Towards a Critically Compassionate Intellectualism Model of Transformative Education: Love, Hope, Identity, and Organic Intellectualism Through the Convergence of Critical Race Theory, Critical Pedagogy, and Authentic Caring

This critical race qualitative research study examines the perspectives of Chicanas\os regarding their educational experiences. Critical race theory in education has been critical in the effort to bring a deeper understanding of the racism that is experienced in American schools by Chicanas\os and other children of color. This study examines the intersectionality of American education; the Chicana\o social, political and historical experiences; and racism.This study is informed by theoretical frames from the disciplines of critical race theory, Latino critical race theory and their educational implications, new racism, Chicana/o authentic caring, and critical pedagogy. These theories expose inequality and injustice that adhere in American schools, and they help me understand that Chicana/o students, their parents and their communities are constructors of knowledge and facilitators of critical transformation.The study triangulates qualitative data through two critical components: interviews and an archival evaluation of the academic impact of the Social Justice Education Project and its Critically Compassionate Intellectualism (CCI) model of transformative education. The interview component consists of one open-ended focus group interview and one open-ended interview. In the archival segment, I evaluate informal open-ended student interviews, end of the year progress reports, post-program surveys, and achievement and graduation data.These data indicate that racism remains a key variable within the educational experiences of Chicanas\os students in SUSD schools. Additional findings indicate that the student cohorts that participate in the Social Justice Education Project and experience the CCI model of transformative education have a higher AIMS pass rate and higher graduation rates than those students cohorts that do not experience both the Social Justice Education Project and its CCI model.Given these findings, the study proposes that educational leaders demonstrate the political will that is needed to discover and implement multiple forms of critical transformative educational praxis. In addition, the need for more research that centers the voices of students and that focuses on racism and the Chicana\o contemporary experience