(2019). Exploring Black Women Educators Use of Pop Culture as Curriculum: A Narrative Case Study. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Texas at San Antonio. The purpose of this narrative case study is to explore the use of pop culture as curriculum as embodied by Black women educators (BWEs) in their respective college courses. The bodies of research that ground this study address the foundations of curriculum, curriculum as it is informed by experiences, and how pop culture serves as a critical curriculum. Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Feminism frame the theoretical underpinnings to understand the intersections of the raced and gendered experiences of BWEs and their subsequent decisions to use pop culture as curriculum. I want to explore the narratives BWEs to understand the variety of the ways they merge their educational identity into their curriculum by incorporating pop culture. This study incorporates both curriculum artifacts and individual narratives from BWEs. Nine BWEs provided access to curriculum artifacts that span thirteen courses. The artifacts ranged from course syllabi, weekly presentations, assignment… [Direct]
(2015). Post Stereotypes: Deconstructing Racial Assumptions and Biases through Visual Culture and Confrontational Pedagogy. Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research in Art Education, v56 n3 p214-227 Spr. The Post Stereotypes project embodies confrontational pedagogy and involves postcard artmaking designed to both solicit expression of and deconstruct students' racial, ethnic, and cultural stereotypes and assumptions. As part of the Cultural Diversity in American Art course, students created postcard art that visually represented their personal stereotypes about Others, knowing that the postcards would be anonymously and publicly displayed. The result was a complex and uncomfortable revelation of personal beliefs. Following the display, we discussed shared images in class, and students wrote reflection papers exploring how this project transformed their perceptions of stereotypes. Students also made follow-up postcards that focused on ways to deconstruct institutionalized perceptions of Others. In this article, I present the background, methodology, context, processes, analysis, and theories of Post Stereotypes. Using the framework of critical race theory and difficult knowledge and… [Direct]
(2015). What Discourse on the Texas Top Ten Percent Plan Says about Accountability for Diversity. Journal of Higher Education, v86 n5 p751-776 Sep-Oct. At the heart of the longstanding debate of addressing racial inequities in higher education is an argument about whether race should be a factor in admissions decisions. One argument is that institutions should be held accountable for diversity through external policies like affirmative action. Alternatively, there is the position that institutions will act in good faith to implement diversity goals. Through a critical discourse analysis of policy discourse from the Texas legislature regarding 2009 changes to the Texas Top Ten Percent Plan, findings suggest that there may be less emphasis on accountability for institutional diversification through external policy like affirmative action. Instead, policy focuses on individual institutional diversity efforts. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a theoretical framework, our findings maintain that as interest convergence changes (as the power elite no longer see current admissions policy benefiting them), there may be stronger arguments… [Direct]
(2015). Queer of Color Agency in Educational Contexts: Analytic Frameworks from a Queer of Color Critique. Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, v51 n1 p28-44. Although queer students of color face multiple obstacles to safe and full participation in numerous educational contexts, cultural and scholarly narratives that emphasize their vulnerabilities can lead educational stakeholders to overlook, and thus miss opportunities to capitalize on, the agency that these students possess to negotiate the barriers to their academic success. To counterbalance discourses on youth as "at risk" or "in crisis," this article explores how a body of critical scholarship known as "a queer of color critique" can serve as a heuristic for educational research on the agentive practices of queer students of color. Situated largely outside of educational studies, a queer of color critique–much like critical race theories, disability studies, and similar discourses on difference–can organize analytic works across subfields of educational scholarship into a more coherent educational research agenda on queer of color difference while… [Direct]
(2015). Battling Inertia in Educational Leadership: CRT Praxis for Race Conscious Dialogue. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v18 n6 p785-812. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how institutional racism is mediated by faculty negotiating power and privilege in the selection of Black (African American) women into an educational leadership preparation program. Critical race theory (CRT) praxis is used to analyze the faculty dynamics in the candidate selection process situated in a race neutral institutional culture. This reflective case study of an educational leadership department draws on qualitative data such as field notes from faculty conversations, experiential knowledge, memos, and quantitative data describing the disproportionate rejection of Black women applying to an educational leadership program in the US. Efforts to confront a race neutral process prompted by the higher rejection rate of Black women in comparison to their white counterparts prompted some faculty to engage in race conscious discourse. Faculty in departments of educational leadership who provoke race conscious dialogue on how they are… [Direct]
