Research Spotlight: Dr. Raul Olmo Fregoso Bailon
Q & A with Dr. Raul Olmo Fregoso Bailon, Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning
What are your research interests and research achievements?
My research and teaching centers on educational foundations. Specifically, my work is on the decolonial turn and Latin American epistemologies with a special focus on the intersections of epistemologies from teachers, students, and metaphorical knowledge. It explores the significance of Normalistas-teachers in general and students’ lives, stories, and narratives as non-Western and non-canonical educational foundations. Additionally, my research seeks to aid in the development of Latin American philosophy of education from teachers and students as public intellectuals. My interdisciplinary perspective draws from a variety of theoretical approaches including the decolonial turn, coloniality of power, philosophy of liberation, theology of liberation, dependency theory and cultural studies in education, among others. From 2016 to 2020 I was member of the International Advisory Committee of the UNESCO Chair in Democracy, Global Citizenship and Transformative Education. I am author of ¿Qué tan diferente es México de la Venezuela de Chávez? Un acercamiento a través de los programas de desayunos escolares (Universidad de Guadalajara). My scholarship has either been published or is forthcoming in edited collections, including Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education (Springer), Keywords in Radical Philosophy and Education (Brill) and journals such as Bilingual Research Journal, Revista Historia de la Educación Latinoamericana, Policy Futures in Education, Contextualizaciones Latinoamericanas, Revista Tempos e Espaços em Educação, and other forums.
How does your work align with UTRGV’s and CEP’s strategic plans?
My research on Latin American educational foundations aligns tightly with the UTRGV and the College of Education and P16 Integration’s (CEP) strategic plans on cultural and linguistic sustainability and the bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate (B3) initiative since my research seeks to impact the Rio Grande Valley via the study of teacher’s and students’ narratives to put Latin American teachers’ and students’ epistemologies at the center of educational foundations supporting community engagement between the college and public-school educators. In this way, my research aims to advance the vision of UTRGV to become a highly engaged bilingual university that is responsive to the Rio Grande Valley population and beyond.
What are your current projects?
I am currently collaborating with Kalervo N. Gulson (University of Sydney, Australia) and with other colleagues in the project UNESCO International Science and Evidence Based Education Assessment and Digital Considerations For Learning and Learners. I am also currently working with the Latin American Philosophy of Education Society (https://www.lapes.org/about) to host conferences and publish the journal Lapiz with contributions from scholars such as Enrique Dussel, Catherine Walsh, Eduardo Mendieta, among others. In Texas, I am also part of a grant project with Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Dr. Emilio Zamora, Dr. Christopher Milk, along with teachers, parents, and students in Academia Cuauhtli (https://academiacuauhtli.com), which is a language and culture revitalization project that offers instruction in Mexican American Studies and Tejano Studies curriculum.