Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices, where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is Dr Jennifer Najera, Professor of Ethnic Studies at UC Riverside. Thank you so much for being with us today. Dr. Najera.
Dr. Jennifer Najera
Thank you for having me.
Yvette Walker
What are some of the principles and philosophies that you focus on in the classroom?
Dr. Jennifer Najera
I'm definitely a Freirean influenced educator. I started this not knowing about Paulo Freire, but really having the impulse of wanting to talk to my students, wanting my students to participate in class. And once I read Pedagogy of the Oppressed, by Paulo Freire, I understood, you know, it basically gave a name to what I was trying to do, which was not to see my students as empty vessels that I could fill with knowledge, but rather students who were coming to the classroom with knowledge that they already had and that I could learn from them and that they could learn from me. That's definitely a philosophy that guides my teaching always. I try to ask a lot of questions. I try to, you know, keep things open for students to feel comfortable in the classroom, to participate, selfishly, because I want to learn from them, but also because I know that something good comes from, you know, all of us kind of being in these classroom spaces together, having these important conversations.
Yvette Walker
In your classroom, what are prevalent themes that emerge, and what can we learn from those?
Dr. Jennifer Najera
Well, I teach classes primarily in the areas of immigration and education, and I think that, you know, the most relevant or poignant or difficult classes that I've been teaching lately have been around immigration. You know, I always start from a historical standpoint. We're looking at things that happened in the 1930s, we're looking at things that happened in the 1950s in terms of policies, practices. But, you know, of course, because of the moment that we're in - the anti-immigrant sentiment that a lot of students are feeling for themselves and for their families, they see echoes of that, if not outright, you know, replications of that today in terms of anti-immigrant sentiment, immigration raids. And my hope is that, you know, by them understanding the histories of these negative immigration cycles, that they can kind of, you know, put it in a context, understand, well, this is what happened then, what is happening now, maybe gives them a little bit of hope to think about, you know, A) that it might also be a temporary moment, you know, as these things go, and also just thinking about the ways that historically communities have come together to support each other, the way that they have advocated, so that we can really create a space through and forward, you know, past this particular historical moment.
Yvette Walker
Tell us about your book, Learning to Lead.
Dr. Jennifer Najera
Thank you for asking that question. Learning to Lead is my second book. The full title is Learning to Lead: Undocumented Students Mobilizing Education. And it was a book that I came to as an educator during my first few years at UC Riverside, beginning around 2006/2007, I was meeting a lot of undocumented students and learning a lot from them in terms of the things that they had to do, you know, to fund their education, the anxieties that they were experiencing around deportation, both for themselves and for their parents, their family members. And so, with their permission, after several years, I began this research project and was able to really try to put it all together in terms of thinking about what are undocumented students learning from their undocumented parents? How is that setting them up to matriculate to higher education, and also, how is that setting them up to become advocates and community activists, right to create a better situation for themselves, but also for future generations of undocumented students.
Yvette Walker
And so what advice do you have for those that are looking to dig deeper learn more about Ethnic Studies?
Dr. Jennifer Najera
Ethnic Studies is such a wonderful field of inquiry. I think that you know, part of the reason why I came to ethnic studies was because it really helped me to make sense of where I came from, right? So I come from a pretty large, extended family, and out of all of us, I'm probably in the middle, but I remember only one cousin ahead of me had gone to college, and so for me, I always thought that wasn't quite right, like I knew that my cousins were really bright, and I didn't understand why nobody else was going and so I was always very interested in taking classes when I got to college. That helped me to figure that out, and I think that's what Ethnic Studies helps us to do. It helps us to, like, put a name to the sort of social, political, economic situations that we find ourselves in, and once we understand it, that kind of gives you the tools to help to change it, right, to be part of positive change for you know, problems you might see in your community, that's one piece of it. That was the piece that I was drawn to. There's also beautiful pieces of Ethnic Studies that have to do with the arts and literature and music and creation, and that's another piece that I know that people are drawn to.
Yvette Walker
Well, thank you for sharing your inspiring story today, Dr. Najera.
Dr. Jennifer Najera
Thank you so much for having me here. It's such an honor and privilege.
Yvette Walker
Dr. Jennifer Najera is Professor of Ethnic Studies at UC Riverside. Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at kvcrnews.org/IELatinoVoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and is funded by generous support from the CIELO Fund at IECF, uplifting and investing in the IE’s Latino community. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
