was In Lak Ech driven. The class needed to be our space together and all of our voices needed to be present, respected and valued.
Taking Action Against Political Attacks
From 2006-2012, a handful of Arizona state officials aggressively pursued the elimination of the Mexican American Studies department in TUSD through
Arizona state legislation. In 2008, bills were written to eliminate our program regardless of the refusal of these same individuals to actually visit our classrooms.
Much of the critique from these lawmakers revolved around nativist fears toward an increasing Chican@/Latin@ demographic in Arizona, as could be seen in the comments toward our classes as being un-American (“Lawmakers seek to dictate what’s American”, 2008). Arizona SB 1108 was the first attempt to ban our classes through state legislation by including anti-MAS language attached to a homeland security bill stating that, “a primary purpose of education is to inculcate values of
American citizenship” (“Lawmakers seek to dictate what’s American”, 2008; Arizona
House Bill 1108, 2009). However, these specific values were never defined in the bill and left the power of interpretation solely with the State Superintendent of Public
Instruction (Arizona House Bill 1108, 2009). It is essential to note that Tom Horne, the former Arizona Attorney General and State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2002-2010, had been the most vocal political critic of the Mexican American 21
Studies program and teachers during this contentious time, and led multiple legislative efforts to disband the program including this initial attempt (Horne,
2007).
Under the proposed legislation of SB1108 schools would provide curricula, course materials, course syllabi at the behest of the Superintendent’s office, and those schools found in violation or encouraging “dissent from values of American democracy and Western civilization” would have millions of dollars of state funding withheld (Martinez, 2012). There was also a disturbing language in the last part of the bill, which outlined the elimination of all organizations with any type of “race based criteria”. All schools from the public universities in Arizona to kindergarten would have been required to eliminate any culture group or organization from their campus, or place their institution at risk of losing state monies (Arizona House Bill
1108, 2009). In such a reality, traditional student support centers in universities and high schools such as African American, Native American, Latin@, and Asian
American student centers would be under scrutiny, as well as culturally centered and celebratory music and art clubs such as mariachi, folklorico, African American step teams, as well as language clubs. Eventually the bill was defeated, however, the sponsors and writers of this legislation promised future efforts to eliminate Ethnic
Studies in TUSD.
Although earlier attempts (SB 1069 and SB 1108) proved to be unsuccessful,
Arizona HB 2281 (Arizona House Bill 2281, 2010) was passed and signed into law in
May of 2010, which empowered the Arizona State Superintendent of Public 22
Instruction to fine a school district ten percent of their state funding per month, if classes were deemed to violate any of the following criteria:
1. Promote the overthrow of the United States government. 2. Promote resentment toward a race or class of people. 3. Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group. 4. Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.
B. If the State Board of Education or the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that a school district or charter school is in violation of Subsection A, the State Board of Education or the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall notify the school district or charter school that it is in violation of Subsection A. the State Board of Education or the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that the school district or charter school has failed to comply with subsection a within sixty days after a notice has been issued pursuant to this subsection, the State Board of Education or the Superintendent of Public Instruction may direct the department of education to withhold up to ten per cent of the monthly apportionment of state aid that would otherwise be due the school district or charter school. (Arizona House Bill 2281, 2010)
Critics of the program had claimed that the classes promote “ethnic chauvinism” and segregation, although an independent audit, ordered by Attorney
General Tom Horne’s successor as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, John
Huppenthal (Biggers, 2011; (“Lawmakers seek to dictate what’s American”, 2008).
The subsequent audit by Cambium Learning Group found the program to be lawful and of high academic merit, stating:
[Student] achievement is due to the sense of pride that develops through their accomplishments with highly effective teachers… Recommendation: Maintain Mexican American studies courses as part of core curriculum for high school courses: US History, American Government, and Literature. (Cappelluci, Williams, Hernandez, Nelson, Casteel, Gilzean, & Faulkner, 2011, p. 66)
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Regardless of the factual evidence that supported MAS and invalidated the claims of the detractors, on December 27, 2011, ARS 15-112 (formally HB 2281) was applied by State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal, and sanctioned the withholding of state funding from Tucson Unified School District until the program was eliminated. On January 10, 2012 the TUSD Governing Board passed a resolution to immediately cease the teaching of Mexican American Studies classes in TUSD, although the other ethnic studies courses and programs were left intact. The dismantling of the program included the complete abandonment of the curriculum, pedagogy, and Mexican American Studies perspective within our classes in TUSD. The program was completely erased. Thus, it became necessary to offer a free after school setting that continued the type of educational practice that students were once able to enroll in within their public school experience.
This was the context that led to my creation of CLASS and this case study.
Once the TUSD school board dismantled our MAS classes, I established the Chican@
Literature, Art & Social Studies (CLASS) program at a local youth center in South
Tucson. We met on Sundays throughout the 2012-13 academic year and a group of young scholars, ranging from ages 15-21 years old, faithfully showed up each week.
For some of my CLASS students it was an opportunity to continue the type of academic challenge that had driven them to attend college, and for other students it was an opportunity to learn content and experience the successful pedagogy that the state and school district had banned.
As the fall semester unfolded, I was contacted by Prescott College, a private university in Prescott, Arizona, about the possibility for working together in a way 24 where my CLASS students could receive college credit for free through a scholarship program. At the end of May 2013, nine students received college units for free from
Prescott College that can be used for their future academic pursuits.
The elimination of all of our pedagogical and curricular innovations through the dismantling of Mexican American Studies also meant that my teacher-research space was affected. It had been my goal since starting my doctoral studies to build a teacher-research study that would focus upon the effect of the pedagogy and curriculum through the voices of my students. Education in this context, particularly for Chican@ students and other students of color, served as a fruitful time and place to acquire data concerning how students view the importance of their education, identity, and activism especially when it is in direct conflict with the will of the state.
Creating CLASS not only kept my scholarly pursuits intact, it became a space of resistance to the hegemonic and oppressive academic conditions effecting the youth of Tucson.
The Case Studies
The first case study focuses upon eight self-selected participants of the
Chican@ Literature, Art, and Social Studies program. The second case study concentrates upon the only student in CLASS who was not of Chican@/Latin@ descent. Both case studies use qualitative and participatory action research methods of data collection and analysis to answer the questions that follow in the next section. I identified themes that arose from the interviews and student work by utilizing a constant comparison method of analyzing transcribed student interviews and student artifacts produced in class. The purpose of the first case study was to 25 discover how students perceived the impact of the pedagogy and curriculum of
CLASS upon their own multiple identities in comparison to their experiences with traditional, mainstream curriculum and content of school. The second case study with the only student not of Chican@/Latin@ descent also shared this purpose.
However, as the study unfolded it became evident that there were significant differences and subtle nuances that needed further inquiry and analysis, in regard to the experiences of a student who did not share the same ethnic heritage that was the focus of CLASS.
The Questions
CLASS was almost completely compromised of Chican@/Latin@ students, thus I felt it would be a vital study to examine how high school youth, and recent graduates of the former Mexican American Studies program in Tucson, perceive the intersections between their personal, ethnic and academic identities, as well as their civic engagement and role in transforming their community. Thus, this study focused on gathering data on the following questions:
• How do youth view the influence of the pedagogy and curriculum of a
Chican@ Literature class upon their personal, ethnic, and academic
identities?
• In what ways do youth in a Chican@ Literature class perceive their role in
addressing critical social issues in their lives through civic engagement and
political activism?
Operationalizing Ethnic and Academic Identity 26
For the purposes of clarifying the terminology in the research questions above, it is essential to examine the specific type of ethnic and academic identities that were the focus of the data collection. Recent studies of youth participatory action research with Latin@ students have concluded that culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy were not only important in building a positive personal and ethnic identity for students, but also contributed to a positive academic identity
(Cammarota & Romero, 2006; Irizarry, 2011). More specifically, Altschul, Oyserman,
& Bybee (2006) offer a “tripartite model” for the impact of a racial-ethnic identity
(REI) upon school performance for African American and Latin@ adolescents: REI
Connectedness, REI Awareness of Racism, and REI Embedded Achievement.
In their study, REI Connectedness refers to the in-group ethnic bond that youth experience, such as having a sense of pride for one’s history, cultural traditions, and practices. REI Awareness of Racism was viewed as a critical component for African American and Latin@ youth since studies have shown that youth of color are aware of racial stereotypes as early as six years old (Altschul,
Oyserman, & Bybee; 2006). Thus, a foundation in understanding not only one’s on in-group identity, but perspectives of their ethnic and racial identity from outside their group can impact the ways youth of color see themselves and navigate institutions. Finally, REI Embedded Achievement denotes the effect of when positive academic achievement is an integral part of racial-ethnic identity. In this case, the importance of a positive school ethos is identified within the in-group REI as a way to combat negative stereotypes of achievement and cultural deficit perspectives perpetrated by mainstream media and other institutions. According to Altschul et al. 27
(2006), overtly addressing these stereotypes as false can enhance the opportunity for youth of color to repel such perspectives, and develop REI Embedded
Achievement.
In their findings, youth that displayed high levels of the three racial-ethnic identity categories displayed greater student achievement and attitudes toward school (Altschul et al., 2006). This same REI lens can also be applied to other qualitative studies that found ethnic identity being integral to student achievement and the formation of an academic identity (Cammarota & Romero, 2006; González,
Moll, & Amanti, 2005; Irizarry, 2011; Morrell, Dueñas, García, & López, 2013)
Operationalizing Civic Engagement and Activism
Traditional research focusing on the civic engagement of youth tends to concentrate heavily upon a narrow definition of traditional political participation, such as voting, gathering signatures for petitions, and joining political organizations
(Pasek, Kenski, Romer, & Jamieson, 2006). This designation lends itself to discount many areas of study in youth civic engagement, such as volunteerism, school related social action, community activism, etc. Youniss, Bale, Christmas-Best, Diversi,
McLaughlin, & Silbereisen (2002) attempt to broaden the definition by referring to civic competence as “an understanding of how government functions, and the acquisition of behaviors that allow citizens to participate in government and permit individuals to meet, discuss, and collaborate to promote their interests within a framework of democratic principles” (p. 124). In addition to this definition, Banks
(2008) asserts that there is an obligation to include “cultural and group rights within a democratic framework” (p. 130). My focus for this case study was upon a 28 broader sense of “cultural citizenship” and “cultural democracy,” in how youth engage in civic and community issues that affect their community and lives (Banks,
2008).
In respect to the concept of youth activism, I formulate a specific focus for my analysis from definitions in research literature of previous studies that were similar in context and population to the youth of CLASS. As Ben Kirshner (2007) expressed, many youth are not eligible to vote or hold political decision-making positions, but still engage in a democratic and political process through actions grounded in issues of social justice. Thus, youth political activism in this study focuses is a “critical form of civic engagement in which youth are encouraged to question the status quo and envision better alternatives for themselves and their peers (Kirshner, 2007, pp.
368).
Overview of the Dissertation
This first chapter introduced the reader to the development and chronology of events that led to the study, as well as the purpose and rationale for such an investigation. Chapter two will provide the theoretical underpinnings and review of the literature of previous research related to this study including student resistance, civic engagement and activism, as well as studies upon the impact of culturally responsive pedagogy and curriculum upon the academic identity and engagement for students of color. Chapter three will be a detailed account of the theoretical framework and methodology in terms of the data collection and analysis of the student discourse. Within this chapter a description for the ethnographic methods used for data collection are presented, as well as the theoretical lens I used in my 29 analysis of student discourse. Additionally, my own postionality as a teacher- researcher and role in the Chican@ community will be articulated in the third chapter, while in chapter four I provide an overview of the curriculum, pedagogy, classroom structure and practices of CLASS.
Chapter five and six present the findings from the interview data and student artifacts of CLASS. This is followed by an analysis of the student discourse and the themes that emerged from both sets of data in regard to the relationship between the curriculum and pedagogy of CLASS with the evolving ethnic, academic and activist identities of the students.
Chapter seven focuses specifically upon the findings from Tipu, who was the only member of CLASS not from Chican@ lineage. Concentrating the analytical lens exclusively upon Tipu was an intentional decision after I began to examine the data, since the pedagogy and curriculum of the course impacted her in a unique way because she did not share the specific ethnic and ancestral connection to the majority of the content of CLASS. Furthermore, critics often deride ethnic studies programs as spaces that incubate segregation and division amongst a culturally pluralistic school or community. Thus, much could be learned from an experience of a student such as Tipu, who self-identifies as Kashmiri and South Asian, yet enrolled to take Chican@ Literature and Mexican American Studies courses.
Chapter eight is a summary of the dissertation, including an outline of conclusions drawn, and an articulation of the implications toward pedagogical and curricular innovations that could benefit teacher education and professional 30 development of teachers in cultivating student ethnic, academic, and activist identities.
31
CHAPTER TWO
THEORETICAL FRAMES AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The journey to this study included nearly two decades of being a critical high school teacher, with half of that time as a Chican@/Latin@ Literature teacher for the
Mexican American Studies Department. Along this road, I was fortunate to immerse myself in theoretical and research literature with my MAS colleagues, and with professors and peers throughout my graduate studies, that inspired me to adapt and apply progressive pedagogical and theoretical theory to my high school classes. It was due to the remarkable collaboration of my colleagues and peers that inspired my students and I to co-construct our educational journey together. The theoretical pastiche that was created during these halcyon times established a period of quantifiable academic success for our students. It is the intention of this chapter to address the relevant research literature to this case study, much of which was the product of living and learning as Chican@s during a contentious, yet captivating period of emancipation and liberation through education.
The first section of this chapter articulates the theoretical framework that was used in the formulation of the research questions. It is important to note that theoretical underpinnings will also be applicable in Chapter 4 when discussing the curriculum and pedagogy of the Chican@ Literature, Art and Social Studies (CLASS) program, as well as throughout my analysis of the data in Chapters 5 and 6.
The second section of this chapter will be a review of the relevant literature pertaining to culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy and curriculum, critical multicultural education, cultural asset educational models, participatory action 32 research and youth participatory action research pertaining to civic engagement, resistance, and activism.
Theoretical Framework
Several key theoretical concepts were critical in the formulation of my lens as a researcher and practitioner. My exposure to critical pedagogy and critical race theory preceded the formulation of my research questions and impacted my pedagogical framework as an educator, as well as the intent of this case study.
Although these theories are quite different in their origins and applications, there is also a convergence between them that emphasizes liberatory educational practices that are anti-racist and transformational.
Critical Pedagogy
Critical pedagogy in public schools involves a plethora of highly divergent theories and applications. Thus a more specific framework is necessary in order to encapsulate the particular tenets of critical pedagogy that were applied in my classroom. The work of Paulo Freire, Henry Giroux, Peter McClaren, bell hooks,
Ernest Morrell and Jeff Duncan-Andrade are foundational to create such a framework.
Critical literacy and the liberatory education work of Paulo Freire have been paramount to the pursuit of a more just classroom experiences for students. For
Freire, it was essential that students, regardless of their age, be literate at a level that allowed them the opportunity to examine their own lived experiences in relation to the context of the larger world in which they lived. Although the poetic eloquence of Freire’s (1970) famous quote “Reading the world always precedes 33 reading the word, and reading the word implies continually reading the world (p.
35)” is often cited by educators who claim to embrace critical pedagogy in their classes, Freire also demanded tenacious and rigorous academic experience in order for students to find emancipation from the constraints within their lives. Often the intensity and sincerity behind Freire’s pedagogy is given little attention by critics of his work who argue that Freire’s ideological pursuits for societal transformation based upon peace, freedom, and equality are too idealized and romantic of a notion for the hard work of school. This is one of the grossest misperception of Freire’s work. As Freire stated,
When I speak of serious education I am also speaking about happiness. I cannot understand how it is possible to have an education through which we believe that studying is something difficult, impossible to be done, and exclusively painful…But we need education that does not make students afraid of studying, but curious, full of desire to study; because every time we begin to study, we must have in ourselves the certainty that at some moment we will become full with pleasure. And this is the moment in which we arrive to knowledge. (Darder, 2002)
Of equal importance for critical pedagogues are the concepts of conscientization and emancipation. Freire (1970) referred to the term conscientizaçao (p. 73-4) in regard to the process of students becoming critically conscious of their world and the systems that they engage in throughout their lives.
Within a social justice education context, students use this critical awareness toward developing analysis of social injustices and build toward the transformation of such practices, with emphasis upon human dignity and equality (Ginwright,
Cammarota, & Noguera, 2005). Through a Freirian framework, students not only 34 identify restraints upon their lives, but also engage in action to transform the social conditions that create inequities and inequalities.
The question of whether or not Chican@/Latin@ students are encouraged to find their voice and academic identity within their classrooms is important in the process of creating an emancipatory experience for students. A liberatory educational experience where students actively participate in their own learning may yield far different results than a typical lecture and discussion class environment in regard to their own expectations of being active citizens. Freire
(1970) coined the term “banking education” for the type of depository learning where students are viewed as empty receptacles that are in need of the expertise of the teacher to fill their heads with his own knowledge. Education that resembles this model, strips students of their human potential and reproduces asymmetrical power relationships within the classroom, all of which is antithetical to critical pedagogy.
The work of Henry Giroux and Peter McLaren is also of importance in establishing a framework for applied critical pedagogy. Giroux (2003) articulated the need for a theory where critical thinking led to self-emancipation and social change. His synthesis of the major themes from the Frankfurt School included dialectical thought which is instrumental in examining naturalized and common sense notions of the world that contribute to injustice and equality in human beings
(Giroux, 2003). This paved the way for the analysis of power and the need for social transformation, themes that are prevalent in the work of Freire and also McLaren, who connected this to Michel Foucault’s theory of knowledge/power. For McLaren
(2003), critical pedagogues must be aware of the presence of a dominant culture, 35 which “refers to social practices and representations that affirm the central values, interests, and concerns of the social class in control of the material and symbolic wealth of society (emphasis in original p. 75).” McLaren believed that critical pedagogy must be focused on how power/knowledge is constructed and framed in educational institutions. Through critical consciousness, students are encouraged to analyze the ideological and hegemonic intentions that are inculcated through traditional schooling, and examine the tensions that may be present to their own educational needs and social reality. Plainly, since the content, curriculum, and pedagogy of school primarily serves the needs of the institution and the state, critical pedagogy creates a space and opportunity for students to engage in the practice of liberation to craft an academic identity and pursuit of knowledge that lie beyond the exploitive desires of the state. With this foundation, and within these spaces, students can begin a process of transforming oppressive educational and social conditions through action. In McLaren’s (2003) estimation schools should cultivate the environment of self-determination and courage needed to abandon constructed knowledge that benefits the “dreams, desires, and values of select groups of students over other groups, often discriminatorily on the basis of race, class, and gender” (86).
Critical pedagogy can be a significant tool for the elimination of an education system designed to privilege types of knowledge that exclude and alienate students whose lives are not affirmed by the dominant culture or ideology. In this regard, the work of bell hooks proves pivotal. Her scholarship is infused with the tenets of critical pedagogy in order to specifically address the discriminatory institutional 36 practices that marginalize students through race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. In order to find a true liberated space for all students, hooks establishes the importance of student voice and dialogue in the classroom to foster student agency (2003a). For centuries, students have been expected to play the role of the passive recipient of knowledge, similar to Freire’s banking education concept. For hooks (2003a), this type of silencing of student voice “reinforces bourgeois models of decorum” (p.144). The lives of students that are not embraced by the values of the dominant culture enter traditional classrooms with trepidation toward an experience that may continue to alienate and dehumanize their experiences in the world.
hooks (2003a) also elaborates upon a fundamental tenet of critical pedagogy that is often dismissed by educators and scholars, namely that a true democratic and liberating education experience does not cease to exist outside of the setting of the classroom or school grounds. Critical consciousness knows no bounds and, as
Freire, Giroux, and McLaren theorized, critical pedagogy must also embrace the will for action toward social transformation that embodies the pursuit of freedom, equality, and equity for all human beings. In the estimation of hooks (2003a), critical pedagogues must go beyond the confines of the classroom and teach throughout the community. Educators that become active members of their community will be immediately confronted with their own social reality and those of their students.
This lens will allow them to repel the tendency of viewing school as a glorification of the past and the study of events and concepts of former generations (hooks, 2003a).
By living, learning and teaching outside the classroom walls, critical pedagogues are 37 able to use the entire world and the students’ lives as the foundation for study, which in turn accentuates the value and importance of their experiences as worthy of academic study. The student voice becomes a vital component in the democratic classroom, as students are encouraged to lead discussions and to direct their own learning (hooks, 2003a). The critical pedagogue does not disengage, but serves as a conduit and guide for the students to fulfill their own academic pursuits and is a critical part of providing the support needed toward the students’ desire for transformative action. These strategies de-emphasize the role of the teacher as the authority and master of the knowledge and leads to a more democratic classroom experience, which can be the basis for more civic engagement by the students in their communities (hooks, 2003a).
Jeff Duncan-Andrade and Ernest Morrell (2008) provide a contemporary and applied use of critical pedagogy within an urban English classroom. There work is immediately relevant to mine in that our contexts and settings, as well as types of students and schools were similar. Duncan-Andrade and Morrell operationalize critical pedagogy and elaborate upon the practical uses within an actual school context. They also embraced the Freirian ideology of conscientization through rigorous practice, examination and analysis of the word and world. For Duncan-
Andrade and Morrell (2008) it was crucial to read canonical literature through the lens of the students’ own experiences. Critical pedagogues see the value of the world the student inhabits while simultaneously engaging in the challenging and necessary social transformation that leads to a more just and equitable society. Duncan-
Andrade and Morrell (2008) reject notions of devaluing the students’ lives through a 38 deficit cultural lens as something to rise above in order to achieve success and happiness. Ideas such as abandoning their neighborhoods for the sake of social mobility are challenged and dismissed in order to fully engage in the process of reflective action to affect social change (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008). Thus, their use of the traditional literature canon was referential and not reverential to the history and ideology of the nation and world in which they live. Their classroom provided a fertile application of the foundational tenets of critical literacy and pedagogy discussed previously and included the essential element that their students remain free.
Our purpose as educators is not to replace one dominant ideology with another. Rather we agree with the assertion of Italian Marxist social theorist Antonio Gramsci that the ultimate goal of a proletariat education is to help make students more critical consumers of all information that they encounter in their daily lives and to give them the skills to become more capable producers of counter-information (53).
As students build their own critical consciousness, Duncan-Andrade and
Morrell (2008) suggest that students then become engaged in social transformation through their own inquiry projects. This reflects another tenet of critical pedagogy, one of liberation through the process of generative themes where students generate their own knowledge while the critical pedagogue facilitates and cultivates the inquiry, research, and writing skills needed to produce a transformative outcome
(Freire, 1970). This type of action is then followed by reflection, which Freire
(1970) termed praxis and is a seminal aspect of Duncan-Andrade and Morrel’s work
(2008). 39
For Chican@/Latin@ students in Arizona, a public school experience grounded in critical pedagogy can serve as a basis for rediscovering a belief in the educational system, by valuing their social reality and respecting their consciousness and scholarly potential through a serious analysis of the world.
Critical pedagogy allows Chican@/Latin@ youth the space and opportunity to authentically construct their own knowledge and voice in order to dynamically participate in the democratic process. Simultaneously, students can direct the orientation of their academic endeavors toward critical issues that affect their community and become politically active and civically engaged in social reform and change, while countering student passivity and acquiescence that is so prevalent in the traditional school experience.
Critical Race Theory
Critical race theory (CRT) has been used in efforts to build a framework toward transforming ineffective educational practices for Chican@/Latin@ youth.
CRT serves as a key touchstone toward building upon the capital within the
Chican@/Latin@ communities, by first analyzing hegemonic institutional practices through the lens of racism. At the core of CRT scholarship is the notion that race is a central and persistent characteristic in United States society and its institutions
(Ladson-Billings, 1999; Yosso, 2002, 2006). CRT scholars believe that race is a social construction that is used to limit equality and justice through exclusionary and discriminatory practices in order to benefit certain ethnic groups over others.
Education has been an institution that has a history of using race to create a false meritocracy, by establishing bureaucratic obstacles and policies, which have often 40 reflected and rewarded middle class, European American values (Duncan-Andrade,
2005; Sheridan, 1986). Through this normalizing of “whiteness” there is an implicit acceptance of deficit perspectives toward Chican@/Latin@ students, which simultaneously perpetuates racial hierarchies that contribute and sanction inequalities and inequities in public schools such as academic ability tracking and magnet schools (Solórzano & Delgado-Bernal, 2001; Solórzano & Ornelas, 2002;
Yosso, 2002, 2006).
CRT was first developed as legal scholarship, yet education scholars have adapted many of the basic tenets toward public schools by deconstructing and teasing out the complexities of race found in the education system and challenging
“common sense” notions of race that increase exploitation and alienation (Darder &
Torres, 2003; Ladson-Billings, 1999). Thus, a framework exists that can be applied by schools and teachers toward a more just, humanizing and democratic learning experience (Ladson-Billings, 1999; Solórzano & Delgado-Bernal, 2001). In particular, Yosso (2002) articulates the five tenets of a critical race curriculum
(CRC) as: 1) acknowledging the central and intersecting roles of racism, sexism, classism and other forms of subordination in maintaining inequality in curricular discourses; 2) challenging dominant social and cultural assumptions and ideologies;
3) commitment to social justice and critical pedagogy; 4) the centrality of experiential knowledge; 5) utilizing an interdisciplinary approach.
Centrality and intersection of race and racism. Acknowledging the vast diversity and contributions of people of color is still rare in public schools, and is a recent development within the history of education in the United States. A dearth of 41 representation in the curriculum, school faculties, and discriminatory school policies have negatively affected Chican@/Latin@ students for generations
(Duncan-Andrade, 2005; Nieto, 1992, 1999). This continues to be the case in
Arizona where the state legislature and state superintendent of public instruction eliminated Mexican-American Studies and ethnic studies in the Tucson Unified
School District. However, in much education discourse there is considerable attention paid to “honoring diversity” without the same courage, energy and institutional will to evaluate the racialized experiences and practices within education (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Ladson-Billings, 1999). By acknowledging race, and the intersectionality with other forms of oppression, as an essential component within the construction of schools and classrooms, CRC can prepare students to examine the barriers and obstacles that are socially produced in order to transform such inequalities through action.
Challenging dominant ideologies through social justice and critical pedagogy. According to the work of Daniel Solórzano & Dolores Delgado-Bernal
(2001), experiences of racism in school has contributed to the development of self- defeating resistance by many Chican@/Latin@ students. This phenomenon can also be related to a distorted view of Bourdieu’s analysis of symbolic and cultural capital that inadvertently led to the establishment of cultural deficit education models
(Yosso, 2005). Through a process of internalized oppression, Chican@/Latin@ students may begin to doubt their own academic potential and appropriate damaging attitudes toward school. This is even further exacerbated by the lack of
Chican@/Latin@ educators and marginalization or absence within mainstream 42 curriculum. However, CRT offers potential to disrupt this institutional pattern through the challenging of dominant ideologies that perpetuate myths that question the academic potential and capabilities of Chican@/Latin@ students to be scholars.
Solórzano and Delgado-Bernal (2001) express that transformation of dehumanizing ideologies and institutional practices are possible due to human agency and resistance since, “individuals are not simply acted on by structures” (p.
315). In this sense, CRC along with critical pedagogy can be used to harness oppositional resistance and redirected toward transformative resistance, which has the highest potential for inspiring social change (Solórzano & Delgado-Bernal,
2001). Through the process of reflection and action, students can build upon their own critical consciousness and examine their own experiences and the world toward societal injustices in need of transformation (Freire, 1970).
Counter Storytelling. Perhaps the most significant tenet of CRT and CRC for the purposes of this study is the concept of counter storytelling or counter narratives. By initially focusing CRC on the student experiences, educators will create potential for a dramatic shift of traditional classroom dynamics of power.
This process can be beneficial for all students, yet it holds even greater possibilities for Chican@/Latin@ youth since the traditional values and policies of schools marginalize or alienate the Chican@/Latin@ experience. As Richard Delgado and
Jean Stefancic (2001) state:
Stories can name a type of discrimination; once named it can be combated. Powerfully written stories and narratives may begin a process of adjustment in our system of beliefs and categories by calling attention to neglected evidence and reminding readers of our common humanity. (p. 43)
43
In many ways stories can be the catalyst for students to heal psychological trauma as a result of racist experience in society and school. Discriminatory practices and actions at school can cause Chican@/Latin@ students to suffer a paralysis in their academic development or abandonment of hope toward education.
As counter narratives are shared in the classroom, students are no longer alienated from their education and the classroom becomes a space of empathy which can be used as the means toward building connections to discriminatory practices that affect other students and communities (hooks, 2003c; Yosso, 2006). Student voice and experiences not only increase the democratic practices within the classroom, but also radically shift the epistemological focus of the classroom since
Chican@/Latin@ youth are constructing the knowledge (hooks, 2003b; Solórzano &
Yosso, 2000; Yosso, 2002, 2006).
Interdisciplinary Approach. Marginalizing issues of race, culture, and ethnicity to social science, art, and literature classrooms is a common misconception for educators. CRC must take an interdisciplinary approach in order to have lasting transformative affects for Chican@/Latin@ students. Discriminatory, racist, and privileging academic policies impact students regardless of the discipline of study.
In this sense, it is crucial for districts, schools, and individual educators to acknowledge that it is the responsibility of all within the institution to work toward reform. Consequently, students will experience a common approach throughout the school day and their school careers that can build a critically conscious and empathetic ethos that can lead to civic engagement and social activism toward a more socially just world. 44
There is significant potential for CRC to serve as a pathway for corrective action in public school curriculum in order to re-humanize classroom experiences through the study of race. By concentrating an academic analysis of race within schools, students will have opportunities to divulge their own lived experiences with racism, discrimination, and prejudice while developing a critical lens to analyze and recognize similar injustices to other people, communities, and populations. CRC can nurture empathy to the plight of others through the sharing of stories that illuminate marginalized and silenced voices. Thus, the experiences of people of color and other historically oppressed communities can be the foundation for a societal transformation that embodies the principles of equality, justice, and freedom.
Review of Related Research Literature
Funds of Knowledge, Cultural Capital, and Cultural Wealth
Education researchers, social scientists and academics have regularly referred to social capital through a lens that normalizes the experience of the
European or European-American, middle class (González, Moll & Amanti, 2005;
Yosso, 2006). Along with ethnic and socio-economic factors, heterosexist patriarchy has been equally influential in the creation of cultural deficit perspectives for those whose lives that are not affirmed by the dominant culture, institutions and discourse. Mainstream institutional perceptions that Chican@/Latin@ families do not value education only serve to perpetuate and reproduce inadequate educational experiences and social inequalities. This ideology is deeply problematic when looking at the lives of Chican@/Latin@ youth and their families, and is completely dismissive of the different forms of capital and networks that these students possess 45 and accrue in their daily lives (Yosso, 2005, 2006). The product and implications of such alienating and marginalizing research and discourse has led to systemic malpractice in terms of educating Chican@/Latin@ students which has spanned generations (Duncan-Andrade, 2005; Sheridan, 1986). However, a transformation of the education experience for these youth must begin by valuing the academic and scholarly potential of the students, as well as affirming their lives, their language, history and culture. This process must begin with a radical shift in the perception of how school agents must serve Chican@/Latin@ youth and build upon the wealth of resources and capital these students possess.
Funds of knowledge, the seminal research of Norma González, Luís Moll, and
Cathy Amanti (2005), serves as a theoretical foundation for the development of educational spaces that are reflective of the community networks, social and cultural capital, and the lived experiences of youth. Building on the work of Freire’s
(1970) generative themes, funds of knowledge establishes a pedagogical and curriculum ethos that deviates from traditional educational models that reinforce academic elitism and a social hierarchy that places the community, parents, and students in a subservient role. Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez and James Greenberg (2000) also express the importance of transforming such historically damaging policies and practices that have placed Mexican and Latino communities in precarious and powerless positions for generations – historical injustices that yield implications in our education system to this day. By using linguistic, cultural, and social capital already present in Chican@/Latin@ families and neighborhoods as a basis for education models that are not only more relevant and appropriate to the 46 community, but also academically rigorous, Chican@/Latin@ students will have a more authentic educational experience and be more likely to develop a positive ethos toward school and life long academic identity (González, Moll & Amanti, 2005;
Yosso, 2005).
Tara Yosso (2005) identifies six key areas of capital that Chican@/Latin@ students, families, and communities possess, and challenges the educational system and institutions that serve these populations to develop academic programs that are grounded in the following: aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, familial and resistant capital. Each of these forms of capital can be cultivated within public school settings. Furthermore, Richard Stanton-Salazar (1997) identifies four forms of social capital from seven principal forms of institutionally based funds of knowledge that can be directly implemented in the daily practices of public school teachers: civic engagement, academic opportunities, informational support, peer and institutional agent interaction.
The application of such culturally based funds of knowledge in schools requires a reflexive relationship between schools and communities and a commitment to breaking down institutional bureaucratic barriers that often circumvent the aspirational capital that is found in many Chican@/Latin@ families and communities (González, Moll & Amanti, 2005; Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2001;
Stanton-Salazar & Dornbusch, 1995; Valenzuela, 1999; Vélez-Ibáñez & Greenberg,
2000; Yosso, 2005). As Moll (2005) states,
The goal, then, is to facilitate new ways of perceiving and discussing students, not only as individuals but also as situated or embedded within a broader educational ecology that includes their households’ funds of knowledge and the realization that these funds of knowledge 47
can be accessed strategically through the formation of social ties or networks. Thus, the formation of such social networks can form part of any classroom pedagogy. (p. 283)
Along with reflexivity, this type of theoretical model must continue to evolve through reflection and action since culture, communities, and schools are not static.
Altering the perspective of public school as having its own multifaceted and co- dependent ecology abandons the traditional hierarchies of power within the institution. Thus, a more democratic educational process is created where students, parents, and communities become the caretakers and creators of knowledge. The shift toward a more balanced distribution of power and cultural visibility in the school ecology would immediately increase the likelihood of authentic caring, consejos (advice), and confianza (trust) with key school agents that can often be gatekeepers to further social networks and capital that traditionally exclude
Chican@/Latin@ students (Delgado-Gaitan, 1994; González, Moll & Amanti, 2005;
Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999; Yosso, 2005).
Chican@/Latin@ Students and Social Capital
For Latino immigrant and Chican@ youth, public school is one of the most effective places to cultivate opportunities to acquire social capital. School is also far more ripe in transformative power for these students, since Chican@/Latin@ and immigrant youth do not have the same access to social networks that yield such capital as their than middle class peers (Stanton-Salazar, 2001). Taking this into account, teachers and faculty members serve an incredibly important role in the development of skills, institutional knowledge and relationships that students can apply toward social networks that can lead to increased opportunities for 48 educational and social purposes. Conversely, teachers can reaffirm the social reproduction elements of education, adding further obstacles to Chican@ and
Latin@ students breaking from cycles of poverty, miseducation, and social inequalities. Key figures within a school can advocate for students to obtain the correct academic level for their course work, or connect students to support systems such as tutoring, counseling or services to ease issues ranging from homelessness to extreme poverty. For Chican@ and Latin@ immigrant students a level of confianza is crucial to any type of relationship with vital adult figures such as teachers, counselors or coaches (González, Moll & Amanti, 2005; Valenzuela,
1999). Chican@/Latin@ youth can be reticent with school faculty about the struggles they may be facing both off and on school grounds, since many students experience alienation and marginalization either due to language issues, an absence of culturally responsive and socially relevant curriculum, or a lack of Latin@ representation within school faculties (Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999).
Chican@ youth can also be keenly aware and critical of faculty that do not provide adequate support, mentorship, or access to resources to assist their academic success (Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999). Schools often make egalitarian claims and assurances to youth, parents and communities guaranteeing equitable school experiences, however, teacher actions and administrative obstacles can often suggest otherwise. Angela Valenzuela (1999) described this type of behavior by school officials as a form of “aesthetic caring” which can be destructive to the formation of authentic bonds and relationships Chican@ and Latino immigrant students yearn for in their school experience. Chican@/Latin@ students are for the 49 most part devoid, or severely deprived, of influential institutional figures that can help connect their school experiences with their reality and future (Stanton-Salazar,
2001; Valenzuela, 1999). Chican@ youth often delay their plans for the future or deny their ability to pursue their education past the secondary level as a self- protecting, face-saving strategy due to prior experiences with educators that lacked sincerity and empathy (Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999). Often Chican@ students and Latin@ immigrant youth have survived alienating and humiliating encounters with school personnel that severely damage their self-esteem and inhibit their ability to seek out assistance in building networks (Stanton-Salazar,
2001; Valenzuela, 1999). This can contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy toward failure or a debilitating attitude that they are not worth the resources or time of the school agent.
As a reflection of resiliency, Chican@/Latin@ students have been able to resist these forms of institutional alienation by creating peer collectives that can repel the negative school experiences (Valenzuela, 1999). In some cases students have been able to find academic success or protect their heritage language in the case of Latin@ immigrant and Chican@ students by relying on a network of fellow students (Valenzuela, 1999). However, there seems to be no reason why a teacher, school faculty, or school policies cannot cultivate, facilitate, or participate in these collectives. As demonstrated earlier, theoretical frameworks are in place that can help create opportunities for youth to establish networks of support by building on student cultural and social capital such as critical pedagogy and culturally responsive curriculum. 50
Teachers that intuitively posses the ability to relate to their students in authentic ways, or develop the capacity to offer the complex skill set needed to address multiple stressors and obstacles in students’ lives, are invaluable to the acquisition of social capital needed to overcome administrative and bureaucratic inequalities (Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999). Important aspects of such multi-stranded relationships include ways to circumvent the faux formality of the school setting in order to build confianza (González, Moll & Amanti, 2005;
Valenzuela, 1999). When teachers use dialogic and collaborative pedagogical strategies between peers, as well as with the instructor, students are able to suspend the cynicism behind the reasons for the teacher’s care and concern. To many Chican@/Latin@ students, educators should view the students’ well being and their social development as of equal importance to academic standards
(Valenzuela, 1999; Stanton-Salazar, 2001). Teachers can help build confianza by honoring the students’ lives beyond the measurement of their academic skills and engaging in informal dialogue and casual conversations. Chican@/Latin@ youth expect school faculty and staff members to affirm their lives and experiences outside of class and not view the students as obligations to receive a monetary reward
(Valenzuela, 1999; Stanton-Salazar, 2001). Coaches are often school faculty members that operate on such multi-stranded levels with youth, although there are significant patriarchal, sexist hierarchical concerns with coaching that making such a blanket adoption of skills counterproductive and possibly damaging (Stanton-
Salazar, 2001). However, positive attributes of coaches such as concern over the health of the student, academic progress in multiple classes, family life, and the 51 avoidance of damaging, high-risk behaviors are typical coach-player concerns that can be implemented by teachers to become better advocates for students in their journey toward self-determination (Stanton-Salazar, 2001). Teachers that utilize a
“coaching” philosophy toward their students yet balance this with a social justice and equality ethos, can build confianza that can lead students to be more disciplined with their academic efforts and take more academically rigorous risks. Once trust is established between a student and teacher through authentic caring and advocacy, there lies an opportunity for the student to begin a process of developing the webs of support and social networks for students to obtain true power of their academic journey and life.
By appreciating aspects of students’ lives beyond scholastic standardization, teachers can cultivate learning environments that encourage students to authentically develop an academic identity that will compliment a positive school ethos (Valenzuela, 1999). This ethos must exist within the collective student groups in order for social capital to accrue and can be developed within a framework of critical pedagogy, culturally responsive and multicultural education. Educators that appreciate and love the students’ lives, cultural background, and their social reality will have an advantage in establishing a connection to their future and dreams
(Valenzuela, 1999).
Multicultural, Culturally Responsive, and Sustaining Education
Critical multicultural education has been vital to the efforts in reforming traditional school experiences for Chican@/Latin@ students, which can inspire them to be critical, engaged, and active citizens. Since the term multicultural 52 education has been used for a wide variety of activities, curriculum, and pedagogical motivations within schools it is necessary to focus on specific tenets that lend themselves to critical pedagogy, the expansion of the multiple forms of student cultural capital, and the ability to acquire further social capital from the dominant culture.
The traditional school experience in the United States has often marginalized students of color and other historically oppressed communities and has not been the great equalizer that Horace Mann once claimed (Gay, 2005; Nieto, 2005).
American public schools have been greatly responsible for the social reproduction of inequalities that often dismisses the contributions, history and art of
Chican@s/Latin@s, African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans
(Banks, 2005; Grant & Sleeter, 2005; Sleeter, 2011). Rarely have the lives of these students been reflected in an academic school experience besides superficial and additive approaches such as holiday celebrations or stand-alone units that are inserted for the purposes of simulating pluralism. However, these types of methods lack authenticity, sincerity, and rigor; qualities that are the hallmark of any influential or transformative learning experience (Darder, 2002; Nieto, 1992, 1999;
Valenzuela, 1999). Thus, multicultural education, culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy can be instrumental in providing students an opportunity, to not only be represented within the curriculum, but to build a depth and breadth of knowledge beyond one single world view and open the possibility of a true pluralistic society. 53
James Banks (2005) theorizes a framework for multicultural education including content integration, knowledge construction process, prejudice reduction, equity pedagogy, and empowering school culture. Through these multiple dimensions public schools would cease to be spaces of alienation, marginalization and institutions that reproduce social inequalities (Grant & Sleeter, 2005). This type of reform would overtly address issues of injustice and promote a school philosophy that is centered upon dignity, human and civil rights (Banks, 2005; Grant & Sleeter,
2005).
In relationship to Banks, Christine Sleeter (1995) emphasizes that curriculum toward emancipatory education must be developed by teachers who can identify issues of institutional oppression in the systems that affect the lives of their students. This can be directly linked to the gap in empathy from school faculty and agents found in a large majority of public school educational experiences. The systemic silencing of student voices and the lack of authentic and relevant representation in the curriculum serve as further obstacles in creating the confianza needed to create authentic bonds between Chican@ students and teachers that can be crucial to developing future scholars and active citizens (González, Moll &
Amanti, 2005; Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999).
According to Sonia Nieto (1992) multicultural education must reflect seven different characteristics, three of which include being based in critical pedagogy, explicitly antiracist and steeped in social justice. By embracing Freirian pedagogical strategies and social justice themes, multicultural education can be instrumental in creating critical consciousness within students that can lead to their own pursuit of 54 equality. Democratic ideals will be reinforced and students will be more apt to participate in critical praxis toward social transformation through the rejection of monocultural education models that are not representative of the world in which the students live (Banks, 2008; hooks, 2003c; Nieto, 1992, 1999). Multicultural education can be the inspiration for students to not only find academic success and identity that has long been absent from students of color, but also serve as the catalyst for civic engagement and political activity that will aid their communities and increase the American promise of a critical democracy (Banks, 2005, 2008;
Grant & Sleeter, 2005). In the pursuit of this type of pluralistic and emancipatory educational experiences, multicultural education must be rigorous and rooted in a social justice orientation (Nieto, 1992; 1999). It must be serious and passionate exploration of the world and pursuit of knowledge that is vital characteristic of the human spirit (Darder, 2002).
