In LakEch: Teaching Justice and Decolonial

Pedagogy

June 26 June 28, 2015

Paulo Freire Freedom School 300 E. University Blvd., #10

Tucson, AZ 85705

XITO is a sponsored program of Prescott College

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Anita Fernndez, Ph

The Vision:

There is a lack of opportunities for teachers to improve their practices in meeting the needs of students of color through culturally responsive, authentic and research based methodology. The Xican@ Institute for Teaching and Organizing (XITO) is an urban educational institute that will fill the gap in Xican@/Latin@ schooling for students and practitioners with the goal of impacting future education policy.

The Mission:

XITO strives to support the Xican@/Latin@ community through teacher participation, social justice pedagogy, and community organizing. XITOs practices are steeped in Xican@ Indigenous epistemology, which drives the intentions, structures, and practices of the institute.

The Rationale: Arizona is a testing ground for anti-Xican@/Latin@ laws, policies and practices, including HB 2281 (A.R.S. 15-112 & 15-112), the anti-Ethnic Studies law banning Mexican American Studies courses in public schools. Given that many such political experiments have been successfully exported from Arizona to the larger nation, XITO addresses the implications of this legislation by offering workshops in community organizing and critical teaching to counter this trend. In addition to teaching workshops, XITO supports the continued teaching of XIcan@ Literature and XIcan@ Studies in Tucson, Arizona. XITO thrives to support Mexican Americans and other Latin@s, the largest and fastest growing minority group in the nation, by coordinating a viable way of affecting policy on the local, state, regional, or national level.

XITO Anita Fernndez, Ph.D. - Director

Curtis Acosta, Ph.D. Sean Arce, M.Ed.

Jos Gonzlez, M.A. Norma Gonzlez, M.Ed.

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Anita Fernndez, Ph.D. Director, XITO & Prescott College Tucson

Anita Fernndez is a scholar activist at Prescott College (Arizona) and teaches in both the undergraduate Education program and the graduate program in Social Justice and Human Rights. Anitas work in education began as a high school English teacher, which influenced her graduate work to focus on preparing activist teachers who are both compassionate and critical. Anita is locally and nationally involved with organizations that focus on Chican@ access to education, social justice activism, critical pedagogy and transformative teacher education. Anita has worked closely with the now banned Mexican American Studies Department in Tucson, and in that work she created a structure for the eliminated classes to continue on in a non-formal setting for the eliminated classes to

continue on in a non-formal setting for college credit from Prescott College. Anita is also the co-founder of La Tierra Community School, a K-8 Expeditionary Learning school in Prescott, AZ. Curtis Acosta, M.A. Acosta Latino Learning Partnership & XITO

Curtis Acosta has been a public high school teacher in Tucson for nearly 20 years where he developed and taught Chican@ / Latin@ Literature classes for the renowned Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in Tucson - the largest public school ethnic studies program in the nation before being dismantled in January, 2012. MAS classes were centered on student empowerment and agency through critical pedagogy, as well as culturally responsive and socially relevant curriculum. Curtis is an award-winning educator that has been featured in

the documentary Precious Knowledge, The Daily Show with John Stewart, and his classes were subject of multiple profiles by CNN, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times amongst many other media outlets. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and a Masters of Arts degree in Language, Reading, and Culture from the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he is currently pursuing his doctorate degree in Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies. Sean Arce, M.Ed. Prescott College Instructor & XITO

