The Pin@y (Pinay/Pinoy) Educational Partnerships (PEP) is a service-learning/learning-service program that forms a “triangular partnership” between the university, public schools, and the community to cultivate a barangay (community) to produce critical educators and curriculum at all levels of education and in the community. PEP’s partnership triangle includes: Bay Area colleges/universities, San Francisco public schools, and the Filipino American Development Foundation (FADF). Uniquely, our community implements a transformative decolonizing curriculum and pedagogy, incorporating all grade levels including primary, middle, secondary, post-secondary, and graduate students. As volunteer teachers of the program, graduate and undergraduate students, from San Francisco State University (SFSU) and surrounding universities who are pursuing careers in education or community service, receive a unique opportunity to teach critical Filipina/x/o American studies. They gain skills in the practice of critical pedagogy, culturally relevant & responsive pedagogy, curriculum development, lesson planning, and teaching.
Who is PEP For?
PEP is for the people. PEP is for our ancestors and for our descendants. PEP is for the babies just coming into the world, the kindergartner just entering school, the elementary school children who need to learn about who they are, the middle schoolers finding their way, the high schoolers figuring out how to understand their world, and the college student who’s ready to pursue their legacy. PEP is also for all our families who deserve their stories to be told. PEP centers the voices of Pin@ys/xys, Filipinas/xes/os in the United States, along with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. PEP is a place where we grow, create, and cultivate the work of educators, activists, organizers, service providers, healers, leaders, cultural workers, care workers, artists, scientists, his/her/ourstorians. PEP is our community.
Heart | Vision | Purpose
PEP’s vision is to create educational spaces where Ethnic Studies and Filipina/x/o American Studies are utilized as a means to support the liberation, humanization, and wellness of students, teachers, and the communities in which they belong. PEP’s purpose is to promote the values of Ethnic Studies: hope, love, respect, critical consciousness, and both self- actualization/determination and community actualization/determination. In our classrooms, we practice the following Ethnic Studies principles.
In PEP, we:
CULTIVATE empathy, community actualization, cultural perpetuity, self- worth, self-determination, and the holistic well-being of all participants, especially Native peoples and people of color.
CELEBRATE and honor Native peoples of the land and communities of color by providing a space to share their stories of struggle and resistance, along with their cultural wealth.
CENTER and place high value on pre-colonial, ancestral, indigenous, diasporic, familial, and marginalized knowledge.
CRITIQUE empire and its relationship to white supremacy, racism, patriarchy, and cis-heteropatriarchy.
CHALLENGE imperialist/colonial hegemonic beliefs and practices on the ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized levels.
CONNECT ourselves to past and contemporary resistance movements that struggle for social justice on the global and local levels.
CONCEPTUALIZE, imagine, and build new possibilities for post-imperial life that promote transformative resistance, critical hope, and radical healing.
(Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Committee, May 2019; Cuauhtin, 2019; Tintiangco-Cubales & Curammeng, E. 2018.)
CULTIVATE empathy, community actualization, cultural perpetuity, self- worth, self-determination, and the holistic well-being of all participants, especially Native peoples and people of color.
CELEBRATE and honor Native peoples of the land and communities of color by providing a space to share their stories of struggle and resistance, along with their cultural wealth.
CENTER and place high value on pre-colonial, ancestral, indigenous, diasporic, familial, and marginalized knowledge.
CRITIQUE empire and its relationship to white supremacy, racism, patriarchy, and cis-heteropatriarchy.
CHALLENGE imperialist/colonial hegemonic beliefs and practices on the ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized levels.
CONNECT ourselves to past and contemporary resistance movements that struggle for social justice on the global and local levels.
CONCEPTUALIZE, imagine, and build new possibilities for post-imperial life that promote transformative resistance, critical hope, and radical healing.
(Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Committee, May 2019; Cuauhtin, 2019; Tintiangco-Cubales & Curammeng, E. 2018.)
HEAD
Intentions
In PEP, our educational spaces intend be community responsive by implementing the domains of relevance, responsibility, and relationships in the following ways:
POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Relevance: The relevance domain consists of qualities of a community responsive educator that is committed to developing curriculum and pedagogy that centers students' daily lives, their communities, their families, and their ethnic, cultural, and linguistic histories. This connection must avoid the trap multiculturalism and the reduction of culture to “trivial examples and artifacts of cultures such as eating ethnic or cultural foods, singing or dancing, reading folktales, and other less than scholarly pursuits of the fundamentally different conceptions of knowledge or quests for social justice” (Ladson-Billings and Tate, 1995, p. 61). By centering students, their families, their communities, and their ancestors, a relevant pedagogy acknowledges their stories as assets that provide cultural wisdom and pathways to freedom and justice.
