Discourse, Power, And The Language Of Racism: The Establishment Of The Racial Contract In New Mexico, Jesse A. Romero

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Abstract

Words are not neutral. Language, and the meaning and legal implications attached to it, are politically and ideologically driven. The manipulation of discourse are hallmarks of white supremacy. In a historical context, language has been used to frame the colonial legal discourse establishing white supremacy and racially defining the white polity who established it. This unearned power to establish legal discourse and a common narrative for whites as the superior racial group and people of color as inferior racial groups is pervasive in society. The trajectory this placed on people racially, politically, socio-economically, and educationally can still be seen …

Institutional Racism Through The Eyes Of African American Male Faculty At Community Colleges In The Pacific Northwest, Kimberly Harden

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the lived experiences of African American male faculty at community colleges in the Pacific Northwest. Regional data mirrors national statistics denoting the low number of faculty of color working at state-funded community colleges. The literature reviewed for this study suggests that African American male faculty experience racism and gender bias during their academic career journeys. This study sought insight from five African American male faculty to answer the overarching research question: What are the possible perceived institutional barriers that contribute to the underrepresentation of African American male faculty? These individuals were …

Examining The Development Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy For Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers, Natasha Ramsay-Jordan

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Culturally responsive mathematics pedagogy (CRMP) should be valued and presented as the norm for teachers so that students from diverse backgrounds can access essential mathematical knowledge (Aguirre & del Rosario, 2013; Bonner & Adams, 2012; Leonard & Moore, 2014). Prospective teachers of diverse students need to have opportunities in their professional study to develop the shared knowledge, perceptions and attitudes required for effective implementation of culturally responsive mathematics pedagogy (Gay, 2002). The purpose of this study is to begin investigative and exploratory work through the coupling of qualitative research methodology and critical race theory to examine preservice secondary mathematics teachers’ …

Another 40 Years Of Inequity: Two-Tier Schooling As The Lasting Legacy Of Desegregation Policy In St. Louis, Missouri, Renee L. Racette

Dissertations

The St. Louis Public Schools of St. Louis, Missouri were at one time the second largest segregated school district in the United States. In the years since Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954 and 1955, the school district of St. Louis has been attempting to desegregate as ordered by the courts. A group of North Side parents brought a lawsuit against the district and the State of Missouri that, after many years of litigation, found both parties to be liable for maintaining segregated schools, but an out-of-court settlement was reached. As a result of this suit and subsequent …

An Alternative Approach To Standardized Testing: A Model That Promotes Racial Equity And College Access, Saran Stewart, Chayla Haynes

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

Since its inception, standardized testing has long been considered an illustration of the endemic nature of racism in America and a barrier to college access for racially minoritized students. This paper explores how standardized testing affects racial equity and college access of racially minoritized students. Critical race theory (CRT) and access provide frameworks to understand how standardized testing impacts racially minoritized students as members of the college going community. Thereafter, we problematize the use of colorblind and meritocratic practices in order to propose a comprehensive critical education model for the assessment of racially minoritized students’ scholastic aptitude. Our analysis found …

White Teachers’ Experiences Of Working With Black Students Within A Response To Intervention Framework: The Role Of Racialized Deficit Thinking, Sujay Sabnis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a data-based decision-making framework of service delivery that has the potential to improve educational outcomes for all students. Preliminary data appear to bolster this claim. However, it is as yet unclear whether RTI will be able to close the gap in educational outcomes that exists between students of different racial groups. Drawing on theories such as culture of policy (Stein, 2004) and deficit thinking (Valencia, 2010), this study explored the experiences of six White elementary teachers using RTI while working with Black students receiving Tier 2 or Tier 3 instructional supports. Using theoretically driven constant-comparative …

Toward A Multidimensional Framework: Exploring The Constructed Identities And Pedagogical Styles Of Black Male Kindergarten Teachers In The South, Nathenial Bryan

Theses and Dissertations

Given the one-dimensional, essentialist view of Black male teachers as social change agents (i.e., role models and father figures) (Brown, 2012b; Rezai-Rashti, 2008), the purpose of this study was to examine the identities, the ability to support Black male students’ success, and pedagogical styles of Black male kindergarten teachers in the South. Using a multidimensional conceptual framework including Black masculinity, Fictive Kinship Network, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, and Critical Race Theory, this study captured counterstories of culturally relevant Black male kindergarten teachers. The counterstories were used as a methodological tool to convey major themes which demonstrated Black male kindergarten teachers’ ability …

Black Lives Matter, But Not Here: A Case Study, Jason R. Goode, Z Nicolazzo

College Student Affairs Leadership

Recently, the United States has experienced a wave of social movements that include protests and digital social justice movements through Facebook and Twitter. These movements have been sparked as a response to systematic racism within the university landscape and the police force. This case study looks into systematic racism at a large public university college campus. The setting is in a college town on a city street that connects the city jail to the campus. Readers will be introduced to several characters that are important to the story before reading an account of the tug of war treatment of Black …

In The Service Of What? A Phenomenological Exploration Of African American High School Students' Self-Efficacy In Service Learning, Charemi A. Jones

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study explored how African American high school students from a large Midwestern city make meaning of their service learning experiences within the framework of mandated service learning participation required for high school graduation, and how their lived experiences inform their self-efficacy development. Scholars have previously posited, “student voice in service learning projects positively correlated with improved self-concept, political engagement, and tolerance” (Morgan and Streb, 2001). Within this context, voice is synonymous with students’ self- reflection.

One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted utilizing a pre-printed protocol consisting of open- ended questions designed to elicit authentic responses, allowing the voice of …

Gifted And Unserved: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of The Promise Scholar Program On Reducing The Racial Segregation Of Gifted Education, Reby Helland

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

There is a crisis in gifted education across our nation. Gifted programs are disproportionally identifying and servicing middle-class White students while systematically ignoring minority students. The Promise Scholar Program was developed by the Kent School District as a method to tackle the underrepresentation of minority students in their gifted education program. This elementary talent development model places promising minority students into gifted classrooms, exposing the participants to advanced and accelerated curriculum. This study sought to determine the effectiveness of this program as way to increase the identification of minority students for gifted education. Through the analysis and comparison of student …

Eating Fire While Walking On Broken Glass: An Auto-Ethnography Of One Adult Educator's Tenure Process, Dianne Ramdeholl

Adult Education Research Conference

This autoethnography documents the journey of one female academic of color through her tenure process, outlining the landmines embedded within the tenure process for women of color. It offers recommendations for new faculty of color.

Building On Community: A Community-Built Pipeline Of Community College-Educated Secondary Mathematics Teachers Of Color, Maria J. Gross

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

The race/ethnic gap between secondary mathematics teachers and their students is widening as more students of color enroll in public schools. Community colleges serve local and diverse populations. Historical focus was on elementary education, but, nationally, community college students prepare for careers in secondary mathematics education. Despite Washington State’s strong community college network, few defined secondary mathematics teacher pathways exist. Washington State community colleges’ role in preparing secondary mathematics teachers of color is emerging but is not sufficient to overcome the secondary mathematics teacher shortage and race/ethnic gap.

The purpose of this case study was to understand the role community …

Our Counter-Life Herstories: The Experiences Of African American Women Faculty In U.S. Computing Education, Shetay Nicole Ashford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this life history qualitative study was to explore the Counter-Life Herstories of African American women faculty in U.S. Computing Education. Counter-Life Herstories are derived from Counterstories, life histories, and herstories as powerful social justice tools to uncover hidden truths about marginalized groups’ experiences. Through the collection of timelines, counter-life story interviews, and reflective journal writings, I co-constructed and interpreted the Counter-Life Herstories of five participants using an integrative conceptual framework that included critical race theory and Black feminist thought as interpretive frameworks, and Afrocentric feminist epistemology to govern my knowledge validation process. As an emerging African American …

Portraits By African-American Male University Students: A Retrospective Study, Lauren Fissori

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

African-American male students are systematically forced to confine themselves to the social construct that European-American society has developed for them. Actions, behaviors, and words that communicate this message spread both interracially and intraracially within schools and affect African-American males tremendously in terms of their identity development and personal well-being. While many studies examine the overt forms of racism and more obvious microaggressions that African-American male students encounter in their schooling, few look at the deep-seated forms of racism that are less noticeable but that have a disastrous psychological impact on these students. This study shows the effects on the psyche …

Critical Race Theory And The Cultivation, Mentorship And Retention Of Black Women Faculty, Raina León, Norma D. Thomas

Kalmanovitz School of Education Faculty Works

In this research, critical race theory as a framework is explored in order to understand the paradigm at work within institutions of higher education in relation to the cultivation, mentorship, and retention of Black female faculty using the methodology of duoethnography.

Rap Music Literacy: A Case Study Of Millennial Audience Reception To Rap Lyrics Depicting Independent Women, Mia Moody-Ramirez, Lakia M. Scott

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Using a feminist lens and a constructivist approach as the theoretical framework, we used rap lyrics and videos to help college students explore mass media’s representation of the “independent” Black woman and the concept of “independence” in general. Students must be able to formulate their own concept of independence to counteract the messages and stereotypes they receive in popular culture through advertisements, film, print and music. The authors found that independence is situationally defined and it is a complex concept that is differentiated in consideration of age, race, and gender. Participants noted that rap music has the potential to influence …

Brown Bodies And Xenophobic Bullying In Us Schools: Critical Analysis And Strategies For Action, Monisha Bajaj, Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher, Karishma Desai

School of Education Faculty Research

This essay addresses an evidence-based action project that sought to interrupt and transform bullying behaviors directed at South Asian American youth in schools in the United States (U.S.). In the context of this essay and project, the authors argue that larger macro-level forces that promote misinformation about youth who inhabit brown bodies (in the U.S. and abroad) have given rise to behaviors identified as bullying, and in some cases, harassment and hate crimes in schools. Conventional literature on bullying offers inadequate frames for how the forces of Islamophobia—that affect all those perceived to be Muslim—and bullying come together to shape …

Race And Historiography: Advancing A Critical-Realist Approach, Dafina-Lazarus Stewart

Higher Education and Student Affairs Faculty Publications

This scholarly essay interrogates the seemingly necessary engagement of normative and essentialist characterizations of identity in the historical study of race in U.S. higher education. The author’s study of the experiences of Black collegians in private, liberal arts colleges in the Midwestern Great Lakes region between 1945 and 1965 grounds this discussion. Although engaging racial essentialism is necessary, the author presents alternative treatments of historicizing race to illustrate the benefits of a critical-realist approach to producing a synthetic cultural educational history.

Personal Agency Inspired By Hardship: Bilingual Latinas As Liberatory Educators, Amanda Morales, Gail Shroyer

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This qualitative multiple case study focused on eleven non-traditional, bilingual, Latinas within a teacher education program. The study explored various factors that influenced participants’ desire to pursue and ability to persist as pre-service teachers. The overarching theme identified among participant discourse was personal agency inspired by hardship. Findings indicated that, as a result of their cultural and experiential understandings, participants enacted culturally responsive teaching with their Latino/a students. Furthermore, participants demonstrated a strong sense of personal agency to improve the educational outcomes of culturally and linguistically diverse students and a desire to advocate specifically on behalf of English learner Latino/a …

Cultural Sensitivity: Early Career Teacher Beliefs, Espoused Theories, Theories In Use, Michelle Steinberger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine early career teacher practice and beliefs about students of color in their classrooms and the relationship between those beliefs and their classroom practices. In this study, seven teachers in the initial five years of their teaching career were interviewed and observed inside of their classrooms using the Quality Responsive Classroom Observation Protocol. The interview questions were developed to look at the beliefs, teacher preparation, and culturally responsive pedagogy of early career teachers. Data was then analyzed using the five tenets of the Critical Race Theory: (1) Centrality of Race and Racism; (2) …

Reasoning About Race And Pedagogy In Two Preservice Science Teachers: A Critical Race Theory Analysis, Douglas B. Larkin, Tanya Maloney, Gail M. Perry-Ryder

Douglas B. Larkin