XITO

is a sponsored program
of Prescott College

In LakEch: Teaching Justice and Decolonial

Pedagogy
June 26 June 28, 2015
Tucson, AZ

The
V
ision:








the needs of
There is a lack of opportunities for teachers to improve their practices in meeting

ethodology.
students of color through
culturally responsive, a uthentic and research based m


institute that
The Xican@ Institute for Teaching and Organizing (XITO) is an urban educational


will fill the gap in Xican@/Latin@ schooling for students and practitioners with the goal of



impacting future education
policy.







The
M
ission:







XITO strives to support
t
he
X
ican@/Latin@
c
ommunity
t
hrough
t
eacher
p
articipation,
social



justice pedagogy, and
c
ommunity
o
rganizing.
X
ITOs
p
ractices
a
re
s
teeped
i
n
X
ican@



Indigenous epistemology,
which drives the intentions,
structures, and practices


of the institute.







The Rationale:




laws, policies and practices,
including HB
Arizona is a testing g round for anti-Xican@/Latin@



2281 (A.R.S. 15-112 & 15-112), the anti-Ethnic Studies law banning Mexican American
Studies



courses in public schools. Given that many such political experiments have been successfully



exported from Arizona
to the larger nation, XITO addresses the implications of this legislation
by offering workshops
in community organizing a nd critical teaching to counter
this trend. In
addition to teaching workshops, XITO supports the
continued teaching of XIcan@
Literature
and XIcan@ Studies in Tucson, Arizona. XITO thrives
other Ph
to support Mexican Americans
Anita aFnd
ernndez,
Latin@s, the largest and fastest growing minority
g
roup
i
n
t
he
n
ation,
b
y
c
oordinating
a


policy on the local, state, r egional, or national level.
viable way of affecting








XITO

Anita Fernndez, P h.D. - Director


Curtis Acosta, Ph.D.


Sean Arce,

M.Ed.
Jos Gonzlez,
M.A.


Norma
G
onzlez,
M.Ed.

XICAN@ INSTITUTE FOR TEACHING & ORGANIZING

XITO Facilitators

Anita Fernndez, Ph.D.

Director, XITO & Prescott
College Tucson

eliminated classes to
continue on in a non-
formal setting for college
credit from Prescott
College. Anita is also the
co-founder of La Tierra
Community School, a K-8
Expeditionary Learning
school in Prescott, AZ.

award-winning educator
that has been featured in
the documentary Precious
Knowledge, The Daily
Show with John Stewart,
and his classes were
subject of multiple
profiles by CNN, The New
York Times, and The Los
Angeles Times amongst
many other media outlets.
He received his Bachelor
of Arts from Willamette
University in Salem,
Oregon; a Masters of
Arts in Language, Reading,
and Culture from the
University of Arizona; and
a Doctorate in Teaching,
Learning and
Sociocultural Studies at
the University of Arizona.

Curtis Acosta, Ph.D.

Acosta Latino Learning
Partnership & XITO

Anita Fernndez is
a scholar activist at
Prescott College (Arizona)
and teaches in both the
undergraduate Education
program and the
graduate program in
Social Justice and Human
Rights. Anitas work in
education began as a high
school English teacher,
which influenced her
graduate work to focus
on preparing activist
teachers who are both
compassionate and
critical. Anita is locally
and nationally involved
with organizations that
focus on Chican@ access
to education, social
justice activism, critical
pedagogy and
transformative teacher
education. Anita has
worked closely with the
now banned Mexican
American Studies
Department in Tucson,
and in that work she
created a structure for
the eliminated classes to
continue on in a non-
formal setting for the

Sean Arce, M.Ed.