PEP is relevant by responding to the colonialism that has impacted generations. PEP is grounded in the decolonization to strive for self determination, advocacy, and peace. We are dedicated in fostering a community that is politically aware, action oriented, and nurturing future generations to become critical leaders in our communities.
PRAXIS AND AGENCY
Responsibility: The responsibility domain consists of qualities of a community responsive educator that is committed to understanding and responding to the wide range of needs (social, emotional and technical) that impact a student's capacity to be at their best. This requires schools and individual educators to find effective ways to identify what students need when they need it and to measure the degree to which those needs are being met. Schools and educators also have the responsibility to acknowledge and leverage student strengths to develop and maintain their well-being and overall achievement.
PEP takes seriously the responsibility to ground our practices within theory, action, reflection, and humanization. PEP aims to utilize our scholarship to develop agency in our communities.
PARTNERSHIPS AND PATHWAYS
Relationships: The relationships domain consists of qualities of a community responsive educator that is committed to building meaningful, caring relationships with students and families, understanding that students do not care what we know until they know that we care. These relationships are the foundation for teachers, students, and families to create solidarity with each other. This begins with acknowledging their community cultural wealth that students and families bring with them to the school. This promotes a connectedness where all students, especially those who have been marginalized, feel valued.
PEP creates and sustains connections through authentic relationships and triadic partnerships with community organizations, schools, and universities. PEP builds partnerships and pathways for students to realize their potential by understanding their cultural wealth and become advocates in their communities.
POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Relevance: The relevance domain consists of qualities of a community responsive educator that is committed to developing curriculum and pedagogy that centers students' daily lives, their communities, their families, and their ethnic, cultural, and linguistic histories. This connection must avoid the trap multiculturalism and the reduction of culture to “trivial examples and artifacts of cultures such as eating ethnic or cultural foods, singing or dancing, reading folktales, and other less than scholarly pursuits of the fundamentally different conceptions of knowledge or quests for social justice” (Ladson-Billings and Tate, 1995, p. 61). By centering students, their families, their communities, and their ancestors, a relevant pedagogy acknowledges their stories as assets that provide cultural wisdom and pathways to freedom and justice.
PEP is relevant by responding to the colonialism that has impacted generations. PEP is grounded in the decolonization to strive for self determination, advocacy, and peace. We are dedicated in fostering a community that is politically aware, action oriented, and nurturing future generations to become critical leaders in our communities.
PRAXIS AND AGENCY
Responsibility: The responsibility domain consists of qualities of a community responsive educator that is committed to understanding and responding to the wide range of needs (social, emotional and technical) that impact a student's capacity to be at their best. This requires schools and individual educators to find effective ways to identify what students need when they need it and to measure the degree to which those needs are being met. Schools and educators also have the responsibility to acknowledge and leverage student strengths to develop and maintain their well-being and overall achievement.
PEP takes seriously the responsibility to ground our practices within theory, action, reflection, and humanization. PEP aims to utilize our scholarship to develop agency in our communities.
PARTNERSHIPS AND PATHWAYS
Relationships: The relationships domain consists of qualities of a community responsive educator that is committed to building meaningful, caring relationships with students and families, understanding that students do not care what we know until they know that we care. These relationships are the foundation for teachers, students, and families to create solidarity with each other. This begins with acknowledging their community cultural wealth that students and families bring with them to the school. This promotes a connectedness where all students, especially those who have been marginalized, feel valued.
PEP creates and sustains connections through authentic relationships and triadic partnerships with community organizations, schools, and universities. PEP builds partnerships and pathways for students to realize their potential by understanding their cultural wealth and become advocates in their communities.
HANDS
Action.
Pedagogy
PEP’s pedagogy intends to align their Ethnic Studies/Filipina/x/o American curriculum context, content, method, with PEP’s vision. The PEPagogies in our classroom are aligned to the following elements of Ethnic Studies pedagogy:
PURPOSE
The purpose of Ethnic Studies is to eliminate racism and other forms of oppression. Ethnic Studies centralizes the first person narratives of Black, Indigenous Peoples, and Communities of Color--within a critical discussion about power, systems, identity formation, self-reflection, agency, and action. The purpose or “ARC” of Ethnic Studies from its onset was centered around three major concepts: Access, Relevance, and Community. Access means for educational institutions to open their doors to more students of color and to provide them with a quality education. A quality education is one that is relevant and includes the marginalized experiences of students of color. To connect these experiences, Ethnic Studies’ purpose was to serve as a bridge from formal educational spaces to community involvement, advocacy, organizing and activism. The goal was for students in Ethnic Studies to leverage their education towards the betterment of their communities. (Beckham & Concordia, 2019; Gomez & Ochoa, 2019; Collier & Gonzales, 2009: Gonzales, Tintiangco-Cubales, Salunga, Schroeder, & Daus-Magbual, 2009; Tintiangco- Cubales, Daus-Magbual, Desai, Sabac, & Torres, 2016).
