Inquiry Oasis Season 2: Judy Marquez Kiyama

Dean Berry of the College of Education and Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama, a professor of Educational Policy Studies and Practice, discuss the importance of culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy at the University of Arizona and the history of Funds of Knowledge.

In this episode, Dr. Kiyama shares her journey at the University of Arizona, from being a first-generation college student to holding various roles within the university and how funds of knowledge has played a role throughout her journey in academia. Dr. Kiyama discusses her research here at the University of Arizona and the various previous and current faculty members within the College of Education that have had an impact on her work and journey. 

Additionally, Dr. Kiyama shares her work developing the Cultural Responsive Curriculum Development Institute with campus leaders and how the institute  focuses on small, intentional changes rather than overhauling entire courses. It covers topics such as culturally relevant pedagogy, inclusive assessment, and curriculum design. The program has fostered collaboration across different colleges and departments, creating a community of practice among faculty. Dr. Kiyama highlights the transformative impact of the institute on faculty's teaching philosophies and the importance of continuous engagement in culturally responsive practices.

Transcript

 Jeffrey Anthony:

Welcome to the Inquiry Oasis, the University of Arizona College of Education's podcast here in the heart of the, so. We bring you conversations with our esteemed faculty members and staff whose research impacts lives from Southern Arizona to the far reaches of the globe. We explore the transformative power of education in this border town where diverse cultures and ideas converge.

Where a tapestry of innovation with compassion and a sense of, so join us as we journey through the sands of curiosity, unearthing insights that enrich and inspire. Sit back and relax. As we invite you to dive into the inquiry oasis. 

Dean Berry:

So welcome to the Inquiry Oasis. I'm Robert Berry. I'm the Dean of the College of Education, and today we have Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama, professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Practices here in the College of Education at the University of Arizona. I'm excited to get involved in this conversation because as I've read through the materials, I've learned a lot about your work, so I have a lot of questions.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama :

Sure.

Dean Berry:

Particularly as we kind of jump into this and, and so if you don't mind. I'm just going to start off with  an initial question just to ask you. Can you give us three words that represents your passion for the work that you do? 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Sure. Uh, well, I had some, uh, prompts ahead of time, right? And so, I jotted down a few words and then I realized this is more than three.

Dean Berry:

Oh, well, you know, three-ish words. How about that? 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Okay. Okay. Um, well, thank you so much for, for inviting me. I think for me this is such an important opportunity to be able to, uh, have a conversation about why we do the work and why for so many of us it's connected to, um, not just the, the research itself, but the sense of purpose, the sense of place, um, the values that we bring into it and the, the pieces that are so connected to, at, at least for me home and identity. 

And so, when I think about the words, it's words like college access and opportunity, phrases, maybe more than words. Um, work that is community driven. Um, work that centers families and parents. Um, and then of course funds of knowledge. I don't think I can talk about my work without of course, naming, um, funds of knowledge as that, not just the framework itself, but the, the center of how I understand the communities and the families that I get to interact with.

Dean Berry:

Well, thank you for those words, those phrases. Yeah. So I want to back up just a little bit. Tell us about what you do here at the college and, and more broadly, not only what you teach, but also we'll jump into your research a little bit later. But, you know, kind of not only at the college but at the university as well. I know you have roles in, in, in multiple spaces here. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. So the U of a for me feels like home. I keep mentioning home, it'll probably come up multiple times. Um, I think I have been in every single role possible at the University of Arizona.

Um, I, I did all of my degrees here, which you know, as a student, they tell you, you know, diversify your educational path and get degrees in different places. And I was a first-generation college student. I didn't know, I didn't know I was supposed to do that. I didn't know how, how or where to even search for grad school.

Um. And in the process of working as an undergraduate peer mentor, peer advisor for the New Start summer program. So, shout out to New Start. Um, I was introduced to mentors, Rudy McCormick in particular, who runs the Office of Early Academic Outreach here at the U of A, and he was running New Start at the time, and I would follow him around.