Eurocentric curriculum has been privileged as the mainstream academic content and valued as the norm for American students many times at the expense of students of color, whose own histories, stories, and impact upon American culture have been purposefully silenced (hooks, 2003a, 2003b, 2003c; Ladson-Billings,
1999). As multicultural education theory and critical race theory in education suggest, the curriculum of public schools and the institutional policies and procedures have normalized the middle-class, European-American perspective
(Grant & Sleeter, 1995; Sleeter, 2011; Yosso, 2002, 2005). The traditional canon and curriculum of schools continues to be Eurocentric, and although progress has been made in offering diverse and divergent perspectives these experiences are often 55 marginalized or severely limited in comparison to the representation of the dominant European-American culture.
In terms of cultural capital that can later be leveraged or transformed into social capital, Chican@ students are unable to take part in an authentic transference of capital since their academic experiences are devoid of any representation of themselves and their ancestry. Instead, Chican@ youth are encouraged to assimilate, by devoting years of study to history, literature, scientific contributions and accomplishments of Europeans and other ethnicities besides their own in order to acquire the same types of opportunities as their European American peers
(Vasquez, 2005). Culturally responsive curriculum and ethnic studies are essential to building upon the cultural capital of students through a sincere study that offers depth and breadth to the historical and artistic contributions for students of color
(Gay, 2002; Sleeter, 2011). Any corrective measures to dislodge the traditional
Eurocentric orientation found in most public schools, demand a deeply committed effort to create an academic experience that is authentic, innovative, and fluid in curriculum and pedagogical terms (Grant & Sleeter, 2005; Nieto, 2005). Ethnic studies classes provide students the opportunity to study the contributions of their ancestors through a significant amount of time that can develop a sense of self and cultural pride that can build a positive school ethos and academic identity (Grant &
Sleeter, 2005; Nieto, 1999; Sleeter, 2011). Students may then begin to identify their school and school experiences as a place of self-discovery and a reflection of themselves and their culture (Sleeter, 1995).
Gay (2002, 2005) proposes that curriculum reform, reflective of the lives, 56 histories, social conditions and experience that youth encounter in their daily lives, as a strategy for addressing the substantial failure and non-graduation rates for students of color. Similarly, Duncan-Andrade (2005) articulates the potential academic and sociocultural benefits for Chican@ students who experience a curriculum and educational space where they are comfortable to critically analyze the injustices within the history of their ancestors and their contemporary social reality. This creates an opportunity for students to be creators of their own knowledge, which is a crucial component of liberatory and emancipatory education
(Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Erickson, 2005). As Erickson (2005) affirms,
Students whose lives are not affirmed by the establishment seem intuitively not to accept hegemonic content and methods of instruction. They often resist, consciously or unconsciously, covertly as well as overtly…When such issues as racism, class privilege, and sexism are left silent in the classroom, the implicit message for students of color appears to be that the teacher and the school do not acknowledge the experiences of oppression exist.
Indigenous and community epistemologies introduced into the classroom spaces can be a substantial shift from the status quo curriculum, which can serve as examples of community knowledge creation as seen in the former Mexican
American Studies program in Tucson (Acosta & Mir, 2012). The introduction of such knowledge and principles within educational institutions reaffirms the cultural capital, historical and social identities for Chican@ students (Acosta, 2007).
Additionally, it is critical to alter or disrupt deficit model ideologies that serve as the foundation for traditional procedures and policies of schools, which often dehumanize and pathologize Chican@ youth. By infusing Indigenous principles that are focused upon human relations such as equality, the pursuit of justice, and 57 societal transformation, classrooms can become spaces of academic power and love that are similar to Freirian pedagogical theory (Acosta, 2007). Quantitative research on the effectiveness of the MAS program in Tucson in terms of graduation rates and passing high stakes tests, illustrate the significance of Indigenous epistemologies and decolonizing methodologies for students of color (Cabrera, 2014).
Building off of cultural asset educational models and theories developed in the 1980’s and 1990’s, Django Paris (2012) proposed the concept of culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) in order to clarify the academic benefits for students in a vastly changing American student and educational experience. Paris and H. Samy
Alim (2014) identified basic tents to culturally sustaining pedagogy including that academic experiences need to “honor and value the rich and varied practices of communities of color and is necessary pedagogy for supporting access to power in a changing nation” (p. 90). In addition, CSP must openly cultivate spaces of “cultural and linguistic blending and shifting” to more accurately represent the culturally pluralistic realities of our students. Static views of ethnicity, race, and language ignore the lives of multiracial youth, as well as the reformations of languages and cultural practices by youth of color (Paris & Alim, 2014). Furthermore, foundational to CSP are the lives and experiences of students as a focus for critical reflection and academic content. Thus, issues that effect youth of color and their communities need to be analyzed and problematized in order to generate possibilities for transformation (Paris & Alim, 2014). For Indigenous populations, this includes intentional actions toward the revitalization of cultural and linguistic practices that were dismantled and destroyed during colonization in order to move toward 58 sustainability (McCarty & Lee, 2014).
Participatory action research and youth participatory action research have also illustrated the positive impact that critical, culturally sustaining education can have upon the personal, ethnic and academic identities for Chican@/Latin@ students and other students of color. Irizarry (2011) and his student co-researchers articulated that the introduction of Latin@ authors, history, as well as concentrating upon research literature focusing on social issues that affected their community, increased student engagement and academic success. Furthermore, students began to cultivate an academic identity in their Action Research and Social Change class that had positive repercussions in their other classes.
Similarly, teachers in Los Angeles were able to document how the implementation of culturally sustaining pedagogy and curriculum affected their students. In media arts, social science and language arts classes, students were exposed to a critical and co-constructed curriculum based upon the tenets of critical pedagogy and liberatory education (Morrell, Dueñas, Garcia & Lopez, 2013).
Teacher-researchers found that students not only became more engaged in their education, but also developed an academic identity that led to greater communication with their family and inspired them to take risks in the classroom, as well as become active in community projects outside of school (Morrell et al.,
2013). Quantitative studies have discovered similar trends in terms of the correlation of student racial-ethnic identity and student academic performance for
African-American and Latin@ students. Altschul, Oyersman, and Bybee (2006) found that students who claimed a more explicit racial-ethnic identity were more 59 capable of repelling negative academic trends than their peers.
The argument for culturally sustaining and responsive pedagogy and curriculum as a corrective to hegemonic educational practice is not without its critics. However, many scholars have noted the academic success, collective agency and civic engagement of Chican@/Latin@ students that have experienced curriculum and pedagogy centered on Chican@/Latin@ values and experiences
(González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005; Irizarry, 2011; Morrell et al., 2013; Nieto, 1992,
1999, 2005).
Defining Political Knowledge and Civic Engagement
To what extent youth are engaged in political or civic duties begins with the definition for which we use to measure or describe such engagement. Past efforts have produced diverse definitions for what actions, knowledge, or activities are to be included or excluded in defining civic engagement. Many of the studies show an emphasis on traditional means of participation, such as voting, gathering signatures for petitions, and joining political organizations (Pasek et al., 2006). When studies have concentrated on measuring civic knowledge, the survey questions have centered on the American representative democratic experience (Hahn, 2003). The questions were historically situated, and driven by contemporary individuals and their roles in government, or specifically targeted students’ understanding of the relationship between three branches of government within the United States (Hahn,
2003; Hart & Atkins, 2002; Pasek et al., 2006). In essence, definitions of civic knowledge reflected a traditional civic knowledge base that has been the emphasis within the public school system for generations. 60
The fluidity of the terms “civic” and “political” throughout the research are also indicative that there is no clear separation of the criteria for defining each realm. Contemporary society, and researchers for the most part, tend to view the latter as formal “affair of state or the business of government” (Flanagan & Faison,
2001, p. 3). Traditional research tends to concentrate heavily upon this narrow definition. However, this designation tends to discount many areas of study in youth civic engagement, such as volunteerism, school related social action, community activism, etc. Youniss et al. (2002) attempts to broaden the definition by referring to civic competence as “an understanding of how government functions, and the acquisition of behaviors that allow citizens to participate in government and permit individuals to meet, discuss, and collaborate to promote their interests within a framework of democratic principles” (p 124).
The work of Flanagan and Faison (2001) also broaden the term for their research in an attempt to account for the daily-lived experiences of youth, their community attachment and feeling of belonging, as well as the societal impact of the youth voice within their community. This definition allows disempowered and marginalized youth an avenue into the research and conversation of political and civic engagement, as well as mainstream youth that have displayed apathy toward the traditional business of politics in state and national capitals. In essence, this serves as a new definition to counter more traditional measures of civic engagement and political participation; one that offers more insight into the nuances, subtleties and previously discounted actions of youth that can be illuminated through the study of grassroots and community organizations. 61
Lastly, the concept of “citizenship” or being a “citizen” seems to have changed dramatically. According to Banks (2008), two types of citizenship are prevalent today, cultural citizenship and cultural democracy. With globalization, it has been necessary to expand issues of human rights and citizenry to a level not simply confined to nation states (Suarez-Orozco, 2001). In fact Banks (2008) asserts that there is an obligation to include “cultural and group rights within a democratic framework” (p. 130). Thus, as scholars continue to examine the topic, it becomes apparent that studies must pay closer attention to the engagement and participation of different cultural groups within structures that follow, or adhere to, democratic principles.
US Political Engagement – The Big Picture
Regardless of definitions, there is evidence that U.S. youth today are less engaged in traditional forms of civic and political participation (Putnam, 1995;
Putnam & Feldstein, 2003), although students in the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education Study were reported to be overwhelmingly interested in democratic principles, controversial political issues, and scored in the median of countries that participated in the test worldwide as to political knowledge (Hahn, 2003). According to the study, European
American students were seen to be more conscious of national political structures and processes (Hahn, 2003; Hart & Atkins, 2002). However, these results are often directly related to education, ethnicity, and community conditions.
Hart and Atkins (2002) analyzed the neighboring communities of Cherry Hill and Camden, New Jersey, and discovered a vast difference in political and civic 62 engagement. Cherry Hill is an economically privileged community with a low minority population, while Camden is home to a large African-American and Latino population with lower economic means (Hart & Atkins, 2002). The results emphasized how the tremendous gap in economic conditions and educational opportunities between these communities, had a direct influence upon the civic engagement, political knowledge and participation of youth (Hahn, 2003; Torney-
Purta, Barber, & Wilkenfeld, 2007). Students from lower means consistently scored lower responding to questions about the workings of democracy or U.S. government roles and figures, while also scoring lower on volunteerism (Hart & Atkins, 2002).
The significant economic and societal obstacles that the Camden students endure have great affect upon student achievement, and these same findings are born out in other studies (Hahn, 2003; Torney-Purta et al., 2007; Youniss et al., 2002). Issues of immigrant and minority civic engagement and political participation will be discussed specifically, later in this chapter.
Why the disengagement? Why the apathy?
Although socioeconomic factors and ethnic composition may illustrate the affect upon youth acquiring political and civic knowledge, it still does not explain how traditional means of measuring political engagement of youth have produced a steady decline (Andolina, 2002, Hahn, 2003; Pasek et al., 2006; Putnam, 1995).
Theories addressing the factors for the decline in youth political participation have varied. Studies have illustrated a lack of passion and personal identification toward the traditional and historic forms of political activity. Youth were found to be more apathetic and cynical in their view of political organizations and governmental 63 bodies and structure (Andolina, 2002). The reputation and record of individuals in public office has led to general mistrust and a lack of identification with government officials as working toward the benefit of society. Instead of earlier studies that tended to blame television, computer games, and other technological apparatuses as the main culprit in youth disengagement and apathy, the focus groups, which were youth identified as between the ages of 18-34, placed part of the blame on what many saw as a corrupt, greedy, and self-serving system (Andolina, 2002; Pasek et al.,
2006; Putnam, 1995).
Contradictions between civics education for youth and lived experiences also impact youth trust of government, and contribute to the growing apathy found in many of these studies. Edelsky (2004) argues that some students are exposed to an
“anti-democratic dynamic” which decreases the optimism and participation within democratic systems (Edelsky, 2004, p. 10). This dynamic is created from the contradiction of learning egalitarian and democratic principles in the classroom, while youth witness powerful corporations impacting the economic realities of themselves and their families without direct, democratic accountability (Edelsky,
2004). Thus, the principles in class are invalidated and become absurd.
However, youth behaviors were not beyond reproach, and reflected some of the same self-interested behaviors that they were critical of, in reference to, politicians and the U.S. political system. The apparent increase in student volunteerism was shown to be less altruistic then first suggested, according to national focus groups (Andolina, 2002). Youth were more apt to volunteer than past generations due to factors such as mandated volunteer programs adopted by public 64 school curricula, or if the volunteerism would benefit them the college application and acceptance process (Andolina, 2002).
Factors That Affect Urban and Oppressed Youth Civic Engagement and
Participation
Studies of youth from historically oppressed communities, marginalized youth, and U.S. immigrant youth have produced different conclusions (Díaz-Strong,
Gomez, Luna-Duarte & Meiners, 2014; Patel, 2012; Patel & Sanchez Ares, 2014). As illustrated in the studies of general U.S. youth, non-dominant culture youth are often enrolled in schools that have limited resources and opportunity. Thus, results of traditional civic knowledge and engagement within the political process are often poor (Hart & Atkins, 2002). There is also a direct correlation between impoverished communities and a lack of volunteerism. This has dire effect upon youth in two ways. First, community centers, activities, and organizations such as youth sports are dependent upon adult volunteers due to the reality that it is far too expensive to staff coaches, umpires, referees, or day care providers from ever decreasing city budgets (Hart & Atkins, 2002). Without these volunteers, opportunities shrink for youth to get involved in constructive activities that are often built around democratic and egalitarian principles. This is especially the case for urban youth, and leads to massive inequities and inequalities of experiences compared to suburban and affluent youth (Hart & Atkins, 2002).
The second major impact of urban youth participation has been the linking of extracurricular activities and organizational participation of youth to later civic and political participation (Flanagan & Faison, 2001). Extracurricular activities and 65 organizations not only provide experiences with democratic principles and structures, but also serve as a source of modeling for future adult behavior by exposing youth to adults that are civically engaged in their own community (Hart &
Atkins, 2002). Thus, a cycle of non-participation and civic engagement is created in urban areas. Youth that are not given the opportunity to become involved in their community through a diverse array of activities may begin to disengage from the process.
Immigrant and Latin@ Youth Participation and Civic Knowledge
Immigrant youth are also an important barometer of political activity.
Although it may seem natural for immigrant youth to assimilate to their new environment, many U.S. immigrants begin to identify with traditionally excluded communities as their stay in the U.S. increases (Stepick & Stepick, 2002). As immigrants and their children experience discriminatory policies and practices, the children tend to gravitate toward communities that actively pursue civil rights
(Stepick & Stepick, 2002). Schools have played an important role in developing this type of civic engagement and development of critical consciousness due to the historic context needed to understand contemporary struggles for social justice.
Although schools in the United States have not been progressive in issues of equity, equality, nor multicultural education approaches, slight improvements have occurred (Stepick & Stepick, 2002). However, the fostering of traditional civic education has maintained, as U.S. schools continue to introduce students to democratic values, process and civic participation. 66
For first and second generation Latin@ youth, civic engagement and identity is a major factor in framing the role of political participation. Bedolla (2000) interviewed fifty Latin@ students from two different Los Angeles high schools that are predominately Latin@. She found that no students identified themselves simply as “American.” Instead, students included some hyphenated or other variation of their ethnic identity, such as “Mexican American”, “Mexican”, or “Chican@”, in order to distinguish themselves from the dominant culture. She also found a lack of political interest and a feeling that dominant American culture was “them” and not
“us” (Bedolla, 2000, p. 111). This sentiment is also evident across other studies that link reticence to engage politically with a feeling of marginalization, or of being the outsider (Sanchez-Jankowski, 2002; Stepick & Stepick, 2002). In fact, Latinos that did identify themselves as American in the 2002 Survey of Latinos, conducted by the
Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Hispanic Center, were found to be less likely to participate in the political process as compared to those that identified themselves with their ethnic origins (Schildkraut, 2005). These findings make it possible to conclude that one way to further engage Latin@ youth in the political process is through embracing diverse cultural identities and abandoning assimilation models for Latin@ youth (Bartch, 2007).
Second generation, U.S. born Latino youth have undergone a process of identification shift from the assimilation mindset of identifying with their new country in a broad and general sense, to identifying with specific communities within their new country. An example of this can be seen within the Latino immigrant community during the public debates over California’s Proposition 187, 67
SB 1070 in Arizona, and Arizona’s English Only Proposition 300, initiatives that attempted to strip the use of government programs and services from undocumented persons. Immigration policies have increased the militarization of the border and the criminalization of immigration violations, resulting in the creation of solidarity between Chican@ youth civil rights movements with new
Latin@ immigrant rights (Bedolla, 2000). Communities that have been negatively affected by anti-immigrant legislation have shown more empathy, political will and activity regardless of their own immigrant status. Ethnicity appears to play less of a factor in terms of civic engagement on this issue since Latin@ youth that do not live amongst a vibrant immigrant community tend to be less engaged and sympathetic toward the issue (Bedolla, 2000).
Latin@ youth are often stereotyped as disengaged from the civic and political process; however, Bedolla’s (2000) work reveals that they do display a respect for the democratic process. Sanchez-Jankowski (2002) describes the marginalized youth experience as being one of the “excluded” groups, although he finds positive civic characteristics in attitudes such as voting and community improvement projects. These results are also found in Latin@ youth from the IEA Civic Education study where students were primarily positive about civic responsibilities, although they were not equal to the positive responses of either non-Hispanic immigrants or non-Hispanics (Torney-Purta, Barber, & Wilkenfeld; 2006). Political interests for the
“excluded” group tend to focus primarily upon issues that directly affect their community (Sanchez-Jankowski, 2002). This was corroborated by the high school students in Bedolla’s study that were largely disinterested in politics except for 68
Proposition 187 in California that targeted the elimination of public funds for undocumented citizens (2000). Regardless of their own residency status of personal effect upon their lives, Latina/o students were overwhelmingly opposed to the legislation. In this case, the affect upon the entire community was seen as the driving force behind their engagement and knowledge of the proposition (Bedolla,
2000).
Torney-Purta’s (2006) extensive study of immigrant and non-immigrant
Latina/o youth from the IEA Civic Education Study yielded a wealth of information concerning attitudes of political participation and knowledge. Like Bedolla, the data from this study, which examined the 374 Latin@ students from a population sample of nearly 3,000 fourteen-year-old students from 28 different countries, supported the favorable perception of Latin@ youth toward traditional forms of democratic engagement, such as voting. Although the positive responses toward conventional forms of political participation still fell below the responses of non-Latin@ students, the difference was “relatively small and reduced when the control for home language and age of entry” was factored into the analysis (Torney-Purta et al., 2006, p. 352). The same factors could be found in attitudes toward the U.S., as Latin@ youth displayed positive sentiments toward the nation, however, not at the rate of non-Latin@ youth.
The major differences that were seen between the Latin@ youth and their counterparts were in the areas of immigrant rights and opportunities, as well as the civic knowledge section of the survey (Torney-Purta et al., 2006). Students of non-
Latin@ heritage were far less likely to have positive perceptions toward 69 immigration and immigrant rights (Torney-Purta et al., 2006). This issue also appears to be galvanizing to the Latina/o community, due to the fact that home language factors did not impact the results (Torney-Purta et al., 2006). These findings support the idea that Latin@ youth identify with immigrant populations regardless of the generations spent in the country as citizens (Torney-Purta et al.,
2006).
The only other major difference between these populations found in the IEA survey was the civic content and skills and the conceptual understanding of democracy and citizenship sections, where Latina/o youth lagged behind the other ethnic cohorts. These findings are a further indictment of the education system, which supports the theory that students in impoverished communities are not receiving equitable education experiences.
Chican@/Latin@, Immigrant, & Youth of Color Activism and Resistance
Research has also focused upon how youth resist oppressive and hegemonic dynamics in school and other institutions, as well as how youth react to these dramatic attempts at repressing their freedom through direct action. As of late, a demographic in the United States that have felt the drastic regression of liberty and civil rights have been Chican@/Latin@ youth through the exponential increase in austere immigration legislation on the state level. This has coincided with the paralysis of immigration policy reform on the federal level. However,
Chican@/Latin@ youth have led the way in demanding justice in the wake of federal inaction and attempts by individual states to over-criminalize undocumented persons. Qualitative ethnographic case studies have illustrated the will of young 70
Chican@s/Latin@ to “come out” as undocumented individuals in order to expose the harm and failings of current immigration policies and legislations (Díaz-Strong,
Gómez, Luna-Duarte, Meiners, 2014; Patel, 2012; Patel & Ares, 2014). These studies have illuminated how agency and activism of youth from publically persecuted and disenfranchised communities can still impact change without direct democratic representation. Through the exposure of their counter narratives as undocumented youth, these young activists have been able to challenge the demonization of immigrant communities (Chavez, 2013, Santa Ana, 1999). Furthermore, LGBTQ immigrant youth have led the movement of recovering their humanity by openly
“coming out” as undocumented, a practice of liberation and self-determination exercised by individuals in the LGBTQ community (Díaz-Strong et al., 2014). These youth have provided evidence that intersectional identities can be used as support in the process of obtaining human rights across oppressed communities.
Similarly, research focusing upon the survivance and resistance of
Indigenous youth has found numerous insights in how they navigate systems of oppression and dehumanization. One way that youth have endured is in their
“epistemological persistence” which is an active disruption to essentialized mainstream views of Indigenous people (Friedel, 2014). In this sense, students congregating and revitalizing oral traditions with one another is a form of active resistance to disembodied learning that has been the hallmark of Western education. Friedel (2014) also emphasizes the importance of youth reclaiming their sense of space and place in the context of being Indigenous in urban settings, emphasizing that urban spaces have intimate, historic and spiritual connections to 71 these youth and their people. Congregating together not only served as a way to connect with one another through their experiences as contemporary Indigenous youth, but also to counter the erasure of Native lives, history, and ties to the lands of
North America.
Finding an authentic place to live and learn within the constantly evolving
United States mainstream culture is pertinent to the lives of African American youth in urban settings, especially in light of gentrification in major US cities and the exponential rise of the technology industry (Akom, Scott, & Shah, 2014). African
American youth are critically examining issues of space and place through the intersection of environmental sustainability and STEM education (Akom, 2011;
Akom et al., 2014). Through their structural resistance and agency (SRA) model, researchers found that African American youth are immersing themselves in STEM programs to address the “digital divide” that exists between youth of color and economically privileged European American peers (Akom et al., 2014). STEM careers are not accessible to many African American youth and other youth of color due to the inequity of technological resources in schools that serve these youth.
However, researchers have noted that through SRA African American youth have been able to resist these unequal educational structures and fueled their own self- determination through organizations that promote STEM, environmental justice, and inquiry-based educational programs outside of the traditional school day
(Akom et al., 2014). This research supports the idea that youth resistance, civic engagement, and activism can have a positive impact toward the educational and career trajectory of youth. Furthermore, youth of color also develop leadership 72 qualities that assist in societal transformation to address the inequalities and discriminatory policies and practices in their communities that serve as constraints to the liberation and emancipation of young people.
Youth Participatory Action Research
Although currently the civics education experience of urban and non- dominant culture youth does not reflect a progressive approach toward developing political engagement, some studies have illustrated urban youth from disenfranchised and impoverished communities committed to bringing forth change
(Cammarota, 2007; Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Irizzary, 2011; Morrell et. al,
2013). These same communities that are shown to lack resources, support, and display poorer performances on traditional types of political knowledge, have also produced active and politically charged youth. This often stems from the injustices and inequalities that the communities experience and perceive (Cammarota, 2007;
Ginwright & Cammarota, 2007; Nagda et al, 2006; Nygreen, Soo & Sanchez 2006;
Rubin & Jones, 2007).
Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is a non-traditional form of increasing civic knowledge and activism with youth. At its core, participatory action research has been an avenue for university researchers, communities, and schools to critically analyze their world, in order to name and transform constraints, inequalities, and social injustices within people’s lives. The objective of participatory action/social justice research is to create change that improves citizens’ lives and the well-being of the community. In the case of youth civic engagement, participatory social justice research has been used to make connections between the 73 lived experiences of young people and the civic and political process for instituting change. Although the goals for each study and group are unique, these studies reflect more community and grassroots movements that attempt to transform limiting factors upon impoverished, oppressed and other communities that lack a voice in the traditional political process (Rubin & Jones, 2007). These actions do not easily fit into the narrow categories of voting, petitioning or political organization membership. However, they add a clearer picture to the reality of youth activism. As some studies suggest, when students are inundated with the tragic realities of living in poverty, or feel the dominant culture has marginalized or excluded them from the process of policymaking, they are more apt to distrust traditional forms of political activity (Sanchez-Jankowski, 2002).
Specific case studies of youth in the west and southwest have also been produced activist youth toward a myriad of issues, such as equality across ethnicities and gender in regard to school discipline, creating children’s books for immigrant children, petitioning and developing social justice classes, and the formation of youth advocacy groups to address community needs (Cammarota,
2007; Nygreen et. al., 2006).
Similar participatory action research projects, with youth identifying problems in their own community as areas that need transformation, have come to fruition in Oakland, California and Tucson, Arizona (Cammarota, 2007; Ginwright &
Cammarota, 2007). These community groups and classrooms were developed around the concepts of critical praxis and critical consciousness (Freire, 1970). This type of libratory educational theory and practice centers around individuals 74 becoming aware of the constraints made upon their lives by the hegemony and developing action plans to transform the situation. There is a clear link between the needs of historically oppressed and impoverished communities, and the type of civic and political engagement of these projects (Bartch, 2007). The focus and purpose of the studies varied from the development of youth leaders for the African-American community in Oakland to implementing a revolutionary pedagogy based on cultural, historical teachings and social justice education in Tucson (Cammarota, 2007;
Ginwright & Cammarota, 2007).
Oakland’s Young Black Leaders (YBL) desired to raise neighborhood and youth awareness of a proposition that would increase adult criminal sentencing upon minors. In order to expose populations to this issue that were typically ignored in the political process, they created mobile hip-hop concerts on the back of a flatbed truck that were explicitly focused upon the issue (Ginwright & Cammarota,
2007). Although the proposition passed, YBL was encouraged by the increase of voter participation and the narrow margin for which the proposition passed
(Ginwright & Cammarota, 2007).
Cammarota’s study on whether there would be a positive effect using a social justice curriculum and critical pedagogy experience for “at risk” Latina/o students was confirmed (Cammarota, 2007). A class of 17 students in the Tucson case developed recommendations for the governing school board of the district through ethnography and participatory action research. They presented their findings and the district adopted some of their recommendations including the expansion of multicultural and social justice education classes. However, this case is of particular 75 interest due to the fact that the project became institutionalized within the public school district. One typical limitation of such community projects is the lack of integration into mainstream systems, such as national community organizations, public schools, or other government programs for youth (Gibson, 2001).
These grassroots activities fall outside the traditional research views of civic engagement and political knowledge. However, the competencies acquired, developed, and honed by such activities not only increase the students acumen about the political process, but also provide youth real experiences that affect change within their community (Cammarota, 2007; Irizarry, 2011; Morrell, et al,
2013). The youth are immersed in the practicality of social transformation.
Another program steeped in YPAR methodology and liberatory goals for
Latin@ students was Project FUERTE (Future Urban Educators conducting Research to transform Teacher Education). In their research, Jason Irizarry and the youth of
FUERTE were able to transcend the role of research participant and exercise their own self-determination, as well as realize their academic potential through a rigorous research agenda focusing on their educational experiences as Latin@s.
Youth researchers investigated a wide range of critical issues which they organically generated in their Action Research and Social Change class, such as academic tracking, culturally responsive curriculum, school discipline and punishment, cultural deficit perspectives from their teachers, and language policies and practices
(Irizarry, 2011). Students were able to present their data, implications, and suggestions for transforming discriminatory and regressive educational practices to their school community and the nation through publication of a book, as well as 76 their attendance in national education conferences (Irizarry, 2011). Irizarry’s work
(2011) illustrates the potential of YPAR as a way for students to develop collective agency and active subjectivity (Lugones, 2010).
Chican@/Latin@ youth and other students of color in Los Angeles also were involved in action research in their community in an effort toward social transformation (Morrell et al., 2013). Through critical media pedagogy, students of
Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles developed a mural project for their campus that depicted powerful moments in Chican@/Latin@ history and other civil rights occurrences that resonated with youth (Morrell et al., 2013). Students also created video productions that artistically presented critical issues facing youth in
Watts as a form of civic engagement (Morrell et al., 2013). These case studies and participatory action research projects illustrate the capacity and potential of that youth possess in raising awareness of socio-political issues that effect their community. Youth activism and civic engagement both inside and outside of school dispel mainstream claims of students possessing low academic ability, disengagement, or apathy toward their education and community.
Summary
The theoretical framework and relevant research literature presented in this chapter illustrate the evolution of my pedagogical and curricular tenets, as well as my teaching practices that led to the research questions of this case study:
• How do youth view the influence of the pedagogy and
curriculum of a Chican@ Literature class upon their
personal, ethnic, and academic identities? 77
• In what ways do youth in a Chican@ Literature class perceive
their role in addressing critical social issues in their lives
through civic engagement and political activism?
Research studies and conceptual articles assisted in my own understanding as a practitioner in the classroom, as well as of the myriad of theories that were applied to create a critical and emancipating academic space for Chican@/Latin@ youth. Critical race theory emphasized the importance of counter narratives for people of color and further established the significance of youth in CLASS to articulate their own story of educational agency and engagement.
Furthermore, the research literature also established the positive impact of culturally responsive, sustaining and multicultural education upon historically disenfranchised and marginalized youth in terms of a personal, ethnic, and activist identity. Educational studies centered upon the cultural assets and wealth of students of color confirm that students gain a positive school ethos from the implementation of such curriculum and pedagogical models. Participatory action case studies, and youth participatory action research focusing upon youth resistance and activism, also illustrated the non-traditional impact that students have taken in respect to civic engagement and societal transformation.
In the subsequent chapters, I will continue to apply theory and relevant research literature through the presentation of the curriculum and pedagogy of
CLASS, as well as in the analysis of the data. These studies and theoretical concepts not only broadened my own understandings, but also provided guides and supports 78 through the data analysis process, which gave me much deeper meaning in regard to the resonance of the data and the voices of my students.
79
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This chapter will first present the rationale for the creation of the research questions that are addressed in this case study along with the theoretical framework that I used to analyze the data. This will be followed by a description of the context, participants and the methodology of the study along with my own positionality as a teacher researcher, which are critical to understanding the dynamics of the educational climate both inside and outside of the classroom. Next, I describe the methodology of the data collection and analysis. Through an ethnographic approach, I present the discourse of youth through interviews and artifacts produced in a Chican@ Literature class that reveal in what ways the pedagogy and curriculum of said course may have impacted their identity, civic engagement and political activism. This study adds to the research focusing on the significance of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy, as well as critical ethnic studies and multicultural curriculum upon students’ identity, along with their political and community engagement. This study can also address the gap of
Chican@/Latin@ youth voice within such research topics.
Rationale
The Chican@/Latin@ student population is one of the fastest growing and largest ethnic groups in the United States. However, Chican@/Latin@ dropout rates are the highest of all ethnic groups and educators, policy makers and educational researchers are struggling to discover pedagogical strategies that will lead to an 80 increase of academic success and social opportunities (Duncan-Andrade, 2005;
Solórzano & Yosso, 2002; Yosso, 2006).
Participatory research and case studies have been conducted to examine the impact and affect that culturally responsive curriculum has upon youth of color in terms of their academic and ethnic identity (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008;
Izirray, 2011; Valenzuela, 1999). Additionally, research focusing on the civic engagement and activism of Latin@ students and other youth of color has surfaced over the past decade (Cammarota, 2007; Morrell, Dueñas, García, & López, 2013).
However, there is a gap of teacher research that articulate the intersection of these issues as to how they may be produced in a classroom setting, especially through the voices of Mexican heritage youth.
The Questions
This was the research context that inspired me to develop and facilitate
Chican@ Literature, Art, & Social Studies (CLASS), which combines culturally responsive and socially relevant curriculum with participatory action research.
CLASS is a community centered, social action based program, which I facilitated at a local youth center each Sunday of the school year. After it’s initial inception in the fall of 2012, CLASS became a college-accredited course through a partnership with
Prescott College. The program is almost completely compromised of
Chican@/Latin@ students, thus I felt it would be a vital study to examine how high school youth, and recent graduates of the former Mexican American Studies program in Tucson, perceive the intersections between their personal, ethnic and 81 academic identities, as well as their civic engagement and role in transforming their community. Thus, this study focused on gathering data on the following questions:
• How do youth view the influence of the pedagogy and
curriculum of a Chican@ Literature class upon their personal,
ethnic, and academic identities?
• In what ways do youth in a Chican@ Literature class perceive their
role in addressing critical social issues in their lives through civic
engagement and political activism?
Theoretical Framework
Chican@/Latin@ students have historically been underserved by the
American public school system. Critical pedagogy can provide the basis for transformative educational experiences that build a students academic identity while simultaneously providing the framework for a more civically engaged and active life (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; hooks, 2003a, 2003b;). Students exposed to critical pedagogy are given the guidance, freedom and tools to find their own voice and role in the world, and become agents for a more critical democracy
(Darder, 2002; Freire, 1970; hooks, 2003c).
Critical race theory (CRT) provides another theoretical lens to combat the debilitating reality of American public schools for many students of color (Yosso,
2002). Since this study is largely attempting to confront a specific part of the history of racial discrimination and the impact upon educational and societal opportunities for Chican@ youth and youth of color, CRT seemed a natural choice. CRT has been used in legal scholarship, however the importance of analyzing racist patterns and 82 policies within the education system has proved equally effective in determining institutional patterns of discrimination and inequality (Delgado and Stefancic, 2001;
Ladson-Billings, 1999; Yosso, 2006). CRT will be essential since a vast majority of my students are of Chican@/Latin@ descent, a community that has been subject to marginalization and discrimination throughout the history of public education in the United States. By identifying and naming discriminatory practices through counter-narratives, students can begin a process of educational healing that can recreate a positive outlook toward their education and role in transforming societal inequalities (Delgado and Stefancic, 2001; Solórzano & Delgado-Bernal, 2001;
Solórzano& Yosso, 2000).
Since the institution of education serves a social reproductive purpose, it is important to examine how power and capital play a role in the social milieu that directly impacts the access to resources, opportunities and social ascendancy for
Chican@/Latin@ students (Bourdieu, 1982; Foucault, 1984). The socio-political context and climate for Chican@/Latin@ students in public schools can often alienate, isolate, or marginalize the ability for Chican@/Latin@ students to accrue social capital in order to transform their lives (Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valenzuela,
1999;). Key school agents who build from the students’ background, heritage language, or culture as a strength can provide vital social capital and networks that can lead to greater educational success (González, Moll & Amanti, 2005; Yosso,
2005).
Finally, Indigenous epistemologies taught to us by elders and scholars of the
Tonalmachiotl (commonly referred to as the Aztec calendar) was a critical lens to 83 few these data (Chavez Levy, 2003; Rodriguez, 2014; Serrano Madera, 2014).
Inspired by the funds of knowledge study in our community (González, Moll, &
Amanti, 2005), my colleagues and I were able to deepen our own educational and scholarly practice through the Mexica concept of the Nahui Ollin (four movements) and the Mayan philosophy of In Lak Ech (see further explanation regarding the use of Indigenous epistemologies in the classroom in Chapter One and Chapter Four). As the sun stone and codices articulate, the Nahui Ollin establishes essential characteristics of being human, and In Lak Ech emphasizes the cultural-historical importance of empathy, not only in our daily interactions as human beings, but also our work as scholars. Since our pedagogy, methodology, and practices as teachers were centered upon these concepts in order to aid the process of decolonization, the inclusion of Indigenous epistemologies as part of my theoretical frame is fundamental.
Methods
Qualitative Case Study
Qualitative case studies are often used in research that attempts to “examine a contemporary phenomenon in its real life context” (Yin, 1981, p. 59). This is particularly useful when the subject of the research has many variables, which are often the circumstances that are found in studies that focus upon systems or programs (Marshall & Rossman, 2006). Furthermore, recent literature on case studies suggest that another major objective for choosing case studies as a research strategy is to aim for deeper understanding of the process that participants use to make sense of experiences or stimuli (Woodside, 2010). 84
For this research endeavor, I used qualitative case study to examine student views regarding the influence that the Indigenous epistemologies, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and curriculum used in CLASS had upon their identity, civic engagement and activism. After reviewing the interview data midway through the study, I decided to produce an additional case study focusing on the only student in
CLASS who was not of Chican@/Latin@ descent. For this study, I used the same research questions as a lens to analyze the data. Since the answers to the research questions provided by the students of CLASS in interviews were unique, dynamic and contained many variables, I felt that case studies would be the appropriate strategy to use for the purposes of this project. In addition, the participants in this study were being asked to provide a deeper understanding through the process of reflecting upon their experiences in CLASS. Thus, the participants were involved in
“sensemaking” (Woodside, 2010) in this study, through their ruminations regarding the impact of culturally sustaining and responsive pedagogy upon their identity, civic engagement and activism. Student interviews and student artifacts produced in CLASS provided the central data sources for this study which will be discussed further in this chapter.
Participatory Action Research
Participatory action research (PAR), as defined by the professional literature, is a methodology that focuses on a partnership between researchers and the community of study in order to effect social change (Baum, McDougal, & Smith,
2006). An integral part of PAR is the researcher and participants gathering data, and reflecting together upon that data, in order to instigate some type of transformative 85 action (Baum, McDougal, & Smith, 2006). Unlike a positivist approach where the researcher is the font of the knowledge and expertise needed to accurately analyze empirically collected data, PAR is grounded in a collective effort between the researchers and participants to reflect upon the data and create plans of action to address the needs of the community. Hence, PAR privileges the expertise of participants in regard to local context, history, and culture, inasmuch as professional research and scholarly training (Baum, McDougal, & Smith, 2006).
Thus, PAR proved to be the best methodological fit for this case study, although it is important to note that the process evolved through the case study. It was my original intent that this would be a youth participatory action research
(YPAR) study where we focused upon specific issues in the community and addressed them together through community research projects that culminated at the end of the spring semester of 2013. However, as our Chican@ Literature, Art and
Social Studies (CLASS) program evolved, students took action in their community significantly earlier than I had initially planned, and far before I introduced them to qualitative research methodologies. This led to an evolution in my research questions and methodology, which became much more aligned with PAR and not
YPAR, after listening to student interviews midway through our year together. Since the students were already civically engaged and politically active in community issues, I decided to focus on student discourse in CLASS assignments, and personal interviews as the primary data. However, I also kept faithful to the major tenets of
PAR through collaboration with students upon the data we collected in CLASS. 86
For example, one of the tenets of PAR includes the idea that research will lead to social change that improves the lives of the participants (McTaggart, 1991;
1994). The fact that my students and I were eager for social transformation in reaction to the dismantling of Mexican American Studies (MAS), and that we were all members of the same marginalized group that was the most effected by this policy decision, PAR provided the proper match in terms of the goals of the case study (Morrell, Dueñas, Garcia, & López, 2013). CLASS was created together as an attempt to sustain the knowledge and academic opportunities for Tucson youth to experience MAS. Therefore, students were acutely aware of power dynamics that were impacting their education and collaboratively constructed a space to empower themselves (Baum, McDougal, & Smith, 2006). Furthermore, it was my desire as a teacher to have authentic participation from my students throughout the research process (McTaggart, 1991; 1994). Since the research questions were measuring the impact of the pedagogy and curriculum of CLASS upon their identities through their voices, authentic participation was embedded in the study. Another way to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the case study was the fact that I shared my data analysis with my students, seeking their input before I wrote a final draft.
I was also mindful that the data collection would not be obtrusive to the teaching and learning in CLASS. As a high school teacher for nearly twenty years, I was fully capable of creating a class and research setting that was complimentary in nature. Another principle of PAR is that knowledge production should be collaborative between the participants and the researcher. In our case, knowledge, organizing, and action were areas that were regularly produced in collaboration and 87 in many instances the participants produced this on their own (McTaggart, 1991;
1994). Finally, reflection and action are often presented as key principles in PAR.
Since these elements are also characteristics found in the Indigenous epistemologies that we used as a part of the pedagogy, teaching, and learning practices in CLASS, there seemed to be as perfect of a fit as one could imagine for this case (McTaggart,
1991, 1994; Marshall & Rossman, 2006). All participants were authentically introduced to the process of reflection-action-reflection during CLASS as both students and researchers. This study was largely focused on how the participants internalized knowledge, navigated their action and reflected upon their actions, all of which work well with the goals of PAR.
Context of Study: Chican@ Literature, Art, & Social Studies Program
The setting for this study was the Chican@ Literature, Art, & Social Studies
(CLASS) program that I created after the dismantling of the Mexican American
Studies program in the Tucson Unified School District. The program met every
Sunday afternoon from 2pm-5pm during the academic school year at the John
Valenzuela Youth Center (JVYC) in South Tucson. This site was chosen due to the advocacy it had displayed for Chican@/Latin@ youth and the MAS program, as well as the fact that the center has regularly provided youth and community educational program for decades, and its location was convenient to bus lines that youth regularly use in the south and west sides of Tucson. Thus, the JVYC was also able to furnish a classroom setting and materials that were essential to the rigorous academic work that the students received. 88
THMS formally offered a Mexican American Studies program that consisted of literature and social studies courses, which satisfied graduation requirements for juniors and seniors. It was the largest Mexican American/Latino studies high school program in the United States, and the classes offered a culturally responsive and socially relevant, multicultural curriculum with an emphasis upon the Chican@ perspective. Pedagogically, the courses were reflective of critical pedagogy through a Freirian perspective, as well as critical race theory. I taught all the Latino
Literature courses at Central High School (pseudonym) and designed the curriculum for both classes.
Participants
The eight participants of the study (all participant names are pseudonyms) were members of CLASS who were current high school students, as well as recent graduates from the now defunct Mexican American Studies program in TUSD. The median age of the participants was 18.5 years old, and all participants had attended or were currently attending public school at the time of the study. The sample was self-selected and convenient since the students needed to be a part of CLASS in order to examine how the pedagogy and curriculum may have contributed to their identity development, civic engagement or activism (Explorable, 2009). The following descriptions include pseudonyms of the participants.
