District 2: Fresno Unified School District (Fresno, CA)

• In Event: Imagining Principled Possibilities of Ethnic Studies: Disrupting Racial Injustice From Policy to Pedagogy and Practice

Abstract

Fresno Unified School District is the third largest district in California and has made Ethnic Studies a priority since 2017. Ethnic Studies is defined as a “critical and interdisciplinary study of race, indigeneity with focus on the experiences and perspectives of people of color (African American, Asian American, Chicanx/Latinx, and Native American and Indigenous People) within and beyond the United States.” As a distinct discipline from History, Ethnic Studies specifically analyzes “the ways in which race and racism have been and continue to be, powerful social, cultural, and political forces and their connections to other axes of stratification, including gender, class, sexuality, and legal status” (FUSD Board Resolution No. 20-02). In the summer of 2023, FUSD worked directly with Community Responsive Education to develop an Ethnic Studies framework that is local to our students, families, and communities. We are proud to present the following vision:

The vision of Ethnic Studies in Fresno Unified School District is to provide students culturally and community responsive learning that centers experiences, identities, and knowledges of Ethnic Studies groups as a way to dismantle racism and intersectional forms of oppression. In Fresno, Ethnic Studies thrives in and through the V.A.L.L.E.Y.:

VOICES: Centering the voices of communities of color
ANCESTORS: Valuing ancestral knowledges of indigenous peoples of the Valley and communities of color
LIBERATION: Analyzing systems and taking action toward collective & connected liberation
LOVE: Loving oneself, community, & the world
EMPATHY: Empathizing that leads to social responsibility & personal accountability
YEARNING: Developing learning intuition

FUSD’s V.A.L.L.E.Y. Values, Student Outcomes, Pedagogical Commitments

Authors

• Kimberly Lewis, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Patricia D. Lopez, California State University - Fresno

• Von Torres, Clovis Community College