(2016). "Capitalising" on Community? Understanding and Critiquing Instrumentalist Approaches to Indigenous Schooling. Oxford Review of Education, v42 n6 p661-676. This paper provides insights into non-Indigenous teachers' efforts to engage proactively and productively with students to enhance their learning in a predominantly Indigenous community in northern Queensland, Australia. Drawing upon notions of "funds of knowledge", forms of capital as part of community cultural wealth, Critical Race Theory, and "whiteness" studies, the research explores and challenges how white teachers draw upon community as a form of "capital" to enable them to foster their students' learning. These efforts to "capitalise" on community reveal the school as a site of struggle for genuinely inclusive educational practices. These struggles were evident in: teachers' and school administrators' ostensive care about their students but struggles to translate this into robust expectations as part of a genuinely inclusive curriculum; the cultivation of social and cultural capital to learn about the nature of the communities in which… [Direct]
(2013). Everyone Sees Color: Toward a Transformative Critical Race Framework of Early Literacy Teacher Education. Journal of Transformative Education, v11 n3 p151-169 Jul. This article builds a rationale for using the transformative pedagogy of critical race theory (CRT) to reframe early literacy teacher education and create counternarratives to address pervasive issues of inequity among minoritized students. This article also highlights the tensions that resulted from the author's use of such a framework: Preservice teachers enrolled in the author's early literacy methods course expressed feelings that focusing on issues of race and racism was at the expense of their "literacy training," problems accepting the idea that they could be personally biased, and notions that the CRT frame was inapplicable to them because they were at White schools. This article makes practical suggestions for teacher educators' efforts to counter such tensions and use CRT in order to address inequitable practices and meet the needs of minoritized students…. [Direct]
(2013). Emerging Leaders for Social Justice: Negotiating the Journey through Action Research. Journal of School Leadership, v23 n1 p91-121 Jan. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to understand the experience of graduate students in an educational leadership program as they began to apply leadership for social justice theory through the process of action research. This study used critical race theory to explore dimensions of race, power, and privilege. Findings from focus groups with 12 graduate students reveal that relationships influence the path of becoming a leader for social justice as well as their ability to engage in change on their campus. While the importance of relationships was found across all participants, several themes were unique to the emerging leaders of color. Recommendations for leadership preparation include the need to honor personal and professional experiences of students, supporting community leadership development, and highlighting the unique experiences and needs of emerging leaders of color…. [Direct]
(2013). Pursuing Tenure and Promotion in the Academy: A Librarian's Cautionary Tale. Negro Educational Review, v64 n1-4 p77-96. The author examines her journey before and as she pursued tenure and promotion in the academy. She argues that the path to tenure and promotion in higher education institutions was not one designed to provide a fair and equitable process for Black female faculty who function as academic librarians. Further, she suggests that librarians in this role are marginalized due to two factors–presumed incompetence based on their gender and/or race, and their ambiguous fit among the disciplines within the academy. This autoethnography, with Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Race Feminism (CRF) as its theoretical framework, outlines the struggles and successes of a Black female academic librarian as she addresses the challenges inherent in the culture of her discipline compounded with well-documented issues related to sexism and racism. (Contains 4 footnotes.)… [Direct]
(2013). Race and Histories: Examining Culturally Relevant Teaching in the U.S. History Classroom. Theory and Research in Social Education, v41 n1 p65-88. In this practitioner research study, the author, a White social studies teacher, examined the intersection between his students' race/ethnicity and their experiences learning history. Using critical race theory as a lens, the author employed mixed methods, analyzing teacher journaling, classroom artifacts, and student reflections, as well as survey and interview data from the students of color. The results showed that the teacher's attempt to use culturally relevant pedagogy had a positive impact on his students of color, but his pedagogy could also be improved with a greater inclusion of more ethnic and racial histories and examinations of U.S. history from international perspectives. This study highlights the importance of White teachers listening to the voices of their students of color when planning instruction. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)… [Direct]