Ana: During the time of this case study, Ana was a 19 year-old freshman at
Southwest University. She had recently graduated from Central High Magnet School
(CHS) and was a student in the Mexican American Studies program during the year it was dismantled, including my Senior Latino Literature class. Ana defined herself 89 as a Chicana and was a leading youth activist in the defense of MAS during her junior and senior years of high school, as well as a member of Movimiento Estudiantil
Chicanos de Aztlan (MEChA) during all four years of her high school career. Ana was also a part of the group that worked through the summer to present at the national conference Free Minds, Free People 2013 in Chicago, Illinois.
Concepcion: During the time of this case study, Concepcion was a seventeen year-old senior in high school at Central High Magnet School. Concepcion was taking
Advanced Placement English classes and was on a college preparatory track. She was also a student in the Mexican American Studies program during the year it was dismantled, including my Junior Latino Literature class. Concepcion’s older sister had also taken MAS classes both her junior and senior years with my colleagues and
I at CHS. Thus, Concepcion was introduced to the class and community activities when she was in middle school, and became an active member of MEChA upon her enrollment at CHS. During the year of study, Concepcion was heavily involved with the community organizing work that took place in preparation for the desegregation hearings in November of 2013, and self-identified as Mexicana due to the fact that she was bilingual and born in Mexico.
Esperanza: Esperanza turned 18 years old and was a senior at College
Preparatory High School (pseudonym) during the course of this case study.
Esperanza was the only student in this study who did not have prior experiences in a MAS class since the classes were not offered at her high school although it was in the same school district. Her journey to seek out CLASS came from this dissatisfaction with her school’s lack of academic content that reflected her culture 90 and her close friendship with Rita. Esperanza was seeking out academic experiences that could strengthen her own pride and understanding in terms of Chican@ history and literature. This journey started for her in 2010 when multiple school walkouts and marches took place throughout Arizona in protest to the passage of SB1070 and
HB 2281 (see Chapter One). Esperanza felt compelled to leave her school and join the student protests due in part to the marginalization of these issues at her school.
Rita was an incredibly gifted young scholar who had already been accepted to attend the major university in her hometown before the conclusion of the academic year in which the study took place. Esperanza self-identified as Mexican American and was bilingual.
Gloria: During the course of this study, Gloria celebrated her sixteenth birthday. She was not only a student of mine in CLASS, but also in the senior English class that I taught at Central High Magnet School during the spring semester. She was also my student aide at THMS, which meant that I saw her six days per week.
Gloria was also a student during the year that MAS was dismantled, but transferred to a charter school before the spring semester. Gloria was on a college track and a cheerleader during her senior year, while also participating on the wrestling team for her first three years in high school. She is a self-defined Chicana who came out publically as a lesbian during her junior year in high school. Gloria was a leading youth activist for Chican@/Latin@ issues including advocating for Mexican
American Studies and a member of MEChA during all four years of her high school career. She was also a part of the group that worked through the summer to present at the national conference Free Minds, Free People 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. 91
Rita: During the duration of this study, Rita celebrated her eighteenth birthday. She was a senior in high school at Central High Magnet School and a member of MEChA. The year prior, Rita was a student of mine in Latino Literature at the time of its demise. Rita was also on track to attend college and was active with her school newspaper. She was an advocate for MAS, but not as active in the student protests that took place throughout her high school career as compared to a few of her peers due to familial obligations. She self-defined as a Chicana and was bilingual.
Santiago: During the course of this study, Santiago turned nineteen years old and self-identified as Chicano. He was a senior at Central High Magnet School and was an MAS student during the previous year when the program was dismantled.
Santiago was an active member of MEChA and was heavily involved with the community organizing work that took place in preparation for the desegregation hearings in November of 2013. Santiago participated in the gifted and talented education (GATE) program through middle school. Although he did not register for
GATE or Advanced Placement classes in high school, he fully expected to attend and graduate from college.
Tipu: Through the course of this study, Tipu turned 20 years old. She was a former student of mine in the MAS program for two years during her sophomore and junior years, and my student aide as a senior when the program was dismantled. Tipu was extremely active in the community organizing and protesting movements in Tucson around HB 2281, and the district machinations to eliminate the classes. This included participation in the youth led occupation of the TUSD
Governing Board room to prevent a vote that would have stripped the core 92 graduation credit from the classes. She self-identified ethnically as Kashmiri or
South Asian, although she clearly detailed in our interviews that she also appreciates and values her mother’s Irish-American heritage. Through the course of the study, Tipu began to make plans to attend college, sentiments that she did not posses at the start of CLASS.
Victoria: During the course of this study, Victoria was 21 years old and a full time student at Tucson Community College (pseudonym). She was a former graduate of Central High Magnet School and the MAS program, and attended a local community college six days per week while also participating in CLASS. Victoria was an advocate and activist in support of MAS during the time it had been threatened and dismantled. She was a key figure in coordinating the youth of CLASS to lead the community forums for the TUSD desegregation hearings, as well as organizing the youth submission to present a workshop at Free Minds, Free People. For the most part, Victoria served as the key leader and liaison between the students and me during the duration of CLASS, and throughout the work in the summer to prepare for the conference. She self-identifies both as Chicana and Mexican-American depending on her audience.
Figure 3.1
Students Age at the start of case study Immigrant Generation Ana 18 years old 3rd Generation
Concepcion 17 years old 1st Generation
Esperanza 17 years old 2nd Generation 93
Gloria 15 years old 3rd Generation
Rita 17 years old 2nd Generation
Santiago 18 years old 1st Generation
Tipu 19 years old 2nd Generation
Victoria 21 years old 3rd Generation
Positionality:
It is essential to examine my stance as a researcher in order to contextualize this case study, since the participants in my study were current students in CLASS, and all but one were former students in my Latino Literature classes at Central High
Magnet School. I was a teacher at Central High for sixteen of my eighteen years of teaching public school, and from 2004-2011 I was the literature teacher associated with the Mexican America/Raza Studies Department in the Tucson Unified School
District. Our progressive and culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy based upon educational theory such as critical pedagogy, critical race theory, and multicultural, anti-racist education is chronicled in Chapter One.
It is also important to note that I am a biracial man, of European and Mexican
American descent, yet I identify myself as Chicano. During my adolescence I struggled with issues of colonization and internalized oppression that were cultivated by mainstream media depictions of Mexicans and Latin@s, policies of the
United States and California, as well as my own educational experiences in mostly suburban schools that were overwhelmingly populated with students and teachers 94 of European ancestry. Attempts to reconcile these feelings, and humanize my
Chicano heritage, were a painful, yet necessary journey, which assisted in forging my dispositions and perspectives as a teacher in predominantly Chican@/Latin@ schools in Tucson, Arizona.
It is important to note that I live in the southwest side of Tucson in a predominately Chican@ and African American community in the same school district and side of town as many of my students. I am acutely aware of the poverty, limited economic and societal resources, and educational opportunities for youth in my community. Thus, I have been active in creating and developing programs for youth with my former colleagues, students, and community members to compensate for the lack of resources provided to youth in the west and southwest neighborhoods of Tucson.
As a result of the experiences throughout my life, I have learned the importance of culturally sustaining pedagogy and culturally responsive curriculum.
Students must learn who they are before they can develop ideas of what they can become. Part of my aim as a Chican@/Latin@ literature teacher and qualitative researcher is to re-humanize and decolonize Chican@ youth as well as myself, while increasing educational opportunities and social capital for youth in my community.
During the research process I was conscious of my own personal biases in regard to my views toward educational inequalities an inequities that have exacerbated
Chican@/Latin@ disengagement and disenfranchisement from public school. To protect the authenticity and validity of the research, I was determined that the 95 student discourse, produced through interviews and assignments in CLASS, would direct me.
Trustworthiness
In reference to the credibility and reliability of this research project, there essential qualitative research methods that were integrated and applied both in terms of the specific methods, as well as my own qualities as a researcher that aided in the trustworthiness of the findings. In a re-imagining of Egon Guba’s framework of qualitative methods in the 1980’s, Andrew Shenton (2004) articulates how qualitative researchers can increase the trustworthiness in their studies. In respect to this case study, credibility was addressed through a myriad of different provisions. Prolonged engagement with the culture that is being studied is one way to increase trustworthiness (Shenton, 2004). My own familiarity with the culture and setting of the study was established through my nearly twenty years as a high school teacher and resident in the west side of Tucson. Moreover, my own membership in the Chican@/Latin@ community increased the authenticity of my work and aided in how I framed, designed and analyzed the project.
The students were a self-selected and convenient sampling since CLASS was voluntary and open to any youth of high school and early college age. In addition student participation in the study was not mandatory and data was gathered in an authentic and unobtrusive way during the day-to-day activities of CLASS (Shelton,
2004). These qualities also increase reliability of data and help secure honesty from the participants (Shenton, 2004). Similarly, I used iterative questioning during the 96 interview process and implemented member checks with the data analysis chapter to further integrate reliability and validity of the findings (Shenton, 2004).
In regard to the transferability and dependability of this case study and the findings, I wrote a thick description of the context and phenomenon in question in order to aid in any future replication of this research (Shenton, 2004). Triangulation was instituted in this study by utilizing different methods of data collection including personal interviews with the participants, the collection of student artifacts, audio recordings of CLASS sessions and weekly reflective memos
(Shenton, 2004). The use of these different methods helps to compensate for any of the individual limitations (Shenton, 2004).
Data Collection
It is important to note, that I collected six different types of data during the research process from September 2012 through August of 2013. Initially, I anticipated that class time would be an essential component in articulating how the pedagogy and curriculum of CLASS impacted the students in terms of identity, civic engagement and activism. This included audio recordings of all CLASS sessions, ethnographic field notes taken during CLASS sessions in a teacher-research journal, weekly reflective memos on CLASS sessions, student artifacts from CLASS assignments and activities, and one-on-one student interviews. However, I did not focus on these data for the purposes of this dissertation since the interviews and student artifacts that I collected were so rich, thus becoming my primary data.
Rather, I used the other data such as the audio of CLASS sessions for the purpose of 97 confirming examples that the students revealed in their interviews, or for a deeper understanding of the contexts of their assignments.
Figure 3.2
Research Question Data Collection How do youth view the influence of the • Personal Interviews (Primary) pedagogy and curriculum of a Chican@ • Student Artifacts (Secondary) Literature class upon their personal, ethnic, and academic identities?
In what ways do youth in a Chican@ • Personal Interviews (Primary) Literature class perceive their role in • Student Artifacts (Secondary) addressing critical social issues in their lives through civic engagement and political activism?
Interviews
The primary data collected for this dissertation were two sets of individual interviews with the students of CLASS. In late December 2012 through January
2013, I conducted open-ended interviews with seven of the eight participants for approximately one hour, which were video recorded with the participants consent.
Ana was the only student who was not interviewed during this time due to complications and conflicts with her personal schedule. These interviews were semi-structured since I had prior relationships with nearly each participant, which led to a vein of questions and answers that my scripted interview questions could not have anticipated. The protocol was based upon research literature on the ethnic and academic identity of Chican@/Latin@ students (Izirray, 2011; Ramírez, 2008) and other students of color (Borrero, Yeh, Cruz, & Suda, 2012), as well as civic 98 engagement and activism of Chican@/Latino youth and students of color (Bedolla,
2000; Tuck & Yang, 2014). I also used an adaptation of Seidman’s three-phased interview (Seidman, 2006). However, in lieu of Seidman’s first phase, which focuses upon biographical information, I concentrated on the students’ school experiences prior to their involvement with CLASS. Additional questions also included student reflections where they compared their public school experiences with CLASS, in regard to any type of impact that the curriculum and pedagogy of CLASS had upon their personal, ethnic or academic identity (See Appendix for Interview Questions). I also took ethnographic field notes during each interview sessions to make note of emerging themes that supported my research questions (Seidman, 2006).
Upon the conclusion of the academic year, I conducted exit interviews with each student in CLASS who had attended the entire year (one student had dropped out in the fall and another had joined in the spring). These interviews were also semi-structured, with the interview questions focusing on the effect of the curriculum and pedagogy of CLASS upon academic, personal and ethnic identity, as well as student civic engagement and political activism. Two different sets of interviews took place at that time. Since four of the participants were continuing to work together in preparation for a presentation at a national conference in July, I delayed their exit interviews until the conclusion of the conference. These interviews took place in July and August of 2013. The four participants that were not contributing to the conference presentation were interviewed in May and June of 2013. 99
The participants chose the location for the interviews. The mid-term interviews were either conducted at the JVYC during CLASS sessions or after school at Central High Magnet School where a few of the students were enrolled. The exit interviews were conducted at my home, although every student was given the option to suggest a site or to have interviews take place in their homes. The list of questions asked in this phase of the research process can be found in Appendix A.
Student Artifacts Produced in CLASS
A secondary data set collected for this study included written artifacts produced by the participants (Altrichter, Posh, & Somekh, 2005; Hubbard & Power,
2003). During CLASS sessions students wrote personal reflections focusing upon critical issues in their lives, as well as reflections pertaining to the literature we were studying. These reflections were usually completed during a 15-20 minute period of CLASS. Participants also generated more formal writing, such as literary analyses, poetry and research papers that were collected throughout the year. The formal assignments were completed at home and were more extensive due to having additional time to compose.
In addition to written work, other artifacts were collected such as chart paper during their collaborative learning assignments in CLASS, which was used to collect the analytical, synthetic, and creative group work of the students. The group of students who taught a 60-90 minute lesson for their peers focusing on critical social issues in hip hop as a summative assessment, were required to use
PowerPoint and Word documents that were either electronically or physically 100 collected. This included educational objectives, assignments, activities and other supplemental materials, such as music lyrics.
Audio Recordings
Each CLASS session was audio recorded with consent from the participants, and parents for participants whom were minors, through the use of a computer and iPad. The files were recorded by date and stored on a password-protected computer for privacy and confidentiality purposes.
Field Notes in Teacher Research Journal & Reflective Memos
In addition to the recordings, I also kept field notes in my research journal during CLASS sessions, noting the time of the recordings where students provided discourse pertaining to my research questions. Due to the fact that I was the instructor of the class, my time was limited to write detailed field notes. Thus, at the end of each CLASS session, I re-read the content of my field notes in my researcher notebook and composed analytical memos focusing on any emerging themes in terms of student identity or political activity and engagement (Altrichter, Posh, &
Somekh, 2005; Hubbard & Power, 2003; Marshal & Rossman, 2006). I placed all
CLASS notes and memos in a separate folder for each semester and all student artifacts in separate semester folders. All of the audio and video footage was stored on a password-protected computer, and separated in three folders that represented the scope and sequence of the CLASS curriculum.
Upon the completion of CLASS in the spring of 2013, as well as all student interviews in August of 2013, I returned to the audio recordings and wrote reflective memos of key CLASS sessions as indicated by my field notes and student 101 interviews (Altrichter, Posh, & Somekh, 2005; Hubbard & Power, 2003). Student interviews with the participants of CLASS and artifacts produced through the activities and assignments in CLASS provided the central data source for this study.
Data Analysis:
Interview Transcription Analysis
Prior to the analysis of my data, I watched the video recorded exit interviews and listened to the classroom sessions that CLASS students indicated were important during the interviews. I thought this would help reconnect myself with the data since so much time had passed before I was able to commence the analysis part of the research process. In retrospect, the time away from teaching the class allowed me to build a greater sense of objectivity than I expect I would have experienced if I had directly engaged with the data the summer after this cohort of
CLASS had ended. My intimate knowledge and insights regarding the students became an asset rather than an obstacle to my lens as a researcher, because of the time between the collection and analysis.
After reacquainting myself with the data sets, I realized that the richness of the interviews were profound enough to deem that as my primary data set. For the exit interviews upon the conclusion of CLASS, I watched the videos taking notes on a document for the most interesting or intriguing sections of the interviews. I then transcribed those verbatim. The initial mid-term interviews were transcribed verbatim by an external transcription service. The entire set of transcriptions was scrutinized through a content analysis where summary statements were written in the margins in order to indicate significance (Marshal & Rossman, 2006). In 102 addition, I used a constant comparative approach with the ethnographic field notes taken during the interview (Marshal & Rossman, 2006). I individually reread the audio/video recording transcriptions and used open coding to find common themes in regard to the impact of the curriculum and pedagogy upon the personal, ethnic and academic identity of the students.
For example, I coded any commentary students made toward their prior academic experiences in school as well as their perceptions of the impact of the curriculum and pedagogy of CLASS. Common themes began to generate during this part of the analytical process that informed my selection of codes such as, “academic disengagement/isolation,” “racism/discrimination,” “authentic caring,” “activism,” and “autonomy/agency.” In the following excerpt, Rita shares her perception of teacher expectations for her and her fellow Chican@/Mexican@ peers.
Interviewee: Like the students, since they hear it [negative Latino
stereotypes] so much, they have that stuck in their head.
I feel like a lot of teachers also have that in their head,
like, “Oh this is a Mexican kid who probably won't do so
great.” If they get a C in something, they're like, “Well,
that's all they can do.”
The code “low academic expectations” was used for this example and contributed to my analysis of my first research question focusing on the impact of
CLASS curriculum and pedagogy upon the academic identity of students. This code eventually led to the final theme of “Racist and Discriminatory Experiences in
School.” 103
For the exit interviews, I followed the same process that I used in analyzing the mid-year interviews, this time paying particular attention to the emerging themes of student autonomy, agency and activism. Since the students had a year of activity to reflect upon, and four of the participants had just returned from presenting at a national conference, their voices were quite rich with details. An example of my coding for the purposes of analysis can be seen below in an excerpt from my exit interview with Tipu. In this particular case, I used the code “ACT” for activism, since she explicitly speaks to her goal in contributing to a growing South
Asian movement to address the issues locally, nationally and globally.
I really hope I’m consistent. I don’t want to be in and out of a
movement. So when I go to LA I really hope I can link up with other
South Asians and maybe try to establish some sort of like movement. I
feel as though this is the time for Desi people to really like step up, as
far as other people’s struggles. But also, like, you know, directly
addressing the issues we have here in America, and like the ones that
we have back home, and the ones that we have in Britain.
Figure 3.3 illustrates the evolution of my analysis of the interview data set from initial categories into codes, which then culminated into final categories/themes articulated in my analysis.
Figure 3.3 Initial Initial Codes: Final Categories Categories Prior Education A D/I – Academic • Racist and Experiences Disengagement/Isolation Discriminatory R/D – Racism/Discrimination Experiences in 104
LAE – Low Academic School Expectations
CLASS Experiences HAE – High Academic • Re-humanization Expectations of the Educational AC – Authentic Caring Experience A I/E – Academic Identity/Engagement P/E I – Personal/Ethnic Identity IE – Indigenous Epistemologies
ACT – Activism CE – Civic Engagement Civic Engagement CT/SR – Critical Thinking/Self- • Agency & and Activism Reflection Activism A/A – Autonomy/Agency
Analysis of Student Artifacts
Along with close comparative analysis of student video interviews and transcriptions, I also used student artifacts as a secondary data set. During the analysis of this data set, I reread photocopies of the student writing I had collected throughout the year, and utilized the codes established from the analysis of the primary data set by writing summary statements in the margins of the photocopies.
Since the data sets were different in nature there were some tensions to this process. In the interviews the students were all answering similar questions that were designed specifically to yield data that related to the research questions.
However, the artifacts in class were generated for the purpose of teaching the content of the lesson. There was not an exploration of student experiences in public 105 school within the academic content of CLASS. In this respect the categories/themes that were more germane to this data set focused on the “Re-humanization of the
Educational Experience” and “Agency/Activism.”
One such example of how this coding and analysis process evolved was from a journal reflection during CLASS produced by Ana. What follows is her account of the students’ role in a community forum to generate a unified voice in response to a pending federal desegregation plan to be implemented by the local school district:
When we were planning the forum I was worried about people
speaking. I was worried about there not being enough time, or that
people wouldn’t talk. The forum we held got the job done. We got the
information from the community about what we wanted to see in our
school district. Although it was hard to keep control over the topics
that were being talked about, we did a good job.
In the margins of this reflection, I used the code “Autonomy/Agency” since the data suggests that the students had the power and responsibility of dictating the topics and speakers during the community forum.
Field Notes and Reflective Memos
The field notes and reflective memos I collected during CLASS sessions were also used as an ancillary data set during the analysis of the student interviews. For example, when students referred to a specific moment with their peers, instructor, or assignment I would return to the memos, field notes or audio files for further elaboration of the event. Although I may have recalled the event as the teacher, this process was essential for the purposes of authenticating the experience from the 106 lens as the researcher. Revisiting the audio and/or notes, provided a different vantage point for which to interrogate the data, and contributed to discovering nuances that may have escaped me while during the process of teaching the course.
This was particularly true when I was working with individual students or groups that were not related to the moments revealed by students in their interviews.
Summary:
Through the data collection and analysis process, my goal was to understand how the experiences in CLASS might impact the identity development, civic engagement, and activism of my students through their own discourse and voice. I wanted to know if a culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy/curriculum could engage and liberate students of color, through the development of a positive academic ethos, and the cultivation of their own agency toward social and community transformation.
In Chapter Four, I provide a further exploration of the pedagogy and curriculum of CLASS, including the scope and sequence, structures and basic tenets of how CLASS operated. Chapter Five is a detailed analysis of what was revealed, through the discourse of all the participants, in regard to the impact of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy and curriculum upon their identities, civic engagement and political activism. While Chapter Six is an analysis of the interviews and artifacts from the only student not of Chican@/Latin@ descent in
CLASS, and what we may learn about how culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy and curriculum in a Chican@ literature class may effect students of other ethnicities. 107
CHAPTER FOUR
CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY OF CLASS
During the creation of the curriculum for the Chican@ Literature, Art, and
Social Studies program, it was my intention to ensure that the literature and writing assignments reflected the diverse cultural experiences and capital of my students.
Although a vast majority of my students were of Chican@/Mexican@/Latin@ descent, they were a diverse group beyond ethnicity. Thus, I was aware of choosing titles that not only represented Chican@/Latin@ students in terms of ethnic heritage, but also the complexity and nuances of their identities. The literature in my classes had a firm Chican@/Latin@ foundation in multiple genres.
Building off of a pedagogical framework that embraced the Indigenous principle of In Lak Ech, a Mayan phrase that translates to “you are my other me,
(Rodriguez, 2014),” I knew the importance of unearthing voices in the literature that embodied the ideal of empathy. This led me to incorporate the concept of counter- storytelling or counter-narratives, which I discovered in critical race theory, as a guide for the types of literature to read with students. More specifically, I adapted the following passage from Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic (2001) to direct this process.
Stories can also serve a powerful psychic function for minority
communities. Many victims of racial discrimination suffer in silence,
or blame themselves for their predicament. Stories can give them
voice and reveal that others have similar experiences. Stories can
name a type of discrimination; once named it can be combated. If race 108
is not real or objective, but constructed, racism and prejudice should
be capable of deconstruction. Powerfully written stories and
narratives may begin a process of adjustment in our system of beliefs
and categories by calling attention to neglected evidence and
reminding readers of our common humanity. (p. 43)
In order to address the hegemonic and dehumanizing history and policies of schooling in the United States, it was essential to use Indigenous epistemologies and critical race theory to re-imagine the classroom as a space that embraced a humanity and empathy. Both In Lak Ech and counter-storytelling provided a lens to create a Chican@ literature experience that could be reflective and responsive to my students. Thus, the literature I chose represented the complexity of voices and cultures from our community and my students. It is important to emphasize that culture is not static, nor a synonym for ethnicity, and this impacted the curriculum choices and literature of CLASS. Proceeding from this disposition, I intentionally sought out voices that reflected Chican@, Latin@, Native American, African
American, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ), feminist, immigrant, and hip-hop culture as the foundation for our study. Although the voices were diverse culturally, each story, essay, poem and song that we studied in CLASS explored different themes of social justice including, but not limited to, poverty, discrimination, racism, sexism, heterosexism, and assimilation versus acculturation.
Later in the chapter, I will explore a few of the academic experiences in greater detail, which the students referenced as the most pivotal during the exit interviews.
Nahui Ollin, In Lak Ech, Critical Pedagogy, Inquiry and Action 109
CLASS was not only culturally and community responsive in the curriculum, but also in pedagogical practice through a blend of local funds of knowledge and critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970; González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005). As was the case during my time as a teacher in the Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in the
Tucson Unified School District (TUSD), my classes were grounded in Indigenous
Mexican epistemologies that we learned through our elders in Tucson, California, and Mexico (Chavez Leyva, 2003; Rodriguez, 2014; Serrano Nájera, 2014). The concept of the Nahui Ollin (Four Movements) became a common lens that my colleagues and I used in MAS for how to engage in the process of learning. In short, the Nahui Ollin represents the principles of Tezcatlipoca (Self-reflection),
Quetzalcoatl (precious and beautiful knowledge), Huitzilopochtli (the will to act), and Xipe Totec (transformation) (Chavez Leyva, 2003; Serrano Nájera, 2014). Within the classroom setting, Tezcatlipoca was used to nurture and cultivate critical consciousness. Academic units in our classes would always contain self-reflective assignments that allowed the students to consistently make connections between the curriculum and their lived experiences. This design privileged the development of a personal identity in order to be the foundation for the creation of an academic identity. Simultaneously, students were introduced to new forms of knowledge and required to analyze the literature through a critically reflective lens. Since our classes were rooted in cultural responsiveness, students were able to connect to knowledge in a way that reflected their own humanity, and encouraged them to analyze the texts in critical way that could lead to transformative action.
The last two principles of the Nahui Ollin represented that very ideal. 110
Huitzilopochtli, or the will to act, gave purpose to learning for our students since their education no longer represented, simply a form of social capital for economic ascendancy, but a process to develop an analytical and scholarly lens to best take action in the community toward social change. This part of the Nahui Ollin is called
Xipe Totec (transformation) and because our students were able to build a critical lens of social inequalities, their activism in the community often led to disruptions to the status quo in Tucson. The relationship between the human driven concepts of the Nahui Ollin and the work of critical pedagogy scholars is striking. Similar to the work of Paulo Freire and bell hooks, our students were exposed to education as a means to creating a more just world through praxis, or reflective action.
CLASS, and MAS before it, also embraced the Mayan principle of In Lak Ech.
Not only did this manifest itself in the classroom in the way that students engaged with one another, and was the philosophy behind the caring, honest, safe, and empathetic spirit of the classroom, but also the guiding principle behind how I viewed my role as teacher and facilitator. In traditional public school, power dynamics in the classroom are asymmetrical and unequal. The teacher serves as the authority figure as well as the font of all knowledge, which often marginalizes student voice and agency. Teacher-centered spaces such as these are not democratic and can often be dehumanizing for the students, as well as the teacher.
This was the intent of using Indigenous knowledge, such as In Lak Ech as a pedagogical lens to guide the decisions for how to design ways in which we learned together in CLASS. It was essential from our very first gatherings that the content of the course be co-constructed and that my role would be one of facilitator of student 111 learning. This included collective decision making over what literature we read, or what types of social justice themes and community issues we should study together.
Students also worked collaboratively in CLASS in order to share their personal perspectives and analyze their academic assignments. Dialogue and discourse between students was key in developing trust and confidence in one another to take risks and eventually lead classroom activities, projects, and social movements outside of the classroom space. The growth of students as leaders inside and outside of the classroom space was organic and not teacher-driven; it was In Lak Ech driven.
The class needed to be our space together and all of our voices needed to be present, respected and valued.
The content of CLASS, encouraged students to be able to reflect upon their own personal experience and build an analytical lens to view the issue in a broader fashion, and to focus on the possibility of transforming the societal situations that led to dehumanization. This also served as an important theoretical foundation for students, and myself as the instructor, who benefitted from hierarchies of inequality and discriminatory practices. By grounding our work together in Tezcatlipoca (self- reflection), we systematically reflected upon the many forms of privilege that entitled some of us to have advantages not afforded to others, and it was these moments that help build a desire to create and institute change in our world.
Curriculum Overview
Quetzalcoatl, or precious and beautiful knowledge, in the literature classes manifested itself as the process of learning new experiences and information. It also represented our critical analysis of that information or experience found in our 112 readings. Along with the efforts to cultivate student voice, through a pedagogical shift grounded in humanizing practices, that assisted in the development of personal and collective student agency, the curriculum of CLASS was equally as important.
For the purposes of my Chican@/Latin@ Literature classes, I felt it was necessary to expand the scope of the analysis of counter-narratives beyond what Delgado and
Stefancic articulated in critical race theory. Although race was an essential element in a vast majority of the literature we studied in CLASS, I also believed it was important to include counter narratives representing other forms of oppression in order to increase the possibility of students identifying with the narrative voices and characters in multiple ways. More specifically, this was the impetus for developing a foundation of study built around Chicanisma (Mexican-American
Feminism) and LGBTQ literature, voices that have been largely absent or marginalized in the history of public education.
The curricular decision to embrace counter-narratives that included, but were not limited to race and ethnicity, also allowed for the exploration of intersectionality in the literature. Many of the students could identify with the concept of being a part of two or more distinct groups that have been disempowered, alienated, or oppressed. It seemed hypocritical to me, as an educator who believed that the public school curriculum should reflect the lives and identities of the students, to not embrace other historically marginalized populations. After all, the principle of In Lak Ech shared the same vision as counter-storytelling in the respect of re-humanizing people that have suffered because of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other types of discrimination and injustice. Thus, the academic 113 experience in our classes needed to embrace as much of the diversity of the students in the classroom as possible in order to be a space of healing any academic or personal trauma through academic study.
Feminist stories or essays, not only gave voice to the young women in CLASS, but also allowed our male Chicano students to identify with the systemic injustice faced by their female peers since they could recognize the effects of racism on their own lives and familias. As we explored themes such as machismo or concrete gender roles within the Chicano/Latino culture, students were able to examine a myriad of societal behaviors that were steeped in discrimination. Familial expectations and responsibilities, as well as sexual mores were clearly seen in the complexities of the stories and characters, which motivated the young women in our classes to lead to discussions and serve as the experts or maestras. The literature provided the opportunity for me to take a backseat as the teacher and to invert the normal public school hierarchy. After all, I was a man and did not have the same insight nor experience as the Chicanas/Latinas in the room, and was not only mindful of that, but wanted to model how persons who benefit from societal inequities and systems of discrimination need to examine and critique their own privilege, in order to become allies and advocates for social transformation if we truly embraced the concept of In Lak Ech.
We engaged in a similar process during the study of LGBTQ literature and hip-hop. Students were able to build connections to the feminist struggles that we had analyzed before, while pushing toward new and unique insights that were revealed through powerful LGBTQ characters. Since the majority of our class was 114 heterosexual, we had the opportunity to practice In Lak Ech and defer to our LGBTQ classmates in much the same way that the young men and I approached the
Chicanisma unit.
The curricular choice of using hip-hop, contemporary music and media was an intentional decision to engage students as we explored and cultivated the critical consciousness of youth. In order to more accurately center the class dialogue and pursuit of Quetzalcoatl upon what students were experiencing in their lives and how they constructed their world views, I found it essential to construct unit plans that privileged student participation in the selection of curricular content, as well as providing large portions of the class time around student discourse. This decision was motivated by the desire to tap into the youth cultural capital of my students and to center our classes in a way where the content of the class curriculum was directly relevant to the students’ lives. As I made these curricular choices, it was my intention to model for my students the type of content that I hoped to use as the basis for our analysis of the world, and I was drawn to different types of media that I believed would provoke the type of critical analysis that would be complimentary to the re-humanizing pedagogy found in our Indigenous epistemologies. Specifically, I felt it was essential to expose students to hip-hop and music that explored social justice themes and could assist in developing their own critical consciousness.
In respect to the data gathered from student interviews, five aspects of our time together proved to be most enlightening in addressing the questions of how the curriculum and pedagogy impacted student discourse about socio-political issues, civic engagement, and political activity. This included feminism, 115 heterosexism, systemic racism and segregation of public schools, and issues of immigration and oppression (dehumanization) along the United States and México border region.
Scope and Sequence of CLASS
CLASS was based on the Latin@ Literature classes I designed, implemented and taught at Central High Magnet School. Serious adaptation was needed to convert the scope and sequence of a daily high school English class to one that only met two- three hours per week. The contact with students was not only one day per week, but the hours were cut in half. Also, since CLASS was voluntary and started without institutional affiliation, I felt that the most engaging elements of the curriculum needed to be emphasized. I decided the first semester would be a focus upon
Chicanisma/Feminism in literature and mainstream media, which was a foundational unit of study for my students in public school. These stories were ripe for activities and assignments based in self-reflection, which is a key component for the building of a nurturing and liberated class culture. From my experiences teaching this unit for over a decade, I also knew that this literature would inspire and provoke student voice and dialogue as a model for the type of critical discourse
I would expect during our time together. I was also aware that since our time together was so limited that short stories, poems and music would lend themselves much better to our weekly format than reading a novel, although I was confident that once our academic expectations and habits were created, we could expand this lens to longer works in the second semester.
As the first semester moved forward, the Chicanisma/Feminism unit not only 116 provided a foundation for the type of critical consciousness, reflection, and analysis that we would pursue throughout the entire school year, but also the essential element that student dialogue and voice would drive our time together. This manifested itself in the content decisions moving forward. Since I had so much curriculum from my years teaching a similar class in a high school setting, I was able to always give students suggestions and choices for what story or essay we would explore next. Although, I was conscious that I wanted to bring different counter narratives to the forefront, the students were able to choose which works we would study next. These collaborative decisions led us to investigate gender roles and
LGBTQ narratives through literature and hip-hop.
The collaboration in the choosing the content of the course together also contributed to my goal of the students directing more of the instruction in CLASS, as well as motivating their activism and civic engagement as a collective outside of
CLASS. As a culminating activity for the semester, students were given an option of teaching a CLASS session in December and four of the nine students from the fall semester prepared 60-90 minute lessons for their peers and the instructor.
During the winter break from public school, community college and university, and before the commencement of the second semester where we became an official Prescott College class, our weekly meetings continued. It was at this time that I approached the students with two opportunities to share their experiences as scholars and activists to a larger audience. CLASS students wrote two proposals to present workshops at a national conference in Chicago, as well as writing and submitting a manuscript to be considered for a chapter in a book about gender and 117 sexuality in education by the publishers of Rethinking Schools. The students wrote and organized these endeavors with only limited guidance from me in terms of editing and weekly reflection times where the process and goals for the week were collaboratively cultivated.
Our second semester proved to be a paradigm shift for CLASS since we were now an accredited college class, which included a syllabus, writing and research assignments. I titled the course Chican@ Literature and Community Research since the culminating activity for this semester would be a community research project performed by the students using qualitative, ethnographic research techniques. We still maintained the literature component of the course through our study of The
Devil’s Highway by Luís Alberto Urrea and Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie, but throughout the semester the students organically generated a research question for their summative assignment. Simultaneously, I taught the students about qualitative research methods in order for them to be successful in their endeavor. The second semester CLASS students not only wrote a research paper from their study, but also reflective journals and a formal literary analysis of the books we read in class. Our entire year together was an effort to develop critical consciousness through rigorous and engaging curriculum and assignments, in order to encourage students to be agents of social transformation.
Daily Structure of CLASS
Although CLASS was a collaborative, liberatory space for youth it was also one that had a clear organized structure. CLASS started with the unity clap made famous by the United Farm Workers and a recitation of our Indigenous guiding 118 principles. Each CLASS session would then include time for Tezcatlipoca (self- reflection) through personal written reflections that were either tied to the text we were exploring, their organizing and activism outside of CLASS, or their own personal journeys. This was followed by time to catch up with community events around town, usually pertaining to the plight of Mexican American Studies or the
Chican@ community, and any news for our upcoming actions that student were involved with as CLASS or elsewhere.
Engaging in the analysis of the content of CLASS took two different forms. If we were embarking upon a self-contained lesson for that day we would begin reading together and then proceed to analyzing the text or media that was provided.
However, in the cases where students had read for homework prior to our Sunday
CLASS session, we would immediately engage in the analysis of the story through prompts or questions that the students would answer in small groups. At times this would also include specific sections of the literature or songs that I chose to emphasize the overall objective of the lesson or unit of study. For example, when we were studying traditional gender roles in the short story Aurora by Junot Díaz, I highlighted a section where the author used language during a romantic scene between a man and woman that inverted traditional gender roles.
Students would be given ample time to complete the work and then share out with the larger group, either formally or informally. Most of our discussions were informal where I often took the role of facilitator by asking critical questions to the student perspectives of the literature. However, as the year progressed, students became comfortable in taking responsibility to co-facilitate. Informal sharing was 119 usually given less time to prepare and could be presented casually from their tables.
In these cases, I usually served as the note taker on the large white board in the classroom, although occasionally other students served this role. During more formal presentations students were required to write responses on large chart paper, or use a computer program that we could project on the wall so that their peers could see their answers. Sharing our analyses in this way allowed students to practice synthesizing different ideas that were generated by their peers, a skill that is particularly useful for organizing/activist work, as well as writing research.
CLASS usually lasted two-three hours and we would conclude each session with a reminder of important community events that were forthcoming, as well as the assignments that were to be completed before the next meeting. In order to assist in the communication, I used Edmodo, an online classroom that allowed me to communicate with students through messaging and alerts, while the students were able to send their written work to me online.
Curriculum in Action
Feminism, Sexuality, and Agency
One of the academic units that students referred to as particularly impactful in terms of stretching and cultivating their critical consciousness was the discussion of feminism in hip-hop. The transcription of public dialogues between feminist scholars and journalists Joan Morgan and Mark Anthony Neal titled, “A Brand New
Feminism” served as an outstanding foundation for our analysis of contemporary hip-hop through the lens of feminism and women. Morgan and Neal unabashedly confront the dehumanizing aspects of hip-hop without demonizing the art form, 120 genre or hip-hop culture. Issues such as misogyny, hyper-sexuality, and African
American versus mainstream European American images of feminine beauty were specifically addressed and were particularly powerful in providing the young women in CLASS the impetus to lead and direct our critical conversations. The content mirrored their lives in such an intimate way, and offered a rare opportunity to have their lived experiences at the center of academic study and discourse. One specific CLASS meeting, students were asked to choose one of the following excerpts from the essay and to summarize the author’s stance, identify the key ideas that are being brought forward, and analyze how this issue manifests itself in their lives or in the music that they consume.
A Brand New Feminism Prompts: It is not easy to love and to grow up in a music that has so many aspects that are relentlessly sexist and misogynist. And even more difficult for me in that it really exposes the way that women are complicit in exacerbating the misogyny…Why is there no system of accountability for women to each other?
We don’t have any language in American society and Black culture in particular that allows us to have informed discussions about female sexuality. We deny it and demonize it…Is Sir Mix-A-Lot objectifying Black women’s asses, or is he having a real conversation about the inherent beauty of Black women’s bodies in a society that has always derided Black women’s bodies as strange and unusual and ugly?
But there’s no development of language for a positive erotic for Black women. There’s no place to be sensual. There has been a historic misrepresentation of Black female sexuality…The response of many Black women has been to develop the mask of sexual conservatism, of wanting to not deal with sex at all…So my problem with music videos has never been that they are sexual; it’s the ways they are sexual…What I am saying is that the beauty of hip-hop is that we can push the conversation further.
The ideas brought forth by the students in terms of gender roles, misogyny, 121 and beauty led us to an intense discussion of how colonization impacts heterosexual relationships, as well as the lack of positive evocative language for not only African
American women, but all women of color in the United States. The students took turns presenting their group work and then proceeded to a large group discussion about the issues brought forth from their examination of how women are perceived in hip-hop. I served as note taker and facilitator for the dialogue, but the young women drove the conversation and provided the greatest insight since it was their experiences that served as the foundation of our analysis. Additionally, I asked students to follow the framework of the Nahui Ollin and develop a plan for transformative action for any of the issues they found to be unjust.
Xipe Totec:
• Find an example(s) from the essay that need to be addressed.
Create possible transformative experiences to combat the
discriminatory or unjust situations that you have identified.
The students were so engaged by the essay, “A Brand New Feminism” that it impacted my approach to the curriculum content that followed and the analytical lens of study. Although I intended for us to read the short story “Aurora” by Junot
Díaz, I was planning on emphasizing the issues of poverty and disenfranchisement.
However, the love story was also rich in both traditional and non-traditional gender roles between the protagonist and his novia. This led me to search for poetry and hip-hop that also focused upon traditional gender roles both within familial and intimate relationships such as “His Story” by Sandra Cisneros and the hip-hop song
“Opposites Attract” by Kendrick Lamar (See Appendix). Although students were 122 highly engaged in discussions that revolved around gender roles in terms of romantic love in the song, “His Story” served an important purpose in order to interrogate the relationship between fathers and daughters in Chican@/Latin@ culture.
You see. An unlucky fate is mine to be born woman in a family of men. Six sons, my father groans, all home. And one female, Gone
Using the poetry of Sandra Cisneros also proved as an opportunity to circle back to the start of the semester and the short stories in Woman Hollering Creek and
Other Stories. The stories provided an interesting comparison to the song “Opposites
Attract” since the point of view characters and the author of the stories were
Chicanas, while Kendrick Lamar’s song not only gives voice to the African American experience, but for both men and women in a contemporary heterosexual romantic relationship. Although the song and stories were written nearly twenty years apart and different ethnic lenses, students were able to identify similarities of the expected gender roles in relationships.
"Because to suffer for love is good. The pain all sweet somehow. In the end” (Cisneros, 1991).
S Reflect upon this quote from the story and explain whether you agree or disagree with those sentiments. Group Work: S Analyze: What does the quote reveal about the larger story and the lives of women? S Connect with your world: Do you see similar issues to these in your community? What are they? S Compare with the “Opposites Attract” and “His Story.” In what ways are gender roles revealed in the song similar to the stories? In 123
what ways are these roles different? How does a voice of a young African American man affect this?
We furthered our study of gender roles and sexuality through hip-hop and literature by turning the lens from heterosexual to homosexual relationships. I had previously taught the short stories, “Lindo y Querido” by Manuel Muñoz and “La
Llorona: Our Lady of Deformities” by Ramón Garcia in my Latino Literature classes in TUSD since the stories had main characters who were gay and transgender. These stories were important in order to emphasize the experiences of intersectionality, as they provided a Chicano lens toward LGBTQ issues. Like Cisneros, Garcia recreates the la Llorona myth in a more modern day context, this time as a transgender drag queen, who is the midwife for the Chican@ migrant workers in the San Joaquín
Valley in California. In CLASS, we took those cultural allusions head on in our analysis.
La Llorona: Our Lady of Deformities
Group Work #1 Discuss how Garcia uses and/or reinvents the Llorona myth. How does this reinvention, or new perspective, impact or affect the reader's perspective. Do you believe that La Llorona's actions are justifiable? What are your beliefs about justice, revenge, retribution or redemption? Group Work #2 How does Sr. García use the La Llorona myth to emphasize certain themes/ideas in his story? What are the similarities and differences between the two characters? Why do you feel he wrote this?
