Reframing Cultural Understandings of "Bien Educado" for Racial and Social Justice

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: From At-Risk to Bien Educados: The Educational Experiences of Latino Men (Table 6)

Abstract

Traditionally, the concept of being ‘bien educado’, or well-educated, has gone beyond notions of straightforward academic achievement to encompass components of moral education and social cohesion in the context of Latinx/é communities and families (Valdés 1996, Villenas 2001). The objective of this paper is to interrogate and expand that understanding for the purposes of addressing racial injustices and aggressions that Latinx/é youth face in and around their various learning contexts. Utilizing data from an 18-month critical ethnographic study, this paper provides examples of reported racial symbolic violence experienced by adolescent boys from Mexican-origin families as well as their expressions of being ‘bien educado’ in order to postulate how their resilience can be leveraged toward advocating for more equal educational opportunities.

Author

• Carlos Martínez-Cano, University of Washington