The Rhetoric of an Ethnic Studies Course on Critical Consciousness and Self-Identity

• In Event: Relationality, Engagement, and Asset-Based Pedagogies

Abstract

In the United States K-12 schooling has been at the forefront of Eurocentric ideologies rooted in white supremacy. Although multicultural pedagogy has intended to address this, much of the curriculum portrays what Sleeter (2011) defines as a white-ethnic studies perspective that eradicates the oppression People of Color. In response to this, many educational reformists in California have attempted to re-birth an ethnic studies agenda. In partnership with UC-San Diego, San Diego Unified piloted a ninth grade Ethnic Studies curriculum centered on: (1) critical understanding, (2) academic performance, and (3) mindset. This study focused on students’ critical understanding and mindset. The research utilized a Critical Race Theory framework to decipher how students developed an understanding of their racial positionality and resilience.

Authors

• Dolores Lopez, University of California - San Diego

• Kirk D. Rogers, University of California - San Diego

• Ramon Stephens, University of California - San Diego

• James Crawford, University of California - San Diego

• Thandeka K. Chapman, University of California - San Diego

• Makeba Jones, University of California - San Diego

• Tricia M. Gallagher-Geurtsen, Cutting Edge Education