Designing Critical and Creative Learning with Indigenous Youth

Situating Struggle, an Academic Journey; Journey to My PhD; Changed Worldview; Tending toward My Leap; Founding Unlocking Silent Histories; Focusing on Media; Finding the Space and Place; Introducing Unlocking Silent Histories; Defining Unlocking Silent Histories; Maya Traditions Foundation: A Formalized Partnership; Setting the Stage; Theoretical Foundations; Who Am I Anyway, What Gives Me the Right?; Situating Myself as a Researcher; Grounding Unlocking Silent Histories in Theory; Situating Guatemala and Our Initial Communities: Chirijox and San Juan La Laguna; Maya Civilizations; The Spanish Conquest; The Religious Influence; A Line of Dictators; The 36-year Internal Conflict; Maya Today; Our Initial Communities; Looking Forward; Carmen Tzoc Portillo, 17 Chirijox, Nahualá: “La Naturaleza” [Nature]; Connecting with Local Knowledge and Voice as Central to Learning; Introducing Carmen; Engaging in the USH Philosophy; Traversing “Compliance” and “Agency”; Discovering Focus, Knowledge, and Voice; Developing Voice; Embracing the Local Knowledge and Voice; Emilio Tzoc Portillo, 13 Chirijox, Nahualá: “Alcoholismo” [Alcoholism]; Youth Have the Capacity to Direct Their Own Learning and Author Their Own Stories; Introducing Emilio; Implementation Challenges; Dangerous Line; Visualizing the Story; Keeping Emilio Inspired; Youth Directed Learning and Authored Stories; Catalina Naccasia, 13 and Fabiola Tambriz, 14 Chirijox, Nahualá: “Ovejas y Tejidos” [Sheep and Weaving]; Community Connected Themes Encourage Critical and Creative Expression; Introducing Catalina and Fabiola; Working in Community; Planning Community Representations; Capturing the Community Surroundings; Finding Their Story; Community Connected Themes for Critical and Creative Expression; Jose Maria Perez Vasquez (Chema, Chino), 17 San Juan La Laguna: “Mujeres Luchadoras” [Fighting Women]; The Agency of Youth to Shape Their Own Social Environment; Introducing Chema; In the Center andCo-Construction of Learning; Toward Developing His Future; Asserting Agency to Create One’s Social Environments; Norma Mendoza, 18 San Juan La Laguna “Temascales”: [Maya Saunas]; Using Video to Capture the Language and Cultural Knowledge of Indigenous Youth; Introducing Norma; “Choosing” a Language; Knowledge-Language Attachment; Embracing the Tenent of Capturing Language and Culture; Carlos Agustin Vasquez Mendoza (Tín), 18 San Juan La Laguna “Exito”: The Use of Analytical Tools to Assist in Dissecting Social, Cultural, and Political Realities; Introducing Carlos; Setting the Foundation for Profound Exploration; Developing Crtical Inquiry; Teasing out Critical Consciousness; Visible Meaning and Masked Growth; Ongoing Fostering Critical Inquiry; Owning Unlocking Silent Histories Becoming Teacher|Leader: The Development of Internal Expertise (Co-written with Jenn Miller Scarnato); Co-Constructing Our Conception of Youth Leaders; Our Three Youth Leaders; How the Leaders Are Defining the Future of USH; Looking Back, Looking Forward; Reflecting on My Leave; Achieving New Learning Models; Employing Critical Pedagogy: From the Voices of Youth; On Continually Becoming; In Closing.