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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Alarming Literacy Rates In One Of America’S Largest Cities: What Can Be Done In The City Of Detroit?, Hermina G.B. Anghelescu Jan 2024

Alarming Literacy Rates In One Of America’S Largest Cities: What Can Be Done In The City Of Detroit?, Hermina G.B. Anghelescu

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Regarded as a major cultural and industrial center, Detroit is known for its contributions to art, architecture, design, and music, which led to its "Motown" nickname, in addition to its ties to the birth of the auto industry, which brought it the nickname of "Motor City." Despite hosting several higher learning institutions and a national research university, Detroit has been facing a continued decline of its adult literacy rates that amount to 47.00%, meaning that half of the City's population are functionally illiterate. Low literacy skills can profoundly affect adults' ability to fully participate in daily activities and contribute to …


School Library Media Specialists: An Evolving Profession In A Pandemic, Heather Kapanka May 2021

School Library Media Specialists: An Evolving Profession In A Pandemic, Heather Kapanka

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In March 2020, Michigan’s school library media specialists, along with the entire educational community, found themselves facing unprecedented challenges brought by the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. As learning shifted online, the roles of school library media specialists shifted as well. Three southeast Michigan school library media specialists were interviewed to obtain their perspectives regarding the adaptation to distance learning, as well as how they predicted educational practices will evolve going forward. The educational practices of learning commons, guided inquiry, co-teaching, and information literacy were found to be particularly valuable during the shift to distance learning. The increased dependence on …


Michigan Teachers Transitioning To School Librarianship, Kafi Kumasi, Gwenn Marchesano Mar 2021

Michigan Teachers Transitioning To School Librarianship, Kafi Kumasi, Gwenn Marchesano

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Pursuing additional degrees and certifications can be a costly proposition in terms of money, time, and return on investment that results in gainful employment. In this article, we take a look at how a group of Michigan teachers perceive the value of the knowledge gained in a graduate certificate program towards school library certification compared to their prior knowledge and level of importance they assigned to the learning standards.


"Getting Inflomation": A Critical Race Theory Tale From The School Library, Kafi D. Kumasi Jan 2021

"Getting Inflomation": A Critical Race Theory Tale From The School Library, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Using Critical Race Theory's storytelling method, this chapter weaves a tale set in a school library setting told through the eyes of Jamal, a 17 year old Black male Harvard -bound scholar athlete. Using artifacts to build the plot, the story shines light on places where diversity and inclusion initiatives fail, where unchecked privilege and whiteness do harm to everyone touched by them, where inequality ruins lives and where libraries might be spaces of hope and possibility.


What Does Cultural Competence Mean To Preservice School Librarians? A Critical Discourse Analysis, Kafi D. Kumasi, Renee F. Hill Nov 2019

What Does Cultural Competence Mean To Preservice School Librarians? A Critical Discourse Analysis, Kafi D. Kumasi, Renee F. Hill

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In order to provide culturally responsive instruction to all students, school library professionals need to recognize the various discourses around cultural competence that exist in the field of library and information science (LIS) and understand the broader meanings that are attached to these discourses. This study presents an evaluation of the underlying ideologies that are embedded in the textual responses of a group of LIS students reporting on their perceived levels of cultural competence preparation.


Teaching Race In Cyberspace: Reflections On The “Virtual Privilege Walk” Exercise, Kafi D. Kumasi Jan 2017

Teaching Race In Cyberspace: Reflections On The “Virtual Privilege Walk” Exercise, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Teaching for Justice describes the efforts of LIS faculty and instructors who feature social justice theory and strategies in their courses and classroom practices


Their Eyes Are Watching Us: Serving Racialized Youth In An Era Of Protest., Kafi D. Kumasi, Sandra Hughes-Hassell Jan 2017

Their Eyes Are Watching Us: Serving Racialized Youth In An Era Of Protest., Kafi D. Kumasi, Sandra Hughes-Hassell

