Nothing About Us Without Us: Combating Salvadoreñx Historical Erasure in Secondary History Courses

• In Event: Cultural Intuition as Our Guide: Co-Constructing Knowledge in the K–12 Classroom

Abstract

Objectives
As a Guanaca cultural worker engaging in memory recovery work, I strive to ensure that the histories of Salvi people are told accurately, con cariño, y respeto. This paper examines how cultural intuition led me to critically interrogate how secondary high school courses in California address the cultural and national history of El Salvador. The unique viewpoints that Chicana scholars bring to the research process known as Cultural intuition is, “experiential, intuitive, historical, personal, collective, and dynamic” (Delgado Bernal, 1998). My cultural intuition is informed by my personal experience as a Salvadoran migrant who attended public schools in California and the experiential knowledge I gained from teaching secondary history and the six years I have spent as an instructional coach for history education. Throughout my education experience I have witnessed the lack of emphasis on Salvadoran history in high school history classrooms.
Theoretical Framework & Methods
My theoretical framework is informed by the scholarship of feminist women of color. I engaged in a research project that critically interrogated the History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools. This interrogation is, “a way to frame critique and yet maintain the recognition of all that is valued and respected” (hooks, 1994). I chose this document because it is issued by the state to help guide educators as they make decisions around curriculum and instruction. My research assessed if the recommendations the history framework made about the teaching of Salvi history was in line with its goal of culturally responsive teaching. I paired critical interrogation with cultural intuition as both concepts acknowledge the role of positionality in scholarship (hooks, 1994). Additionally, my frameworks include Guanaca scholars who have worked diligently to identify why doing this (re)membering work is important and difficult for Salvi scholars, “There is the silence that is the large void in generations of children of Salvadoran immigrants growing up in the US being denied access to our own histories… And we continue to reproduce the silences when we do not know, cannot locate, have never been told of the structural, political, and economic sources of our collective pain, or of our collective resilience” (Abrego, 2017, p.76).
Findings & Scholarly Significance
This paper outlines the need to emphasize Salvadoran history and gives some concrete examples of how this can be done in culturally responsive ways so Salvadoran students have an opportunity to see their histories reflected in the classroom. My work falls within the growing body of work of Guanaca scholars in the diaspora who are also using their cultural intuition and research to make sense of who we are as a people, making a name for ourselves in a new country. Collectively, we are working towards finding answers for ourselves, our loved ones, and our people. As Salvi folks in the diaspora, we deal with so much historical, national, and familial silence, which is why I see the classroom as a space that can help us (re)member ourselves and our community for the purpose of healing.

Author

• Cindy C. Mata, UC Irvine History Project