Augustine Romero

Bio: Augustine Romero is an academic researcher from University of Arizona. The author has contributed to research in topics: Participatory action research & Critical pedagogy. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 12 publications receiving 587 citations.

A critically compassionate intellectualism for Latina/o students: Raising voices above the silencing in our schools

Abstract: Julio Cammarota is an assistant professor and Augustine Romero is a graduate student in the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology and the Mexican-American Studies and Research Center at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. Latina/o students often experience coursework that is remedial and unchallenging––benign at best, a dumbing-down at worst (Solórzano & Yosso, 2001). This potential limiting curriculum is not only failing to provide Latinas/os with the credentials necessary to advance economically, but their education denies them the opportunity to develop the critical voices and intellectual capacities necessary to do something about it. To borrow the words of Carter G. Woodson (1977), there is a “mis-education of Latinas/os,” in which their voices and potentialities to challenge an unjust world is suppressed by the consistent battery of standardized tests, rote learning, and curricular content that has little bearing on their everyday struggles as young people of color. Thus, the standard educational experience for young Latinas/os tends to submerge them into silence, where they are taught to be quiet and avoid independent and critical thinking. This is a dangerous lesson for them to learn, and it is dangerous for everyone. Young Latinas/os are the next generation that will signifi cantly change the composition of our society. And if they are encouraged to become silent adults, this new burgeoning majority will not have the capacity to effect social change that moves toward an egalitarian reality for all people. In this article, we present an educational model based on a critically compassionate intellectualism that can foster the liberation of Latinas/os as well as A Critically Compassionate Intellectualism for Latina/o Students:

Participatory action research for high school students: Transforming policy, practice, and the personal with social justice education

Abstract: The authors discuss how participatory action research (PAR) informs the pedagogy and epistemology of the social justice education. PAR facilitates students’ engagement in their social context and acquisition of knowledge to initiate personal and social transformation. The scope of research contains knowledge about social justice issues negatively influencing the students’ experiences. This knowledge is essential for what has been described as social justice youth development in which young people participate in practices geared toward achieving an egalitarian world with safe, vibrant neighborhoods that support healthy,positive youth identities.The article is based on program evaluation data collected for progress reports mandated by the project’s financial backers. Funding supports technical assistance provided by the university in the way of teaching students qualitative research methods. The authors’ roles involve both assisting the course instructor with teaching methodologies and collecting data for e...

A social justice epistemology and pedagogy for Latina/o students: Transforming public education with participatory action research.

Abstract: The article reports on Latina/o high school students who conducted participatory action research (PAR) on problems that circumscribe their possibilities for self-determination. The intention is to legitimize student knowledge to develop effective educational policies and practices for young Latinas/os. PAR is engaged through the Social Justice Education Project, which provides students with all social science requirements for their junior and senior years. The mandated curriculum is supplemented with advanced-level readings from Chicana/o studies, critical race theory, critical pedagogy, and, most important, PAR. The intention is for students to meet the requirements for graduation and to develop sophisticated critical analyses to address problems in their own social contexts.

A Barrio pedagogy: identity, intellectualism, activism, and academic achievement through the evolution of critically compassionate intellectualism

Abstract: In this paper we forward our experiences and understanding of how we have used critical race theory (CRT) in our classrooms; more importantly, we bring forth the voices of students as a method of conveying the impact of our CRT classroom exercises. These exercises are parts of three structures that we created to counter the reality of racism and subordination within the American education system. These creations are: the Social Justice Education Project (SJEP); the Critically Compassionate Intellectualism Model of Transformative Education (CCI); and CCI’s Third Dimension. An explanation and description of the SJEP and CCI are forthcoming in the next section of this paper, and in last section of this paper we explain CCI’s Third Dimension.

Confronting the Marginalization of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

Abstract: Globally, over the last two decades, attention to culturally responsive, multicultural approaches to teaching have largely been supplanted by standardized curricula and pedagogy that derive from ne...

A System Dynamics and Participatory Action Research Approach to Promote Healthy Living and a Healthy Weight among 10-14-Year-Old Adolescents in Amsterdam : The LIKE Programme

Abstract: This paper describes the design of the LIKE programme, which aims to tackle the complex problem of childhood overweight and obesity in 10–14-year-old adolescents using a systems dynamics and participatory approach. The LIKE programme focuses on the transition period from 10-years-old to teenager and was implemented in collaboration with the Amsterdam Healthy Weight Programme (AHWP) in Amsterdam-East, the Netherlands. The aim is to develop, implement and evaluate an integrated action programme at the levels of family, school, neighbourhood, health care and city. Following the principles of Participatory Action Research (PAR), we worked with our population and societal stakeholders as co-creators. Applying a system lens, we first obtained a dynamic picture of the pre-existing systems that shape adolescents’ behaviour relating to diet, physical activity, sleep and screen use. The subsequent action programme development was dynamic and adaptive, including quick actions focusing on system elements (quick evaluating, adapting and possibly catalysing further action) and more long-term actions focusing on system goals and/or paradigm change. The programme is supported by a developmental systems evaluation and the Intervention Level Framework, supplemented with routinely collected data on weight status and health behaviour change over a period of five years. In the coming years, we will report how this approach has worked to provide a robust understanding of the programme's effectiveness within a complex dynamic system. In the meantime, we hope our study design serves as a source of inspiration for other public health intervention studies in complex systems.