This article in the Informal Learning Review (ILR) introduces Comunalidad as a powerful lens for reimagining Latinx engagement in STEM. Dr. Isabel Hawkins highlights how this framework can inform more inclusive and culturally sustaining STEM practices in informal science learning ISL—through exhibit design, programming, communications, and practitioner professional development. Drawing from museum-based examples, we explore how the components of Comunalidad can honor Latinx cultural expressions of STEM and challenge dominant paradigms.
The Comunalidad framework was originally developed by a group of Indigenous Zapotec academics from Oaxaca, Mexico, to describe their communities’ way of life. Cambio adapted Comunalidad to the museum context to serve as a tool for weaving STEM and Latinx cultural practices together. Focusing on the four pillars of Relationship to Place, Reciprocity, Self-Determination, and Feast/Fiesta, the framework invites museums and their staff to become more community-centered in service of co-creating culturally relevant and sustaining STEM learning experiences.
