By Irene Sanchez This is hardly a surprise, but the pandemic has impacted many students at all levels of education, particularly those who are underserved and over represented in a system like the community college. It’s no surprise that as a result community college enrollment has dropped in a global pandemic. Then there was a … Continue reading Building Back More Inequality: No Free Community College While Enrollment Dips In The Pandemic
Tag: academia
Most New Teachers Leave Within 5 Years
This is my 5th year of teaching high school. Although I’ve also taught and currently teach college, teaching high school students students and teaching the subject I teach has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life, but at the same time this path has been extremely difficult due to the often hostile … Continue reading Most New Teachers Leave Within 5 Years
Why High School Graduation Remains an Important Achievement for Chicanos/Latinos
The same year my son began kindergarten was the same year I started teaching high school. After completing a Ph.D. in Education in 2015, instead of working in higher education as I anticipated, I was called to teach Ethnic Studies in high school classrooms to be in schools that sometimes feel like the “Mexican Schools” I teach about from the 1940s. As Teaching Tolerance has documented in these Mexican Schools, “Many Anglo educators did not expect, or encourage, Chicano students to advance beyond the eighth grade. Instead, the curriculum at the Mexican schools was designed, as one district superintendent put it, “to help these children take their place in society.”
When Ethnic Studies is Under Attack…
When Ethnic Studies is Under Attack... By Irene Sanchez Xicana Ph.D. When Ethnic Studies is under attack, you remember we've been here many times before. You carry the lessons of the past to act with the wisdom that has been passed down. This is not the time to turn away from our elders or dismiss … Continue reading When Ethnic Studies is Under Attack…
The Myth of Meritocracy
The Myth of Meritocracy By Irene Sanchez The scandal Operation Varsity Blues has many talking about corruption in higher education recently, but it exposes something many of us already knew was there. The unchecked privilege reserved for the wealthy of this country is nothing new. There are front doors many of them walk through such … Continue reading The Myth of Meritocracy
3 P’s of Graduate School Applications
3 P's of Graduate School Applications By: Xicana Ph.D. I know I have a lot of my critiques of the academy and elitists and will continue to have them and write about them, but that is precisely why I wanted to go to graduate school to begin with. I wanted to subvert the system. I … Continue reading 3 P’s of Graduate School Applications
Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia
Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia By Xicana Ph.D. The ivory tower as a whole doesn’t uplift anything, but those who reinforce it. It reinforces existing power. The status quo. A lot of folks within it do too. A lot of people who preach social justice do it every single day. Let’s … Continue reading Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia
The Importance of “Staying Rooted” in These Times
The Importance of "Staying Rooted" in These Times By Irene Sanchez (Xicana Ph.D.) Remembering who I am has meant for me to remember my roots. Our roots are what hold us steady no matter what may come our way. They remind us to keep growing up and if we need a reminder of how strong … Continue reading The Importance of “Staying Rooted” in These Times