Abstract
The concept of school-sponsored silencing of students in K-12 contexts in the United States is well documented, particularly in relation to students of color. Discussions have addressed and called into question implicit and explicit administrative and pedagogical practices of silencing that curb critical reflection and thinking. The case explored here explores both overt and covert practices of silencing as lived by Latino/a high school students in rural Idaho. By directing attention to silencing in this context, I argue that it can be much more routinely and unknowingly used than we might imagine, and that it has the potential to severely stymie critical conversations of change and eventually disempower in subtle ways.
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Notes
All names of participants, locations, and organizations have been changed to preserve the anonymity of the participants. Pseudonyms were chosen by the participants. This research meets the ethical guidelines of the Institutional Review Board of Indiana University.
For a more detailed account of the process of arriving at this research question please visit http://www.researchforempowerment.com/authentic-questions/.
Almost all of the student writings completed over the course of the project were completed in English. All of the SSS students are bilingual in Spanish and English. They were never required to write in English. Those who chose to write or contribute in Spanish also submitted their own translations into English. No student writing was ever translated by anyone other than the original contributor.
For more SSS student writings and comments on what they learned from their experience with Theatre of the Oppressed, go to www.researchforempowerment.com/theatre-of-the-oppressed.
Photovoice is a visual arts approach to mobilizing communities for change. For a good discussion of its potential see Wang (2006).
While this phrase could be unpacked, here I am using it as used by Juan himself as he told me his story in a one-on-one interview. Because I am using his words I have chosen not to analyze them through my own lens.
Again, this data was also submitted to the collective for further analysis a few months after this experience. Ongoing collective analysis can be found at http://www.researchforempowerment.com.
References
Boal, A. 2000. Theater of the Oppressed. London: Pluto Press.
Call-Cummings, M., and S. Martinez. 2016. “It Wasn’t Racism; It was More Misunderstanding”: White Teachers, Latino/a Students, and Racial Battle Fatigue. Race Ethnicity and Education 20 (4): 1–14.
Fine, M., and L. Weis. 2003. Silenced Voices and Extraordinary Conversations: Re-imagining Schools. New York: Teachers College Press.
Gallagher, C.A. 2012. Color-Blind Privilege: The Social and Political Functions of Erasing the Color Line in Post-Race America. In Rethinking the Color Line, ed. Charles A. Gallagher, 92–100. New York: McGraw Hill.
Guinier, L., and G. Torres. 2012. The Ideology of Color Blindness. In Rethinking the Color Line, ed. Charles A. Gallagher, 101–105. New York: McGraw Hill.
Quiroz, P.A. 2001. The Silencing of the Latino Student “Voice”: Puerto Rican and Mexican Narratives in Eighth Grade and High School. Anthropology and Education Quarterly 32 (3): 326–349.
Wang, C.C. 2006. Youth Participation in Photovoice as a Strategy for Community Change. Journal of Community Practice 14 (1–2): 147–161.
Acknowledgements
The author thanks the Indiana University Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society (CRRES) and the Indiana University Graduate School for their financial support of this research.
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Call-Cummings, M. “It’s too political”: The overt and covert silencing of critical Latino/a voices. Lat Stud 15, 532–540 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-017-0086-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-017-0086-7