[Xmca-l] Re: Sociocritical Literacies and more context

Fri Dec 12 11:42:33 PST 2014

Luisa, thanks.  I have always been a lurker on XMCA but can never keep with all the discussions.    I’m hoping the discussions will get us into the questions you raise and I’m happy to post references and pdfs too (e.g., Tejeda’s decolonizing and Espinoza’s article on Educational Sanctuaries).  Espinoza’s social dreaming is discussed in the RRQ article and I’ll look to see where else he might have written about it.  I don’t know when the syncretic piece will be out but will check.  Thanks for your interest.   

In particular, I hope we can also discuss the ways the social imagination (embodied and realized through Boal's teatro del oprimido, historicizing pedagogies, and syncretic texts, etc.) were central to the  ubiquitous "future oriented" organization of the activities that Mike points out—that is, the process of becoming historical actors.  

Kris

Kris Gutierrez
gutierkd@gmail.com

Kris D. Gutiérrez
Professor
Graduate School of Education
5629 Tolman Hall #1670
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley CA 94720-1670

Distinguished Professor
Learning Sciences and Literacy
School of Education
University of Colorado, Boulder

> On Dec 12, 2014, at 11:25 AM, Luisa Aires <laires11@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Professor Kris Gutierrez
> 
> It is delightful to see you here in XMCA :-)
> 
> 
> 
> I must confess that after reading your post, I am going to read your text again because you added so much interesting information about MSLI program (for example, I didn´t know that MSLI had strong links with 5th dimension).
> 
> I would like to learn about Chicano/a and ethnic studies, Tejeda’s decolonizing framework and pedagogies, and Manuel Espinoza’s notions of social dreaming. How can we access the most important references of those theories?
> 
> One more question (we need to take advantage of your presence here ;-): when and how can we access your new piece about syncretic approach?
> 
> 
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Luísa A.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Department of Education and Distance Learning, Universidade Aberta
> Centre of Studies on Migrations and Intercultural Relations (CEMRI)
> R. Amial, nº 752, 4200-055 Porto, Portugal
> laires@uab.pt <mailto:laires@uab.pt>
> www.uab.pt <http://www.uab.pt/>
> 
> 
> 2014-12-12 17:55 GMT+00:00 Kris Gutierrez <gutierkd@gmail.com <mailto:gutierkd@gmail.com>>:
> 
> I don’t know if this went through last night.; so I’m reposting. apologies if you get it twice
> 
> 
> > On Dec 12, 2014, at 12:45 AM, Kris Gutierrez <gutierkd@gmail.com <mailto:gutierkd@gmail.com>> wrote:
> >
> > Re: Mike/Miguel,  (Mike, XMCA has a weird email address for me and I am unable to post; would you post if it doesn’t come through?)
> >
> >          Miguel, who has deep knowledge of an important time in the Migrant Program (MSLI), rightly points out that the development of sociocritical
> >
> > literacies/  syncretic approaches to learning must be understood in the context of the larger designed ecology and its history.  And I can’t begin to do
> 
> > it justice here.  But here are some reflections.
> >
> >  Building on a decade of earlier designs that brought together Freire and cultural historical theoretical perspectives, and Chicano/a and ethnic studies
> >
> > to create new forms of teaching  and learning, and theorizations of the Third Space that preceded the development of the month long migrant
> 
> > program, MSLI was designed as a hybrid space organized around an historicizing pedagogy, informed, deepened, and augmented by
> >
> > Tejeda’s robust decolonizing framework  and pedagogies, and Manuel Espinoza’s notions of social dreaming and the importance of students
> 
> > becoming historical actors who could "who invoke the past in order to re-mediate it so that it becomes a resource for current and future action.”  Their
> 
> > work is key to understanding the MSLI ecology. Our long-term 5th Dimension work (UC Links), its theoretical underpinnings, and the pedagogical
> 
> > approaches to undergraduate education and learning in informal contexts were also a part of the mix, as most of the MSLI instructional team also
> 
> > was involved in 5th D work. Of significance, all MSLI staff had extensive knowledge of CHAT, critical pedagogies, social theories, disciplinary
> 
> > learning, as well as direct experience with and in immigrant, migrant, and non dominant communities, their histories, repertoires, lived experiences,
> 
> > and possibilities.
> >
> > There are many other important contributions of others I could elaborate here that contributed to the iterative design, re-mediation, and
> >
> > implementation and sustainability of this program, including Miguel's.    Consider Shirin Vossoughi’s recent MCA article, Social Analytic  Artifacts
> 
> > Made Concrete,”  in  which she  beautifully elaborates the ways  social analytic artifacts served as  tools “that deepened and propelled the collective
> 
> > analysis of  social problems”  for migrant students and the instructional teams.
> >
> >       Our collective efforts and design were oriented toward transformation and change and had multiple aims: sociopolitical, cultural, educational,
> >
> > including reframing education and learning in ways that brought the everyday and scientific (school-based) concepts into conversation with one
> >
