My brother Charles and I played soccer and baseball growing up. It helped us stay active and we learned to compete and be aggressive to win. What sports did not offer us was the opportunity to develop awareness and appreciation for our cultural identity. When I was nine years old, my mother enrolled my brother and me in folk — a traditional cultural dance emphasizing Mexican popular culture — at our local recreation center.
At first, I was upset. This activity was so different from the sports I was used to, and I hadn’t quite understood why my mother thought it was necessary for our development. Soon, it became one of the most transformative experiences of my life. Eventually my family founded our own Mexican folk dance ensemble which gave me space to develop my art and understanding of my cultural identities.
I was a folkloric dancer until I was 19 years old and decided to become a professional dance teacher and choreographer. At that moment in my life I knew that I wanted to teach this style of dance to young people; With the right tools and experience, I knew I could help students understand and learn about their identity and culture in the same way I did through Folklorico.
Today I am a performing arts teacher at KIPP Begins Community Prep (KCCP) in Los Angeles, where I teach kindergarten through fourth grade. Over the past decade, teaching cultural performing arts has helped me transform my classrooms into engaging community spaces where students become culturally competent critical thinkers and leaders.
My experience has taught me that if students do not believe their school invests in activities and programs that reflect their community and culture, they will not feel a sense of belonging in the classroom, which will negatively affect student engagement and ability to understand and appreciate the cultural differences between each other.
Unfortunately, not all schools believe that the performing arts are worth investing in; in any case, the trend of school funding in the performing arts has been in sharp decline for some time. While student participation remains a important issue For classrooms across the country, I believe the performing arts can be an opportunity for schools to reimagine community engagement in schools and get students back on track.
When schools don’t invest in the arts, it hurts students
The evidence shows that arts education builds empathy, promotes healthy social development, and helps students relate to others, but unfortunately, not all students have access to it.
Before becoming a performing arts educator, I served in many roles in education: instructional assistant, ELL interventionist, bilingual service provider, and after-school teacher, to name a few. The various schools I worked at did not offer arts education and most had the same reason, namely that there were not enough staff to run the program and not enough interested students to justify hiring full time performing arts teachers. complete.
Over the years, I have seen how this hurt students and families. Some missed the opportunity to participate in school plays and performances. Others were denied opportunities to develop artistic self-expression and learn about different histories and cultures through art.
When I started teaching at KCCP, I decided to build a new performing arts program aligned with the California Art Standards and focused on the community experiences and cultural identity of my students. Developing the program has been a journey and I have learned that running a performing arts program is unsustainable without the financial support and commitment of school leadership.
While I don’t believe performing arts will cease to exist, we would all do better to invest in school performing arts programs and, even better, seek to create performing arts programs that reflect the diversity of our students and their families.
What schools and educators can do about it
When I became a teacher, I believed that teaching that was culturally responsive and community engaged learning he could only live in lesson plans. Since then, I have learned that these methods are merely tools to transform culture and spaces. Building this bridge between the school and the community culture requires the participation of all stakeholders. For schools to become social and cultural pillars in their local communities, school leaders and educators should consider taking the following two important steps.
First, school leaders and educators must prioritize community partnerships. When educators and school leaders prioritize opportunities to learn about their students’ cultural backgrounds and partner with the community to deliver impactful learning experiences, they can foster empathy and a sense of belonging among students.
Second, schools must build models that support identity development. Schooling is not just about teaching concepts found in textbooks; students must also learn about themselves and their identity so that they can navigate their lives in and out of the classroom. To participate in this work, educators must proactively commemorate cultural events that celebrate the backgrounds of our students and the communities from which they come.
In addition to the bi-weekly dance program that I teach every other quarter, I also teach a social justice and social-emotional learning block one day a week for an entire grade. During one of my social justice blocks, we dedicated a week to Day of the Dead and their traditions. During this week, she leads a comprehensive exploration of how this Day of the Dead tradition aligns with family honor and the social responsibility that comes with it. We discuss loss, healing, and grief as healthy ways to process social and emotional learning experiences. At the end of the week, students craft a detailed papier-mâché skull mask, build a community altar, weave together social justice issues, and engage in thoughtful discussions with their peers. In return, students are succeeding in building self-confidence, which translates into healthy lifestyle habits and cultural pride.
At the beginning of the year, I identify, evaluate, and build a learning experience that meets the needs of students. Using multiple art forms to help students learn about their history and culture with others has been a key part of promoting social and emotional development among my students; the more our educational spaces are synchronized with the community and culture, the more students will become positive products of their school environment and agents of social change in their community.
Building a bridge to community-engaged education
As the real world becomes more polarized and challenging, particularly for students from underrepresented backgrounds, it becomes increasingly important that schools stop ignoring data that affirms the benefits of cultural performing arts and student voices. who have been positively impacted by it.
Performing arts programs that are authentic to students’ social and cultural identities can help students better understand themselves and develop leadership skills in an engaging and supportive environment.