Muñoz’s story centers on a Mexican mother grieving the loss of her son conflicting with her own prejudices when she discovers that he was gay after his death. Both stories illustrate the cultural history and struggle of Mexican@/Chican@ 124 culture with homosexuality, while illuminating a contemporary and progressive ethos for how this tension is being challenged by the ideals of younger generations of Chican@s.
Coincidentally, Frank Ocean’s album Channel Orange had recently been released which contained two tracks that alluded to his own bisexuality, “Bad
Religion” and “Forest Gump.” The study of Ocean’s music provided students a contemporary example for the purpose of analysis, but like Kendrick Lamar’s work, we were able to include a voice that was African American as a point of comparison to the Chicano works. This allowed us to investigate, explore and analyze whether the students felt that these were counter-narratives and the intention of the artist in bringing such stories and characters to light.
Discuss how these are counter narratives? In what ways are these stories representative of the Chican@ and gay communities? What do the authors have to say through these characters and their stories? After listening to the Frank Ocean songs, what are the different artists saying about being gay? What issues are brought to light and what are the complexities or contradictions between the different perspectives?
The Devil’s Highway
A key component of our literature study was the book The Devil’s Highway by
Luís Alberto Urrea. The story chronicles the true story of a group of immigrants crossing the Arizona-Mexico border that goes tragically wrong. Urrea uses a post- modern narrative structure, which allows him to contextualize the political and economic policies upon the region and how this impacts the lives of the men crossing, their families, human smugglers, border patrol officers, and others who live on the frontera. The fact that the events unfold in the same desert that the 125 students of CLASS and I call home, made the choice of this literature culturally and community responsive.
As we studied together, I made sure to draw connections to the students’ lives by using our Indigenous epistemologies as a methodology. It was critical to humanize the lives of the characters involved since all of the students in CLASS felt that immigration policies were affecting their lives and those whom they loved. By using daily writing prompts that were steeped in Tezcatlipoca (self-reflection) and
In Lak Ech (empathy), students were able to consider the different perspectives and points of view in a critical and humanizing fashion. Additionally, I was able to stretch student learning through differentiated assignments, such as the students composing poetry based upon the book, a formal literary analyses, and collaborative learning assignments. This process is similar to the concept of Quetzalcoatl, as students critically examined the multiple perspectives and factors that led to the tragedy of many of these men dying in the desert.
For the students of CLASS, The Devil’s Highway was a book that reflected their contemporary lives and the issues that were on the minds and tongues of so many Arizonans. It was not only a vehicle for rigorous academic study, but also a conduit for student reflection on the factors and issues that are at the core of our community. Through this communal academic experiences CLASS students were able to reimagine and creatively address these critical issues in a way that cultivated their own agency and intelligence.
Ten Little Indians
Ten Little Indians is a short story collection by Spokane writer Sherman 126
Alexie. The stories in this collection represent the lives of nine contemporary Native
American characters in the Pacific Northwest. The impetus for using this work was primarily due to the themes of assimilation and acculturation explored by Alexie through the different short stories. Unlike static or stereotypical representations of
Native Americans, Alexie creates characters that represent the lives of Indigenous people whose lives are firmly situated in 21st Century middle class and urban situations. I felt this portrayal was essential for CLASS students who may never have been exposed to Native American characters or literature in this context.
Furthermore, I believed that the students would be able to relate to the characters due to the contemporary and timely settings, as well as connect to Native American characters through our own respect and use of Indigenous epistemologies.
In CLASS students were given the opportunity to select which stories we would focus upon collectively, although they were all encouraged to read the entire collection. In our communal focus, students chose “Can I Get A Witness” as the main story for our collaborative assignments. Within this story students were challenged to look at the impact of assimilation upon the characters sense of ethnic identity and happiness. As a summative assessment, students were able to choose any of the stories for their literary analysis.
Literary Analysis Chicano Literature and Community Research Spring 2013
1. If the stories in Ten Little Indians are about assimilation, or about the lives of minority characters in the contemporary world, discuss Alexie's point of view and the complexity of the character's lives. 2. In a formal analysis, discuss how these stories confront, and at times contradict, stereotypes of lives of people of color in the United States. 127
3. Within The Devil's Highway Luis Alberto Urrea uses the desert in a myriad of ways. At times the desert is personified as a stalking murderer. Other moments, Urrea shows the scientific damage that the heat and terrain has upon humans, and still other times he views it through a historical, even mythical lens. In a well-conceived essay, discuss the effectiveness of Urrea's different literary techniques when writing about the desert and its effect upon the reader’s emotions. 4. Throughout The Devil's Highway the audience encounters Mexicano and Chicano individuals that exploit or abuse people of their own cultural and ethnic heritage. Simultaneously, the immigration laws of this country, which are largely crafted by middle aged European American men, serve as the framework which creates this environment for exploitation and abuse. In well-conceived essay, compare the ethical issues along ethnic lines. Make sure to use evidence from the book to support your claims. 5. “Stories also serve a powerful psychic function for minority communities. Many victims of racial discrimination suffer in silence, or blame themselves for their predicament. Stories can give them voice and reveal that others have similar experiences. Stories can name a type of discrimination; once named it can be combated…Powerfully written stories and narratives may begin a process of adjustment in our system of beliefs and categories by calling attention to neglected evidence and reminding readers of our common humanity.” -Critical Race Theory Counter narratives or counter-storytelling empower the voiceless and oppressed populations of the world by bringing to light the “neglected evidence and reminding readers of our common humanity”. Throughout The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, the audience is confronted with stories that inspire them to think beyond the stereotypes and generalizations that dominate much of dominant discourse. As the culminating activity for our study of The Devil’s Highway, I would like you to focus upon how the book may be counter storytelling for any number of issues. Write a well-conceived essay in which you select an issue and examine how the media and dominant culture view this issue of your choice compared to how Urrea approaches and describes the identical problems.
Students Teach CLASS
Although our classes were lively with student discourse, it was essential to provide even more opportunity for students to lead and direct the content of CLASS.
This was the intention for our end of the semester projects in CLASS where students 128 had the opportunity to take over the instructional space and serve the role of teacher. As students brought their world into the class through music or other forms of media, they did so in the same fashion as I would as their instructor since I carefully designed the unit parameters in a way where students were accountable to one another through rigorous writing and collaborative learning projects.
In the case of CLASS, half of the students were high school graduates and we were a much smaller and intimate group then my public school classrooms. Thus, the students had much more autonomy over their teaching sessions as opposed to my prior classes where the students needed to work collaboratively due to the larger numbers. CLASS students also had much more opportunity to confer privately with me as they designed their lesson, as well as being able to spend more class time than they would in public school since we were not limited by the bell schedule of a typical high school class day, nor the time expectations of a typical college class.
Four students created a 60-90 minute lesson centered upon any of the themes that we had explored earlier in the semester. The idea was for students to deepen our investigation and analysis of the topic, while also providing their own unique lens as they guided their classmates and myself through the class. Each student-teacher was asked to provide an objective for their lesson(s) and an activity or assignment which was aligned to that objective. Three of the students used multi- modal literacies throughout their lessons, including music, video and literature. I also encouraged each student to use the technology we had at the youth center during their lesson to deepen the experience with the music and videos for their peers, as well as help both the students and the teachers in organizing and focusing 129 upon the academic content. The student-teachers used PowerPoint presentations along with Word documents for these purposes.
Victoria and Gloria were the teachers during the first day that students formally led CLASS. Victoria constructed a lesson that was designed to analyze how men in romantic relationships are presented in hip-hop. Her thesis was that men are often subject to static gender roles in most hip-hop songs, but that there were also counter narratives that showed the fragility, complexity and humanity of men in love. The students of CLASS were given time to reflect personally during her lesson, as well as collaboratively analyze the different themes found in the lyrics of the songs. Each group was then expected to share their discoveries with the larger group followed by Victoria facilitating a large group dialogue.
Gloria’s time as maestra focused on intersectionality between
Latin@/Chican@ and LGBTQ identities, as well as a further investigation of traditional gender roles in media. Her lesson was rooted in feminism as we were asked to analyze the language of three different hip-hop songs. Two of the songs were from the group Outkast (“Roses” and “Ms. Jackson”) where male narrative voices detailed heterosexual relationships, while the third song, “Doo Wop (That
Thing)” by Lauryn Hill, was a female narrative voice that illuminated gender roles and cultural expectations of men and women when seeking a romantic relationship.
Gloria emphasized that she chose the songs due to their mainstream appeal and the likelihood that we would have prior experience with the music. CLASS students analyzed the songs and shared their analysis as a large group where they brought to light language that was dehumanizing and oppressive. Gloria connected these 130 themes to her next activity, which was for the students to listen and reflect to poetry by Yosimar Reyes, a self-identified gay poet from California.
Our second day of CLASS students as maestras, furthered our analysis of feminism and intesectionality with Tipu using her time to teach us about the history of “womanism” from her Kashmir/Pakistani heritage (see Appendix). Tipu provided the contextual lens for our work together by introducing our class to the term
“womanism” and a definition from renowned author Alice Walker, which was followed by her providing an overview of major historical events of women from south Asia.
Tipu then presented hip-hop from Sri Lankan artist M.I.A. and Indian-
American artist Heems that emphasized south Asian cultural nuances and complexities in terms of racism, feminism and the tensions found between eastern and western cultures. CLASS students analyzed the songs and answered Tipu’s questions.
Ana’s lesson drew from earlier literature experiences in CLASS, more specifically Vatolandia by Ana Castillo and Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra
Cisneros. Her focus was to further illuminate the cultural dynamics and gender roles that limit freedom and liberation for women in Chican@/Mexican@ culture. This included issues such as physical and emotional abuse, as well as abandonment and the complexity why some women remain in such relationships. After reading poems from Ana Castillo, CLASS students were asked to develop their own response or analysis through a performance followed by a group discussion about the themes that were presented during the performances. 131
Civic Engagement and Activism
Desegregation Hearings
CLASS was born out of the passage of HB 2281 (later ARS 112-15), which bestowed unprecedented authority to the Arizona State Superintendent of Public
Instruction to unilaterally identify and penalize educational programs within public schools that violated the following provisions:
1. Promote the overthrow of the United States government. 2. Promote resentment toward a race or class of people. 3. Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group. 4. Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.
Districts found in violation would be subject to the withholding of the monthly state apportionment of education funding. In 2011, State Superintendent of
Public Instruction, John Huppenthal, found the Mexican American Studies
Department in TUSD in violation, although his own curriculum audit lauded the program (Biggers, 2012). Huppenthal claimed that MAS in Tucson was in violation of all of the parameters in the law, except for the first one directed at programs that,
“Promote the overthrow of the United States government” (Planas, 2012). After subsequent months of legal challenges for a federal injunction to protect the program, TUSD governing board disbanded the department and classes January 10,
2012 (Martinez, 2012). Upon this disturbing moment of educational history in
Tucson, I decided to start an academic program at a local youth center to continue to provide youth in Tucson our curriculum and pedagogy. It is important to note that the students who eventually comprised CLASS were all intimately aware of the legal issues that banned MAS in TUSD, and sought out something to replace what they no 132 longer were able to experience in public school spaces. Through this detail alone, these students were already civically engaged and politically active in terms of the political climate in Arizona and their own educational pursuits by participating in
CLASS.
In CLASS, this manifested itself in the community organizing that the students were performing outside of our time together, as well as during our
Sunday sessions. During the fall semester of the 2012-13 academic year TUSD was in the process of receiving a new plan from the federal courts to address a thirty- year desegregation order (Nevarez, 2013). Ironically, culturally relevant courses for
Mexican and African American students were mandated just months after the TUSD governing board dismantled the Mexican American Studies Department (Nevarez,
2013). After the unitary status plan (USP) was publically unveiled in early
November of 2013, four public hearings were scheduled at a variety of locations throughout the school district in order to adhere to the public comment process.
CLASS students organized a community meeting in preparation for the public process and co-created a document titled, “The Declaration of Intellectual Warriors”
(see Appendix) representing a broad collective of Chican@/Latin@ education advocates within the Tucson community, that detailed the expectations for a revision of the plan.
Given that CLASS was in a non-traditional education space, the students were flexible with their time and eager to meet outside of Sundays when it came to community organizing, civic engagement, and activism. Not only did students meet with one another in preparation for the meeting with the community, but they also 133 met with me during Thanksgiving break to debrief and discuss the meeting, as well as creating an action plan for completing the document.
During our weekly Sunday meetings, it was essential to continually balance the students’ civic engagement and political activity with the content of the course.
Since the pedagogy of CLASS was deeply rooted in Tezcatilpoca and Huitzilopochtli, and critical self-reflection was seen as the foundation for transformative action, the assignments and content of the curriculum needed to reflect the students lived experiences and be responsive to their needs. In this case, the students needed a collective space to reflect, discuss, and evaluate the actions that they were taking in the community, but rather than initiating dialogue at the start of our time together, it was critical to give students time to organize their thoughts, ground themselves in the moment, and prepare individually for the discussion. This provided the basis for a much more equitable discussion since all students were prepared to share their views, regardless of their ease, comfort, or propensity for speaking in class.
Additionally, since CLASS students were accustomed and comfortable with our daily reflective writing, student discourse was far more detailed and rich then extemporaneous discussions.
In one particular CLASS meeting, I used our time together as an opportunity to reflect and evaluate their political and civic activities. Simultaneously, I was eager to find out what other issues that were raised from our literature study that the students were interested in pursuing through transformative action. Students reflected on the following prompts individually and wrote for thirty minutes:
Tezcatlipoca 134
Today I would like you to take some quiet time and really reflect on two things in at least 2 pages: Evaluate the process of the actions you took in terms of the desegregation hearing both personally and as a group. Describe what actions or projects you think we should take in the future that was inspired by the literature, what you think we need for our community, and what you need for yourself.
Although, most of the students were involved in the organizing and actions, I was cognizant of creating writing prompts that could be pertinent and accessible for all of the students. In addition, it was always important for students to continually reflect upon their lives and create space for the issues that they found the most pertinent for positive, social transformation. Regardless of the actions that were dominating their activity, I felt it was important to avoid the myopia of the moment, especially in terms of ethnic studies and Mexican American Studies.
After the written reflection, students were asked to privately reread their work and to choose a section of their writing that they would like to share with the larger group. This was a pedagogical technique that we used nearly every CLASS session to increase the comfort in sharing, as well as to elevate the collective dialogue. At the end of our discussion, students also handed in their written reflections.
FMFP and Rethinking Schools
Along with the active involvement that CLASS students had locally in terms of the desegregation hearings and the unitary status plan, there were other areas of political activity and transformative education projects that drew their interest. In
December of 2012, the students and I were contemplating how we would keep working together through the traditional winter break period for schools and 135 universities. We were also in a transition period where CLASS would become a part of Prescott College and the students were to obtain college credit hours for their participation. However, the semester for Prescott College did not start until mid-
February. This left us a gap of time where the students wanted to continue to meet informally to discuss and develop two specific projects. The first was to write proposals to present their work at the national education conference, Free Minds,
Free People that took place in Chicago, Illinois during the summer of 2013. The second project was to write and submit a collaborative chapter for a proposed book by the publishers at Rethinking Schools, which focused on gender and sexuality in education. The students learned about these opportunities from me at the end of the fall semester during our announcements at the start of CLASS, and I asked them if they were interested in proceeding with the knowledge that I would help edit the proposal and chapter, but this needed to be student directed.
The process for completing these ambitious projects was similar since they were to be student driven and voluntary. Our meetings over the winter break period were optional since many of our students had family plans, which included trips to visit family in Sonora, Mexico. Requiring that students participate in these projects was not only antithetical to the pedagogical underpinnings of the class in terms of student agency, but would also be unfair to the students who had family obligations.
Students had the freedom to forge a plan to be involved with the process of either project while they were away, or to re-engage with CLASS upon their return.
Our CLASS meetings during this time were completely student managed since I used the time to conduct mid-year interviews with the students. For the four 136 weeks between semesters, we would meet as a large group as we normally did during the fall semester, and use that time to organize where we were in the process for the completion of the projects, and then the students set the agenda and goals for the day. This would also be the time where we would review who had volunteered to be interviewed for that day. During the next two hours the students would meet together in an adjoining room at the Valenzuela Center and further the completion of the manuscript for the book chapter or the proposals for the conference, while I met with students in our classroom for interviews. At the end of each CLASS session we would reconvene in order to review the accomplishments as compared to our goals and objectives, and create a plan for what needed to be achieved before our next session the following week.
The students decided to write a proposal about the youth role in the struggle to save Mexican American Studies in TUSD, as well as another proposal that concentrated on the feminist content of CLASS. During this process the students broke into two groups to complete the proposal process, and Victoria took the responsibility to send their final drafts to me for editing purposes and feedback.
Victoria often took the lead in such efforts and helped organize CLASS each week in terms of communicating with her peers regarding homework assignments, community and political activism, and even arranging transportation for anyone who ran into difficulty attempting to get to CLASS on Sundays. Upon receiving the proposals from Victoria via email, I edited for grammar and clarity, but did not revise any of the content. Rather, I only offered suggestions and questions through notes on the document for the group to consider at the last CLASS session before the 137 final proposal was due. Upon receiving my notes, the students revised their proposal and Victoria sent them to the conference committee for review.
Our process was similar for writing the chapter for the Rethinking Schools book focusing on teaching issues of gender and sexuality in the classroom. While I convened with students for interviews, the remaining students organized themselves as a writing class. They had the autonomy to proceed in whatever fashion best suited the completion of the project, although it was decided in one of our large group settings at the start of CLASS that the students would each write a personal vignette. Five of our nine students at the time were interested in writing for the chapter and their writing provided a diverse view of the issues of sexuality and gender in public school. Esperanza and Concepcion wrote personal accounts of their roles as women in the political struggle in Arizona in regard to immigration and ethnic studies. Victoria and Ana reflected upon the inspiration and content of their lesson plans on feminism and gender roles the days they facilitated CLASS, while Gloria wrote a personal vignette on her experiences with homophobia as a lesbian in public schools. Since the topics were so disparate, we decided as a group that I would write an introduction that provided the context for how these vignettes were a product of our time together in CLASS, and our participation in the human rights struggles that absorbed Arizona at the time, as well as the content of our classes on Sundays.
Late in the spring semester, CLASS students were informed that one of their two proposals for the conference was accepted. Since we were nearing the end of our academic semester, the students whose proposal was accepted decided to meet 138 during June to prepare their presentation together. Again, this process was student directed from deciding the meeting times to dividing the labor and roles for the conference presentation. I would again serve as a guide for the youth and meet with them a few times throughout the process in order for them to have an audience, as well as sounding board for revisions and other feedback to improve and grow.
CLASS students presented two times at Free Minds, Free People in Chicago in
July of 2013. The first was a panel that I moderated for “Radical PD,” a pre- conference intensive for teachers, where the young women provided insight in regard to what made their experience with Mexican American Studies and CLASS pivotal toward their own development as leaders. In total, the youth spoke to over one hundred educators during three different breakout sessions. The following day, the students delivered their formal presentation to thirty participants at the conference.
In August of 2013, I received word from the publishers of Rethinking Schools that our manuscript had been accepted for publication. Unfortunately, the editor wanted to focus only on vignettes by Victoria, Ana, and Gloria since they were more directly connected to the topic of the book. The editor contacted these young scholars in reference to revising their work for publication, and I was also asked by the editor to facilitate the revision process by meeting with them personally. In the fall of 2013, although students were no longer enrolled in CLASS, Victoria and Ana and I met to revisit their reflections upon the experience of teaching CLASS in
December of 2012. Their revisions were focused on the process of being a culturally responsive educator, and how the content of CLASS became the foundation for their 139 own desire to not only engage further in their own study of feminism and gender roles, but to facilitate and lead a deeper exploration of the topics from their perspective. Their writing illuminated the process of being a critically conscious and liberated scholars, who felt compelled to institute social change, and not simply analyze inequality or social injustice through passive academic work typically associated with traditional schooling. They wrote as teachers, scholars and activists since that is who they were.
Conclusion
In this chapter, I presented a detailed summation of the pedagogical and curricular underpinnings and content of CLASS. Through culturally and community responsive and sustaining practices, students of CLASS experienced a literature curriculum that was purposefully designed to emphasize the voices and agency of youth. Students were given opportunities to lead CLASS both in the academic setting, as well as within the community. The structure of CLASS itself was reflective of the tenets of culturally sustaining pedagogy, specifically the notions of honoring and valuing the practices of communities of color and cultivating access to power for students (Paris, 2012, Paris & Alim, 2014). Students co-constructed the academic program through curricular suggestions, teaching CLASS sessions, as well as introducing civic engagement and community organizing work they were doing outside of CLASS during our Sunday meetings. Furthermore, through Indigenous epistemologies students were exposed to a humanizing pedagogy that emphasized empathy, critical reflection, and action (Acosta, 2014b; 2007). 140
The literature for CLASS was intentionally chosen to foster the development of critical consciousness through counter-narratives, multicultural and culturally responsive curriculum (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Nieto, 1992, Sleeter, 2011).
Issues such as feminism, gender roles, immigration, discrimination, and assimilation were examined through a social justice, decolonial, anti-racist, and liberatory lens.
This included the use of contemporary short stories, essays, books, hip-hop and poetry that were reflective of the lives, identities, cultures and interests of students.
Emphasis was placed upon not only identifying unjust and inequitable themes within the literature, but also developing ideas for how to address such inequalities.
Through collaborative learning, CLASS students analyzed, synthesized and created action plans to transform these issues, which led to student activism.
The following chapter provides an analysis of interview transcriptions and student artifacts in regard to how the pedagogy and curriculum discussed in this chapter impacted their personal, ethnic, and academic identities. Moreover, since the curriculum of CLASS was intended to address and cultivate critical consciousness, Chapter Five also addresses how the students of CLASS engaged with critical issues in their lives through civic engagement and activism.
141
CHAPTER FIVE
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF IDENTITY WITH CLASS YOUTH
In this chapter I describe the analysis of the artifacts and interview transcripts of students in the Chican@ Literature, Art, and Social Studies (CLASS) program in relation to my research questions:
• How do youth view the influence of the pedagogy and
curriculum of a Chican@ Literature class upon their personal,
ethnic, and academic identities?
• In what ways do youth in a Chican@ Literature class perceive their
role in addressing critical social issues in their lives through civic
engagement and political activism?
This chapter is arranged thematically according to the final categories that emerged from the analysis provided in Chapter Three. The section titled, “The
Institution: Prior Academic Experiences of CLASS Students,” is an analysis of student interview data, and artifacts they produced during CLASS, that revealed student experiences in school prior to their involvement in CLASS, and its predecessor,
Mexican American Studies (MAS).
The section titled “Pedagogical and Curriculum Impact of CLASS,” is an analysis of student artifacts produced in CLASS and interviews focusing upon how the pedagogy and curriculum of CLASS may have impacted multiple student identities, including their personal, academic, and ethnic identities. The final section titled, “Student Agency, Civic Engagement & Activism,” provides a detailed analysis of student interviews, and artifacts from CLASS, in terms of how student’s perceived 142 their own agency, civic engagement, and political activism toward critical social issues in their lives. The chapter concludes with a discussion of my findings in relation to the topics of asset based education models, culturally responsive curriculum, culturally sustaining pedagogy, civic engagement, and activism.
The Institution: Prior Academic Experiences of CLASS Students
The data presented here reflects the school experiences of CLASS students before experiencing culturally sustaining and responsive pedagogies and curricula.
These findings arose from two data sets; the transcripts of student interviews from the midpoint of the academic year, as well as student artifacts produced during
CLASS. These findings illustrate the teaching practices and school policies that
CLASS students experienced during their elementary, middle school and early high school years, and serve as a foundation for examining the type of impact that the pedagogy and curriculum of CLASS may have received for these youth.
Isolation and Distrust
When asked to recount their educational biography, all of the students in
CLASS shared details about negative experiences that they had endured through public school. In many cases, students emphasized the distrust that was created through their interactions with school personnel. In the following example, Santiago narrates the story of attempting to continue taking gifted and talented education
(GATE) classes at the high school he would be attending after the completion of middle school.
I wanted to continue GATE, and I think the problem was, this is a problem actually, I had called Central High cuz I knew Tucson was an amazing school. I went to since I was in elementary school. I called and asked—and I was at Pistor at the time. I asked, “Hey, next year I 143
wanna go to Central High. I was wondering if you guys continued the GATE program.” They said to me, “No,” they don’t do that in high school. “We don’t do that in high school.” I’m like, “Wow.” Then I think she made a mention like honors… My friends that used to be in GATE got into that, and into the GATE house…Anyway, when I found out, I think it was a quarter into school. I’m like, “What? They actually have GATE?” I got really mad. Well, not really mad, but I got—I was pretty—I was pretty mad about that, that they pretty much lied to me. I’m sure I could’ve changed it afterwards, but I felt like I was in an okay position with my classes.
This example illustrates the vulnerability of students who advocate for themselves. In many Chican@/Latin@ families, students are placed in this role due to issues with language. Santiago was the best English speaker in his family, and although his parents were heavily involved with his education and school decisions, he was thrust into the position of language broker with institutions such as school.
Santiago trusted that the representative from the school district was providing accurate information in regard to his options. However, this was not the case and led to feelings of distrust and isolation. Santiago not only missed the opportunity to continue to receive a quality educational experience at his high school through the
GATE program, but also was displaced from his social network of friends from middle school who had enrolled in the GATE classes. These dynamics would normally contribute to disengagement from school. Santiago’s anger and distrust, coupled with the vulnerability of transitioning into a new school, influenced his decision not to pursue GATE classes due to the misinformation provided to him by school officials.
Public school is one of the few places to accrue social capital for
Chican@/Latin@ students (Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999). Thus, this incident proves to be damaging to the academic trajectory that could help increase 144
Santiago’s acquisition of social capital. Simple inaccuracies or deliberate misinformation by school personnel can have incredible impact upon the quality of education and feelings of disengagement. Chican@/Latin@ students who must trust school officials due to language issues for their parents are particularly susceptible to these incidents. Students who experience these events often withdraw or act out in defiance of the institution that dehumanizes them (Solorzáno & Delgado-Bernal,
2001).
In addition to the anger that Santiago felt from this experience with school personnel, CLASS students also expressed details of alienation and disengagement due to the lack of ethnic representation in the curriculum. Esperanza, who attended neighborhood public schools within her barrio through middle school, was accepted to a public college preparatory high school within the same school district, and noticed a tremendous shift in the curriculum.
In elementary and middle school, it was mostly Mexican-American. It wasn’t just American. In high school, it’s all Caucasian, mostly. I think before, I had more experiences with my culture. I remember second grade learning about Pancho Villa and Cesar Chavez…Then high school, well, like I said, it’s all about either European studies and then United States studies…I’m proud of that, because I also feel American. I’m proud of them. Cesar Chavez, it’s cooler. Now, if I were to learn more about him, because I haven’t really learned—I say I learned about him, but that was in second grade. I can’t tell you his whole history. That’s really cool too. I’m really proud of people that stood up for us and that actually relate to my culture, and where my parents are from, where I’m from. My whole history. That’s like the one person that I know about. I don't know, you know? I can’t say, “Oh my gosh, I know so much about my history because of all these people.” It’s not. It’s limited to one person that I learned about… Then it’s like I feel like everybody else has those experiences. Is that weird? Everybody else knows stuff about them. It’s just me that doesn’t.
145
The previous example was emblematic of what many of the students in
CLASS endured through their educational journey. Students conveyed to me that their younger years were more culturally relevant, and a few of the students attributed this to Chican@/Latin@ teachers and other forms of representations. As
Esperanza dictates, any type of curriculum or representation of her Mexican culture was devoid in her high school classes. The entire scope of her own ethnic heritage was reduced to one figure, and she was cognizant that this was the case and that this was unjust. However, she does not display resentment toward the idea of being an
American regardless of her isolation. She is still able to find pride in moments of US history, but is also aware that she would be more engaged by experiences that reflect her own cultural and ethnic identity.
Consequently, Esperanza develops a loss of her personal, ethnic identity, which negatively influences the way she feels about herself. There is a sense of isolation at school through the absence of Mexican content in the curriculum and at the school itself due to the small Chican@ student population, but she also feels isolation from her own community and culture because of the absence of experiences at her school that would affirm her ethnic identity. Esperanza is expressing internalized oppression that is fostered by these circumstances, and she feels that she is “weird” because of this (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Irizarry, 2011;
Valenzuela, 2008). In essence, she is blaming herself for her lack of educational opportunities to learn about the historical, scholarly and artistic contributions of
Chican@/Latin@, although this was beyond her control. 146
Rita also spoke to the experience of internalized oppression. However, for her it was something that she endured from her Chican@ peers. Rita survived racial epithets such as “beaner” from fellow students at her high school because she demonstrated pride for her Mexican culture by speaking Spanish, taking MAS classes, and being active with her community through her involvement in the student group Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Aztlan (MEChA). Ironically, Rita is challenged at home by her family that she is not speaking Spanish enough, which is a common experience for many second and third-generation Chican@s/Latin@s
(Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). Rita shared that one of her closest friends, who was of
Mexican descent herself, had difficulty identifying with typical Chican@/Mexican@ activities, as well as seeing Rita and her family as Mexican@s.
She was like, “Oh, one time we went to the park and we were playing football. Then there's all kinds of Mexicans come. They had their music so loud and they were all playing soccer. It was so weird and I didn’t want them to be there.” I was like, “So, that was my family. That's what we do. We go and we have our music super loud and we're playing soccer, but we're not doing it to bother anyone. Why are you bothered by it? She's changed a lot now because she's my friend. She's like, “Oh, well yeah. Your family's like that, huh?” I'm like, “Yeah, we are.”
This example illustrates the internalized oppression of many of Rita’s peers whose families have assimilated. There is a dissonance between many of these youth and their cultural heritage due to the marginalization and isolation experienced through school and other hegemonic institutions. Immigration policy and the demonization of Chican@s/Latin@s and MAS both by public officials and mainstream media outlets further exacerbates these perspectives through a process of “othering” (Borrero, Yeh, Cruz, & Suda, 2012; Fairclough, 1995; Santa Ana, 1999). 147
This became clear in interviews of CLASS students who were still in high school and active in supporting the reinstatement of MAS. They felt that their peers did not understand or care about the issue since it did not really affect them.
However, in this example it is evident how important it is for Rita to demystify who these “Mexicans” are in her friend’s mind by establishing a connection between the activities at the park to her own family. Her own critical consciousness is well developed to be able to recognize her friend’s comments as problematic, but also to have the will to directly address it with her. Rita is practicing In Lak Ech, a Mayan principle used as a pedagogical tenet in CLASS (See
Chapter 4), with her friend as she tries to establish empathy and a humanizing lens toward her fellow Chican@s/Mexican@s.
Rita also commented about the ethnic isolation and alienation she withstood amongst peers at school, a similar issue that was prevalent in the data for other
CLASS students. This was particularly the case for those students whose educational journey included schools that were either a majority European American students or ethnically pluralistic.
Then I got to Mansfeld. It’s really bad of me, because it was like the first time that I was really around a lotta white kids, so I felt intimidated. I felt awkward around them. I was like, “I don’t know how to act in front of you.” Then all of them saw me like, “Oh, she speaks Spanish. Oh, look,” and, “This is what she does for Christmas.”
The roots of internalized oppression that students were experiencing themselves, or from their peers, can be connected to the environment and attitudes cultivated or maintained in public school. Since academic content is largely
Eurocentric, and the pedagogical lens and school policies reflect middle class 148
European American values, Chican@/Mexicano students, and other students of color, experiences of discrimination or racial/ethnic insensitivity through a process of “othering” (Borrero et al., 2012; Fairclough, 1995). These students can feel foreign regardless of their own US citizenship, or in the case of Chican@ and
Indigenous students, the historical and generational ties these students have to the very region that pre-dates the United States or statehood of many states in the
Southwest (Acuña, 1988; Sheridan, 1986). The normalization of “whiteness” is ahistorical in Arizona, yet the attitudes of Rita’s peers preserve the dominant narrative that she is different from “normal” students, which causes her to feel intimidated. Such feelings can cause further academic disengagement by reinforcing her cultural and ethnic isolation in the hallways and amongst peers, as well as in the curriculum and content of her courses (Irizarry, 2011; 2014).
Deficient Teaching Practices and Low Expectations
CLASS students also expressed many instances where they endured deficient teaching practices and low academic expectations in their earlier academic journeys. This was particularly the case with the lack of authentic caring relationships that CLASS students had with teachers. Rita expressed her feelings about how educators perceived the academic potential of Chican@/Mexican@ students.
I think that's what everyone expects of us, to not finish school. Supposedly, most kids from our culture don't graduate or have to end up working. We come from a culture that doesn't have that much money or that are barely starting off. A lot of kids, their parents barely got here, or they barely got here…Like the students, since they hear it so much, they have that stuck in their head. I feel like a lot of teachers also have that in their head, like, “Oh this is a Mexican kid 149
who probably won't do so great.” If they get a C in something, they're like, “Well, that's all they can do.”
Similarly to the situation that Santiago encountered when attempting to continue in the GATE program, Rita shares her frustration toward the low expectations she has felt from teachers due to her ethnicity. As critical race theory suggests, mainstream narratives such as the ones that Santiago and Rita encountered can lead to discriminatory and unequal educational practices that have a debilitating effect upon student psyches (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Osborne,
2001). Furthermore, educators that embrace these narratives squander the opportunity to forge relationships with students that could contribute to a positive school ethos (Valenzuela, 1999). Low academic expectations were internalized by
Rita as a lack of belief and caring for Chican@/Mexican@ students.
Conversely, Rita expresses a great deal of critical consciousness of her own with the fact that she recognizes the economic hardships and limitations for many
Chican@/Mexican@ students and their families. In turn, these economic realities contribute to a myriad of factors that impact academic achievement (Portes &
Rumbault, 2001). Whether students struggle due to the process of learning English, or are compelled to forgo their education in order to help financially sustain their family, Rita illustrates the type of insight and empathy required to truly connect with Chican@/Latin@ students. Unfortunately for the students of CLASS, these teachers were rare and the students were much more apt to experience discriminatory practices.
Another contributing factor to lower academic expectations came from the systemic issues of staffing that face many urban public schools where 150
Chican@/Latin@ students are enrolled. Due to large amounts of turnover each year within school faculties, substitute teachers often greet the students the first day of classes until new hires are confirmed (Cochran-Smith, McQuillan, Mitchell,
Gahlsdorf Terrell, Barnatt, D’Souza, Jong, Shakman, Lam, & Gleeson, 2012). Many times these substitutes are hired as yearlong replacements in the cases for schools that cannot find adequate candidates to fill the position. This was the case that
Concepcion revealed of her freshman year English class.
…oh, no, my English class, freshman year, we had a permanent sub, and the class was just really rowdy and nobody paid attention to anything. I can’t remember a single name of literature we read in that class. The teacher was just really passive and didn’t really care. He would put the assignment up and just expect us to do it on our own, which wasn’t—probably wasn’t the best idea for freshman… I did the minimum. Cuz most of the time you were either lost or you didn’t understand the assignment, so you just did whatever you did understand which wasn’t enough, just enough to get you by.
Concepcion describes a few of the many problems that occur when students have substitute teachers. Class management issues can occur because the students may not recognize the substitute as their teacher. Additionally, substitutes may not be as invested in the process of cultivating and maintaining authentic relationships with the students since they are not the teacher of record. In respect to academic expectations and rigor, short term substitute teachers are often not required to develop lesson plans or evaluate student work. This duty falls to school administrators who are often overwhelmed with other responsibilities in managing a school, which can lead to less work being regularly done in class, as well as limited feedback besides grades for report cards. Long-term substitutes may have the requirement to regularly evaluate student work and design lesson plans, however 151 they may not have any expertise in the discipline or school subject that they are teaching. Thus, any type of innovation to the curriculum is unlikely and the substitute may simply rely on workbooks, textbooks, or other standardized material.
Concepcion identifies many of these issues in her comments about negative academic experiences. The expectation of the substitute was for the students to be self-motivated and self-sufficient regardless of the reality that, according to
Concepcion, they were not adequately prepared to independently navigate their
English instruction. The lack of direct instruction also impacted the students’ ability to grasp the concepts that may have allowed them to complete the work on their own. Regardless of these experiences at the start of her high school career,
Concepcion successfully completed the Advanced Placement English class at Central
High School her senior year.
Socio-economic issues and lack of cultural responsiveness also impacted
CLASS students that attended charter or private schools. Gloria’s case was an interesting example of this since her mother had enrolled her in different schools, her first one being a school in downtown Tucson where the majority of students were of European American descent, and the other being a charter school on the
Yaqui reservation.
Going to school there wasn't necessarily beneficial for me…A month in, I was the top of the entire school. Out of all the—everybody that was there, I was the person who had the best attendance, the best grades, who actually understood what was going on, and that wasn't high or getting pregnant every day. My mom didn't really take into account that it is a res school, and it has res issues. But at the same time, despite all that, I think it was good for me to see that because I had gone from the sort of place where it was really Caucasian and 152
they came from money to a place where they didn't have anything. Well, they had their culture, but they didn't appreciate it. They were livin' on a res, so they understood that, but they still fell into that stereotype…Also, just I met a lot of really cool people.
As Rita had suggested about Chican@/Mexican@ students, Gloria intimates that many of the students in the Yaqui school had internalized the discriminatory notions of Native American students, while also trying to navigate the oppressive socio-economic conditions that are a part of their lived experiences on the reservation. Although the Yaqui culture was present, Gloria did not see how the culture was being utilized in a responsive or sustaining fashion within the classroom. Furthermore, she observed a stark difference to the types of academic expectations that were being levied between the two schools she had attended, with dramatically lower standards at the reservation school. As Gloria suggests, this may have contributed to her peers embracing the negative mainstream narrative of students of color (Irizarry, 2011, 2014; Friedel, 2014). Her own motivation and familial support for her academic goals allowed Gloria to excel at school, yet she was aware that she was not receiving the same rigorous academic experience that she had experienced earlier in her academic career. However, this did not contribute to any type of condescending attitudes toward her peers, rather she was still able to empathize and find value in the relationships that she developed.
Racism, Discrimination, and Banning of MAS
Low academic expectations and socio-economic conditions are significant barriers to transformative educational experiences for many students of color.
Internalizing the dehumanizing pathologies that construct such deficit lenses can often be the most critical factor in academic disengagement for students of color. As 153 seen in the earlier examples from CLASS students, low academic expectations for students of color through interactions with teachers, coupled with discriminatory policy issues at school can also contribute to distrust from students toward education as an institution. This was reinforced by an example from Victoria relating to campus life at her high school.
Victoria: All right. Certain neighborhoods—kids come from certain neighborhoods. They all kinda hang out together, ‘cause why not? You all live together. Why not hang out together at school? There started becoming a rule that the kids who come from the west side cannot hang out at the squares, which are on the west side of the courtyard in my high school. They couldn’t hang out at the squares. It got to the point where nobody could hang out at the squares, ‘cause— yeah. That was— Acosta: How do they enforce where people could occupy space? Victoria: They would just stand there and— Acosta: Who’s they? Victoria: The monitors. The liaisons. Administrators. Whoever it may be that were on lunch duty that day would just stand there and make sure nobody would come and sit down at the squares. I remember there used to be trees there, and they cut down the trees. I don't know if they were trying to take away the shade or what, but they cut down the trees.
Policies, practices and behavior management factors such as these are present in high schools due to the mainstream narrative that Chican@/Latin@ students are violent and often gang affiliated. Instead of students being able to enjoy a shaded part of the courtyard, site administrators cut down the palm trees to prevent students from a certain neighborhood congregating together. These actions fall in line with other paramilitary or security trends found in urban schools such as metal detectors installed in school entrances and armed police officers as a part of school personnel. These punitive measures to oversee the student population are 154 eerily similar to prisons and are antithetical to culturally sustaining and responsive pedagogy, as well as authentic caring (Foucault, 1984; Paris, 2012; Valenzuela,
1999).
In addition, school officials, such as monitors and administrators in the example above, severely impact their credibility as people who are interested in the well being of students, when they institute antagonistic and oppressive policies and practices. Certainly, students such as Victoria could view the act of cutting down the trees as a Draconian effort to alter the behavior of their peers. However, the further repressive step in actually occupying the former space of the students from the west side illustrated a determined effort to displace students from feeling a neighborhood attachment to school. In essence, this exercise can be perceived as an act of symbolic violence and theft from these students, which explicitly devalued the history and connection between their community and school.
A more dramatic example of administrative compliance to discriminatory and racist education policies that affected CLASS students came during the dismantling of Mexican American Studies in Tucson through HB 2281. More than half of the students of CLASS were enrolled in MAS classes the year that the program was abolished, and endured the unprecedented experience of their class being eliminated in the middle of the school year. This led to much distress and consternation for the students since the school district was ill prepared with a strategy for moving forward. In order to clarify the situation, administrators came to our classrooms to answer questions that students had concerning everything from their academic freedom to the likelihood of being placed in new classes. CLASS 155 students reiterated the lack of authentic caring they felt in this case as Rita describes.
Rita: I don't think they really cared. It was just like, “Oh, these kids lost this? Oh, well it sucks. I'm sorry,” and then— Acosta: What gave you that impression? Rita: I don't know. I mean, there's nothing else for us right now inside the school. There's nothing we can go to. They didn't try to make anything different. It was just like, “It's over. It sucks. I'm sorry. Move on.”
Rita describes a phenomenon called aesthetic caring (Valenzuela, 1999) that is quite prevalent in schools toward students of color. In this case, school officials were obligated to speak with the students about the dramatic situation of losing their classes. However, students such as Rita were able to discern that they were not invested in the students’ lives or feelings from their actions, or to be more accurate, inaction. The administration only visited the students one time to answer their questions, and did not return to my particular classroom except to monitor that
Mexican American Studies content was not being taught. Aesthetic caring in this sense proved to be insufficient to the needs of the students since their academic freedom had been infringed upon by the local school board, state superintendent of public instruction and the Arizona legislature. The circumstances that led to the banning of MAS were being played out in the local and national media, which also impacted student lives. Yet, Rita felt a lack of support from school district officials and administrators.
The banning of MAS also affected students in regard to the quality of their education. Santiago was also a student during that time and commented upon the 156 recognizable shift in the curriculum content and the emotional toll that the episode had upon his peers.
Santiago: It didn’t really hit me until afterwards, when I started noticing that it just wasn’t as great as it used to be. Acosta: What does that mean? Santiago: Well, just the books we’re reading and then the books that we were going to read and we never got to cuz they were banned. Then So Far From God, you know, I was really excited to finish that. It was cut in the end. Other than the learning experiences, it was pretty—it was pretty tragic, especially just by looking at other people and how they were feeling cuz they took it a lot worse than me cuz I’m sure they’ve been in it and involved in the whole protecting MAS and protecting ethnic studies hit them a lot harder and they just felt bad. Some of them lost hope.