Prescott College
Instructor & XITO

Curtis Acosta has

been a public high school
teacher in Tucson for
nearly 20 years where he
developed and taught
Chican@ / Latin@
Literature classes for the
renowned Mexican
American Studies (MAS)
program in Tucson - the
largest public school
ethnic studies program in
the nation before being
dismantled in January,
2012. MAS classes were
centered on student
empowerment and
agency through critical
pedagogy, as well as
culturally responsive and
socially relevant
curriculum. Curtis is an

Sean Arce, co-

founder and former
director of the nationally
renowned and now
banned Mexican
American Studies
Department in Tucson, AZ,
received the Myles
Horton Award for
Teaching Peoples History
from the Zinn Education
Project (ZEP) in 2012. ZEP
honored Arce for his
instrumental role in

nurturing one of the most

significant and successful
public school initiatives
on the teaching of history
in the United States. His
work has been
highlighted on PBS,
Democracy Now and
National Public Radio. As
an activist urban educator
for over 20 years, Arce
and his colleagues
developed Barrio
Pedagogy - which
centers Xicano Indigenous
epistemologies and social
justice principles as its
foundation - where
students and teachers co-
constructed an
educational experience
that fostered and
developed both academic
strong cultural identities.
Arce received his
Bachelor of Arts in
Mexican American
Studies from the
University of Arizona and
his Masters in
Educational Leadership
from Northern Arizona
University. He is currently
completing his doctorate
in Teaching, Learning and
Sociocultural Studies at
the University of Arizona.
What drives Arces work
are all Xicana/o children,
specifically his own two,
Maya and Emiliano, who
are plaintiffs in the Arce
et al. v State of Arizona
case that is currently in
the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals, challenging
Arizonas anti-Chicano
Studies law 15-111 & 15-
112 (formerly known as
Arizona HB 2281).

XICAN@ INSTITUTE FOR TEACHING & ORGANIZING

XITO Facilitators

Jos Gonzalez , M.A. -

XITO

Isela Gonzlez, Papa to

Joseph Elias Gonzlez and
Tatzin to his
grandchildren, Ameyalli
Ballesteros, Citlanique
Ballesteros, Isita Felix,
and Santi Felix.

epistemologies. Currently
she is a third grade
teacher at the Greenest
School in the Nation,
Manzo Elementary School
in Tucson, AZ. Normas
current curricular and
pedagogical focus centers
on ecology,
environmental justice and
Indigenous Traditional
Earth Knowledge.

Georgina Cecilia Perz,
M.A., Doctoral Candidate
UTEP: Teaching,
Learning and Culture

Norma Gonzalez, M.Ed. -

XITO

Jose Gonzlez is
in his twenty-second year
of teaching and currently
works for Tucson Unified
School District teaching
th
6 grade World History at
Roskruge Bilingual Middle
School in Tucson, Arizona.
As a student advocate,
Jose was one of thirteen
plaintiffs challenging the
constitutionality of HB
2281 (ARS 15-112), which
has made teaching
Chicana/o Studies illegal
in the State of Arizona. As
and educator and student
advocate, Jose anchors
his instruction by
implementing a Xican@
Critical Race Pedagogy,
simultaneously
interweaving a
humanizing pedagogy
which at its core is
grounded in Indigenous
epistemologies. He works
to foster and facilitate his
students academic
identity through a
philosophy, which is
centered on the students
self-actualization and self-
discipline. Jose is the
proud husband to Norma

Norma Gonzlez
has been a Mexican
Indigenous Studies
Critical Educator for over
20 years. Her research
interest is centered on
culture and re-
introducing Xicana/o
youth to Indigenous
Mexican knowledge and
wisdom as a means to
solidify a positive identity.
She holds a M.Ed. in
Educational Leadership
and a B.A. in Elementary
Bilingual Education.
Professionally Norma was
a curriculum specialist
with the Mexican
American Studies
Department for ten years
where she developed
curriculum (K-12) that
was culturally responsive
and that implemented
critical pedagogy and
indigenous

Born and raised

in El Chuco, Georgina is
engaged in educational
and community
development through
advocacy efforts, to
include organizing events,
presentation, rallies and
protests to address
political attacks on
education, to include:
Working with the Texas
School Board of
Education on the
Implementation of
Cultural Studies in Texas
Public Education,
protesting against Texas
House Bill 1938 and Texas
Senate Bill 1128 which
aimed at effectively
dismantling Ethnic
Studies and Women's
Studies in Texas
education. As an

advocate of grassroots
organizing, Georgina sits
on the Social Justice in
Education Task Force,
collaborates with local
womens organization,
La Mujer Obrera and
Centro Sin Fronteras
Border Agricultural
Workers Project,
developing workshops,
organizing fund raising
events, poetry nights and
"Pelicula y Platica"
cultural film screenings in
order to keep the
message on the forefront.
One of her proudest
endeavors is "Tu Libro -
an initiative she
spearheaded to provide
Libros to students and
their families.