Sean Arce, co-founder and former director of the nationally renowned and now banned Mexican American Studies Department in Tucson, AZ, received the Myles Horton Award for Teaching Peoples History from the Zinn Education Project (ZEP) in 2012. ZEP honored Arce for his instrumental role in nurturing one of the most significant and successful

public school initiatives on the teaching of history in the United States. His work has been highlighted on PBS, Democracy Now and National Public Radio. As an activist urban educator for nearly 20 years, Arce and his colleagues developed Barrio Pedagogy - which includes Xicano Indigenous epistemologies and social justice principles as its foundation - where students and teachers co-constructed an educational experience that fostered an academic identity and the development of a strong cultural identity. Arce received his Bachelor of Arts in Mexican American Studies from the University of Arizona and his Masters in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. He is currently working towards his doctorate in Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies at the University of Arizona. What drives Arces work are all Xicana/o children, specifically his own two, Maya and Emiliano, who are plaintiffs in the Arce et al. v State of Arizona case that is currently in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging Arizonas anti-Chicano Studies law 15-111 & 15-112 (formerly known as Arizona HB 2281).

XICAN@ INSTITUTE FOR TEACHING & ORGANIZING

XITO Facilitators

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Jos Gonzalez , M.A. - XITO

Jose Gonzlez is in his twenty-second year of teaching and currently works for Tucson Unified School District teaching 6th grade World History at Roskruge Bilingual Middle School in Tucson, Arizona. As a student advocate, Jose was one of thirteen plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of HB 2281 (ARS 15-112), which has made teaching Chicana/o Studies illegal in the State of Arizona. As and educator and student advocate, Jose anchors his instruction by implementing a Xican@ Critical Race Pedagogy, simultaneously interweaving a humanizing pedagogy which at its core is grounded in Indigenous epistemologies. He works to foster and facilitate his students academic identity through a philosophy, which is centered on the students self-actualization and self-discipline. Jose is the proud husband to Norma Isela Gonzlez, Papa to

Joseph Elias Gonzlez and Tatzin to his grandchildren, Ameyalli Ballesteros, Citlanique Ballesteros, Isita Felix, and Santi Felix. Norma Gonzalez, M.Ed. - XITO

Norma Gonzlez has been a Mexican Indigenous Studies Critical Educator for over 20 years. Her research interest is centered on culture and re-introducing Xicana/o youth to Indigenous Mexican knowledge and wisdom as a means to solidify a positive identity. She holds a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and a B.A. in Elementary Bilingual Education. Professionally Norma was a curriculum specialist with the Mexican American Studies Department for ten years where she developed curriculum (K-12) that was culturally responsive and that implemented critical pedagogy and indigenous epistemologies. Currently she is a third grade teacher at the Greenest

School in the Nation, Manzo Elementary School in Tucson, AZ. Normas current curricular and pedagogical focus centers on ecology, environmental justice and Indigenous Traditional Earth Knowledge. Georgina Cecilia Prez, M.A., Doctoral Candidate UTEP: Teaching, Learning and Culture

Born and raised in El Chuco, Georgina is engaged in educational and community development through advocacy efforts, to include organizing events, presentation, rallies and protests to address political attacks on education, to include: Working with the Texas School Board of Education on the Implementation of Cultural Studies in Texas Public Education, protesting against Texas House Bill 1938 and Texas Senate Bill 1128 which aimed at effectively dismantling Ethnic Studies and Women's Studies in Texas education. As an advocate of grassroots organizing, Georgina sits on the Social Justice in Education Task Force, collaborates with local

womens organization, La Mujer Obrera and Centro Sin Fronteras Border Agricultural Workers Project, developing workshops, organizing fund raising events, poetry nights and "Pelicula y Platica" cultural film screenings in order to keep the message on the forefront. One of her proudest endeavors is "Tu Libro - an initiative she spearheaded to provide Libros to students and their families. Jesus Chucho Ruiz - Calpolli Teoxicalli

Over the past decade, Chucho has transformed the lives of countless Raza youth through a La Cultura Cura approach as the Youth, Services Director with Chicanos Por La Causa. Additionally, through his affirmation and maintenance of Nahua cultural practices and way of life, commitment to social justice, and obligation to the Tucson community, Chucho has served as a central facilitator of la tradicon Nahua within the Calpolli

