The transformative power of Chicana/o Studies: social justice and education

This essay responds to Professor Aguirre’s article in this issue that explores through personal narrative the trials and tribulations of being a faculty member with an expertise in Chicana/o Studies. The author joins his exploration by introducing the structural disadvantages that Chicana/o Studies suffers as a field. She then expounds on what we have gained by developing a new field with an explicitly political focus that includes putting student interests at the center of its development while fighting for economic and social justice as an integral part of its intellectual agenda. Her conclusion explores the challenges that the field of Chicana/o Studies faces as we confront changing demographic and societal conditions.     

'Chicana/o Power!'1 Epistemology and methodology for social justice and empowerment in Chicana/o communities

This paper questions the epistemology underlying contemporary, innovative approaches to research. In particular, it is critical of the negative impact that institutions and their epistemological and methodological traditions have on Chicanas os. The paper retells the author's struggles in attempting to employ social justice as a critical measure of the strength of research. Critical race theory helps reveal the necessity and benefits of this approach. Chicana o epistemology then becomes the basis for the development of a new methodological approach to research in Chicana o communities. The method itself is grounded in social justice, both as objective and as process. The most significant contribution of this work is that in attempting to reshape methods through a Chicana o epistemology it addresses the ways in which researchers can effectively participate in community efforts at transformation and empowerment.     

Identity Production in Figured Worlds: How some Mexican Americans become Chicana/o Activist Educators

Using Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain’s (1998) theory of identity and their concept of figured worlds, this article provides an overview of how twenty-four Mexican Americans came to produce Chicana/o Activist Educator identities. The desire to raise consciousness (teach for social justice pero con ganas) and “give back to the [their] community” became a very important part of this identity. Using an ethnographic interview as well as a life history interview methodology, this article specifically focuses on the participants’ conceptual and procedural identity production in local Chicana/o activist figured worlds (usually in colleges and universities). In these local figured worlds, the participants produced a more complex process of identity production that was both conceptual and procedural. The article concludes with broad implications for urban teacher education. Luis Urrieta, Jr. is assistant professor of cultural studies and education and Fellow in the Lee Hage Jamail Regents Chair in Education at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests are in identity, agency, and social movements in education with a focus on Chicana/o and Indígena (P’urhépecha) education, citizenship and social studies education. 1 University Station D5700, Austin, TX 78712, USA.     

The Power of the Pen: Writing Mentorship and Chicana/o M.A. Students

This article draws on my experience as an adjunct professor in the Master's program of the Department of Mexican-American Studies at a large public university in California. Seeing my students’ struggles with writing, I conceived of a set of practices of writing mentorship anchored by a series of writing workshops held in Summer 2012. In this article, I document the pedagogy and content of these writing workshops in order to think about the unique struggles and opportunities Chicana/o Master's students face in the writing process and to provide an outline for other instructors interested in developing a practice of writing mentorship.     

A Curriculum of the Borderlands: High School Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies as Sitios y Lengua

Drawing from a nine-month critical teacher inquiry investigation, this article examines the experiences of eleventh and twelfth grade students who participated in a year-long Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies course in California shortly after the passing of Arizona House Bill 2281 (HB 2281). Through a borderlands analysis, I explore how these students describe their experiences participating in such a course, and in doing so, debunk some of the myths upon which HB 2281 was constructed. I find that these classroom experiences served as sitios y lenguas (decolonizing spaces and discourses; Pérez in The decolonial imaginary: Writing Chicanas into history, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1998) in which high school students were able to reflect on the ongoing transformation of their social, political, and ethnic identities, and developed a relational ontological base. This article explores the physical and metaphorical borders (Anzaldúa in Borderlands/La frontera: The new mestiza, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco 1987) that Chicana/o and Latina/o youth navigate and challenge while simultaneously working for social change in their communities. Lastly, it conveys what we stand to lose if the decolonizing spaces and discourse constructed in Ethnic Studies courses become casualties of xenophobic policy.     

