The ‘schooling’ of Ethnic Studies and possibilities for community-grounded teacher praxis

• In Event: Networked Justice: Identity, Community, & Radical Possibility in Teacher Professional Learning

Abstract

California’s Ethnic Studies graduation requirement opens new terrain, and challenges, in struggles to transform schools and society. In some districts, dedicated teachers without ES experience are launching new courses – largely disconnected from community demands or stewardship. Following two years of relationship building, this study accompanied a group of five teachers who volunteered to develop and launch their district’s new 9th grade ES class. Early findings show teachers grappling with contradictions, including their own subjectivities and skill sets, institutional constraints, and implications for classroom practice and community relationships. The project contributes to growing scholarship about the contradictory dynamics of mandated ES institutionalization, highlighting enduring limits of existing infrastructures as well as possibilities for nurturing community-grounded Ethnic Studies education and teacher praxis.

Author

• Ian Slattery, University of California - Santa Cruz