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POSTCOLONIAL STUDIES IN EDUCATION
Liberatory Practices
for Learning
Dismantling Social Inequality
and Individualism
with Ancient Wisdom
Edited by
Julio Cammarota
Postcolonial Studies in Education
Series Editors
Antonia Darder
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Anne Hickling-Hudson
Faculty of Education
Queensland University of Technology
Brisbane, Australia
Peter Mayo
Faculty of Education
University of Malta
Msida, Malta
Studies utilising the perspectives of postcolonial theory have become
established and increasingly widespread in the last few decades. This series
embraces and broadly employs the postcolonial approach. As a site of
struggle, education has constituted a key vehicle for the ‘colonization
of the mind’. The ‘post’ in postcolonialism is both temporal, in the sense
of emphasizing the processes of decolonization, and analytical in the sense
of probing and contesting the aftermath of colonialism and the imperial-
ism which succeeded it, utilising materialist and discourse analysis.
Postcolonial theory is particularly apt for exploring the implications of
educational colonialism, decolonization, experimentation, revisioning,
contradiction and ambiguity not only for the former colonies, but also for
the former colonial powers. This series views education as an important
vehicle for both the inculcation and unlearning of colonial ideologies. It
complements the diversity that exists in postcolonial studies of political
economy, literature, sociology and the interdisciplinary domain of cultural
studies. Education is here being viewed in its broadest contexts, and is not
confined to institutionalized learning. The aim of this series is to identify
and help establish new areas of educational inquiry in postcolonial studies.
Liberatory Practices
for Learning
Dismantling Social Inequality and Individualism
with Ancient Wisdom
Editor
Julio Cammarota
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ, USA
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to
the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten
—Akan Proverb
Preface
A Beginning
I feel like I can talk to you with confianza, is that ok with you? I’d like to
tell you a story of us, of our collective. More felt, experienced, seeded,
than named. Here goes.
It started in Sacramento, California. Well, that was one beginning.
Perhaps there are others, but this one might be the clearest for our story.
There are five of us sitting around a table discussing research that is com-
munity based, has real world impact, deep participation and speaks to the
multiplicity of Latinidades we work with/come from. It’s initially part of
a convening where a group of Latinx scholars from across the United
States gathered to develop a pipeline to a teaching program for Latinx
communities. Our subgroup, made up of participatory action researchers
from California, New York, New Jersey, Florida and Arizona, was invited
to design and guide a research approach for Latinx education. We didn’t
know each other well at this point, hearing of or reading about each other,
but not having ever worked closely together before. Part of our appointed
task here was that of naming. What do we call a PAR approach that is
rooted in the global south? As we brainstormed, we decided that there
were existing frameworks that captured this, particularly…oh, hold on
reader. I just got a message. Un momento.
I can’t believe this. Mexican American studies has just been banned here. Some
of the teachers I work with tell me that people have come in to box up their books,
vii
viii PREFACE
Please forgive the interruption. Where was I? Yes, we were weaving our
individual and collective PAR experiences to conjure a vision of PAR that
reflected global south sensibilities around inquiry and action whose goal is
liberation. In our brainstorming, we remembered the writing of Maria
Elena Torre (2009) (also part of this collective) who first described a PAR
that was EntreMundos. Drawing from the late Gloria Anzaldua’s (1987)
theorizing about the borderlands, PAR EntreMundos (PAR EM) con-
nected ideas of multiplicity, nos-otras and choques with a participatory
praxis. We decided then that this was the place and framing on which to
build. This framework of PAR EM, originally from the disciplinary per-
spective of psychology, women’s studies and qualitative inquiry, was
applied more specifically to a schooling and education context. We dis-
cussed it as a pedagogy that disrupts and dismantles traditional academic
binaries of researcher/researched, expert/novice, educator/organizer,
inquiry/action in order to co-create transformative spaces of education.
From this foundation, we drafted a set of guiding principles steeped in
Freirean praxis, critical race and borderland theories, South American lib-
eration psychologies and social movement histories. I should tell you why
we decided on guiding principles—we were trying to put together a usable
liberatory theory and practice for educators after all.
