Embracing Abuelita Epistemologies, “Nací para bailar”: A Pathway for Creating Culturally Sustaining Lessons for LatinX Students

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Roundtable: School-University Partnership Research (Table 15)

Abstract

The study examines how LatinX children can strengthen their identities through authentic school-community collaborative partnerships by building on cultural and familial capital. A critical ethnography (Palmer & Caldas, 2015) was employed to explore the effects of utilizing a community artist to impart ancestral knowledge- abuelita epistemologies to students at a K-5 elementary school. Data were collected via interviews, students' critical reflections, and drawings revealed how culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies contributed to students' understanding of the many levels of culture in relation to their own identity. The findings further emphasize the importance of drawing upon subaltern knowledge, such as local community members, to challenge the traditional K-12 curriculum for LatinX students.

Authors

• Katherine Espinoza-Talati, Trinity University

• Karen Kohler, Texas A&M University - San Antonio

• Enrique David Degollado, University of Iowa