(2021). Marginalized and Minoritized in General Education Programs: A Call to Protect Vulnerable Students, Faculty, and Staff in Equity and Inclusion Reform. Journal of General Education, v70 n3 p181-195. General education curricula are constantly evolving. Though the initial purpose was to prepare graduates for the broad requirements of active citizenship, the impetus has shifted since the early 20th century to center the impacts of globalization and to help students understand and address rapid change. General education curricula are currently responding to shifting student demographics and navigating social and political upheaval. Equity and inclusion initiatives that often rise to the forefront of many general education reforms on persistently white campuses can, unfortunately, have an unintended cost to marginalized and minoritized students, faculty, and staff. This article offers a method to recognize and mitigate that harm by applying critical race theory and dialogic theory…. [Direct]
(2023). Latinx Undocumented Students' College Admissions Process: The Role of Policy in Shaping Students' Trajectories into College. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. The purpose of this study was to retroactively explore how Latinx undocumented students currently enrolled at a single University of California (UC) campus navigated policies concerning accessibility and affordability as they worked toward their goal of pursuing bachelor's degrees. Using a critical race theory (CRT) and Latino/a critical race theory (LatCrit) lens, this study examined how policies such as California Assembly Bill (AB) 540; the California Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (Dream) Act; and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) shaped participants' college goals. Moreover, this study explored participants' challenges accessing information that was relevant to their status needs and the forms of support these participants used to navigate this larger policy landscape. Guided by a critical policy analysis approach that interrogated and scrutinized racial politics driving policy, 19 Latinx undocumented student participants engaged in two… [Direct]
(2023). Gordian Knot, or Not?: A Qualitative Study of Diversity Hiring in California Community Colleges. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of La Verne. Purpose: This study addressed issues of chief diversity officers who often face diversity challenges when attracting, recruiting, and retaining, faculty of color in community colleges in California. Perceptions and meaning-making of chief diversity officers were explored as they encountered racism and shaped the discourse on race embedded in the cultural competency framework in the faculty recruitment process. Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework for this study was based on critical race theory and transformational leadership. Critical race theory is used to analyze the concept of racism and discrimination in society based on racial context. The theory helped understand factors influencing the recruitment and retention of faculty members of color and their experiences of diversity. Transformational leadership is based on the leader's promise of creating a common culture that unites all stakeholders towards a given goal. This theory was important for the study as it… [Direct]
(2018). "What's Going On?": A Critical Race Theory Perspective on Black Lives Matter and Activism in Education. Urban Education, v53 n2 p231-247 Feb. This article explores activism, education, and the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Using critical race theory (CRT), I analyze what this emergence of primarily youth-led activism means in the context of decades of neoliberal education reform. I raise specific questions about how youth-led activism, which has its genesis in and is largely shaped by social media, not only reflects limited robust mainstream discourses on race but also a failure of education, particularly schools and districts that serve students of color in under-resourced urban communities, to teach about and contextualize other historical movements for justice and racial equity…. [Direct]
(2020). A Hierarchy of Environmental Design for Latin* Men at PWIs. New York Journal of Student Affairs, v20 n1 Article 2 p91-117 Dec. To understand the transaction between the environment and students, this study examines a Latin* cultural center in facilitating community and sense of belonging for Latino men at a predominantly White institution (PWI). This study used critical race theory, specifically LatCrit to interrogate Strange and Banning's (2015) hierarchy of environmental design. Findings nuanced the understanding and experience of community, engagement and safety of Latino men within a racialized space at a PWI. Implications for practice are discussed to better understand how Latin* cultural center environments contribute to the behavior and experience of Latino men…. [PDF]
