Education for the People: Centering Grassroots, Self-Determination, and Justice in Education Research

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This session involves research from members of the People’s Education Movement, a national collective of educators committed to the liberatory project of education. We present grassroots and community-centered education research that: 1) Explores teacher inquiry as a means to develop teacher activists’ curricular praxis; 2) Highlights findings from a grassroots teacher conference centering the expertise of women and teachers of color; 3) Examines insights from a teacher collective centering wellness and embodiment; and 4) Addresses the importance of a critical race praxis for educators committed in P-20 contexts. We offer our visions of autonomous education for minoritized peoples. Collectively, we offer insights for justice-centered researchers and teacher educators who can better serve all educators, especially Students and Teachers of Color.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Critical Educators for Social Justice

Chair

• Lauren Arzaga Daus, University of California - Los Angeles

Papers

• An Activist Teacher Learning Space: Curricular Praxis for Urban Secondary Educators - Oscar Navarro, California State University - Long Beach

• Building the Education We Deserve: Insights From a People’s Education Conference - Carolina Valdez, California State University - Fullerton; Edward R. Curammeng, California State University - Dominguez Hills

• Intimate Inquiry: Embodied Learning and Leadership Cultivated in a Wellness Inquiry Group of Critical Educators of Color - Stephanie Cariaga, California State University - Dominguez Hills

• Why We Need Critical Race Theory: Moving Toward Critical Race Praxis in P–20 Education - Asif Wilson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Erica R. Davila, Lewis University; Valentina Gamboa-Turner, Northeastern Illinois University; Ananka Kesari Shony; David O. Stovall, University of Illinois at Chicago

Discussant

• David O. Stovall, University of Illinois at Chicago