(2018). The Role of a Dream Resource Center at a CSU: How Institutional Agents Advanced Equity for Undocumented Students through Interest Convergence. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. Undocumented students face several institutional barriers that impede successful graduation rates in higher education. In recent years, institutions of higher education have been confronted with the volatile political climate and heightened visibility surrounding undocumented student issues. The emerging Dream Resource Centers (DRCs) represent an understudied intervention for institutions of higher education to uphold their commitment to undocumented student success and educational equity. Drawing on concepts from Critical Race Theory, interest convergence, the liminal state of immigration policy, campus climate, and student centers, this study explored the role of a DRC in a large, public state university in California. Specifically, the research questions for the study were: 1. What factors led to the creation of the Dream Resource Center? 2. What Dream Resource Center programs, policies, practices, and structures meet the needs of undocumented students? 3. What role does the Dream… [Direct]
(2018). Strides toward Equality: The Portrayal of Black Female Athletes in Children's Picturebooks. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University. This dissertation examines nine narrative non-fiction picturebooks about Black American female athletes. Contextualized within the history of children's literature and American sport as inequitable institutions, this project highlights texts that provide insights into the past and present dominant cultural perceptions of Black female athletes. I begin by discussing an eighteen-month ethnographic study conducted with racially minoritized middle school girls where participants analyzed picturebooks about Black female athletes. This chapter recognizes Black girls as readers and intellectuals, as well as highlights how this project serves as an example of a white scholar conducting crossover scholarship. Throughout the remaining chapters, I rely on cultural studies, critical race theory, visual theory, Black feminist theory, and Marxist theory to provide critical textual and visual analysis of the focal picturebooks. Applying these methodologies, I analyze the authors and illustrators'… [Direct]
(2018). How Persevering Latina/o First-Generation College Students Navigate Their College Experience: Keeping Who They Are While Learning and Persisting in the Culture of College. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Portland State University. Latina/o first-generation college students, along with their families, are learning a new culture when considering going to four-year universities. While the conversation involving Latina/o first-generation college students can often focus on attrition, I am interested in exploring what, from participants' point of view, are the successes they experience as well as the most challenging obstacles they encounter on their journey to graduating from four-year universities. Employing the theoretical frameworks of constructivism, critical race theory, and cultural capital, the purpose of this study was to go beyond the conversation of Latina/o first-generation college student attrition by examining how they navigate postsecondary institutions and explore the implications associated with how higher education affects them. I intend to highlight the already powerful voices of Latina/o first-generation college students who are brave enough to be the first in their immediate families to embark… [Direct]
(2018). Significance of Race in the US Undergraduate Public Relations Educational Landscape: Reflections of Former Public Relations Students. Journal for Multicultural Education, v12 n4 p353-370. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to address a practical question and problem: what can explain the small number of underrepresented racial and ethnic practitioners in the public relations industry? By placing race at the center of this study via critical race theory, the authors sought to answer the previously mentioned practical question. The authors focused on the undergraduate environment as a pipeline to the profession. The goal was to determine whether issues of race in the undergraduate public relations environment played a role in students' ability to succeed in their public relations coursework and in their ability to secure internships, network with professionals, etc. Design/methodology/approach: The authors interviewed 22 practitioners with five or fewer years of industry experience. The authors used email interviews to gather data from young professionals. Although email interviews are impersonal in nature, because of a lack of the use of social cues and non-verbal… [Direct]
(2012). The Stories of Eight Black Males Pursuing Doctoral Degrees Examined through the Lenses of Critical Race Theory: Don't Believe the Hype; Don't Live the Hype. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Texas State University – San Marcos. Building upon the tenets of critical race theory (CRT) this qualitative study examines the life histories of eight Black males in their journey to obtain a doctoral degree. The research questions guiding the study include: What are the life histories of eight Black males pursuing doctoral studies? How can we make sense of their life experiences through the lenses of critical race theory? What can be learned from their life histories that can inspire other Black males and inform the policies and practices of institutions of higher education? Data collection sources consist of ethnographic interviews, documents, artifacts, and the researcher's journal. Narrative analysis techniques coupled with CRT as the study framework serve as the focus for the analysis of the data. Study findings are presented mainly in two chapters; Chapter Four focuses on the three participating Black males who were over the age of fifty and takes a closer look at their life histories through the themes of… [Direct]
