Pedagogy del Corazón: Enacting Cariño and Embedding Restorative Literacies in Postsecondary Education

• In Event: (Re)Shaping Our Educational Futures Through Literacies of Resistance

Abstract

This study unearths how 11 Practitioners of Color (POC) from Texas community colleges engaged in restorative literacies (Faughey, 2023; Wolter, 2021) to counter curriculum violence (Jones, 2022) or literacy attacks caused by Eurecentric (Nieto et al., 2008), deficit-based framing (Love, 2019), and erasure-driven literacy experiences (Muhammad, 2020) Students of Color (SOC) often face. My paper asks the question: What if the higher education literacy classrooms could become a safe space full of healing restorative literacy practices for SOC human identity (humanity), rather than erasure and endurance?
This study is grounded in an asset-based, decolonial theoretical framework that merges Cariño Pedagogy (Curry, 2021; Valenzuela, 1999) and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2017). Authentic cariño or humanizing ethic of critical care is rooted in love and responsibility, is what drives the heart and spirit in intentional acts of resistance (Author, 2024). CSP guides educators to sustain, honor, and support SOC’s culture, knowledge, and diverse identities in the class (Paris & Alim, 2017). Together, this framework guides researchers and instructors to disrupt the dominant deficit narrative by (re)center, (re)frame and (re)imaging literacy as a decolonial praxis, a reflective intervention that dismantle the colonial matrix of power towards a healing and liberatory praxis (Souto-Manning, 2013).
The study utilized qualitative narrative inquiry (Denzin & Lincoln, 2013), grounded in counterstorytelling (Solórzano & Yosso, 2001), to illuminate the lived experiences and pedagogical choices of POC. Purposive and criterion sampling (Leedy & Ormrod, 2019) guided the recruitment. Data collection included 90-minute semi-structured Zoom interviews and analysis of syllabi collected during those sessions. This design allowed participants to speak freely about their journeys, pedagogical intentions, and the literacy wounds they carry and seek to heal. Data sources included transcribed interviews and syllabi from each participant.
The findings indicate that all eleven participants were deeply motivated by their own literacy wounds and committed to countering the harm SOC often faced in educational spaces. They embedded restorative literacy practices such as:
● Incorporating texts from diverse cultural traditions and perspectives
● Designing holistic assessments that affirm student agency
● Encouraging personal counterstorytelling, diverse writing styles, and reflection
● Co-creating community-centered classroom environments
● Engaging students in critical analysis of social justice issues through historical and contemporary texts
These pedagogical choices were not incidental, but were heart-driven, culturally-rooted acts of resistance and restoration. Cariño was the connective thread across practices, embodying a healing-centered approach to literacy instruction.
This study significantly contributes ways to (re)imagine radical healing literacy experiences to combat curriculum violence and uplifts decolonial, relational, and justice-driven pedagogies students need to build resilience. It highlights the role of POC educators as cultural healers and community builders who (re)imagine literacy beyond skill and standards, and toward restoration and liberation. The findings offer implications for teacher preparation, curriculum design, and institutional policy by positioning cariño and restorative literacies as not only pedagogical strategies, but necessary interventions for racial equity and belonging in higher education.

Author

• Yvette M. Regalado, University of Texas - San Antonio