We have often been asked for curricula, lesson plans, essentially a for-
mula for how to do PAR. Though we acknowledged the practicalities of
teacher lives and expectations operating within school environments, we
were and still are uneasy with this type of request. But principles that
people can draw from to create their own sequence and materials, develop
curricula that is contextually fitting, feels more in tune with this type of
work. Other scholars have written PAR principles, guiding ideas that can
be used to develop projects that, though varied and grounded in localities,
adhere to a set of core values. Recognizing this, we grappled with the
questions, what are these principles for us and our communities, how can
we best communicate them, and how do these overlap with and/or differ
from existing principles? The ones about participation, action and critical
inquiry were ones in common with other conceptualizations and
PREFACE ix
principles of PAR. What differed was… Oh wait, just got another message.
Es mi hijo. I’ll be right back.
“Espera, ven, come here real quick before you leave.” Let me hold you close for a
minute. Just another minute. I know you’re nine and just telling me you’re
going to play a pick- up game in the park, but I can’t help it, this haunting
worry. The headlines of a murdered Trayvon Martin keep flashing in my mind.
My beautiful brown boy. How I wish I can protect you from all this, let you be a
child, tell you to run and play tag with friends, that the adults, the police that
see you will watch out for you. But a child of color can’t be a child. We’ve had to
explain to you how things are, warn you not to run if you see the red and blue
lights rolling by. That if you’re in the car with your father and he’s getting
pulled over for a broken tail-light or something, you should put your hands on
your knees and stay silent and calm. Being in this hypervigilant state is part of
the deal when mothering children of color. This means I have the sometimes
warring impulses of wanting to preserve your innocence, but also instill a
social/political/critical consciousness. But you can trust this: Though the world
may not, I will always see your beautiful soul.1
Perdon, I’m back. So I was talking to you about the principles that dif-
fered from the other formulations we had seen up to that point. These
consisted of what we drew from the EntreMundos approach, specifically,
the principles around creative praxis, power within, concientization de la
colectiva and indigenous cosmologies. We wanted to consider a vocabu-
lary of lived experiences that falls outside of what is typically articulated in
academic/intellectual discourse. How do we talk about this in ways that
feel real in people’s lives, validate and make tangible what people dismis-
sively term “touchy-feely stuff.” What was clear in our discussions was that
it wasn’t just about the inquiry, the methods and procedures used to doc-
ument and challenge injustice, though that was an important part. Not
simply, as if it could ever be simple, the actions taken to make change in
school communities and beyond. We felt moved to delve into the things
that don’t often get verbalized in 10–15-minute academic presentations,
or even during actions where the product and the change message needs
to be neatly and powerfully presented. It wasn’t just the potential in the
methodology, but the affective, relational, spiritual work layered between
that can be uncomfortable to talk about with other audiences. The rich
conversations about the deeply relational process undergirding the work
was a critical component and, we felt, had to be a principle. So one mem-
ber, inspired by Starhawk, a neopagan, eco-feminist, suggested power
x PREFACE
It finally got me this morning. I’ve been ignoring it too long even though the
warning signs were there, showing themselves. Slight quick striking pain from
my lower back to my inner thigh, all the way to the ball of my foot…asking me,
telling me straight up, to slow down, to not normalize my stress. But I didn’t
listen, and I kept on moving forward as if I were invincible. Today, I am forced
to stop. The creator and all my ancestors that I embody me dijieron – YA
BASTA !!! Because I had refused to heed the messages before, the pain I felt this
morning came at me with all its fury. There is no mercy and no turning back.
I’m trying to resist this. I’m screaming and cursing at the pain that has me
without movement, without any control. My anger and frustration are blaz-
ing, but they are only agitating my body more. However, if I’m really honest
with myself, in the deepest points of my soul, I know that I am being granted a
gift, a moment in time, a crossroads, to re-evaluate my function in this world
physically and spiritually. I have to force myself to slow down and in that slow-
ing, search within me. In my flesh, under streams of water, I will offer up my
pain as an ofrenda, and allow the lessons in this to be revealed.2
* * *
I know some time has passed, but I’m back now, returning to our narra-
tive. I believe we were talking about how to incorporate spirituality into
our PAR EntreMundos principles? Yes. Thus, bolstered by Anzaldua’s
notion of spiritual activism, we decided it also needed to be included as a
principle. But there was some hesitancy, a bit of reluctance initially in
using the term. It often evokes or provokes religious-based definitions,
which could alienate those who do not identify as being spiritual, or those
who do but find this more fluid notion of spirituality in opposition or
threat to their own formulations. Also, as this was intended initially to
guide K-12 educators who wished to undertake this project in their
schools, we worried that the term would evoke concerns about church and
state. Indigenous cosmologies, as most of us identified with or expressed
an affinity toward more earth-based spiritualities, then became the agreed
upon terminology.
