Bienvenidos!
Welcome to Volume 19, Number 1 of the Journal of Latinos and Education. With your support, the journal has continued to increase its stature and influence as the premiere research publication that examines the educational conditions of Latina/o communities in and outside of the United States. In this issue, we have 5 FEATURE ARTICLES, 2 for the VOCES section, 1 for BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS, and 1 contribution for the ALTERNATIVE FORMATS section.
In the first of the FEATURE ARTICLES, Marybeth Gasman, Andrés Samayoa Castro, Natalie Gonzalez, and Polet Milian suggest that focusing on humanistic scholarship within Hispanic-Serving Institutions can demonstrate how these institutions of higher education serve as valuable stewards of change by integrating a needed attention to the very role of Hispanic identity within their curricula. The authors suggest that HSIs offer” inclusive” forms of arranging its curricula to be responsive to students’ identities and consider how the exploration of those better enable our understanding of the importance of ethnic diversity in academia. This piece contributes and expands the well-documented and current scholarship on building a more diverse professoriate within academia in the U.S., opening, as the authors argue, very important lines of inquiry. In particular, with regard to how students receive their scholarly training and the cultivation of diversity and a more racially equitable representation among and within its faculty.
The next article by Gabriela Kovats Sánchez is an ethnographic study examining the educational experiences of four Ñuu Savi (Mixtec) college graduates. The author addresses how the historical discrimination of Indigenous groups within Mexican society remains pertinent and relevant to what Mexican Indigenous youth experience in the U.S. context. As with the similar experiences faced by their immigrant peers, Mexican Indigenous students face cultural discontinuities between the home and school cultures, that mediate their negotiation of identity. Further, though, she goes on to point how Mexican Indigenous students also develop their ethnic identities against the backdrop of the existing dominant Mexican mestizo identity. This contribution sheds light on the enduring colonial structures that serve to marginalize and stigmatize Mexican Indigenous students, even as participants attributed the reaffirmation of their Indigenous identity in part to their college experiences.
The next article by Yessica Rodriguez and Thomas Allen addresses how shaping parents’ decisions about the education of their children with disabilities, is enormously influenced about the very beliefs themselves about disability. The authors utilized the Beliefs and Attitudes about Deaf Education Scale to examine attitudinal differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic parents. They predicted that perceptions of disability among Hispanic parents orient their attitudes about deaf education more towards a medical model, rather than a cultural one, when compared to non-Hispanic parents. Their analysis is a confirmation positing that this attitudinal orientation may influence the choices that Hispanic parents make for their children’s education, and subsequently, their academic and schooling outcomes.
Next, Fredy Vasquez Rizo and Jesús Gabalán-Coello present a proposal analyzing student perceptions through a mathematical model, via questionnaire. Their approach describes and explains the different positions and interpretations, which inhabit students, regarding their notions of professorial quality. The authors explain that for this purpose, a question that sums up the general perception was asked and sought grouped explanations about teacher performance based on the variables used by the scientific community in assessing teacher performance.
The 5th article, by Jennifer Schmidt and Lee Shumow, is a quasi-experimental study where a six-week mindset intervention positively influenced Latinos/as’ mindset beliefs and self-perceptions, as compared to a control group. Gains were generally similar in magnitude for non-Latino/a and Latino/a students alike. These however suggest that mindset may be compensatory rather than protective among Latino/a youth. As initial beliefs and response to the mindset intervention are discussed, this contribution helps address the dearth in the literature about the underachievement and underrepresentation in science that Latinos/as experience.
In the ESSAY REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS section, Constance Iloh articulates how the ever-growing Latino/a student body should be better recognized and prioritized at the community college level, to better increase their effectiveness for non-traditional populations. Highlighted, in particular, is the critical role of community colleges in educating under-served post-traditional student groups, along with the unique identities, motivations, and challenges Latino/a post-traditional students bring, and offers new directions for better improving conditions in this higher education segment.
This issue continues with 2 contributions in the VOCES section. The first by Allarie Coleman is a self-study is self-study is of a first-year, White, middle class, female teacher who adopted a pedagogy and writing curriculum that speaks to the lived realities of her Mexican American students, making an argument how Testimonio (as curriculum and pedagogy) can advise Critical Pedagogy and challenge the current definitions of power and literacy in traditional secondary English Language Arts classrooms.
The second of this section is by Martha Garza, and is as well a Testimonio. It takes readers through her life and language experiences with her mother, relatives, and others across the borderlands of South Texas. In sharing, the author hopes that curriculum, instruction, Bilingual, and ESL administrators can harness the multilingual language experiences of pre-service and current classroom teachers to serve as a pedagogical resource to enhance the teaching practices and strengthen advocacy for English learners.
We have 1 contribution to the BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS section. Jair Muñoz reviews Assault on Mexican American Collective Memory, 2010–2015 Swimming with Sharks by Rodolfo Acuña. In Acuña’s book he utilizes micro-narratives to reveal the ways in which the collective memory of Mexican Americans (specifically in Arizona and California) have been assaulted.
Finally, this issue concludes with 1 contribution in the ALTERNATIVE FORMATS section. Samuel Garcia Jr offers an introspective piece where he reflects on his own journey as an emergent academic. He braids theoretical constructs with his familial and personal memories, offering a framework for others to critically examine their own powerful life experiences.
Continue to read ahead and enjoy the full value and complexity of the articles presented by Volume 19, Number 1 of the Journal of Latinos and Education. We want to extend our appreciation to the authors for their manuscript submissions and commend them for their contributions to the field of Latinos and Education. The editorial staff looks forward to supporting your continued research and practices that illuminate the myriad circumstances in which Latinas/os and their families continue to struggle for educational excellence and equity. Your support and this volume affirm the importance of scholarship and creative analysis that attempt to give voice to a community of learners that is silent no longer.
Thank You - muchísimas gracias.