Critical Consciousness and Identity: The Benefits of Ethnic Studies Courses for K–16 Latinx Students

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium explores the powerful contributions of ethnic studies courses for elementary, high school and undergraduate Latinx students. Drawing from Chicana feminist epistemologies, the presenters discuss how ethnic studies can lead to the nurturing of critical consciousness and the multiple identities of Latinx students. This panel further contributes to research that demonstrates how ethnic studies curricula that is rooted in the lived realities of Latinx students can be used as a vehicle for transformative wholistic change and educational engagement. Thus, the panelists highlight different tools to reimagine K-16 schooling as a means of continuing to challenge the current dehumanizing educational practices for Latinx students.

Sub Unit

• Division G - Social Context of Education / Division G - Section 2: Studies of diversity and variation within social contexts of education

Chair

• Dolores Delgado Bernal, California State University - Los Angeles

Papers

• "Defend Yourself With Words, With the Knowledge That You've Gained": An Exploration of Conocimiento Among Latina Undergraduates in Ethnic Studies - Tanya J. Gaxiola Serrano, University of California - Los Angeles; Monica Gonzalez, University of Colorado - Boulder; Dolores Delgado Bernal, California State University - Los Angeles

• Developing Civic Identities and Literacies in a Secondary Ethnic Studies Course - Cati V. de los Rios, University of California - Riverside

• The Path of Conocimiento for Young Brown Girls: Using Counterspaces to Explore Gender Consciousness - Socorro Morales, University of Utah

Discussant

• Cinthya M. Saavedra, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley