A Case Study of Latinx Rasquachismo
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Paper ID #22678 (Fundamental) Fregados Pero no Jodidos: A Case Study of Latinx Rasquachismo Dr. Joel Alejandro Mejia, University of San Diego Dr. Joel Alejandro (Alex) Mejia is an assistant professor of General Engineering at the University of San Diego. His current research investigates the funds of knowledge of Latinx adolescents, and how they use these funds of knowledge to solve engineering problems in their communities. Dr. Mejia is particularly interested in how Latinx adolescents bring forth unique ways of knowing, doing, and being that provide them with particular ways of framing, approaching, and solving engineering problems. Dr. Mejia’s primary research interests lie at the intersection of engineering education, literacy, and social justice. He is particularly interested in engineering critical literacies, Chicanx Cultural Studies frameworks and pedagogies in engineering education, and critical consciousness in engineering through social justice. Prof. Alberto Lopez´ Pulido , University of San Diego Professor Pulido is founding chair of the department of ethnic studies at the University of San Diego. His scholarship is community-based where he works closely with local community groups and organizations. He has published extensively in the areas of Chicanx spirituality, material culture and education. He is currently at work on several projects that address questions of academic pedagogy with a community and contemplative focus. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2018 Fregados pero no Jodidos: A Case Study of Latinx Rasquachismo Abstract Very little research has examined the ways that Latinx adolescents might use rasquache forms of expression to empower them in their engineering design activities. Even less research has been conducted on how the assets of Latinx students contribute to the diversification of engineering epistemologies and to form critically conscious engineers. In this paper, we present what involves Rasquache forms of expression and how it can contribute to a more asset-based approach to the teaching and learning of engineering. Introduction Among racial/ethnic minorities in the U.S., Latinx are particularly underrepresented in engineering. While the Latinx population is the fastest growing major racial/ethnic group in the U.S [1, 2] and Latinx workers make up 15% of the general workforce, they compromise only 7% of the STEM workforce [3]. Although different scholars have offered several reasons behind why Latinx students do not pursue STEM careers–particularly engineering–many scholars have argued that one particularly powerful reason is that the cultures of students do not fit the “cultures of engineering” [4]. For instance, the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council argued that engineering “curricular materials do not portray engineering in ways that seem likely to excite the interests of students from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds” [5], p. 10]. Educators, therefore, need to develop their capacity to connect classroom content to the social, cultural, and historical contexts in which students live [6, 7]. From a sociocultural perspective, learning is an intrinsic and inseparable aspect of social practices [8]. Engineering education, however, sometimes lacks a well-situated view of engineering that acknowledges the wealth of knowledge, practices and skills of many non- traditional populations in engineering (e.g., the religious, political, environmental and cultural capital that are interwoven in many communities of color). Much of the research done in engineering education has focused on highlighting the “needs” of students of color, while failing to recognize the assets that they bring to the classroom [9]. There is a predominant notion that students (particularly low-income, minority students) fail in school because such students and their families experience deficiencies that obstruct the learning process (e.g., lack of motivation, inadequate home socialization) [10, 11]. This idea follows the "empty glass" concept that educators need to fill students with knowledge without recognizing that they have knowledge within. This narrow conceptualization of the generation of knowledge in engineering does not account for the existence of alternative epistemologies. Moreover, engineering may sometimes fail to acknowledge the material realities (e.g., the intersections of the sociocultural landscape, history and cultural and political past and present that create complex interactions and interpretations of lived realities) of students whose embodied knowledge may not align to the structural norms of formal schooling [12]. The assumption that engineering is only created through one kind of knowledge impacts the “acceptance of difference” [13]. It is important that students, especially Latinx students, see themselves reflected in the curriculum and provide spaces to engage them in engineering activities in their own language, culture, and communities. This paper introduces a new paradigm by inverting the logic portrayed in many studies involving research that identifies Latinx as a monolithic group [14]. In order to validate the lived realities of Latinx students, we seek to change the conversation from “what knowledge do Latinx students need?” to “what do Latinx students offer to the construction of knowledge in engineering?” We present the concept of rasquachismo as an approach that centers on the everyday realities of Latinx youth in order to recognize their embodied knowledge, forms of survival, resistance, and daily practices that challenge contemporary schooling institutions [15]. Rasquachismo represents not only resistance, but also knowledge construction that reflects legitimate, creative, and artistic forms of expression of Latinx youth [15]. We assert that acknowledging these forms of knowledge and knowledge construction is important in engineering as we seek to provide better opportunities for participation and inclusion for underrepresented students, and to expand the taxonomy of engineering education research [16- 18] to value the conocimiento gained through the complex processes Latinx encounter in everyday life [19-21]. To illustrate rasquachismo in an engineering context, we describe a case study from a larger study [9] to illustrate how rasquachismo is enacted by Latinx youth. We also provide a description of rasquachismo in a larger context, and the importance of fostering an environment that enables students and practitioners to bring forth their embodied knowledge into engineering. Theoretical Framework The concept of rasquachismo was initially coined by Tomás Ybarra-Frausto to describe Latinx artistic expressions that emerged from working class, marginalized, and bicultural sensibilities [22]. The framework was initially used to discuss art expressions, but it has been applied to other areas including Latinx pedagogies [15]. Ybarra-Frausto argued that everyday aesthetic practices of Latinx involves “making with whatever is at hand” [17, p. 191]. He posits that, To be rasquache is to posit a bawdy, spunky consciousness, to seek to subvert and turn ruling paradigms upside down. It is a witty, irreverent and impertinent posture that recodes and moves outside established boundaries…In an environment always on the edge of coming apart (the car, the job, the toilet), things are held together with spit, grit and movidas. Movidas are the coping strategies you use to gain time, to make options, to retain hope. Rasquachismo is a compendium of all the movidas employed in immediate, day-to-day living. Resilience at hand, hacer rendir las cosas. This use of available resources engenders hybridization, juxtaposition and integration. Rasquachismo is a sensibility attuned to mixtures and confluence, preferring communion over purity … Rasquachismo draws its essence within the world of the tattered, shattered and broken: lo remendado (stitched together) [22, p. 191]. It claims that aesthetics are true representations of structures of thought and feeling, as well as the ability to create own cultural productions, identity, and survival [22, 23]. Rasquache aesthetics are also “inappropriate” in the sense that other may consider it lower class and vulgar [24]. At the same time, rasquachismo defies the rules and behaviors set by dominant paradigms and class [24]. For example, certain forms of rasquachismo include the use of tin cans to be used to make flower planters, reusing tires as retaining walls in a garden, using old butter containers to refrigerate frijoles and salsa, or reusing mole Doña Maria jars as drinking glasses [15]. Moreover, it reflects Latinx communities’ abilities to thrive in different contexts, survive oppressive forces, and resist dominant paradigms by producing legitimate artifacts and knowledge [15, 25]. In essence, rasquachismo posits that, although not valued in classrooms, Latinx's practices, sensibilities, and forms of expression are sources of knowledge production. Although not considered a science, rasquachismo is a form of expression and a mindset rooted in ingenuity, resourcefulness, and improvisation, which offer a natural opportunity to engage in engineering design practices [26, 27]. An example of how rasquachismo has influenced engineering practices among Latinx is by doing an analysis of lowriders [28]. For instance, Bright investigated how Latinx in Española – a town located in northern New Mexico – made alterations to their cars to personalize them. Lowriders were considered “bad” in the sense that it is both desirable