“Mis Amores”: Affirming Ethnic-Racial Socialization Practices in School

• In Event: “They’re Telling Us Not To”: Teaching for Racial Justice During Times of Censorship and Bans

Abstract

Objectives
Today’s sociopolitical climate makes it imperative to transmit information about race and ethnicity in ways that affirm youths’ cultural assets and builds their capacity to respond to systems of oppression. In this qualitative case study, we describe the instructional practices and interpersonal interactions of Ms. Pérez, an esteemed educator at a K-8 school in Chicago known for her exemplary instructional practices that uplift youths’ civic capacities. We explored how Ms. Pérez engaged in multiple types of ethnic-racial socialization with her Latinx students with the goal of illuminating specific strategies and practices that could inform future research and theorizing on best-practices to support Latinx youths’ ethnic-racial identity and sociopolitical development. In doing so, we examined how Ms. Pérez engaged with ethnic-racial dynamics in her interaction with Latinx students, as well as in the integration of values, information, and concepts surrounding race, culture, and justice into her instruction.

Theoretical Framing
To better understand how Ms. Perez engaged with race and culture to foster a culturally affirming and justice-oriented classroom space, we draw upon theories about culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) (Ladson-Billings, 2021; Ladson-Billings, 1995). CRP conceptualizes how educators can enact their commitment to the collective empowerment of students of color via their academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical consciousness development (Ladson-Billings, 1995).

Methods
Consistent with rigorous case study methodology, we collected multiple sources of data, including her interview, classroom observations (N=26, 3-4 pages single-spaced), and classroom artifacts (e.g., books, handouts, videos). To reduce our interview data into a more manageable and concise dataset we also used the “rigorous and accelerated data reduction” (RADaR) technique (Watkins, 2017). Thematic analysis was conducted to explore how Ms. Pérez integrated ethnic-racial content into her instruction of and interaction with Latinx students (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Braun & Clarke, 2022).

Findings
We identified three themes–(a) cultural content, (b) racialized experiences, and (c) youth empowerment–that undergirded how she integrated ethnic-racial content. Specifically, she integrated cultural content through her use of translanguaging practices and integrating materials that exposed youth to varying cultural and racialized experiences of Latinx individuals. She also integrated youths’ racialized experiences by exposing them to the current sociohistorical context and the ways individuals are marginalized in our society including their own communities and how they should respond to racism. Furthermore, she empowered youth to channel their anger towards injustice into action by providing opportunities for them to lead community initiatives.

Conclusion
Our study illustrates how teachers can engage in affirming ethnic-racial socialization practices to support the ethnic-racial identity and sociopolitical development of Latinx adolescents. Ms. Pérez’s practices reflected an integration of youths’ cultural background, their racialized experiences, and youth empowerment strategies. Most striking of all was how Ms. Pérez assured her students they could actuate change today, rather than situating them as future leaders. With the increasingly polarizing sociopolitical climate, educators and schools have a responsibility to empower youth to feel a sense of pride in their identities as well as a sense of efficacy to enact social change.

Authors

• Bernardette Josee Pinetta, University of California - Riverside

• Deborah Rivas-Drake, University of Michigan