(2023). The Voice in the Back of My Head: Latinas' Testimonios on the Development of Their Science Identities in a Hispanic Serving Community College. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The Florida State University. Latinas often experience a double bind as they navigate STEM trajectories, a result of multiple layers of marginalization associated with their intersecting identities. Although developing robust science identities is key to the persistence, success, and sense of belonging of minoritized students in STEM (Carlone & Johnson, 2007; McGee, 2020), many Latinas struggle to identify themselves as science people. Using a testimonio approach, the present study explored how seven Latinas pursuing vertical science transfer pathways at a Hispanic serving community college in Northern California built their science identities, and how mentoring relationships contributed to that process. Testimonio data were collected through individual writing prompts and individual and focus group interviews. Latino Critical Race Theory (Delgado Bernal, 2002; Villalpando, 2004), intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989), Carlone and Johnson's (2007) model of science identity, and Yosso's (2005) model of… [Direct]
(2015). "We're Here Because We're Black": The Schooling Experiences of French-Speaking African-Canadian Students with Refugee Backgrounds. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v18 n1 p20-39. This article discusses the educational experiences of a group of French-speaking Black African-born students who entered Canada as refugees. They were attending a French school and were placed in a separate programme that was designed to meet their particular needs given their limited language skills and level of education. Drawing on critical race theory (CRT), the article analyzes how these students' identities operated in linking their academic abilities and particular life experiences in terms of race, gender, class, language, and immigrant status. The youth identified their separate programme as a problem in that their placement in it has to do with the fact that they are Black. The study provides important insights into the ways students with refugee backgrounds are being integrated into Canadian schools; and that, in some cases, the approach to their education operates to stream them along the lines of ethnicity, race, and life experience — the consequence of which is likely… [Direct]
(2013). Linguicism and Racism in Massachusetts Education Policy. Education Policy Analysis Archives, v21 n52 Jun. The paper presents a frame analysis of Massachusetts state policy regarding the education of multilingual learners and their teachers through the lens of critical race theory (CRT). My analysis suggests that even though current policy in Massachusetts is framed in terms of the overarching goals of educational quality and equality, in reality it substantively sanctions inequitable practices. This paper demonstrates that racism and linguicism towards multilingual learners are legally sanctioned in Massachusetts public schools as a consequence of state policy, thus contributing to educational disparities…. [PDF]
(2013). The Divided Self: The Double Consciousness of Faculty of Color in Community Colleges. Community College Review, v41 n4 p311-329 Oct. Through qualitative field methods research addressing faculty of color in four California community colleges, this investigation examines and explains faculty experiences and professional sense making. By combining critical race theory with social identity theory, our perspective underlines the potential social and ethnic identity conflicts inherent in the daily lives of faculty of color. The professional and social identities of faculty of color are not necessarily compatible, leading to a condition of "double consciousness," or what we refer to as "the divided self."… [Direct]
(2013). Deliberate Language Planning in Environmental Education: A CRT/LatCrit Perspective. Journal of Environmental Education, v44 n1 p1-15. In this study, the authors narrate a deliberate language planning experience within the dynamics of the first Project WILD environmental workshop conducted in Spanish. Using critical race theory and critical Latino theory the authors explore ways in which an environmental program can be infused with Latino culture and Spanish language to address the linguistic and cultural make-up of the local audience. It further identifies preservice bilingual teachers' perceived relevance of this type of efforts and offers recommendations for practice. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)… [Direct]
