Reclamando Corazón y Voz: Latinas Speak Their Truth Through Plática as Resistance in California Community College Learning Disabilities Assessments

<p>Although California Community Colleges (CCCs) offer learning disability (LD) assessments to determine eligibility for academic accommodations, for Latina students navigating converging forces of race, gender, language, citizenship, and ableism, these assessments often surface unspoken histories of harm. This study advanced Chicana feminista DisCrit (CFDC), extending disability critical race theory through Chicana spirituality and cultural intuition to examine possibilities when an <em>educadora</em> situates assessments in a <em>plática</em> grounded in <em>consideración</em>—respectful, relational, and unhurried care.</p> <p>Rooted in Chicana feminist <em>pláticas</em> methodology and authored from the positionality of a disabled Latina scholar–practitioner, this qualitative decolonial dissertation explored how Latina students reflected on LD assessments and how institutions can respond in humanizing ways. Eleven Latina CCC Knowledge Holders who previously qualified for LD services participated in virtual, multisession <em>pláticas </em>surfacing <em>testimonios</em> and <em>convivencia</em>. From these narratives, the study evolved the <em>telar </em>(loom), as a culturally grounded analytic framework, drawing on Chicana feminist epistemologies to trace the <em>urdimbre</em> (warp) of identity and <em>trama</em> (weft) of the Knowledge Holders’ <em>corazones </em>(hearts)<em> </em>and<em> voces </em>(voices). Analysis employed iterative transcript-based coding, including heart-based and in vivo coding, to weave findings through the<em> telar</em> structure.</p> <p>Findings revealed three interwoven patterns. First, the <em>urdimbre</em> exposed judgment, cultural silence, and institutional harm, holding Knowledge Holders in suspended breath, carrying histories the institution was never designed to hold. Second, <em>el choque</em> emerged as standardized assessment collided with embodied knowing, the moment where <em>trama</em> and trauma became intertwined. Third, when the assessment was held in a <em>plática</em> grounded in <em>consideración</em>, <em>educadora curandera</em> praxis enabled restoration through witnessing, holding, and repair.</p> <p>Together, these findings positioned LD assessments as sites of wounding and <em>pláticas</em> as pathways toward reclamation. This dissertation offered CFDC, the <em>telar</em>, and <em>educadora curandera</em> praxis as original frameworks for scholars, practitioners, and institutions committed to recognizing, receiving, and restoring the full humanity of Latina students in higher education. It asks educators, practitioners, and institutions to answer for what happens when a Latina walks into an assessment room and receives a spirit-breaking score where she needed a witness and <em>consideración</em>. This dissertation is an example of what that moment requires.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD Education for Social Justice

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation: Open Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Learning and Teaching

Year dc:date.available

2026

Author dc:creator

• Becerra, Maricela

• Chicana Feminista DisCrit
• Educadora Curandera Praxis
• Decolonizing learning disabilities assessment
• California Community Colleges
• Latina students with disabilities
• Accessibility
• Adult and Continuing Education
• Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
• Community College Leadership
• Contemplative Education
• Curriculum and Social Inquiry
• Disability and Equity in Education
• Disability Studies
• Education
• Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
• Educational Methods
• Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
• Gender Equity in Education
• Higher Education
• Humane Education
• Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education
• Social Justice
• Student Counseling and Personnel Services
• Teacher Education and Professional Development

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/1114

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.sandiego.edu:dissertations-2132