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This article comes at a critical juncture in US's history as racialized people continue to fight for protection of their human and civil rights, many of which were legally gained only with passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voter Rights Act. Despite decades of legislative promises to end discrimination in educational opportunities, employment, housing, and the judicial system, racialized youth are more likely to attend schools that lack quality resources, including credentialed teachers, rigorous courses, qualified guidance counselors, and extracurricular activities; to face harsher disciplinary actions; and to drop out of school. The unemployment rate for …


Shifting Lenses On Youth Literacy And Identity, Kafi D. Kumasi, Sandra Hughes-Hassell Jan 2017

Shifting Lenses On Youth Literacy And Identity, Kafi D. Kumasi, Sandra Hughes-Hassell

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Racialized youth, especially those who attend chronically underperforming schools in US's poor and urban communities, can be likened to singing canaries. These young people risk their lives by entering educational institutions that are not equipped to properly prepare them for the future. Historically, the canary served to warn coal miners of the presence of dangerous gases. When the canary stopped singing or was found dead, the miners knew a serious problem required immediate attention. Like canaries, racialized youth in inner-city schools are a litmus test for the health of the entire educational system in the US. In this article they …


Finding And Reading Reports Of Research: How Academic Librarians Can Help Students Be More Successful, Dian Walster, Deborah Charbonneau, Kafi D. Kumasi Jan 2016

Finding And Reading Reports Of Research: How Academic Librarians Can Help Students Be More Successful, Dian Walster, Deborah Charbonneau, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.


Finding “Diversity Levers” In The Core Library And Information Science Curriculum: A Social Justice Imperative, Kafi D. Kumasi, Nichole Manlove Oct 2015

Finding “Diversity Levers” In The Core Library And Information Science Curriculum: A Social Justice Imperative, Kafi D. Kumasi, Nichole Manlove

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In this exploratory study, the researchers examined the core library and information science (LIS) curriculum, looking for diversity levers, or conceptual access points, where transformative academic knowledge related to diversity and social justice could be meaningfully integrated. Multicultural curriculum reform, conceptualized as a social justice approach, was the guiding framework for the research design and analysis. The researchers began by establishing what constitutes the core curriculum and essential knowledge taught across thirty-six ALA-accredited master’s of library and information science degree programs. These data were then used to construct a survey that went to one hundred LIS faculty at ALA institutions …


Connected Learning: Linking Academics, Popular Culture, And Digital Literacy In A Young Urban Scholars Book Club Program, Kafi D. Kumasi Feb 2014

Connected Learning: Linking Academics, Popular Culture, And Digital Literacy In A Young Urban Scholars Book Club Program, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.


Examining The Hidden Ideologies Within Cultural Competence Discourses Among Library And Information Science (Lis) Students: Implications For School Library Pedagogy, Kafi D. Kumasi, Renee F. Hill Jan 2013

Examining The Hidden Ideologies Within Cultural Competence Discourses Among Library And Information Science (Lis) Students: Implications For School Library Pedagogy, Kafi D. Kumasi, Renee F. Hill

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In order to provide culturally responsive instruction to all students, school library professionals need to recognize the various discourses around cultural competence that exist in the field of library and information science (LIS) and understand the broader meanings that are attached to these discourses. This study presents an evaluation of the underlying ideologies that are embedded in the textual responses of a group of LIS students reporting on their perceived levels of cultural competence preparation. The results reveal that there are dominant and competing discourses around cultural competence in the LIS field, which are important to make visible. The paper …


Roses In The Concrete: A Critical Race Perspective On Urban Youth And School Libraries, Kafi D. Kumasi May 2012

Roses In The Concrete: A Critical Race Perspective On Urban Youth And School Libraries, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This article utilizes Critical Race Theory (CRT) to interrogate school library practices and school librarian belief systems as they relate to serving urban youth of color. The author offers several area for interrogation including: 1) disrupting cultural deficit views; 2) honoring students voices and life experiences; 3) recognizing structural inequalities; and 4) understanding whiteness. This work has implications for helping school librarians develop the cultural sensitivities and dispositions necessary for creating library programs that support and affirm urban youth of color.


