(2010). Closing the Achievement Gap on ACT & SAT. Education Partnerships, Inc. Research has focused on four groups of factors and the achievement gap: (1) student characteristics (high school GPA, attendance patterns, courses taken in high school, participation in extra-curricular activities, etc.); (2) family characteristics (family structure, in home, parents' level of education, mobility, etc.); (3) school-based characteristics (instructional strategies, class size, expectations, curriculum, staff-collegiality, etc.); and (4) socio-cultural factors (cultural attitudes, racism, differential social "privileges," etc.). The factors with the consistently largest impact on SAT and ACT scores are student academic characteristics: their grade point average, their coursework, their academic preparation. While you can't discount the impact of the other factors it is clear that school-level factors account for the greatest portion of the achievement gap. To reduce the SAT/ACT achievement gaps it is important to have students take rigorous high school classes… [PDF]
(2012). Towards a Pedagogy of Philoxenia (Hospitality): Negotiating Policy Priorities for Immigrant Students in Greek Public Schools. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, v10 n1 p298-314 Apr. This paper reflects and supports the focus of my doctoral research that aims to identify, underscore and examine some of the key challenges and policy barriers that are shaped or hindered by socio-political, ethno-cultural and economic factors that subsequently impede immigrant students' transition and future academic and social success in their new school environments. I begin with an overview of the discourses of hospitality (philoxenia) and xenophobia–how these two notions relate to Greece's responsibility toward the emerging and (in) flux of immigration, and how citizenship education can be instrumental in the fight against xenophobia, racism, aggressive nationalism and related intolerance in Greek public schools. My interest in this research topic has evolved from my own experience as a repatriated immigrant student in the Greek public (state) school system. My personal experience as a child of repatriated immigrants entering a highly homogeneous and exclusionary (to… [PDF]
(2009). "Sntrusntm i7 captik[superscript w]lh": Unravel the Story, the Okanagan Way. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, v55 n3 p382-396 Fall. This study raises the question of how the Canadian educational system can avoid promoting cultural or ideological racism in a student population that is increasingly Indigenous and immigrant. It responds to this question by pointing to the need to expand knowledge systems in teacher education programs, presenting a multi-thematic discussion that explores how contemporary ways of teaching and learning can be transformed into a diverse, sustainable, and global curriculum. The focus of the article is on school culture, specifically the Aboriginal way of knowing about language-learning, creating multicultural teachers, leadership for a culture of inclusion and diversity, and the idea of resistance to change…. [Direct]
(2010). National Pride and Students' Attitudes towards History: An Exploratory Study. Educational Studies, v36 n3 p299-309 Jul. Recent debates about "Britishness" have drawn increasing attention to the inculcation of national values within the school history curriculum. To date, however, few studies have explored young people's attitudes towards history or how these are related to their sources of national pride and shame. This paper draws on a survey of over 400 undergraduates' experiences of secondary education, investigating their attitudes towards the history curriculum and how these relate to their feelings of national pride. Using principal components analysis we found that students' attitudes towards history loaded on to two distinct factors: traditional/conservative and multicultural/liberal. Bivariate correlations then revealed that pride in national sporting and economic achievements and a sense of shame about immigration were positively associated with a traditional attitude towards history. Pride in British civil liberties and social diversity and a sense of shame about racism and UK… [Direct]
(2012). Creating Art, Creating Selves: Negotiating Professional and Social Identities in Preservice Teacher Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin. This critical ethnographic collective case study examined the process of becoming a teacher in the context of visual art education. This longitudinal study was grounded in larger educational concerns regarding the preparation of teachers for socially and culturally diverse U.S. public schools. This framing of teacher learning went beyond traditional dichotomies in educational research that maintain an artificial boundary between learning to teach content and learning to teach all students effectively and equitably. In order to re-integrate the study of teacher learning, this research foregrounds the transactional relationship between a preservice art teacher's social locations (e.g., race, class, sex-gender, language) and how s/he makes sense of what it means to be an "art teacher." Specifically, the study asked (a) how preservice art teachers negotiated their emerging art teacher identities in a university-based teacher education program, (b) how their social positions… [Direct]
(2013). Experiences of Latina First Generation College Students: Exploring Resources Supporting the Balancing of Academic Pursuits and Family Life. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Boston. This study used a qualitative interview approach and thematic analysis (Braune and Clark, 2006) to interview first generation college student Latinas, exploring their experiences with higher education, their navigation/negotiation of resources for academic success and for wellness of self and family, and barriers they face as they attempt to both safeguard self and family wellness and reach their academic goals. It also directly explored the potential resources participants would find useful and ways in which colleges/universities might support them in these pursuits. With this method, this study identified 6 major themes in the lives of first generation college student Latinas: 1) Contextual stressors/systemic disadvantage, involving the tendency for participants to be at a disadvantage within higher education than mainstream society, including participant's being the targets of racism/negative stereotypes, complications related to documentation concerns, their need to navigate… [Direct]
(2008). Taking Africana Existential Philosophy of Education Seriously. Philosophical Studies in Education, v39 p46-55. This essay addresses the concerns educators and philosophers of education might have about an Africana existential philosophy of education by first defining Africana existential philosophy. Then, it performs a brief phenomenological investigation of the lived experiences of persons of African descent in the United States. This essay concludes by offering a few valuable insights for educators and philosophers of education on how to identify and perhaps transcend the anti-black racism embedded in most of the U.S. educational institutions from kindergarten to graduate school…. [PDF]
(2009). Using Critical Pedagogies from Adult Education to Inspire and Challenge Higher Education Students. Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences, v2 n1 p80-103 Spr. This interdisciplinary paper is about applying Adult Education methods of learning and teaching to higher education. I argue that higher education students need to be stimulated via interactive methods that improve their motivation and lead them to question the value system/s that exist around them. A Freirean approach as used in the teaching of Adult Literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) was applied to a group of "elite" students at the University of Birmingham who were taking a language foundation course. As a sociolinguist and ESOL practitioner from a black perspective, I argue that the understanding of concepts of language and racism, imperialism and social class can best be facilitated using such an approach. Taking groups of students through this learning journey is challenging for higher education practitioners and the results add a relatively new dimension to the collective reflection on learning and teaching in higher education today…. [Direct]
(1984). Multicultural Education and Racism in American Schools. Theory into Practice, v23 n2 p124-31 Spr. A historical review of racism provides insight into the development and objectives of multicultural education. Basic steps in the legal process that have helped promote equal education are discussed. A sample unit on multicultural education dealing with the topics of oppression, prejudice, and racism is included. (DF)…
(2008). Using Non-Feature Films to Teach Diversity, Cultural Competence, and the DSM-IV-TR Outline for Cultural Formulation. Academic Psychiatry, v32 n4 p291-298 Jul. Objective: Feature films have been used for teaching in psychiatry for many years to demonstrate diagnoses, but the use of documentary and instructional films in resident and staff cultural competence training have not been extensively written about in the medical and psychological literature. This article will describe the films that have been used by the authors and suggest methods for their use in cultural competence and diversity training. Methods: A literature search was done using MEDLINE and PsychINFO and the authors were asked to describe their teaching methods. Results: One article was found detailing the use of videotapes as a stimulus but not for cultural competence education, and two articles were found documenting the use of The Color of Fear as a stimulus for the discussion of racism. However, many educators use these films all across the country for the purpose of opening discussion about racism. Conclusion: Documentary, instructional, and public service announcements… [Direct]
