I like to say that "my research was awarded the dissertation Spencer Fellowship" instead of saying I received the fellowship. This award also belongs to my colleague Diana Casanova who has always proofread my work, the teachers that opened up to me, the students that saw me as part of their community, the principal that back in 2018 offered me the possibility of coming to the school, and my family that kept supporting me after two previous rejections. Luckily, rejections don't hold me back; they motivate me to push harder. I'm not accustomed to acceptance letters or awards, so they always catch me by surprise when they come.
Looking ahead, I have a massive responsibility. This fellowship provides a platform to amplify the voices and experiences of those participating in my research; I must write an exceptional dissertation to honor this opportunity.
By design, Chile's education system is one of the most neoliberal-oriented globally. As a student, the system I was part of was driven by competition, marketing, scarcity, and individualism - mirroring the private sector's core values. Consequentially, education in Chile is seen as a private asset, creating an opportunity gap between those who can pay to access quality education and those without the means to afford school tuition.
My research revolves around the belief structures supporting this system. Policies might forbid schools from charging fees or selecting students, but if we want schools to be spaces where every student can reach their fullest potential, we need more than policy changes. We must encourage educators and administrators to reconsider their views on public education. If we hope to return to seeing education as a public good, we need policies driven by equity and social justice, and we must foster a collective shift away from neoliberal values.
During fieldwork, I was lucky to connect with educators dedicated to creating a welcoming space for students. They wanted to enact equity-oriented practices, yet, at the same time, they believed that paying tuition would make parents value the school experience more; thus, their children would be more committed to learning. My research isn't about heroes and villains but about the importance of values and beliefs in creating a supportive environment where all students are supported to flourish personally, academically, and socially.
Being a researcher at Berkeley
Various factors have influenced my intellectual growth at Berkeley. I consciously ventured beyond the School of Education. I wanted to approach fieldwork from multiple disciplines; thus, I took courses in Sociology, Political Science, and African American Studies, among other departments. Because of the ethnographic orientation of my work, I had the opportunity to explore how intertwined all the school community actors are. That's how I see myself in this space, too.
My advisors have provided immeasurable support. Professor Tina Trujillo has consistently and kindly critiqued my work, which has helped me improve my writing and oral skills; both essential in academia. By example, she has also taught me several lessons about kindness, integrity, humility, and even parenting.
Intellectually, Professor Trujillo brought me into the world of analyzing education policies from how they fit into the belief system of the people who will implement them. This allows me to explore how school communities mediate equity-oriented policies and how deeply held beliefs can impact the efficacy of policies intended to challenge school inequality.
My research also centers on race, but initially, I engaged in a race-evasive approach by framing immigrant students as a homogeneous group. Coming from Latin America, we are taught that we don't see race, that we are mixed or mestizos, and therefore, there's no space for anti-blackness in our community.
My other advisor, Professor Janelle Scott, urged me to avoid discussing immigrant students as a monolithic identity and invited me to focus on students of African Descent unapologetically. Without Professor Scott's encouragement, I may have perpetuated the colorblind ideology prevalent in many Latin American communities.
Despite the support I have received, the road through academia hasn't always been smooth. There were instances of doubt, like when a professor doubted my ability to pursue a PhD because of my English proficiency. I have heard voices telling me, "You don't belong here. You are not going to succeed. Your work is not novel." Non-constructive criticism can penetrate your ideas about yourself, which is why building a robust support system is vital to shut those voices.
De-privatization and Democratization of a Chilean School: When Hard Work and Good Intentions Are not Enough
This ethnographic case study is grounded in 600 hours of participant observation and more than 100 interviews. It critically analyses the ongoing journey of a school community toward becoming a democratic and welcoming space for its new population of emergent multilingual immigrant students of African Descent. Beginning in 2012 and motivated in part by its social justice principles, the San Francisco Voucher School (SFVS) made strides to break away from the Chilean market-oriented model.
The SFVS community goes above and beyond to support the integration of its newcomers. In an education context historically designed to encourage actors to compete for a scarce resource (quality education), where market-based ideals of individual success and high-stakes testing mechanisms are at its core and where education is conceived as a private good, welcoming students that need extra resources to achieve academic success appears, in the language of this system, an “unprofitable business strategy.” Nonetheless, and against all odds, a group of social justice-oriented educators is defying structural barriers and forming a system of protection against many challenges that obstruct immigrant students’ integration into Chilean society. They work hard and, in some cases, risk their jobs to redistribute resources, provide extra academic support, and offer affection and care through trauma-informed practices. Despite their concerted efforts and good intentions, there remains a significant hurdle, deeply detrimental to students’ well-being, that educators have yet to dismantle: ethno-racial discrimination and disparities.