Expanding Caring Frameworks, A Critical Cariño Toolkit: Improving Practices when working with Latine Students and Communities

Description

Expanding Caring Frameworks, A Critical Cariño Toolkit: Improving Practices when working with Latine Students and Communities

October 17, 2025 | 10:00 a.m. EST

Facilitator: 

Dr. Carmen Veloria, Ed.D. (she/her, ella), Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Central Connecticut. State University and Dr. Anthony De Jesús, Ed.D., MSW (pronouns he/his/el), Associate Professor of Social Work & Equitable Community Practice, Director of the MSW Program at University of Saint Joseph, CT

A great deal has been written about notions of care and caring in school and other educational contexts, such as caring for and with students, caring for and with fellow educators, and caring about the socio-context of education (Beauboeuf-LaFontant, 2002, Noddings, 1992, 1984; Valenzuela, 1999, Antrop-González & De Jesús 2006, Bartolomé 2008, McKamey, 2011). This workshop aims to introduce human services practitioners, educators and students a Latine-centric Critical Cariño Toolkit that emphasizes notions of care and caring through a Latine lens. It includes background information, activity ideas, and information to help practitioners across various settings draw on cultural, familiar, and gendered notions of Cariño, Cuentos/Conocimientos y Consejos (care, stories/ways of knowing, and advice) to demonstrate care and to uphold a culture of high expectations and accountability, while offering authentic and respectful insights on ways of being and moving about the world that are grounded on lived-experience, wisdom, and a desire to help young people thrive in all aspects of their lives.