"Safe spaces" denote areas where students show up as they are and express themselves without fear of being made uncomfortable because of their sex, cultural background, or other status. Many dismiss the importance of safe spaces for students by accusing the institution of becoming a "therapeutic institution" concerned with…

While scholars have identified that the development of a critical consciousness encourages the social activism of Latinx/a/o, little is known about how critical consciousness shapes the academic identity of these students. The purpose of this LatCrit narrative study was to identify how critical consciousness influences how Latinx/a/o students view…

In this essay we discuss the shared vision for a critical Latinx pedagogy that has emerged from our five-year collaboration as professor and TA of a large undergraduate Latinx history course. We discuss specific classroom practices through which we seek to "embrace," "engage" and "empower" diverse Latinx students; to…

This interdisciplinary article examines literature across Education, Social Work, and Chicano/a/Latino/a Studies. By interweaving the literature with student voices, clinical knowledge and field observations, the authors use a Community Cultural Wealth Framework to highlight an afterschool program that empowers and encourages Latinx youth to use…

To promote a STEM career pipeline, a mentor outreach program was created within a K-12 charter school network, with a pilot year focusing on eighth and ninth-grade students. Utilizing a small cohort of volunteers from a nearby community college as student mentors and one faculty member, 12 visits were conducted throughout the school year. The…

One's culture has the capacity to nurture and empower. Thereby, college students rely on their cultural capital to persist and graduate. However, the current system of higher education favors one type of culture over others, which presents a number of challenges for those who are members of the non-dominant groups, such as Latinxs,…

In this article, we explore features of a summer program intended to support the personal and academic development of non-dominant high school youth. We focus on one particularly robust practice in the program known as encuentros -- daily gatherings intended to build community and collective sense-making. We draw on field notes and videos to…

In this article, the author braids storytelling with oral life history interviews, Chicana Feminisms, and portraiture. The piece centers the portrait of Ms. Sotomayor, a veteran elementary teacher, who through her stories shares with us pedagogies of pain, trust, autonomy, and empowerment. These glimpses of her life journey as a Nepantlera offer…

This article addresses the concept of educational third spaces that move beyond the paternalistic concept of a teacher as a font of knowledge filling the empty vessels of the students' minds, especially for foreign-born Latino (FBL) students. These students often struggle and lag behind their native-born peers as they master the new language of…

As universities create service-learning programs, educators are experimenting with pedagogical approaches that enhance learning outcomes while benefiting communities. We present a qualitative case study of a radio-based, service-learning program, grounded in a Freirean foundation and aimed at developing the cultural competence and sense of…

This article discusses how key interactions between community members, teachers, and Latino counselors and advisers were integral in providing support, knowledge, and agency to marginalized, Mexican-descent students in their 1st year of college. Findings show that particular types of discourse and narrative exchanged between integral adult figures…

This article explores the dynamics and educational potential of De Colores Community Learning Center, an after-school program serving low-performing Chicano-Latino children. The article discusses the foundational characteristics of De Colores and its quest to become a model of empowerment, instead of a more traditional model of service. Finally,…