LAUSR

For decades, the education system has struggled to serve Latinx students, viewing them in a way that focuses on their deficits. However, Latinx scholars have proposed a series of asset-based frameworks to reframe and reshape how we see and treat Latinx students in the U.S. system. Using the Dora the Explorer’s mochila (backpack) as a metaphor to capture the assets Latinx students bring to the classroom, Louie Rodriguez proposes that teachers think of Latinx students as carrying mochilas of excellence into the classroom. This framing encourages educators to recognize and develop Latinx student agency and help them realize the power and promise of education in their lives.