Are We There Yet? Results Of A Gap Analysis To Measure Lis Students' Prior Knowledge And Actual Learning Of Cultural Competence Concepts, Kafi D. Kumasi, Renee Franklin Hill Oct 2011

Are We There Yet? Results Of A Gap Analysis To Measure Lis Students' Prior Knowledge And Actual Learning Of Cultural Competence Concepts, Kafi D. Kumasi, Renee Franklin Hill

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This paper reports on the preliminary results from a pilot study conducted to examine library and information science (LIS) students' perceptions of their level of preparation for becoming culturally competent LIS professionals. Students participated in an electronic survey, which contained a Likert Scale measuring three areas of cultural competence: self awareness, education, and interaction. A gap analysis technique was employed to detect discrepancies between students' prior knowledge and actual learning relative to cultural competence. This article discusses student-reported gaps in knowledge for the section of the questionnaire on "Education." Students indicated that all of the concepts introduced in this section …


Critical Race Theory And Education: Mapping A Legacy Of Activism And Scholarship, Kafi D. Kumasi Mar 2011

Critical Race Theory And Education: Mapping A Legacy Of Activism And Scholarship, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This chapter explores the intellectual origins and historical precursors of Critical Race Theory (CRT), a lively branch of critical social theory. One of the goals of this work is to help novice educational scholars learn more about the history of CRT and to specifically see how it is used by contemporary scholars in the field of education to address a range of equity issues. The chapter begins by contextualizing contemporary discourse on race and education. It then chronicles the life work of key individuals whose antiracist, anti- colonial ideas and actions helped lay the foundation for the body of legal …


Double Reading: Young Black Scholars Responding To Whiteness In A Community Literacy Program, Carter Power Stephanie, Kafi D. Kumasi Jan 2011

Double Reading: Young Black Scholars Responding To Whiteness In A Community Literacy Program, Carter Power Stephanie, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This paper examines how W.E.B. DuBois' concept of double consciousness influenced the interactions of 13 Black youth inside an after school Community Literacy Intervention Program (CLIP). Du Bois, a pre-eminent 20th century Black sociologist, used double consciousness as a lens to help explain social and psychological tensions that African Americans encounter while negotiating their identities in a societal context structured mainly upon dominant white cultural and linguistic norms and values. The authors provide a conceptual framework for understanding the interpretive processes that signify double consciousness which includes: surveying the context; assessing risks and identity consequences; articulating mainstream or race conscious …


Citizenship In The Humanities And Social Sciences: A Selective Bibliography, 2000-2009, Wayne State University School Of Library And Information Science, Winter 2010 Lis 7160, James E. Van Loon, H.G.B. Anghelescu Jan 2010

Citizenship In The Humanities And Social Sciences: A Selective Bibliography, 2000-2009, Wayne State University School Of Library And Information Science, Winter 2010 Lis 7160, James E. Van Loon, H.G.B. Anghelescu

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Citizenship in the Humanities and Social Sciences is a selective bibliography consisting of citations to works published during the years 2000-2009 on citizenship-related topics in the humanities and social sciences. Primarily consisting of books/chapters and scholarly journal articles, the bibliography also includes other materials (case studies, reports, dissertations, and working papers) for which scholarship, authority and relevance have been established. Most cited works are published in the English language, although articles published in other languages using a Latin alphabet are also included. Citations were retrieved during January-March 2010 from a variety of aggregated databases accessed through the Wayne State University …


The Time Is Now!: Talking With Black Youth About College, Stephanie Power Carter, James Damico, Kafi D. Kumasi Dec 2008

The Time Is Now!: Talking With Black Youth About College, Stephanie Power Carter, James Damico, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This article explores the authors work with a group of African American youth in an after school community literacy program. The authors examine how these youth used a set of Internet-based technology tools to evaluate whether or not a group of colleges would affirm their cultural identity and help them succeed if they attended these institutions. From this work, the authors describe how they began to rethink the relationships between college exploration,access, cultural identity, and students potential academic success.


Critical Inquiry: Library Media Specialists As Change Agents, Kafi D. Kumasi May 2007

Critical Inquiry: Library Media Specialists As Change Agents, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This article describes some of the key concepts and strategies associated with the term critical inquiry that are relevant to the work of school libraries in secondary settings. Practical examples are given for conducting critical inquiry in the library based on the authors work with African American youth in an after school literacy program.