Learning as a Collective and Multigenerational Project in a Paraguayan Weekend School in New York City

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Community Context and Engagement in Research on Student Educational Experiences and Well-Being (Table 2)

Abstract

The Escuela Paraguaya is a weekend heritage school located in Queens, New York City. This community school has been active for 19 years based on volunteer work of working-class Paraguayans. I am exploring the forms of community participation that take place at the school, how these are related to intergenerational/collective learning and thriving, and the meanings that this participation holds for the community members. Through participant observation and pláticas I aim to describe how do community members participate and understand their participation at the Escuela Paraguaya as it relates with their cultural identity. The project is informed by the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory concepts of multigenerational learning, funds of knowledge, funds of identity, third space, and hybridity.

Author

• Alicia Rocio Elias-Caballero, Teachers College, Columbia University