I'm doing a little storytelling. Sorry to get to your question.

Dean Berry:

Absolutely. Yeah. We love the stories. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Okay. So, I would follow Rudy around thinking. I want his job, like I want to be able to do this. I loved, I realized, that I loved working with students. Um, New Start historically has served underserved students, first generation college students, lower income students, Pell eligible students of color, um, me, right? 

That's how I came into the university. And, uh, once I realized that, that you could go into student affairs as a profession, that was it. I knew like, that's, that's what I wanted to continue doing. So, my first path and role here at the U of A was in student affairs and at, at different points I have worked with leadership programs, have worked through the iteration of what, um, what used to be minority student services and then multicultural affairs.

And, you know, the names have shifted over time, but it's always been connected to the similar groups of under underserved, underrepresented student populations. And then as I was working on my PhD I realized, oh, I actually really love research and I love teaching. And I was starting to write with some of the professors here.

Jenny Lee had just started. Regina came, um, during Regina Deil-Amen came during the last year of my program. Gary has been my, Gary, Gary Rhoades has been my advisor since I started my master's program. So, they were introducing me to these opportunities to do research and to write, and then I realized, oh, I can still work with student affairs professionals and be part of that and, and be a faculty member and, um, engage in this work that I, that I care so much about. But through a research and teaching lens. And, um, so as is the case, right, with academia, I had to apply to multiple places and, um, ended up at the University of Rochester and then the University of Denver, and then made my way back here to the U of A about four years ago in an administrative position.

And at that time the U of A had just become an HIS, a Hispanic serving Institution, and they received that designation in 2018. And as, um, the strategic plan rolled out, one of the initiatives within the strategic plan was, um, faculty development around. Our research and scholarship around, um, of course teaching and curriculum development, service, so that faculty were also prepared from a capacity building lens to work with our growing diversity of students, um, and our shifts and our commitment to our HSI, excuse me, designation.

And so, I came back in that role as Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development and, um, worked in collaboration with HSI initiatives and Dr. Marla Franco, um, and Dr. Andrea Romero in Faculty Affairs to really build out, um, various initiatives and kind of vision what that could be for faculty in our space.

Um, and I love, I love that work. I love thinking about being in a space with people and thinking about what, what faculty might need, or what concerns are coming up or what, um, what they're interested in. And then visioning it and building it and creating it, and then watching it grow and sustain. Um, and in the meantime realized I actually really miss teaching. 

Dean Berry:

Definitely 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

I miss students and I missed my research and, and that brought me back to my faculty position. So here I am back in the College of Education where I started, um, so full circle, kind of coming back home again, um, which has been so special for me. And now as a professor in the very same department that I graduated from.

Dean Berry:

Oh wow. So, I, I guess it might be a little late, but I'm going to say welcome home. What? Yeah, 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Thanks!

Dean Berry:

But I, I do want to touch on one thing. Um, I know in your, in your previous role, uh, and probably in your current role, so help me with this, the Cultural Responsive Curriculum Development Institute. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Mm-hmm. 

Dean Berry:

And you've done work on that, so talk about the impact 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah.

Dean Berry:

Of, of that work and, and, and the transformation that, that, that's come out that work as well. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. So, we, and I am opening my notes so I can get the numbers correct. Um, while I was in the Associate Vice Provost role, one of the things that we were hearing from faculty, and actually some of it came from initially faculty in the College of Fine Arts saying, “we are really interested in what culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy is, what these frameworks are. We don't know much about it. Um, we want some time to develop it.” 

And at the same time, there was a lot of research and literature coming out on. HSI serving this, um, HSI, organizational change and shifts, um, largely from Dr. Gina Garcia. Um, and. All of it identified curriculum as a key part of doing our HSI work of really thinking about if we are going to be an HSI that is enhancing student experiences and really centering, again, in particular, not just Latinx or Latina students, but underserved students, underrepresented students broadly.

