Adelante: An Emerging Design for Mexican American Education.

Overview & Synopsis

Prior to an intensive 3-day conference, position papers were prepared by a select group of Mexican American scholars, representing the areas of history, anthropology, bilingualism, sociology, political science, education research, psychology, and cultural arts. Under suggested guidelines, selected Mexican American educational leaders reacted to the papers in small group sessions at the conference. Based on these reactions, the papers were then revised for this publication, which is divided into two sections. The first contains two introductory papers concerning the general topic of education for the Mexican American. The second section includes a paper discussing specific problems of the Mexican American child and the eight main position papers. Topics of the papers are: a challenge for educational institutions--an educational philosophy for the instruction of Mexican Americans; anthropological implication in the education of Mexican Americans; toward a philosophy of education for the Chicano, bilingualism and intellectual development; current educational research, the basis for a new philosophy for educating Mexican Americans; politics and education; a tri-partite development for the cultural arts in the education of the Mexican American; the ethnocentric response of public education to the Chicano, implications for school administrators; the psychology of the Mexican American; a historical perspective on the Mexican American. Each paper is preceded by a short preface and followed by a list of the panel members and their reactions. (NQ)