Feminista Pedagogies: Sitios y Lenguas

• In Event: 46.073 - Global/Local Narratives of Girls' Education: Does Girls' Education Lead to Gender Equality?

Abstract

Objectives:
This paper explores the foundational Feminista principles that influence how Chicanas think about teaching, learning, and ways of knowing (pedagogy). The Feminista movement emerged in resistance to the intersecting limitations placed on Chicanas by the male-centered Chicano civil rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Chicana feminist perspectives are centered around valuing cultural identity to become self-aware and self-actualize, addressing systems of oppression through activism and critical thought, and honoring ways of knowing alternative to structured and institutionalized educational norms. Mestiza consciousness, strategic claiming of discourse, and collective awareness are founding principles of Chicana feminist theory. This paper identifies how Feminista theory conceptualizes pedagogy as a transformative, mutable, and healing practice that validates and honors multiple ways of knowing and producing knowledge.

Research Question:
How is Feminista pedagogy implemented in alternative ways of learning and producing knowledge?

Theoretical Framework:
Perez’s (1991) sitio y lengua (space and language) theory will serve as a backdrop to align the findings for this paper. Perez makes claims about the multiple layers that make up the space and language Chicanas utilize in ways of knowing. Sitio encompasses historical, geographical, and philosophical space. Lengua encompasses discursive, Spanish, and sexuality ‘languages’.

Methods and Data Sources:
Drawing from two major Chicana Feminist anthologies, Delgado Bernal (2006) and Hurtado (2004), I highlight three major Feminista theoretical foundations that encompass important Chicana feminist motivations informing Chicana pedagogy: mestiza consciousness, (re)clamation of discourse, and collectivity. Utilizing my analysis of Chicana scholarly interpretations of Feminista theoretical foundations, I demonstrate how these foundations are implemented in pedagogy within three recent works by self-identified Feministas: Expressive Creativity: Narrative Text and Creative Cultural Expressions as a Healing Praxis by Mendez-Negrete (2013), Teaching as a Healing Craft: Decolonizing the Classroom and Creating Spaces of Hopeful Resistance through Chicano-Indigenous Pedagogical Praxis by Villanueva (2012), and Pedagogies from Nepantla: Testimonio, Chicana/Latina feminisms and teacher education classrooms by Prieto and Villenas (2013).

Results:
The experiences described in all three works demonstrate Feminista theory in practice. Feminista pedagogy considers alternative modes of teaching, learning, and knowing that are culturally sensitive and democratically sound. Feminista theory helps claim sitio y lengua in unique ways that validate people individually and fuse them together. Mendez-Negrete (2013) utilizes therapeutic qualities of mestiza consciousness in stages of trauma recovery. Dr. Negrete used her facultad and creative expression to practice mindfulness and awareness of her plight. Villanueva (2012) engages in claiming lengua by decolonizing Chicano history and applying indigenous perspectives to his classroom. Villanueva uses Feminista theory in his classroom pedagogy to claim a new sitio for his students where culture is at the forefront. Prieto and Villenas (2013) authors used the testimonio approach with prospective teachers to analyze how they might manage their classroom based on their personal lived experience. As pedagogy, testimonio reveals important parts of the self that only transpire through connectedness and relational understanding.

Author

• Jennifer Judith Rodriguez, Florida State University