(2024). Exploring "A Pocket Guide to Writing" through Cultural-Historical Activity Theory: Implications for Multicultural Education. Dinamika Ilmu, v24 n1 p1-9. Mainstream writing instruction risks marginalising non-dominant voices if not consciously adapted using critical multicultural frameworks. This study analyses Mary Lynn Rampolla's widely used "A Pocket Guide to Writing" in History through a Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) lens, taking notes on voice, power dynamics, and participation elements. The analysis uncovered alignments like the focus on active reading and argumentation. However, tensions emerged regarding the lack of collaborative learning and critical framing of academic conventions. Findings suggest that relying solely on mainstream writing advice risks student empowerment and critical consciousness deficiencies. Writing instructors should supplement individual skill-building with critical perspectives and participatory activities. While conventional guides provide useful starting points, realising the transformative goals of critical multicultural education requires balancing mainstream approaches with… [PDF]
(2022). Chinese Bilingual Preservice Teachers' Reflections on Translanguaging Pedagogy: The Need for Critical Language Curricularization. Foreign Language Annals, v55 n4 p1086-1108 Win. This qualitative case study of one teacher preparation program uses Asian critical race theory to examine Chinese bilingual preservice teachers' (N = 102) raciolinguistic ideology discourse in their reflections on using translanguaging pedagogy. Thematic analysis in daily logs, lesson reflection papers, and exit tickets indicated two contrasting findings: (1) When the exchange value for (White) English language is privileged, translanguaging pedagogy is used for differentiated translations and to seek affirmations shaped by raciolinguistic ideology. (2) When the use value for Chinese languages and cultures is prioritized, translanguaging pedagogy is used for culturally and linguistically sustaining practices as well as the elicitation of ethnolinguistic funds of knowledge among participants and their emergent bilinguals. This study argues that if and when translanguaging pedagogy is used critically, bilingual teachers can promote culturally and linguistically sustaining practices,… [Direct]
(2022). Broken Windows and Catching Frogs: Exploring Concepts of Historic and Contemporary Parental and Community Involvement. Journal of Latinos and Education, v21 n1 p59-71. Parental and community supports are important factors for Latino student academic success. The purpose of this paper is to explore the parental and community activism surrounding the "San Antonio v. Rodriguez" school finance case in order to better understand how historic means of activism relate to the contemporary ways that Latino parents and community members continue to be involved in the education of Latino youth. Historic methods, guided by a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework, were employed to analyze archival records and oral histories. This critical analysis revealed influences of labor organizing, traditional civil rights, and the Chicano movement surrounding the parental and community involvement that prompted this lawsuit. Learning from historic events allows us to challenge the contemporary White normative definitions of parental involvement that marginalize the ways Latino parents and community members support student success…. [Direct]
(2022). American Indian/Alaska Native Transfer Student Experiences into a Four-Year University. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Nevada, Reno. This qualitative study examined the experiences of ten American Indian/Alaska Native transfer students attending a four-year land grant research institution. It used semi-structured interviews utilizing a narrative inquiry when telling their story. The theoretical frameworks used in the study were the Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit) and Funds of Knowledge. The study explored the strengths students used when navigating college during the transfer process. Through the findings of the study conceptual recommendations were made for institutions when trying to create a more inclusive college community for American Indian/Alaska Native transfer students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta…… [Direct]
(2022). 'That's My Job': Black Teachers' Perspectives on Helping Black Students Navigate White Supremacy. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v25 n7 p978-996. This paper presents the findings of a research study that sought to understand the perspectives of exemplary Black teachers utilizing emancipatory pedagogies to help Black students navigate systems of white supremacy in a contemporary American social landscape where racism is simultaneously invisible and hypervisible. Using critical race theory, the findings of this narrative inquiry indicate that participants made their students aware of the ubiquity of racism and the inevitability that they would experience it. Findings also show that participants provided their students with opportunities to speak back to their oppression, shifted the ways they practiced emancipatory pedagogy based on the teaching and social context in which they found themselves, and learned to engage students in these ways at various points in their lives but not through teacher education. This study has implications for teachers, school administrators, teacher educators, and researchers…. [Direct]