XICAN@ INSTITUTE FOR TEACHING & ORGANIZING

XITO Facilitators

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Teoxicalli, a constellation of Nahua familias in Tlamanalco, Aztlan. Chucho has always answered the call to meet the needs in of the Chicano community as spiritual advisor, authentic community leader, and barrio intellectual - particularly as the Chicana/o community has been under attack through racist laws (HB 2281 & SB 1070) and dehumanizing practices. Elias Serna Doctoral Candidate, UC Riverside

Elias is an English doctoral student at UC Riverside and currently teaches Chicano Studies at Cal State L.A. and Dominguez Hills, and is directing the PYFC Summer Arts Program in Santa Monica. In 2013 he won the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest hosted by the Library of Congress for his collection titled Chicano Movement Banned Books. He is co-organizing the 3rd Raza Studies Now Conference (August 23 in Santa Monica) which has drafted El Plan de Los Angeles envisioning Ethnic Studies in high schools. With Johnavalos

he co-founded the Xican@ Pop-Up Book Movement -unfolding in Riverside, Texas, Minnesota, Salt Lake, South LA and all over Aztlan - that promotes Raza Studies arts and science through pop up books, in order to proclaim that you can ban Chican@ books, but theyll still POP UP!

Johnavalos, M.A. UC Riverside, Department of Music

With a Masters

Degree in Ethnic Dance Education from Stanford University 1978, and a B.A. in Sociology from UC Santa Cruz, "Johnavalos" (John Rios aka juan) has been teaching Mexican/Xican@ dance at 4 UC campuses for the past 25 years. Currently a lecturer/adjunct with the Department of Music at UC Riverside he serves as premier director of the UCR Studio for Mexican Music and Dance (SMMD) where he collaborates with famed pioneer of mariachi women Laura Sobrino and they both work with students to produce a weeknight annual concert for the UCR campus community

During the 70's and 80'sJohnavalos performed and toured with such companies as

Los Lupeos de SanJos, Ballet Mexicapan de Benjamin Hernandez, The National Chicano Dance Theater of Enrique Montoya , Miguel Delgado's Teatro Mechicano de Danza and during his college years co-founded "Los Mejjcas de UCSC. His most noted credits include a featured dancer role in the 1979 motion picture "Zoot Suit" by Luis Valdez and can be seen as a Mayan Dancer at EPCOT Mexican Pavillion in Disney World Florida working under famed Aztec dancer Florencio Yescas.

With a lifetime of Folklorico performance and serving 12 years as an elected board member of the NationalAssociation of Folklrico Groups (ANGF) Johnavalos continues to search for ways to enhance the understanding the people we call Mexican. His work as an artist is dedicated to creating new performances that tell the story of his life as a gay American, his mother's life as a farmworker with 11 children, and the enduring spirit of his indigenous ancestors the Avalos (hence his new artist name"Johnavalos"). It is these recently found "Purpecha" ancestors who continue to take care of the original cornfield once owned by his maternal grandfather who had fled to Los Angeles during the Mexican Revolution.

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Friday, June 26, 2015

Time Institute Workshop Sessions

8:30 am - 9:00 am Check in and light breakfast

Freire School

9:00 am - 9:30 am Welcome: Anita Fernndez Opening Ceremonia: Calpolli Teoxicalli

Freire School

9:30 am - 10:00 am Introductions & Self-Assessments

Freire School

10:00 am 11:00 am In LakEch: Framing the Political Landscape and the Need for Activist Oriented Pedagogy - Anita Fernndez

Freire School

11:00 am 11:15 am Break

11:15 am -12:15 am The Nahui Ollin as a Pedagogical Framework Jose Gonzlez & Norma Gonzlez

Freire School

12:15 am- 1:15 pm Lunch Freire School

1:15 pm -2:15 pm The Nahui Ollin as a Content Framework Jose Gonzlez & Norma Gonzlez

Freire School

2:15 pm 2:30pm

2:30 pm 4:30 pm

4:30 pm 4:45 pm

Break Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, and Xipe Totec in the Social Studies Classroom: Knowing Ourselves, Our Students, and Our Community - Sean Arce Day One Summary & Workshop Evaluations Anita Fernndez