> > another (a different kind of conversation to be sure).  The goal in this regard was to put  scientific and everyday concepts on a more level playing field
> >
> > such that scientific concepts were not placed in an hierarchical relationship with the everyday.  Disciplinary learning and critical forms of literacy were
> >
> > placed in conversation, their tensions made the object of analysis —all toward the production of more meaningful and expansive forms of learning.
> >
> > Mike and Yrjo have written important work on this, and, Carol Lee’s work is another robust example.
> >
> > And, of course, there is a history of work among researchers in the sociocultural tradition who have attended to the consequential nature of everyday
> >
> > knowledge and practices in expansive ways (e.g., Scribner & Cole, 1973; Lave, 1988; 2012; Lave  & Rogoff, 1984; Rogoff, 2003, as key examples of
> >
> > work that informs this thinking, including ongoing conversations and collaborations with and weekly meetings at LCHC with Mike, Yrjo, Olga,Vasquez
> >
> > and others).
> >
> >
> >       Our approach to consequential learning involved the development of syncretic approaches to literacy and social scientific thinking. The design
> >
> > involved  intentional moves that 1) brought together and reorganized different discourses, cultural practices, histories, and genres that were generally considered incompatible or in tension with one another; 2) preserved and foregrounded their tension; and 3) sought to maintain the value, history, and integrity of the everyday  vis-à-vis the dominant form, especially in light of historical power relations.  The syncretic testimonio is such an example. A nod here to Cindy Cruz’s powerful and informing work on testimonio.
> > (I have a new piece in press which you read, Mike, that attempts to elaborate the syncretic approach).
> >
> > A footnote on the sociocritical article.  The RRQ Sociocritical Literacy article was the publication of my AERA Scribner Lecture (2005 for the 2004 Scribner Award for my work on the Third Space; the lecture and its published piece were my attempt to further theorize the Third Space, using MSLI as a robust example.
> >
> >  Hope this provides more context and food for thought.  excuse typos and lapses, it’s late.  Kris
> >
> >
> > Kris D. Gutiérrez
> > Professor
> > Graduate School of Education
> > 5629 Tolman Hall #1670
> > University of California, Berkeley
> > Berkeley CA 94720-1670
> >
> > Distinguished Professor
> > Learning Sciences and Literacy
> > School of Education
> > University of Colorado, Boulder
> >
> >
> >
> >> On Dec 11, 2014, at 6:49 AM, mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu <mailto:mcole@ucsd.edu> <mailto:mcole@ucsd.edu <mailto:mcole@ucsd.edu>>> wrote:
> >>
> >> Thanks for the additional info.
> >> All makes sense to me.
> >> Mike
> >>
> >> On Wednesday, December 10, 2014, Zavala, Miguel <
> >> mizavala@exchange.fullerton.edu <mailto:mizavala@exchange.fullerton.edu> <mailto:mizavala@exchange.fullerton.edu <mailto:mizavala@exchange.fullerton.edu>>> wrote:
> >>
> >>> While the focus is on public education, any space is amenable for
> >>> analysis.  We sometimes get issues from parent organizers, student
> >>> organizations, interviews of students fighting for social justice in
> >>> college campuses.  Formal, non-formal, institutional, non-institutional,
> >>> etc. will work.
> >>>
> >>> If the submission focuses on 'praxis', on responses and resistance to the
> >>> neoliberal privatization of education, any space and sustained activity,
> >>> etc. is worth looking at-- but a connection should be drawn to how it
> >>> deliberately responds to neoliberalism and its messy tentacles, perhaps
> >>> highlighting possible worlds and social dreams.
> >>>
> >>> A connection can definitely be drawn between sociocritical studies and
> >>> this topic, certainly.  I believe the work we did in MSLI (I was an
> >>> integral member of MSLI for 3 years) was in many ways creating alternative
> >>> spaces and social dreams; in a way it was a bottom-up approach of building
> >>> consciousness and I think Freire would have been proud of our work.  As
> >>> lead instructor, Carlos Tejeda's decolonizing pedagogies framework lead to
> >>> some beautiful, creative activity in that space, for many years.  As an
> >>> instantiation of sociocritical literacies, I would say the work Kris
> >>> outlines is definitely a great example of "responses to neoliberalism" and
> >>> was here and there a part of our talk/framing as we moved pedagogically.
> >>>
> >>> As an editor of the journal, the 'constraint' we do have is that
> >>> submissions be written for a general audience; I know that is ambiguous.
> >>> Keep in mind that the articles get read by our members in ARE, their
> >>> students, they are sometimes used as political education in conferences,
> >>> in some instances reading circles in non-formal community settings.
> >>>
> >>> -Miguel
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On 12/10/14 10:24 PM, "mike cole" <mcole@ucsd.edu <mailto:mcole@ucsd.edu> <mailto:mcole@ucsd.edu <mailto:mcole@ucsd.edu>> <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> How broad is your mandates, Miguel? Does it extend to after school? Seems
> >>>> like it would help to know the kinds of efforts you consider exemplary
> >>>> classics.
> >>>>
> >>>> Does this topic fit in with sociocritical studies?
> >>>> Mike
> >>>>
