A 'revolucionista' ethic of care - with Mia Sosa-Provencio

How has the legacy of conquest and colonisation shaped the educational experiences of students and teachers in New Mexico? What can educators do to enable students to bring their embodied knowledge and intergenerational wisdom into educational spaces? And in what ways are (Nuevo) Mexicana educators developing a 'revolucionista' ethic of care?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Mia Sosa-Provencio. Mia is an Associate Professor of Secondary Education in the Department of Teacher Education, Educational Leadership, and Policy, at the University of New Mexico. She taught Language Arts for seven years at Rio Grande High School in the South Valley of Albuquerque, before studying for a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis on Critical Pedagogies, at New Mexico State University.

Mia has published widely in the field of critical education studies, with a number of recent articles seeking to develop a Mexicana/Mestiza Critical Feminist Ethic of Care, drawing on her research, which uses Testimonio methodology, with educators living and working along the U.S.-Mexico border.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Mia's cultural roots and the social, political and historical context of New Mexico (02:32)

Mia's personal experience of the US education system as a child (07:55)

The impact of Mia's experience as a high school teacher in Albuquerque (13:05)

Mia's current work preparing teachers to practice education as social justice (15:42)

The ways in which care is excluded from educational spaces (19:48)

Mia's ethnographic research with Mexicana/Mestiza educators using Testimonio methodology (20:55)

Learning from Rosa's and Diana's narratives about ways of embodying a revolucionista ethic of care (26:15)

Towards a critical feminist ethic of care (34:12)

Developing an 'in the flesh' ethic of care: the importance of body and land (39:11)

The role of humour and play in creating a social justice revolución (49:17)

Mia's ongoing work and her hopes for its impact on policy and practice (01:01:04)

A selection of Mia's publications

'A Revolucionista Ethic of Care: Four Mexicana Educators' Subterraneous Social Justice Revolución of Fighting and Feeding'

'Seeking a Mexicana/Mestiza Critical Feminist Ethic of Care: Diana's Revolución of Body and Being'

'Seeking a Mexicana/Mestiza Ethic of Care: Rosa's Revolución of carrying alongside'

'Curriculum of the Mestiza/o Body: Living and Learning Through a Corporal Landscape of Resistance and (Re)generation'

'Tu eres mi otro yo/You Are My Other Me: An In-The-Flesh Ethic of Care Centering Body and Emotionality as Speaking Subjects Fostering Dignity, Interconnection, and Racialized Healing'

'Seeking a Culturally Relevant Ethic of Care for Mexican/Mexican American Youth: A Revolucionista Ethic of Care and its Wily, Tactical Mechanism of Humor' (forthcoming)

Scholars, writers and activists mentioned in the episode

Gloria Anzaldúa

Beverly E Cross

Vanessa Siddle Walker

Dolores Delgado Bernal

Aida Hurtado

Chela Sandoval

Lourdes Diaz Soto

Maurice Hamington (see Episode 6)

Nell Noddings

Maria Lugones

Cherríe Moraga