Deimperializing Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning Filipina/o American Studies With Urban Youth

• In Event: Practicing Social Justice in Our Own Communities: Serving Filipina/o American Students

Abstract

Objectives
In direct response to the economic, political, social, and personal challenges that Filipina/o Americans urban youth are facing in the United States, this paper examines their educational experiences that are rooted in American imperialism and colonialism in the Philippines and compounded by the racism they face in the US. Understanding that these systems of oppression severely impact the ways Filipinas/os live and learn, this paper provides an in-depth case study of a social justice pipeline in education that productively challenges such conditions.

This paper will focus on the Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP), a thirteen-year old educational pipeline built from the partnerships between San Francisco State University, schools in the San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco City College, Skyline College, and community organizations like the Filipino Community Center.

The PEP program focuses on the teaching and learning of Filipina/o American Studies and ethnic studies. PEP has created a pipeline where professors/educators train university students to teach ethnic studies to community college, high school, and elementary school students. All PEP students K-college participate in Youth and Teacher Participatory Action Research (YPAR). Through “de-imperializing pedagogy” PEP implements it’s vision to support learning, teaching, and organizing as practices of freedom. (Tintiangco-Cubales, Daus-Magbual, R. & Daus-Magbual, A., 2010)

Theory
In PEP the pedagogical practices build on critical pedagogy to engage students to move toward the notion of “decolonization.” Building on decolonizing pedagogy (Tejeda, Espinoza, and Gutierrez, 2003), ethnic studies pedagogy, and critical race pedagogy (Lynn, 1999; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002), PEP has created curriculum and practices that implement the following pillars of what Tintiangco-Cubales (AERA 2013) has named De-Imperializing
Pedagogy:

1. Critique of empire and it’s relationship to white supremacy, racism, and colonial mentality;
2. Challenging imperialist practices on the institutional, interpersonal, and internalized levels;
3. Centering and placing high value on indigenous and historically marginalized knowledge;
4. Connecting ourselves to historical and contemporary resistance movements that struggle for social justice on the global and local levels; and
5. Imagining new possibilities for post-imperial life that promote radical healing and hope.

Methods and Data Sources
This twelve-year study draws from three sources of data: 1. Through autoethnographic methods, the authors trace the development of a social justice pipeline; 2. Then, student and teacher journals and final reflections, and a review of the curriculum, provided evidence of practices and curriculum of de-imperializing pedagogy; 3. Through a post-survey of PEP teachers who have gone on to credential programs and/or in teaching positions throughout the nation, this data showed that PEP’s de-imperializing pedagogy has provided an effective and purpose-driven teacher training and practice has been long-lasting and sustainable.

Results and Significance
This study’s results are two-fold: 1. PEP’s existence in urban schools in the US directly challenges the residue of American imperialism and colonialism and is responsive to racism and marginalization; and 2. PEP’s curriculum and practices reflect the effectiveness of de-imperializing pedagogy on the development and preparation of community engaged social justice educators.

Authors

• Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, San Francisco State University

• Edward Ryan Curammeng, University of California - Los Angeles