Incorporating Diasporic Indigenous Latinx Worldviews Into the Study of Transformative Social and Emotional Learning

• In Event: Pushing the Boundaries of Latinidad: Expanding Research on Latina/o/x Communities

Abstract

Indigenous Latinx youth in the United States are culturally diverse individuals whose experiences are often unrecognized. These diasporic youth learn and develop cultural strengths amidst their upbringing outside of their native communities by engaging in Indigenous communal endeavors and values. This paper presents research on how interconnected aspects of diasporic Indigenous practices contribute to youth’s socioemotional development. We focus on Indigenous familial and communal experiences that contribute to developmental processes to provide nuanced perspectives to social and emotional learning (SEL) outside of school settings by expanding to communal contexts. We examine comunalidad (communality) and intergenerational practices to consider how transformative SEL can be more inclusive of Indigenous ways of knowing to the SEL competencies of relationships and social awareness.

Authors

• Melissa Mesinas, Whittier College

• Saskias Casanova, University of California - Santa Cruz