College of Education and Human Development

Department of Educational Psychology

Lisa N. Aguilar

  • Pronouns: she, her, ella

  • Assistant professor

  • Office Hours

    By appointment

Lisa Aguilar Headshot

Areas of interest

  • Indigenous youth, families, and communities
  • Indigenization
  • Decolonization
  • Visiting and storytelling
  • Cultural identity

I am currently accepting doctoral students in the school psychology program. I encourage submissions from Indigenous applicants or those who have worked with Indigenous populations and have demonstrated an understanding of decolonization and Indigenization in their work.

Degrees

PhD
NCSP (Nationally Certified School Psychologist)

Biography

Dr. Aguilar is an Indigenous (Enrolled citizen of MHA Nation, Očhéthi Šakówiŋa, and Chicana) woman, relative, and researcher. Her work focuses on reclaiming and remembering Indigenous ways of being and doing by working alongside Indigenous youth, families, and communities. She does this in 3 ways: 1) imagining how we decolonize education and indigenize school psychology, 2) learning how Indigenous students come to their identities of self and community, namely indigeneity, and 3) moving school psychology away from oppressive research practices toward critical research relationships.

Dr. Aguilar is the  Co-Chair of the NASP Indigenous American Subcommittee, editorial board member of School Psychology Review and School Psychology International, and a Contributing Editor to the Communiqué, a school psychology practitioner journal.

Awards & recognitions

  • Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) award from the University of Minnesota (awarded 2024)
  • Presidential award from the National Association of School Psychologists (awarded 2024)
  • Invited Early Career Scholar, SPRCC for the Society for the Study of School Psychology
  • 2022 Article of the Year Honorable Mention for School Psychology Review (awarded 2023)
  • 2021 School Psychology Review Reviewer of the Year (Awarded 2022)
  • Featured Scholar, TSP Honoring Diverse Leaders in School Psychology Project (Recognized 2021)

Research & funding grants

  • Division 16 Antiracism Action Grant, “Anti-Colonial School Psychology Learning Collaborative”
  • Research for Indigenous Social Action and Equity (RISE) grant, “Dreaming an Indigenized School Psychology Future: Centering the Voices of Indigenous Youth”
Publications

Aguilar, L. N., Henderson Smith, L., & Goforth, A. (In Press). Critical relationality in research: A proposed framework for engaging in research alongside Indigenous communities. Journal of School Psychology special issue.

Henderson Smith, L., Aguilar, L. N., Joshua, K., Pandey, T., Sox, D., Hernandez, B., Wang, Y., Yang, K., & Bottiani, J.H. (In Press). Mixed-method systematic review: Using a cultural validity assessment to evaluate prevention programs for Indigenous students. Journal of School Psychology special issue. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2024.101402

Aguilar, L. N., *Mojica, K., *Lim, H. S., *Palmer, J. S., *Ruiz, M. D., *Serratos, C. B., &
*Soto J. M. (In Press). Surviving and thriving in school psychology through community
building and storytelling: A collaborative autoethnography. School Psychology
International. https://doi.org/10.1177/01430343231194733

Agger, C. A., *Sam, K., & Aguilar, L. N. (2023). Postsecondary aspirations of rural
Indigenous adolescents and how schools support these dreams, goals, and plans: A
literature review and synthesis. Peabody Journal of Education, 98(4), 396-413.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2023.2238509

Aguilar, L. N. (2023). Best practices in addressing needs of Indigenous children and
families in schools. In P. L. Harrison, S. L. Proctor, & A. Thomas (Eds.), Best practices
in school psychology foundations (7th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 113-126). National Association of
School Psychologists.

Pham, A. V., Goforth, A. N., Aguilar, L. N., Burt, I., *Bastian, R., & *Diakow, D. (2021). Dismantling systemic inequities in school psychology: Cultural humility as a foundational approach to social justice. School Psychology Review, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2021.1941245

Aguilar, L. N., Shearin, J., Sam, W., & Mojica, K. (2021). Indigenous youth in schools: Consequences of colonialism and advocating for a better future. Communiqué, 50(1), 1, 26-30.

Presentations

Aguilar, L. N. (2024, June). Healing the wounds: Understanding the impact of the boarding school era on Indigenous youth. [Invited Speaker]. Walking in Balance: Supporting Native Youth Holistically through Culturally Responsive School Counseling. Saint Paul Public Schools. Saint Paul, MN.

Aguilar, L. N. (2024, April). Using Tribal Critical Race Theory to inform an Indigenized school psychological praxis. [Invited Distinguished Speaker]. School Psychology Spring Symposium. University of South Dakota. Vermillion, SD.

Aguilar, L. N. (2023, December). Indigenizing school psychology research and practice. [Invited Speaker]. University of South Florida. Tampa, FL.

Aguilar, L.N. (2023, November). Research is relationship: Undoing colonialism in school psychology. Invited speaker: Indigenous Students in Psychology Training (InPsyT) program. Bemidji State University. Bemidji, MN.

Grant, S. M. & Aguilar, L. N. (2023, August). Co-creating anti-colonial learning spaces: Building communities of resistance. [Critical Conversation]. American Psychological Association. Washington, D. C.

Robinson-Zañartu, C., Aguilar, L. N., *Kinlicheene, B., *Greensky, S., & *Peterson, R. (2023, February). Relationality, responsibility, reciprocity, resistance: Working alongside Indigenous youth and communities. Documented session: The National Association of School Psychologists Annual Convention. Denver, CO.

Aguilar, L.N. (2022, November). Tribal critical race theory: Implications for educational policy. Invited speaker: Celebrating Native education: The power of Indigenous Peoples. Sponsored by San Diego State University Native Resource Center and SHPA Native Scholars and Collaborators Project. San Diego, CA.

Aguilar, L.N. (2022, October). Indigenizing and decolonizing school-based practices: Being in right relationship. Invited speaker: Alaska School Psychologists Association Fall 2022 Conference. Anchorage, AK.

Aguilar, L. N. & D’Costa, S. (2022, January). The Land that holds us: Indigenizing mental health spaces. [Difficult Dialogue]. 2022 National Multicultural Conference and Summit (virtual).


Aguilar, L. (2021, September). Blood quantum: So, how much Native are you? Invited speaker: School of Education Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Professional Development Series. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University.