Leeza Holguin
PhD
Leeza is an Indigenous Chicana woman from the United States of America. Leeza holds a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education and Special Education from New York University and a Master of Arts in Sociology and Education from Teachers College Columbia University. Leeza has a background as an early childhood and primary school teacher and has taught in various locations worldwide, such as Hawai'i, Alaska, New York, Kuwait, Japan, and Australia.
Contact:
Thesis
A Childhood of My Own: Exploration of Indigenous Conceptions of Early Childhood as a Pathway Towards Self-Determination
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is inundated with patriarchal white social and developmental theories related to children and childhood; these reductive conceptions perpetuate hegemonic notions of patriarchal white nation-states that work to assert dominance and control over Indigenous lives. As a response, this study aims to explore Indigenous Sámi conceptions and pedagogical practices relating to young children in ECEC. Exploring Indigenous conceptions of children and childhood within ECEC will advance discourse relating to an Indigenous resurgence by exploring practices that turn away from whitestream society.
Research interests
- Early Childhood Education
- Indigenous Rights
- Indigenous Politics,