教育增长与教育发展:历史、概念与政策

60年来,发展理论经历了从经济增长到经济发展再到经济、社会、人、自然全面协调可持续发展的变迁。我国教育正面临大改革和大发展。这一过程中,人们容易把教育增长即教育人数的增加、教育年限的延长和教育资源条件的改善当作教育发展,从而使教育发展面临GDP化、工业化、市场化和物质化的陷阱。而教育发展是指教育系统自身机能的改善和对社会教育需求的灵活满足,它包括教育的物质基础、结构、功能、教育机会数量、教育机会分配、受教育者素质变化、社会人力资源状况以及对社会的影响八个范畴。为了促进教育的发展,当前应在科学教育发展观的指导下,检视既有的教育发展道路,调整教育政策的价值标准、知识基础、政策领域和政策手段。     

教育史:教育的精神、思想与文化的书写

最近几年,在教育界,教育史的书写似乎成为一道引人注目的独特而亮丽的风景.究其原因,一方面受教育史学研究的影响;另一方面,又是基础教育课程改革深化的结果.     

教育心理学:历史、分歧与超越

桑代克在尝试教育心理学科学化的同时,背离了詹姆斯、杜威等教育心理学的祖父辈人物与教育亲和的思想传统,从对学校教育问题有真实兴趣转向了蔑视学校教育实践,造成了心理学家对教育的一种傲慢态度。同时,也在教育心理学内部形成了两种对抗的观点:一是视教育心理学为普通心理学研究的一个应用领域,是实验心理学在教育领域的延伸;二是视教育心理学为教育情境中人类行为的科学研究,是一门独立的应用性学科。教育心理学领域中这两种观点的分歧,究其本质,是两种科学观的对立,反映了心理学中科学主义和人文主义两种文化的对立。新近在心理学、教育学中兴起的循证实践,在方法论层面为超越两种教育心理学的分歧提供了可供选择的途径。     

The reliability and validity of the cultural congruity and university environment scales with Chicana/o community college students

Following the calls for increased research on the educational experiences of Chicana/o community college students, and the development of culturally applicable measures for communities of color, this study examined the utility and the applicability of the Cultural Congruity Scale (CCS) and University Environment Scale (UES) for use with Chicana/o community college students. Applying a psychosociocultural framework, the reliability, construct, and criterion-related validity of the scales for use with a sample of 110 Chicana/o community college students was examined. Results demonstrated adequate reliability and construct validity, with indication of applicability of these scales for the study’s sample. Overall, the study challenges normative practices in educational research that students—despite their race/ethnicity, backgrounds, and histories—face similar educational experiences. Implications are discussed.     

Perspectives on Educational Testing: Discussion

What are the similarities and differences among the testing practices and tests that have been described in the preceding articles? How do the situations in these countries compare to what we are experiencing in the US.?     

Healing Images and Narratives: Undocumented Chicana/Latina Pedagogies of Resistance

This article draws from a longitudinal study of 38 in-depth testimonio interviews with 10 undocumented Chicanas/Latinas from 2008 to 2014, first as college students and then as professionals. A Chicana feminist theoretical perspective in education was utilized to explore how undocumented Chicana/Latina ways of knowing emerged in the ways they worked with and for immigrant communities as professionals. The study found that participants drew from their multiple identities, social locations, and life experiences as undocumented Chicana/Latina women to engage in pedagogies of resistance—everyday forms of teaching and learning that challenge the subjugation of undocumented communities, and are shaped by personal and collective experiences, knowledge, and identities. The study found that participants utilized mestiza consciousness, convivencia, and bodymindspirit to employ these pedagogies of resistance in their professional work with and for immigrant communities.     

Teachers' Perspectives on Educational Research: Knowledge and context

In recent years there has been considerable debate in the UK about the impact and value of educational research. At the same time, the Teacher Training Agency (TTA), the body with responsibility for funding teacher education in England, has been keen to promote the idea of teaching as an evidence-based profession. This paper analyses the findings of a TTA questionnaire, designed to investigate teachers' views on research (which projects had previously influenced them and which issues they would like to see researched in the future) and the value they attributed to it. The findings point to the need for the concerns of teachers to be given greater weight when research agendas are set and funding allocated, but they also suggest that if research is to influence classroom practice, then it is vital that teachers are again given extended opportunities for further professional study alongside those who are conducting research.