(2019). Building Power through Racial Justice: Organizing the #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Week of Action in K-12 and Beyond. Berkeley Review of Education, v9 n1. On October 16, 1963, author James Baldwin delivered his well-known "A Talk to Teachers" in which he argued that the United States was "desperately menaced . . . from within" (p. 325) by centuries of racialized cruelty. In his speech, Baldwin (1985) implored educators to "go for broke" (p. 325) in their attempts to address the racism operating not only in their classrooms but in the very fabric of U.S. society. Speaking at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Baldwin addressed New York City teachers who witnessed the active desegregation of schools across the country and the ongoing fight for racial justice in voting, housing, and employment. Yet 56 years later, Baldwin's call to action is regrettably just as relevant to the modern educator. Our schools remain racially and economically segregated (EdBuild, 2019; Orfield, Frankenberg, Ee, & Kuscera, 2014; Reardon & Owens, 2014) and racial injustices permeate our contemporary sociopolitical… [PDF]
(2019). Constructing Black Mothers as Educational Leaders: A Source of Knowledge and Theory. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, The University of Memphis. This dissertation follows a three article format. The articles represent a building upon research with the first article exploring the history of Black women leadership in the U.S. and the need to incorporate the leadership traits of Black mothers in educational leadership. The second article, through critical phenomenological inquiry, allows current college students from urban k-12 institutions to construct their mothers as educational leaders and identify traits that formal educational leaders should adopt. The third article expounds upon the lived experiences of Black students and the critical care leadership necessary to ensure their academic success. Care in education and education leadership literature is ambiguous. Black women have long been pillars of care for the Black community. Despite a history of successful leadership, Black women continue to be underrepresented in educational literature, theory and research. The limited Black leadership narratives and lack of context… [Direct]
(2022). The Personal Influences That Contribute to the Success of Six African American Female Educational Leaders. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Cardinal Stritch University. The purpose of the study was to research the personal influences of African American female education leaders that contributed to their success. The research study explored the intersectionality of race and gender while identifying personal influences of successful African American women leaders. Over centuries African American women have taken on roles in their communities, within their families, and on their jobs. In the 21st century, African American women hold leadership positions across the country and continue to soar in their careers. Despite race and gender bias, African American women acknowledge personal influences that allow them to be successful leaders. "What are the personal influences that are contributors to their success?" Historically White males have dominated leadership roles in the United States (Davis & Maldonado, 2015). However, even in a society plagued by discrimination and racism African American women have been able to advance in their… [Direct]
(2019). Asian American Student Engagement on College Campuses. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, New England College. In the United States, colleges and universities have not promoted the academic success of their students of color as effectively as their White students (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2016). While much research has been conducted to explore how racism impacts higher education attainment of Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx students (Flores & Park, 2013; Naylor, Wyatt-Nichol, & Brown, 2015; Owens & Lynch, 2012; Wodtke, 2012), there has been limited research on noninternational, Asian American students on college campuses. The presumption of the model minority myth dismisses the fact that Asian Americans are not only extremely heterogenous in terms of race and ethnicity, but also that there is significant variation when it comes to academic achievement (Lee & Kumashiro, 2005). As student engagement is a predictor of student success (Harper & Quaye, 2009; Kuh, 2001; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Quaye & Harper, 2015), this study… [Direct]
(2016). Wrestling with Problematics of Whiteness in Teacher Education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v29 n8 p1065-1068. Teacher education programs in countries where minoritized students experience systematic and persistent racial discrimination face tension between (1) producing teachers equipped to reverse discrimination in classrooms and schools, especially those attended by minoritized students, and (2) helping everyone considering teaching to develop their knowledge of how they can address racial discrimination, even if most teacher candidates take only baby steps. This tension, not limited to the United States (see e.g. Howard, 2014; Penetito, 2010), has run through most of this author's career as a teacher educator. This special issue of "International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education" can be viewed as attempting to bridge the tension between these two framings by asking how both can be addressed when it comes to White teacher candidates. This issue offered snapshots of whiteness in the teacher education classroom, impacts of whiteness on students of color, portraits of… [Direct]
(2015). On Being Named a Black Supremacist and a Race Traitor: The Problem of White Racial Domination and Domestic Terrorism in U.S. Teacher Education. Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education, v47 n2 p317-340 Jun. This article is concerned with the preparation of future teachers and the continued Whiteness of teacher education. Using the critical race theory methodology of counter-storytelling, this article presents a composite story to highlight and analyze how race and racism influence the preparation of future teachers in ways that typically sustain rather than challenge the Whiteness of education despite widespread self-reports of successful multicultural teacher education. While a great deal has been written about the need to better prepare future teachers for the multicultural realities of contemporary public schools, less examined is the modus operandi of race-based dominance in teacher education. This article seeks to use an examination of the intersections of White racial domination and the daily business of teacher preparation as a learning tool for pushing forward endeavors to prepare all teachers to successfully teach all students…. [Direct]
(2017). Learned Inequality: Racial Labels in the Biology Curriculum Can Affect the Development of Racial Prejudice. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, v54 n3 p379-411 Mar. For over a century, genetic arguments for the existence of racial inequality have been used to oppose policies that promote social equality. And, over that same time period, American biology textbooks have repeatedly discussed genetic differences between races. This experiment tests whether racial terminology in the biology curriculum causes adolescents to develop genetic beliefs about racial difference, thereby affecting prejudice. Individual students (N = 135, grades 7-9) were randomly assigned within their classrooms to learn either from: (i) four text-based lessons discussing racial differences in skeletal structure and the prevalence of genetic disease (racial condition); or (ii) an identical curriculum lacking racial terminology (nonracial condition). Over 3-months that coincided with this learning, students in the racial condition grew significantly more in their perception of the amount of genetic variation between races relative to students in the nonracial condition…. [Direct]
(2012). Raising Ethnic-Racial Consciousness: The Relationship between Intergroup Dialogues and Adolescents' Ethnic-Racial Identity and Racism Awareness. Equity & Excellence in Education, v45 n1 p120-137. Empirical evidence shows that intergroup dialogue programs promote changes in ethnic-racial identity and racism awareness among college students. Expanding on this research, this study examines the effects of intergroup dialogues on adolescents' racial consciousness. Self-reports of 147 adolescents (13-19 years old), of various racial and ethnic backgrounds were used. Repeated-measures ANOVAs, on pre- and post-tests examined changes in racial consciousness (ethnic-racial identity and racism awareness), controlling for parent education. Group differences (ethnic-racial groups, nativity) also were examined. As predicted, ethnic-racial identity and racism awareness increased after completing the program. Although there were statistically significant ethnic-racial group differences in ethnic-racial identity, no group differences in racism awareness were found. The findings demonstrate that intergroup dialogues can promote adolescents' ethnic-racial consciousness. (Contains 2 tables and 1… [Direct]
(2015). Journey toward Becoming a Counselor Education Doctoral Student: Perspectives of Women of Color. Journal of Negro Education, v84 n1 p66-79 Win. Women of color are underrepresented in university settings, both as students and faculty, when compared to national representation within the population. A lack of representation results in fewer role models for women of color, as well as limited peer support from those with a shared experience. Experiences of racism and sexism also exist, further contributing to the unique experience of being a woman of color within higher education. This study explores the journey and experiences of women of color (N = 5) as they enter into their first semesters as counselor education, PhD students. Results revealed six themes: diversity (racial/ethnic) within the program, racial/cultural awareness, setting an example, sacrifices/challenges of PhD, and the journey to a PhD program…. [Direct]
(2022). The Minority Is Becoming the Majority: A Mixed Methods Study of the Role of White Principals' Racial Socialization in Working with Students of Color. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Baylor University. White school principals in the United States may not fully understand how to interact with the students of color that they lead. Yet, they are responsible for leading in schools where students of color are the majority (Chen, 2019; NCES, 2021a; Schaeffer, 2021). Since conversations about racial relations may not take place in the homes of some White school principals, U.S. education officials must reform leadership preparation programs to racially resocialize White school principals to reshape what they think about race. The purpose of this convergent mixed methods study was to explain how the beliefs and behaviors of White principals leading in racially incongruent public schools in the United States are related to how they were racially socialized. I used purposive sampling to collect survey data through a modified version of the Comprehensive Racial Socialization Inventory (CRSI; Lesane-Brown et al, 2005). I collected CRSI (Lesane-Brown et al., 2005) survey data in the… [Direct]
