![]() ![]() Latinx students can certainly use the help. Hollywood, it turns out, doesn’t mirror reality - sorry to Michelle Pfeiffer as an instructor teaching rap lyrics as poetry in “Dangerous Minds.” If kids just had grit that would fix everything. “That’s also how I think we have conceptualized the adoption of grit. “Usually the narratives have a triumphant tone, and that there is a quick fix or a unique fix that will make everything better: the right teacher, the right concept, this new quick trick,” said Carter, an associate professor of higher education at Claremont Graduate University. And pop culture depictions of grit certainly don’t help. It challenges the dominant narrative that students of color only need grit to thrive in college, an idea that puts the onus of success solely on them without much regard for larger institutional failures that affect their achievement. Locks, Deborah Faye Carter and Rocío Mendoza, educators and scholars in the field of postsecondary education. That’s what 22 scholars and authors argue in “ Debunking the Grit Narrative in Higher Education: Drawing on the Strengths of African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latinx, and Native American Students.” The book, released in November, is edited by Angela M. ![]() Students need more than ganas, and relying so much on this idea is toxic and detrimental to Latinx students who constantly get this individualistic message megaphoned into them. It’s a nice sentiment, but one that ignores the systemic obstacles that make up the second part of the equation. The takeaway of the movie isn’t that you always carry the one (or whatever it is they do in calculus), but instead is meant to remind students, especially Latinx and Black students, that grit and gumption can help you overcome anything, even if you go to a school where pencils double as weapons during gang fights. The 1988 drama is based on the true story of Jaime Escalante, the famed Garfield High math teacher who pushed his working class, under-resourced and mostly Latinx students into passing the AP calculus exam. The second I saw a substitute standing awkwardly at the head of the class, or my teacher looking absolutely drained of all life force, I knew we were about to watch Edward James Olmos drop some integrals on Lou Diamond Phillips. Throughout my entire public school education, I think I must’ve watched “Stand and Deliver” around 20 times. If you have not subscribed to our weekly newsletter, you can do so here. This week, we’ve asked De Los contributing columnist Alex Zaragoza to fill in. Periodically, the Latinx Files will feature a guest writer. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |