Shaping enjoyment and belonging at school: The spatial perspectives and practices of one Latina student leader

Abstract

Efforts to transform urban schools often overlook the role of students in shaping educational spaces. And so, I ask: How do students, as the primary users of school space, make and shape their school? I draw from spatial inquiry that emphasizes the social production of space to provide a glimpse into the spatial perspectives and practices of Azul, a young Latina from a working-class community and Associated Student Body president of her school. Relying on ethnographic observations and semi-structured interviews, I examine instances where Azul and her peers transform school spaces from their intended uses to student-friendly, democratic spaces. My findings indicate that ascribing and shaping enjoyment and belonging are crucial components to their production of school space. A lived curriculum of school space is shaped as young people negotiate and construct school space to be more inclusive of their educational wants and needs. By focusing on the spatial perspectives and practices of Azul and her peers, I offer insights into the socio-political commitments of students and student leaders, in particular, in their everyday lives as significant social beings and actors over school space. These reveal that students’ articulations about place that frame schools as spaces of possibility and hope are important for creating equitable schools where students may serve as partners in building a collective vision for schools.

Keywords:

• Spatial inquiry in education
• youth spatial practices and perspectives
• Latina/o/xs in education
• enjoyment and belonging
• urban schools

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the members of the Curriculum Inquiry Writing Fellowship for the feedback, encouragement, and community that greatly contributed to the development of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 All names in this article are pseudonyms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Claudia Diera

Claudia Diera is an Assistant Professor of Education in the Department of Liberal Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. Her work focuses on the efforts of students to impact educational equity and change. Her scholarship is shaped by her experiences as a former high school teacher in Los Angeles, and her commitment to ensuring that minoritized students are afforded access to meaningful learning environments that are more attuned to their academic, social, and cultural needs.