Little administrative support was available to MAS students as Rita described, leading to a drastic decline in quality. For example, the study of the novel
So Far From God by Ana Castillo had to be completely abandoned which was disappointing to Santiago. Other CLASS students, who were also enrolled in MAS at this time, expressed similar frustrations with the process and quality of the class after the official dismantling of the program.
Santiago also identifies the emotional climate as “tragic” and a feeling of lost hope. The implications of these types of educational policies reinforce the sentiments that public school and elected officials are disinterested in the educational needs, success, and experiences for students of color. Eliminating a program that was academically successful and focused upon the cultural capital and ethnicity of Chican@/Latin@ students contributed to further academic disengagement for students like Santiago and Rita. 157
The dismantling of MAS also affected students who were not enrolled in the program. Esperanza attended a school that did not even offer MAS classes before the ban, an equity issue that is prevalent for ethnic studies classes, but not the case for mainstream English and social studies classes that are often Eurocentric in content.
In a Los Angeles Times article, Esperanza commented on the inconsistencies of these types of political maneuverings and her experiences in mainstream classes at her public, college preparatory school.
I told her, I think it’s really unfair that at UHS that people, students can learn about anything. And like in history in class, we learned how, well for lack of a better term, bad the US government has always been like from day one, kind of. Well, yeah exactly, like from day one. Native Americans. And I told her we learn about everything that America has done why can’t other students learn about it. It didn’t make me hate America…I feel like that’s important for people to learn because that way you prevent it. And I thought it was really unfair that we could learn about it, but people couldn’t study it or literature in Ethnic Studies classes at Central High when it’s mostly Mexican American students that go there. So, white Americans can handle all this negative stuff about the US government, but Mexican Americans can’t handle it because they’re going to revolt. That’s discrimination. You can’t tell us what we can’t learn about our own government. That’s oppression, too.
Esperanza illuminates an interesting dichotomy in this example by comparing how Arizona government officials infantilize and discriminate against
Chican@s/Latin@s. In her high school, which is a majority European American, the history classes and teachers were free to have critical content of United States history and policies, yet her friends and peers in Ethnic Studies courses were vilified for similar approaches. Esperanza articulates this phenomenon as oppressive since she believes that MAS students were legally subjected to an inaccurate portrayal of their own country in comparison to her peers who were free to examine multiple 158 perspectives. In addition, the limitation of curricular choices also affected the teachers of MAS, most of whom were also Chican@s. Thus, HB 2281 was a law that in practice assaulted the freedoms of Chican@s/Latin@s far more than those of
European descent.
Pedagogical and Curriculum Impact of CLASS
The following section analyzes the impact that the culturally sustaining and responsive curriculum and pedagogy of CLASS had in formulating personal, ethnic, and academic identities of the students through their voice and discourse. More specifically, two data sets were analyzed to produce the categories and findings that follow: student artifacts produced during CLASS and student exit interviews during the summer of 2013.
Re-humanization of the Educational Experience
In the following examples, CLASS students articulate the pedagogical practices that were essential to creating a positive academic identity. Given that all of the CLASS students had endured experiences of marginalization, isolation, and discrimination in public school, creating a positive school-ethos through authentic caring proved to be foundational (Valenzuela, 1999). In CLASS, this was achieved through our use of Indigenous epistemologies that helped re-humanize the educational experience for CLASS students.
The Mayan concept of In Lak Ech, which translates to “you are my other self,” was our guiding principle for why we should interrogate our world (Rodriguez,
2014). In Lak Ech is also related to the ideas of confianza (trust) and authentic caring, two principles that were created to address an academic approach that led to 159 deeper engagement and success for Chican@/Latin@ students (González, Moll &
Amanti, 2005; Valenzuela, 1999). To this point, Gloria, one of the students in CLASS, sheds some light on our teacher-student relationship and how it impacted her scholarly path.
That constant challenge. That constant joking around and laughing, and like, being not only a teacher, but a friend and a mentor. Kind of like being really critical but in a friendly way…I think more than anything, it’s just being able to look (at) somebody, more than a teacher and more than just a person telling you to do something. You’re a friend, you’re a mentor, you’re somebody I can trust, you’re somebody I can talk to. I think that’s what’s the most positive, like, the most positive anything I’ve had about school.
In the prior example, Gloria clearly describes her prior experiences with teachers. The traditional paradigm of how power is exercised in the classroom is evident since the teacher is seen as the authority figure that serves the role of taskmaster (Foucault, 1984). There are also clear overtones from the industrialization and corporatization models of schooling from Gloria’s definition, since she does not mention learning, rather only being accountable to the directions of the authority figure. Extending this case further, the student is not humanized and is simply responsible for a “deliverable.” In this instance, that “deliverable” can be as abstract as simply adhering to what the teacher is telling the student to do.
Gloria also articulates that she needs someone who is “more than a teacher.”
From their interviews, CLASS students had expounded their desire to have teachers who saw their role with students as more than simply a job. However, this had not been the case for the majority of their educational experiences in public school, which led to disengagement and isolation during their academic experiences that were presented earlier in the chapter. In this sense, Gloria and her peers are 160 emphasizing the importance of multi-threaded relationships (Stanton-Salazar,
2001). Concern over the emotional and physical well being of a student can be as critical as their educational aptitude and accomplishments. This is an example of multi-threaded relationships. In order to disrupt the asymmetrical power relationship between students and teachers, it is critical to develop multiple points of engagement and interaction. Honoring the complexity of students’ lives in the classroom, as well as interacting and engaging in work together outside of the classroom increases the authenticity of the relationships that are being cultivated
(Acosta, 2014b).
There are a myriad of ways that this can occur both inside and outside of the classroom. In this particular case, Gloria and I had accrued multiple points of engagement and interaction since she was a student of mine in CLASS on Sundays, as well as during the week at Central High Magnet School. At Central High, Gloria was not only my student in English class, but also a student aide. Additionally,
CLASS was not only an academic space on Sundays, but also the catalyst for educational, social, and political events in our local community such as engaging in the TUSD desegregation hearings or presenting at a national conference.
Spending more time together was only one factor in creating a multi- stranded relationship based on authentic caring. Within the content and design of both academic settings, students were given the opportunity to reflect upon their lives through reflective writing assignments and share with each other in class, and I often modeled this and participated with my students. 161
As Tipu articulated in the following example, creating a relationship that was not only academic, but also human, was foundational part of the process to “take people places.”
You were able to like nurture us on a certain level. And I feel we like had to, like, establish a relationship before we could really like take that relationship to like different places. And it’s a physical space like Chicago or it could be like a different place like talking about Brisa or Aurora or whatever, you know, in CLASS. Like we had to have like a, I don’t know. Don’t force people to do shit they don’t want to do, basically. Like, you have to have like a good foundation before you can take people places. You know what I mean? I don’t really think you can just get a group of people together and just read Can I Get a Witness and be able to have the kind of conversations that we had. You know what I mean? Like, you can’t just do that with anybody. And I think that a relationship with you was a big factor as far as how our class functioned.
By using In Lak Ech as a guiding pedagogical principle in our classroom, we were able to establish democratic and empathetic norms that were not associated in traditional power dynamics in public schools. Critical pedagogy and In Lak Ech emphasize the human potential and power of students as equal partners in learning with the potential for transforming the world (Acosta, 2013; Duncan-Andrade &
Morrell, 2008; Morrell, Dueñas, Garcia, & López, 2013), most assuredly the destination for the “places” that Tipu alludes to in the above example. A transaction took place in CLASS where the teacher exchanged power and privilege, in order to nurture a multi-stranded relationship between not only students with the teacher, but also students with one another. As another CLASS scholar, Concepcion conveyed:
I feel like teachers don’t really focus on the familial aspect to make everybody in the classroom feel confident to say what they’re thinking…Whereas, it’s different from being in a familial (class) where you feel comfortable in that space and you feel that you’re not going to 162
be judged or criticized, then it’s easier to share your opinion even if it’s not the most popular opinion because you know these people aren’t going to criticize you and you know it’s a safe environment. So, even if they don’t accept it, not that they won’t accept it, even if they don't agree they will accept it.
The pedagogy of In Lak Ech can be seen in Concepcion’s sentiments, since diverging student opinions are not marginalized or discounted for being unpopular.
There is space to disagree in a civil and respectful way --- a manner that emphasizes a common humanity regardless of ideological differences. Concepcion identifies a classroom that embraces In Lak Ech as more “familial” and “safe.” She also articulates that sharing her opinion, in essence taking risks, as a positive educational outcome in such an academic environment. Since mutual respect between peers has been cultivated and appreciated, students will be more apt to honestly express themselves without value judgments. This same ethic is also expressed by Tipu concerning leadership in the community.
I guess the thing that really sticks out to me is this idea of understanding and respecting people’s different points of view and where they come from because their community is so divided…I feel like a good leader would be able to hear everyone out and somehow figure out how to squash beef and get people aligned, and make people understand that we have common goals. Also at the same time respect where people are coming from in the sense that they have their differences and certain people have been disrespected in the community. I think a good leader would know enough to not want to force relationships between people. Teachers are seldom mentioned as community leaders in popular culture or mainstream media. However, the fact that most public schoolteachers are responsible from anywhere between 20-180 students per year, leadership is inherent in the position. Although she is not specifically speaking about school, Tipu illustrates the importance of an In Lak Ech pedagogical lens in creating authentic 163 relationships through empathy and listening. Similar to Concepcion, Tipu acknowledges the reality that divergent opinions, viewpoints, and experiences are embedded in most communities and classrooms.
She also emphasizes that leaders need to be aware that “certain people have been disrespected in the community,” as a critical component. This can especially be the case when the classroom is comprised of women, students of color, lesbian, gay transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students, as well as members of other marginalized and oppressed groups. This type of critical consciousness for the experiences of students can be difficult for teachers who may not have experienced racism and discrimination like the examples that CLASS students endured in their educational history. However, Tipu identifies the characteristics of an In Lak Ech pedagogy, such as “understanding and respecting people’s different points of view,” as essential in “squashing beef” or ending disagreements and tensions between people with divergent opinions.
Moreover, the co-construction of the academic space was another application of the pedagogy theory of In Lak Ech and confianza. Victoria emphasizes the importance of authentic, multi-stranded relationships, as well as the impact of students being a part of the decision making process of the content of CLASS.
Someone who is not only able to help the young person or the student with what they are trying to achieve, but also be able to relate to them in ways more than, ‘Oh, this is our job.’…Well, I got asked a lot of the time. You know, we were always asked, like, ‘Okay, would you rather do this or would you rather do this? Do you want to read this assignment or do you want to do this? What do you want to do next week?’… So, you’re not going to find many classroom structures where you get an option as to what you are doing. Most lesson plans are laid out and done that way. No ifs, ands or buts about it. By this date, by this date, by this date. Test here, type of thing…It creates 164
more of a comfortable environment. I honestly think it creates less of a nerve-wracking environment. Especially, cuz when there’s so many deadlines, like, yes, we still had deadlines, we still had assignments we needed to turn in, but because of the fluidity there wasn’t that stress of keeping time so much. It was still stressful though (laughter).
Victoria recognizes that being asked her opinion in terms of the content and structure of CLASS as atypical to her educational experiences to this point. The humanization of her as a scholar with a valid academic perspective is a departure from the authoritative, teacher-centered models of education, “Most lesson plans are laid out and done that way. No ifs, ands or buts about it.” A lack of student participation and voice stresses the human relationship that CLASS students found pivotal in creating an environment for nurturing critical consciousness. As Victoria notes, the process of education is still filled with anxieties and pressures in completing assignments and adhering to deadlines, but her own co-construction of these projects and participation in the decision-making mitigated these feelings to a degree that made her feel more comfortable in CLASS.
Ethnic and Intersectional Identities
The following section analyzes the impact that the culturally sustaining and responsive curriculum and pedagogy of CLASS had in formulating personal, ethnic, and academic identities of the students through their voice and discourse. More specifically, two data sets were analyzed to produce the categories and findings that follow: student artifacts produced during CLASS and student exit interviews during the summer of 2013.
A factor in the re-humanization of the educational experience for CLASS students were in the ways that culture and ethnic identity were embedded in the 165 academic experience. For Gloria, there seemed to be a seamless fluidity between
CLASS, the community, and loved ones.
Even like the way you would talk to us, like, mijo, mija, like, buenos dias, like, and even to like, cualli tonalli, and, like, good morning, good afternoon, good night. Like, this is, like, this is just like home. This is just like anywhere I’d go with, like, family or loved ones. And, like, obviously that’s a really important, important aspect to keep in a classroom. Just, like, being comfortable and being, like, open and willing, and, like, knowing that. I guess, like, it’s like a safe space, you could say. The culture, and, like, our Chicanismo is what kind of like held it up and kind of tied us altogether, because if we, if you were being like, “Oh, good morning, students.” I think it, kind of, I think it makes you feel a different way.
Instead of adding elements to the curriculum that reflected Chican@ culture,
Gloria recognizes that the very center of the pedagogical practices of CLASS placed
Chicanism@ at the center. This common experience and bond through the
Indigenous principles of CLASS became the foundation for creating an “open” and
“safe” classroom environment; language that was consistent with all students during their interviews.
The students also discussed having more positive cultural experiences in elementary school, but by the time they came to high school they had faced isolation, marginalization and discriminatory attitudes toward Chican@/Latin@ culture. This led to identity loss and a sense by the students that they did not know much about their culture since it was absent in their academic history. Since traditional schooling has often marginalized or ignored the historical narratives and artistic contributions of people of color in favor of those of European descent
(Banks, 2005; Ladson-Billings, 1999; Nieto, 1992), CLASS was specifically designed to counter this damaging oversight. As articulated in the prior chapter, the literature 166 of class was intentionally chosen to place counter-narratives that reflected the identities of the students as the center of study. The curriculum was as essential an element as the pedagogy was, in terms of re-humanizing the academic journey for
CLASS students.
The curriculum, we saw ourselves, as Chicanos, Chicanas, Chicanos, by relating to, like, the struggles that some of the people in the stories faced. Being able to relate to people crossing the border. And then also with the feminism, like, short stories. I can relate to them as a woman. You know it’s a lot of it is very man oriented in public school, so I got both, like, being a woman and being Chicana, so like on top of that cuz they’re two struggles that you have to face.
Ana expresses the importance of seeing herself in the curriculum as a
Chicana, but also a woman. She recognizes the importance of her intersectionality being addressed in the curriculum since she could relate to the characters in the literature in multiple ways. Her perception of public school was that the content of the courses were male-centric and CLASS operated in a different manner, especially since 8 of the 9 students that comprised the class were women. Thus, cultural responsiveness is not simply fixed upon ethnicity, and in this case the connection to feminism proved to be important for many of the students. It was as equally important to provide counter-narratives from the voices of women centering on issues of liberation and equality.
There are naïve assumptions prevalent in dominant institutions such as government and mainstream media that it is more appropriate for students of color to learn about their unique culture and ethnicity at home. However, these opinions discount the probability that parents and family members are not adept in the history, art and literature of their own heritage culture or ethnic group. Similarly, 167 the false assumption that girls are exposed to feminism, or are aware of critical issues that affect women, through their educational experiences at school, is far from accurate.
Before I read stuff like that, I didn’t think much into Feminism. I was like, okay well girls, women don’t get the same kind of respect but it will change. Like, things change. But they don’t change without awareness. And I feel stories like that bring awareness to a different – different people. And to, like, be introduced to that at such an early age I feel was really nice (be)cause now I have a different perspective on most things that I think I wouldn’t have had without reading those things.
Concepcion articulates the importance of having an opportunity to explore her own intersectionality as a Chicana through an exposure to feminist literature.
Her explanation of how her own ideas toward women’s rights transformed, mirrors the pedagogical framework of the Nahui Ollin, since she understands that Xipe Totec
(transformation) does not happen without Tezcatlipoca (self-reflection) and
Quetzalcoatl (precious and beautiful knowledge) (Acosta, 2014b; 2007). Her use of the term “awareness” also recalls Freirian ideals such as conscientizao, a critical step in the process toward transformative educational and societal practices (Freire,
1970).
Victoria expanded on the ideas of the Indigenous framework, feminism, and confronting issues that are in need of change when discussing a lesson that she created, designed, and taught in the middle of our year together in CLASS.
No. There wasn’t a Chicana/Chicano framework at all. It was more of a redefining how I view my feminism lesson. Because I find there’s a lot of feminism, or this feminist belief that men are evil, and we have to defeat the man. I find the way I view my feminism, and how I go about it is finding our similarities and making us equal ‘cuz that’s what we wanna be is equal. I mean, culturally, not necessarily pertaining to one ethnic group, but as cultural, as a society perhaps. 168
Because I was showing how men can be emotional, and how it’s this stereotype that men are very—need to be strong, and not cry, and not show emotion.
Although, it was evident from my field notes that her teaching methods during her lesson incorporated the Indigenous epistemological and theoretical framework, Victoria does not consciously identify the influence in her interview.
Like Concepcion, she internalized the principles such as In Lak Ech when she explains how the connection of humanizing men is related to her feminism. The fact that she overtly rejected, or failed to identify her own use of Indigenous principles, was concerning to learn, since it illustrates that I may have fallen short in overtly teaching how the Indigenous principles of CLASS impact our daily lives and learning practices.
However in this specific case, it was important for Victoria to have her classmates empathize with the male experience that were identified in the songs, while bringing awareness to the stereotypes that fuel machismo. Furthermore, regardless of her own acknowledgement of whether the Indigenous principles of the
Nahui Ollin were used to guide her lesson, the discussion prompts that Victoria created exemplified both Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl.
Discuss in groups • In what ways do the songs contradict or perpetuate typical male gender roles in love or in a relationship. [sic] • What is the artist trying express about the characters in the songs? • Are these stories relevant to the different stages of a relationship?
In the first two prompts, Victoria asked her peers to analyze the song lyrics of the music that was presented in class, while the third prompt is grounded in self- 169 reflection since the students needed to implicitly reflect upon their own experiences in regard to romantic relationships in order to provide an answer. Her desire to bring these issues forward illustrates Huitzilopochtli (the will to act) and shows a connection to Concepcion’s assertion that these perspectives of gender roles and feminism must be explicitly presented in class in order to raise awareness. It is important to note that Victoria viewed this as a feminist lesson and not one grounded in Chicanism@, which illustrates the complexity of intersectionality and the role it plays in the lives of students of color.
CLASS also proved to be an important space to explore intersectionality for
LGBTQ issues and voices. Within the curriculum, the unit on gender and sexuality was by far the most impactful for most of the students. Nearly all of the students in
CLASS self-identified as heterosexual, and those students saw a range of positive outcomes from reading LGBTQ literature. Ana expressed one such outcome, in regard to providing students with an opportunity to be exposed to counter- narratives from the voices of queer authors and artists in an academic setting.
It just got me thinking about like all the stories you don’t hear about and like how many gay people there probably are, but aren’t comfortable letting people know. So having music where they’re actually saying how they feel, really like started getting me thinking. And then, so I took a class at the U of A on LGBTQ, so then that, like I was connecting things from both CLASS and there.
Ana acknowledges the importance of exposing students to counter narratives since she began to think about the LGBTQ people around her who are constrained by social and cultural customs that promote a heteronormative society. Ana exhibits critical Tezcatlipoca (self-reflection) to not only realize the lack of freedom and oppressive conditions endured by many LGBTQ individuals, but also the 170
Huitzilopocthli (the will to act) to explore the issues further by taking a LGBTQ course at her university. Ana later explains how these academic experiences helped her discuss these issues with her mother who was uncomfortable around her lesbian friends from high school. Eventually, the dialogue with her mother proved to be transformative.
She was just like, ‘oh my god this is so wrong’. So that the way she acted then, to the way she sees people on TV now, and she’s actually watching it. Like there’s this new show called The Fosters and it’s about a lesbian couple who are foster parents. And so she watched the whole show without making any faces or comments about it. And then I had her watching the music video “Same Love” and she was okay with it. And so she’s, she listens more than she speaks back about it. So I can tell that she is – her mind is being opened to the idea of it.
Ana’s experience with the LGBTQ curriculum in CLASS provided her the analytical background and comfort to continue to have conversations with her mother about an issue where they originally did not agree. Furthermore, the framework of critical race theory illustrates the transformative impact of a social justice curriculum coupled with a humanizing pedagogy (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001;
Yosso, 2002).
The effort to include all students in the curriculum of CLASS, especially in terms of intersectionality, was another benefit for providing a curriculum unit on gender and sexuality. Gloria was our only self-identified homosexual student and found the introduction of stories with LGBTQ characters to be engaging, especially since the characters were treated with respect and not essentialized. In her own words she described the main character in one of the stories as “strong in her queerness.” Similarly, to Ana, Gloria spoke about wanting to, “read more stuff like 171 this cuz you don’t see, you don’t hear about it…It made me want to read more, to find out more…”
For Gloria, the serious study of LGBTQ literature, coupled with the enthusiasm of her classmates, may have contributed to her own confidence. By the end of our first semester, students were given the opportunity to write about the lessons that they had taught for each other in CLASS for publication with Rethinking
Schools. Gloria did provide a lesson for her peers that was grounded in her own intersectionality as a lesbian Chicana. However, she made a much different decision when it came to her written piece, as she chose to write a personal account of some of her experiences in high school. To this point, Gloria had been more private about her sexuality in school and CLASS. During CLASS discussions she seldom spoke from personal experiences, although she was never reserved in terms of her participation in CLASS, at THS, or her activism in the community. However, her sexuality and relationships with other girls was kept private, although she did share such information with me when none of her peers were present. Thus, the excerpt from her personal essay was a surprising departure at the time, since it ushered the start of her own feeling of liberation in terms of her identity as a lesbian.
We didn’t choose to be so different, to be gay or lesbian. We don’t really know why, or at least I don’t. Maybe we were born like this, maybe we just grew into it, or maybe it was because of the time daddy went too far… Whatever it was, after years of hoping for empty bathrooms and invisibility, we began to feel ashamed for hiding behind walls. We questioned our fear, not knowing why we felt such agony when it came to the issue. We knew our life of short haircuts and dark baggy clothes was not easy, but we knew hiding was not the answer. After a while we stopped avoiding those daunting eyes, we stopped hiding, we stopped being silent.
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Gloria’s narrative reveals that she had endured internalized oppression toward herself as a lesbian. The heteronormative world that she was a part of contributed to these attitudes and her own dehumanization as “so different” from her peers. Yet, she has begun a process of healing through the shame of who she is and has also found her voice. Critical race theory establishes the power of counter narratives to release victims of racism and discrimination from blaming themselves
(Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). This can be similarly applied to the discrimination and heterosexism that Gloria was forced to endure while simply using the bathroom at her high school. Through the process of studying literature that reflected similar accounts of prejudice and bigotry, and writing about her own experiences, Gloria illustrates an emerging self-determination and agency.
In addition, students found the pedagogy and curriculum of CLASS as beneficial in cultivating critical thinking, while the ethnic and cultural lens of the program increased the academic identity and agency of the students. This was evident from Ana’s comments about the role of CLASS in her educational journey.
I am here on a Sunday to get an education. Monday through Friday is the same old systematic educational classes. Then on Saturday, it is one day to breathe, get de-stressed from chemistry lectures and remind myself of why I am in college. Then Sunday I block off three hours to polish my critical thinking. The class helps me to get ready for another week of school. Some people run every morning to start off their day, while I get my dose of critical thinking to start off my week.
It is important to note that Ana was attending a major university while she was enrolled in CLASS, and through written reflections and interviews, she consistently expressed that the pedagogy and curriculum of CLASS cultivated her critical consciousness in a way that was absent from the traditional schooling she 173 had experienced both in high school and college. This was a common theme that the students of CLASS articulated through their written reflections, as well as ruminations that the critical nature of the curriculum inspired them to continue their education beyond high school.
Similarly, the culturally responsive nature of the curriculum was seen as a benefit to the students in CLASS. Since high school students were no longer able to access the MAS curriculum through public school, CLASS served as an opportunity for youth to continue their academic exploration of Mexican American culture and their own ethnic identity. As Esperanza wrote in her midterm reflection of CLASS:
I enjoy learning about Chicano and Chicana writers and about my cultural background. I am friends with all the students here and our teacher, and I enjoy spending time with them. CLASS is very important for me because it fulfills some of my need to know about my culture and about who I am. CLASS can help with my academic goals and has already helped me become a better writer and reader. Esperanza illustrates the reflexivity between ethnic and academic identity development through culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies and curricula. This example affirms Ana’s comments about the critical nature and academic impact of CLASS, while elucidating the importance of the Chican@ lens that was embedded in the curriculum and practices of the program. Furthermore, students found the academic space as a form of pride and resistance to the law and policies that eliminated MAS as articulated in the following example from Rita.
It (CLASS) is important to me because of who I am and because I am proud of who I am. I feel this is the only place were [sic] I can read about my people and feel proud and I am even encouraged to feel proud. This class makes me feel like I am around family while school makes me feel like an outsider. I am not only interested in the material but I care and relate to the material. I also like to feel that I am doing something that really bothers those ignorant people that 174
took away my classes. It makes me feel like I won. That’s why I am here.
Rita’s midterm reflection is another affirmation of the pedagogical influence of In Lak Ech, and the sense of authentic caring in CLASS (Acosta, 2014b; Acosta &
Mir, 2012; Valenzuela, 1999) as well as the resiliency of the students to persevere through a traumatic time in their educational lives. This example illuminates the resistant capital (Yosso, 2005) the students were utilizing to navigate through an experience that could have yielded dramatically different outcomes in terms of their educational journey. As Daniel Solórzano and Dolores Delgado Bernal (2001) postulated, this is an example of transformative resistance that can benefit academic pursuits and future goals for youth, rather than forms of self-defeating or conformist resistance that can often harm or rupture such pathways for personal or societal change. The strength of her personal/ethnic identity and the value of the cultural lens of CLASS fueled her own agency to reject any types of victimization. On the contrary, she saw her participation and academic engagement in CLASS as victory.
Indigenous Epistemologies Revealed Through Student Literary Analysis
CLASS students also used the Indigenous principles embedded into the pedagogy of CLASS when analyzing the literature of study. Using the lens of In Lak
Ech or the Nahui Ollin to discuss the characters and people in the stories and books we studied was consistently observed through the interview data. Many times this was made evident by students relating to characters that were like themselves in terms of ethnic identity, sexuality or culturally. However, similar to when Victoria focused her feminist lesson on the stereotypical macho traits of men, Santiago also 175 discovered the power to empathize with those that he did not identify with before the start of CLASS.
Definitely The Devil’s Highway, I kind of heard a whole new side of the BP (Border Patrol)…Yeah. It made me realize even more that everyone’s human. We all make mistakes, no one’s perfect. We all just try to do our best. Before, people would mention the Border Patrol and they’d think of bad people…This is new information for me that, not really information more like a new way of thinking about them. I just started hearing people telling stories about some of the Border Patrol, that they were actually good people. That they, they would pick up the, the people trying to cross and they would give them shelter for however long they needed it.
This example is a clear representation of In Lak Ech. For the
Chican@/Mexican@ community in the southwest there are few authoritative institutions as demonized and feared as the Border Patrol. Santiago makes reference to this in his comments, but also illustrates a humanizing and empathetic disposition. Instead of regarding the Border Patrol as a monolith and stripping the individuals from their humanity, Santiago was willing to investigate and analyze new evidence from The Devil’s Highway, which provided a counter-narrative. By no means does Santiago make reference to changing his feelings toward the immigration policies of the country, but rather views the actions of saving lives of immigrants lost in the desert by the Border Patrol as benevolent and human. In this regard, Santiago is practicing Indigenous and Freirian principles. As Paulo Freire once wrote, “It is only the oppressed who, by freeing themselves, can free their oppressors” (Freire, 1970, p. 56). The principles, pedagogy, and curriculum of CLASS were aligned to cultivate critical reflection that encouraged humanization. 176
Esperanza’s written reflections in our class assignments about The Devil’s
Highway articulated a similar idea. However, she found the humanization of these stories to be discomforting at first.
What stayed with me the most after reading Devil’s Highway was the realization of the complex nature of the coyotes and immigration policy. I hated to see the point of view of the coyotes and the Border Patrol, too. It made me uncomfortable to relate to them since I always felt we had nothing in common.
As Kevin Kumashiro (2002) articulated, to stay locked inside the parameters of comfort within the exploration of issues within academic content can only exacerbate oppression and inequality. Students will only be exposed to mainstream and popular narratives within the realm of comfort. For Esperanza, the idea of coyotes as human traffickers, or the Border Patrol as inhuman oppressors of a flawed immigration policy, was a comforting narrative compared to the complexity of the actual people who lived these lives. Furthermore, her discomfort was heightened by identifying with them through similar frustrations they shared toward the impact of immigration policies upon all their lives.
Although it is important to note the process of empathizing and finding the humanity of these individuals in The Devil’s Highway, it did not mean that they abandoned a critique of policies and practices that they fundamentally did not agree with in terms of immigration, especially the increased militarization of the border.
As revealed in Tipu’s reflective journal on the book:
There is a recurring theme of death, American arrogance, and the desensitized nature of the Border Patrol agents. As admirable as it is of the Border Patrol agents for their efforts to save stranded walkers from their terrible deaths, this does not ease the sexual assault and human rights violations that they are infamous for. Nor does it eradicate a completely flawed system that provides no alternate 177
options for undocumented immigrants. It’s like Isabel says at the end of the book – “It’s not sufficient, and we think it’s disingenuous to say they’re making it safer. Our border policies are the direct cause of those fourteen deaths.”
CLASS students were able to discern the nuances of the issues revealed in
The Devil’s Highway, and this example emphasizes the pedagogical lenses of our
Indigenous epistemologies coupled with critical pedagogy. Students were liberated to think critically and freely through their analysis of the literature. As can be seen in the following passage from Gloria:
…When we read that part of the book where they were trying to demonize and make him the biggest criminal, we knew the whole story and could look beyond the fact that he was doing something “illegal” but really see what led him to do it…There are countless examples of how our humanity is tested.
In addition, the students of CLASS were also able to find connections with one another through the process of re-humanization, regardless of differences in sexual orientation, gender, or ethnicity. Being that Tipu was of Kashmiri descent, her articulation of what CLASS fulfilled for her went beyond ethnicity.
I don’t know where else I can go on a Sunday and like hang out with a bunch of brown people and talk about white supremacy. What needs did it fulfill? I mean, the idea that there’s a big Pan-Brown collective that I could easily fit into with, you know, the idea that I am never gonna have the same experiences that you all have had, and that you are never going to have the same ones I have. So it fulfilled a role of like being able to like talk about racism, sexism, all the “isms” with people that I could go there with.
This example illustrates the lack of nationalism within the particular curricular content and pedagogical tenets of CLASS, in favor of a broader human view of oppression that inspired a sense of collectivism. As Tipu articulates, it is not possible to completely understand or experience the world in the exact same 178 manner as another person. However, that did not preclude the commitment from the students of CLASS toward empathizing with one another, and more importantly, working together to analyze the factors that contribute to the hegemony endured by young people of color in the United States.
The pedagogy of In Lak Ech was evident in the student written reflections from CLASS. Students found the academic space and their relationships with one another as powerful as the content. In the words of Santiago:
I’m in CLASS because I want to learn. I love knowledge, and it loves me. It’s of total importance of mine, not just because we’re receiving college credit, but also because I’m here for my CLASS peers. Although we’re individuals, we still depend on each other like family does.
These sentiments were repeated by CLASS youth during interviews and written assignments. Since CLASS was voluntary on a Sunday, and most of the students needed to balance their lives with work and traditional school, the bond of interdependence was crucial. However, this feeling did not manifest itself through guilt or obligation, but through a sense of joy and respect for the mutual commitment in spending those weekend hours together.
I love coming to class every Sunday. I love walking into a space where you are greeted by big smiles and warm hugs. I love knowing that my maestro loves us enough to make extra time for us on his weekends. I love knowing that everyone else sincerely cares and really wants to be here as much as I do. I guess you could say that I come to class every Sunday out of love for my education, my future, and my people.
Gloria’s summation illustrates a firm academic and cultural identity, but also the power of authentic caring that is pedagogically rooted in In Lak Ech. Her use of the word “love” is crucial since such language was used against the program as inappropriate teacher practices by Arizona state officials and other detractors of 179
MAS in an administrative law judge hearing (Arizona Administrative Law Judge
Decision, 2011). Educators and policy makers that embrace traditional teacher- centered practices can still see humanizing pedagogies and authentic relationships represented in classroom practices as unseemly and unprofessional. This tension is often related to cultural deficit dispositions, rather than understanding the aspirational capital and cultural wealth of the students and their families (Yosso,
2005).
Academic Engagement – The Real and the Community
Paulo Freire implored for educators to build academic experiences where students practice reading the world in which they exist, and not simply reading the words on the page (Freire, 1970). In the case for CLASS students, this pedagogical approach was evident in how the students discussed the literature that they were reading in CLASS. For Concepcion, the literature was reflective of her world in a way that emphasized her lived reality and not an idealized, over-romanticized view of her experiences or Chican@ culture.
Concepcion: Say most of the stories like Ten Little Indians and Woman Hollering Creek they’re not happy stories. They’re all kind of miserable. But just because it isn’t a happy-go-lucky ending story doesn’t mean it’s not a great story because it’s true and it’s real and you can feel the realness within the story. You can imagine the characters being a real person, or the situations they are in, you can relate to it even if you haven’t gone through those relations. It’s like when you’re reading a story and you get a lump in your throat or like the teary eyes, and you just feel connected with the characters in the story. And just knowing that you’re within that group, it might not be a great story, but you know their hardships are being appreciated through the stories. Acosta: And so let me go one more step, is that how you feel about being Chicana, being Mexican. 180
Concepcion: Yeah, even if it isn’t all like happy and prosperous. Well, we’re being appreciated. It may not be like in the popular, like, the best way, but it’s acknowledged.
Earlier in the interview, Concepcion had spoken about her freshman English experiences as one of the most negative academic experiences of her life because the teacher did not provide direct instruction, or any type of communal learning experiences. In the previous example, Concepcion illustrates her passion for literature and how the content of CLASS was identifiable to her world. The characters and their situations were not beautiful, but they were real and she could relate to their hardship and struggles. Furthermore, she found that this type of literature was culturally responsive and encompassed many of the feelings she had about being Chicana. This point also shows the relationship to critical race theory and the importance of counter-storytelling in the process of humanizing experiences that are often marginalized or silenced. For Concepcion, she was engaged in the literature in a very personal way and this increased her love of reading and studying literature through the appreciation of the stories like her own, or those found in her cultura. The representation of these types of characters were foundational in her ability to challenge herself as a scholar, and influence her plans for study at the university level.
Literature that was responsive and reflective of the world around them was a significant factor in stimulating academic engagement and connection. However,
CLASS students were quite critical of their public school experiences in this same regard since cultural and community responsive curricular content was deficient.
Gloria explains how this was the case at her high school. 181
For the ninety percent of it, excluding your class, it’s completely absent. Like there’s like, ‘What? There’s stuff going on in the world. What? When did that happen?’ I don’t know. I guess, there typical just like public school get in, get out, in general. I’m just generalizing. But then with CLASS, it was just like, yes, we’re in a classroom setting, but look around you, look outside the door, like, look outside the windows. Go out there, talk to people, find out what’s going on sort of thing. So, I think, like, CLASS and public school, in general were, completely opposite. Like, of course, we were still sitting down and studying. Even talking like that doesn’t really happen in normal class settings. A lot of students, like, they’re shy and won’t talk, or they have no connection for what is going on.
Gloria’s comments reveal the complexity of culturally and community responsive pedagogy. She articulates that a “typical” public school experience is one more akin to a fast food restaurant than a site for reflective practice, critical analysis, or authentic caring. Such a description supports the hegemonic and social reproductive purposes of education articulated by scholars and theorist such as
Pierre Bourdieu (1982) and Michel Foucault (1984) amongst others. The concept of managing the bodies, as well as the expected academic and employment futures of working class students of color is antithetical to the objectives of critical, culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy. Gloria illuminates these differences with her comments about how CLASS emphasized analyzing the world around them, as well as creating a reflexive relationship between student experiences and the academic content of CLASS. Each informed the other.
Furthermore, Gloria asserts the importance of talking in the classroom and alludes to the pedagogical choices, which cultivated student voice and dialogue in
CLASS, an essential element to critical pedagogy (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; hooks, 2003a). Conversely, critical culturally responsive pedagogy is student- centered and dialogue is an essential component to the analytical and synthetic 182 process. Santiago emphasized the importance of classroom dialogue and collaborative learning in helping him experience a wide range and variety of opinions or ideas during the study of literature in CLASS.
…definitely a lot more discussion. Over the years, I realized that the way I learn best is through talking it out, just analyzing it through groups, more than one person. Cuz we don’t have all the ideas in the world, so we don’t—that’s the main difference. Here, at school, there’s a lot of homework. That’s a lot of writing, a lot of reading, a lot of just text work, textbook work. More of the teacher talking. During CLASS, we can take the time we want.
Santiago’s description of his public school experience illustrates a lack of student engagement and autonomy due to the dominance of teacher talk in the classroom. This is exacerbated by solitary work with students only interacting with their textbooks without opportunities to work or share ideas with their peers. For
Santiago, and his peers in CLASS, collaborative work and dialogue with their classmates were critical to academic engagement, as well as deepening or broadening their own analysis or understanding of the material. He also emphasizes the importance of the structure of CLASS that provided students the time they needed to fully explore their ideas with one another, which is reflective of the student-centered and responsive pedagogical decision that was the foundation of
CLASS.
Concepcion further addressed the differences she observed between her traditional public school experience and CLASS, specifically how the content was not focused upon the community.
At Central High, we don’t really talk about social issues I guess you could say, besides current, political, popular news. I feel like with CLASS we focused on what wasn’t popular and we tried to look for, like when we did the workshops to try to see how to bring awareness 183
to issues that weren’t so popular and weren’t on the news…Oh, I feel like issues, community based, weren’t represented at all in classes, like just normal Central High classes, besides Latino Literature before it was dismantled. But, it definitely didn’t focus on the community, it was more popular news, like I said. But with CLASS it was more community based and local, and it felt more intimate.
The term “popular news” illustrates that Concepcion understood that teachers chose content that was relative to students’ lives in the sense that it was topical and easily accessible. However, these mainstream narratives were not addressing the particular issues of her neighborhood or community. In this sense, although the teachers were attempting to relate to students with a “macro” lens of the world, the “micro” experiences that the students were engaging with on a daily basis were unexplored. Her use of the word “intimate” for CLASS emphasizes the responsiveness and authenticity of the content, as opposed to the more general or conventional efforts to engage students.
In addition to the lack of culturally and community responsive curriculum that CLASS students encountered in public school, students also maintained that
CLASS was a far more critical, challenging and rewarding academic experience than public school. As earlier examples illustrated, CLASS students were more engaged with the content of the courses. However, they also felt ill prepared for college by low academic expectations, or in the case for Ana, the tendency for public school content and pedagogy to be driven by high stakes, standardized testing.
So, I learned more in CLASS and it was, like, it touched me more than public school did and it was relevant to my life so I got more out of it. And I was like talking to my mom about public school and how it kind of messes you up for college. Cuz like in high school a lot of students, well, me, I was under the impression that you memorize everything for the test and then you forget it. And so that is how a lot of the classes are cuz everything is about test scores and making the teacher 184
look good. So then by the time you get to college, you didn’t retain a lot of the information. And also I have trouble with the studying in college, like studying to know it for like five years down the road, not even, like more because I’m going to become a doctor, so like I have to know this stuff. But my brain is already used to the high school concept of stuff, just knowing it for the test and forgetting it. So I feel that is how the public school is. They just teach you what you have to know for the test and CLASS taught you what you have to know for your life. So I like CLASS because it was around our interests, our lifestyles. It was a context that we could relate to.
Ana expresses how she felt inadequately prepared for college due to the teaching practices emphasized at her high school, which were often reliant upon testing and not critical thinking. Ana needed to retrain herself and adapt as a student since she was the product of schooling that resembled Freire’s description of banking education (Freire, 1970). By simply memorizing and regurgitating the data for her high school courses, Ana thrived enough to enter a major university, although she had to embrace a different type of learning once in college. For Ana,
CLASS was much more like her university experiences since it encouraged her to forge her own understanding of the topics at hand, and as in the cases of Gloria and
Concepcion, she was able to make connections to her own lived experiences and retain the precious and beautiful knowledge that she learned. Thus, these pedagogical tenets create lifelong learners, who are critically conscious, civically engaged and able to fully participate in democratic institutions.
Santiago affirmed the importance of educational environments like CLASS primarily because of the critical thinking and profound analysis that was an essential element of the curriculum.
It’s rare to have a space like this, where we can get in-depth with everything. Usually, the other classes try to pack in so much just in one course. I guess it just depends on the curriculum. In the end, I 185
think you learn more when you analyze something a lot more than trying to learn the basics of so many things.
Similar to Ana’s comments, Santiago expressed a critique of traditional public school where teachers and administrators are often motivated by the breadth of the curriculum expectations due to the anxiety that often accompanies high stakes standardized tests (Osborne, 2001), as opposed to developing critically conscious and liberated students.
Students also recognized that CLASS was difficult, but it was a rigor where they found personal investment since it was different from their traditional school due to the cultural and community responsiveness of the content. Additionally,
CLASS ensured that students had the time to be successful through pacing that complemented the development of their awareness or increasing analytical acumen.
Concepcion discussed how the cultural responsiveness and academic demands affected her classmates.
I think it enhances it (educational growth) because it’s one thing to have an interest in it (ethnic studies) and it’s another thing to go in and make the effort to learn about it. Cuz learning isn’t easy. It’s hard work and it’s like a job. But in the end it’s worth it because you become a better person, and you learn more about yourself than you did before. And I feel like the space could have been two things for a person; it could have been the space to expand their knowledge and just go deeper into what they were already curious about, or it could be that gateway to a new learning experience…
The value of the educational experiences of CLASS transcended notions that education is means to an economic end. For Concepcion, there was value in the academic adversity of CLASS since she felt that she was not only growing intellectually, but being challenged to become a better, and more reflective person.
Her belief that ethnic studies and culturally responsive education such as CLASS 186 were beneficial to many different types of students since it addressed a gap in traditional high school content for students who were interested in experiencing an academic content that was non-Eurocentric, while also providing the opportunity for students who were curious or desirous to learn something new. Furthermore,
Concepcion is keenly aware that “learning isn’t easy,” but it is rewarding and fulfilling.
