Sense-Making Encounters of the Biographical Kind: Theorizing Community-Oriented Scholarship of Latinas in the Academy

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

Abstract

This paper strategically juxtaposes biographical narratives of junior and one senior scholar of Puerto Rican origin who seek to inform and strengthen the practice of a community-oriented scholarship as a way to improve practice in K-18 education.

Community-oriented scholarship and “community-oriented teacher preparation” (Mills, J. & Williams, L., 1958) have a long history, however the new scholarship honors and builds on the practices and wisdom of non-dominant communities as a way to address social, educational, and economic issues affecting the community, as the senior scholar’s research in local communities has led her to theorize. Thus, acknowledging the cultural heritage, practices, values and beliefs of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora is not an end in itself, but a means to a valued goal. Specifically, we share the texts of our lives to understand and theorize how, from our unique perspectives and stances, we may tap community funds of knowledge (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005), The senior scholar’s advice or consejo encourages the junior scholar to keep in mind what Delgado Bernal (2002) has argued, that Latino Critical theory (LatCrit) could provide a lens to educational research that acknowledges issues such as language, immigration, ethnicity, culture, identity, phenotype, and sexuality as part of the research conducted by scholars of color. More specifically, through LatCrit we acknowledge the significant role that language, ethnicity, culture, and identity play in the education of Latino students in the United States. In the area of teacher education, where both scholars have developed their professional careers, this LatCrit lens supports Ladson-Billings’s argument that “the point of having a more diverse pool of teacher educators is to demonstrate that our actions are consistent with our rhetoric” (2005, p. 231).

Through the use of narratives and testimonios in oral and written forms the junior scholar and the senior scholar, as suggested by Delgado Bernal (2002), “embrace the use of counterstories and other methodological and pedagogical approaches that view the community and family knowledge of communities of color as a strength” (p. 121). Data sources include e-mail exchanges, recordings of conversations, electronic dialogue journals, and samples of scholarly work. As Latina scholars our research, teaching, and service (to community) are integrated and inseparable activities to improve the education of the communities we come from and those who we serve through our academic roles (be of Puerto Rican or other traditionally underrepresented ethnic/cultural groups).

Conclusions and implications of our analysis will focus on the potential of community funds of knowledge (a) in overcoming barriers to tenure, promotion and productivity that Puerto Rican and other Latino scholars experience in an increasingly demanding academy; and (b) in enacting a social justice research agenda that addresses the low educational attainment and poverty affecting students from marginalized communities through inter-disciplinary, sociocultural research aimed at improving practice in teacher preparation and in under-resourced schools in low-income Latino communities.

Authors

• Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo, University of Nebraska - Omaha

• Carmen I. Mercado, Hunter College - CUNY