(2016). Fostering Movements or Silencing Voices: School Principals in Egypt and South Africa. International Journal of Multicultural Education, v17 n1 p188-210. In this paper, we examine the role of educational leadership in promoting and/or challenging racism as an intentional outcome of schooling. We focus on Egypt and South Africa, two countries uniquely framed as both deeply divided by race, religion, and/or class and as models of resistance and conscious activism. We draw upon experiences working as, or with, school principals in South Africa and Egypt to reveal how the context of education is negatively shaped by schooling practices that foster race and class-based inequalities. Using personal narratives of school principals, we situate educational leadership as core to understanding how Western educational reforms are structured, conceived, and enacted within Egyptian and South African contexts. This analysis sheds light on how educational inequalities are reinforced and justified by contexts of educational leadership and how efforts to resist are institutionally silenced…. [PDF]
(2016). Crossing "The Problem of the Color Line": White Mathematics Teachers and Black Students. North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (38th, Tucson, AZ, Nov 3-6, 2016). In this paper, the authors explore–within an eclectic theoretical framework of critical theory, critical race theory, and Whiteness studies–the life experiences of four White high school mathematics teachers who were "successful" with Black students. The data were collected through three, semi-structured interviews, conducted over a 5-month time period. Through a cross-case analysis of the data, three commonalities among the teachers were identified as being significant contributors to their success in teaching Black students. Two commonalities the participants themselves felt strongly about, and a third became apparent during the cross-case analysis: (a) forming meaningful relationships with students, (b) engaging students in racial conversations, and (c) reflecting both individually and collectively with colleagues on issues of race and racism. Implications for classroom practice and teacher education are discussed. [For the complete proceedings, see ED583608.]… [PDF]
(2013). Reflective Journaling in a College Multicultural Education Classroom: Looking Past, Present, and Future. International Perspectives on Higher Education Research College classrooms are an important socializing site, preparing students to critically reflect upon their viewpoints and engage in democratic citizenship and civic leadership. Yet this very notion of educational environment can serve to produce racial inequality and ethnically and culturally blind pedagogical space. In this chapter, the author describes how students articulate their internalized social position and racism in a given college classroom and understands the process by which students' sense of self is internalized and (re)constructed through the practice of reflective journaling. [For the complete volume, "Social Justice Issues and Racism in the College Classroom: Perspectives from Different Voices. International Perspectives on Higher Education Research. Volume 8," see ED591557.]… [Direct]
(2019). Academic Promotions at a South African University: Questions of Bias, Politics and Transformation. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research, v78 n3 p423-442 Sep. The system of academic promotion provides a mechanism for the achievements of staff to be recognised. However, it can be a mechanism that creates or reflects inequalities, with certain groups rising to the top more readily than others. In many universities, especially in the global North, white men are preponderant in senior academic ranks. This leads to concerns about sexism and racism operating within processes of promotion. There is a global sensitivity that academic hierarchies should be demographically representative. In this study, we examine the data on eleven years of promotions at the University of Cape Town (UCT), a highly ranked, research-led university in South Africa. Its historical roots lie in a colonial past, and despite substantial increases in the number of black scholars, its academic staff complement is still majority white, driving the intensification of its transformation efforts. A quantitative analysis using time to promotion as a proxy for fairness was used… [Direct]
(2017). Reconciliation or Racialization? Contemporary Discourses about Residential Schools in the Canadian Prairies. Canadian Journal of Education, v40 n1. The residential school system is one of the darkest examples of Canada's colonial policy. Education about the residential schools is believed to be the path to reconciliation; that is, the restoration of equality between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada. While the acquisition of the long-ignored history of residential schools has the potential to centre marginalized perspectives and narratives, knowledge acquisition alone is not necessarily a reconciliatory endeavour. The critical discourse analysis offered in this article reveals how dominant narratives about residential schools, cited by well-meaning educators, re-inscribe harmful colonial subjectivities about Aboriginal peoples. Through a post-structural lens and drawing from interviews conducted across one prairie province, I demonstrate how citing popular, contemporary discourses about residential schools continues to racialize Aboriginal peoples while positioning non-Aboriginal peoples as supportive and… [PDF]