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Full-Text Articles in Education
Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs And Knowledge About Multiculturalism, Emmanuel Acquah, Nancy Commins
Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs And Knowledge About Multiculturalism, Emmanuel Acquah, Nancy Commins
Nancy L. Commins
The present study examined pre-service teachers’ knowledge of issues related to multiculturalism and diversity before and after taking a multicultural education course. Data from 38 degree students in an urban university in the southwest of Finland were analysed using a mixed method approach. The results indicate that pre-service teachers’ knowledge levels increased with respect to diversity and multicultural education after taking the course. In addition, pre-service teachers felt more competent and prepared to teach students with diverse backgrounds after the exposure. The implications of the findings for teacher education programmes and teacher educators are discussed.
Language And Affect: Bilingual Students At Home And At School, Nancy Commins
Language And Affect: Bilingual Students At Home And At School, Nancy Commins
Nancy L. Commins
No abstract provided.
Addressing Linguistic Diversity From The Outset, Nancy Commins, Ofelia Miramontes
Addressing Linguistic Diversity From The Outset, Nancy Commins, Ofelia Miramontes
Nancy L. Commins
Schools of education typically prepare their prospective teachers to work with amorphous “average students”—who are by implication middle class, native, English speaking, and White. They are then given some limited opportunities to adapt these understandings to students with diverging profiles—children of poverty, second language learners, and students of color. The authors argue that given the changing demographics of public schools, initial teacher education should be based on the understandings that teachers typically do not receive until the end of their programs or in add-on endorsements. They should be prepared from the outset to work with the wide diversity of language, …
Supporting Bilingual Learners And Their Families: Key Understandings For Pre-Service Teachers And The Institutions That Prepare Them, Nancy Commins
Supporting Bilingual Learners And Their Families: Key Understandings For Pre-Service Teachers And The Institutions That Prepare Them, Nancy Commins
Nancy L. Commins
An essential component of successful schooling in linguistically and culturally diverse settings is the active involvement of parents and community members. This is made possible when teachers honor families’ languages and cultural traditions and build upon them. Teacher preparation programs play a critical role in helping preservice teachers reject deficit views and recognize that issues of status, power, and economic circumstances all play a role in shaping outcomes for students. Part of the asset orientation that must be fostered in new teachers is the understanding that primary or home language development contributes to both the academic success of children and …
Perceived And Actual Linguistic Competence: A Descriptive Study Of Four Low–Achieving Hispanic Bilingual Students, Nancy L. Commins, Ofelia B. Miramontes
Perceived And Actual Linguistic Competence: A Descriptive Study Of Four Low–Achieving Hispanic Bilingual Students, Nancy L. Commins, Ofelia B. Miramontes
Nancy L. Commins
This ethnographic study investigated the linguistic performance of four Hispanic bilingual students perceived to have limited language abilities in Spanish and English. The study provided data on the students' language use and abilities, in both languages, in a variety of school and nonschool settings. Data were analyzed qualitatively for evidence of students' linguistic, discourse, and narrative competencies. Performance was compared across settings and across languages for each student, as well as across students. All students displayed different strengths across settings in both languages. The data indicated that the organization of instruction limited the students' abilities to demonstrate their full range …
Whole Language: Reform And Resistance, Nancy Commins
Whole Language: Reform And Resistance, Nancy Commins
Nancy L. Commins
The issue of educational reform and the role of the teacher in the reform process is discussed, using whole language as an example. It is argued that whole-language teachers must develop a theoretical framework that not only informs their views but also provides an understanding of systems and systems change.
Factors Influencing Title Vii Bilingual Program Institutionalization, G. Lewis, L. Baca, J. Bransford, Nancy Commins
Factors Influencing Title Vii Bilingual Program Institutionalization, G. Lewis, L. Baca, J. Bransford, Nancy Commins
Nancy L. Commins
This study of the primary restraining and driving forces that influence Title VII bilingual education programs found the external environment, the local community, to be the main factor influencing institutionalization and self-renewal. The internal environment--the local school, and the local school's organization or central office, school board, and superintendent--are also important forces.
Parents And Public Schools: The Experiences Of Four Mexican Immigrant Families, Nancy Commins
Parents And Public Schools: The Experiences Of Four Mexican Immigrant Families, Nancy Commins
Nancy L. Commins
Relates the results of a study of four Mexican-American immigrant families and the public school system. Describes communication problems between these families and schools and special fears and barriers that immigrants experience. Interviews found that parents were interested in their children's education but unsure how to contribute.
