Tools, Contradictions, and Takeaways From a Healing-Centered Ethnic Studies Classroom

• In Event: "Unless We Know Ourselves and Our History": On the Necessity of Ethnic Studies and Education

Abstract

Objectives and Research Questions
While the impact of trauma has been largely delineated within the domain of mental health, there is more literature that situates trauma as an educational issue that should be addressed within schools (Ko, et. al., 2008). Trauma has a major influence on the emotional, physical and spiritual health of marginalized communities (Norris, 1992), yet dispossessed youth continue to demonstrate incredible resilience in the face of adversity (Ginwright, 2016). With scholars calling for ethnic studies classrooms to be community-responsive and socially transformative (de los Ríos, López, and Morrell, 2015), this paper considers the need to center healing in ethnic studies pedagogy. This study explores the following question: How can a teacher utilize the subject matter of ethnic studies to support students of color to heal from trauma, both individually and collectively?

Theoretical Framework
In response to an “apartheid of knowledge” (Delgado Bernal & Villalpando, 2002) in education, academia, and activism, women of color scholars like Anzaldua (2015) have theorized about the body’s inherent sense of knowing. Strobel (2010) declares that the body is not only a container for ancestral and historical wisdom, but a vessel through which individual and collective healing can take place. This study bridges such women of color feminist scholarship with trauma-informed care (Ko, et. al., 2008) and Reyes-McGovern and Buenavista’s (2016) ethnic studies pedagogical tenets. In doing so, this study seeks to expand ethnic studies’ focus on knowledge of self to include embodied wisdom (Cruz, 2006; Lorde, 1984), the wounds of historical and complex trauma (Anzaldua, 2015), and personal and collective healing (hooks, 1993).

Methods/Sources
This study employs an auto-ethnographic approach (Chang, 2016), combining participant observations, curriculum analysis, and student interviews with a reflective approach that examines my process as a teacher/researcher throughout a 20-week semester of teaching 11th grade Ethnic studies course at a public high school. Findings draw from classroom artifacts and field notes that demonstrate how I developed and implemented curriculum, as well as from semi-structured interviews with five 16-17 year old students who identify as Black or Latin@.

Findings and Significance
Altogether, this study calls for educators to recognize how young people of color struggle with poverty, violence, and various oppressions in their communities, and to develop ethnic studies pedagogies that are both trauma-informed and socially transformative. Findings include strategies to incorporate emotional literacy into ethnic studies pedagogy in ways that center radical healing (Ginwright, 2016), contradictions and challenges that arise when implementing healing-driven pedagogy, and academic and transformative competencies that arise from such curriculum. The study concludes with implications for educators, teacher educators, and districts interested in meeting the complex needs of marginalized youth through healing-centered ethnic studies pedagogy.

Author

• Stephanie Cariaga, University of California, Los Angeles