Freire School

Freire School

6-26-15 - Institute Workshop Descriptions Title Description

In LakEch: Framing the Political Landscape and the Need for Activist Oriented Pedagogy

In this opening workshop, XITO Director Anita Fernndez will describe Arizonas current political landscape, how it necessitates culturally responsive and activist oriented pedagogy as well as its impact on national educational policy. An overview of the battle to preserve Mexican American Studies will set the framework for the institute bringing focus to the mission and vision of XITO.

The Nahui Ollin as a Pedagogical Framework

The Nahui Ollin, was developed and utilized by the former Mexican American Studies teachers as a pedagogical framework that fosters culturally sustaining teaching. The framework will be unpacked by participants as they will delve into the critical components. This pedagogical framework fosters an academic identity in students and is a humanistic approach to creating respectful relationships with students.

The Nahui Ollin as a Content Framework

The Nahui Ollin is a multifaceted philosophy that also functions as a content framework. Participants will learn about this content framework and how they can apply it as they introduce concepts to their students. As a content framework it is centered in an inquiry-based approach to learning through action research.

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Saturday, June 27, 2015

Time Institute Workshop Sessions Room 8:30 am - 9:00 am Check in and light breakfast

Freire School

9:00 am - 9:15 am Welcome: Norma Gonzlez

Opening Ceremonia: Calpolli Teoxicalli

Freire School

9:15 am - 10:15 am Barrio Libre Mural Tour - Sean Arce Barrio Libre

10:30 am - 12:00 pm Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Presentation in Action: Amoxtli Yayauhqui Tezcatlipoca: El Camino Hacia Nuestro Ser Interno Norma Gonzlez

Freire School

12:00 pm -1:00 pm Lunch Freire School

1:00 pm -2:00 pm Literacy, Libraries & Liberation: Mujerisma in the Classroom Georgina Cecilia Prez

Freire School

2:00 pm -2:15 pm

2:15 pm 4:15 pm 4:15 pm 4:30 pm

4:30 pm 6:00 pm

6:00 pm 8:00 pm

Break Si Se Puede! Chican@/Latin@ Literature and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy In Action Curtis Acosta Day Two Summary & Workshop Evaluations Break XITO Dinner Hosted for Conference Participants

Freire School Freire School

Freire School

TBD

6-27-15 - Institute Workshop Descriptions Title Description

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Presentation in Action: Amoxtli

Yayauhqui Tezcatlipoca: El Camino Hacia Nuestro Ser

Interno

This session will offer teachers who work with Raza students with an indigenous rooted process of attaining self-love centered on the Tlamanalcayotl philosophy of life (Nahui Ollin- four movement). Given that, an underlying goal guiding this presentation is to begin to transform the negative impact of colonization and the tragic effects it has had on indigenous Raza people of this continent for the past five hundred years. Poetry will be utilized for that reflection and introspection in such a manner whereby participants can profoundly interact with their inner-self as they create their beautiful story in the tangible form of an amoxtli (a codex).

Literacy, Libraries & Liberation: Mujerisma in the Classroom

An interactive session of machiliztli, tlazohtla, mahuitzli (knowledge, love, respect) offering mujerisma ~ the pedagogy of brown and black womyn in classroom communities. A reading and discussion of culturally and herstorically responsive literature will be offered with the purpose of developing personal frameworks for implementation in knowledge sharing environments.

Si Se Puede! Chican@/Latin@ Literature and Culturally

Responsive Pedagogy In Action

This session is an interactive teaching model of the acclaimed Mexican American Studies program in Tucson led by Chican@/Latin@ Literature teacher, Curtis Acosta. Participants will have an opportunity to experience a sampling of the pedagogy and curriculum through a simulated classroom experience that focuses specifically on Chican@/Latin@ literature. After building a sense of community through the experiences as a class, participants will have an opportunity to engage in a frank and candid discussion about the benefits of culturally responsive pedagogy and curricula, as well as how to assist teachers in the implementation of such techniques in their classroom.

