Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy

How Do We Teach For Social Justice?

Poll

Has anybody witnessed culturally sustaining, anti-bias, or anti-racist pedagogy in their practicum experience so far?

• Not really

• Yes, I have witnessed culturally sustaining pedagogy.

• Yes, I have witnessed antiracist pedagogy.

• Yes, I have witnessed antibias pedagogy.

• I have identified missed opportunities for incorporating these concepts.

Developing Critical Consciousness: Resistance Literature in a Chicano Literature Class
by Curtis Acosta (2007)

​Tucson High Magnet School

​Purpose of the Program

​"Many educators assume that minority students bring a vast amount of knowledge of their community's history and culture with them when they enter the classroom. However, in our experiences we have found this is not the case."
(p. 36)

"The reality for many Chicano/a and Latino/a youth in our country is that school has rarely worked for them and they feel this it is not built for them to succeed."
(p. 37)

1. To educate students about their culture, history, and stories.

2. To help students establish an academic identity.

Structure of the Program

• Dual classes: Chicano Studies & Chicano Literature

• Offered in lieu of American History and English

• Completely voluntary

• Offered to juniors, but extended to seniors

• Focus of literature course: social justice & resistance literature

"The Xikano Paradigm emphasizes self-actualization and action to create a better community, a better world. This contrasts with the dominant message received by many students today, that education is a means to a high-paying job and power." (p. 38)

The Xikano Paradigm
A pre-Columbian philosophy that originated from the teachings of elders (maestros) within the Chicano and Latino community that is based on the Aztec sun stone.

Philosophy of the Program

​Source:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdrh-6Ao1Gd/?img_index=1

Self-Reflection
Represents the active journey to find our inner self.

​​Xipe Totek

The Will to Act
The will of a person or people to be positive, progressive, and creative.

​​Huitzilopochtli

Knowledge
Gaining perspective allows us to become more fully realized human beings.

​​Quetzalkoatl

Transformation
We can only achieve this when we have learned to trust ourselves.

Tezkatlipoka

​Xikano Paradigm

Junior Year

• Literature is Chicanocentric and challenges mainstream assumptions and stereotypes.

• Reading and writing is built around the idea of self-reflection (Tezkatlipoka).

• Abilities are improved through literary analysis.

• Students are taught to focus their frustration toward transforming (Xipe Totek) societal factors that negatively affect their realities and taking action to change those factors (Huitzilopochtli)

Senior Year

• Begin with Chicano literature, but extend to other perspectives.

• Analyze the tradition of resistance in America through rhetoric.

• Examine the tradition of resistance within the world of poetry & hip hop.

​

Transformation Projects

• Focus: Research

• Topics: education funding, poverty, criminal justice influence on Latino/a youth, health, immigration, racial profiling

• Must devise a plan to address their topic of choice

• Focus: Service Education

• Students pitch their ideas and form groups for action

• Examples: documentaries about immigration, workshops about school funding.

• Data is collected and passed down to future classes.

​Junior

​Senior

​Xipe Totek

Executive Order One

-​issued by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin on January 15th, 2022

Open Ended

Do you think antiracist or antibias pedgogy is attainable in Virginia's current political climate?

Briefly explain your reasoning.

Chicano and Mexican American Studies were reinstated in 2017 after a judge deemed the initial ban was motivated by racial bias and violated students' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

​

From:
https://edsource.org/2021/california-becomes-first-state-to-require-ethnic-studies-in-high-school/662219

​

California makes a controversial decision...

Poll

Do you think it is fair to students to REQUIRE ethnic studies courses in high school?

• Yes! All students should be required to take an ethnic studies course.

• Yes, but I think the option should be voluntary.

• No, I don't think that ethnic studies belongs in high school.

• I think it depends on other factors...

Engendering Gender Equity: Using Literature to Teach and Learn Democracy
by Jeraldine R. Kraver (2007)

- Kraver, p 67

"According to the Center on Adolescence at Stanford University, young people {show} little interest in people outside their immediate circle of friends and relatives (other than fictional media characters and entertainment or sports figures); little awareness of current events; and virtually no expressions of social concern, political opinion, civic duty, patriotic emotion, {or} a sense of citizenship in any form"

Open Ended

In your experience with young people, do you agree that they currently have no knowledge or concern over current events and political opinion? Why or why not?

2022 Mid-Term Elections

Voters Aged 18-29
(Gen Z is currently ages 10-25)

Source: Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement

Youth Voter Turnout Second Highest in 3 Decades

"Connecting curriculum to students' diverse and varied experiences is merely a first step. Only when we move students beyond their experiences to consider larger social issues does our pedagogy truly become critical" (p. 67)​

Critical Pedagogy

​Critical Pedagogy asks us to inject into teaching a concern for ethics

Paolo Freire
Founder of Critical Pedagogy

​

• Reading for Pleasure

• Focuses on the Experience you have with a text

• Reading for Knowledge

• Focuses on the Info in a text

​Louise Rosenblatt
Pioneer in Reading Theory and Pedagogy

​Efferent Stance

​Aesthetic Stance

"The challenge for teachers is finding a method for approaching literature that fosters a balance between students' cognitive and affective responses to the same text while at the same time encouraging students to consider the kind of larger social understanding advocated by critical pedagogues." (Kraver, p. 68)

The Problem with Literature Pedagogy in Secondary School

Literature Response Model

"What is appealing about the model is its flexibility: It allows teachers to raise issues and ideas that speak best to their audiences, and it works with materials mandated by a school board, approved by administrators, or chosen by the teacher."
(Kraver, p. 68)

• Based on Jean E. Brown's method for responding to literature

• 5-step model that is recursive

​Kraver's Culminating Project: build a unit plan focusing on a specific social justice issue that follows the Literature Response Model.

​

Focuses on surface level content & understanding.

​

Level 1: The Factual Level

Examples include:

• Short Quizzes

• Graphic Organizers

• Brief Summaries

• Small/Whole-Group Discussions

​

Aims to create a personal connection between student and material.

​

​Level 2: The Empathetic Level

Examples Include:​

• Journal Prompts

• Reflection Questions

• Small/Whole Group Discussions

• Making Text-to-Self Connections

Word Cloud

Answer in 1-2 words:

Is there a social justice topic that you feel should not be discussed in class?

​

Focuses on the discipline-specific critical analysis that are typical of current classrooms

​

Level 3: The Analytical Level

Examples include:

• Lessons on typical concepts such as symbolism, plot, character development, etc.

• Prompts aimed at examining gender differences and relations.

​

Students apply what they've learned from their reading to the world outside the text and their immediate experience.

​

Level 4: The Sympathetic Applicative Level

Examples Include:​

• Research and Interviews

• Text-to-World connections

• Opportunity to address social, political, or cultural issues of students' interest

• Opportunity to focus on contemporary issues

​Move students from a local to a global perspective

​

Students are asked to assess the value and worth of the material

​

Level 5: The Critical Level

Examples include:

• Writing activities that prompt students to consider the text in its entirety alongside the ideas about gender equity raised throughout the unit.

• Does the material encourage creation of knowledge?

• Does it challenge dominant ideology?

• Does it allow for multiple readings?

Classrooms as Laboratories for Social Justice
"Reading and discussing literature alone will not resolve the social issues that challenge human dignity or freedom. However, discussion such as those prompted by the gender-equity units introduce and sensitize students to such issues and compel them to consider their own and society's responses to such situations. Where the discussions lead will depend on the commitment of other teachers, school administrators, and the community to ensuring equity and justice for all citizens." (Kraver, p. 73)

​

Questions?