Building confidence through culturally sustaining spaces for teachers and students

Abstract

We share the testimonio of Linda, a Mexican American teacher that participates in and creates culturally sustaining schooling spaces. Linda describes these spaces as learning environments where her Mexican American students can safely share their cultural identities. Basing her knowledge on her own experience growing up as a Mexican American in the United States school system, she shares how culturally sustaining spaces build student and teacher confidence. The authors describe her testimonio as a decolonial Chicana theory that integrates culturally sustaining embodied and academic learning.