Thriving in Our Identity and in the Academy: Latino/a Epistemology as a Resource for Research

• In Event: Drawing on Funds of Knowledge to Engage in Research: Latina Scholars in an Intergenerational Dialogue

Abstract

We consider the role of Latino/a epistemology, including the researchers funds of knowledge in the framing and designing of research. We use testimonios, life narratives, to identify our contributions, challenges, and forms of resistance to the academic canon. We aim to address the following questions: 1) How do we intellectually and emotionally co-exist in the two worlds where we produce research? 2) What funds of knowledge do we draw on to support our growth as Latina scholars and to expand existing methodologies? 3) What insights do our Puerto Rican lived experiences provide regarding the nature of Latina epistemology?

Chicana feminist epistemology and funds of knowledge frame our inquiry. From Chicana feminist epistemology (Delgado Bernal, 1998) we borrow the concept of cultural intuition, i.e. the presence of self as a valuable part researcher, making the process both a personal and professional endeavor (Kreigar, 1991; Neumann & Peterson, 1997). By acknowledging self, we identify ways of knowing that inform our research. Funds of knowledge refer to the collective ways of knowing that individuals develop and possess from their everyday lives with their families and communities (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005). We propose that by identifying our funds of knowledge we will shed light on the nature of our cultural intuition. We suggest that by considering self and our cultural ways of viewing the world, we can identify the unique intellectual resources that we use to engage in research.

Testimonios, our mode of inquiry, give voice to lived experiences of those less advantaged through storytelling, narratives, and counter stories (Chase, 2005; Delgado Bernal, 1998; 2002; Latina Feminist Group, 2001; Pérez Huber, 2009). Testimonios are political in nature; they describe while, at the same time, resist forms of oppression. We will use grounded theory and narrative analysis to analyze deeply embodied experiences and theorize about their influence on our research.

Through charlas, informal conversations, we will share, document, analyze, and theorize about our experiences in designing and conducting research. These charlas will take place online and in-person over the course of six months and will be documented, recorded, and transcribed. The anticipated results include 1) identification of funds of knowledge used as these two Puerto Rican women provide their testimonios about their research, 2) a comparison of similarities and differences to the existent Latina epistemology literature.

Richard Delgado (1998) claims that stories are, “like eyeglasses we have worn a long time. They are nearly invisible; we use them to scan and interpret the world and only rarely examine them for themselves” (p. 2413). One way to view and examine those stories is to tell them and to listen for the “undocumented strength and resiliency within many of these women” (Olmedo, 1997, p. 568). The scholarly significance of our paper is to theorize about Puerto Rican women’s cultural intuition in educational research as they engage critically with the academic canon. Its practical significance lies in its potential to encourage other Latina researchers to enact purposefully their cultural epistemologies as a resource in their research endeavors.

Authors

• Milagros Castillo-Montoya, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Maria E. Torres-Guzman, Teachers College, Columbia University