our culture in the classroom matters. We made this zine by collaborating on the research, concepts, sketches, inks and colors. We hope this will start conversations with you, your parents, your teachers and your community. We hope you learn about some of the things going on in our schools and take action to help schools meet students individual needs. we hope you reflect on your own personal experience and have fun reading this! Isabel becerra alonso estrada Brendon lopez isabela ortega julissa rivera ximena valencia + zeke PeĂąa November 2017 thanks to our ancestors, elders and parents. Thanks to: gabrielle uballez, paul Lopez, luis Carlos MuĂąoz, Meggan Gomez and the whole working classroom family; National hispanic cultural center; heritage Hotels; Sheri Crider + sanitary tortilla factory; National endowment for the arts; The FUNd at the Albuquerque foundation; h.b. + Lucille horn foundation; lee francis + native realities; indigenous comi-con; nani chacon; eric garcia and all our teachers + educators that work hard everyday to help us succeed.
workshop instructor + editor - Zeke PeĂąa zpvisual.com | @zpvisual
1 In the 1800’s the cruel policies of Indian boarding schools were an attempt to strip young indigenous people of their culture, language and even their names because it was thought they didn’t belong in western education and white classrooms.
Before the 1954 supreme court ruling of brown v. Board young black people and their culture had no place in white classrooms either.
today the achievement gap has closed but Overall nationally graduation rates for youth-of-color (YOC) students are still lower than their white peers. Cultural represenation in classrooms and curriculum can have an impact on this.
71.6% Native American; 77.8% Latin@/Hispanic; 74.6% Black; 90.2% Asian/PacificE; economic Disadvantage 76.1%; Limited English 65.1%;
87.6% White (2015 data from nces.ed.gov)
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but We are restrained from speaking our NATIVE languages IN ENGLISH-ONLY CLASSROOMS.
in the past students were punished. Today we are at risk of falling behind in classes that lack multilingual and multicultural teaching environments and resources.
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schools across the country are more diverse. our language and culture are a source of pride and confidence but not many of us learn about our history and cultural heritage in our classes.
HOW DO I TELL MY students THAT THE INSTITUTION OF EDUCATION RESPECTS THEM FOR WHO THEY ARE IF IT DOESN’T TEACH THEM ABOUT WHO THEY ARE? ALFRED CHAVEZ TEACHER, Mex-AM Studies Alumni
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we all come from a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
but some school curriculum hasn’t changed in a long time, so we learn about culture and history that is outdated and super boring!
so we don’t connect and some of us are at risk of dropping out...or passing out.
our community.
A University of Arizona study* found that mostly Latino students who took MexicanAmerican studies courses were 46 percent to 150 percent more likely to graduate from high school than those who did not. The study also determined positive effects on math and reading test scores. our schools.
our raza.
It is imperative for educators and schools to foster an environment in which youth can connect with their cultural community and be secure in their identity. When a they are secure in their identity, it provides a cornerstone to build self-confidence, resiliency, success and stability in adulthood. Jacqueline Herrera - Social Worker (AZ).
*2012 - N. cabrera http://www.coe.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/MAS_report_2012_0.pdf
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A recent study* of 100,000 black students found that if they had at least one African-American teacher between third and fifth grade, their chances of dropping out declined by 29 percent.
we can envision our future if we can see ourselves in our teachers and books. *The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers - S.Gershenson, C. Hart, C.Lindsay, N.Papageorge(March 2017)
Native American schools are great examples that include culture in the classroom with language, song and tribal history.
Our job is to bring the recognition of our language to our young! We are to preserve our foundational core values. Our mother tongue is our life force and when spoken is expression of our way of knowing which strengthens our identity. s. Freeland dinĂŠ woman - educator
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whose history do we learn?
9 Po’pay yuki kochiyama
dolores huerta
who else can we read about?
BRENDON LOPEZ
julissa rivera
ximena valencia
isabel becerra
alonso estrada
isabela ortega
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you’re not a number. you’re not a statistic. you are a person with a history and culture that are worth learning about.
your brain when it doesn’t learn about your culture.
your brain when it does
DO YOU LEARN ABOUT YOUR CULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM?