(2012). Centering Race in a Framework for Leadership Preparation. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, v7 n2 p237-253 Oct. This article argues that a framework of educational leadership must be so designed as to specifically speak to the transitioning demographics in schools in the United States. Particularly salient is a framework that addresses the issue of race within a broader context of social justice. The article outlines five ingredients of such a framework, including self-reflection, a grounding in a critical theoretical construction, a prophetic and pragmatic edge, praxis, and the inclusion of race language. Furthermore, the article outlines pragmatic ways in which educational leadership preparation programs can address the failures of the dominant system to embrace and struggle with the American issue of race in education. The impact of racism and the efficacy of the blending of self-reflection, introspection, as well as intellectual work are discussed as viable vehicles to deal with the matters of race in preparing prospective school leaders. The article concludes with the presentation of a… [Direct]
(1978). An Overview of the Bakke Case and Its Possible Implications. The facts of the Bakke case, points of agreement and disagreement, and implications are addressed. Although the case technically involves only the validity of denying Bakke admission to medical school in 1974, it has become a class action for the decision of large questions of constitutional law with possible enormous impact on higher education and other areas of affirmative action. Bakke alleged violation of equal protection provisions, since he was denied admission to the University of California (Davis) medical school although his test scores and grade point average were higher than most or all the 16 minority applicants who were accepted under a Task Force Program. It is suggested that there is general agreement that the case is important to higher education, that racism persists in the United States, that minorities are seriously underrepresented in higher education, that some preference must be continued if the present proportion of minorities in selective institutions is to…
(2011). Toward a Conceptual Framework of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: An Overview of the Conceptual and Theoretical Literature. Teacher Education Quarterly, v38 n1 p65-84 Win. The United States is a diverse country with constantly changing demographics. The noticeable shift in demographics is even more phenomenal among the school-aged population. The increase of ethnic-minority student presence is largely credited to the national growth of the Hispanic population, which exceeded the growth of all other ethnic minority group students in public schools. Scholars have pondered over strategies to assist teachers in teaching about diversity (multiculturalism, racism, etc.) as well as interacting with the diversity found within their classrooms in order to ameliorate the effects of cultural discontinuity. One area that has developed in multicultural education literature is culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP). CRP maintains that teachers need to be non-judgmental and inclusive of the cultural backgrounds of their students in order to be effective facilitators of learning in the classroom. The plethora of literature on CRP, however, has not been presented as a… [PDF] [Direct]
(2013). Educating African American Males: Contexts for Consideration, Possibilities for Practice. Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education. Volume 383. Peter Lang New York This book's predecessor, \Black Sons to Mothers: Compliments, Critiques, and Challenges for Cultural Workers in Education\ (Peter Lang, 2000), sparked a decade of meaningful scholarship on the educational experiences and academic outcomes of African American males. \Black Sons to Mothers\ proffered seminal contributions to the academic literature on the achievement gap, differential instruction, and minority schooling, and inspired further research–countless books, articles and reports written since about the educational challenges and successes of African American males directly reference the work. \Educating African American Males: Contexts for Consideration, Possibilities for Practice\ continues, extends, and advances the research and conversations introduced in \Black Sons to Mothers\. The chapters in this volume were commissioned by the Alphas in the Academy Committee (AAC) of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. The AAC addresses issues incident to collegiate life,… [Direct]
(2004). Regarding Whiteness: Exploring and Intervening in the Effects of White Racism in Teacher Education. Equity and Excellence in Education, v37 n1 p31-43. This study examines the beliefs of nine white English-only speaking preservice teachers who tutored English language learners of Mexican origin as part of a university field service requirement. Over the course of a semester, participants were interviewed at length about their own reasons for becoming teachers, their beliefs about the children, and the ways in which race influenced their lives. Participants also were observed tutoring, and their learning journals were analyzed. Through various means of data collection, it became apparent that the good intentions of the participants were consistently undermined by the whiteness and the racism that influenced their beliefs about and behaviors with the children. The researcher consequently decided to intervene in the study, sharing data with participants and encouraging them to see the ways that whiteness and racism influenced their tutoring experience. Critical Race Theory and Critical White Studies together make up the theoretical… [Direct]
