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| Paulo Freire |
A CALL TO FACULTY CHASING TENURE IN LIGHT OF ETHNIC STUDIES
BATTLE
One-year ago today I published on my website a document
titled Five Principles of Community in
Diverse Learning Spaces in Light of Cultural Transformations. The document began,
as a revised version of my Teaching Philosophy that I felt needed updating
after two years. As I updated the text, I began to reflect on my mundane years
as a faculty member. I had spent a major part of my campus hours advising and
mentoring students outside of classroom hours. We talked about everything from
college majors to health, sexuality, gang violence, aggression, identity, and
spatial wellness. A focus of all conversations was the attainment of success,
but only after addressing the struggle and failure that brought students to me
in the first place. I was not surprised. As an adjunct faculty of color, fresh
from graduate school, the challenges sounded all too familiar. All of them!
As I proceeded with the document, I
felt a deep urge to integrate not only my teaching approach but also the call
for support that was resonating through students’ voices the times we’d meet. As
new faculty seeking employment, we are accustomed to submitting a cover letter,
and if the position requires, a teaching philosophy, and that is it! Oh and the
CV. I thought to myself wouldn’t it be more transformative to submit the sense
of urgency that was being felt by our students, and the connection that we as
faculty recognize, and ultimately aspire to cultivate. Wouldn’t it be better if
my potential employer knew that I was sincere about the health and wellbeing of
my students, outside of my scholarly merit?
Around the same time the text was being
drafted I was in dialogue with colleagues who were playing the tenure game. The
point was made that the principles paper
could harm my chances of gaining employment. In similar fashion, one near and
dear colleague was advised by a member of her PhD dissertation committee to takedown
a YouTube video where she reflected on the current state of our society, and
education at large. As the Ethnic Studies battle rages at Cal State L.A., I am again
reminded of the fragileness of rookie faculty. The link between Paulo Freire’s critical
consciousness and job security is very much a reality for many instructors with
scary consequences. Vocal faculty get rolled-up by department heads for
rattling cages all the time, I’ve seen this happen, as a student and faculty.
I too am chasing tenure having recently
submitted four applications for a shot at full-time pay and benefits; one is
the Ethnic Studies position at Fullerton College. Than I think about the
students that I serve and my teaching approach. How in my classroom learning is
a two way street. How I myself remain a student and have aspirations of one day
completing a doctoral degree. How if it were not for the past civil
disobediences that voiced their hearts and minds (with some fear I imagine), I
would not be in the classroom that I am in today. Ethnic studies remains about community struggle and overcoming
(transformation) not institutional policy and adherence (OPPRESSION).
So how can I possibly be silenced about
my concerns, let alone concerns of the student population I serve, when I apply
to a teaching institution? Not the case. To remedy the situation I felt that a
stern principle’s of community would need to compliment my novice teaching
philosophy. It is a WARNING to potential employers that calls for support made
by students OF ANY COLOR would not go un-answered, regardless of how
threatening these appear to be.
A CALL TO FACULTY CHASING TENURE IN LIGHT OF ETHNIC STUDIES
BATTLE
Let us all attach a principles of community, a manifesto, a
concerning document (what suites you best) addressing mounting student risks.
Moreover, that we represent a generation of applied/transformative/de-colonial teacher-scholars
that will not be silenced, nor threatened, by institutions, or their associated
chairs and deans when we stand in solidarity with our students.
See my Five Principles of Community
Respectfully,
Santiago Andres Garcia, M.A.
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