It has to be tied to curriculum. So, all of these things were kind of happening at the same time. This was 2020 during the pandemic. Right. And we, we weren't gathering in person and things, budgets were tight, as they probably always are. Um, so the first year we launched it as a virtual pilot institute, and our goal was to bring in at least one faculty member from, at that time, each of the 20 academic colleges or academic colleges across the campus

And we did, we had 22 faculty who participated. Um, we intentionally built it out. So that would be after the academic year ended, um, after the spring semester, knowing that faculty cannot give, they can't give a full week during the academic year. And we're so, you know, we have so many other things going on.

We also built in stipends, because we knew this was a significant amount of time for people to, to really dedicate taking a current course as we ask them to do, and then redesigning it from a culturally responsive lens. We work closely with our colleagues in UCATT, which is representative of our, our teaching resources and teaching center to really think about when we, when we are talking about redesigning, because people think,” oh my gosh, we have to throw out my entire course and this is a big, you know, I've worked so much time and spent so much effort on this, and you're telling me I have to change my content.”

And we were like, “no, no, no, this is not, this is not what we're saying. We are going to move through. Um, an understanding of what these frameworks are, what culturally relevant, and then culturally responsive and culturally sustaining efforts and pedagogy has meant over time and what the research says. We're going to work through different HSI frameworks.

We're going to situate it within the context of the University of Arizona and our state.” 

And so we did, um, a lot of, uh, pieces at the beginning around land pedagogy, and that was largely due to Dr. Amanda Tachine. She brought in, um, some work that she was doing from, at the time, Arizona State University and situated it within our local context, um, and the wealth of knowledge, the funds of knowledge that are here within our state.

And then also move through things like, what does just good curriculum design look like? What does it look like to align our learning outcomes with, um, intentional content and intentional activities? And then we had different, um, ways we do not had, we do have different ways of practicing and workshopping around what does this look like across STEM curriculum?

What does this look like within, um, a fine arts curriculum? What does this look like within education? Right? And we brought in incredible folks across. The campus, um, who are already doing this work. And then we move through what does this also look like from an inclusive assessment space at the end of, um, not just at the end of the, the course, but throughout, how do we assess throughout from an inclusive lens?

And so, as we worked with faculty, we really encouraged them not to think about it as throwing out their whole course and, and rebuilding, but small pivots throughout. And, and through different lenses. So, is it the way in which we communicate with our students through our syllabi or through d2l? Is it the content itself that we want to focus on in this redesign?

Um, is it the assessment practices, right? Is it actually our, our pedagogy and our philosophy and our epistemology as we bring, um, ways of knowing and being into these spaces? Um, or is it the activities, right? I mean, it doesn't mean, and maybe it's a little bit of all of it, but it doesn't mean you have to do all of it right now.

Um, we wrapped up our fourth year of doing the institute and it has grown significantly since first launching it. This was a one thing when I, when I moved back into the College of Education, I said, “I really wanna keep working with this.” And it’s wonderful because it doesn't necessarily live in any one space.

It is a true collaboration with folks across the campus. So Faculty Affairs and HSI initiatives and the Center for University Education Scholarship and UCATT and different colleges are all committed to making sure this continues to happen. And now we have. Oh gosh. We had our largest cohort come through this last year. We had almost 85 people total participate. About 55 or so were faculty and then different teams associated with HSI funded projects. Um. And the learning that happens in this cross-disciplinary interdisciplinary space is really beautiful. And some of the things that we're hearing from faculty afterwards, because we do a follow up interviews with them and we check in afterwards.

We have of course lots of assessment pre and posttests and surveys. Um, but they tell us things like,” I was coming in thinking I was going to redesign. Of course, but what it shifted was my entire like, philosophy of teaching, you know?” And I'm like, “yes, that's what we want. Like, but you're not going to come in if I tell you, oh, we're going to decolonize through your ways of teaching and learning.”