(2021). Examining the Role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs in the Recruitment, Experience, and Retention of Black Faculty in a Private, Tier 1, Research University: A Case Study. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Drexel University. Black, full-time faculty are underrepresented in higher education generally and in the health professions specifically. Underrepresentation persists despite the proliferation of diversity, equity, and inclusions (DEI) programs across institutions. The purpose of this qualitative, instrumental case study was to explore the role of DEI programs in the recruitment, experience, and retention of Black, full-time faculty in the Andrew School of Health and Nursing (ASHN) in a private, Tier 1, research university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The study utilized the theoretical framework of critical race theory (CRT) to center race and racism in the inquiry, as well as the tenets of CRT to guide the analysis and interpretation of data. The researcher administered a demographic questionnaire and conducted semi-structured interviews with selected ASHN administrators, Board of DEI members, and faculty and professional staff from three departments within the ASHN. Additionally,… [Direct]
(2021). Black Student Success in Higher Education: An Asset-Based Examination of Individual and Institutional Factors. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of California, San Diego. This study focused on both the voice and experience of successful Black students in higher education as well as the factors, both internal and institutional that they perceive as contributors to their success. This research is important because while a breadth of research exists that examines Black students and their relationship to higher education, much of it is framed in a deficit-based line of inquiry. As a response, and inspired by critical race theory (CRT) and Harper's (2012) anti-deficit achievement framework (ADAF), this study focused on successful Black college students' stories and what might be learned from them. The literature shows that Black students bring a variety of strengths and abilities to their higher education experience that merit further attention by both researchers and educators especially since these students achieve in spite of the challenges so widely documented in the deficit-based literature. Using a narrative research approach, this study identified… [Direct]
(2017). A Write to Know: Using Autoethnographic Writing to Explore Marginalization and Sense of Belonging in Community College Students. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, California State University, Fullerton. This dissertation used qualitative, interpretive methods to explore African American and Latino/a community college students' use of autoethnographic writing to express experiences of marginalization and sense of belonging on their college campus. Using postmodernism and critical race theory as theoretical frameworks, I investigated how students had experienced marginalization and a sense of belonging on their community college campus, as well as the reported epistemological (meaning-making) functions of the autoethnographic writing process. Participants in the study were introduced to the major constructs (marginalization, sense of belonging, and autoethnography), wrote autoethnographic essays about their experiences, and completed phenomenological interviews about the writing process. Participants reported feelings of marginalization based on factors such as their age, perceptions of academic under-preparedness, lack of familiarity with college structures and processes, perceived… [Direct]
(2018). "One of My Teachers Told Me That I Wasn't Gonna Get Anywhere in Life": A Narrative Study of Two GED Students of Color. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Connecticut. This narrative study examined what led two Students of Color to enroll in General Educational Development (GED) classes and how their race impacted their educational decisions. The study took place in an adult education facility located in central Connecticut in winter 2018. One research question guided this inquiry: What are the experiences of Students of Color that led them to seek their high schools diplomas through GED classes? This study used qualitative data collected from three one-on-one semi-structured interviews, field notes, and photographs to answer the research question through the lens of critical race theory (CRT). This research captured the voices and of Students of Color so policy makers and practitioners are aware of the need for adult education programs. Finally, this research contributes to the scholarship and discourse regarding the need for equitable funding streams for adult education students. Although this study was limited in duration and scope, the data… [Direct]
(2017). Under-Representation in Autism: An Examination of Educational Evaluation Practices for Black Students. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Missouri – Saint Louis. Black students are negatively affected by disproportionality in school discipline practices, special education identification, and over-restrictive special education placement. Critical race theory is an operative framework that can be applied to increase understanding of such disproportionality (Blanchett, 2011). Through the use of qualitative retrospective chart review methods, this research investigated the under-representation of Black students with Autism in the context of educational evaluations, and from the Ordinariness and Social Construction Tenets of CRT. Analysis of 12 reports, six of Black students and six of White students, resulted in several findings: (1) Between group differences were present in terms of parental reporting of Autism features; (2) Analysis of full evaluative findings revealed between-group variability in Autism traits expressed/reported; (3) Determining need for special education services differed for Black and White students, as Black students'… [Direct]