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. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. 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 2 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 3 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 4 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. 5 DEDICATION For all my students past, present and future, your voices and lives inspire me to be a better man and teacher every day. 6 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 ..............................................................................................