(2022). Academics of Colour in Elite Universities in the UK and the USA: The 'Unspoken System of Exclusion'. Studies in Higher Education, v47 n11 p2127-2137. This article explores the experiences of academics of colour in elite universities in the UK and the USA. Drawing on interviews with 34 respondents and using a critical race theory perspective, the findings indicate that academics of colour experience racism in the White space of an elite university. To counter the racism they experience, they develop 'safe spaces' in which they find empathy and support from other academics of colour. A key finding from the study suggests that despite having negative experiences in elite universities, academics of colour have contradictory feelings about their positions. They disassociate themselves from the racism by recognising the status and prestige associated with working at an elite university. This article suggests that in order for academics of colour to be fully included in elite universities, institutions must acknowledge racism and their own Whiteness to work towards cultural change…. [Direct]
(2022). Disrupting White Supremacy in Assessment: Toward a Justice-Oriented, Antiracist Validity Framework. Educational Assessment, v27 n2 p170-178. In this article, we propose a justice-oriented, antiracist validity framework designed to disrupt assessment practices that continue to (re)produce racism through the uncritical promotion of white supremist hegemonic practices. Using anti-Blackness as illustration, we highlight the ways in which racism is introduced, or ignored, in current assessment and validation processes and how an antiracist approach can be enacted. To start our description of the framework, we outline the foundational theories and practices (e.g., critical race theory & antiracist assessment) and justice-based framings, which serve as the base for our framework. We then focus on Kane's interpretive use argument and Mislevy's sociocognitive approach and suggest extending them to include an antiracist perspective. To this end, we propose a set of heuristics organized around a validity argument that holds justice-oriented, antiracist theories and practices at its core…. [Direct]
(2020). "Invisibility Is Not a Natural State for Anyone": (Re)Constructing Narratives of Japanese American Incarceration in Elementary Classrooms. Curriculum Inquiry, v50 n4 p309-329. Difficult histories that may contradict national values are rarely taught in elementary schools. This comparative study of two elementary educators examines their pedagogical approaches to the teaching of Japanese American incarceration as difficult history. Framed by Asian American critical race theory, the teachers' practices revealed challenges in teaching Japanese American incarceration as an example of a difficult history. The author interrogates the role of counternarratives and empathy in teaching difficult histories, particularly with young children, and offers suggestions for pedagogies of discomfort that reveal difficult histories while fostering critical hope…. [Direct]
(2021). Inclusive Education in the (New) Era of Anti-Immigration Policy: Enacting Equity for Disabled English Language Learners. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v34 n1 p72-88. The authors present a qualitative study which investigates the intersections between English Language Learner (ELL) status, disability, and special education in a mid-sized urban school district in Upstate New York. They explore how teachers conceptualize and implement New York State Education Department policies which affect the inclusive education of ELL students. The authors discuss how the discourse used in these policies, along with teachers' limited access to guidance and support, could lead to the exacerbation of educational inequities and exclusion of ELLs, despite the promise to support inclusion and success for all students. The Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) framework is used as an intersectional tool to help re-frame existing inclusive policies and practices…. [Direct]
(2021). Experiences of Discrimination among Black Middle School Adolescents: A Qualitative Study. School Psychology, v36 n6 p455-463 Nov. Discrimination is a common experience among racially and ethnically minoritized (REM) youth and often results in negative health and psychological outcomes. However, few studies provide adolescents with opportunities to directly share their discriminatory experiences, especially within the school context. Using a critical race theory framework and phenomenological approach, the present study explored how Black middle school students experienced and responded to discrimination in school settings. Findings revealed that youth experienced both direct and vicarious discrimination at school from multiple sources. Additionally, their responses indicated developmental and adaptive challenges, as well as a nuanced understanding of discrimination in their daily lives. Implications regarding educators' roles in affirming and supporting Black students' experiences are discussed…. [Direct]