Book Review: Latino Change Agents in Higher Education: Shaping a System that Works for All

In a 2008 article in the chronicle of higher education written by Peter Schmidt, “Higher Education is in flux as demographics change, a federal report shows,” the following is written:

    

        “Despite the growing diversity at colleges, however, the nation’s minority populations continue to face major educational obstacles, cautions the report, titled “The Condition of Education 2008.” Compared with other minority groups, Hispanic students remain underrepresented in colleges and universities, largely because many of them are immigrants who have poor English skills and attend schools in low-income areas. “

It has been reported that 14.1% of the undergraduates in institutions of education identify Latino/a. With this increasingly changing demographic, there is a call for reform on education that addresses this influx of underrepresented populations that are entering in to our schools, and especially those of higher education. This topic is covered and ideas are shared on some best practices in the book entitled, “Latino Change Agents in Higher Education: Shaping a System that Works for All.” It’s a beneficial read for all educators, and not just those who also identify as Latino/a, but it is best to first teach us in order to prepare to teach others. 

 In this book, the voices of eleven Latino change agents are collected and compounded into twelve essays that address the demographics, concerns or problems, needs, strategy, and insight to change the system of higher education. These twelve essays are divided into four parts: “The Past Cannot Be the Future”; “Systemic Change, Si: Special Add-On Program, No”; “A Bright Future Necesita Un Grito Fuerte” and “Beginning the Work of Reshaping Higher Education.” Within each of the four parts are between 2-3 essays.

In the first part the struggles of educating Latino students effectively is demonstrated. The essays discuss an overhaul of the curriculum that is deemed necessary in order best serve the needs of the students. In taking a look at the curriculum it is necessary to focus on the content that is taught, rethinking if the content continues to be relevant to the student population it’s trying to reach.

Going through to the second part there are examples of states that have made attempts to reform their educational systems as seen in California’s Master Plan for Higher Education  but with it being more than 50 years old, there is no doubt that it’s outdated.   The environment in which Latino students are not being challenged to achieve academic success and get higher degrees is said to be due to the lack of role models for these students. They often do not see of what they can aspire to be. There is a call made out to the formed Latino organizations to gather and increase their presence, as they can play the most pivotal roles in being change agents. With the coming together of these various organizations we can begin to use our untapped talent. 

In the third part of the topic of the physical environments of the Latino communities is discussed and the need to increase a sense of ownership for those living in these areas. Increase a sense of ownership by becoming political and activists in the spirit of uplifting their community. Another key element is to act proactively to the issues in these communities, rather than be reactive to them as they appear. A way to tackle this is working on the root causes and working on those to establish a strong foundation from which the community can grow stronger as other issues are solved. With strong communities and leaders that invest in their citizens can in turn address the lack of knowing as seen in a lot of Latino households where the opportunities for higher education are just not known about. In another essay in this section of the book, the lack of information that parents possess is a major issue. These parents are not aware of the opportunities that their child can obtain because it’s not something that is widely publicized to the parents. 

In the last part, one of the essays outlines the qualities that a good leader should naturally have. In this section the topic of commitment is discussed, the time commitment that a leader must be willing to put in to the change they want to see if not only in hours and days, but more in years. It is said that a leader will only make a real change that is worth noting if they stick to it for five years. Anything less may not be permanent results. Think about educators in higher education and how often in an attempt to move up the educational ladder, we change positions before these five year marks.  These changes are sometimes to other institutions, showing that in order to make real progress in any environment we must commit to it at least five years. 

In this book, authors from all over contributed to unify the vision that would address the needs of the changing demographics. In reading this book, one must believe that the current educational system is broken. The content is no longer reflective of the ever changing student population that we see in our classrooms and/or offices. 

While the full weight of creating a new system that allows Latino students to succeed should not fall on us, if we aren’t willing to be the first to yell out for a call of action- who will do it for us?