Freddy León: Putting Multicultural Education into Practice
Freddy León is a student in the Doctor of Philosophy in Education program from Woodburn, Oregon. He is the Center Director for the Centro Cultural César Chávez, a cultural center at Oregon State University dedicated to supporting Latinx and Chicanx students and providing a space for cultural community and education.
León has always been passionate about education, creative learning, and working with students. He began pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching, then changed course to earn an education degree in higher education administration. This led him to the Education PhD with a focus in Language, Equity, and Educational Policy, which allows him to advance in his career and gain the administrative experience he needs to affect policy changes in the future.
When asked about the challenges and rewards of the PhD program, León tells us that coming from a more collective background, the emphasis on independent and individual expertise has been difficult to grapple with. However, the program has also helped him build the skills to ask for help and rely on others—he’s found that connecting with others in PhD programs has been critical, as they’re able to work together towards their goals.
León's research on multicultural education is closely intertwined with his work as Center Director. In his research, León is assessing whether Latine students taking the course ED 219: Social Justice, Civil Rights, and Multiculturalism in Education perceive curricular changes as decolonizing. The course has incorporated mindfulness practices into its curriculum, and Léon is interested in seeing whether students find these practices beneficial.
“My degree and my area of study tie into my work because I use a lot of Chicana/Latina feminist epistemology and theories for my research, but also in my daily practice I’ve been leaning on the arts, mindfulness, and contemplative practices,” says León. Much of his work is influenced by Laura Rendón's Sentipensante Pedagogy, a framework that sees sensing and feeling as important aspects of the learning experience.
For León, bringing these frameworks into his job means doing relational work with his staff of ten students, which involves connection, reflection, and discussing current topics. Chicana Feminist practices have taught León the importance of “being in relation with each other, being able to have rapport with each other, to be able to have conversations, to be able to have intimate connections and relationships with the people that we work with.” His team talks about television shows that bring up relevant issues and work on art projects together. He gives his staff the freedom to explore, learn, and fail in a safe and supportive environment.
Through the program, León has been able to learn more about policy and how it applies to the educational system, and he hopes to use these skills and resources to affect policy change going forward. He advises those who are interested in the Education PhD, “The program challenges you to explore things that you might not have considered before...Come in with an open mind and an excitement and enthusiasm to learn."
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