Jesus Chucho Ruiz -
Calpolli Teoxicalli

Over the past

decade, Chucho has
transformed the lives of
countless Raza youth
through a La Cultura Cura
approach as the Youth,
Services Director with
Chicanos Por La Causa.
Additionally, through his
affirmation and
maintenance of Nahua
cultural practices and way

of life, commitment to
social justice, and
obligation to the Tucson
community, Chucho has
served as a central
facilitator of la tradicon
Nahua within the Calpolli
Teoxicalli, a constellation
of Nahua familias in
Tlamanalco, Aztlan.
Chucho has always
answered the call to meet
the needs in of the
Chicano community as
spiritual advisor,
authentic community
leader, and barrio
intellectual - particularly
as the Chicana/o
community has been
under attack through
racist laws (HB 2281 & SB
1070) and dehumanizing
practices.

Elias Serna Doctoral
Candidate, UC Riverside;
Raza Studies Now, and
Chicano Secret Service.

Elias is an English
doctoral student at UC
Riverside and currently
teaches Chicano Studies
at Cal State L.A. and
Dominguez Hills, and is
directing the PYFC
Summer Arts Program in
Santa Monica. In 2013 he
won the National
Collegiate Book Collecting
Contest hosted by the
Library of Congress for his
collection titled Chicano
Movement Banned

Books. He is co-
organizing the 4th Raza
Studies Now Conference
(August 23 in Santa
Monica) which has
drafted El Plan de Los
Angeles envisioning
Ethnic Studies in high
schools. With Johnavalos
he co-founded the
Xican@ Pop-Up Book
Movement -unfolding in
Riverside, Texas,
Minnesota, Salt Lake,
South LA and all over
Aztlan - that promotes
Raza Studies arts and
science through pop up
books, in order to
proclaim that you can
ban Chican@ books, but
theyll still POP UP!

Johnavalos, M.A. UC
Riverside, Department of
Music

With a Masters
Degree in Ethnic Dance
Education from Stanford
University 1978, and a
B.A. in Sociology from UC
Santa Cruz, "Johnavalos"
(John Rios aka juan) has
been teaching
Mexican/Xican@ dance at
4 UC campuses for the
past 25 years. Currently a
lecturer/adjunct with the
Department of Music at
UC Riverside he serves as
premier director of the
UCR Studio for Mexican
Music and Dance (SMMD)
where he collaborates
with famed pioneer of
mariachi women Laura

Sobrino and they both

work with students to
produce a weeknight
annual concert for the
UCR campus community
During the 70's
and 80's, Johnavalos
performed and toured
with such companies as
Los Lupeos de San Jos,
Ballet Mexicapan de
Benjamin Hernandez, The
National Chicano Dance
Theater of Enrique
Montoya, Miguel
Delgado's Teatro
Mechicano de Danza and
during his college years
co-founded "Los Mejicas
de UCSC. His most noted
credits include a featured
dancer role in the 1979
motion picture "Zoot
Suit" by Luis Valdez and
can be seen as a Mayan
Dancer at EPCOT Mexican
Pavilion in Disney World
Florida working under
famed Aztec dancer
Florencio Yescas.
With a lifetime
of Folklrico performance
and serving 12 years as an
elected board member of
the National Association
of Folklrico Groups
(ANGF) Johnavalos
continues to search for
ways to enhance the
understanding the people
we call Mexican. His work
as an artist is dedicated to
creating new
performances that tell the
story of his life as a gay
American, his mother's
life as a farmworker with
11 children, and the
enduring spirit of his
indigenous ancestors the
Avalos (hence his new
artist name
"Johnavalos"). It is these
recently found
"Purpecha" ancestors

who continue to take care

of the original cornfield
once owned by his
maternal grandfather
who had fled to Los
Angeles during the
Mexican Revolution.