Right. Faculty will be like, whatever. Um, but it's been a really beautiful thing to watch it grow and to see how we can create this, this community of, of practice, the community of learning within and amongst our faculty. And we have faculty from. Every single track, every single contract status. Um, and now this last summer, we, we invited, um, and partnered with, um, HSIs across the state.

So, we had faculty participating from community college, HSIs across the state, um, of course NAU. And, and this year we're hoping to partner with a ASU and. So to watch it grow truly into a, a collaborative effort has been really fantastic. 

Dean Berry:

Wow. So I mean, that's, that sounds transformational. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

I hope it is. 

Dean Berry:

And impactful because, you know, when you think about, you know, these, these shifts 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Mm-hmm.

Dean Berry:

Particularly as you think about our status as a university, it's important for us to stay engaged and how do we bring in, you know, the opportunity for faculty to stay engaged? And sometimes it's not these massive changes, it's really thinking about the work that you're doing. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

And thinking about that work that you're doing in ways that makes it accessible to not only students, but also being inclusive of others being a part of that conversation. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Absolutely. 

Dean Berry:

So, I appreciate the work that you're doing in that space because I think it does broaden the space.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

For participation. And also, I think it provides an opportunity broadly across the university now and you're saying across the state.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah, and I would be, you know, remiss if I didn't mention the funding agencies attached to it. Right. Because, um, while it initially, we were able, initially able to launch it as part of the Care Act funds that came through. 

Dean Berry:

Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

When, when the pandemic hit, we had, um, certain funds that were designated, of course, to post-secondary institutions, but there were some additional funds that came through because we are an HSI, that's a first time. It's usually HSIs. We don't, um, we don't just receive funding, right? Because we have the designation, this funding we can apply for, but the Cares Act Fund allowed some additional funds to come through. And, um, in working with Dr. Marla Franco, we were able to put aside some of this to launch the, this, the institute initially.

Um, and then, um, we were able to apply for Department of Education Title III funds. And Kimberly Sierra is the PI on that I serve as co-PI. And in that realm of funding, we're able to focus specifically on, um, some of the gateway courses within stem, um, major STEM fields to ensure that we are supporting faculty as they think about the curriculum within those particular courses because we know that those are areas that, um, students of color, Latinx students in particular, um, as we look at the data for this project, lower income first gen students may be struggling. 

Um, and so we've partnered with the College of Engineering and College of Science to support faculty through that space. And we have some NSF funding, um, through our project reads, which I know is another episode, um, on the podcast where now we have an incredible group of postdoctoral scholars working across four different projects related to culturally responsive curriculum and research and, um, trainings. And so, we have a one, uh, Dr. Hannah White is working with us as a researcher on the project for the Culturally Responsive Curriculum Development Institute. And then last year, NSF also funded a HUB Grant Project LISTO that Dr. Marla Franco and Dr. Rey Rivera are the PIs on. 

And that's the one that has allowed us to bring in folks from across the state and our HSI partners. So, you know, we. We, we find ways to make it happen, right? And we are fortunate that there are some funding agencies, um, right now multiple, that are really, um, committed also to this work. And so the, the alignment is there and we're going to keep moving on it.

Dean Berry:

Alright, so, yeah. So, I want to, I want to shift a little bit.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

Because I want to talk about your, your research. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Sure. 

Dean Berry:

Particularly, and I know I asked you at the beginning, you know, three words. And so, I'm going to share some words, uh, as well. So, as I was reading your work, certainly you mentioned funds of knowledge.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Mm-hmm. 

Dean Berry:

That is present, but, uh, these other words are not independent of funds of knowledge, so mm-hmm. Cultural capital. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

Social capital. And then, you know, I, I said three. I'm going to throw in a fourth one. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Sure. 

