Conocimiento Activity

Materials provided below for both Students and Graduate Students.

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Conocimiento, meaning “getting to know” or “understanding” in Spanish, is a community-building activity that facilitates personal storytelling. Coming from the work of a Chicana scholar, Gloria Anzaldúa, and a Brazilian educator and philosopher, Paulo Freire, conocimiento asks students to act on the knowledge gained about themselves and others and find common ground on which to build a sense of community. The activity is designed to uncover a deeper understanding among students or participants through their exchange of stories that reveal personal experiences, values, and aspects of their identities. Conocimiento helps students and faculty foster a sense of belonging through a dialogue that encourages participants to embrace what they don’t know about others and bring what they do know about themselves. Using conocimiento in place of, or in addition to, other icebreaker activities encourages self-reflection and inclusive attitudes.

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five people participate in the conocimiento ice breaker activity, getting to know each other better.

^{Using conocimiento in place of, or in addition to, other icebreaker activities encourages self-reflection and inclusive attitudes.}

Facilitator Instructions for Students and Graduate Students Heading link

: Facilitator Instructions

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Conocimiento Activity Cards for Students Heading link

Download a powerpoint version of Conocimiento Activity Cards for Students.

: Introduction

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ONE / Identity & Background

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Conocimiento Activity Cards for Graduate Students Heading link

Download a powerpoint version of Conocimiento Activity Cards for Graduate Students.

: intro

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Additional Resources Heading link

: Additional Resources

Anzaldúa, Gloria E. “now let us shift… the path of conocimiento… inner work, public acts” in This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions for Transformation (eds. Gloria E. Anzaldúa and AnaLousie Keating). Routledge, 2002.

Méndez-Negrete, Josephine. 2013. “Pedagogical Conocimientos: Self and Other in Interaction,” NACCS Annual Conference Proceedings. 14.

Sanchez, Gabriella, Jesus Jaime-Diaz, and Josie Méndez-Negrete. 2022. “Self/Other, Other/Self: Conocimiento as Pedagogical Practice,” NACCS Annual Conference Proceedings. 8.

Whole Story and Studio Pathways. 2019. “Bridging and Breaking: Dialogues of Belonging,” Othering & Belonging Video Explainers Curriculum Series.

Barrera, Magdalena L., Lilly Pinedo Gangai, and Marcos Pizarro. 2022. “¡Somos SJSU!: An HSI Framework for Our Campus,” 01 Somos SJSU Framework – Google Docs