Convivencia and Carilla as Pedagogical Tools in Chicanx Studies: Centering Cultural Practices of the Home

• In Event: Ethnic Studies Access, Considerations, and Cultivations in Times of Uncertainties Across State and District Contexts

Abstract

Objective
In this paper we theorize often overlooked yet common familial and cultural practices utilized by Chicanx teachers in Chicanx studies courses to cultivate authentic relationships that lead to student investment, engagement, and increased success. We particularly focus on the use of convivencia and carrilla. Convivencia is the act of coexisting in each other's worlds through shared vulnerability, breaking bread, and shared experiences (Villenas, 2005; Trinidad Galvan, 2011). We see convivencia as a pedagogical tool that allows for cultural relationships that encourage carrilla based on love and shared trust. Central to most Mexican households, carrilla is a socially acceptable light-hearted teasing based on cultural understandings of relationship dynamics. Together, convivencia and carrilla reinforce the centrality of culturally relevant practices that Chicanx teachers utilize as strategies to motivate students and validate Chicanx studies classes as transformative spaces.
Framework
Chicanx feminista theories on pedagogies of the home, sentipensante pedagogy (feeling/sensing/thinking), and convivencia (coexistence) that examine education in everyday life through cultural practices help us frame the experiences of Ethnic Studies teachers. These frameworks recognize learning that happens in the home (Delgado-Gaitan, 1992), through sensing and thinking (Rendon, 2008), and coexisting and celebrating togetherness with others (Villenas, 2005; Trinidad Galvan, 2011). Drawing from these cultural ways of learning and knowing, and infusing feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology, we theorize convivencia as a foundational cultural practice that allows for carrilla to emerge as an important pedagogical tool in Chicanx studies.
Data Collection and Analysis
We analyzed dozens of classroom observations from schools in a southwest school district and the interviews of three self-identified Chicanx teachers teaching Chicanx studies in majority Latinx schools. Our coding involved isolating data that showed “authentic caring” (Valenzuela, 1999). Through this process we discovered authentic caring revealed by examples of convivencia and carrilla traversing as pedagogical tools in teachers’ practices.
Findings

Initial findings suggest teachers use convivencia to build relationships with their students. One teacher conveys that sharing his story as a Chicano growing up in poverty with his student in similar circumstances built convivencia between them. This co-shared vulnerability allowed the student to see the teacher as a role model, which strengthened his identity and contributed to his
educational achievement. Other findings include examples of teachers’ code switching while giving students carrilla about being late to class or being unprepared. Carrilla as cultural exchange ultimately led to behavioral improvements in class. While not exhaustive, these examples provide a glimpse of convivencia and carrilla in practice.

Conclusion and Significance

While convivencia and carrilla are not new concepts, they have often been left out of analysis of ethnic studies pedagogies because they are largely intangible, taken for granted, embodied actions and practices. Though central in many Chicanx studies courses, they have not been outlined or theorized as pedagogical practices. By doing so, we fill a gap in the literature and address what is missing when teachers take a “checklist” approach to teaching Ethnic Studies.

Authors

• Florence Emily Castillo, University of Texas at Dallas
  Presenting Author

• Magda Dathe, University of New Mexico
  Presenting Author

• Nancy Natalie Flores, University of New Mexico
  Presenting Author