(2014). "When Saying You Care Is Not Really Caring": Emotions of Disgust, Whiteness Ideology, and Teacher Education. Critical Studies in Education, v55 n3 p319-337. Drawing on one of the author's experiences of teaching white teacher candidates in an urban university, this paper argues for the importance of interrogating the ways that benign emotions (e.g., pity and caring) are sometimes hidden expressions of disgust for the Other. Using critical race theory, whiteness studies, and critical emotion studies, it is shown how whiteness ideology erroneously translates disgust for people of color to false professions of pity or caring. This phenomenon is particularly interesting because care, sympathy, and love are emotions that are routinely performed by teacher candidates (who are predominantly white females) and embedded in teacher education. Yet not much literature theorizes how these performative emotions are not exempt of whiteness ideology. To engage in a genuine process of antiracism, we argue that the emotions that undergird teachers' dispositions need to be critically and sensitively unpacked. We end with implications for teacher… [Direct]
(2016). Models of Success, Teacher Quality and Student Disciplinary Infraction: A Critical Analysis of Chicago's Urban Preparatory Academies and Harlem Children's Zone. Journal of Educational Issues, v2 n2 p73-89. School discipline disparities in U.S. education is accompanied by a litany of literature that focuses on African Americans in low-performing urban schools (Civil Right Project, 2000; Losen, 2011; Mendez & Knoff, 2003; Skiba, Michael, Nardo & Peterson, 2002; Wilson, 2014). Public K-12 institutions in the U.S. report that African Americans are suspended at three-times the rate of White students (23% for African Americans as compared to 7% for Whites). Furthermore, the most recent Civil Rights Discipline Collection report (Office of Civil Rights, 2014) indicates that students who receive one suspension have a much greater chance of being suspended multiple times, ultimately leading to expulsion and or involvement in the juvenile justice system (Allen & White-Smith, 2014; Gregory, 1995; Office of Civil Rights, 2014; Pane & Rocco, 2014). A significant amount of research focuses on public education institutions' dismal outcomes in this area (Skiba et al., 2002; Office of… [PDF]
(2016). Institutional Racism through the Eyes of African American Male Faculty at Community Colleges in the Pacific Northwest. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Concordia University (Oregon). The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the lived experiences of African American male faculty at community colleges in the Pacific Northwest. Regional data mirrors national statistics denoting the low number of faculty of color working at state-funded community colleges. The literature reviewed for this study suggests that African American male faculty experience racism and gender bias during their academic career journeys. This study sought insight from five African American male faculty to answer the overarching research question: What are the possible perceived institutional barriers that contribute to the underrepresentation of African American male faculty? These individuals were purposefully selected because their race, gender, and current professional position in higher education qualified them to provide important insights into the phenomenon being studied. Three methods of data collection were used in this study: (a) a biographical questionnaire, (b)… [Direct]
(2024). Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies: Black Perspectives on Dual Language Immersion and Its Role in Gentrifying Communities. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Georgetown University. Dual language immersion (DLI), an educational program in which students study grade-level content in English and a partner language, began in the United States in the early 1960s and has surged since the 2010s. Nationwide, DLI continues to rise in popularity (Freire, Alfaro, & de Jong, 2024). To some extent, this is because DLI has been successfully promoted as an advantageous educational opportunity and is widely known for inclusive schools that welcome the integration of students and families from all backgrounds (Kotok & DeMatthews, 2018). Increasingly, DLI has begun to emerge in communities undergoing gentrification (Hyra, 2015) whose demographics do not represent those that have historically been served by DLI programs–namely communities of color (Delavan, Freire, & Menken, 2024). Amidst these developments, critical scholarship has revealed weaknesses in the narrative of DLI as a driver of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), showing that racial and economic… [Direct]
(2024). Race Rituals in Higher Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota. In the last few decades, the push for a more diverse student population has become commonplace across college campuses in the United States. With the demands of growing a more diverse student population, institutions have made widespread changes in policy over the years (Gist-Mackey, Wiley, & Erba, 2017). This dissertation examines the phenomena of organizational race rituals (RR) in higher education during the onboarding process, focusing specifically on "race" and "diversity" in organizational communication and assimilation practices as a commitment to diversity and inclusion and its impact on students of color's (SOC) experiences. Onboarding serves to produce, reproduce, maintain, and reinforce norms and values of an organization and provide its participants with a transition from an outsider to insider (Bauer et al., 2007; Bauer, 2010; Watkins, 2016; Chillakuri, 2020). As one of the first steppingstones, onboarding is a vital process where most… [Direct]