Time

8:30 am - 9:00 am
9:00 am - 9:30 am

9:30 am - 10:00 am
10:00 am 11:00 am
11:00 am 11:15 am
11:15 am -12:15 am

12:15 am- 1:15 pm

1:15 pm -2:15 pm

Friday, June 26, 2015

Institute Workshop Sessions

Check in and light breakfast

Welcome: Anita Fernndez
Opening Ceremonia: Calpolli Teoxicalli

Introductions & Self-Assessments

In LakEch: Framing the Political Landscape and the Need for Activist Oriented Pedagogy -
Anita Fernndez

Break

The Nahui Ollin as a Pedagogical Framework
Jose Gonzlez & Norma Gonzlez

Lunch

The Nahui Ollin as a Content Framework
Jose Gonzlez & Norma Gonzlez

Room

TBD

TBD

TBD
TBD



TBD

TBD

TBD

Break



Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, and Xipe Totec in the Social Studies Classroom:
TBD
Knowing Ourselves, Our Students, and Our Community - Sean Arce



Day One Summary & Workshop Evaluations
TBD

6-26-15 Institute Workshop Descriptions
Title
Description

In this opening workshop, XITO Director Anita Fernndez will describe Arizonas current political
In LakEch: Framing the Political landscape, how it necessitates culturally responsive and activist oriented pedagogy as well as its
Landscape and the Need for
impact on national educational policy. An overview of the battle to preserve Mexican American
Activist Oriented Pedagogy
Studies will set the framework for the institute bringing focus to the mission and vision of XITO.



The Nahui Ollin, was developed and utilized by the former Mexican American Studies teachers as
The Nahui Ollin as a Pedagogical a pedagogical framework that fosters culturally sustaining teaching. The framework will be
Framework
unpacked by participants as they will delve into the critical components. This pedagogical
framework fosters an academic identity in students and is a humanistic approach to creating
respectful relationships with students.


The Nahui Ollin is a multifaceted philosophy that also functions as a content framework.
The Nahui Ollin as a Content
Participants will learn about this content framework and how they can apply it as they introduce
Framework
concepts to their students. As a content framework it is centered in an inquiry-based approach to
learning through action research.

2:15 pm 2:30pm

2:30 pm 4:30 pm


4:30 pm 4:45 pm

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Time

8:30 am - 9:00 am

Check in and light breakfast

Institute Workshop Sessions

9:00 am - 9:15 am

Welcome: Norma Gonzlez - Opening Ceremonia: Calpolli Teoxicalli

9:15 am - 10:15 am

Barrio Libre Mural Tour - Sean Arce

Room

TBD

TBD

Barrio Libre

TBD

10:30 am - 12:00 pm Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Presentation in Action: Amoxtli Yayauhqui Tezcatlipoca:
El Camino Hacia Nuestro Ser Interno Norma Gonzlez

12:00 pm -1:00 pm
Lunch
TBD



1:00 pm -2:00 pm
Literacy, Libraries & Liberation: Mujerisma in the Classroom
TBD

2:00 pm -2:15 pm
Break




2:15 pm 4:15 pm Si Se Puede! Chican@/Latin@ Literature and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy In Action
TBD

Curtis Acosta




4:15 pm 4:30 pm Day Two Summary & Workshop Evaluations
TBD



4:30 pm 6:30 pm Break




6:30 pm 8:30 pm XITO Dinner hosted for conference participants
TBD



6-27-15 Institute Workshop Descriptions
Title
Description

This session will offer teachers who work with Raza students with an indigenous rooted process
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy of attaining self-love centered on the Tlamanalcayotl philosophy of life (Nahui Ollin- four
Presentation in Action: Amoxtli movement). Given that, an underlying goal guiding this presentation is to begin to transform the
Yayauhqui Tezcatlipoca: El
negative impact of colonization and the tragic effects it has had on indigenous Raza people of
Camino Hacia Nuestro Ser
this continent for the past five hundred years. Poetry will be utilized for that reflection and
Interno
introspection in such a manner whereby participants can profoundly interact with their inner-self

as they create their beautiful story in the tangible form of an amoxtli (a codex).


An interactive session of machiliztli tlazohtla mahuitzli (knowledge, love, respect) offering
Literacy, Libraries & Liberation:
mujerisma ~ the pedagogy of brown and black womyn in classroom communities. A reading and
Mujerisma in the Classroom
discussion of culturally and herstorically responsive literature will be offered with the purpose of

developing personal frameworks for implementation in knowledge sharing environments.