Gloria expressed that CLASS was the perfect bridge to college since it asked more of the students in terms of critical thinking and analysis, coupled with the community engagement and activist work. She felt this mirrored what her college expectations were for herself much more than her daily public high school experiences. Students were afforded the time and autonomy to ruminate upon the concepts brought forth in class such as sexism, racism, discrimination, and social injustices as they studied the literature and applied it to their world, while also being challenged to participate in activities outside of CLASS that would further the development of their critical consciousness and growing agency and power.
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CHAPTER SIX
AGENCY, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND ACTIVISM OF CLASS YOUTH
In this chapter, I analyze student artifacts produced in CLASS and exit interviews conducted in the summer of 2013 to answer how the youth of CLASS perceived their role in addressing critical issues in their lives through civic engagement and political activism. The following examples illustrate how the students utilized the pedagogical process of CLASS toward youth liberation, how their own agency and self-determination manifested itself during CLASS, and the possibilities for their future community engagement.
Emancipating Space and the Freedom to Grow and Lead
The theoretical foundation and pedagogical tenets of CLASS emphasized student liberation through the academic content. The educational objectives were that students would not only be able to identify discriminatory and oppressive constraints upon their lives through their developing conciencia, but also take action to address these systemic injustices. CLASS was born out of a tradition of youth liberation, civic engagement, and political activism that was present in MAS.
Of all of the students in CLASS, Gloria had the most experience within
Indigenous and Chican@ activism. She was forthright in sharing that her mother had raised her in the movement, and that it was an expectation at home to be involved in the process of telling truth to power. Thus, Gloria’s perception of how these pedagogical choices helped cultivate student voice and agency are critical due to her vast experience and authentic understanding of these notions. In the example below, Gloria describes the process the mid-year projects that the students elected 188 to pursue; a manuscript written collectively for a forthcoming chapter in a
Rethinking Schools book, as well as the process, from proposal to presentation, for a workshop CLASS students delivered at the national conference Free Minds, Free
People 2013 in Chicago, Illinois.
So, how you did it is, you gave us a task…like the same thing with the chapter, you’re like, okay, we need to make this presentation, ninety minutes, what do you guys want to talk about? I think…the beginning is when you facilitated the most. When you’re just kind of like, okay, what are you guys gonna say once we’re there. And then, we’re all over the place, right? Like we’re talking about, taking over youth voice and, our struggle and all of this stuff. And you’re like, okay, you guys figure that one out. And we did, we figured it out. It was like, okay, you guys need to do this. Fill it out and let me see it before you submit it…I think it was a healthy hands off, but still, like, okay I want to see something. Oh, okay, you should fix that. But in a nice, like critical way, right?
Although Gloria had been a participant of social justice movements from a young age, her role had never been one as a leader or organizer. Her roles prior to
CLASS had been to attend events once they had been organized, but had yet to have the opportunity to lead, organize or co-construct the action. One of the intentions of
CLASS was to assist in the development of these skills so that the youth of CLASS were not dependent on others to lead them, especially adults. It was essential for the students of CLASS to have the requisite skills and opportunity to create their own transformative actions. However, as Gloria articulates, this could not be accomplished without cultivating an academic space for youth to make decisions while I remained present in the process. Thus, my voice and actions shifted from teacher to a guide and eventually to critical audience member, or as Gloria describes it, “a healthy hands-off.” Once authentic caring and confianza (mutual trust) is 189 established there should be an expectation to be honest in critique, while simultaneously being nurturing and helpful.
These characteristics are essential for academic experiences that embrace critical pedagogy. Students must be given the opportunity to work independently without being abandoned (Darder, 2002; Freire, 1970). Even within a class that has a co-constructive structure meant to foster students to develop and practice their own agency, it is even more critical for teachers to be sound in their own methods and practice. As Gloria emphasizes, there can be much anxiety for students in this process.
I think in the beginning we’re all kind of freaked out a little bit. When it came to, like, here’s this big old thing, it has to look really good or else you won’t get accepted. Do it! And then, we’re all just kind of like, uh, like I said, shouldn’t you help us, like, how do we do this? But, again, just thinking about what I just said, if you would have helped us then, we would have needed you the whole way. And, I think, it’s like, if you didn’t help us then, like, in the little ways that you did, I think it would’ve just totally, just kind of like, collapsed, and wouldn’t have worked at all.
Once a teacher leaves the collaborative process, a vacuum is created that can be naturally filled by the students. However, it is important to have a firm class structure in place that has already developed collaboration and leadership amongst students, as well as a relationship between the students and the teacher where they feel comfortable in seeking out assistance if needed. As Gloria articulates, my interaction with the students was not as prevalent during this process, but I was able to anticipate problems and intervene in small ways to help the students move forward in their own vision. 190
Conversely, teachers must be proactive in this regard by clearly presenting the process to students ahead of time, which is an area where I fell short. Students who are as intrinsically motivated as the students in CLASS, may be capable of taking risks that other students may not feel prepared to attempt. Emancipatory education is a delicate dance, but one that does not have to surprise the students.
There is a balance that can be achieved where Gloria and her peers could have still felt liberated to direct their own vision of the presentation without feeling a lack of support or guidance from me.
Unfortunately, this process was also replicated during our research projects in the spring semester where CLASS students worked in small groups outside of
CLASS sessions to complete a mini-ethnography on the type of Mexican American
Studies program community members would want to see return to TUSD.
Concepcion discusses some of her reactions to the process:
The research that you kind of just dumped on us and didn’t tell us much about, it was hard at first. It was frustrating because I didn’t have the direction I wanted. I wanted more information. I wanted you to tell me what to do. But you didn’t do that so we had to figure out on our own. But as we were taking the steps by ourselves, we eventually, we fell a few times, but we learned to walk on our own. So it was, it was more of an independent kind of feeling (be)cause you felt like you did something for yourself.
Although Concepcion may have felt a bit lost during the initial steps of the research process, it is important to note that each week in CLASS there were presentations on each step of the research process. However, this may not have been enough scaffolding or support for the students as was needed, and it was not my intention that my students felt abandoned or lost as Gloria and Concepcion intimate. It was my original goal, when I created CLASS, to produce a youth 191 participatory action research (YPAR) product with my students. As a high school teacher I was used to more contact time with my students. Thus, I believed that teaching the literature content with qualitative research methodology and projects was feasible since I had achieved this in the past. As the spring semester unfolded, it became clear that attempting to study literature and organically generate a YPAR study stretched our limited resources and time beyond our means, and this contributed to the students feeling unsure or confused about how to be successful in their research. In the case of CLASS, I needed to provide more scaffolding so that the students were confident to take risks in applying the ethnographic skills that they were learning in the classroom to their research projects. The fact that students still proceeded in their projects was in large part due to the deep relational bonds and confianza that was prevalent in CLASS, and not because of an internalized understanding and belief in what the research skills they needed to be successful.
However, there are also other factors that may have contributed to these feelings as
Concepcion continued to articulate:
Unlike most teachers, where they just tell you, they give you this rubric, tell you step-by-step what to do and how to go about doing it. You know, that’s the easy way you just do it, you don’t think about it, you just do it. Here you made us think, and you made us research, and you made us do all these things by ourselves. But in the end we appreciated it because now we have something to go off of, and we know the mistakes we made and how to go about fixing them or doing them better next time. And we evaluated ourselves.
In her traditional high school learning experiences, Concepcion was most often directed what to do and explicitly shown the expectations of the assignment.
In contrast, the research project required student-direction and autonomy to make decisions in regard to their academic journey. Traditional patriarchal power 192 structures of schools and teacher-centered instruction can inadvertently suppress student access to power. Conversely, Concepcion explained how her peers and herself gained confidence and were more apt to take risks moving forward, since the students were expected to take the lead and ownership in the direction of the research project. The effort to take such a leap is difficult for many students of color in traditional teacher-centered educational environments due to the lack of authentic caring with the teacher and their peers, low academic expectations, or distrust that has manifested itself from discriminatory experiences in school (Ream,
2003; Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999).
For Gloria, CLASS was a way for her to be cultivated academically while also developing confidence in herself to engage in activities that often intimidated her in prior school years. As a young woman that was not comfortable in speaking in front of large audiences, Gloria’s time in CLASS proved to be transformative since she taught a CLASS session, a similar assignment in her English class, and also presented a workshop with her peers at a national conference. In addition, she also expressed how she now trusted herself, and this contributed to her risk taking in CLASS, as well as her ability to be self-reflective and bold. Gloria referred to her writing for the
Rethinking Schools chapter as proof of her new confidence since she had never broached her sexuality and feelings toward the homophobic situations she faced in high school.
Victoria also commented on the growth in her confidence and attributed it to the success that she was having in CLASS. During the academic school year of CLASS, 193 she was registered at a local community college and enjoyed her most successful academic year since high school.
A lot of it had to do with my confidence, like, how I saw myself and where I was going with myself, because when you found me I wasn’t exactly in the best of shape mentally or emotionally. But that happens every so often. Yeah, and so, I guess I, I needed that confidence booster. Quite honestly, ever since I’ve started accomplishing things and doing work, my life has completely turned around. And I feel like I’m accomplishing things not only, like, through my work but personally, as well. Wow, confidence does make a difference.
Not only did Victoria see the results in her academic life blossom during
CLASS, but also she believed her academic success was influencing her entire well- being. In essence, she was becoming much healthier and had a brighter outlook toward her future during a busy time in her life, since she was not only working 30 hours per week, but also attending school every day, including Sundays with CLASS.
Counter intuitively, Victoria was not undergoing more stress with such a hectic schedule, but was navigating her life with confidence. Her leadership role in CLASS coupled with an increase of academic engagement produced positive results throughout her life.
Political Activism and Civic Engagement
According to the students, their participation in CLASS either influenced their own participation in political activism, or influenced the way they perceived activism and their role in crafting positive change in their community or world.
Nearly all of the students viewed their participation in CLASS as a form of activism since the dismantling of Mexican American Studies by the local school district and state officials. As Esperanza noted, 194
Because this class was prohibited. Like they told us that you can’t learn about this stuff. You know, it’s like illegal material, it’s bad for you and we still went out of our way to learn it, learn about it, engage in it. That’s really politically activist. Like you’re going against what the government is telling you, so that is protesting…
Her comments revealed the resiliency of CLASS students to not be deterred by the fear of the mainstream narrative of the state, which included that the curricular content was harmful to students. This is an example of the students applying the Mexica concept of Huitzilopochtli (the will to act), as they remained steadfast in their desire to experience a curriculum that embraced their cultural and ethnic identity, regardless of the reality that the content of CLASS was deemed to be violating state law. In addition, Esperanza and her peers were critically conscious in recognizing that the policies were unjust in how they were applied to MAS in Tucson and Chican@ students such as themselves. Esperanza articulates how CLASS students were autonomous and had firm academic identities in place to seek out remedies to the discriminatory policies that were affecting their lives.
Although Esperanza’s high school did not offer MAS, she had already formed a sense of what activism meant to her and how she saw her participation in CLASS as an extension of those ideals.
I’ve never seen it (activism) in a negative way. We learned about lots of revolutions and how bloody they were and how bad they were, but in the end you get your point across. Not instigating violence here…non-violent protesting is the best, and that’s why I think CLASS was really great because we could have done violent stuff, we could have protested we could have been angrier, but we didn’t. We did it in a peaceful way and we still got a lot of attention for it and it was fun.
In this example, Esperanza compares what she has been exposed from her history classes in high school in terms of the violence of revolutionary wars and 195 societal change, to the principles and ideology she felt embodied CLASS. For
Esperanza, CLASS was a non-violent form of resistance to discriminatory legislation that reflected her values and that she embraced. She is aware of the different options that could have been taken to raise awareness of the issue, including angry responses to the district and/or state. However, the path of resiliency was more appealing to her since students were able to still experience and learn the banned curriculum. Thus, she feels that this approach garnered her, and her classmates, positive attention from the media.
Ana also found that CLASS was an outlet to stay active in the community through education, since she felt a void in her activism and involvement since graduating high school.
It kind of made me feel like I had something to be active about, cuz in high school it was all walkouts, sit-ins, stuff that high school students would do. But then being out of high school, I didn’t know how to be involved cuz there was just, like, a switch. So, going to CLASS on Sundays, getting educated on my own time, was something.
Ana’s description of what she felt were typical high school experiences are surprising since they reveal significant types of direct action. This example illustrates the tenor of her time in high school during an unprecedented exercise in authoritarian and regressive politics in Arizona. Students such as Ana had normalized protests such as marches, sit-ins and other types of political activism as part of the high school experience. Curiously, as a university student she did not feel that same type of connection until her participation in CLASS. Similar to Esperanza’s comments, CLASS provided a space of resistance and way to practice Huitzilopochtli 196 through an educational setting. Students were able to use CLASS as a place to meet and organize at a time when youth in Tucson were searching for such spaces.
Education is not always seen as an exercise in activism, especially by young people who are used to a more performative or elaborate form of direct action such as walkouts or 24-hour vigils, student activities that were common during the six- year struggle to save MAS in Tucson. However, CLASS provided a new way of perceiving activism for Tipu who had been heavily involved in direct action that in some cases put her at risk of being arrested. The time spent on Sundays in CLASS, including writing for Rethinking Schools, and presenting a workshop at a national conference influenced Tipu’s assessment of the complexity and nuances of being politically active as a young person.
Yeah, why do we constantly feel like we’re like defending ourselves? When I think about going to a conference, I wanted us to just breathe easy, and be like, “Uh, okay. We’re amongst a maybe, hopefully, progressive crowd we don’t have to validate why we need Ethnic Studies. But I feel like there are different roles like I feel like you can I don’t even know. I have a really simplistic way of thinking about these things. I feel there’s the academic level in, you know, that in which we defend ourselves. And then there’s the street level. Like, you know, holding it down in front of 1010 and being threatened by the cops with mace and stuff. Like, that’s, you know, one thing and being able to go to a conference, like, present on the struggle here in Tucson, and talking to the media, which is something I just don’t like doing that shit. You know, they’re different roles, but I don’t think they like diminish each other, like one’s more important than the other. Which is pretty obvious to you and me, but I feel like people forget that.
What is of interest to note at the start of the excerpt is the emotional toll that
Tipu has experienced due to her political activism. She asks a rhetorical question about how she has internalized her defensiveness during the years that she has been advocating for MAS. This illustrates a phenomenon called racial battle fatigue, 197 in essence the impact upon a person’s mind, life and body from engaging in struggles for racial equality and anti-discrimination (Yosso, Smith, Ceja, &
Solórzano, 2009). Tipu admits that she was hopeful that attending and presenting at a national conference of progressive students and educators would produce a space to be free of the burden of justifying and defending her right to learn as a woman of color.
Later in the example, Tipu articulates how she views activism as much more than direct action that may draw police attention, or other authoritarian responses from government or private institutions. In the case of Tipu and her peers’ activism in protecting MAS, direct action also resulted in dehumanizing portrayals of youth by the mainstream Tucson media. However, Tipu’s participation in CLASS ushered in a more complex and nuanced understanding of activism than accounts provided by the media or anecdotes of public officials toward student resistance. She believes that there is a complimentary relationship between direct action and educational activism. Tipu states the necessity to forge understanding and “defend ourselves” within the educational arena, while “holding it down” through public protests or more radical movements to inspire social change. Tipu expresses her view that there is a reflexive and symbiotic connection between both forms of activism.
Furthermore, the revelation that she feels it necessary to validate her own needs as a young scholar proves the importance of both modes of activism for liberation and equality.
CLASS students also emphasized the impact that the pedagogy, curriculum, and civic engagement had in developing their individual and collective agency and 198 power. One particular example of these results came from the organizing that CLASS students demonstrated during TUSD’s desegregation hearings. Upon the conclusion of the community meeting that the students coordinated, Tipu conveyed in her reflective writing in CLASS, the process of working with her peers to bring MAS and
Chican@ advocates together for the sake of a coalition building before the desegregation forums.
In terms of understanding the Unitary Status Plan, CLASS really stepped up and took control of analyzing, paraphrasing, and documenting it. After our meeting at Epic (Café) those of us who had time looked up the USP online and read parts of individually, or attempted to. The material is dense and difficult to understand so when we met on Sunday we divided up the sections among ourselves. I read and took notes on the Discipline and Facilities & Technology sections after I came home from work. I think our crew is great at assigning tasks and dividing up labor. Although I couldn’t be present for the community forums I felt like I had contributed to breaking down the de-seg plan however minimally. Everyone else is in school and probably has a grippe [sic] of reading to do every night so it was amazing that they had constructed the presentation and Intellectual Warriors document in addition to the work they already had to do.
Tipu’s reflection shows the application of the Indigenous principle of In Lak
Ech within the group, not only in terms of the distribution of labor and collective action, but also in her own personal regard and respect for the complex lives of her peers and the hard work they produced with these obligations. Her humility is also apparent as she plainly states that she was analyzing a federal school desegregation plan after just coming home from work. This is yet another interesting byproduct of the pedagogy in CLASS, since there is a dearth of egocentric comments in her own activism. This remained consistent in other student written reflections, as well.
Santiago also detailed the diligence of his classmates and the extra work that they 199 produced in order to advocate for themselves and the restoration of an academic program that they valued.
Putting together a coalition meeting with the rest of the community by fascilitating [sic] it, writing up a document to present to the special master, and showing up to listen and speak at the USP forums, took very much out of us. That includes energy and time. Thanks to all of our hardwork [sic], we were heard and accomplished the goal. Although it’s not a “shoot for the stars” goal, we did indeed present our voices and word. The special master and the rest of the Justice council hear loud and clear.
Santiago’s comments reveal the importance of seizing an opportunity for youth voices to be heard by older adults that were given the power to shape their lives. Whether it was policy makers, community members, or district personnel,
Santiago and his peers were aware that in order to participate in the democratic process, they needed to dedicate precious time in order to properly prepare themselves.
In addition, Santiago expresses a unique view of success that is not measured by a full implementation of the suggestions students made in their formal document, but rather the opportunity to effectively engage in the democratic process in an authentic way. His knowledge that their input was respected, and in some cases even valued, by representatives from the Department of Justice, the Special Master for the Federal Desegregation plan, and district officials, was a certain satisfaction to
Santiago and his peers.
The opportunity to take the lead in organizing a community effort to reestablish MAS and Ethnic Studies in Tucson also provided a counter example to prior contemptuous and dismissive experiences with school and state officials. Rita describes the importance of this event for her and the community. 200
My experience at school has – my voice really hasn’t been heard, and like it doesn’t matter. I guess that showed that we were doing something different, that they were finally listening to us. That our ideas were important and that they were needed. I mean, it’s awesome. School is supposed to be for the kids, so it felt cool that finally they were listening or caring what we thought and our opinion was an important part of what they were going to do. I feel like every decision that the school makes should be developing with the kids opinion. I know we’re teenagers and whatever, and we might not have the best ideas but they should be like…heard, at least thought of…To, well, give our opinion, be heard. Do something different. We’re the one’s that are living it so there’s no one better to talk about it than the people that are actually going through it. So, I think people needed to hear that, like, what we were feeling, what we thought, what we needed.
Rita expresses the sentiments articulated by many CLASS students toward their relationships with school officials. Namely, that students rarely felt that their voice, ideas, and perspectives were valued, and that they were seldom afforded the opportunity to share their perceptions on issues that affected their lives and education. However, the desegregation hearings initiated by the department of justice, and the resulting impact of the students’ demands upon the Unitary Status plan, provided empirical evidence to Rita and her peers that their voices were of critical importance. Rita’s exhilaration in this outcome is evident since this was one of the first times she had witnessed the humility of educational or civic leaders to listen, learn, and respect the experiences and autonomy of youth.
As Rita emphasizes, although school is for young people, their voices are often marginalized and ignored. Ironically, this undemocratic practice is the status quo for an institution whose role is to impart democratic values (Banks, 2008;
Edelsky, 2004; Rosenblatt, 1998). The harmful contradiction of limiting and devaluing student voice, in terms of evaluating academic programs or school 201 policies, is that it can lead to the perpetuation of discriminatory, unequal and inequitable educational practices.
Even as CLASS students were pleased with the changes made due to their activism and organizing, most of the students were disappointed in how TUSD implemented the USP in the months that followed. Esperanza summarized the feelings of many members of our community that fervently supported the preservation of MAS,
I mean it’s good that we told them what we wanted because we were expressing ourselves and we gave them an option to either go with us or disregard our opinions entirely. It’s good we give them the option too, because they might do some stuff that we wanted, but I feel like they won’t really. But I think it’s still good we voiced our opinions. So, I mean, now it’s up to them. Like we did all we could to influence the new plan. Now it’s up to them whether they listen to us or not.
Although Esperanza voices frustration in how TUSD was moving forward with the implementation of culturally relevant classes, in lieu of re-establishing
Mexican American Studies, she also offers a keen analysis of how the political machinations in Tucson manifest themselves. Esperanza does not naively expect immediate societal transformation simply because her classmates and she entered the political fray with positive, impactful and creative community organizing. There is a maturity and deeper understanding of how our system currently works in
Tucson. She is confident that the process that her classmates and community engaged in was purposeful, powerful, and essential. She believes that activism of
CLASS was the right thing ethically and democratically, and that it would have been far more damaging to remain silent. 202
CLASS students were also becoming confident in seeking opportunities to share their story and experiences through their participation as presenters in conferences. After returning from Chicago with her CLASS peers, Ana was approached with other opportunities to continue and cultivate her voice as a
Chicana activist.
I just want to stay involved. Like, I’m also going to that conference I told you about. It’s Teachers Without Borders, I think it’s called. And so, like, MAS has opened doors for me, like, where people are, like, “oh, do you mind doing this?” And I’m pretty open to a lot of the stuff that people ask. And so I, like, do, do the presentations so that would be something I’d like to do in the future. But, I don’t really know, like, the steps to do anything, like, where it would go.
Ana’s involvement in CLASS was pivotal in continuing her activism and advocacy, which had begun during her high school years as a student of MAS. Ana speaks of her future in terms of providing her voice, analysis and expertise regarding issues that affect her community such as immigration. Ana also provides insight in regard to the lack of direction that she feels for continuing such work. Her willingness and voice have been cultivated, but there is still a gap in her own ability to tap into social networks and accrue the social capital needed to independently seek out further opportunities to be involved. Exposure to such social networks through public school and education are critical for Chican@/Latin@ students since it is one of the few institutions where youth of color can develop ties with key institutional agents and gatekeepers who are in position to provide the types opportunities that Ana is seeking (Stanton-Salazar, 1997; 2001). By in large, CLASS students were willing to commit to further social justice education and activist 203 movements, but were stymied in how they would move forward without a collective such as CLASS.
Gloria illustrated the fear she had in losing touch with her activism and community engagement now that she was transitioning from high school to college.
Like Ana, Gloria demonstrated a rare sense of anxiety and the lack of a clear direction.
As for myself, I went through high school, and I was a high school student, and like a high school activist, and then through CLASS, I was a part of CLASS, sort of higher education while I’m still in high school. Now I’m out of it, and we’re finished with CLASS and after all that I feel like it’s my responsibility to take it to the next step. Because I’ve had all this background, and all this teaching and all this learning, and it’s kind of, okay, what’s next? I’m not just going to stay working within a school, or stay working within whatever I’m given, now I can have the space to go wherever I want like Chicago…to not be one of those people who goes through high school and disappears. I think that’s a big thing for me just because a lot of people kind of know me and they know my face, and know my involvement. And I’m really kind of just like out and vocal about it. For me, it would be like super hypocritical if I was just like out of high school, college now, see you guys later. That’s a big thing for me, not fading away.
As can be seen by the commitment, agency, and perseverance that CLASS students demonstrated by attending school six days per week to continue to receive the content and curriculum that was banned by state legislation and school district policy, these young people rarely displayed the type of angst found in these examples. Gloria illustrates that her commitment to the Chican@ movement, social justice and her community goes beyond school-based activism. She offers a critique of the type of youth activism that she does not want to replicate, where student- activists disengage from the community once their high school years are completed.
Conversely, Gloria is aware of this phenomenon and of her place within the 204 community. She understands that her voice and presence in the local Chican@ activist scene has made an impact, and she is not interested in seeing that dissipate as she transitions to college.
Discussion
Throughout the interviews and within the student artifacts of this study,
CLASS students revealed the importance of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy as the foundation toward their own educational and personal transformation. This is particularly the case when CLASS students reflected upon their educational experience prior to CLASS and MAS. Dehumanizing, discriminatory, and culturally insensitive and intolerant relationships with educational institutions and key institutional agents, such as teachers and administrators amplified academic disengagement and internalized oppression.
Furthermore, students were also subjected to lower academic expectations through teaching practices and biases, as well as discriminatory state and district policies such as the banning of Mexican American Studies and the aftermath. Students consistently experienced unequal and inequitable learning conditions that were further exacerbated by a Eurocentric curriculum. In addition, school policies were overwhelmingly crafted in ways that normalized white, middle class values, and ostracized, pathologized, and criminalized Chican@/Latin@ students and other students of color (Gregory, Skiba, & Noguera, 2010; Yang, 2009).
CLASS students revealed that culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy had a positive impact upon their own personal and ethnic identity, as well as their academic identity. Curriculum that was specifically oriented to cultivate their ethnic 205 identity served as an important factor in revitalizing a sense of pride and deeper understanding of their place in the world; a foundational step toward a decolonizing and re-humanizing of education for CLASS students and fortifying their academic identities (Acosta, 2007; Cajete, 2012; Sleeter, 2011). Moreover, the Indigenous epistemologies that guided the principles and tenets of CLASS, as well as its predecessor MAS, were essential in creating relationships with their teacher and peers that embodied authentic caring and confianza (Acosta, 2007; Acosta & Mir,
2012; González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005). Students articulated the importance of In
Lak Ech as an empathetic foundation for how they related to one another in CLASS, as well as a tool for analysis and activism. The Nahui Ollin also provided a theoretical and methodological framework for students to use in their academic and personal identity formation and development. Students regularly reflected, analyzed, and took action toward discriminatory and socially unjust issues in their lives. The need for critical thinking as opposed to a test-based, teacher-centered pedagogy was embraced by the students in their interviews as important to their own academic needs and confidence, as well as crucial in being better prepared for higher education.
The curriculum of CLASS supplemented and provoked the critical reflection and praxis of the youth. In addition, students were encouraged to collaborate with me in the pacing and pedagogical decisions of CLASS, which led to the cultivation of student agency inside and outside of CLASS (Paris, 2012; Paris & Alim, 2014). The re-humanizing curriculum and pedagogy created situations in CLASS that were directly applicable to the lived experiences of the youth, and the cultural 206 representation within the curriculum initiated discourse that was focused upon
Huitzilopochtli, and the willingness to take action in critical social justice issues in their lives (Irizarry, 2011, Morrell, et al., 2013). Thus, students were highly engaged through the curriculum and collaborative structure of CLASS, to such a degree, that they were motivated to organize their community to continue to be civically engaged in the quest to see Mexican American Studies return to Tucson schools.
Student-initiated activism also produced a chapter for a book and presentation at a national conference where CLASS students revealed the impact and implications of the oppressive state legislation and district policies in Arizona upon
Chican@/Latin@ youth.
The confianza and authentic caring (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005;
Valenzuela, 1999) shared by the students and I were voiced by CLASS students as essential in their inclination to take risks, as well as the intentional space given to students in their projects which created a vacuum of leadership where students were obligated to fill. Students felt a sense of shared ownership and power in their academic journey with their peers and instructor, which emphasizes the democratic principles of CLASS, as well as the liberatory and emancipatory tenets embedded in the pedagogy. In addition, the pedagogy and curriculum of CLASS illuminated the intersectionality in terms the ethnic and personal identities of the students, and cultivated their voice and agency through counter storytelling and culturally sustaining practices (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Paris & Alim, 2014).
These re-humanizing experiences not only created a positive educational ethos (Valenzuela, 1999) for CLASS students, but also impacted the way they 207 perceived their role in critical social issues that affected their community and personal lives. Through the curriculum and pedagogical experiences of CLASS, the students were able to organize, lead, and participate in community forums that shaped the future of education in their city. CLASS students displayed resistance to forms of oppression that were limiting their academic freedom, and displayed resiliency through their political activism (Tuck & Yang, 2014). This type of civic engagement has not often been examined by traditional studies in education (Hahn,
2003; Hart & Atkins, 2002; Pasek et. al., 2006). Moreover, CLASS students initiated and completed other alternate forms of political activism and exercised their own agency and self-determination through actions steeped in student voice such as writing manuscripts for education publications and leading a workshop at a national conference.
In the course of analyzing the findings, many exciting implications were revealed toward the possibility of applying Indigenous epistemologies and culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy and curriculum in traditional school to begin a process of readjustment to the deficit cultural academic practices that continue to harm students of color. However, there are other implications revealed in the study that illustrate the gaps that remain in terms of fully implementing the culturally sustaining and emancipatory practices that I designed for the students of
CLASS. Some decisions that I made and units that I designed did not reach the high expectations for culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy as articulated by
Paris and Alim (2014) and will be addressed in the next chapter along with the suggestions for further educational research, teacher professional development, 208 training and improved inclusive classroom practices cultivated from cultural and community wealth (González, Moll, Amanti, 2005; Yosso, 2005).
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CHAPTER SEVEN
TIPU: A CASE STUDY OF CONNECTIONS
The following chapter is a separate case study of the only student in CLASS who did not self-identify as Chican@, Latin@, or Mexican-American. Tipu, who was
19 years old at the start of CLASS, self-identifies as Pakistani-American to most people. However, she is also quick to assert that she is of Kashmiri descent when given the opportunity to discuss her ethnicity and identity in more detail. The importance of Tipu’s narrative is particularly salient for educators who believe in the transformative potential of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy, with the proliferation of discourse about “post-racial America.” Since the election of
President Barack Obama in 2008, a narrative was created in both the realm of education and mainstream media that the United States had entered a golden age where race and ethnicity no longer played a significant factor in terms of educational and socio-political inequalities. This perspective fueled discourse that demonized ethnic studies and multicultural educational programs as the remnants of segregation, while the election of the first president of color was seen by these same voices as the climatic moment of the civil rights struggle and racial justice in the United States.
A similar narrative propagated by critics of ethnic studies, multicultural, and culturally responsive and sustaining education has been the impracticality of designing courses of study for students of every ethnicity. In essence, each student in a pluralistic school would need to have their own personal ethnic studies course such as Bosnian Literature or Irish-American Studies. Beyond the naiveté and 210 ignorance exposed by these comments towards addressing the generational erasure of people of color, women and LGBTQ voices from the literary and academic canons, is the understanding of the term pedagogy. Proponents of a culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy do not simply adhere to the curriculum being studied, but also the need for a dramatic shift in how we teach students of color. Historically, public schools have focused upon a teacher-centered model, which privileges the content knowledge, curriculum, and canon over those who are actually learning the material and experiencing the lessons. The tenets of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy place the students at the center of the educational process, and shifts the responsibility of adapting and creating academic experiences that responds to the needs of the students, to the educators. When this is effectively accomplished students within a culturally pluralistic classroom will benefit, even if their ethnic identity is not the sole focus of each particular lesson.
Tipu’s participation in CLASS allowed us the opportunity to answer the question of what the academic and personal impact might there be for non-
Chican@/Latin@ students who participate in a Chican@ Literature program grounded in culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy and curriculum. Thus, I focused on the same research questions that I applied to the case study of the entire group:
• How do youth view the influence of the pedagogy and curriculum of a Chican@ Literature class upon their personal, ethnic, and academic identities? • In what ways do youth in a Chican@ Literature class perceive their role in addressing critical social issues in their lives through civic engagement and political activism? 211
Since Tipu was not of Chican@/Latin@ descent, I anticipated that the findings could provide insight and nuances toward how a Chican@ Literature class grounded in decolonizing, humanizing, and critical pedagogies affected her own sense of who she was as a biracial, Kashmiri woman, as well as how she viewed her role in taking action toward critical issues in her life and community.
It is important to note that Tipu had been a student in my Latino Literature classes since the 2009-10 academic year. This meant that she spent three years with me inside of the former Latino Literature space; two as a student and one as a student aide. During the 2012-13 school year when CLASS took place, Tipu had just recently graduated high school the previous spring. No other student in CLASS had as much consistent time experiencing the curriculum and pedagogy than she had, and during that time she had become a youth activist with the group, United Non- discriminatory Individuals Demanding Our Studies (UNIDOS).
Academic Experiences Prior to CLASS
In the mid-semester interview with my students, Tipu shared her educational biography prior to CLASS. Similarly to her peers in CLASS, her accounts were rife with discriminatory and oppressive experiences in the classroom that had a major impact upon her confidence and attitudes toward education.
Acosta: What have your academic experiences been like to this point in your life? Tipu: Inconsistent, mostly. [Inaudible 00:30] such low self- esteem is because of school, typically. Ever since I was really young--I don’t know—I’ve never had a teacher call me stupid blatantly, like outright, but they’ve said it in so many words… I guess I can’t really say specifically a teacher’s called me stupid. I don’t know why I feel that way, but I definitely do. I think that part of that comes from—I don’t know—like these sorta 212
backhanded comments that people have made. It’s not anything outright.
Tipu states quite clearly that her low self-esteem is attributed to school, and more specifically, to the feeling she has received from teachers. This brings to light two distinct issues for Tipu in her educational journey. The first being Tipu’s lack of confidence in her academic ability and the sense that her teachers had low academic expectations and regard for her as a student. Although she is searching for specific instances to elaborate her feelings, she was unable to do so except for one instance that was revealed later in the interview. Tipu expressed that she had been told before that she was not very good at math and that she should stop aspiring to take difficult classes. One can sense in this section of the interview that she is struggling to find validation and instances that would support her these sentiments, yet they do not come easily at the start of the interview.
The second critical issue revealed from the interview data is linked to stereotypes of Asian students that Tipu has internalized. As a south Asian student she articulates her frustration in feeling inadequate in Math classes, which adheres to the findings of educational research upon the “model minority” concept (Cabrera,
2014; Lee, 2009). Asian students who struggle in math and science classes, such as
Tipu, can feel personally deficient since they do not live up to the academic stereotype that all Asian students are gifted in math and science. It is pivotal to note that these feelings were generated by Tipu from familial and other social interactions with south Asian friends, and not projected upon her by the teachers.
From the interview data, it is difficult to ascertain if her teachers were cognizant of
Tipu’s ethnic identity or the fact that she self-identified as south Asian. Thus, the 213 teachers were unaware of how their comments affected Tipu’s ethnic and academic identity. This type of essentialism can produce added anxiety in the classroom, as well as a damaging effect upon the students’ own view toward their ethnic identity.
As Tipu states in the following excerpt of our interview, her ethnic identity has also produced a tension in terms of her education.
In a way it has, but it’s also been a hindrance. I feel like I don’t live up to these expectations of what an Asian is supposed to be. I feel like I’m not as—I don’t know—capable or smart or whatever. I’m not—I don’t know.
This is a clear example of how essentialism can impact students of color and foster internalized oppression toward their ethnic identity. The “model minority” phenomenon places Tipu’s ethnic identity at odds with her own academic potential and value as an intelligent human being. Tipu explained that growing up in the
South Asian community that family and friends held high expectation for students in the math and science, while also holding careers in related fields of engineering or medicine in higher esteem than other academic and career pursuits. Such internalized feelings can be exacerbated by the expectations of peers, teachers, and family who are consciously or unconsciously contributing to these views of Asian students (Cabrera, 2014).
Emphasized even further in excerpts from these examples are the relationships Tipu has had with her teachers up until this point in her academic career. Although she cannot explicitly recall particular instances when she has been
“called stupid,” she is aware and confident of a feeling from her teachers that they think she is dumb. She further explains that these have taken the form of backhanded comments. In this regard, Tipu reveals that school has been a site void 214 of authentic caring and an emotional challenge in creating a positive school-ethos.
Later in the interview this becomes more evident when she describes how these feelings manifested themselves throughout her academic experiences in elementary school.
I was always in trouble all the time. I was always in trouble in elementary school, and I would always be cursing people out and getting into fights with people. I don’t know—cursing at my teachers. I would always have to go to the stupid office and there was this lady named Ms. Blank, and she had it in for me. I remember being this little fifth grader with a really big attitude problem. I was like, “Are you gonna make me apologize or something?” She’s like, “Just stop putting words in my mouth.” She was just so shocked that—I don’t know— that they have this crazy little angry brown girl on their hands. They didn’t know what to do with me…I don’t know—that’s probably a lot where my issues with education started, because it was a Montessori school, so the child was supposed to teach themselves. It’s like a perpetual summer camp. You don’t do anything there. I didn’t really get the strength or the reinforcement that I needed.
From this excerpt, Tipu expresses possibilities for the root causes for her outburst of “cursing people out and getting into fights with people.” The exchange between Tipu and Ms. Blank illustrates that this interaction was not new and that there had been previous efforts in remedying the situation that had proven to be unsuccessful. Tipu’s anticipation that she would be forced to apologize, followed by
Ms. Blank’s defensive response to a fifth grade girl, who likely was in some type of distress to be producing violent outbursts, proved to only exacerbate the problem.
As a young Pakistani and Muslim girl, Tipu believed that the authority figures at the school were ill equipped to understand and empathize with her anger. The gulf in cultural awareness and empathy impacted Tipu’s perceptions of herself and attitudes for school, as she calls herself, “a crazy little brown girl” who “they didn’t know what to do with.” These experiences coupled with the school’s Montessori 215 practices initiated a sense of isolation in Tipu’s academic experiences and distrust of educators. As one of the only students of color in her elementary school, there were repeated incidents that fortified the deficit perception toward South Asian students.
Then I remember a friend of mine went there and she got into a fight, like a physical fight, with someone, and they’re from—they’re Pakistani, too. I don’t remember—I know that they’re from a tribal people. Their administration was kind of fucked up, too. I don’t know what they did. Sorry, it’s the same administration, but they—I don’t know what they did. I remember the girl’s dad was like, “She’s Pakistani, of course she’s gonna fight back. She’s gonna hit that little girl back.” [Laughter] They have all these blood-thirsty Muslims on their hands.
Tipu’s assessment of the incident that happened to the only other South
Asian student at her school exemplifies the isolation and cultural insensitivity to create an authentic relationship with her teachers and administrators (Ream, 2003;
Valenzuela, 1999). A clashing of cultural norms is evident from this example since the middle class, European American norms (Bourdieu, 1982; hooks, 2003a;
2003b), in this case one that espouses the virtue of non-violence, were being applied to students at Tipu’s school without proper communication or empathy with the
Pakistani family. As Tipu recalls, the father seemed perplexed to why his daughter would be punished for physically defending herself in a moment of crisis. These incidents not only leave families puzzled, but lead to an increase of punishment for students of color whose families may not adhere to middle class, European-
American norms, as compared to students of European American descent. Higher degrees of punishment can lead to dire academic outcomes and disengagement that disproportionately affect communities of color (Yang, 2009). Furthermore, although
Tipu uses hyperbole for a comedic effect as illustrated by her laughter, there are 216 also overtones of internalized oppression through her comments about “blood- thirsty Muslims,” a common response by students of color who face discrimination in institutions such as public school (Valenzuela, 2008; Yosso, Smith, Ceja, &
Solórzano, 2009).
Tipu’s experiences with discrimination and racism toward her South Asian heritage continued in high school. However, these incidents differed from her elementary school experiences due the inclusion of peers, as well as adult authority figures.
Tipu: Well, one time this guy called—at Central High, this guy called me like a terrorist or something. Then I freaked out in class, and I flipped a bitch, and I started cussing him out in the middle of Art and going all crazy. Then I got sent to the principal’s office, and then—who’s that bastard in Security with the glasses? Acosta: You’d have to narrow it down. [Laughter] Tipu: He wears glasses. I feel like his name starts with an M. Acosta: Oh, Moreno? Tipu: Yeah, that guy. I had to go through him. Hate that man so much. Acosta: Why? Tell me a little bit about why. Tipu: Because I had to go through him, and he was like, “Well, don’t you think that he coulda been joking?” I’m like, “No, bitch,” like, “Shut up. You don’t fucking make jokes about that.” It was weird because they pulled me in that office, and they’re like, “Did you tell your mom about this?” I don’t know why I told them the truth, but I was like, “No, I didn’t tell my mom. Why would I fucking tell my mom?” You don’t tell—I don’t know. I mean, personally, I would just like to keep my racist experiences at school separate from the ones at home. I don’t know. That was just like a really weird reaction, cuz I didn’t even intend to tell them the truth. I was gonna be like, “Yes, I told my mother, and she’s very concerned,” but for some reason, that day I was just like, “No,” that I didn’t tell my mom.
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Although, it is difficult to project from Tipu’s account why school officials were interested in whether she had shared the racist experience with her mother, it is clearly evident that the security officer quickly offered the possibility that the young man had called Tipu a terrorist as joke. This type of dismissal of racism not only continued to validate Tipu’s distrust of educators and school personnel, but it also fueled anger which is evident by the strong diction and profanity she used during her retelling of the event. Consistent and repeated acts of discrimination, alienation, and isolation can cause students to become disengaged and silent, conduct that often leads to negative academic outcomes (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001;
Portes & Rumbault, 2001). The contradictory narrative of school being a safe place filled with supportive adults compared to the lived experiences of Tipu and other students of color encourage reactionary behavior and self-defeating resistance
(Solorzáno & Delgado-Bernal, 2001). Later in the same interview, Tipu explains that she is unaware if the student received any reprimand for his racist abuse by school administrators, believing that he was merely spoken to about the incident. However, she did share that the teacher of the class in question supported Tipu’s account by revealing to school officials that Tipu’s outburst was out of character for her.
What is further revealing in this example is the reality that Tipu has faced multiple racist experiences at school. When questioned whether or not she told her mother what happened, she responded that she would rather “keep my racist experiences at school separate from the ones at home.” In addition, she also expresses surprise in herself that she told school officials the truth, intimating that she has not been honest with school officials in the past, rather choosing to avoid 218 further interaction by reiterating the middle class, European-American norms that serve as the foundation of public school in the United States.
Identity
For biracial/multiethnic students, the concept of a personal ethnic identity can be a challenging and complex (Pollock, 2004; Shih, Bonam, Sanchez & Peck,
2007; Shih & Sanchez, 2005). However, in Tipu’s case the fact that she had a
Kashmiri (Pakistani) father and an Irish American mother did not complicate her own self-identification.
Well, it’s funny, cuz I grew up being told that I was Pakistani and Irish, but I don’t really identify as that. I feel like after you’ve been called a sand n----- (edited at Tipu’s request) or a terrorist, you can’t really call yourself white anymore, so I don’t. I don’t know. Anyone that says differently is full of shit and has obviously never gone through that before. I mean—yeah. You know what I mean? You’re brown and someone’s like, “Where are you from? No, I mean where are you from?” I don’t really think about myself as being a white person or someone who’s half white. I think about myself in terms of being light passing and having light-skin privilege.
