Chicana feminist theorizing methodologies, pedagogies, and practices

Abstract

Recognizing the significance of lived experience as it relates to education, Chicana/Latina feminist scholars are producing alternative educational discourses that inspire innovative educational scholarship. In doing so, feminist scholars are giving voice to their struggles to contest power relations inside and outside of schools. The demographic changes in the Latina population in conjunction with structural inequality that Chicanas and Latinas undergo in the U.S. signal the necessity to position Chicanas/Latinas at the center of our methodologies, pedagogies, and practices. The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, we provide a brief overview of who Chicanas/Latinas are in order to highlight differences and similarities, as well as the common challenges that impact the educational experiences and broader sociopolitical lives of Chicanas/Latinas. This overview speaks little to the disjunctures and contradictions of language, identity, place, sexualities, and other borderland experiences. Instead, it focuses on a demographic and statistical profile including language, health, poverty rates, and various indicators of educational attainment. The profile allows us to identify leaks in the educational pipeline and some of the issues impacting the education of Chicanas/Latinas.