Ethnic Studies Access, Considerations, and Cultivations in Times of Uncertainties Across State and District Contexts

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Ethnic Studies courses, which center the histories, political movements, and experiences of communities of color and examine issues of racism and inequality, provide the promise of promoting democratic health and community care. A growing evidence base points to the potential of such courses to reduce educational disparities between students of color and their counterparts. More importantly, the hallmarks of ES–criticality, reclaiming cultural identities, intersectionality, community engagement, and culturally sustaining pedagogy offer specific tools to address the challenges of our divided nation. Our diverse set of research papers represent a variety of methodological, disciplinary, geographic, and relational positionalities to examine ES in different contexts. Results across our three presentations will be invaluable to researchers, practitioners, and policy makers, especially as districts grapple with how best to support and scale ES courses.

Sub Unit

• Division G - Social Context of Education / Division G - Section 4: Policies, Mattering, and Praxis

Chair

• P. Zitlali Morales, University of Illinois at Chicago

Papers

• The Scale-Up of Ethnic Studies Across California - Emily K. Penner, University of California - Irvine; Dan Ma, Harvard University

• Ethnic Studies Course-Taking in a Large Southern California School District as It Begins to Scale Up a Graduation Requirement - Kyo Yamashiro, Loyola Marymount University; Lucrecia Santibanez, University of California - Los Angeles; Andrea N. Kern, University of California - Los Angeles; Edward Flores, Claremont Graduate University; Leonard Wainstein

• A Querencia Framework as Counternarrative and Resistance in Ethnic Studies: Place-Based Pedagogies for Liberation - Shiv R. Desai, University of New Mexico; Nancy López, University of New Mexico

• Convivencia and Carilla as Pedagogical Tools in Chicanx Studies: Centering Cultural Practices of the Home - Florence Emily Castillo, University of Texas at Dallas; Magda Dathe, University of New Mexico; Nancy Natalie Flores, University of New Mexico

Discussant

• Darlene Lee, University of California - Los Angeles