PREFACE xi
Gente, I’m reluctant to admit this, but I’m feeling really…maybe anxious is
the word. There’s so much going on. I’ve been getting texts all night from our
students who want to know what’s going to happen to them in light of the elec-
tion. I mean, things have been bad, but this is so much scarier somehow. What
are we going to do in response, in protection? How can we create sanctuary
spaces? Students skipped class to come together to share their despair, anger, and
hope – in community. Fellow students, alumni, faculty and friends were consol-
ing, encouraging, holding each other to gain strength for the fight to come. I’m
afraid for them, and for my own familia in these times. Too, my homespace is
going through a time of uncertainty and turmoil. I worry I can’t be enough
and…well…I need help with this.
Alright, so again apologies, let me get back to what I was telling you.
Actually no, I need a minute. Deep breath. Ok now. Throughout our
time together and now, life felt like interruptions to some of our other
projects in academia. This writing deadline coming up, this phone call I
can’t make. But you know, these aren’t interruptions. (So I take back my
apologies). These are life events that affected/affect us throughout the
xii PREFACE
process. This is vida, this is death, this is fuel; it’s a cushion, an abismo and
a ladder; it’s corporality and conflagration. Things are not fine. What
needs interruption is the “let’s just keep going like nothing’s happening.”
It’s too much, too big, and people can feel so alone. The collective is this
too, not just our intellectual energies, but our life ones. This is the work
we are called to do, and we are situated within it, not just acting outside it.
We write our pain, survivance, vulnerability and privilege in threads of
analysis. We pieced together a monograph, then a book based on this work
over time, titled PAR EntreMundos: A pedagogy of the Americas. In
between collecting chapters and ideas, we spoke about our lives and it was
poured into the writing, though not always explicitly. We dreamed
together and created this space between/within us. We brought our posi-
tionalities as Latinx from our particular regional, ancestral, gendered con-
texts. The tenure hustle in the academy or consulting gigs outside it. The
struggles and successes—all occupied the space we inhabited individually
and collectively.
We went beyond/outside what was initially asked of us to keep creat-
ing. We birthed it together, what became the book, then considered what
we could do next. A course was taught where we video-conferenced in,
based on these ideas. We co-presented at conferences, and provided
teacher training workshops for secondary educators. Engaging in this
thinking and writing work collectively meant we spent years together. As
such, we also grew together, shifting and expanding on languages,
approaches. When we first started, even the terminology we used was dif-
ferent: starting with Latino/a, then Latin@ to now Latinx. And this will
continue to change as we keep learning, writing and thinking together.
This is the part that can be concientization de la colectiva, because we
bring together the knowledges from our localities for larger understand-
ings. The process and product of our collective work also inspired Julio to
bring to the group the idea of birthing another text, proposing Liberatory
Practices of Learning—what you are reading right now.
A Conclusion
We’re back now to conclude our story. Though that suggests a discrete,
finite ending and I can’t really say it’s that. Here we are after all. But if I
were to attempt a conclusion, it would go something like this, our work
together. Knowledge is built this way. Action is processed asi. En momen-
tos, in conversations, in tears, in prayers, in protest, in calls for strength to
PREFACE xiii
our ancestors. In the inspiration of youth and wisdom of the elders. This
is a co-construction of knowledge that has often been suppressed or
denied. Writing and theorizing from these joys and vulnerabilities in our
own voices is a work of resistance (Moraga and Anzaldúa 1981), though
often, in academic spaces writing and producing knowledge can be an
isolated/isolating process. In fact, academia is structured in a way that
privileges the individualistic, with hierarchies that seat single authors at the
top of knowledge production chains. Collectivity counts less in the cur-
rency of academia. But writing collectives go against these individualistic
notions, and recognize the many voices that speak in particular pieces. In
this way, we attempt to practice centering work from a relational position,
rather than simply, or only, an individual one. The seed of these ideas and
practices are developed in the chapters of Liberatory Practices. This book
goes deeper into collective learning/working processes and explains how
collaboration in education has the potential to lead to more equitable
outcomes. Liberatory Practices also adopts a more expansive frame that is
inclusive of learnings and wisdoms of other minoritized communities in
the U.S., not only Latinx.