> >>>> On Wednesday, December 10, 2014, Zavala, Miguel <
> >>>> mizavala@exchange.fullerton.edu <mailto:mizavala@exchange.fullerton.edu> <mailto:mizavala@exchange.fullerton.edu <mailto:mizavala@exchange.fullerton.edu>> <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> XMCA List Family,
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I am relaying a call for manuscripts on a pressing issue impacting
> >>>>> education everywhere. We conceptualized the idea of a grassroots
> >>>>> journal in
> >>>>> 2007 and it has grown, albeit slowly. Here's the latest call.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Thanks!
> >>>>>
> >>>>> -------------------
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Regeneración, the Association of Raza Educators Journal
> >>>>> Volume 6, Issue 1 (Spring 2015)
> >>>>>
> >>>>> CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
> >>>>> Deadline: February 15, 2015
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The theme for our next issue:
> >>>>> "Resisting The Neoliberal Privatization of Education: Reclaiming
> >>>>> Teachers'
> >>>>> Unions, Education, and Epistemologies"
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Undeniably, ever since the World Bank declared education a trade-able
> >>>>> service--trumping the idea that education is a basic human
> >>>>> right--education
> >>>>> and teachers have been increasingly under attack by corporations,
> >>>>> venture
> >>>>> philanthropists, and a growing managerial middle class, who function
> >>>>> within
> >>>>> a neoliberal ideology that places insurmountable faith in markets and
> >>>>> the
> >>>>> expansion of capitalism globally into all facets of everyday life. We
> >>>>> believe that the neoliberal project to de-fund and privatize public
> >>>>> education interlocks with the idea of a racial-colonial State.  Thus,
> >>>>> it is
> >>>>> no coincidence that neoliberal experiments to privatize public education
> >>>>> have materialized in large urban districts, such as Chicago, New York,
> >>>>> Los
> >>>>> Angeles, etc., where we find a significant number of Raza, Black, and
> >>>>> other
> >>>>> historically marginalized peoples.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> In this issue of Regeneración we seek both analysis and praxis, that is
> >>>>> texts that help us understand more deeply how neoliberalism is manifest
> >>>>> in
> >>>>> particular geographic, social, and cultural spaces. As well, we are
> >>>>> looking
> >>>>> for texts that provide examples of resistance to the corporate takeover
> >>>>> of
> >>>>> public education. How are urban and other communities responding to the
> >>>>> attacks on education and teachers? What grassroots and strategic spaces
> >>>>> are
> >>>>> created that provide alternatives to neoliberalism and capitalism?  How
> >>>>> are
> >>>>> teachers' unions being reinvented? What role does the fight for Ethnic
> >>>>> Studies present as a counter to the neoliberal attack?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> FORMAT: Submissions may come from students, educators, parents,
> >>>>> community
> >>>>> organizers, or organizations; we also welcome scholarly submissions that
> >>>>> are written for a general audience.  Formats may include testimonios,
> >>>>> essays, poetry, art, personal narrative, as well as analytic and
> >>>>> empirical
> >>>>> studies.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> LENGTH: 700-3000 words
> >>>>>
> >>>>> SUBMISSION DEADLINE: February 15, 2015
> >>>>> PUBLICATION DATE: April 15, 2015
> >>>>>
> >>>>> If you have any questions please contact: razaeducators@yahoo.com <mailto:razaeducators@yahoo.com> <mailto:razaeducators@yahoo.com <mailto:razaeducators@yahoo.com>>
> >>> <javascript:;>
> >>>>> <javascript:;><mailto:razaeducators@yahoo.com <mailto:razaeducators@yahoo.com> <mailto:razaeducators@yahoo.com <mailto:razaeducators@yahoo.com>> <javascript:;>
> >>> <javascript:;>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> To access past issues of Regeneración:
> >>>>> http://www.razaeducators.org/archives_newsletter.html <http://www.razaeducators.org/archives_newsletter.html> <http://www.razaeducators.org/archives_newsletter.html <http://www.razaeducators.org/archives_newsletter.html>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The Association of Raza Educators
> >>>>> www.razaeducators.org <http://www.razaeducators.org/> <http://www.razaeducators.org/ <http://www.razaeducators.org/>><http://www.razaeducators.org <http://www.razaeducators.org/> <http://www.razaeducators.org/ <http://www.razaeducators.org/>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> It is the dilemma of psychology to deal with a natural science with an
> >>>> object that creates history. Ernst Boesch.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> --
> >> It is the dilemma of psychology to deal with a natural science with an
> >> object that creates history. Ernst Boesch.
> >
> >
> >
> > Kris Gutierrez
> > k.gutierrez@me.com <mailto:k.gutierrez@me.com> <mailto:k.gutierrez@me.com <mailto:k.gutierrez@me.com>>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Kris D. Gutiérrez
> > Professor
> > Graduate School of Education
> > 5629 Tolman Hall #1670
> > University of California, Berkeley
> > Berkeley CA 94720-1670
> >
> > Distinguished Professor
> > Learning Sciences and Literacy
> > School of Education
> > University of Colorado, Boulder
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
> 