Association of Mexican American Educators Journal

Critical Junctures along the Chicanx/Latinx Educational Pipeline: Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Perspectives

Pedro Nava, Ramon Martinez — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Moral Ethic of Cariño: A Culturally Competent Approach to Working with Immigrant-Origin Students

Karla Lomelí — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study provides a portrait of Ms. Grace, a veteran English teacher at a high school in Silicon Valley. I examine how Ms. Grace’s perspectives on her immigrant-origin Latine students informed her teaching, highlighting the perspectives and practices that guided her pedagogy. Analysis of the data demonstrates the cyclical nature of how this teacher’s perspectives on her students led her to embody a cultural competence that demonstrated a moral ethic of cariño. Through Ethnographic Case Study methodology, this study highlights the importance of cultivating cultural competencies in the teaching of immigrant-origin Latine youth, and the ways in which teachers enact and embody such competencies. I highlight how a moral ethic of cariño emerges in both the teaching practices and in the perspectives toward her immigrant-origin students, demonstrating the critical role that teachers play in providing a more inclusive learning space for the teaching of immigrant-origin Latine youth.

From Safe Spaces to Sacred Spaces: Chicanx/Latinx After-School Youth Development and Transformational Resistance

Johnny Ramirez — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This ethnographic case study examines how a social justice-based after-school (AS) youth leadership development program became a space for youth participants to develop a critique of social oppression and motivation for social justice action. Research demonstrates that youth development programs and models that cultivate agency among Youth of Color directly contribute to Positive Youth Developmental (PYD) outcomes (Larson, 2006), and are an effective intervention strategy for youth at high risk of school pushout. However, few studies specifically examine the factors that prompt engaged Chicanx-Latinx AS youth participants to develop a resistance behavior that reflects a critique of social oppression and motivation for social justice—Transformational Resistance (Solórzano & Bernal, 2001). In this article, I explain how youth participants explicitly cited how creating “safe spaces” and chosen-familial bonds through femtoring/mentoring relationships cultivated transformational resistance outcomes. I conclude by discussing how the Black Panther Mentorship Program (BPMP), a social justice-based AS youth program, transcended the traditional notions of safe spaces and transformed into a sacred space because it gave youth participants holistic forms of unconditional acceptance, acknowledgment, and interconnectedness. As a result, BPMP youth’s connection to sacred spaces enabled them to overcome personal and educational barriers.

Mexican American Student Veterans: From Military Service to Higher Education

Alfredo Gonzalez — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study employs descriptive qualitative analysis to explore the experiences of eight Mexican American veterans utilizing Veterans Affairs education benefits to pursue baccalaureate degrees. Participants were recruited in Southern California at two California Community Colleges and three California State Universities. The findings suggest that Mexican American student veterans navigate college and their education benefits based on their experiences in the military. The study identifies five factors Mexican American student veterans negotiate when transitioning to college: (a) minimization of racism; (b) lack of support; (c) being experiential learners; (d) substitute leadership; and (e) being financially motivated.

Motherscholars Traversing the Educational Pipeline through Moments of Sacred Pause

Christine Vega — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

By focusing on three Chicana Motherscholars pláticas, traversing the Educational Pipeline, I conceptualize sacred pauses as moments of joy, gratitude, and love (Tuck, 2009) as resistance and refusal. Sacred pauses refute the neoliberal university indoctrination of hyper-productivity (Hidalgo et al., 2022). This paper expands on the complex journeys of the academic bridges to what Gloria Anzaldúa (2002) calls 'passageways, conduits, and connectors' to illustrate the sacred journeys of overcoming barriers traversed through the Educational Pipeline towards doctoral degree completion for Chicana/e and Latina/e Motherscholars with children. The Motherscholar narratives characterize the potential of reciprocity and healing in bridge makers in Parents of and Women of Color.

An Undocumented Student's Quest for Acceptance: A Testimonio Analysis Traversing the Chicanx Educational Pipeline

Argelia Lara — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Interview with Dr. Julie Figueroa: A Journey of a First-Generation Faculty and Mentoring across the Educational Pipeline

Pedro Nava — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Chicana/o/x Dream: Hope, Resistance, and Educational Success

Emily Ramos, Pedro Nava — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000