(2011). SOMOS: Evaluation of an HIV Prevention Intervention for Latino Gay Men. Health Education Research, v26 n3 p407-418 Jun. Latino gay men face multiple barriers to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention, in particular a lack of intervention programs that integrate prevention messages with cultural norms and address issues of social marginalization from multiple communities (gay community and Latino community), homophobia and racism. In order to address these specific issues, a multilayered HIV intervention was designed to incorporate and integrate psychosocial and community factors through multiple session groups, social marketing and community presentations. Participants learned strategies for effective community leadership and were encouraged to provide HIV education and address internalized homophobia in their communities. There were a total of 113 Latino gay male participants. Pretests and post-tests at 90-day follow-up were administered to measure knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to HIV infection, self-efficacy, internalized homophobia and connectedness (i.e. gay community… [Direct]
(2015). I Thought You Were One of Us! Triumphs and Crisis When Teaching Your Own. Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies, v37 n4 p359-372. Authoritative knowledge produced by white acacemics has forged much of the cannon in educational research. Recently, scholars of color, have been asserting their unique positionalities to conduct research and teach among their own communities. As a result they have provided a challenge to normative privilege whiteness in education. Claims of neutrality, colorblindness and scientific objectivity in regards to conducting research in communities of color have been significantly scrutinized by these scholars. Immersed in this critique are concerns about new forms of colonialism, invisibility of white privilege, and the exclusion of researchers of color who work within self-identified communities from a broad research agenda. These debates have extended into the classroom as educators of color have noted the lack of diversity in the teaching profession. Others have noted that teachers of color are not the only ones capable of educating students of color in meaningful ways but instead… [Direct]
(2009). Oh, That Magic Feeling! Multicultural Human Subjectivity, Community, and Fascism's Footprints. Philosophy of Music Education Review, v17 n1 p56-74 Spr. This paper examines how significant musical moments, occurring within singular contexts, may be performative to the development of community. While community is often viewed within music education as an unequivocal good, I argue that this result may not always be beneficent. In this paper, I look at one unique performative moment through the lens of anti-racism education as the potential for community conceived as multicultural human subjectivity. Drawing upon the arguments of Theodore Adorno, Paul Gilroy, and others, I then examine this same moment as one in which the seeds of fascistic community may also be sewn. From this background, I examine the ongoing project of the National Association for Music Education (MENC) known as the National Anthem Project (NAP) as an identity building project, questioning where the lines blur between solidarity, nationalism, and fascistic forms of community within the potentially significant musical moments that NAP may also foster…. [Direct]
(2010). A Reciprocal Global Education? Working towards a More Humanizing Pedagogy through Critical Literacy. Intercultural Education, v21 n1 p41-54 Feb. Dehumanizing tendencies within the present neo-liberal era provide the backdrop against which the authors have developed an 11-year partnership in the Global South. The economic context encourages competition over community and, while portending to bring people closer together through technological advances, it only facilitates the flow of commerce and capital while stemming the movement of consumers and workers. The authors provide a nuanced historical perspective leading up to the neo-liberal moment, which notices the emergence of patriarchy, Christianity, racism, and capitalism as particular forms of social control, oppression and dehumanization. Recognizing the constructed nature of these forms, the authors propose community, consciousness, and courage as liberating ways forward towards the creation of an alternative form–a more reciprocal global education. While documenting some of their 11-year partnership, the authors reveal the contribution of the following theorists who… [Direct]
(2008). The Oppressor within: A Counterstory of Race, Repression, and Teacher Reflection. Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education, v40 n4 p371-385 Nov. In this paper, I offer my own counterstory of matriculating through a teacher education program as an African American student on a predominately White campus as a reference point for thinking through how racism operates through teacher education's dominant discourse and practice of teacher reflection. It is an important story to tell primarily because it touches on a largely unexplored dimension of teacher reflection. While the large majority of the literature has focused on how to prepare White preservice teachers to teach in a culturally and racially complex world, little qualitative attention has been given to the preparation of nonwhite students. While there are a few select and important articles that touch on some of the challenges African American students face in predominately White teacher education programs, including covert and overt racism, none focus on how teacher reflection might reproduce these dynamics. Thus what the literature on teacher reflection often suggests… [Direct]