Visibilizing the experiences of Central American students and the teachers who teach them

• In Event: Latinidad, Representation, and Visibility

Abstract

With the arrival of large numbers of Central Americans since the 1980s, divisions within Latinx communities have became more apparent in terms of nationality, but also in terms of racial histories and backgrounds. This paper expands on some of these complexities through a case study of a K-12 interdisciplinary Ethnic Studies Program in a school that serves a predominantly Central American student population. Through ten, in depth interviews with teachers that primarily teach Central American students, we analyze how they challenge the limits of thinking through a Chicanx centric lens that misses differences in relation to nation, language, and race and the possibility for developing K-12 Ethnic Studies programs that can grapple with the diversity of the Latinx population.

Authors

• Floridalma Boj Lopez, UCLA

• Ron Espiritu, Independent Scholar

• Luis Urrieta, University of Texas at Austin