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Professor: Gilda L. Ochoa
Office: Hahn 220
Phone: (909) 607-2604
e-mail: gochoa@pomona.edu
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 12:15-1:15 in Hahn 220 (Pomona College), and by appointment
Course Description:
This course examines the factors and processes influencing the educational experiences of many Chicanas/os and Latinas/os. We begin the course with a discussion and evaluation of historical and theoretical perspectives. After a critical examination of a history of school segregation, curriculum tracking, and Americanization Programs, we endeavor to understand the current state of Chicanos/Latinas and education. Throughout our discussions, we will explore strategies for creating democratic classrooms and schools, and we will consider how Chicanas/os and Latinas/os are individually and collectively struggling for social justice.
While the course materials will focus on Chicanas/os and Latinas/os, this course does not claim to represent the experiences of the more than 35 million Latinas/os in the United States. Instead, we will consider the structure of our educational system and how power, priviledge, inequality, and exclusion are manifested in institutional practices and ideological processes.
An important goal of this course is to strengthen critical thinking and analytical skills. Therefore, there is an emphasis on reading and writing critically and integrating ideas and concepts from the course material (readings, discussions and videos).
Required Readings:
The following books are available for purchase at Huntley Bookstore.
Gonzalez, Gilbert G. Chicano Education in the Era of Segregation. Philadelphia: The Balch Institute Press, 1990.
Valenzuela, Angela. Subtractive Schooling: U.S.-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring. New York, NY: State University of New York Press, 1999.
Course Reader.
Course Requirements and Grading:
All of the materials presented in this course are required. You are expected to use all of the information available to make points, arguments, and comparisons in your assignments and class discussions. The grading for the course will be as follows:
Class Participation 15%
Group Facilitation 6%
Current Issues/Special Events 3%
Three Reaction Papers (10% each) 30%
Class Project 20%
Final Paper 35%
Your final grade will be based on the following:
1. Class Participation - The sharing, exchanging, and appreciation of people's ideas and experiences are part of the process that builds critical thinking skills. Hence, class participation is required, since much of the class will be interactive (as opposed to one-way lecture). Participation includes contributing verbally to the discussion as well as listening actively. You are expected to come with the readings completed and prepared to discuss. This is a class that "works" with the active participation of everyone.
- Group Facilitation - You will work in groups of 2-3 to prepare and facilitate two different class discussions on the following readings and topics. The particular format of your facilitation will be decided by you, but you are encouraged to use a variety of methods to engage the class in discussion (e.g. visual aids, skits, handouts, etc.). Facilitations should be designed for 60-75 minutes.
Chicano Education in the Era of Segregation Subtractive Schooling Subtractive Schooling Articles
- Current Issues/Special Events - To structure into the course a discussion of current issues regarding education locally, nationally, and internationally. Twice during the course you will introduce and discuss a current issue.
2. Reflection Papers - You will be asked to submit a weekly 3-4 page typed paper. These papers should be written after completing all of the week's readings and are designed to give you a space to reflect on the readings and course topics. Regardless of the amount of material that you reflect on in these papers (from one to all of the week's readings), you are encouraged to illustrate (through your first or final paragraph or some other way) the larger framework or issues that connect the readings. For these papers, you might ask yourself what you have learned personally from the week's readings - what engaged you, amazed you, enraged you. Another option is to consider the debates with which the course authors are engaged. Papers are due at the beginning of class on Wednesdays. Papers will be evaluated on their thoughtfulness and insight.
3. Class Project - In his discussion of "Education is Politics," Ira Shor (1992) argues that the goals of liberatory pedagogy should include opportunities to relate personal growth to public life, opportunities to learn by doing and chances to think about our experiences. With this in mind, this assignment is designed to provide you with a more structured opportunity to make personal connections with the course material in your everyday life/lives and to encourage you to make your work/ideas accessible/available to people outside of our class. As a class, you will work together to design and implement a decided upon project. On Wednesday, July 23, you will each submit a 2-3 page reflection on why you selected your project, your role within in, your experience carrying it out, and your project's relevance to the class.
4. Final Paper - You will write one 6-7 page typed paper that asks you to critically discuss the issues raised in the course. Since the final paper is designed not as a "test" but as a structured opportunity for you to connect the key aspects of the course, questions for the final paper will be distributed on the first day of class.
All assignments must be submitted in hardcopy.
Grades on late papers will be impacted.