CONTEXT
It is essential for Ethnic Studies to be responsive to students and their families and communities. The context is shaped by the narratives of those both doing the learning and teaching. The context also includes the historical and contemporary racialized experiences where the learning is taking place. The context values the cultures and livelihoods of the communities represented in the content. Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon provides three essential questions that should be answered in an Ethnic Studies course to fulfill the purpose: 1. Who am I?; 2. Who is my family and community?; and 3. What can I do to bring social justice to my community and the world? (Mabalon, 2016)
CONTENT
It is essential that Ethnic Studies centralizes the histories, cultures, and intellectual traditions of Black, Indigenous peoples, and Communities of Color in the U.S. and that their stories are told in the first person. The content also fosters the development of all students’ identities, critical consciousness, self- determination, and agency. Ethnic Studies also provides transformative opportunities for the growth of community, collectivity, and connection both inside and outside of the classroom. The content should provide examples of social movements and resistance to oppressive systems that have impacted the lives of people of color.
METHOD
Ethnic Studies courses are interdisciplinary and include multiple methods. The methods should model the ways in which students can use the content in Ethnic Studies to create positive change in their communities, in their other classes, and in their personal and familial lives. For ex.: Community Participatory Action Research, Media Literacy, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Socratic Seminar, Oral Histories, Civic and Community Engagement and Organizing, Critical Leadership Development, Critical Performance Pedagogy, Ethnic Studies Praxis Story Plot Development, and Personal Narrative/Auto- Ethnography.
PURPOSE
The purpose of Ethnic Studies is to eliminate racism and other forms of oppression. Ethnic Studies centralizes the first person narratives of Black, Indigenous Peoples, and Communities of Color--within a critical discussion about power, systems, identity formation, self-reflection, agency, and action. The purpose or “ARC” of Ethnic Studies from its onset was centered around three major concepts: Access, Relevance, and Community. Access means for educational institutions to open their doors to more students of color and to provide them with a quality education. A quality education is one that is relevant and includes the marginalized experiences of students of color. To connect these experiences, Ethnic Studies’ purpose was to serve as a bridge from formal educational spaces to community involvement, advocacy, organizing and activism. The goal was for students in Ethnic Studies to leverage their education towards the betterment of their communities. (Beckham & Concordia, 2019; Gomez & Ochoa, 2019; Collier & Gonzales, 2009: Gonzales, Tintiangco-Cubales, Salunga, Schroeder, & Daus-Magbual, 2009; Tintiangco- Cubales, Daus-Magbual, Desai, Sabac, & Torres, 2016).
CONTEXT
It is essential for Ethnic Studies to be responsive to students and their families and communities. The context is shaped by the narratives of those both doing the learning and teaching. The context also includes the historical and contemporary racialized experiences where the learning is taking place. The context values the cultures and livelihoods of the communities represented in the content. Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon provides three essential questions that should be answered in an Ethnic Studies course to fulfill the purpose: 1. Who am I?; 2. Who is my family and community?; and 3. What can I do to bring social justice to my community and the world? (Mabalon, 2016)
CONTENT
It is essential that Ethnic Studies centralizes the histories, cultures, and intellectual traditions of Black, Indigenous peoples, and Communities of Color in the U.S. and that their stories are told in the first person. The content also fosters the development of all students’ identities, critical consciousness, self- determination, and agency. Ethnic Studies also provides transformative opportunities for the growth of community, collectivity, and connection both inside and outside of the classroom. The content should provide examples of social movements and resistance to oppressive systems that have impacted the lives of people of color.
METHOD
Ethnic Studies courses are interdisciplinary and include multiple methods. The methods should model the ways in which students can use the content in Ethnic Studies to create positive change in their communities, in their other classes, and in their personal and familial lives. For ex.: Community Participatory Action Research, Media Literacy, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Socratic Seminar, Oral Histories, Civic and Community Engagement and Organizing, Critical Leadership Development, Critical Performance Pedagogy, Ethnic Studies Praxis Story Plot Development, and Personal Narrative/Auto- Ethnography.