Social justice education project (SJEP)

Project director Dr. Julio Cammarota, six graduate students from the University
of Arizona, and Chicano Studies teacher Lorenzo Lopez created and guided a
participatory research project with students at Tucson’s Cholla High School
beginning in January of 2003. SJEP students learned ethnographic
(anthropological) research methods that included participant observation,
formal and informal interviewing, photo documentary, and videography. They
spent three semesters planning, collecting data, analyzing their findings, and
putting together the documentary and project publication.

The ultimate goal of the SJEP project was for students to use their research
results as a vehicle for action addressing the inequalities that Latina/o
students experience in public schooling. Since completing the video,
“Questions for Answers” and their written publication, "Listen and Learn: Chicano/Latino Students Speak Out About Education,” SJEP students have
presented their findings at home and across the country. Presentations include:

* National Association for Chicana/o Studies Conference, Albuquerque, NM
* American Educational Research Association Annual Meetings, San Diego, CA
* American Anthropological Association Annual Meetings, Dallas, TX
* Institu te for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Puerto Rico, Cayey, PR
* Select members of U.S. Congress, Washington, DC
* Tucson Unified School District School Board, Tucson, AZ
* Cesar Chávez Youth Conference, Tucson, AZ
* University of Arizona Mexican American Studies Department, Tucson, AZ
* University of Arizona Anthropology Department, Tucson, AZ
* University of Arizona Language, Culture, and Reading Program, Tucson, AZ

The Social Justice Education Project is co-sponsored by the Bureau of Applied
Research in Anthropology and the Mexican American Studies and Research Center at the University of Arizona and the Department of Mexican American/RAZA Studies of the Tucson Unified School District. The project is supported by funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the VisionMark Foundation.