(2000). Our Children's Songs: American Indian Students and the Schools. CURA Reporter, v30 n1 p11-16 Jan. A study examined American Indian students' perceptions of why schools are failing to meet their needs. Thirty-six American Indian high school students from Minnesota participated in three interviews that explored their background and experiences, instructional and non-instructional issues that affect the education of Indian students, and their perceptions of successful schooling and classroom practices. The students felt that good teachers provide active, experiential learning experiences and care for their students in a personal way. Racism and a lack of Indian content in the curriculum was a primary concern of many Indian students. Students were clear on the importance of American Indian content and culture in school and the significance of family and community in helping to develop a strong cultural identity. Indian youths join gangs as a replacement for family, but replacing the negative aspects of gang involvement with the positive aspects of Indian culture can keep youth out… [PDF]
(2006). Transcendence over Diversity: Black Women in the Academy. Policy Futures in Education, v4 n2 p101-113. Universities, like many major public institutions, have embraced the notion of "diversity" virtually uncritically–it is seen as a moral good in itself. But what happens to those who come to represent "diversity"–the black and minority ethnic groups targeted to increase the institutions' thirst for global markets and aversion to accusations of institutional racism? Drawing on existing literature which analyses the process of marginalisation in higher education, this article explores the individual costs to black and female academic staff regardless of the discourse on diversity. However, despite the exclusion of staff, black and minority ethnic women are also entering higher education in relatively large numbers as students. Such grass-roots educational urgency transcends the dominant discourse on diversity and challenges presumptions inherent in top-down initiatives such as widening participation. Such a collective movement from the bottom up shows the… [Direct]
(2002). Rolling Up Our Sleeves in Social Justice Research: A Collaborative Study of School-Based Coalitions. This study examined the shared experiences of student and teacher activists in light of current theoretical and political contexts of interest to social justice activists. The study involved collaborative in-depth interviews with and observations of seven student and four teacher activists in Alberta, Canada. The participants came from six ethnocultural groups (Asian, white Anglo-Saxon, African-Canadian, South American, and Indo-Canadian). Interviews examined participants' teaching assignments or grade levels, background training or personal involvement with diversity work, and/or experiences with discrimination. Participants described their own role in their school's particular group or project and shared specific aspects of its formation, goals, procedures, membership, and activities. They also provided information on administrative support, political climate, sustainability, achievements, challenges, and barriers to social justice activism. Overall, participants were frustrated… [PDF]
(2003). Working in John Wayne Country: Racist and Sexist Termination at a Pacific Northwest University. American Indian Quarterly, v27 n1-2 p189-195 Win-Spr. In this article, the author shares his experiences in working as a tribal liaison consultant to an AIDS education and training center at a Pacific Northwest university's health education research center. The author's experience shows the concerted efforts by the university lawyers to bury issues of discriminatory racism and sexism in hiring practices and in work environments. It condones chastising for whistle-blowing on issues of gender, gay issues, and racial inequality. The author exposes practices that reduce efforts to provide the best care possible for communities and describes how racist and sexist motivations dominate and are condoned at the work environments of the university…. [Direct]
(1990). Curriculum and Instruction To Reduce Racial Conflict. ERIC/CUE Digest No. 64. Multicultural education, anti-racist education, and conflict resolution are curriculum-based approaches to reducing racial conflict. Since the 1930s, attempts have been made to develop curricula to change negative racial attitudes and encourage appreciation for people of all races. In the 1980s, multicultural education has focused on the unique qualities and the mutual interdependence of minority and majority groups within a society and of various communitites within the world system. However, some critics have suggested that education labelled "multicultural" evades the issue of racism by diverting attention to milder topics. Some studies demonstrate the limited effectiveness of multicultural programs and the fact that some school districts without minority group students do not promote the discussion of racial or ethnic differences. Anti-racist education and conflict resolution address racism by allowing teachers and students to analyze the inequalities in power and… [PDF]