We’d like to share our gratitude for this confianza, gracias for listening
to the story of our beginnings. We invite you to join us, in community, to
walk through the gardens of our learning labor in the pages to come.
Jennifer Ayala
Melissa Rivera
Margarita Berta-Ávila
Notes
1. This vignette is excerpted from El Espiritu of Justice: Exploring embodied
spiritual activisms through visual and textual storytelling (forthcoming).
2. This vignette is excerpted from El Espiritu of Justice: Exploring embodied
spiritual activisms through visual and textual storytelling (forthcoming).
Reference
Moraga, Cherríe, and Gloria E. Anzaldúa. 1981. This Bridge Called My Back:
Writings by Radical Women of Color. 1st ed. Watertown: Persephone Press.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge our ancestors who were born from struggle and thrived
to bring us their wisdom. We acknowledge our communities who collec-
tively stand together for justice and liberation. We acknowledge all our
family and friends who give us reason to strive for something better, some-
thing more humane. Finally, we acknowledge ourselves who learn and
grow to fill our hearts with love.
xv
Contents
xvii
xviii Contents
Index153
Notes on Contributors
xix
xx NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
Affairs and has worked in higher education for over 15 years. McKen
is an adjunct professor in the Department of Social Work and Assistant
Director of the Urban Male Leadership Program and CREAR
Furturos Mentorship Program at Lehman College.
Arturo Nevárez is a PhD candidate in the Graduate School of Education
at the University of California Riverside. He is a former middle school and
high school English teacher and like many of his current and former
students, a proud first-generation college graduate. Nevárez’s disser-
tation focuses on the critical racial literacies of Latinx/Chicanx youth
and their teachers in secondary Ethnic Studies classrooms.
Melissa Rivera is a faculty member in the School of Education at Capella
University and co-editor of PAR EntreMundos: A pedagogy of the
Americas and Latino Education: An agenda for community action research.
Her participatory action research scholarship is grounded in critical/femi-
nist theories, developmental and somatic psychology, and ancient wisdom
traditions and focused on personal transformation, collective develop-
ment, and social justice.
Louie F. Rodriguez is the interim dean and a professor in the Graduate
School of Education at the University of California Riverside. He is the
author of four books including, PAR Entremundos: A Pedagogy of the
Americas (2018) and Intentional Excellence: The Pedagogy, Power, and
Politics of Excellence in Latina/o Schools and Communities (2015).
Karla Torres is a high school senior who has been involved in YPAR
since middle school. She is a digital artist and writer. She aspires to become
a kindergarten teacher or a full-time artist in the future.
Vijay Williams is a high school senior who has been engaged in YPAR
since middle school. He is a director, writer, animator, and star of a multi-
tude of YouTube shorts as well as a writer and artist of comic books. He
aspires to be a film and television director, writer, and actor in
the future.
Jihee Yoon is a doctoral student in the Department of Teaching, Learning
and Sociocultural Studies at the University of Arizona. Her research
focuses on challenging oppressive structures inherent to academia
through the centering of youth voices and knowledge through Youth
Participatory Action Research and Ethnic Studies pedagogy.
List of Figures
xxiii
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In æquali jure melior est conditio possidentis.
In equality of right, the condition of the person in
possession, is the better.
In eo quod vel is, qui petit, vel is, a quo petitur lucri factus est, durior
causa est petitoris.
In that which either he who seeks, or he from whom it
is sought, for the sake of gain, the cause of the
applicant is harder.
In omnibus causis pro facto accipitur id, in quo per alium moræ sit,
quo minus fiat.
In all causes, that is taken for a fact, in which by
means of another there may be a hinderance to
prevent its being done.
Incivile est, nisi tota lege perspecta, una aliqua particula ejus
proposita, judicare vel respondere.
To judge and answer is uncivil, if the whole law is not
attended to, any one clause of it being merely
proposed.
Iniquum est aliquem rei sui esse judicem. In propria causa nemo
judex.
It is unjust that any one be a judge of his own affair. No
body is a judge in his own cause.
Is damnum dat qui jubet dare, ejus vero nulla culpa est cui parere
necesse est.
He occasions a loss, who gives orders to cause it; but
no blame belongs to him who is under the necessity of
obeying.
Judicium est iis quæ pro religione faciant faveri etsi verba desint.
It is a decision to favour those things which make for
religion, although words be wanting.