(2012). Science and Success: Sex Education and Other Programs That Work to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, HIV, and Sexually Transmitted Infections. Third Edition. Executive Summary. Advocates for Youth Teen pregnancy in the United States has declined significantly in the last two decades. Despite these declines, rates of teen birth, HIV, and STIs in the United States remain among the highest of any industrialized nation. Socio-economic, cultural and structural factors such as poverty, limited access to health care, racism and unemployment contribute to these high rates. Yet, behavioral interventions also show promise for helping young people reduce their risk for unwanted pregnancy, HIV and other STI. Program planners can look to the body of available evaluation and research to identify programs to help young people learn the information and skills necessary to reduce their risk. Many of these programs are best suited for implementation by community-based organizations or in after school-programs or clinics. These programs can be used to provide a foundation for sex education, yet none is comprehensive enough to stand alone in substitute for comprehensive sexual health education…. [PDF]
(2012). "It Reminded Me of What Really Matters": Teacher Responses to the Lessons from Auschwitz Project. Educational Review, v64 n2 p131-143. Since 2007, the Lessons from Auschwitz Project organised by the Holocaust Education Trust, has taken groups of Scottish senior school students (between 16 and 18 years) and where possible an accompanying teacher from their school, to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum as part of a process of increasing young people's knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust and racism. The Project comprises four components: an orientation session, the visit to the Museum, a follow-up session and a Next Steps initiative. The final component involves students designing and implementing projects in their school and community aimed at disseminating what they have learned. Previous published research has focused on the impact of the Lessons from Auschwitz Project on student participants. This research (funded by the Pears Foundation and the Holocaust Education Trust) investigates the impact the Lessons from Auschwitz Project has on teacher participants. The methodology was an online questionnaire,… [Direct]
(2011). "Children at Our School Are Integrated. No One Sticks out": Greek-Cypriot Teachers' Perceptions of Integration of Immigrant Children in Cyprus. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v24 n4 p501-520. Increasingly social scientists, including education theorists, find themselves having to fight an almost invisible racism that is masked by the racist undertones of the dominant discourse and practice of colorblindness. A continuous emphasis on colorblindness gives precedence to the role of race, diverting attention away from other forms of discrimination which can become the basis for exclusion. I would argue that for such acts of marginalization, difference-blindness may have more explanatory power. This paper discusses Greek-Cypriot teachers' perceptions of the integration of immigrant children in a Greek-Cypriot public primary school through the framework of difference-blindness. The discussion shows that despite their good intentions, teachers utilized a difference-blind ideology to rationalize practices of social exclusion of non-Cypriot students in what was considered an "integrated" school environment. (Contains 11 notes.)… [Direct]
(2010). Systemic Inequities in the Policy and Practice of Educating Secondary Bilingual Learners and Their Teachers: A Critical Race Theory Analysis. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Boston College. In 2002, voters in Massachusetts passed a referendum, commonly referred to as "Question 2," requiring that, "All children in Massachusetts public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English and all children shall be placed in English language classrooms" (M.G.L.c.71A section 4). This dissertation investigates the system of education for secondary bilingual learners and their teachers resulting from the passage of Question 2 by examining assumptions and ideologies about race, culture, and language across policy and practice. Drawing on critical race theory (CRT) and the construct of majoritarian stories, two distinct and complimentary analyses were conducted: a critical policy analysis of state level laws, regulations, and policy tools, and a critically conscious longitudinal case study of one teacher candidate who was prepared to work with bilingual learners and then taught bilingual learners during her first three years of teaching. The critical… [Direct]
(2012). Blinded by the White: Foregrounding Race in a Language and Literacy Course for Preservice Teachers. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of South Carolina. While the teaching population in the U.S. is predominantly (84%) White (National Council of Education Statistics, 2010), students of Color will comprise 41% of the total school population by the year 2020, with 67% in urban areas (NCES, 2010). Studies show that children of Color are regularly disenfranchised through inequitable instructional, curricular, and assessment school practices (Ladson-Billings, 2009). Achievement statistics also show that schools fail to serve African American students more than any other group (Gay, 2010). Colleges of education must take action. Addressing this problem, this study used qualitative methods to explore what happened when critical race theory conceptually guided a literacy methods course for preservice teachers. Findings indicate that while preservice teachers gained many insights about issues of race and racism, there were considerable tensions and challenges, such as White Talk (McIntyre, 1997), colorblind dispositions, and deflection… [Direct]
(2013). Community Engagement, Globalisation, and Restorative Action: Approaching Systems and Research in the Universities. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, v19 n2 p94-102 Aut. It is clear that there is a wide range of arguments that reflect varying degrees of disaffection with the university worldwide. A great deal of understandable effort is directed at the impact of globalisation, especially the way it is making universities engage in academic capitalism (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997). The alternative arguments emphasise democratic internal governance and external community service driven by the goals of social equity, democratic values, and concern for the public good. Currie and Subotsky (2000) referring to the South African situation, caution that without exploring the basis upon which reconstructive community development can be institutionally operationalised, the twin goals of global and redistributive development will remain unsolved. They point out the overinvestment in accounting for the new organisational and epistemological features of the "market" university, policy and academic debates that are silent on the corresponding features of… [Direct]
(1991). A Study of Black Students' Perceptions of Racism in Initial Teacher Education. British Educational Research Journal, v17 n1 p35-58. Researches student perceptions among Afro-Caribbeans, and Africans enrolled in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) departments in Great Britain. Students discover their courses fail to address racism issues; perceive the selection processes are discriminatory; and find racist attitudes among lecturers. (NL)…
(2011). Enacting Inclusivity through Engaged Pedagogy: A Higher Education Perspective. Equity & Excellence in Education, v44 n1 p40-56. The purpose of this article is to describe a curricular change process used to incorporate inclusivity and diversity in a Higher Education Ph.D. program. The efforts of faculty members and students to practice engaged pedagogy as advocated by bell hooks are also described. Accounts from two agents, a professor and assistant professor working in the graduate program, of the re-envisioning and development processes focus on three types of changes: strategic administrative actions, curricular change, and pedagogical change. The authors use critical race and feminist perspectives and personal narratives to describe their experiences and how these led to incorporating radical and transformative perspectives in the classroom as they worked collaboratively with students to recognize various kinds of racism, sexism, and inequalities in their lives at the university and in society. Students were supported to find dissertation methodologies and topics consistent with their values. (Contains 1… [Direct]
(2009). Is Race Really Controversial in the University Classroom?. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, v7 n1 p300-319 Jun. Today, even though \social justice\ programs exist as a virtual growth industry on US campuses and many universities have incorporated classes on race and racism into their curricula, everyone continues to be faced with the perception that race is a \controversial\ topic that has to be broached with care due to its \sensitive nature\. This is even more so in a day and age of nervousness about political discourse becoming \uncivil\. In this article, the author opens up the following questions: (1) How can everyone account for the perception that, in the university classroom, racism is perceived as uniquely controversial?; (2) Why are race and racism promoted as uniquely \controversial\ topics on American campuses?; (3) How has this belief been shaped by and used ideologically to reproduce the accommodation of American higher education to the political economy of neo-liberalism?; and (4) What alternatives to this ideological orientation in the university classroom exist that more… [PDF]
(2011). Moving beyond Our Progressive Lenses: Recognizing and Building on the Strengths of Teachers of Color. Journal of Teacher Education, v62 n4 p356-366 Sep-Oct. Through in-depth interviews with a group of accomplished teachers of color who emphasized the need for their students to access the \culture of power\ as a means to work toward racial justice, I attempt to represent the purposefulness of their practice within the context of what one participant termed the \millennium form of slavery.\ I argue that such teachers of color are portrayed through a progressive lens as authoritarian and conformist, making it difficult to see the multifaceted nature of their practice, including their deep commitments to their students and their communities, and their understanding of the systemic nature of racism. Such representations hinder a deeper dialogue with them and do not adequately portray them as successful models for prospective teachers. In the concluding section, I explore challenges as well as productive approaches to characterizing the practice of these teachers in ideologically diverse preservice teacher education programs. (Contains 1 note.)… [Direct]