Leadership for Chicano/Latino Education and the Politics of Change

Abstract

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, I situate a discussion on Leadership for Chicano/Latino education that is grounded in a history of resistance and activism among these same communities generally, and in particular acknowledging the contributions of Chicana feminist scholarship. Second, I discuss how the topic of Leadership for Chicano/Latino education is mired by a broader political climate that must be acknowledged in scholarly analyses of education and leadership, as well as the pedagogical approaches applied in leadership preparation. This discussion includes the argument that Leadership for Chicano/Latino education must go beyond a pedagogy and epistemology of supervivencia (survivance)—one’s singular ability to endure and thrive in systems of oppression (see Galván, 2014)—if we are to prepare transformative leaders equipped to traverse a political climate overwhelmed by antiChicano/Latino sentiments and a diminishing investment in public and higher education.