Si Se Puede! Chican@/Latin@
This session is an interactive teaching model of the acclaimed Mexican American Studies
Literature and Culturally
program in Tucson led by Chican@/Latin@ Literature teacher, Curtis Acosta. Participants will
Responsive Pedagogy In Action have an opportunity to experience a sampling of the pedagogy and curriculum through a
simulated classroom experience that focuses specifically on Chican@/Latin@ literature. After
building a sense of community through the experiences as a class, participants will have an
opportunity to engage in a frank and candid discussion about the benefits of culturally
responsive pedagogy and curricula, as well as how to assist teachers in the implementation of

such techniques in their classroom.

Time

8:30 am - 9:00 am
9:00 am - 9:15 am
9:15 am - 10:30 am

10:30 am -10:45 am

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Institute Workshop Sessions

Check in and light breakfast

Welcome: Jose Gonzlez
Opening Ceremonial: Calpolli Teoxicalli

Re-Defining and Re-Creating Xicano Manhood: Towards Counter Hegemonic
Masculinities with and for Xicano Male Youth Sean Arce

Break

10:45am - 12:00 pm

Room

TBD

TBD

TBD

TBD

Xican@ Pop-Up Books: Pedagogies and Allegories Against Book Burning and the Ban on
Xican@ Literature Elias Serna & Johnavalos Rios

12:00 pm 1:00 pm
Lunch
TBD



1:00 pm 2:00 pm Pulling It All Together: Theoretical Frameworks for Decolonial Projects Anita Fernndez
TBD



2:00 pm 2:15 pm Break




2:15 pm 3:45 pm Small Group Work - share community goals & report to larger group for input
TBD



3:45 pm - 4:00 pm Day Three Summary & Workshop Evaluations
TBD



4:00 pm 4:30 pm Closing Circle
TBD

6-28-15 - Institute Workshop Descriptions
Title
Description

In this workshop, Sean Arce will facilitate a critical examination of the formations, origins and
Re-Defining and Re-Creating
current manifestations of Xicano masculinities. Moreover, the current manifestations of Xicano
Xicano Manhood: Towards
hegemonic masculinities will be analyzed and pathways as possibilities (utilizing La Cultura Cura
Counter Hegemonic Masculinities as a practical framework) to counter these hegemonic masculinities with and for Xicano male
with and for Xicano Male Youth youth, both inside and outside of the classroom, will be presented. As historical subjects that

have agency, the Xicano male has the capacity to act upon his reality in positive and
transformative ways to re-define and re-create positive and healthy masculinities for the
strengthening of himself, his female equivalent, and his community.


Adapting MAS' Xican@ Paradigm, and in the context of attacks on Xican@ indigenous
Xican@ Pop-Up Books:
epistemologies - from colonial book burning to the banning of Chican@ Studies books in
Pedagogies and Allegories Against Arizona - we will walk participants through Xican@ Pop-Up Book lesson plans, including the role
Book Burning and the Ban on
of allegory and pop-up techniques. We use the concepts of self-reflection, precious knowledge,
Xican@ Literature
the will to act, and transformation to explain classroom lessons and experiences, as we

proclaim that "you can ban Chican@ books, but they'll still POP UP!"

In advance of participants working on their community goals and projects, this final workshop
Pulling It All Together: Theoretical will offer a framework of decolonizing education to consider when applying the institutes
Frameworks for Decolonial
epistemology to community work. A pedagogy of hope and love along with liberatory practices

Projects

that focus on healing will be presented and participants will be encouraged to engage in a
dialogue on how their specific work relates to these frameworks.

Special Thanks to:

Calpolli Teoxicalli Tlamenalco, Aztlan

Xican@ Pop-Up Books* - CalifAztlan

The Xican@ Pop-Up Book Movement was founded September 2013, promoting awareness of the Tucson MAS struggle and particularly the
banning of Chican@ Literature. By proclaiming that "You can ban Chican@ books, but they'll still pop up!" we spread awareness and
promote the advantages of learning hidden histories, Ethnic Studies, and defending Chican@ Literature in Arizona. We have been recently
featured on NPR radio's "Latino USA" and a fabulous Ted talk by Ron Espiritu. XPUB Pedagogy has popped up at UC Riverside, CSU
Dominguez Hills, Animo South LA High School and Univ. Minnesota St. Cloud.
9