McNair Scholar 2024 - Leslie Luces Saavedra
Leslie Luces Saavedra is a junior at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, majoring in Youth Studies with a double minor in Applied Psychology in Educational and Community Settings and Chicano-Latino Studies. Her research interests center around youth, education, and interventions. Leslie plans on getting her Master’s in Social Work.
Quote from Leslie Luces Saavedra
My dream is to continue my education and to share my knowledge. I want to contribute to ongoing conversations within the worlds of youth, justice, and social work and bridge gaps between communities and institutions.
Research project
Incorporating Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Indigenous Ways of Knowing into Minnesota K-12 Education Through Science Educator Professional Development
Abstract
In 2019, Minnesota adopted science education standards that would require science educators (grades 1-12) to teach Indigenous knowledge. In Minnesota, almost 80% of teachers are White and teacher preparation programs at colleges and universities are taught by majority White faculty with little exposure to other ways of knowing. The purpose of our year-long Teacher Professional Learning Communities (PLC) for Indigenous Science project is to support science educators in learning about Indigenous knowledge and to increase their efficacy to implement these concepts and pedagogies into their curriculum in a culturally responsive way. Over the course of a year, teachers attended 2-4 in-person experiential and 4 virtual sessions. We employed reflexive interviews to understand participant experiences with the program and to collect data. Preliminary findings on teacher experience and efficacy are presented in addition to an exploration of implications for higher education, teaching training, Native and non-Native student achievement, and school connectedness.
Faculty mentor
Dr. Katie Johnston-Goodstar is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Johnston-Goodstar attended the University of Washington where she received her PhD in Social Welfare. Her research focuses on Native youth well-being, the decolonization and indigenization of institutions of youth work, social work, and education. To do this, she interrogates the colonial foundations of the helping professions; engages Indigenous youth in institutional and social transformation; and collaborates with youth and communities to safeguard intangible cultural heritage (Indigenous land, knowledge, lifeways, practices of well-being). Over the last decade, she has conducted a variety of Participatory Action Research projects on topics such as: school pushout, community violence, environmental justice, traditional ecological knowledge and youth sex trading.