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Sunday, June 28, 2015

Time Institute Workshop Sessions Room

8:30 am - 9:00 am Check in and light breakfast

Freire School

9:00 am - 9:15 am Welcome: Jose Gonzlez

Opening Ceremonial: Calpolli Teoxicalli

Freire School

9:15 am - 10:30 am Re-Defining and Re-Creating Xicano Manhood: Towards Counter Hegemonic Masculinities with and for Xicano Male Youth Sean Arce

Freire School

10:30 am -10:45 am Break

10:45am - 12:00 pm Xican@ Pop-Up Books: Pedagogies and Allegories Against Book Burning and the Ban on Xican@ Literature Elias Serna & Johnavalos Rios

Freire School

12:00 pm 1:00 pm Lunch Freire School

1:00 pm 2:00 pm

2:00 pm 2:15 pm

Pulling It All Together: Theoretical Frameworks for Decolonial Projects Anita Fernndez Break

Freire School

2:15 pm 3:45 pm

3:45 pm - 4:00 pm

4:00 pm 4:30 pm

Small Group Work - share community goals & report to larger group for input Day Three Summary & Workshop Evaluations Closing Circle

Freire School

Freire School

Freire School

6-28-15 - Institute Workshop Descriptions Title Description

Re-Defining and Re-Creating Xicano Manhood: Towards

Counter Hegemonic Masculinities with and for Xicano Male Youth

In this workshop, Sean Arce will facilitate a critical examination of the formations, origins and current manifestations of Xicano masculinities. Moreover, the current manifestations of Xicano hegemonic masculinities will be analyzed and pathways as possibilities (utilizing La Cultura Cura as a practical framework) to counter these hegemonic masculinities with and for Xicano male youth, both inside and outside of the classroom, will be presented. As historical subjects that have agency, the Xicano male has the capacity to act upon his reality in positive and transformative ways to re-define and re-create positive and healthy masculinities for the strengthening of himself, his female equivalent, and his community.

Xican@ Pop-Up Books: Pedagogies and Allegories Against

Book Burning and the Ban on Xican@ Literature

Adapting MAS' Xican@ Paradigm, and in the context of attacks on Xican@ indigenous epistemologies - from colonial book burning to the banning of Chican@ Studies books in Arizona - we will walk participants through Xican@ Pop-Up Book lesson plans, including the role of allegory and pop-up techniques. We use the concepts of self-reflection, precious knowledge, the will to act, and transformation to explain classroom lessons and experiences, as we proclaim that "you can ban Chican@ books, but they'll still POP UP!"

Pulling It All Together: Theoretical Frameworks for Decolonial

Projects

In advance of participants working on their community goals and projects, this final workshop will offer a framework of decolonizing education to consider when applying the institutes epistemology to community work. A pedagogy of hope and love along with liberatory practices that focus on healing will be presented and participants will be encouraged to engage in a dialogue on how their specific work relates to these frameworks.

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Special Thanks to:

Paulo Freire Freedom School

Calpolli Teoxicalli Tlamenalco, Aztlan

Xican@ Pop-Up Books* - CalifAztlan The Xican@ Pop-Up Book Movement was founded September 2013, promoting awareness of the Tucson MAS struggle and particularly the banning of Chican@ Literature. By proclaiming that "You can ban Chican@ books, but they'll still pop up!" we spread awareness and promote the advantages of learning hidden histories, Ethnic Studies, and defending Chican@ Literature in Arizona. We have been recently featured on NPR radio's "Latino USA" and a fabulous Ted talk by Ron Espiritu. XPUB Pedagogy has popped up at UC Riverside, CSU Dominguez Hills, Animo South LA High School and Univ. Minnesota St. Cloud.