Using Testimonios to Enhance Social Emotional Learning Skills for High School Latina/o/x Students

This article explored how a testimonio presented during an out-of-school summer program for Latina/o/x high school youth served as a tool for students to enhance their Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills. Focusing specifically on a robust communal activity in the program known as an “Encuentro,” I examined how SEL skills were fostered through the individual and collective interactions that occurred during this gathering. I drew on video data to examine how a Chicana student’s testimonio presentation and her reflection on a personal lived experience sparked program staff and students listening to engage in acts of collective sense-making through the sharing of personal stories. I observed students fostering their SEL skills through the personal and collective sense-making that occurred between program staff and students. I make the case for how testimonios can serve as a culturally relevant tool to diversify current SEL practices within U.S. schools.