(1992). Diversity, Disunity, and Campus Community. This monograph offers a collection of nine papers demonstrating how the student affairs subculture in institutions of higher education can provide academic as well as managerial leadership in promoting cultural diversity and planned change. The papers are as follows: (1) "Achieving Cultural Diversity: Meeting the Challenges" by Barbara Henley and others; (2) "Cultural Diversity in Residence Halls: Institutional Character and Promotional Strategies" by Melvin C. Terrell and John R. Hoeppel; (3) "Law Enforcement and Education: New Partners in Diversity" by Doris J. Wright; (4) "Enhancing Cultural Diversity and Building a Climate of Understanding: Becoming an Effective Change Agent" by Suzanne E. Gordon and Connie Borders Strode; (5) "The Making of a Celebration: Lessons from University of Louisville's First University-Wide Celebration of Diversity" by Dennis C. Golden and others; (6) "The Faculty Response to Campus Climate… [PDF]
(2023). Conceptions and Practices of Equity in Research-Practice Partnerships. Educational Policy, v37 n1 p200-224 Jan. This framework explores the plurality of ways that research-practice partnerships (RPPs) conceptualize issues of equity, and with what consequences for what gets studied, whose voices are included in inquiry, and what knowledge is foregrounded in partnership activity. We draw on institutional theory and the perspectives of members from diverse partnerships to create a framework on the beliefs and practices of equity in RPPs. In terms of their missions, RPPs' conceptions of equity ranged from a focus on individualism and standardization, to advancing goals of identity, culture, and belonging and attending to power, justice, and anti-racism. Equity was reflected within processes for working together, varying across coordination, collaboration, or transformation of roles and power dynamics. For RPPs, the framework can help develop a common language and shared meanings. For future research, it can serve as an analytic lens to understand when and how RPPs work in service of educational… [Direct]
(2008). State Terror and Violence as a Process of Lifelong Teaching-Learning: The Case of Guatemala. International Journal of Lifelong Education, v27 n2 p201-216 Mar. Progressive lifelong transformative education has recognized the impact of social inequalities on learning. Some scholars applying feminist knowledge have acknowledged that violence against women (VAW) also affects learning. Yet, in this recognition there is an implicit assumption that learning is itself positive and peaceful, and impacted negatively or positively by external factors and conditions. Implicitly there is also a disconnection of learning from teaching. This article aims to open up a possibility to reflect and study learning-teaching as an articulated process that is not intrinsically peaceful and positive by using the socio-political and cultural phenomenon of state terror, including genocide, in Guatemala. Three state strategies are chosen to demonstrate how state terror was made a political culture of terror: the racialization of space-place, the invention of a sanctioned Guatemalan, and the criminalization of progressive social agency. To explore state terror as a… [Direct]
(2024). Commentary about Racial/Ethnic Equity and School Safety. Journal of School Violence, v23 n2 p143-148. There is a rich history of research examining the racial/ethnic disparities in school safety, school discipline, school climate and school achievement. While rich and informative, these lines of inquiry also unearth additional unanswered questions. As scholars consider the future of school safety research, they should consider: 1) developing more comprehensive approaches to school safety that include interventions aimed at improving school safety while being mindful of the implementation of these interventions with an eye toward unintended consequences and potentially disparate impacts; 2) increase the number of researcher practitioner partnerships to co-create interventions; 3) increase the cadre of teachers of color and scholars of color who can bring diverse thoughts and perspectives to identification of problems and solutions to school safety concerns; and 4) that relationships matter and it is important to plan for transitions…. [Direct]
(2024). "They Created Segregation with the Economy": Using AI for a Student-Driven Inquiry into Redlining in the Social Studies Classroom. Theory and Research in Social Education, v52 n4 p614-653. This article investigates students' engagement with a historical inquiry into redlining–a practice of discriminatory lending that originated in the 1930s as part of the New Deal. The authors developed and implemented a week-long curricular intervention for high school sophomores using StoryQ–an Artificial Intelligence (AI) textual modeling platform designed for high school students without technical expertise–to examine hundreds of neighborhood descriptions produced for the Home Owners Loan Corporation's "residential security maps" in the late 1930s. In this article, we ask: What kinds of historical and present-day racial awareness do high school students demonstrate through instruction focused on AI-assisted analysis of patterns in redlining? Analyzing field notes, interviews, and student-generated digital work showed that many students were drawn to structural explanations of racism and worked to unpack the way primary sources presented Whiteness through "coded… [Direct]
(2011). Evaluation of International Students' Perceptions of Eastern Kentucky University. Online Submission, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association (40th, Oxford, MS, Nov 2-4, 2011). The study examined the perceptions of international students concerning their academic, social, and cultural experiences at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) and suggestions for improvement. Researchers prepared a questionnaire consisting of 24 items seeking information related to students' demographics and their perceptions about quality of faculty, instruction, advising, facilities, services, social/cultural experiences etc. at EKU as compared to students' home universities. Items on the questionnaire also invited students' comments and suggestions for improvement. Research subjects, 36 international students, were selected according to convenience, availability, and consent, and comprised of 21 males and 15 females, 10 graduate and 26 undergraduate students. They represented 18 countries and 26 academic departments on EKU campus. Data were collected through individual interviews. Responses were recorded. Confidentiality and anonymity were explained to each interviewee and have… [PDF]
(1994). Living with Racism: The Black Middle-Class Experience. Interviews with 209 African Americans in a number of United States cities are the basis for a discussion of the black middle-class experience. Although middle-class African Americans appear to have secured the promises of the American dream, conversations make it apparent that they have experienced discrimination and hatred from Whites. The chapters are: "The Continuing Significance of Racism"; "Navigating Public Places"; "Seeking a Good Education"; "Navigating the Middle-Class Workplace"; "Building a Business"; "Seeking a Good Home and Neighborhood"; "Contending with Everyday Discrimination: Effects and Strategies"; "Changing the Color Line: The Future of U.S. Racism." The book concludes with notes and an index. Of particular interest is Chapter 3, "Seeking a Good Education." There is not much information on the character and breadth of discrimination faced by black youth in schools and…
(1972). Overview: Title III ESEA Intergroup Relations Inservice Project. Inequities and injustices are not happenstance in America, but rather, exist as a way of life for many minority groups. All too often communication, understanding, and appreciation is lacking among diverse groups. It is suggested here that the need for education in intergroup relations is greatest in predominantly white communities and, moreover, in schools which have heretofore perpetuated intergroup conflict and inequalities. Schools are in a unique position to help young people develop a humanistic attitude toward others by re-educating teachers in white communities as a way of attacking the roots of racism. A model for inservice training in intergroup relations is presented as a strategy to provide educators with an understanding of the forces of racism, prejudice, and discrimination. Implementation of the inservice program consists of three major aspects which focus on cognition, affect, and behavior. The model can best be described as the normative-re-educative strategy that… [PDF]
(1977). Reaction Paper to \Ethnicity and the Schools.\. The paper examines ethnicity in American society and the role of ethnic studies in education in the context of a critical response to a paper presented at the National Council for the Social Studies in November, 1977. The original study, \Ethnicity and the Schools,\ by Daniel Selakovich, claimed that ethnic studies should play no role in education because ethnic heritages are either dead or reflective of a distant and no longer meaningful past. Selakovich contended that every ethnic group was willing to submerge its ethnic identity in order to merge into mainstream American society. Conversely, this reaction paper states that American society is as ethnically diverse today as at any time in history and that the schools have a responsibility to reflect this diversity. The reaction paper further criticizes Selakovich's views on six topics: (1) belief in the American Dream as opposed to belief in ethnic identity; (2) racism in American society; (3) the relationship of pluralism to…
(1989). \The Melting Pot\ Revisited. A complete restructuring of American institutions, values, ideals, economy, politics, and culture is required to overcome the peripheralization and injustices caused by the racism that is endemic and embedded in the capitalist fabric of American society. Race relations have declined during the 1980s as evidenced by the erosion of many of the gains of the civil rights movement and a resurgence of overt racism. The white ruling class expresses occasional interest in and concern for minority groups through the formation of study commissions to minimize social, economic, and political costs and regain American hegemony in the world. The findings of the following studies indicate that despite the needs of growing minority populations, an insufficient number of minority group teachers are being prepared for roles in schools and institutions of higher learning: (1) \One Third of a Nation\ (Commission on Minority Participation in Education and American Life, 1988); (2) the 1985 findings of… [PDF]