Cultural Vibrancy: Exploring The Preferences Of African American Children Toward Culturally Relevant And Non-Culturally Relevant Lessons, Darlene Sampson, Dorothy Garrison-Wade
Cultural Vibrancy: Exploring The Preferences Of African American Children Toward Culturally Relevant And Non-Culturally Relevant Lessons, Darlene Sampson, Dorothy Garrison-Wade
Dorothy Garrison-Wade
Despite the laudable intent of various educational initiatives in raising the achievement level of all children, limited progress has been made. In an effort to diminish the achievement gap of students of color, some researchers have examined the cultural relevancy of the curriculum in promoting student achievement. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the preferences of African American children toward culturally relevant and non-culturally relevant lessons, through a six-week series of lessons in an American History classroom. Critical Race Theory and Racial Identity Development provided the theoretical underpinnings of this study. This study takes place in …
Affirmative Action: History And Analysis, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Chance Lewis
Affirmative Action: History And Analysis, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Chance Lewis
Dorothy Garrison-Wade
From its inception, affirmative action policies were created to improve the employment and/or educational opportunities for members of minority groups and women. Even today, however, the debate continues over the future of affirmative action. Proponents offer empirical evidence illustrating that affirmative action has been favorable in aiding minorities and/or women to achieve parity in seeking education at the most elite institutions in this country. This empirical evidence has focused on descriptive statistics such as increasing enrollment for minorities (NCES, 2001). Research supports that affirmative action promotes academic and social development for all students; diverse classrooms do not weaken student quality …
The Impact Of White Teachers On The Academic Achievement Of Black Students: An Exploratory Qualitative Analysis, Bruce Douglas, Chance Lewis, Adrian Douglas, Malcom Scott, Dorothy Garrison-Wade
The Impact Of White Teachers On The Academic Achievement Of Black Students: An Exploratory Qualitative Analysis, Bruce Douglas, Chance Lewis, Adrian Douglas, Malcom Scott, Dorothy Garrison-Wade
Dorothy Garrison-Wade
In today's school systems, students of color, particularly in urban settings, represent the majority student populations (Lewis, Hancock, James, & Larke, in press). Interestingly, the educators--teachers and administrators--that comprise these settings are predominately White, and, in turn, the students of color commonly face pressures that students who do not share the racial and cultural background of the educators do not (Landsman & Lewis, 2006). This study on black student perceptions of their White teachers is grounded in Milner's (2006) theoretical assumptions, which focus on problems that White teachers commonly experience when teaching students of color, particularly African American students in …
“Push It Real Good!”: The Challenge Of Disrupting Dominant Discourses Regarding Race In Teacher Education, Kara Viesca, Cheryl Matias, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Madhavi Tandon, Rene Galindo
“Push It Real Good!”: The Challenge Of Disrupting Dominant Discourses Regarding Race In Teacher Education, Kara Viesca, Cheryl Matias, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Madhavi Tandon, Rene Galindo
Dorothy Garrison-Wade
Despite efforts to redesign an urban teacher education program for social justice and equity, faculty became aware of racialized issues teacher candidates of color faced in the program. Therefore, this study examined the perspectives of teacher candidates to learn about how race is impacting teaching and learning for pre-service teachers. Overall, we discovered the dominant narratives, often called majoritarian stories (Love, 2004), were extremely difficult to disrupt and essentially remained largely intact for teacher candidates in our program. In addition, we found that majoritarian stories helped to maintain a level of superficiality for teacher candidates regarding issues of race. For …
“What Is Critical Whiteness Doing In Our Nice Field Like Critical Race Theory?” Applying Crt And Cws To Understand The White Imaginations Of White Teacher Candidates, Cheryl Matias, Kara Mitchell, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Rene Galindo, Madhavi Tandon
“What Is Critical Whiteness Doing In Our Nice Field Like Critical Race Theory?” Applying Crt And Cws To Understand The White Imaginations Of White Teacher Candidates, Cheryl Matias, Kara Mitchell, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Rene Galindo, Madhavi Tandon
Dorothy Garrison-Wade
Critical Race Theory (CRT) revolutionized how we investigate race in education. Centralizing counter-stories from people of color becomes essential for decentralizing white normative discourse—a process we refer to as realities within the Black imagination. Yet, few studies examine how whites respond to centering the Black imagination, especially since their white imagination goes unrecognized. We propose utilizing Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) to support CRT to aid in deconstructing the dimensions of white imaginations. Our findings describe how the white imagination operates inside the minds of white teacher candidates, namely through their (a) emotional disinvestment, (b) lack of critical understanding of race, …
Dirty Dancing With Race And Class: Microaggressions Toward First-Generation And Low Income College Students Of Color, Geneva Sarcedo, Cheryl Matias, Roberto Montoya, Naomi Nishi
Dirty Dancing With Race And Class: Microaggressions Toward First-Generation And Low Income College Students Of Color, Geneva Sarcedo, Cheryl Matias, Roberto Montoya, Naomi Nishi
Cheryl Matias
No abstract provided.
Beyond The Face Of Race: Emo-Cognitive Explorations Of White Neurosis And Racial Cray-Cray, Cheryl E. Matias, Robin Diangelo
Beyond The Face Of Race: Emo-Cognitive Explorations Of White Neurosis And Racial Cray-Cray, Cheryl E. Matias, Robin Diangelo
Cheryl Matias
The article discusses the term emo-cognitions which is use to capture the interplay between cognitions and emotions, and implicate the behavior of People of Color such as the White people. Topics include the term racial cray-cray, the studies on how White people response to racial material and racialization, and describing White supremacy as the unnamed political system. Also mentioned are African Americans' consciousness on White norms and racial ignorance.
White Face, Black Friend: A Fanonian Application To Theorize Racial Fetish In Teacher Education, Cheryl Matias
White Face, Black Friend: A Fanonian Application To Theorize Racial Fetish In Teacher Education, Cheryl Matias
Cheryl Matias
In Black Skin, white masks (1967, Grove Press) , Franz Fanon uses a psychoanalytic framework to theorize the inferiority-dependency complex of Black men in response to thecolonial racism of white men. Applying his framework in reverse, this theoretical article psychoanalyzes the white psyche and emotionality with respect to the racialization process of whites and their racial attachment to Blackness. Positing that such a process is interconnected with narcissism, humanistic emptiness, and psychosis, this article presents how racial attach-ment becomes racial fetish . Such a fetish reifies whiteness by accumulating fictive kinshipswith friends of color; hence, the common parlance of ‘But …
Check Yo’Self Before You Wreck Yo’Self And Our Kids: Culturally Responsive White Teachers?, Cheryl E. Matias
Check Yo’Self Before You Wreck Yo’Self And Our Kids: Culturally Responsive White Teachers?, Cheryl E. Matias
Cheryl Matias
Numerous studies show the effectiveness of culturally responsive teaching with urban students of color. Yet few articulate the dynamics of how whiteness impacts the delivery of culturally responsive teaching. Using critical whiteness studies, critical race theory, and Black feminist concepts, this article interrogates the effectiveness of White teachers who engage in culturally responsive teaching without first interrogating their whiteness. Counterstories are used as well as responses from White teacher candidates who matriculated in an urban-focused teacher education program that explicitly focuses on culturally responsive teaching to provide answers to three poignant questions - What happens when cultural responsiveness is co-opted …
Who You Callin’ White? A Critical Counterstory Of Colouring White Identity”, Cheryl E. Matias
Who You Callin’ White? A Critical Counterstory Of Colouring White Identity”, Cheryl E. Matias
Cheryl Matias
This action research, which utilizes critical race theory's counter-storytelling, analyses a process of debunking White students' epistemology of ignorance in a history course at an urban public high school. After piloting a raced curriculum that deliberately re-centers marginalized counter-stories of students of colour, I document its impacts on White students' understanding of history. Ultimately, such a process problematizes White students' sense of identity. I employ the analytic tools of Whiteness as power to understand how White students responded to curriculum on race and racism. The analysis silences White dominant Discourse while activating counter-stories by modelling critical consciousness and colourscence for …
“When Saying You Care Is Not Really Caring”: Whiteness And The Role Of Disgust, Cheryl E. Matias, M. Zembylas
“When Saying You Care Is Not Really Caring”: Whiteness And The Role Of Disgust, Cheryl E. Matias, M. Zembylas
Cheryl Matias
Drawing on one of the author’s experiences of teaching white teacher candidates in an urban university, this paper argues for the importance of interrogating the ways that benign emotions (e.g., pity and caring) are sometimes hidden expressions of disgust for the Other. Using critical race theory, whiteness studies, and critical emotion studies, it is shown how whiteness ideology erroneously translates disgust for people of color to false professions of pity or caring. This phenomenon is particularly interesting because care, sympathy, and love are emotions that are routinely performed by teacher candidates (who are predominantly white females) and embedded in teacher …
“Tears Worth Telling: Urban Teaching And The Possibilities Of Racial Justice”, Cheryl E. Matias
“Tears Worth Telling: Urban Teaching And The Possibilities Of Racial Justice”, Cheryl E. Matias
Cheryl Matias
Silencing race dialogue in urban classrooms is painful for students of color. The author of this article, an urban teacher, documents her resistance to colorblind racism by strategically including race in daily classroom practices. She argues that acknowledging emotionality and Whiteness are essential steps that teachers must take to reinvest in prolonged racially-just projects.