Tipu’s analysis of the effects of racism upon her identity is clear. Since she has survived being the target of racist epithets by people of European descent toward her Kashmiri/Pakistani heritage, she expresses an inability to see herself as
“white anymore.” She further explained that these sentiments might also be due to the time period in which she grew from a child to a young woman. Tipu described the experience of coming of age as a woman of Kashmiri descent in the post-
September eleventh America, as intense and scary. She continued that the anti-
Muslim discourse by political figures, such as President George W. Bush contributed to her feeling paranoia akin to a witch-hunt, and she was often the subject of hostilities when people mistook her for being Arab and not South Asian. However, 219 she was also cognizant that she may have also avoided further conflicts due to the fact that she considers herself “white passing,” and surmised that if her complexion were darker that racist and discriminatory actions could have been more prevalent.
The questions posed to Tipu about her ethnicity and native origins illustrate the normalization of whiteness in mainstream America; a default perspective which can have dire effects upon the civil liberties of people of color, as well as economic and educational opportunities (Borrero, Yeh, Crivir, & Suda, 2012; Delgado &
Stefancic, 2001). The process of “othering” not only increased the marginalization and isolation of Tipu from her own sense of being embraced and seen as American, but also led her to no longer identify as a person with European ancestry. Along with enduring racial epithets and discriminatory actions, Tipu also felt that her
South Asian identity was given inauthentic and stereotypical treatment in the classroom, and not seen as vibrant, diverse members of the 21st century. In the following example, Tipu explains some of these feelings and the motivation for a lesson that she taught in CLASS about Desi Womanism, which will be analyzed later in the chapter.
Tipu: That I feel like oftentimes when we’re learning about these Eastern cultures or these different cultures, it’s always a school project or something. I always see Desi women are Indigenous women in National Geographics or something like that. I never see them as rappers or shit like that. That’s why—I don’t know—bringing M.I.A. to a classroom is really important to me, because she just bends so many identities. I guess what I want people to realize is that there’s a difference between what a culture is and what a culture is perceived as through Western gaze. I want to—I don’t know— reclaim that. Acosta: Cool. Would you say your culture is exoticized? Tipu: Yeah, definitely, all the time. 220
As can be seen in this example, Tipu also identifies with the term Desi, contemporary idiom that represents a South Asian, pan-ethnic identity. In addition, her profound socio-political consciousness in naming these academic experiences of her ethnic identity and heritage as being produced by teachers “through a Western gaze” exemplifies the problematic nature of additive approaches to multicultural education (Banks, 2005). To be clearer, growing immigrant populations in the
United States, such as South Asian or Muslim communities, as well as people of color with longer historical experiences in this country, have faced an overwhelming
Eurocentric academic content in U.S. educational institutions. This has led to aesthetic or additive attempts to the dominant Eurocentric curriculum, through the addition of stand alone lessons or units, which are often not fully integrated into the course of study.
Furthermore, these school assignments tend to be teacher-centered and not responsive to the needs of Tipu or her peers, nor was her expertise and knowledge sought out as the basis for this area of study. Tipu’s curricular decision to include a contemporary and popular Desi hip-hop artist as one of the key parts of her lesson, exemplifies culturally sustaining and responsive education. M.I.A. is a young British woman of Tamil descent who uses her art to bridge the modern Western world with that of her ethnic heritage and the issues of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Thus, her experiences are quite similar to those that Tipu has experienced as a young
Kashmiri woman growing up in the United States, and reflect the tenets of culturally sustaining pedagogy when used as the basis for academic exploration (Paris & Alim,
2014). However, when counterfeit cultural experiences are created it can lead to 221 further discriminatory and oppressive actions, specifically the exoticizing of Desi women and other women of color. Tipu adamantly affirms that this happens “all the time” in her response to my question about the issue of how women are viewed through a “Western gaze.”
As noted in the previous examples within this section, these incidents affected Tipu’s perception of education and her academic identity due to building a negative opinion of educators and other school officials.
I don’t like being approached about the subject of college, because I was never really thrilled about the idea of going until very recently. Even then, it was empty. I told you about that trip to the U. of A. with the Pan-Asian Department, and how we all—I think it was pretty much a majority of the Asian students in TUSD could fit on the steps of Old Main. That was ridiculous. No, at first—I’ve never really been excited about college. Then when I went on—every time I’ve had to do stuff like that, it’s always been a really—I always feel empty. I’m not excited, and I know I should be. I know I should be really thrilled about college, but I’m just not. I don’t really know why.
One of the tenets of critical culturally responsive and multicultural education is to create authentic experiences for students to engage in learning (Banks, 2005;
Nieto, 1992; Valenzuela, 1999). Additive attempts to engage students of color such as the example of Tipu’s visit with other Pan-Asian can lead to unintended consequences such as intensifying the feelings of isolation that she had previously in her academic career. The gathering of a small group of students that share a similar cultural background emphasizes the reality that school has been a place where Tipu has consistently been the “other,” which has led to dehumanizing experiences and a feeling of emptiness. Her lack of excitement to further her academic journey could be tied to the reality that she does not see herself, nor her culture, adequately reflected within education institutions. 222
What is even direr is that Tipu is conscious that she should be “thrilled” to further her learning experiences at university, but is left questioning why she is left with a void toward pursuing a college education. The likelihood that she has internalized these oppressive experiences in school is evident from her educational biography. However, she is finding fault in herself for not being excited to continue her education, instead of the traumatic and alienating experiences that have served as the foundation for her academic life to this point. The racist, discriminatory, and marginalizing factors that may have led Tipu to this point are not included in her own analysis for these sentiments and in this sense she is blaming herself for the feeling of disengagement although she has really been mistreated. Holding institutions and persons in power accountable for their hegemonic actions is an essential component of critical race theory and an important foundation for liberation and re-humanizing the educational experiences for students of color
(Delgado & Stefancic, 2001).
Indigenous Epistemologies and Pedagogies of Healing
Tipu’s participation in CLASS and MAS reveal a radically different type of educational approach in terms of both pedagogy and curriculum in comparison to the majority of her academic experiences. Pedagogically, CLASS was rooted in
Indigenous epistemologies that were focused upon re-humanizing the learning process and experiences for students, especially students of color. The Maya concept of In Lak Ech, which is detailed more thoroughly in Chapter 4, provided the foundation of empathy and equality as essential tenets of all interactions within
CLASS. The idea of finding our common humanity despite differences in gender, 223 race/ethnicity, or sexual orientation allowed room for students such as Tipu to identify with the core concepts of CLASS despite the fact that she was not a
Chicana/Latina herself. In her own words:
Acosta: Did any experience in these ethnic studies classes connect you to your own ethnic identity? Tipu: Yeah, because even if it wasn’t the same, there were cultural differences. I think that it raised questions for me about my identity and people in my community and where we stand with—well, it’s the first time I realized that we probably—like our communities have the same issues with immigration and stuff like that sometimes. It made me realize that a lot of the struggles are similar in that way.
In the previous example, Tipu illustrates two Indigenous principles that were of critical importance in creating an academic environment that was reflective and empathetic. The first concept originates from Nahui Ollin (four movements), which lies at the center of the Mexica sunstone (see chapter 4 for more details on the
Indigenous epistemologies used in CLASS). Tipu was provided the pedagogical framework and space to practice Tezcatlipoca (self-reflection). This ability to be self-reflective while she was a member of CLASS/MAS presented the impetus for her to develop questions about her own ethnic identity and culture. Thus, through a thoughtful and sincere study of another ethnicity, Tipu identified with a similar post-colonial lens that she found analogous to the experiences of her own ancestry.
The second of these Indigenous concepts can be seen in the way that Tipu identified with the experience of immigration and empathized with the Latin@ diaspora since it is an issue faced by her own South Asian community in the United
States. The pedagogical lens of In Lak Ech was used to create a sense of empathy, solidarity and equality in CLASS both in the sense of how students treated one 224 another in the classroom space, but also in the sense of how to engage with the social justice themes that were the source of the academic content. The intentional call for a human and inclusive approach to CLASS, rather than a nationalistic or separatist focus, which has often been the framing for ethnic studies classes, encouraged Tipu to make connections to her own story and lineage. Further evidence of Tipu applying this principle in her own life is found when she details the connection to her Latin@ classmates due to the shared experiences with immigration and colonization.
It was sort of cool being around other people whose parents were immigrants. I appreciated that, because, honestly, I don’t really think I have been around that a lot in past, in other classrooms—being in a room where I would say a large majority of the kids have parents that weren’t born in America or maybe were but don’t—aren’t often considered American, typically American. It was—I don’t know. It was really eye- opening for me. It made me think about—yeah, I don’t know. It just raised all these different questions for me about my culture that I wouldn’t have thought to ask if I hadn’t taken those classes.
Tipu also identifies ethnic solidarity with her Chican@/Latin@ peers, with respect to the marginalization that she has endured as a Kashmiri-American, and not being viewed as “typically American.” Instead of concentrating on differences between the cultures, which are profound, Tipu’s experienced a classroom space that was more authentic to her lived experiences along with the freedom to explore her own identity.
Another example of Tipu employing In Lak Ech as a way to find cross-ethnic solidarity was evident in the following example where she expresses ways in which her ethnic identity has been an asset to her academic growth. 225
It’s been an asset in the way that it’s inspired me to have a universal sort of knowledge of occupied people. I feel like I come from that background. As far as me—I don’t know—to learn about social justice, I think. Even if I can’t explain why something is wrong, I almost feel like I know when it’s wrong. Yeah, I feel like maybe having a good moral compass is a really important part in education. It’s—I guess it’s probably—I guess my ethnic identity and my identity as someone that was raised as being Muslim made me really attracted to these sorts of struggles.
Tipu displays a clear understanding of her own ethnic heritage and the historical relationship between the colonization of southern Asia as compared to
North America. By referring to Chican@s as occupied people, Tipu is demonstrating a sophisticated perspective of history in the southwest that is not commonly taught through traditional, high school American history classes. Most assuredly, her background as a former student of MAS helped to create the empathetic lens and sentiments of camaraderie with the struggles for autonomy and liberation experienced in Kashmir, Pakistan, and south Asia. Furthermore, Tipu makes the connection between the backgrounds of herself and her peers as “occupied people” and her desire for social justice. She believes these perspectives that were nurtured and supported through the development of her ethnic identity, were an asset in her own education. As seen from her earlier experiences in education, Tipu felt disengaged, angry, and isolated in public school. However, the pedagogical shift in
CLASS/MAS that is grounded in culturally responsiveness and Indigenous epistemologies provided a more authentic space for her to recognize her background and intuition as valuable in her education. She speaks of “a good moral compass” helping her in education, which is related to the ethical principle of In Lak
Ech within the pedagogy of CLASS, and that as a Muslim woman she was “attracted 226 to these sorts of struggles.” The privileging of pre-Columbian, Indigenous knowledge, a social justice emphasis, and association to a common struggle engaged
Tipu in her education regardless of the specific curriculum content being geared mostly to Chican@/Latin@ students.
Validation and The Lesson
Although Tipu was engaged, and was able to make implicit connections between the Chican@/Latin@ experience with her own, she had yet to have an opportunity to explore her own ethnic identity and culture. In our last interview together she had explained the frustrations she had with the Chican@ activist community in Tucson in terms of being fully recognized as an ally with similar experiences.
Because, I feel as though, if there is one thing that I’ve noticed in this movement it’s that I’m constantly trying to validate my presence as an Asian woman. And, it’s got to do with like being the only South Asian in this movement, and I’m not trying to be a dick but it’s true, I don’t know any other South Asians in this movement. So, I’m always constantly trying to be like, ‘Hey, we were colonized, too’ or like ‘Hey, I get called curry pussy. Like I have it as bad as everyone else.’ You know what I mean? Like people are, ‘Right on. Power to the people’ but there’s like never a space – there’s never a platform for South Asian women that I know of.
These sentiments are eerily similar to the feelings she expressed toward the marginalization and isolation that she had experienced in school. Even though she was now surrounded by peers whom she identified with in terms of the oppressive effects of colonization upon communities of color, she was still confronted with the need to prove herself and assert her experiences with racism and misogyny as equal to those around her. The reality that she was the only South Asian person in her activist community was not addressed in an effective or empathetic way. Space and 227 validation that she desired to connect her experiences and cultural capital to the larger “movement” was not forged, nor provided. These limitations within the activist/movement population that Tipu was a part of were antithetical to the principles that had guided MAS, the very program they were trying to protect.
However, it was easy for her and I to open space in the curriculum and structure of CLASS for an opportunity to address her isolation and marginalization as a South Asian woman. Since the pedagogical framework of CLASS was built around Indigenous epistemologies that were pre-Columbian and not nationalistic, there was a human emphasis which was applicable to studying other voices and ethnicities beyond the Chican@/Latin@ experience. Moreover, critical pedagogy and liberatory education practices encourage youth to be facilitators of knowledge.
In the case of CLASS, this manifested itself into summative activities where the students provided formal lessons to one another during the closing of our first semester together (see Chapter 4 for more details on this assignment, as well as the structure, curriculum and pedagogy of CLASS).
Well, I mean it actually kinda worked out really well because we were talking about it’s the hip-hop unit. Ever since high school I really got into hip-hop. I didn’t really learn about M.I.A. till I was 15 or 16 and then I got really into her music. I started listening to other more underground hip-hop artists like Dats Racist. It fit really well because I felt like there’s a need for more Desi representation in Tucson specifically I guess. I feel like this is a space where I’m comfortable to bring that sort of thing up. I don’t know it just worked out. ‘Cuz the songs I picked—I don’t know. They just worked out.
Tipu’s use of hip-hop and critical pedagogy for her CLASS session, as well as the social justice themes she intended for us to investigate worked seamlessly into our unit of study. The fact that it was an assignment that explored feminism, hip-hop 228 and Desi identity afforded her the opportunity to authentically explore her own identity. Simultaneously, her class session allowed her peers and me to experience learning in a way where we made connections in a similar way to how Tipu normally navigated CLASS. The experience was not only comfortable for her, but all of us that were involved since she mirrored some of the same pedagogical and curricular practices, while shifting the voice to those of South Asian descent.
I mean I felt like it was appropriate because it’s really intellectual hip- hop. It’s so multi, I don’t even know if this is a word, but I’m trying to say multidimensional. There’s a lot of different dimensions to the songs because you have Big Branch which is one of the songs that I picked. You have MIA as an artist talking about the dynamics between a woman, the other woman and then the man involved. I thought that was really interesting because it incorporated the discussions about feminism that we had had before…It also wasn’t feminism as we typically see it. It’s a Desi feminism so it’s different. It’s like a different breed of womanism or feminism or whatever you wanna call it. I was tempted to pick this song by Heems 11:05 called Women. It was basically him just proposing his allegiance with women. It’s kind of like a goofy song. I like it a lot and it’s really catchy, but it didn’t have the meat that I was looking for.
Tipu made pedagogical and curriculum choices that many traditional public school teachers struggle to insert in their own practices. She was cognizant of how to connect her intentions of teaching Desi identity from a foundation where the students could use prior knowledge. Since we studied different feminist stories and experiences through the semester, most of which were from a Chicana and African
American perspective, Tipu was able to introduce a new perspective through a similar analytical approach. In the prior example, she was also critically conscious of the content needing to reflect a particular standard. Although, she does not define the term “meat,” one can imagine that she was critical of the socio-political message 229 of the “goofy” song, and was not impressed by the “multidimensionality” and
“intellectual” standard that was evident in “Big Branch” by MIA.
Her desire to include songs that were challenging dominant narratives, while simultaneously providing insight into the Desi experience in the United States, also guided her decision to use a song called “Soup Boys” by the hip-hop artist, Heems.
In this song, drones are used as a metaphor for drug use and promiscuity. When reflecting upon the choice of analyzing, Tipu explained:
I felt like Soup Boy’s and Pretty Drones (Soup Boys) were relevant because it’s about—well I mean he makes all of these references to drones. I thought that it was this group of people. I noticed a lot of pro-Obama kind of attitudes. I’m just like kind of well maybe if Obama was—I don’t know it sounds kinda fucked up. It would be like you wouldn’t feel that way about him if he were dropping drones into your home country or your family’s home country. I was trying to think of a way where I could bring up that sort of discussion in a way that isn’t preachy. I wanted that to be an example. I didn’t wanna outright tell ‘em I hate Obama and here’s why. I wanted them to be like listen to this song and this is how he’s dealing with it. This is how he’s dealing with his mother land being bombed or that area being destroyed. That’s through music. It’s really relatable for people to hear that. It’s easier.
Tipu’s illustrates a passion for social justice and anger toward the violent actions of the United States government and military in regard to using unmanned aircraft to proliferate attacks in Pakistan. However, the principles of CLASS and critical pedagogy are evident, since she does not approach the lesson in a dogmatic way. Tipu attempted to confront the discomfort she felt from perceptions of the
“pro-Obama” sentiments of her classmates through her choice of music, and the metaphor used by Heems. Her refusal to be “preachy” about her own perspective on the issue illustrates a personal discipline and respect for creating educational experiences that are based upon critical thinking and discourse. 230
Further self-reflection upon the lesson revealed a sense of pride for the analysis and group discussion of feminism and gender roles in “Big Branch,” as well as frustration on Tipu’s part toward her effectiveness in connecting the drones metaphor to the issues of drug use by South Asian Americans.
I thought the Big Branch song went over really well and I love the discussion that we had. Because we talked about—what I wanted was I just wanted to talk about the dynamics between the two women in the song…I thought that that discussion was better than the Soup Boys discussion. Because Soup Boys the questions I asked for that—what was the one that really tripped people up? It was like how do you think Hindu and Muslim solidarity is displayed in Soup Boys? Is this a good thing or a bad thing…I think that really confused people because they don’t know—well they probably have a vague idea that it’s kind of taboo. They didn’t know—I don’t think I gave them enough background on that. I thought that that wasn’t as successful, but I did like the discussions that we had with it.
There were extenuating circumstances for the reason Tipu may have felt that the lesson built around “Big Branch” was more successful then the one focused upon
“Soup Boys.” First, the context of the lesson and Desi identity was framed mostly upon “womanism” (see Appendix). As Tipu articulated earlier in this chapter, she had intentionally chosen a topic similar to ones we had studied before, and the prior academic study of feminism may have helped provide a better foundation for “Big
Branch.” Conversely, the thematic emphasis of “Soup Boys” was extremely complex.
Introducing Muslim-Hindu solidarity in terms of medicating racist and discriminatory experiences in the US through alcohol and drug abuse was an extremely ambitious undertaking for even the most experienced teacher. The task was even further complicated by Heems using the metaphor of drones for this purpose, a fact that many of Tipu’s peers were unaware was happening in south 231
Asia. She acknowledged that more context, and further exploration of the South
Asian American experience, might have helped her classmates engage more successfully in the analysis of the song. In addition, Tipu had another perspective on the reasons for why she felt her peers struggled with the latter part of lesson, and her own perceived limitations.
It’s just kinda hard because I barely understand my own culture. My dad doesn’t like to speak words ever. I don’t know the language. There’s a really small population here in Tucson so I’m really far removed from my culture. I barely understand it myself so it’s kind of like I feel like I’m really bad at teaching other people. I wonder if I presented that same question to a group of other South Asians. The question about Hindu-Muslim solidarity through substance abuse. If someone else would have a different perspective, because I barely even know the dynamics of an Indian family versus what I’ve experienced or whatever. I don’t know. I think I could really improve on that lesson.
Tipu returns to the feeling of inadequacy and isolation that she expressed earlier about her academic experiences in this example due to the lack of a larger
South Asian population in Tucson. In her own words, she feels that she has just started to understand her own culture, and although this is an extremely valid reason for not feeling like the lesson went well, she expresses frustration in her perceived ineffectiveness in teaching individuals outside of her ethnic and cultural experience. Despite the intricacies involved in effectively teaching such a lesson, at some personal level Tipu still blames herself and lack of cultural expertise, regardless of the fact that she rarely has had the opportunity to hone these skills, or acquire such knowledge in an academic setting. Regardless, she shows the will, resiliency and determination to improve in such ways by saying that she feels she
“could really improve that lesson,” which displays a willingness to attempt to teach 232 this again.
Although, it is easy to become absorbed in Tipu’s own assessment of the lesson she crafted and executed for CLASS, it is important to emphasize her ability to be self-reflective and critical toward her effectiveness. This element alone illustrates her comfort with her own personal and academic identity in CLASS and with her teacher. Tipu took a major risk not only to design and teach a class, but to also reveal herself and ethnic identity through the lesson.
Another reason for Tipu’s risk taking, academic confidence, and engagement to provide a lesson for her peers can be attributed to the pedagogical framing of the class as an liberating space, and students as co-facilitators and producers of knowledge. The concept of In Lak Ech is evident in the trust that was embedded in the assignment for students to formally lead CLASS and the fluidity and sharing of the power in the classroom, as opposed to the static, traditional school experience where teachers are at the top of the hierarchical pyramid.
I guess with other academic experiences it hasn’t been as hands on. With the presenting your music to the group, and teaching the class. That’s more youth lead and I think that’s something that I enjoy about the classes that you allow us to take over the space and teach each other. It’s more interactive and I don’t know it’s funner.
What is of particular interest in this example is that Tipu views higher academic expectations as more enjoyable. Not only were students in CLASS expected to critically read and analyze texts through presentations and writing, but they were also given the opportunity to craft a lesson for their peers that included the same type of academic standards. The process of teaching includes not only content knowledge, but also organizational sophistication and the self-confidence to 233 publically lead. Tipu, deeming this multidimensional and complex nature role of being a student as pleasurable, is a counter narrative to how many educators and students view traditional schooling. However, it is completely understandable given the current shift toward testing-based pedagogical and curriculum reform.
Tipu also suggested the importance of culturally responsive curriculum as increasing interest and engagement for her in CLASS. She recognized that being validated, as a human being, within the content of the curriculum was important in terms of maintaining interest. Thus, by having a student-centered classroom, especially in terms of pedagogy and curriculum, there is an authentic investment in the educational content that can also help in terms of the resiliency to continue to grow academically.
Tipu: Obviously, if you’ve never seen yourself reflected in school before how are you going to maintain your interest level, or continue to want to go there, you know? Like you’re not gonna keep on going to, you’re not going to keep on pursuing like, I don’t know, whatever it is you want to do unless you see yourself reflected there. Acosta: That’s interesting because you haven’t totally… Tipu: No. Acosta: …seen yourself reflected. Tipu: No, no I haven’t.
Tipu understands the power of culturally responsive curriculum and how it relates to her experiences. Earlier in the chapter, Tipu shared how she was comfortable in CLASS and MAS because she was able to adapt and apply the academic content toward her own lens as a colonized, South Asian woman whose father and other family members immigrated to the United States. In this sense, she found a connection through In Lak Ech. Yet, she was also aware that she has not fully 234 seen herself at the center of academic content. Although she could apply it to her experiences her peers were not consistently practicing the same type of empathy and solidarity toward Tipu’s ethnicity and culture.
It was an appreciated that day, but then later when fucking Central High had their Bollywood themed prom, I remember Concepcion came in and like, Gloria was like, she, like, Gloria got it. She was talking shit with me and she was like, “Yeah, everyone was wearing the bindi.” But they were like wearing it on their nose. And like, I don’t know. On their ears or like, they were just putting it, like, all over their face and being stupid. And then Concepcion was like, “Oh, yeah! I wanted one of those.” And I was just like, I gave her the look, and I was just like, no one but a South Asian woman should be wearing that. And then she just kind of like shut up. So, like, for like a day for occasionally, for that occasion I felt like it was respected. But you know, it would take like years, you know? It would take your class, like it would take your class but with my history for people to really understand and respect that sort of like, for Desi history. And, you know, they try. They give an honest effort, but it’s just not all the way there. It’s not developed. There isn’t a platform for developed, but it was cool to have that one day dedicated to Desi hip-hop and identity.
The insertion of an authentic South Asian lesson was done in an additive fashion. As a teacher, I was contributing to the marginalization that Tipu had experienced before in her education experiences, regardless of my intention to provide the space for a liberatory experience. Concepcion’s reaction to the conversation about the bindis at prom was largely due to the fact that Tipu’s ethnicity was one that we only visited for short time and one that we did not fully explore. Through my teaching methods I maintained a flawed assumption that her peers would be able to implicitly practice In Lak Ech, and reflexively practice the same solidarity and empathy that Tipu had formed toward content focusing on
Chican@s/Latin@s. The fact that Gloria and Concepcion’s reactions were completely 235 divergent enforces the analysis that my teaching practices needed to be consistently explicit when re-humanizing the experiences of other people of color.
Acosta: Did you feel like you had autonomy in the space even though we didn’t, even though that kind of seems so cheesy now that I give you one day to do it. You know, it does seem like stupid. Tipu: But that one day meant so much to me cuz I never had that like before.
Despite the flaws in the fact that the lesson was an isolated and additive approach to humanizing the South Asian experience in the United States, and that there were also troubling limitations in how CLASS students may have applied their learning, Tipu reiterated the value of that “one day” since it was an opportunity that she never had before. This benefit not only helped establish Tipu’s South Asian culture as rich and complex, but also proved to be a living counter-narrative to her earlier academic career which was rife with discriminatory, racist, and contemptuous actions toward her Kashmiri and South Asian identity. Although the introduction and application of this area of study was far from ideal, Tipu’s claims about the importance of the lesson further proves how essential culturally responsive pedagogy and curriculum can be in the classroom.
Additionally, the use of a pedagogical lens such as In Lak Ech, which emphasizes the equality and human connections between peers, as well as teachers with students, can serve dual purposes. First, it emphasizes the power in young people to be co-facilitators of knowledge and can help eliminate the traditional hierarchy, privilege and power imparted to teachers by educational institutions.
Second, students are more apt to be authentic experts of their own ethnicity and culture rather than educators. By introducing students to a scholarly method of 236 research, along with teaching methods to help them prepare their own lessons, educators can open up academic space for student to grow as scholars and teachers, while assuring a more authentic exploration of the culture or ethnicity being studied.
Academic Impact
From the evidence of Tipu’s lesson and her own perspective gleaned from interviews, there were clear benefits garnered by everyone involved in CLASS from her culturally responsive lesson on “Feminism, Hip Hop, and Desi Identity.” In terms of other academic outcomes that Tipu felt she specifically gained from CLASS, presenting at the national conference Free Minds, Free People in Chicago was foremost in her mind.
Yeah, like on a sort of superficial level I feel that I have more notches under the whole, like, academic belt, where I can be all like, “Well, I’ve presented at a conference.” But like also, it was kind of like an exercise for how’re you gonna write like a document that you want people to take seriously. How’re you going with the different, like, with other people for like a collaborative writing assignment? Because we all had individual portions that we had to write. So…I think that was kind of like a challenge, writing with other people.
Tipu explained in Chapter 4 her aversion to speaking to the media, along with other types of public presentations. However, the successful process of writing a proposal and working with her peers to produce a workshop at a national conference provided an opportunity to confront, and conquer negative feelings toward developing a public academic persona. Additionally, she addresses the process of collaborative writing assignments that were completed during CLASS, such as the proposal for Free Minds, Free People, the Declaration of Intellectual
Warriors for the TUSD desegregation case, and a manuscript for a forthcoming book 237 from Rethinking Schools. Collaborative writing is a skill that is not often expected, nor encouraged or cultivated in the traditional K-12 public school experience.
However, it is a necessary skill for college and graduate school research projects and scholarly journals. The high academic expectations of CLASS provided students rigorous educational experiences that were not only responsive to their lives, but would also serve them well in their future academic pursuits.
Simultaneously, Tipu’s example proves that students felt comfortable enough to take risks in areas, both academic and personal, where they may have felt anxiety or insufficient, in order to improve their confidence and scholarly skill set.
I kind of close up more in school. I wasn’t as forthcoming as I am like in your classes and in these classes. I think I’ve been a lot more talkative because it’s a group of people that I know really well and we’re talking about material that I’m familiar with and that I really enjoy. I’m more vocal. I’m more likely to give insight, but at the same time I’m kinda hesitant because I don’t wanna dominate discussions.
In this example, Tipu articulated the reason she feels more comfortable in
CLASS is due to the intimacy and bonds that she has with her classmates. Since she knows her peers so much better she is not only more engaged, but has to be mindful that she does not dominate the discussions. This is a dramatic shift from the experiences that she had in education up until the point that she experienced the pedagogy of CLASS. Earlier in this chapter Tipu expressed the isolation, marginalization and discrimination that created a negative school-ethos, but through the opportunity to read from feminist authors and artists of color, in her own words, she began to enjoy herself and learning. This positive school ethos and the development of her academic identity had transformed her own attitudes and 238 activity in class. Instead of closing herself up, she became so comfortable and assured of her own value as a South Asian woman, a student and human being that she was now finding herself with the desire to dominate dialogues and teach from her own Desi perspective.
Sustainability
Indigenous ideologies from the Nahui Ollin were prevalent throughout Tipu’s interviews. One specific principle was Huitzilopochtli, or the will to act. Tipu’s own civic engagement and activism through the years she was involved with MAS and
CLASS, manifested itself with her work with fellow youth in United Non- discriminatory Individuals Demanding Our Studies (UNIDOS). Her application of
Huitzilopochtli was witnessed in the direct action taken by UNIDOS to stop a vote by the TUSD school board that could have ended MAS. At the conclusion of CLASS, Tipu had seen a broadening of her view of activism.
Acosta: So you mentioned it’s not as gritty as it used to be, less action based and more growth. What does gritty mean and what does growth mean? Tipu : It means chaining yourself to things. It means, uh, I don’t know. I guess, board meetings and craziness. And growth is like, book learning and I don’t know. Growth is difficult without school. Like, I felt really weird this year cuz I wasn’t in school. But it was also really cool because I got to have a lot of other real life experiences.
Tipu’s assessment of “gritty” is reserved for direct action such as the type that she had performed in 2011 with UNIDOS. It is important to note that Tipu was the only student during the year of this case study that was not enrolled in high school, community college, or university. She had recently graduated from high school, but was not interested in immediately continuing her education. However, as 239 a result of her participation in CLASS and the absence of her attending school with an established politically active cultural group, her own perception of activism began to transform.
I’m not in MEChA and I’m not with UNIDOS because I’m not in school. Like how can I be with a MEChA if I’m not in school? Which makes me a little sad. Like, I feel like, on a certain level, I feel a little isolated, but not that much because there was CLASS. And, yeah, I think it’s interesting cuz a lot of people, like, on different fronts of the movement have been sort of like, not taking a breather, but like trying to figure out how to like adapt to change and grow from that… But, it’s like, I think it’s necessary. I feel that’s the direction I’ve taken, too.
Tipu also identified activism as “growth” and “book learning,” and that it was difficult to grow in an activist sense being isolated from school. CLASS provided a space for Tipu to ground herself in learning for the purposes of activism. Since
CLASS was not a traditional school space, most students saw the actual participation in CLASS as activism, especially in light of the state law that was used to ban MAS in
Tucson. The weekly gathering of her and her peers alleviated the isolation that Tipu felt by not being enrolled in school.
Tipu provided further insight toward the climate in Tucson amongst activist youth and the broader Chican@ activist community, who had worked diligently to protect MAS for six years. Her perception that many people were still trying to process the dismantling of the MAS, and taking needed time to reflect upon how to move forward after such a violent destabilization of a significant program for the
Chican@ community in Tucson. This answer illustrates how the principles of the
Nahui Ollin are actualized by youth. Tipu articulated the need for Tezcatlipoca (self- reflection), and that this “breather” is essential in order to “adapt and change to grow.” Embracing such changes is similar to the concept of Xipe Totec 240
(transformation), which is symbolized by the snake shedding of its skin. As was covered earlier, the Nahui Ollin was a theoretical lens used to re-humanize the classroom space, as well as serve as a guide to how to engage in the world outside of school. In this sense, Tipu demonstrated a particular sophistication and maturity toward a traumatic episode in many of the lives of her peers, and the community at large. She does not exhibit any type of victimization or debilitating anger from these experiences, but rather understands that she must be mindful in how to react.
Withdrawing to oneself is seen as necessary in order to move forward.
This intense commitment to social change revealed further insight from Tipu in terms of maintaining a human balance in her life.
I think that idea was like really nurtured by you and UNIDOS and everyone that I’ve come to work with because we realized that, well, I mean, I realized, I’m pretty sure that other people have had this knowledge like their whole lives or they had to come about it a different way, that even though you’ve got to like fight to defend yourself, like, you have to sustain yourself, too. And I think that, that was definitely, like that idea came to me, born from the activism. Of course CLASS, like, that was like pretty much like the essence of like, building to sustain yourself. So, yeah, that came from like a lot, that came from like experiences like the collective experience.
Not only were Tipu’s experiences in CLASS engaging, culturally validating, and academically rigorous and rewarding, but they also inspired her to reflect on the importance of self-care and sustenance. The holistic and human approach to education that was embodied by CLASS was not only culturally responsive, but also personally and culturally sustaining (Paris & Alim, 2014). After the dismantling of
MAS in TUSD, essential spaces for the development of youth voice and agency were no longer available. Although students, teacher, parents and community members continued to engage and fight for the reinstatement of the program and classes, 241 these oppressive actions by the state of Arizona and TUSD were damaging to the community spirit and personal well being of many individuals in the movement. To
Tipu, CLASS was a model in the respect of how to maintain oneself through
Huitzilopochtli. The fact that the pedagogy and curriculum were still alive and available to youth at a local community center, due to the action of a group of students and an instructor proved to be an affirming experience for Tipu, and one that can be replicated through social and cultural capital and an Indigenous framework that identifies action as a key component in humanizing education.
Tipu also emphasizes the importance of the “collective experience” in order to sustain oneself. The individualistic and competitive nature of traditional schooling in the United States does not implicitly embrace the notion of collective and collaborative academic experiences. However, the tenets of equality and democracy do fall in line with such ideals and are echoed in the pedagogical lens of
CLASS.
Agency and La Futura
As Tipu’s academic and personal/ethnic identity were being nurtured through CLASS, what was also clear is the development of her own agency and self- determination. In respect to how she believed education and activism would play a part in her future plans, Tipu had some strong feelings toward the type of community involvement she would prefer.
I don’t want to go my whole life educating people. That’s not what I’m here for. I just want to like exist and, you know, pretty much just be left alone. Like, I don’t want to educate anybody about like why they shouldn’t say A-rab or whatever. But at the same time I don’t want to be reactionary. I want to build something. You know, that’s why I want to focus on art. It’s because I want to, like, create something. I 242
don’t always want to just be completely reactionary. But at the same time it’s like when shit hits the fan, what are you going to do? Like, you do have to take action sometimes.
Tipu illustrated frustration with the idea of educating people about her South
Asian culture and identity. From earlier in the chapter, Tipu expressed being uncomfortable with the “Western Gaze” that she has felt within public school and other main stream institutions. A connection can be made between those comments and the vehemency displayed in the satirical way she pronounced the word “Arab.”
Tipu has rejected the obligation to educate and help the cultural literacy of
European Americans, a role many people of color are burdened with due to the normalization of “whiteness” in the United States. Most assuredly, here comment about being left alone is one directed at the dominant European American culture.
Intertwined with this notion is her dissatisfaction with the reactionary nature of her past activism. There is a sense of fatigue and exasperation toward how power manifests itself in the United States, and having to continually respond to the actions of dominant culture. Instead, Tipu appears to be gravitating toward creation as action and the idea that building new structures as a form of agency that she is interested exercising. Although it is clear that she respects the nature of direct action, she also appears to be conflicted about her feelings in participating in that type of activism in the future.
Even though Tipu had expressed a desire to be left alone, she was also very clear about valuing art and creation, as well as a respect for collaboration and collectivism. It was this broadening of her own definition of activism that revealed how Tipu viewed her own agency in directing her energies after CLASS. 243
In an earlier interview, Tipu had expressed that one of the academic benefits of CLASS was that it provoked her to ask questions about her own ethnic identity and cultural heritage. At her exit interview in August, she was more specific about the how having graduated from Central High she had the freedom to follow her own academic. However, CLASS proved a pivotal role in her academic journey and exploration of her personal/ethnic identity.
Without school I could read all the books that I wanted to do and do all the writing I wanted to do, and that’s what I really loved. It’s because I just kinda got to do, like, I got to read everything I wanted to. I know that sounds a little, like, vague, but I, you know, I wasn’t as diligent as I promised myself that I would be. But, like, with CLASS, you know, I was kinda like on track and it led me to read other, like, what did I read this year? Like, I don’t even, like, I read that book on Kashmir like I learned a lot about like more than I have my whole life, like in this year that I’ve taken off, like about that issue specifically. So like I was able to explore like things I wanted to do.
CLASS inspired her to begin reading books that interested her beyond the academic expectations on a syllabus. The manifestation of her own academic identity combined with the academic structure of CLASS, the liberatory pedagogical lens and methods which supported students to develop their own critical consciousness, provided the foundation for her own scholarly pursuits. This was not the case in her experiences with education before CLASS. As a result, investigating the experience of Asian women became one of those areas that Tipu studied during
CLASS.
It’s funny, because I’m reading this book on like racial and ethnic relations and they have like this section on Asian women and how they felt, they had to be like, even in these supposedly progressive movements, they were still hyper-sexualized. They had to be, you know, demure. And they were still, you know, like, submissive or whatever. And so, they, all the women were, yeah, fuck that. We’re 244
going to start a completely, you know, we’re going to start our own thing.
It is in this vision where Tipu’s sense of self as a Kashmiri-American intersects with her own agency toward social change. During her time in CLASS,
Tipu gained valuable time, experience, and support in the development of her own identity, while practicing the pedagogical principles and Indigenous epistemologies that privileged cultural and community responsiveness. CLASS was born out of necessity after the dismantling of MAS from public schools in Tucson. In essence, it was created to fill a gap of an academic and student-centered space that had once existed in the community. Similarly, Tipu shares a vision for creating spaces that yet exist for South Asian women that are critically conscious and liberating, as well as far from the “Western gaze” that has violated, exoticized, and sexualized Asian women in the past. She has witnessed how such spaces can exist through CLASS, and now feels a sense of excitement and responsibility to ensure that such spaces exist.
This is the embodiment of both In Lak Ech and Huitzilopochtli.
Her future is guided by the humanization that she has experienced in the academic environment of CLASS. Tipu is not simply appreciative of what she has experienced, nor engages with her education only as an individual consumer, but sees a connection and empathy to people like herself; youth that have not been fortunate enough to find their own personal, ethnic, or academic identity.
Furthermore, Tipu understands that such efforts will be difficult but they are possible.
Conclusion
My initial expectation for this case study was to focus solely upon CLASS 245 students as a collective. However, my preliminary reflections about the data during the collection process revealed rich interview process from Tipu, along with strong participation in CLASS as documented in my field notes and weekly reflective memos. Thus, it became clear that a separate chapter would be necessary analyzing the data of the only student in CLASS without Chican@/Latin@ ethnic heritage. I was drawn to the similarities that Tipu shared with her CLASS peers in respect to surviving discriminatory, isolating and racist school experiences prior to MAS &
CLASS, but I was equally intrigued that Tipu identified with the Indigenous and humanizing pedagogies of CLASS regardless of the fact she self-identifies as
Kashmiri. Furthermore, the data illustrates that the curriculum and pedagogy of
CLASS affirmed and intensified the cultivation of her own ethnic identity, although it is clear that there were missed opportunities on my part as the instructor to tap into her own cultural wealth and funds of knowledge within the academic content of
CLASS (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005; Yosso, 2005).
Tipu also gives voice to her process in acquiring more collective agency with her peers, as well as an increase in her individual active subjectivity (Lugones,
2010) through the curriculum, which was steeped in themes of social justice, feminism, and anti-oppressive content, as well as her relationships in CLASS. The experiences in CLASS also reinvigorated her own academic identity and contributed to her altering her perspective toward attending college along with inspiring future goals for her activism in creating critical, cultural spaces for the South Asian community.
246
CHAPTER EIGHT
SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS
This study was a journey that started twenty years ago when I was a student teacher about to embark on a career as an educator. At that time, there was no way for me to comprehend that my life would be dedicated to creating emancipatory educational experiences for Chican@ youth, and other youth of color. The roots of this study, and the original site for my research, were my Chican@ Literature classes at the comprehensive high school that I taught at for 16 years. Unfortunately, by the time that I reached the dissertation process, my classes had been eliminated due to the intervention and pressure of Arizona state officials. Thus, this case study serves as one of the last collections of student voices from a historic and tragic time in the history of education for Chican@/Latin@ students in the United States.
More specifically, this study was focused on how students in the Chican@
Literature, Art and Social Studies program articulated the impact of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy and curriculum upon their personal, ethnic, and academic identities, as well as how these young people perceived their role in addressing social issues in their lives through civic engagement and political activism. In this chapter I summarize the findings and provide a discussion of the implications in terms of instruction and curriculum, future research studies, as well as professional development and teacher education. In this chapter I will also provide a pedagogical and methodological framework for the Nahui Ollin for teachers, teacher educators and educational researchers as a model for decolonizing educational practices. 247
Overview of the Dissertation
The purpose of this dissertation was to present two participatory action research case studies that focused upon how students viewed the influence of the pedagogy and curriculum of the Chican@ Literature, Art and Social Studies (CLASS) program upon their personal, ethnic, and academic identities. In addition, these studies examined the various ways that youth perceive their role in addressing critical issues in their lives.
Theoretical Underpinnings and Relevant Literature
Four major theories and methodologies were influential to the development of the research questions that grounded this study. First, critical pedagogy was instrumental due to the connection to the liberatory and emancipatory goals for the students who comprised CLASS (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Friere, 1970).
Second, a critical race theory lens provided the foundation for developing a case study that centralized race and ethnicity, as well as the importance of student voice as the means of collecting counter narratives about the educational experiences of students of color (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Solórzano & Yosso, 2000). A third theory came in the form of cultural capital and community wealth (Stanton-Salazar,
2001; Valenzuela, 1999; Yosso, 2005) since the curriculum and pedagogy of CLASS was developed from the community and culture of study. And, finally, Indigenous epistemologies that were used as the basis for the development of humanizing pedagogies and methodologies that embodied self-reflection, precious and beautiful knowledge, the will to act and transformation (Acosta, 2007, 2014; Serrano Nájera,
2014; Chavez Leyva, 2003). 248
The review of relevant literature was organized in three major categories: the impact of critical multicultural and culturally sustaining and responsive pedagogy and curriculum upon students of color (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005;
Paris, 2012; Sleeter, 2011), civic engagement, activism and resistance of youth (Tuck
& Yang, 2014; Youniss, Bales, Christmas-Best, Diversi, McLaughlin, & Silbereisen,
2011), and the positive educational impact of youth participatory action research
(YPAR) upon students of color (Irizarry, 2011; Morrell, Dueñas, Garcia, López,
2013).
