To Teach as a Lasallian
PROFILE: DR. ELENA ESCALERA
By Prof. Christi Scott
W.B Yeats wrote, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire” and the passion Dr. Elena Escalera, Chair of the department of Psychology at Saint Mary’s College of California, has for her Cross Cultural Psychology class shines brightly! An upper division elective course for psychology majors, Cross Cultural Psychology (Psych 165) is limited to twenty students, because of its unique service-learning component. Dr. Escalera initially taught the class in a seminar format, but noted that students didn’t seem to be engaging fully in the material.
When asked what she hoped students would take from the course, she responded, “Culture is not about race or ethnicity, class or nationality. It is about the values, beliefs and behaviors of a group, the meaning of that identity, and how they pass those values on and shape their environment.” Dr. Escalera completely redesigned her course around the ideas of shared inquiry, service, and the actual experience of the students, “The culture of Lasallian student centered learning allows me to create a space where they can learn about culture, rather than to teach them about culture.”
In order to challenge students to evaluate the role of culture in society, she added a “service learning component” to her course, in addition to regular instruction. Her goal is to give them the opportunity to experience a culture outside of their own experience. Students are placed in a homeless community with the assistance of CILSA and must dedicate at least two hours a week for a ten week period. Dr. Escalera recognizes that many students may be intimidated by this experience, “This may be the first time that a lot of our students are put in a position of not being the dominant culture. They don't know the rules and have a lot of stereotypes about the homeless. But after a few weeks, they acculturate, they recognize people, and are recognized by the people they are serving. It changes their view from the homeless as ‘other’ to seeing people they recognize and are familiar with.” 
In order to help students process their experience, Dr. Escalera covers material in class that is relevant to their experience in the homeless community. Students go through a cultural contact simulation, to demonstrate how quickly stereotypes form. This gives them some experience working with their own stereotypes before they go out into the field. The course is also structured to give students an experience of interdependence, an idea they struggle with. Quizzes are taken collectively and the grade is shared between group members. The students themselves have to deal with social loafers (group members who are not pulling their weight) and other group dynamic issues. The same groups meet all semester long and give each other grades on how well they are participating.
To integrate all the experiences together, Dr. Escalera has her students write self-reflective journals and she takes great pride in watching her students grow in maturity and self-understanding. She states, “The journals are amazing. To watch the insights that the students have is incredibly rewarding. They start to realize that many of the homeless are well-educated, and a lot like themselves. They stumble onto the rich homeless art and poetry scene and are so surprised to see such creativity in a community that faces so many challenges.”
Dr. Escalera cautions her students that they need to be willing to “sit with uncertainty” and face situations where they are uncomfortable, but ultimately they will learn to be compassionate with themselves and others. Dr. Escalera lights a fire under her students and her passion for teaching clearly shines through in her teaching, which helps students recognize the humanity in others and themselves. Dr. Escalera said her ultimate goal is to help students “realize their capacity for compassion with others and themselves. I love that the Lasallian tradition gives me permission to teach from the perspective of learning.” Thank you, Dr. Escalera, for being an inspiration to us all!