Testimonios from Across our Land: Latina Scholars call to Adapt the RAC for the East Coast

• In Event: Creating an East Coast Research Apprenticeship Course: Fostering Intersectional Dialogue for Latina Education Researchers

Abstract

Context:
The presenters met through a shared drive to secure a competitive fellowship. We sought each other out, not as competitors in a small pool of scholars- but as a refuge, a safe affinity space to be vulnerable. The fellowship model promised a network to support our career development. However, the model dissolved in the pandemic- leaving us with confusion and flailing projects, searching for mentors to guide us on how to move forward. It became clear that we were alone, but we supported each other with the informal guidance of a senior mentor on one of our projects.

Positionality:
As first generation children we strive to fulfill our ancestors' vision of success but struggle without being raised with the tools necessary to compete and thrive in a white, male-dominant system of academia. While we have great pride in our Latina heritage we continually strive to understand our identity while sifting through conflicting lived experiences. We feel the loss of our ancestors' Spanish language, im/migration stories, our ways of teaching and passing on knowledge.

Purpose:
The purpose of this session is to engage with our testimonios, to share our lived experiences navigating the East coast system of academia. We will present findings from our testimonios to highlight the gaps in supporting Latina researchers..

Theoretical Frameworks:
Our work extends our prior proposal highlighting the need for “Parallel Spaces of Belonging” and the creation of the “Radical Refuge”[1] for ECE educators. Developed with Critical Race Feminista Methodology (CRFM) we recognize the need for physical, social and emotional spaces of healing. We ground our design in critical race spatial analysis[2], which recognizes the influence of identity and positionality[3] on socio-spatial experiences. It also draws upon feminist theories of identity awareness[4-5] utilizing the Five Awarenesses of Teaching[3-5]. We explore the influence of identity and positionality on our socio-spatial experiences of systemic racism and sexism.

Methods:
The present critical qualitative paper will showcase short presentations from each presenters’ testimonio. A testimonio[7] is a qualitative CRFM tool involving an oral narrative account of a collective experience of oppression and resilience, with a call to action.

Findings:
Our testimonios reveal how space can enable belonging. Over the four years we met sporadically to offer support and affinity. Physical space provided validation, breaking away from historical exploitation and erasure[8-9]. Social space fostered deep affinity, enabling communal healing. Emotional space facilitated identity development and processing trauma, to heal and re-enter our work supporting Latina teachers, rejuvenated. However there was a significant gap in the continuity of support we received. Without apprenticeship, and consistent scaffolding of mentorship throughout our careers, we struggle to remain hopeful of our future sustainability in academia.
Significance:
Our experiences as Latina scholars is not unique to us. There are attributes of our story that live in affinity with other Latinas across the East coast. These stories hold promise for an envisioned research apprenticeship, modeled after the WC-RAC, towards remedy and repair for early career through mid-career scholars.

Authors

• Vanessa Rodriguez, New York University

• Cristina M. Medellin, Bank Street College of Education

• Alexandra Figueras-Daniel, National Institute for Early Education Research