Dean Berry:

I said, okay, this notion of parental involvement. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

So, I, I really, I want to dig into that a little bit, but I want to touch on, let's, we got to focus on funds of knowledge first.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Okay. 

Dean Berry:

All right. So, um. Let's talk about that. So, so how many, how, I have a question and, and I actually borrowed this question from one of your papers. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Mm-hmm. Okay.

Dean Berry:

How can funds of knowledge, social capital, cultural capital, I mean, how do they inform opportunities, educational opportunities for underrepresented students? 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. Um, okay. So, I have to answer my, my own questions in my papers. Um. I don't think, well first, I don't think we can talk about funds of knowledge without of course giving the, the proper recognition, right? And shout outs to the amazing faculty here who were here at different points in the College of Education who really brought this work to life. 

And so recently, of course, we honor Dr. Luis Moll, um, and the legacy that he brought forward with his work on Funds of Knowledge. Dr. Norma Gonzalez, who also was a faculty member here in the College of Education, many of the students that they've worked with over the years, Cathy Amanti as a, partner within education. Um, and they really helped us to understand what funds of knowledge could be from a pedagogical lens. Um, originally, and we won't, we don't have to go through the whole right, like theoretical kind of background of it, although I love talking about it.

Um. Originally, we understand it from a cultural anthropology space of what, um, at that point, Mexican families were tapping into as they were moving across the border. Um, and navigating those, um, cross border relations and responsibilities and the ways in which they were sharing those funds within the home, the funds of knowledge with other families, and, and sharing them with their children in these, in these spaces of curiosity and um, experimentation. And in these as Luis Moll right? Would, would talk about in his work with, um, concepts through Vygotsky, these zones of proximal development. Um, and then understanding how we can bring those. Those historical forms of knowledge, the cultural knowledge, the funds of knowledge into teaching and learning spaces.

And of course with their work, it was grounded much more in K-12 spaces. And one of the things that I have been deeply committed to is to make sure that we also are thinking about funds of knowledge within post-secondary spaces, post-secondary broadly. And so, to get to your, your question, um. Not just within classrooms of post-secondary spaces but really understanding how do funds of knowledge contribute to college-going conversations in the home, how do they contribute to college-going pathways, a college-going culture that is developed within homes and, and amongst communities and neighbors and friends.

Um, and what does that look like as families move through parents and families and children move through that college going process. And the transition into higher education. And then of course the, the teaching and the learning that happens within our post-secondary spaces as well. And so, um, for me it's a commitment not just through a research framework, but now especially like through the institute, um, through my own teaching practice, to remember that those, that knowledge is there, those forms of knowledge, that the knowledge has always been there.

And these families, these parents, these students. They're so powerful in that knowledge. Right? And it's up to us as researchers and practitioners and teachers and instructors and those running student affairs programs and outreach programs to recognize that, um, we have a responsibility to understand who those students are and what they're bringing in.

And part of that is also then maybe disrupting what we have come to know as more of the normative ways of knowing and being and the normative, um, knowledge systems, period. Right? And that's for me where the social and cultural capital pieces come in and where we can understand it from parallel conceptual spaces and parallel theoretical spaces.

And, um, you know, social and cultural capital are under a broader theoretical umbrella of, um, understanding the way social reproduction happens within communities and systems and the way power is reproduced within, and stratified right, within particular social systems and, and in particular with, in different, um, income classes.

And, but certain knowledges within social and cultural capital are the ones that continue to be valued and perpetuated and taught in our classroom and reinforced. And so, as we, and I say we, because Dr. Cecilia Rios-Aguilar has been a partner in the work the entire time, but as we think about. 

The ways in which funds of knowledge are cultivated and shared and valued or not valued, right? In education spaces and the way social and cultural capital are perpetuated and valued and taught, um, we've tried to understand both at the same time. Um, and the ways in which students are navigating multiple spaces and the ways in which at times funds of knowledge can be converted into social and cultural capital, um, for that educational advancement and equity, while at the same time continuing to be in a space where that knowledge is, is understood and grounded and valued and shared back within communities. So leveraged, um, in different ways. 

