Conocimiento Activity

Materials provided below for both Students and Graduate Students.

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.

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

Instructions for the facilitator of the Conocimiento Activity.

Instructions

Conocimiento Activity Cards for Students Heading link

Download a powerpoint version of Conocimiento Activity Cards for Students.

A description of the origin and uses of the conocimiento activity

Introduction

The first exercise is all about Identity & Background

Exercise one

The second exercise explores the participants educational experiences

Exercise two

the third exercise refers to the class this activity is a part of

Exercise three

the fourth and last exercise reflects upon the conocimiento activity itself.

Exercise four

Conocimiento Activity Cards for Graduate Students Heading link

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

A description of the origin and uses of the conocimiento activity

Introduction

The first exercise is all about Identity & Background

Exercise one

The second exercise explores the participants educational experiences

Exercise two

the third exercise refers looks to the future endeavors of the participants

Exercise three

the fourth and last exercise reflects upon the conocimiento activity itself.

Exercise four

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

  • These Conocimiento are based on a version developed by leaders at San José State University as part of their HSI campus framework, ¡Somos SJSU!