Living in the Middle. Nepantla: An Advocacy

• In Event: Testimonios de Aprendizaje in Aztlán, Gran México: Located-Transnational Decolonial Options of Critical Curricular-Pedagogical Praxis

Abstract

Objectives

The purpose of this qualitative research is to examine my experiences as a curriculum administrator in introducing a culturally relevant curriculum on my campus. The questions are: How can educators in the borderlands use testimonios to decolonize the curriculum? As an immigrant student and educator, I have experienced lived discrimination in education.

Theoretical Framework

My framework is based on Gloria Anzaldua’s (2002) notion of Nepantla. Nepantla is a Nahua indigenous word that means in-between the space. Thus the nepantlera of the borderlands is the person who is in the middle of two different realities. She is between the consciousness of the oppressed and the oppressor. A nepantlera is the voice of the “oppressed” (Freire, 1970/2020, p.48) in education; she is the agent of transformation. I placed myself as a “‘neplantera’ because I envision a time when a bridge will no longer be needed” (Anzaldúa, 2002, p. 570).

Methods, Techniques, or Modes of Inquiry

My method of inquiry is testimonios. “Testimonio challenges objectivity by situating a collective experience marked by marginalization, oppression, or resistance” (Delgado Bernal, et al. ,2012, p. 363). Testimoniar is the act of recovering and unfolding historical experiences that were silenced and transforming them into a narrative that conveys personal, political and social realities of the oppressed.

Data Sources, Evidence, Objects, or Materials

Following testimonio research, the data will be collected from personal writings, journals, previous class reflections and “papelitos guardados” (Latina Feminist Group, 2001, p. 1). The documents were analyzed following Saldana’s (2011) coding method for emergent themes and critically reconstructed into my living curriculum.



Findings

As an educator who lives in the borderland, I see the need to transform the traditional curriculum management into an assets-based and community wealth approach with immigrant students. It is painful to see how immigrant students are set up for failure. Immigrants still feel the “injuries of colonialism” (Paris & Alim, 2017, p. 227) and unveiling their struggles and injustices in education via my testimonio is a form of healing. “The healing of our wounds results in transformation, and transformation results in the healing of our wounds” (Anzaldúa, 2015, p. 19).

Scholarly Significance

This research is important because there is a need to transform our traditional curriculum into an assets-based and cultural wealth approach. My testimonio as well as other educators’ testimonios will build knowledge about how students might maintain “maintain some cultural integrity as well as academic excellence” (Ladson-Billings, G. ,1995, p. 160).

References

Anzaldúa, G. (2002). Now let us shift.... In G. Anzaldua & A. Keating (Eds.), This bridge we call home (pp. 540-578). Routledge

Delgado Bernal, D. et al. (2012). Chicana/Latina testimonios. Equity & Excellence in Education, 45, 363-372.

Freire, P. (2020). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury. (Original work published 1970)

Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). That’s just good teaching. Theory to Practice, 34(3), 159-165.

Latina Feminist Group. (2001). Telling to live. Duke University Press.

Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (Eds.). (2017). Culturally sustaining pedagogies. Teachers College Press.

Saldaña, J. (2011). Fundamentals of qualitative research. Oxford.

Author

• Gricelda Eufracio, The University of Rio Grande Valley