Dean Berry:

Wow. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah.

Dean Berry:

I mean, your work reminds me kind of, of my, I know it's apart from your work, but it reminds me of my own experience. I, I grew up in Hampton, Virginia. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Mm-hmm. 

Dean Berry:

And so, in Hampton, Virginia, there's, uh, an HBCU in Hampton, Hampton University.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Mm-hmm. 

Dean Berry:

And while I didn't attend Hampton University, I always saw myself as a young boy 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Sure. 

Dean Berry:

Being there because I, I was, I had proximity and, you know, and, and having that proximity, um, and being a first gen myself, you know, my mother always would tell, tell us, you know, we would go play basketball at Hampton. We would see the other college kids there. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

We would try to, we pretended like we were college kids. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

And so somehow it made me think about, you know. Uh, observing others' behaviors, observing how they carried themselves and interacted with one another. It made me think, okay, this is how people are interacting.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah.

Dean Berry:

So, I, I guess the contribution I, when I think about my mother in this space is the, the wherewithal to kind of say, to send me there, 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah.

Dean Berry:

To encourage me to kind of be in that space. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Mm-hmm. 

Dean Berry:

Uh, with people that she saw that we should be like. Um, and so that's what I thought about as I was reading, uh, your work.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. It's so, you know, and, and I love that you, you shared this story because there's so many elements to it that, that I feel like the families and the parents that I've been able to work with over the years have reflected also back. And um, just as Hampton University played, um, a symbolic role for you, right? Of like possible dreams that are possible and visions that are possible and realms of possibility, the U of A plays that for so many of our students in our local area. Particularly as we think about students who are south of the university, right? And that's largely many of the parents and families that I've worked with over the years and the work that early academic outreach and the college academy for parents has done, um.

And the work, oh my gosh, that Dr. Karina Garcia, right? Like her work is so central to this, her research, and I remember at one point interviewing a family member who was participating in the college academy for parents, and this was probably when they first launched, so 2004, 2005. And one of the events that the College Academy for parents was hosting was on campus because like your mother, they knew the importance of bringing students to campus and bringing parents and families to campus to show them what was possible and to show and reflect to them, you belong here, and this space is yours.

But I remember talking to one of the mothers and her asking me, well, do I need a ticket to get on campus? Right? And we know this as an open institution where people can come and park and use, you know, use all of the amazing facilities that are here and walk around and go to shows or museums. Um, but for families who, who haven't had that opportunity, right? Or for whom opportunities have been structured away from them. Even coming to campus was a significant barrier and knowing how to even move in the campus and get here. I think those are all things that we have to keep remembering when we think about access and possibilities is that we make an assumption that folks know that they can just come, and that's not the case for everyone. 

And, and I think now about my own kids, I have a almost 13-year-old and an 8-year-old, and their sense of space and place and belonging on this campus or college campuses in general since I've been at many, is so different than what I ever navigated or what, what you talk about navigating yourself.

And I love that for them. And it's also so different, right? They have such a different level of capital, right? Um, already at this age than, than I ever did. 

Dean Berry:

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. You're making me reflect as a father as well because of both, you know, uh, uh, you know, both of my children are college graduates and, and, and their imagination around college going. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah.

Dean Berry:

Was so different from my own. Um, and in one ways I loved it for them in other ways. I, you know, I, I, you know, because they were, they thought very differently. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Mm-hmm. 

Dean Berry:

You know, in terms of, you know, I have one who's considering graduate school internationally. I was like, man, I didn't even think about leaving the city.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

You’re thinking about leaving the country. Uh, so it's, it's, it's just that, that kind of imagination. Um. you mentioned Dr. Moll. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Mm-hmm. 