The literature on critical multicultural education, culturally sustaining and responsive pedagogy informed this study through the articulation of pedagogical tenets and instructional methods that represent, connect and engage students of color in ways that generations of traditional educational practices have failed.
The research literature focused upon civic engagement, youth activism and resistance illustrated that, although traditional measurements of youth civic engagement reveal a detachment from the democratic process, students of color possess a great deal of resistant capital (Yosso, 2005) that can be activated into greater civic participation.
YPAR literature details efforts of how students of color acquired an academic identity that served as the foundation for youth to develop research projects within their community that led to various forms of societal transformation.
Methodology
I conducted these case studies as a teacher researcher in collaboration with my students in the Chican@ Literature, Art and Social Studies program using 249 participatory action research methodology. The first study focused upon eight of the students in the CLASS program as a collective, and the second study is concentrated upon the only student in CLASS who was not of Chican@/Latin@ descent. Both case studies were ten months in duration with the intention of answering the following questions:
• How do youth view the influence of the pedagogy and curriculum of a
Chican@ Literature class upon their personal, ethnic, and academic
identities?
• How do youth in a Chican@ Literature class perceive their own role in
addressing critical social issues in their lives through civic engagement and
political activism?
Primary data sources were two sets of personal interviews of 7 Chican@ students and 1 Kashmiri student from ages 16-21 that were completed during the midterm point and conclusion of CLASS. Secondary data used in these case studies were student artifacts produced in CLASS such as assignments and other classroom activities.
Figure 8.1 Research Question Data Collection
How do youth view the influence of the • Personal Interviews (Primary) pedagogy and curriculum of a Chican@ • Student Artifacts (Secondary) Literature class upon their personal, ethnic, and academic identities?
In what ways do youth in a Chican@ • Personal Interviews (Primary) Literature class perceive their role in • Student Artifacts (Secondary) addressing critical social issues in their 250 lives through civic engagement and political activism?
I analyzed the student interview transcripts, which were translated verbatim, and student artifacts using a constant comparison methodology and opening coding
(Marshal & Rossman, 2006). The theoretical frame for the analysis included critical race theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Ladson-Billings, 1999), critical pedagogy
(Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Freire, 1970), cultural capital and cultural wealth (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005; Yosso, 2005), as well as Indigenous epistemologies from the southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America
(Acosta, 2007, 2014; Serrano Nájera, 2014; Chavez Leyva, 2003). The analyses of the data were then integrated into conceptual categories that were used to describe the findings.
Participatory action research (PAR) methodologies informed this study since the students of CLASS reflected upon the data collected and articulated action plans to transform the state of education for Chican@/Latin@ youth, and other youth of color, in Tucson, Arizona. Trustworthiness was achieved when CLASS students read my data analysis chapters and critiqued the findings. I have also been a member within the community of study in southwest Tucson for nearly twenty years, and I self-identify as Chicano, which was the largest ethnic group of students that participated in this study.
Summary of the Findings
Findings for Academic Identity and Engagement 251
The findings from students toward the impact of the curriculum and pedagogy of CLASS upon their academic engagement and identity were consistently positive, especially in comparison to prior educational experiences. CLASS students described facing discrimination, marginalization, and isolation in their prior school experiences, which contributed to feelings of disengagement toward school. These events also impacted sentiments of distrust with school officials and the institution itself. The youth of CLASS were also critical of the academic content of their educational experiences, finding them lacking in terms of reflecting the community and cultures of themselves and their peers.
Conversely, CLASS students articulated how they were more personally invested in CLASS due to the authentic relationships they had with their peers and instructor. The use of Indigenous principles such as In Lak Ech cultivated an egalitarian classroom grounded in empathy where all of the participants were equally respected. CLASS students often referred to the bond created through these principles as familial and this bond helped in terms of motivation to participate and risk taking in CLASS. Creating academic spaces that are simultaneously challenging, loving and healing can assist students in finding value in their educational journeys and developing the resiliency needed to persevere.
Furthermore, students emphasized that CLASS was a co-constructed educational space where their input in the curriculum was valued by the instructor and consistently represented. Students felt more invested in the curriculum because they were able to direct their own academic experiences as a collective with me, instead of the traditional school setting where curricular decisions are often made 252 for them, or with limited a contribution from students. This co-constructed organization of CLASS also had a positive impact toward the intersectional identities of students, which increased the potential for the curriculum to be responsive to the academic interests of the students. Thus, the fluidity in terms of the specific curricular content of CLASS provided more opportunities to choose literature that reflected the lives and experiences of students, which in turn increased student academic engagement. Moreover, students found the curriculum and content of
CLASS to be more challenging than their traditional school experiences, and this increased their academic expectations for themselves.
Findings for Personal and Ethnic Identity
The findings provided evidence that the culturally responsive and sustaining curriculum and pedagogy of CLASS had a positive impact upon the personal and ethnic identities of the students. Students commented that the pedagogical framing of CLASS through Indigenous epistemologies provided a cultural lens that was supportive in cultivating a greater understanding of their own ethnic and personal identity. It was evident from the presentations, group projects, and activism of
CLASS that the students had internalized Indigenous principles of Tezcatlipoca (self- reflection), Quetzalcoatl (precious and beautiful knowledge) and Huitzilopochtli (the will to act). The findings also suggest that the humanizing pedagogical framework based upon Indigenous epistemologies, in conjunction with culturally responsive and social justice themed curriculum were beneficial to students not of
Chican@/Latin@ heritage. Thus, culturally responsive/sustaining classrooms may offer ways for students to engage with curriculum that may not reflect their specific 253 ethnic heritage or history, yet is still inclusive of their lived experiences. Pan-ethnic connections, immigration, internalized oppression and issues of colonization and liberation were all emphasized as connections that students made across cultural- ethnic groups.
In addition, the curriculum provided a Chican@ and multicultural lens which helped CLASS students identify with the complex issues and themes stemming from the literature that was studied. Curricular choices that specifically addressed intersectional identities of the students, including feminist and LGBTQ identities, were also viewed as important to CLASS students. Most students reacted that this was the first time in the academic careers that they were represented in the literature and curriculum of a class. However, there were also missed opportunities in respect to delving deeper into these issues due to my own lack of vision, and the self-imposed pressure or bias toward literature that I felt was important for the students to experience. Although limited exposure of LGBTQ issues and South
Asian/Desi feminism proved to be more consistent with an additive form of multicultural education (Banks, 2005), rather than the aspirations toward culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy, which was always my intention.
Similarly, CLASS students were not consistently aware of their own use of the
Indigenous epistemologies that provided the humanizing pedagogical lens of CLASS.
The data suggested that the students rarely spoke of the model in their written or verbal responses, unless I overtly included the concepts in an assignment or question. Additionally, although we reviewed the terms in our opening recitation before class started, I may have not been consistent enough in using the Indigenous 254 epistemologies within our academic work. Thus, students who were only meeting once per week may not have had enough time to truly adapt the ideas into their academic persona. My own pressure to provide as much content as possible since we only had a short time together each week, may have also impacted my decision to not present more opportunities for the students to delve deeper and learn more about the cultural knowledge represented through the Indigenous epistemologies that shaped CLASS. This oversight may have come from my own bias that most of the students were already familiar with the concepts due to their time in Mexican
American Studies. However, the data did not reflect that the students were able to apply this knowledge to their scholarly work or lived experiences. This proved to be a missed opportunity to establish a critical lens or praxis that students could use for future academic efforts, civic engagement, or political activism. Without such a critical and empathetic lens being firmly in place for my students; a lens where they can identify and articulate the use of these Indigenous principles, it is difficult to think that this knowledge will be available to them in a more permanent way in the future.
Findings for Civic Engagement and Activism
Students in CLASS perceived themselves as self-determined, agents of change toward the social issues they found most critical in their lives. CLASS students expressed the importance of having a space to reflect and analyze their world after the elimination of Mexican American Studies, while also reestablishing their own humanity, belief in education, and desire to create change through civic engagement and activism. Students emphasized that CLASS provided a place which provided the 255 time they needed for the incubation of their ideas, as well as being afforded the space to share perspectives with their classmates, in order to test their hypotheses or collaborate on a common vision and understanding with each other.
This was most evident in the civic engagement and activism that the students performed in regard to the issue of MAS and the desegregation hearings for their local school district. Although CLASS youth were critical of the policy decisions made by those in power, they were consistent in the belief that their activism was important since their voices were heard. Moreover, the students of CLASS also articulated the importance of their own agency and growth in confidence toward the process of social transformation. Students commented that CLASS was the place that they felt the most encouraged to take risks with issues of civic engagement or political activism due to the bond with their classmates and the opportunities they had to lead the direction of the program.
The co-constructivist nature of CLASS also impacted the community and student-centered content of the program. Students articulated that an understanding of global or national issues is important during academic courses, as long as it is not at the expense of what students may be encountering on the local or regional level. In essence, a balance is needed to assist students in how they can critically examine their world, but an absence of culturally and community responsive curriculum was what most CLASS students reiterated as their experience in public school versus CLASS.
Students were able to engage in the process of social transformation through a participatory research project in their community, which they directed. However, 256
CLASS youth commented that they needed more support and guidance during this process. Although the students were expected to make decisions and lead these projects, it was evident, from the data that students felt more support and scaffolding. In order to fully implement a YPAR research project, I needed more assistance from colleagues, increased contact time with the students, as well as being more open intentional about the process.
Finally, there were diverse descriptions and definitions for what constituted activism according to the students. Examples of activism identified by students included attending CLASS and organizing a unified voice for the Chican@ community in terms of the educational needs they wanted represented in the federal desegregation. Furthermore, students identified their participation in national conferences and writing manuscripts for educational literature as similar to traditional forms of activism such as sit-ins, marches, and other forms of direct action.
Implications
Educational Research
The implications for my findings upon educational research revolve around student voice, agency, resistance and activism. Although participatory action research (PAR) and YPAR is increasing (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Irizarry,
2011; Morrell, Dueñas, García, & López, 2013), there are still gaps in the literature focusing upon Chican@/Latin@ youth resistance and activism, specifically within the context of traditional school and educational settings. It was my initial intention to do such a case study in my own Chican@/Latin@ Literature classroom before the 257 dismantling of the Mexican American Studies program in Tucson. However, legislative and policy intervention made this an impossibility leaving only space for this study outside of the public school structure. Furthermore, it would be beneficial for the research to be systemic and longitudinal. Much of the YPAR and PAR literature on resistance and activism takes place outside of traditional core classes and outside of school spaces, in general.
This case study also introduces the possibility for other educational research opportunities, including the educational impact of policies that ban bilingual, multilingual and culturally sustaining educational practices such as ARS 15 – 112 used to dismantle Mexican American Studies. As schools, districts and states become more data driven in terms of structural support, academic interventions, and governance of educational practices, it would behoove researchers to develop quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods longitudinal studies that investigate how Chican@/Latin@ students and other students of color may be affected by disruptive or discriminatory education policies. Moreover, educational research for innovative academic programs grounded in cultural wealth, culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy, and ethnic studies would assist in creating a larger sample size toward the perceived effectiveness of such educational approaches in multiple contexts.
Additionally, there are also opportunities for case studies focusing on students who do not self-identify with the ethnic group that they are studying in their ethnic studies classes. Further teacher-research is needed to see how such courses of study may affect these students in terms of their empathy with the ethnic 258 group that is the concentration of the study, as well as the impact upon their own ethnic identity. A deeper understanding of how ethnic studies classes, and other classes grounded in culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy and curriculum can serve all students, regardless of their ethnic identity would be beneficial to the research literature. Along these lines, there is a gap in research focusing upon multiracial students and the impact of culturally sustaining pedagogy and curriculum upon their intersectional and academic identities. Much of biracial and multiracial student research is concentrated upon these students navigate their ethnic identity (Carter, 2010; Pollock, 2004), but there is limited research upon how
CSP may contribute to personal and academic identity formation.
Afterschool Settings
The critical role that afterschool settings played in these case studies, in light of the unique political circumstances and context that surrounded CLASS, provides the possibility for reimagining educational opportunities for students of color and other historically oppressed populations. Due to increased legislative oversight of public education in matters of curriculum content and pedagogical control, many public school students are experiencing a reduction of academic choices to suit their needs and interests. More specifically, in the case of CLASS, students were able to experience an ethnic studies class grounded in culturally responsive and sustaining curriculum although the Arizona state legislature and district officials deemed
Mexican American Studies illegal. Regardless of the fact that the students themselves and their families were supportive of these classes, and both the youth and parents wanted their students to experience the curriculum and pedagogy, they 259 were denied that autonomy due to the political whims of the elected officials. Thus, afterschool settings may be a ripe environment, for youth and families, who desire educational experiences that are not being supported, nor appropriately funded by their elected officials or policies (Scott & White, 2013). This is most evident in the case of classes such as ethnic studies, and other liberal arts programs, which are being eliminated due to severe budget cuts in education spending, and the increase of standardized testing in many municipalities and states (Hagopian, 2014).
Furthermore, afterschool settings offer a different type of freedom for students beyond policy restrictions. Without the pressure of grades and other evaluative measures, students may be more apt to take risks in afterschool settings, especially in spaces that reflect humanizing tenets and pedagogy. As this study illustrates, students of color internalize many experiences of discrimination, alienation and racism as they navigate the school system. It is easy to postulate that these experiences could increase the anxiety for students and instigate a self- regulatory repression that would impede academic growth. Liberatory educational experiences in afterschool settings may provide an alternative space to engage students that could be used to help cultivate a positive academic identity, which could lead to more confident students in traditional schooling spaces (Scott & White,
2013). In addition, relationships with parents could also improve through more community responsive approaches and settings, coupled with the elimination of school policies and standards that can often alienate or marginalize students and their families from full participation in the education of their child. Studies have 260 shown that after school settings can cultivate stronger familial ties and connections to their child’s education (Stevenson, Johnston Limón, & Reclosado, 2013).
Finally, there is incredible potential for community responsive education within afterschool settings, which could influence societal transformation. Youth participatory action research projects in afterschool spaces may offer an avenue to partnerships with community colleges, colleges and universities that could serve as a bridge for students of color (Scott & White, 2013). Simultaneously, students would be at the center of authentic research and reform in regard to critical issues that affect their lives (Kelly, 2013). Afterschool community settings can also serve as a space for researchers and educators to engage communities as partners, and assist in providing research and academic skills for youth of color that may not be provided in traditional school curriculum (Kelly, 2013). Moreover, students may have more flexibility in projects and additional opportunities such as presenting their work to their community, and at national conferences through such a partnership (Kelly, 2013). However, although there is much promise for this type of educational programming as supplemental spaces for students of color and other disenfranchised youth, such efforts may not be economically sustainable without institutional partnerships, foundational support, or grant funding.
Instruction and Curriculum – Impact on Students
In terms of teaching practices, there are significant implications for these case studies in the areas of instruction and curriculum. First, pedagogically the findings supports prior research and studies that illustrate the effectiveness in fostering a positive academic identity from cultural asset models of instruction 261
(Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005; Sleeter, 2011; Yosso, 2005). Decolonizing pedagogy and the infusion of Indigenous epistemologies as a pedagogical framework helped to nurture authentic caring relationships between students and with me, since it dismantled the traditional hierarchy of power in the classroom, and contributed to an environment for creating multi-stranded relationships (Acosta,
2014b; Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999).
Furthermore, the positive effects in cultivating a personal and ethnic identity from research focusing upon culturally responsive pedagogy, curriculum, ethnic studies, and multicultural education was also affirmed in the findings (Gay, 2002;
Nieto, 1992; Sleeter, 2011). Emancipatory teaching practices such as inquiry-based instruction (Kaser & Short, 1998) and youth participatory action research (YPAR) increased student investment and engagement due to the co-constructive nature of this work with the instructor and student autonomy (Cammarota, 2007; Duncan-
Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Irizarry, 2011). However, the findings also suggested the importance of scaffolding and more support was needed than I could provide in order to fully implement YPAR. The limitations of CLASS being an outside of school program that only met one day per week, and our collective struggle in executing sound qualitative research were issues that I grappled with throughout the second semester. Additionally, the focus of the class was too complex for the few hours we had per week. YPAR and culturally responsive curriculum can work together within the same space. However, institutional support and more contact time with students would increase the likelihood of successfully implementing such a program. In retrospect, shifting the focus of the project from a literature class to a research class 262 at the midpoint of the academic school year would have assisted in the execution of the research projects.
My findings also affirm research that postulates that youth resistance is a form of cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) with potential for development as the basis for infusion in traditional school curriculum, as well as alternate educational and community spaces. Youth can learn to navigate institutional racism, discrimination, and other forms of inequality through the study of critical issues identified by students that effect their lives and community. Furthermore, students can use resistance capital to engage in the social transformation of issues that limit or assault their liberty or humanity (Solorzáno & Delgado-Bernal, 2001). The institution of public education has often dismissed the power of students due to the history of patriarchy, and the emphasis upon inculcating values and domesticating students that will serve the current hegemony (Darder, 2002; hooks, 2003a;
Foucault, 1984). This has certainly been the case for Chican@/Latin@ students and other students of color. The difference in the approaches of CLASS, and similar academic programs that serve marginalized and disenfranchised youth, are significant since the students are no longer infantilized or patronized as being unable to perform complex educational assignments or collective action (Friedel,
2014; Irizarry, 2011; Tuck & Yang, 2014). By creating academic spaces within public schools that are culturally and community responsive, as well as academically rigorous, Chican@/Latin@ youth and other youth of color can take direct their own scholarly path, and rebuff generations of traditional schooling where students of 263 color have been infantilized and not deemed as equipped to critically examine such perspectives in a scholarly manner.
Finally, the Nahui Ollin can be utilized as a methodology for curriculum and instruction. Through Indigenous epistemologies, students will be exposed to a form of teaching that emphasizes a humanizing educational experiences rather than isolated skills or curriculum focused upon test-preparation. The Nahui Ollin is a teaching methodology that creates space for students to connect the knowledge and skills they are acquiring through Tezcatlipoca (self-reflection). As Figure 7.1 suggests, educators can frame curriculum through a self-reflective lens in order to cultivate critical consciousness a key tenet within culturally responsive and sustaining teaching (Ladson-Billings, 1999; Paris, 2012). Tezcatliopoca within the curriculum also contributes to the development of student voice, since the academic content is student-centered. Additionally, critical issues within the school and community may surface in a generative and authentic manner that can assist teachers in curriculum design that is culturally sustaining.
Once themes and ideas are generated through Tezcatlipoca, teachers will have an opportunity to provide Quetzalcoatl (precious and beautiful knowledge) that can contribute to a deeper analysis or synthesis of these themes, ideas or critical issues in the lives of students or their community. This is not content specific. There is as much opportunity to examine subjects that reflect the lives of the students and their community within a science classroom, as in a literature and composition class. To borrow a phrase from Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic (2001) toward the importance of naming discriminatory and unjust actions, “once named, it can be 264 combated” (p. 43). Similarly, students can enter a process of identifying the constraints and inequalities in their lives through rigorous academic study, in order to take action. Huitzilopochtli (the will to act) teaching practices would then require students to address these issues and the classroom would become their lab space to develop action plans that may be enacted outside of the class and perhaps within the community at large. At this stage, Tezcatlipoca is again required to name, measure and evaluate Xipe Totec (transformation). It is important to note here that although the following chart and preceding narrative is produced in a linear fashion, applying the Nahui Ollin as an educational methodology is fluid and does not necessarily align with Western concepts that may be more circumscribed and rigid in approach.
Figure 8.2
Tezcatlipoca/ Quetzalcoatl/ Huitzilopochtli/ Xipe Totec/ Self-Reflection Precious and The Will to Act Transformation Beautiful Knowledge
Application in the Application in the Application in the Application in the Classroom: Classroom: Classroom: Classroom:
Tezcatlipoca is Quetzalcoatl is Huitzilopochtli is Xipe Totec is the applied in the applied in the when the critical concept that classroom when classroom when consciousness, represents students are asked students are knowledge, and personal and/or to personally analyzing and skills in the social reflect on their synthesizing new classroom are transformation. communities, lives, information, or produced outside The human academic content, producing and co- of the classroom process of learning and the world. The constructing new space. should be result in process of self- knowledge. an element of reflection helps change that is connect students counter-hegemonic to their and rooted in 265
educational social justice. journey on a human level.
Teacher Preparation & Professional Development – Impact on Teachers
The findings support that Indigenous epistemologies and decolonizing methodologies can increase the human relationships between peers and their instructors, which may help eliminate discriminatory practices, low academic expectations and cultural deficit perspectives that are held by some teachers. In turn, there is potential for teacher preparation programs, as well as professional development curriculum for teachers who are currently in the classroom, to implement the Nahui Ollin as both a pedagogical framework and methodology.
Tezcatlipoca (self-reflection), Quetzalcoatl (precious and beautiful knowledge),
Huitzilopochtli (the will to act), and Xipe Totec (transformation) can serve as a guide for student-centered teaching practices that could cultivate opportunities for student agency, personal, and social transformation. Similar to Freirian models of praxis, the Nahui Ollin encourages reflective action. However, the concept of
Tezcatlipoca may offer more potential for transformative outcomes in both teachers and students, since the critical lens is placed upon the self. Thus, teachers and students must continuously reflect upon their personal identities and structural position, which could lead to a reimagining of teacher preparation that goes beyond, what Lilia Bartolome (1994) termed, the “methods fetish.”
In Figure 7.2, I provide a graphic representation for how the Nahui Ollin can be operationalized for teachers as a pedagogical lens to decolonize teaching 266 practices. As student-centered, emancipatory and liberatory educational experiences for youth have gained momentum in teaching preparation programs and professional development settings, a natural emphasis upon student needs has emerged. This is also true within the pedagogical approaches that can be applied through the use of the Nahui Ollin. It is essential for students to engage in critical self-reflection through academic content in order to make meaning and connections between the curriculum and skills that are being acquired and their lived experiences within their communities and world. This idea is very similar to the work of Paulo Freire (1970) and the development of conscientizao and praxis.
However, the concepts within the Nahui Ollin are as equally important for teachers to practice in order to affirm their own humanity. Teachers that rely simply upon the authoritative structure of public school run the risk of reinforcing alienating and dehumanizing practices found in classrooms and education policy.
Thus, teachers and teacher candidates should have the opportunities to practice self-reflection both as a practitioner, as well as their identity and structural position. Valenzuela (1999) asserts that authentic caring for youth must include a curriculum that overtly addresses issues of power within structures and institutions that the students occupy. It is my firm belief that teachers must also engage in a similar critical reflection and analysis of their positionality in order to actively resist authoritarian and dehumanizing teaching practices that emerge from the asymmetrical power relationships within schools. Furthermore, teachers and teacher educators must continue to analyze the fluctuating socio-cultural dynamics within their schools and school communities. Professional development and teacher 267 education that is centered upon a critically reflective and scholarly approach to issues students are facing, while simultaneously examining the privileges and power that teachers may have due to factors such as their education or socio-economic status will then impact any types of action that must take place to assist in creating a transformative educational ecology for the students, teachers, and staff alike. As the graphic indicates, Tezcatlipoca (self-reflection) needs to be present throughout the entire process. As Quetzalcoatl (precious and beautiful knowledge), Huitzilopochtli
(the will to act), and Xipe Totec (transformation) are pursued and achieved, teachers and students must consistently occur. Teachers and students must reject thinking of the Nahui Ollin as a linear progression where one step is achieved in order to move on to the next. On the contrary, it is a fluid process where the concepts are not so rigidly interdependent of one another.
A Nahui Ollin pedagogy leads to co-construction and collaboration with students through the rupturing of dehumanizing power dynamics within traditional schools. Furthermore, students and teachers are also called to action in their schools and community by practicing Huitzilopochtli. Many times critical social justice issues are explored in the classroom only through analysis, which can lead to stagnation or paralysis for teachers who may be unsure where to go next. This is a result of our overdependence and privileging of disembodied knowledge within traditional schooling. Such an educational structure does not fully engage the humanity of youth we teach as Lev Vygtosky and other sociocultural scholars have postulated
(Vygotsky, 1978). A Nahui Ollin pedagogy offers potential in teaching the “whole child” through a myriad of activities such as play, students teaching their peers or 268 school officials, as well as civic engagement and community organizing outside of the school space.
Figure 8.3
Although, the academic space can be transcended through humanizing educational practices, there are additional benefits to students interacting with teachers in other environs outside of the classroom itself. The voices of CLASS youth were unanimous in naming that the work we achieved together outside of the academic space was essential in creating an authentic relationship that could produce confianza (trust) to take educational risks (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005).
Furthermore, by practicing Huitzilopochtli outside of the class space the hierarchical structure of school was disrupted and this cultivated a co-constructive and collaborative educational environment. Students have the opportunity to see their teachers in a more human lens by removing artificial structures of control that often envelope school sites. However, teachers must also be mindful of continuing the practices within a Nahui Ollin pedagogy outside of the classroom space through self- 269 reflection toward their own position of power as an educator and adult, amongst other dynamics that would lead to the perpetuation of discrimination or practices that are not egalitarian in nature.
Indigenous epistemologies can also increase the opportunities to humanize classroom practices and increase the opportunity of authentic caring between students and teachers, as well as students with one another. In Lak Ech can compliment the self-reflection work that students and teachers experience through
Tezcatlipoca, since a reflective classroom space can lead to empathetic and critically compassionate educational setting (Acosta, 2014b; Cammarota & Romero, 2006).
Thus, through an In Lak Ech pedagogy, confianza (mutual trust) can be established between teachers and students in order to proceed in the challenging work of school and societal transformation (González, Moll & Amanti, 2005; Valenzuela, 1999).
Teachers that are introduced and trained in a more reflective, egalitarian, and empathetic pedagogical paradigm will be more capable of creating confianza that transcends aesthetic caring and becomes intergrated into the educational process of content and assessment.
Additionally, the infusion of culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) and community responsive pedagogy in teacher preparation programs, as well as professional development opportunities, could also help to eliminate feelings of mistrust with school personnel and improve communication between students and educators due to the increase of authenticity. Instructors that can honor the complex lives, languages and cultural experiences of Chican@/Latin@ youth and other youth of color will create learning environments that build from the cultural 270 capital of students (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005; Yosso, 2005). The findings illustrate that students were more engaged by literature that was culturally and community responsive, multicultural and multilingual (Paris, 2012; Paris & Alim,
2014). The blending of these elements is not only reflective of the pluralistic populations within urban schools, but also the familial and lived experiences of multiracial students and students with intersectional identities. CSP in practice will help eliminate cultural, ethnic isolation, alienation, and academic disengagement since students will no longer be seen as the “other.” Conversely, their cultural, linguistic, and lived experiences will be viewed as an asset in which to build further academic units.
Furthermore, CSP as a foundational theoretical lens places student access to power at the center of educational outcomes (Paris & Alim, 2014). Thus, a CSP framework for prospective and experienced teachers is an important step toward institutionalizing access for Chican@/Latin@ students, other historically marginalized youth, and students of color. Traditional public school educational standards have often emphasized a teacher-centered classroom that encouraged passive and submissive students under the guise of politeness and respect (hooks,
2003a). However, these characteristics re-enforced the inculcation and indoctrination of hegemonic Western values, which often infringed upon the liberty and academic freedom for students of color (Acuña, 1998; Darder, 2002; Sheridan,
1986).
Conclusion 271
As I reflect upon these case studies, I am called back to the potential of humanizing pedagogies and curriculum to liberate and foster youth as critically conscious scholars and activists who will make the world more just for all. The previous statement is obviously an incredibly high standard that many people would reject as overly romantic, sentimental or naïve. However, when one considers the educational experiences of the students in this study prior to Chicano,
Literature, Art and Social Studies and Mexican American Studies, I believe that such a claim may not seem so outrageous. Chican@/Latin@ and biracial youth display tremendous resiliency every day as they navigate through the institutions in their lives. Many times at school this includes discrimination, racism, and low academic expectations from their teachers as articulated by the students of CLASS. Yet, despite these challenges and my own limitations in consistently applying culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy in CLASS, the students articulated how the curriculum and pedagogy produced a positive impact upon their personal, ethnic and academic identities. Using Indigenous epistemologies as a foundation for curricular, methodological and pedagogical practices within the classroom also had a positive impact upon the students’ desire to be civically engaged and politically active toward critical issues within their community. If anything, I am left inspired how this group of young people exemplified the concept of transformational resistance (Solórzano & Delgado-Bernal, 2001). As these Chican@ students and youth of color experienced the banning of Mexican American Studies in their schools, they were able to remain resilient and committed to their education and 272 cultural heritage through positive and progressive action. Their lives are a counter narrative to the many representations of youth as apathetic and nihilistic.
Yet, many questions still remain for us all to consider. As teacher educators, how can we fully implement humanizing pedagogies liberatory education with the barrage of testing expectations and reductive approaches to teaching that are currently reflected in the standardized testing era in public education? How can students be empowered, or emancipate themselves, to direct the type of education that they desire, and how can this happen systemically rather than in small pockets at a school or within a community?
On a personal note, I am left wondering how we can live up to the high ideals of culturally sustaining pedagogy, especially in terms of truly representing the plurality and multicultural shifts in the United States. In some ways, Tipu’s story is one of great promise in that the space that was created in CLASS afforded her the time and direction to deepen her own ethnic identity. However, I failed to provide consistent academic experiences with her cultural wealth and ethnic identity at the center of instruction. As the demographics of our nation continue to evolve, educators must begin to conceptualize how we can truly build humanizing academic experiences that are collaborative and co-constructed so that all students may feel valid and valued. We must be mindful of the identities of our biracial and multiracial students in particular, by resisting simplistic and reductive representations of culture and ethnicity in the classroom. Our charge in the future for all our students is to create an educational ecology that is as fluid and powerful as the world we 273 inhabit, and listening to the voices of our youth, as this study has taught me, is an essential step toward that transformation.
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APPENDIX A
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Midterm Interview Questions
Prior Academic Experiences 1. What have your academic experiences been like to this point of your life? 2. Describe any positive experiences you have had with school officials such as counselors, administrators, teachers, etc. 3. Describe any negative experiences 4. What are your academic goals for the future? 5. Who is helping you achieve these goals outside of school? 6. Do you feel that your ethnic identity and culture has been appreciated in school? 7. Do you think your cultural/ethnic identity has been as asset in your academic growth? 8. Tell me why you took Latino Literature and MAS. 9. Did any experience in these ethnic studies classes connect to your own ethnic identity? 10. Describe a positive school experiences you have had that was built or focused upon your cultural identity or linguistic skills. 11. Describe what a positive school experience built around your culture or ethnic identity may look like. 12. Describe a time where you felt your ethnic identity or culture provoked a negative experience in regard to your academic goals. 13. Who are the people at school that consistently help you toward achieving your academic goals? 14. What have they done to assist in you achieving these goals? 15. Who are the people outside of school that help you attain your academic goals? 16. How do they assist in this?
CLASS Questions 1. Describe why you decided to participate in CLASS. 2. What were your expectations of CLASS beforehand? 3. What has your experiences been like in CLASS? Compare these experiences to your initial expectations? 4. Compare the structure of CLASS with your other academic experiences and describe your participation in CLASS with those other academic experiences. 275
5. How did you decide upon the purpose and content of your lesson? 6. What were your expectations for the lesson and what your peers would experience? 7. How did you feel it went? 8. Describe why you wanted to teach. Is this something that you would feel comfortable doing in other classes you attend? Do you have opportunities like these in your other classes? 9. What characteristics do you think are important for a leader? Describe the different ways people can be leaders in class or your community. 10. In what ways can youth be leaders? Would you characterize yourself as a leader?
Exit Interview Questions
Civic Engagement 1. What issues in our community and the world are the most important to you? 2. What does civic, societal, and political engagement (activism) mean to you, now that we have finished CLASS? 3. Has the literature and the research project from CLASS impacted your knowledge of political and social issues? Explain. 4. How did the curriculum in class affect your own opinions and beliefs of the issues? 5. Would you be willing to put your beliefs into some type of action? If so, how? 6. Has there been any change in your knowledge or interest in societal, community or political issues since you’ve joined CLASS? Explain. 7. Has there been any change in your activism or knowledge of societal, community or political issues since you’ve been a member of CLASS? Explain. 8. Will you be more or less likely to vote after being a part of CLASS? Explain. 9. What assignments or experiences have impacted you the most toward social justices issues or civic engagement? 10. Compare your public school experiences with CLASS in terms of engaging your community and social issues that are important to you. 11. What are your reflections about the impact CLASS had upon the Unitary Status Plan? 12. Why was it important for you and your classmates to submit a chapter for the Rethinking Schools book and submit a workshop proposal to Free Minds, Free People (FMFP)? 13. How did the chapter and FMFP opportunity come together? 276
14. Tell me about the process of working together to prepare for FMFP, the fundraising, and the conference itself. 15. Describe how you see yourself engaging in civic or political issues in the future.
Ethnic and Academic Identity 1. Do you feel that your ethnic identity and culture has been appreciated in CLASS? Can you give a few specific examples of why or why not? 2. Do you think CLASS has been as asset in your academic growth? Explain 3. Using your CLASS experiences as a guide, do you think academic content that reflects your ethnic and cultural identity enhances or detracts from your educational growth? 4. How can CLASS improve in order to be more impactful for students?
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APPENDIX B
TIPU’S LESSON FOR CLASS
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"Big Branch" 280
By M.I.A.
Big branch
Big bad wolf Came over to my ranch Took all my land Left me with a branch That's how I felt about the Loving that I had That I know about the girls he had
Bring her to my door now Bring me that ho Put her on the table And put her in my claw I'll put her down in my jaw To my belly, to my toe I'll shit on that ho And drop her to the floor
Big branch
Men are like pearls They look good with my curls I string em to get the best necklace in the world In the states of the world All women wanna lay But it's man's world so keep him at bay You can fuck a man, mack a man Tell 'em that you're gay Tell him real love ain't on BET Sex is so cheap, I get it at KFC When its meaningless why they do R&B
Bring her to my door now Bring me that ho Put her on the table And put her in my claw I'll put her down in my jaw To my belly, to my toe I'll shit on that ho And drop her to the floor
Big branch
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I ate my chips and I washed my plate Thought about women that take that bait Men with stamina or money on the plate Can get a woman thinking her period is late Thanks to Jesus, I got my own estate If I let you in, will you run off with my maid? All men are just so fickle these days To find a really good one I keep on getting laid
Bring her to my door now Bring me that ho Put her on the table And put her in my claw I'll put her down in my jaw To my belly, to my toe I'll shit on that ho And drop her to the floor
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Lyrics to Soup Boys By: Heems
[Intro: Heems] Yo, yo Soup Boys Queens shit (Queens shit) (Soup Soup Soup Soup) Alright
[Verse 1: Heems] Indians jersey and an Om on my necklace Outside Van Buren I’m parked in a Lexus Waiting for the man, I’m waiting for a gram I’m waiting for the man to put a gram up in my hand And I’m looking fresh, you’ll never find a flyer steeze I’m in Richmond Hill smoking with the Guyanese Hindus getting higher than a mother fucking fire kid Punjabis wild, yo, Himanshu is a Shayar man They’re throwing stones at the Mosque I'm in tune with goons that's stoned at the Mosque 283
I’m throwing stones in the zone with my box You eating stones I’m seeing drones up top Like that drone cool, but I hate that drone Chocolate chip cookie dough in a sugar cone Drones in the morning, drones in the night I’m trying to find a pretty drone to take home tonight
[Hook: Heems] That drone cool, but I hate that drone Chocolate chip cookie dough in a sugar cone Drones in the morning, drones in the night I’m trying to find a pretty drone to take home tonight
[Verse 2: Heems] Timberlands on, polo rugby on my back I’m outside John Bowne, I’m parked in an Ac I’m waiting for Jay, Jay got the yay And when I see Jay all my problems go away Now I'm drinking with my cousin bars we bum rushing Drinking White Russians with Russians in Flushing We can tussle if they look at my cousin’s girl You couldn’t last a day in Thurman's world Moving in Carlos, Carona, taper If they talk about us, they about to get shanked up I wake up I'm listening for them to say Hindu But no problem, then I do like Him do I’m stoned, I’m stoned at my parent’s house White boys throwing stones at my parent’s house They dot-busting, hate crime, race war I'm high as space dog, wild as three caged boars
[Hook: Heems]
[Verse 3: Heems] I’m rocking Nikes, Timeport Motorola In front of Cardozo, Toyota Carola Puff holder, Coca Cola, Back-seat scroller Back street stroller, hash-tree roller Chloe bhatura eater, he the holder He the chosen heathen, he honing in Hodo(?) 284
For Ransom, my Temple look like a mansion Hindu centre, we be praying we be dancing On the boulevard, right on Kissena We rolling green up, from Mecca to Medina They throwing stones at the temple Got me drinking too much, got me going mental Like that Drone modest, but that drone flawed All of them drones do what those drones want Drones want to wild and drones want to kill Drones want your dome and your bone and your grill
[Hook: Heems]
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APPENDIX C
DECLARATION OF INTELLECTUAL WARRIORS
Declaration of Intellectual Warriors
November 26, 2012
Created by: Chicano Literature After School Studies program, Tucson High M.E.Ch.A, University of Arizona M.E.CH.A, U.N.I.D.O.S
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Declaration of Intellectual Warriors
Dear Special Master Hawley,
We, the youth belonging to the Chicano Literature After School Studies program (C.L.A.S.S.), Tucson High M.E.Ch.A, University of Arizona M.E.CH.A, and U.N.I.D.O.S., along with community input, collectively submit the following response addressing the proposed TUSD Unitary Status Plan:
Restoration of Mexican American Studies The new Mexican American Indigenous Studies program must be built on the foundation of the previous program that had demonstrated quantitative and qualitative measures of success. Therefore, the implementation of the Mexican American Indigenous Studies program and the other Ethnic Studies Programs must take budgetary priority over the implementation of the Multicultural Program.
Expansion of Ethnic Studies With the expansion and implementation of the new Mexican American Indigenous Studies and African American Studies, we demand that Native American, Asian American, and Middle Eastern American Studies be included in the plan. Core level curriculum will be essential for these courses. We believe that all ethnic groups should have a chance to develop their cultural identity by learning the contributions their people have made in the United States, as well as their experiences in this country.
Core vs. Elective All Ethnic Studies course must be considered as core English and core Social Studies classes, as opposed to Elective credits.
Women’s Studies and LGBTQ Studies (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) In every section of the Ethnic Studies curriculum there will be an emphasis on the perspective and contributions regarding gender, women, and the LGBTQ community.
K-8 Expansion It is imperative that all of the Ethnic Studies programs be expanded to all learning levels. We reaffirm the decision to expand the programs from K-12 grade levels and expect that the newly developed African American, Native American, Asian American, and Middle Eastern American courses be held to the same standard.
Directors The position of Coordinator of Culturally Responsive Curriculum and Pedagogy needs to be changed to a Director’s position. In addition, there should be multiple directors (i.e., one representing Latino, and one representing African American Studies), with each Director having appropriate teaching experience in the field of study s/he will be directing, and each reflecting the ethnic background of the community s/he serves.
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Public Hiring of Directors The hiring process of the Directors of Culturally Responsive Curriculum and Pedagogy must include representatives of the community who are former Ethnic Studies students and teachers because of their unique expertise and experience with culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy. These community members must also have decision-making power in the hiring of the directors.
Community Decision-making Power To ensure grassroots participation, we demand the creation of a community committee with formal representatives and full voting powers be established, that takes part in the following areas and decisions:
The hiring process of the Directors of Culturally Responsive Curriculum and Pedagogy, and other staff. Curriculum Course creation And Overall USP Implementation and Accountability
The district must ensure formal representation, with full voting powers, to: C.L.A.S.S. M.E.C.h.A. U.N.I.D.O.S. Parent Community member Former MAS teacher
Naming Each program Director (i.e. Mexican American Indigenous, African American, Native American, Asian American, and Middle Eastern Studies) must have the authority to name her/his corresponding program as s/he sees fit in reflecting the cultural relevance of the curriculum.
Capacity for new classes A course involving culturally relevant pedagogy must be available at every high school. As enrollment demands indicate the need for additional courses, additional courses must be established. The establishment of an Ethnic Studies Class shall be determined by the number of students requesting the class, not by the set number of previously established classes. The number of students in a class should not exceed thirty students; allowing more than thirty students in one class is detrimental to the learning environment.
Censorship The Unitary Status Plan must promote a pedagogy and curriculum that is free from censorship. Teachers must have the freedom to teach all aspects of the literature and history called for in the curriculum.
English Language Learners (ELL)
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The Unitary Status Plan must limit the segregation of ELLs to no more than two hours per day. Interaction between ELLs and their English-speaking peers promotes ELLs' acquisition of English and fosters a shared sense of community among all students, while extended segregation creates social divisions and restricts ELLs' opportunities to acquire English in real-world situations.
Dual Language Programs The Unitary Status Plan must also recognize and include Dual Language (DL) classes as Advanced Learning Experiences. Dual Language programs provide academic enrichment and offer the same kind of rigorous and challenging instruction found in GATE and IB programs. Moreover, DL programs have a greater capacity to serve ELLs and are more likely to positively affect a significant portion of the ELL population.
Discipline Students guilty of minor infractions shall not be subject to removal from class as a part of their punishment, whether through in-school suspensions or out-of-school suspensions. Humiliation and demeaning disciplinary tactics must be prohibited.
Restorative Justice Restorative Practices must be used as stated in the Unitary Status Plan in order to promote accountability, while building a healthy, positive, constructive, and supportive school environment for every student. TUSD should not resort to police, border patrol, or Juvenile Hall as means of disciplinary action.
Transportation TUSD is responsible for the providing school bus transportation for all students. Students must be provided with school buses before and after school. Providing students with public transportation vouchers is an inadequate form of transportation. The use of public transportation extends the travel time from students, taking time from their studies.
Equal Time in Class All schools of equivalent educational levels need to be in the classroom for the same amount of time. Decreasing any schools meeting time creates disparities in the quality of education a student receives.
Supervising of the Implementation of the Unitary Status Plan Students enrolled in TUSD schools and Ethnic Studies courses must have the same right as other community members to play an active role in monitoring the district’s implementation of the Unitary Status Plan. Their active participation in the monitoring process will be a key factor in keeping TUSD in compliance with the Unitary Status Plan.
Conclusion
As students, we are clear that in order for these court-ordered district changes to be genuine, sustainable, and transformative, students and community members must be engaged in meaningful ways at every level of the process. To restore respect, justice, and equity in our
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educational experience and school district, we ask for the full integration of our student demands in your Unitary Status Plan.
Mr. Hawley, we, the students await a detailed response to all our points above.
With Gratitude & Sincerity,
Chicano Literature After School Studies program, Tucson High M.E.Ch.A, University of Arizona M.E.CH.A, U.N.I.D.O.S
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