The Cultivation of Positive Social-Emotional Learning for Diasporic Indigenous Youth Through Indigenous Knowledge Systems

• In Event: Cultivating Inclusive Learning Spaces for Latinx Students: Centering Cultural Strengths in Transforming Educational Contexts

Abstract

Objective
This study examines how a diasporic Indigenous community develops social-emotional learning for youth through their cultural traditions.

Theoretical Framework
Cultural knowledge and practices are integral to the study of learning and development (Bang, 2015). Diasporic Indigenous youth engage in cultural practices to understand their cultural strengths (Author et al., 2021a; Author, 2021). It is essential to understand how Indigenous knowledges contribute to the socio-emotional development of Indigenous youth.
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a learning process where we recognize and manage emotions, make decisions, care for others, and engage in meaningful relationships (Weissberg et al., 2015; Zins, 2004). SEL consists of five competency areas: 1) self-awareness, 2) self-management, 3) social awareness, 4) relationship skills and 5) responsible decision-making (CASEL, 2017) and is predominantly rooted in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) ideals (Markus, 2016) that do not represent all communities. The conceptualization of SEL requires expansion to understand socio-emotional development thoroughly. While equity-based approaches exist to advance SEL (Jagers et al., 2019), this study further expands SEL by highlighting the cultivation of knowledge, attitudes, and skills rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems.

Data and Methods
The qualitative study highlights a collaboration with a Los Angeles-based Oaxacan philharmonic band led by diasporic Zapotecs. Data sources include participant observations, field notes, video recordings, and semi-structured interviews. The band consists of 27 youth members (ages 8-17), 11 adults (ages 18-65), and two middle-aged directors. Twenty-four rehearsal sessions, nine performances, and two parent meetings were observed, and 36 semi-structured interviews were conducted with youth, adults, parents, and directors. Interviews went through two cycles of coding. A combination of inductive and deductive codes were created (Saldaña, 2016), including in vivo (codes developed from the speaker’s words), description, and values codes.

Results
The study found the intergenerational band provided an essential developmental context for youth. Elders inculcated their Indigenous worldviews that inform SEL competencies by teaching youth that the band supports their pueblo through joy or sadness. Specifically, relationship skills, interpersonal emotions, and abilities needed to create and sustain healthy relationships (Jagers et al., 2019) were developed. Indigenous youth developed culturally-based social-emotional learning. For example, youth learned banda saberes (band knowings) through comunalidad. Comunalidad (communality) is an Indigenous practice and belief that provides a collective understanding of Indigenous identity and belonging to the Zapotec diaspora (Martinez Luna, 2013; Author, 2021b). Youth internalized comunalidad through their affect towards music, Indigenous ways of living, and the diaspora.

Significance
The band is a positive developmental context that cultivates cultural strengths through meaningful relationships. As educators meet their students, they can build upon their students’ existing knowledge to cultivate meaningful relationships. This approach may resonate with Indigenous students as they engage with adults who care for them in similar ways they experience within their Indigenous norms of socialization (Author, 2021b). Finally, the learning practices of centering healing and emotions linked to identities and language (Lewis & Tierney, 2013) can be further developed if educators build upon the SEL competencies youth possess by including their Indigenous-rooted SEL assets in their classrooms.

Author

• Melissa Mesinas, Whittier College
  Presenting Author