Dean Berry:

Uh, and so I, I want to return to that, you know? And, and, and as you mentioned earlier, we, um, the College of Education recently, uh, celebrated and acknowledged Dr. Moll's life. Can you talk a little bit about his influence on your work?

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. Oh, I, you know, when I think about Luis and I think about like folks like Luis Moll and Gary Rhoades, Rudy McCormick, right? All of these people who have been. Significant mentors along the way. Um, I would not be here without them. Right. And, and Dr. Moll was, um, I, I mentioned this as we did our panel at, at his, um, memorial kind of event that we all hosted.

And I talked about him being the bridge. Um, not just a bridge, I guess, again, conceptually and theoretically between practice and teaching and the, and the work and the framework. But a literal bridge for so many of us to be in these spaces. And, um. I shared a couple of stories, uh, during the panel, and I'll share them here.

And I remember, um, during my dissertation defense, so he was, he was on my committee and I, we have open defenses, meaning we have to advertise them and invite whomever wants to come. But I was so scared. I was so nervous that I uninvited everybody. And then, um, Gary told me, “no, no, no, your parents need to be there and your family needs to be there.”

So, my husband was there and my mother-in-law, my parents, and at the time Luis was on sabbatical and he came in for my defense and instead of sitting with the other faculty, he sat right, right next to my mom and just talked to her, you know, throughout, talked to her at the beginning. And I was sitting there like, “how is it, it was just such an odd moment, right? Of how is this happening? Like how, how is he so comfortable just sitting with my mom who he doesn't really know? Um, and my mom sitting there talking to him about his sabbatical…” and yet it, it all kind of made perfect sense because this is what I was studying in my dissertation, right?

I was studying the ways in which parents and families cultivate these college going cultures through a Funds of Knowledge lens. And, and he was doing it in that moment, and it helping to explain also what was happening in the defense. And, um, you know, you have those moments where you're very surreal, where you're watching something happen and you're in it.

And, and here's a person who has helped to create the framework that you're using. And I mean, that, that was his, I don't know his persona, his characteristic through everything in terms of just bridging things for folks and making connections for us so that things were possible. And he is who introduced me to Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, who has become my, you know, not just dear friend and, and deep relationships with, but my partner in this Funds of Knowledge work for years now.

And she, at the time was leaving graduating from the University of Rochester, and he encouraged her to apply here to a faculty position. And I was in my last year finishing my PhD and he told, he told me, “You need to meet Cecilia. She's doing this work, um, also with families, but, but quantifying funds of knowledge for the first time through surveys.”

And, and then he told her the same thing that we needed to connect. And that started this whole research relationship for us. But also, again, a deep friendship and partnership. And because of her, I applied to the University of Rochester. So, I mean, there were all these, um, influences, but again, spaces of opportunity opening up that he just very easily did for people.

Um. In, in ways that with, with so much ease and care and love. Um, so he, you know, he is a legacy and not just in the work, but in all of us in our relationships. 

Dean Berry:

Wow. Wow. Well, well, well, thank you for that. And, and, and, and you bothered this up a couple of times. The example with. Uh, Dr. Moll and your mother.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

And you brought up parents. And so, I want to transition to this work that you've done around, you know, kind of parent and family involvement engagement. Uh, can you talk a little bit about that work? 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

And, and I know that from the higher education perspective because when I think about it, I think about parent engagement in K -12.

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

But you bring a, a, an interesting perspective in terms of higher education. Can you talk about that work as well? 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Sure. Um, it's not detached from K-12. I mean, that's for me, one of the things that has been, um, so meaningful and fun about my research is that it's always that from a P-20 lens. U, because we can't, we can't separate that these educational systems, um, don't influence one another. Right? 

And even though we don't always maybe work in collaboration, um, what happens across P-20 pathways is so important and parent and family engagement is one of those elements. And so, yes, there's this, of course a deep body of, of research and literature around what parent family engagement could look like, should right, quote unquote look like at a K-12, um, space and the ways in which it contributes to students' academic progress and, um, development of, of educational ideologies and college going possibilities.

