Educators and Community Leaders Promoting Conscientização and Praxis: The Making of an (Un)Documentary

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: The Power and Possibilities of Art-Based Community Participatory Research and Pedagogy in Preparing Critical Educators

Abstract

On April 5, 2018 federal immigration agents happened upon a meatpacking plant in Morristown, TN, hurling one of the biggest workplace raids in recent years. Ninety seven workers were taken into custody and now face deportation. As a result, about 160 American-born children have a parent who could soon be ordered to leave the country and many families are being separated. That April 2018 event was so terrifying that, on the day after it happened, 500 immigrant students around the state did not show up for school (Shoichet, 2018). In their report, Gándara and Ee (2018) write, “[u]ntil the Trump administration, deportations had been largely focused on people with police records or those crossing illegally at the border. Now, …apprehensions and deportations would affect long established residents with no or minor infractions, and parents of U.S. born children” (p. 13). The ramped threat of immigration raids, apprehensions, and deportations have negatively impacted not only immigrant students and their families, but also their teachers, administrators, counselors, as well as other community members.

In view of this current anti-immigrant political climate, our presentation reports on the making of a documentary film and on its usefulness in promoting critical awareness and action surrounding the issues of safety and equitable educational opportunities for undocumented immigrant students and families. Drawing on Freire’s (1970) concept of conscientização, the documentary aimed at shedding light on the schooling experiences of undocumented immigrant students. Educators and community leaders were interviewed to help us gain insight into the political and institutional circumstances and ways to advocate for and act toward immigrant rights. In addition, the participating educators and community leaders featured in this documentary provided focused practical suggestions on what can be done to promote safety and equitable education for this population of students. For example, participants urged for the use of accurate and deliberate language to refer to undocumented immigrants in order to debunk the many misconceptions that propagate anti-immigrant ideologies in the media. They also give suggestions on how this student population can be supported at school and the steps needed to consciously investigate and address students’ needs especially around college access. The participants emphasize that in order to fully serve this vulnerable student population, their families will have to be served simultaneously. In this regard, the participants also raise important questions such as what does it mean to listen to and engage the voices of immigrant communities in the public dialogue and what procedures should be in place to facilitate educational equity and safety for undocumented students and families?

Authors

• Ana Christina da Silva Iddings, Vanderbilt University

• Axa Khalid Warraich, Vanderbilt University