“What Is Critical Whiteness Doing In Our Nice Field Like Critical Race Theory?”, Cheryl E. Matias, Kara Mitchell Viesca, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Madhavi Tandon, Rene Galindo
“What Is Critical Whiteness Doing In Our Nice Field Like Critical Race Theory?”, Cheryl E. Matias, Kara Mitchell Viesca, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Madhavi Tandon, Rene Galindo
Cheryl Matias
Critical Race Theory (CRT) revolutionized how we investigate race in education. Centralizing counter-stories from people of color becomes essential for decentralizing white normative discourse—a process we refer to as realities within the Black imagination. Yet, few studies examine how whites respond to centering the Black imagination, especially since their white imagination goes unrecognized. We propose utilizing Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) to support CRT to aid in deconstructing the dimensions of white imaginations. Our findings describe how the white imagination operates inside the minds of white teacher candidates, namely through their (a) emotional disinvestment, (b) lack of critical understanding of race, …
“Push It Real Good!”: The Challenge Of Challenging Dominant Discourses Regarding Race In Teacher Education, Kara Mitchell, Cheryl E. Matias, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Rene Galindo, Madhavi Tandon
“Push It Real Good!”: The Challenge Of Challenging Dominant Discourses Regarding Race In Teacher Education, Kara Mitchell, Cheryl E. Matias, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Rene Galindo, Madhavi Tandon
Cheryl Matias
Despite efforts to redesign an urban teacher education program for social justice and equity, faculty became aware of racialized issues teacher candidates of color faced in the program. Therefore, this study examined the perspectives of teacher candidates to learn about how race is impacting teaching and learning for pre-service teachers. Overall, we discovered the dominant narratives, often called majoritarian stories (Love, 2004), were extremely difficult to disrupt and essentially remained largely intact for teacher candidates in our program. In addition, we found that majoritarian stories helped to maintain a level of superficiality for teacher candidates regarding issues of race. For …
“Loving Whiteness To Death: Sadomasochism, Emotionality, And The Possibility Of Humanizing Love”, Cheryl E. Matias, Ricky Lee Allen
“Loving Whiteness To Death: Sadomasochism, Emotionality, And The Possibility Of Humanizing Love”, Cheryl E. Matias, Ricky Lee Allen
Cheryl Matias
Although scholars have articulated how whites institutionally, economically, and socially invest in their whiteness, they have paid little attention to white emotionality. By explicating a critical, more humanizing theory of love that accounts for the painful process of sharing in the burden of creating humanity, this psychoanalytic theoretical essay illustrates how the norms and values of white emotionality are premised on a sadomasochistic notion of love. Finally, the authors re-imagine a different set of norms and values through a critical humanizing pedagogy of love, one that can only be realized when whites learn to “love whiteness to death.” That is, …
And Our Feelings, Just Don’T Feel It Anymore”: Re- Feeling Whiteness, Resistance, And Emotionality, Cheryl E. Matias
And Our Feelings, Just Don’T Feel It Anymore”: Re- Feeling Whiteness, Resistance, And Emotionality, Cheryl E. Matias
Cheryl Matias
To effectively deliver racially just projects, we must theoretically understand from where emotional resistance to them stems, why this resistance is regularly expressed, and what role they play in stifling antiracism. This theoretical paper examines how emotional investment in whiteness recycles normative behaviors of white resistance and unveils how they painfully reinforce the supremacy of whiteness. Using a black feminist approach to emotionality and an interdisciplinary approach to critical whiteness studies and critical race theory, this paper begins with positing how the emotions of white resistance are rooted in the shame of revealing a repressed childhood racial abuse. The concern …