And then up until recently, there wasn't a whole lot written from a post-secondary or higher ed space because we, we, meaning those of us in higher ed made a lot of assumptions about great. Now the students are here and they're adults, and we can, um, I won't say as, you know, drastically as like cut those ties, but now they're independently navigating these educational spaces.

But the reality is before so many of us are students, particularly our first generation college students, and students who are coming from communities of color, um, collectivist orientation communities, right? That the connection to parents and families and home and community doesn't end because they start in a, in a college classroom and move into a college residence hall.

Um, and so that's really been the focus is, um, not only what possibilities exist for parent and family engagement in higher education spaces. But what is the institutional responsibility to engage them in ways that are again, um, culturally affirming and responsive and not deficit oriented, and not just with these overarching, we don't hear it as much anymore, but these overarching stereotypes around, well, these are just helicopter parents and they're just like bothering us and, you know, questioning everything. But really from a space of how can we partner with folks, with, with parents and families, what is, um, what is our institutional responsibility to continue to keep them informed and engaged? And if we think about the last few years in particular in higher education spaces.

We've gone over, we've gone through crisis, after crisis, after crisis, and of, of course, we have to be in communication with parents and families, right? We don't stop being there their child just because they're in college. And that's been, um, a significant amount of the work, abig piece of the work that I've been doing with Dr. Cassandra Harper over the years. And thinking about it from new models, thinking about it from, again, institutional responsibility, um, gathering parent and family perspectives. Particularly first generation, um, parent family perspectives around how, how, how do they want to be engaged and what does that look like and what questions do they have.

And then also working closely with, um, directors, coordinators, those professionals who are now situated in parent and family offices. So that has grown quite a bit across college campuses, and that is the most recent focus of our work. Um, we are almost finished with a book, um, that really highlights the, the practices, the voices, the, the collaborations, the, the amazing things that these parent and family professionals are doing on college campuses to engage parents and families, um, in ways that are affirming, um, and connected to, um, student development, student success, student independence. 

Dean Berry:

Wow. Well, well, well, thank you for that. And so I do have one last question. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Sure. 

Dean Berry:

And it's not necessarily a question, it is are there, or is there any questions that I did not ask you that you would like to answer? 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Uh, that's always good. I use that one too in all my interviews. Um, you know, I think when I, I was talking to a good friend and colleague this weekend about an article that we wrote when we first became faculty members.

And it's, um, three of us who we call ourselves, the sister scholars, Latinas, who have all navigated these spaces together, graduate school and then moving into tenure track roles. And we wrote a paper early on around, um, our testimonios and we use this notion of, um, of, of braiding our, our testimonios together.

And we talk about in the paper the ways in which our different identities are being understood, being challenged, being redefined now as academics. Um, and when I go back and I read that paper and I see the ways in which I initially, right, and this was, I don't know, 2008, talked about wanting to engage with parents and families and communities and the value of community, um, for me.

When I go back and, and read it, I think, oh, like that has stayed really central. Um, and so I'm really, I, I guess I'm really proud of that right, of, of knowing that even though our roles have changed and our titles have changed, and we have changed in many ways, um, the commitment to community has always been there.

Dean Berry:

Yeah. Well, thank you so much. 

Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama:

Yeah. 

Dean Berry:

And, and I've learned a lot from this conversation and a lot about your work and, and so thank you for being here on the Inquiry Oasis. And, and I'm Robert Berry. I'm the Dean of the College of Education and this is the Inquiry Oasis. And today we had Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama, who talked to us about her work around funds of knowledge, social capital, uh, cultural capital, parent involvement, and just kind of give us some of her stories. Her stories were significantly impactful as we think about the roles of her research and the roles of her work and her different capacities. Not here, not only here at the University of Arizona, but throughout her career. So Dr. Kiyama, thank you so much for being with us here on the Inquiry Oasis.