Monday, July 7: Setting the Foundations
Topics: Critical Pedagogy; Culture of Color; Color of Culture; The Social Construction of Knowledge; Contextualizing Educational Experiences; Politically Constructed Identities
o Shor, Ira. "Education is Politics." In Empowering Education. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992.
o Martínez, Elizabeth. "Seeing More Than Black and White." In De Colores Means All of Us. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1998.
o Haederle, Michael. "Culture Clash." Los Angeles Times, 1997.
o Muñoz Jr., Carlos. "The Quest for Paradigm." In Latinos and Education, eds. Antonia Darder, Rodolfo D. Torres and Henry Gutiérrez. New York: Routledge, 1997.
o Sierra, Christine Marie. "The University Setting Reinforces Inequality." In Chicana Voices, eds. Terese Córdova, Norma Cantú, Gilberto Cardenas, Juan García, and Christine M. Sierra. University of Texas, Austin: Center for Mexican American Studies, 1986.
o Bernal, Dolores Delgado. "Using a Chicana Feminist Epistemology in Educational Research." Harvard Educational Review, 68(4), Winter 1998.
o Nelson, Candace and Marta Tienda. "The Structuring of Hispanic Ethnicity." In Challenging Fronteras, eds. Mary Romero, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, and Vilma Ortiz. New York, NY: Routledge, 1997.
o Gimenez, Martha E. "Latino/'Hispanic' - Who Needs a Name?" In Latinos and Education, In Latinos and Education, eds. Antonia Darder, Rodolfo D. Torres and Henry Gutiérrez. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Sign-Up For Current Issues Presentations
Discuss Class Project
Wednesday, July 9: Theorizing Chicanos/Latinas and Education
Topics: Deficiency Theories - Assimilationist Paradigm; Bias Theories; Structural Discrimination/Power Conflict Theories - Internal Colonialism, Neo-Marxism, Gendered Racism; Distinguishing Between "Autonomous Minorities," "Immigrant/Voluntary Minorities," and "Castelike or Involuntary Minorities"
o Barrera, Mario. "A Theory of Racial Inequality." In Latinos and Education, eds. Antonia Darder, Rodolfo D. Torres, and Henry Gutiérrez. New York: Routledge, 1997.
o Harrison, Lawrence E. "How Cultural Values Shapes Economic Success." In Race and Ethnic Conflict, eds. Fred L. Pincus and Howard J. Ehlrich. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1999.
o Chavez, Linda. "Toward a New Politics of Hispanic Assimilation." In Out of the Barrio. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1991.
o Bonacich, Edna. "Inequality in America." In Sources, eds. Adalberto Aguirre, Jr. and David V. Baker. Guilford, Connecticut: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill, 1998.
o Ogbu, John U. "Minority Status and Literacy in Comparative Perspective." In Majority and Minority, ed. Norman Yetman. Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1999.
o Segura, Denise A. "Slipping Through the Cracks." In Building With Our Hands, eds. Adela de la Torre and Beatríz M. Pesquera. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1993.
First Reflection Paper Due
Sin-Up For Class Facilitations
Video: "Lost in Transistion: Latinos, Schools, and Society" (Part 2, 23 minutes)
Monday, July 14: Historical Views of Chicanas/os and Latinas/os and Schooling
Topics: Assimilationist Ideology; Americanization Programs; Segregation; Intelligence Testing; The Relationship Between the Labor Market and Educational Policies; The Lemon Grove Incident; Mendez vs. Westminster
o Gonzalez, Gilbert. Chicano Education in the Era of Segregation, pp. 13-112 adn 136-161.
Group Facilitation
Video: "The Lemon Grove Incident" (Director: Frank Christopher 1985, 58 minutes)
Wednesday, July 16: Subtractive Schooling
Topics: Cultural Assimilation; Curriculum Tracking and School Segregation; Standardized Tests; Labeling; Color-Blind Approach to Race/Ethnicity; Immigrant Analogy
o Valenzuela, Angela. Subtractive Schooling, pp. 3-32; 61-113.
o Sleeter, Christine E. "How White Teachers Construct Race." In Race Identity and Representation in Education, eds. Cameron McCarthy and Warren Crichlow. New York and London: Routledge, 1993.
o Della Piana, Libero. "Reading, Writing, Race, and Resegregation." Color Lines Spring 1999, pp. 9-14.
Second Reflection Paper Due
Group Facilitation
Video: "Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary: (Director Laura Simon, 1997).
Monday, July 21: Subtractive Schooling
Topics: Bilingual Education; Intra-Ethnic Relations; Dual Immersion Programs
o Valenzuela, Angela. Subtractive Schooling, pp. 115-226.
o Gándara, Patricia. "In the Aftermath of the Storm: English Learners in the Post-227 Era." Bilingual Research Journal 24 (1&2): 1-13, April 2003.
Group Facilitation
Wednesday, July 23: Forms of Resistance and Possibilities of Change
o Darder, Antonia. "Creating the Conditions for Cultural Democracy in the Classroom." In Latinos and Education, eds. Antonia Darder, Rodolfo D. Torres and Henry Gutiérrez. New York, Routledge, 1997.
o Valenzuela, Angela. Subtractive Schooling, pp. 227-254.
o Kennelly, Ivy, Joya Misra and Marina Karides. "The Historical Context of Gender, Race, and Class in the Academic Labor Market." In Race, Gender, and Class, 6 (3): 125-155, 1999.
o Martínez, Elizabeth. "Be Down With the Brown." In De Colores Means All of Us. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1998.
o Martínez, Elizabeth. "They Really Were Willing to Die." In De Colores Means All of Us. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1998.
Third Reaction Paper Due
Reflection on Group Project Due
Group Facilitation
Video: "Taking Back the Schools"
Final Papers Due by noon on Thursday, July 24 in Hahn 220.
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