(2017). The (Un)Success of American Indian Gates Millennium Scholars within Institutions of Higher Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Arizona. There remains limited research on the gap between the participation and persistence to graduation rates for American Indian students in higher education. It is pertinent to explore the experiences of these students who did not persist to graduation to be able to gain a better understanding of the factors involved in this gap. The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to gain a greater understanding of why twenty American Indian college students who were high-achieving and received the Gates Millennium scholarship (AIGMS) did not persist to graduation. To achieve this greater understanding from an Indigenous perspective, it was important to utilize existing theoretical frameworks developed by Native scholars that employed critical, culturally sensitive lenses for the analysis. Through the lenses of Tribal Critical Race Theory, Cultural Models of Education and the Family Education Model, the research questions were developed with a critical focus on the institutional influence… [Direct]
(2011). Musicking in the City: Reconceptualizing Urban Music Education as Cultural Practice. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, v10 n1 p15-46 Aug. Descriptions of the urban contemporary format remain strongly grounded on the assumption that it is based on musical styles associated with African Americans, such as R&B, soul, hip hop, rap, and reggae. Even for the most progressive educators, to speak of urban music is to refer to a narrow set of musical genres associated with the umbrella term \hip hop\. In this article, the author briefly highlights the powerful role that the media has had in manipulating the symbolic content of the term \urban music\ for profit. He suggests that music educators–particularly those working in \urban\ classrooms and committed to social justice–need to work both with and against the prevailing narrow conception of the \urban\ that shapes the way one thinks about both urban music and urban education. Drawing on insights from contemporary cultural and critical race theory, the author proposes an expanded definition of the urban as cultural practice, and points to the possibilities that such a… [PDF]
(2011). The Whiteness of Literacy Practice in Ontario. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v14 n5 p699-726. In the spring of 2008, the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat of the Ontario Ministry of Education in Canada released a DVD that was one in a series designed to train literacy teachers in what the Ministry referred to as "high-yield" comprehension strategies. Using the lens of Critical Race Theory, this article analyses the picture book used in the model lesson as well as the teaching methods recommended for all Ontarian teachers in the DVD. While the selection of the picture book fits the present policies of multiculturalism in Ontario, its romanticized portrayal of an indigenous people serves to perpetuate racism, particularly in the uncritical reading demonstrated in the DVD. In addition, the teaching methods demonstrated as "high-yield" arise from the global movement towards standardization in education, and establish measurable student achievement, in a classroom portrayed as socially neutral, as the end goal of education. Nowhere in this model lesson, given… [Direct]
(2011). Charting a Way Forward: Intersections of Race and Space in Establishing Identity as an African-Canadian Teacher Educator. Studying Teacher Education, v7 n2 p133-143. In Canada, most universities and their classrooms are often constructed as rational and neutral spaces where interaction between professors and students is free of the influences of race, class, and gender. Implicit in such a construction is the assumption that the university is a purely White space where students from the dominant racial group expect the professorate to be of similar race. The presence of a non-White teacher educator in such an environment disrupts such fictional constructions, generating tensions and resistance that complicate teaching and learning. This self-study describes my experience as an African-Canadian teacher educator and the intersections of race and space in a faculty of education landscape enmeshed in an ongoing struggle of decolonization. Along with self-study methodology, I use critical race theory and feminist post-structural theory to analyze the construction of my racial identity and relations of power in a White settler society. I explore how the… [Direct]
(2010). Observations, Values, and Beliefs about Ethnic/Racial Diversity by Members of Community College Faculty Search Committees. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Arizona State University. As open-door institutions, community colleges provide access to students from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and cultures. Yet while enrollment of students of color in community colleges continues to increase, representation by faculty of color has not. This qualitative study investigated community college faculty search committee members' implicit and subjective observations, values, and beliefs about ethnic/racial diversity in order to gain an understanding of how they may influence the faculty hiring process. The researcher interviewed 12 subjects–administrators and faculty members at three community colleges in a large district in the southwest region of the United States–who served on faculty search committees from 2006-2009. Findings revealed three major themes: (a) the communication of diversity; (b) search committee dynamics with the sub-themes of role of the chair, role of administration, and the issue of time; and (c) subjects' observations, values, and… [Direct]
(2010). Linguistic Minority Students in Higher Education: Using, Resisting, and Negotiating Multiple Labels. Equity & Excellence in Education, v43 n2 p216-231. Linguistic minority students have been both under-researched and underserved in the context of research on minority students' access to and retention in higher education. The labels ascribed to them have typically failed to capture the complexity of their identities. Additionally, much of the literature in higher education on minority students' access and retention has focused on structural barriers rather than on how students negotiate these barriers. By bringing linguistic minority students into the forefront of this conversation, we show how four linguistic minority female students draw on their community cultural wealth and different forms of capital (Yosso, 2005) to access and navigate college while experiencing differing advantages and disadvantages based on institutional labeling. By employing critical race theory and its conceptualization of capital, we illustrate how students use, resist, and negotiate labels in attempts to access resources and services at a four-year… [Direct]
(2010). "Ni De Aqui Ni from There". Navigating between Contexts: Counter-Narratives of Undocumented Mexican Students in the United States. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v13 n1 p23-40 Mar. Research has documented the ways in which students of Mexican origin are not succeeding academically in the same proportion as the rest of the US population. This process of educational failure occurs in the context of overt and more subtle forms of racism experienced throughout their schooling and everyday lives. Undocumented Mexican students face even harsher educational challenges as they experience life in a post-September 11th environment of heightened xenophobic US nativism. The purpose of this three-year study was to acknowledge the "counter-stories" and learn from the "counter-life-histories" of undocumented college graduates of Mexican origin as they navigate across and between historical, socioeconomic, political and cultural boundaries, barriers and contexts. The research is grounded in the experiences, voices and perspectives of six individuals who graduated from a community college in Arizona. The study utilizes critical race theory (CRT) as an… [Direct]
(2009). Disrupting Apartheid of Knowledge: "Testimonio" as Methodology in Latina/o Critical Race Research in Education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v22 n6 p639-654 Nov. This article utilizes a Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit) framework to disrupt a narrowly defined process of knowledge production in academia, informed by Eurocentric epistemologies and specific ideological beliefs. This process has created an apartheid of knowledge in academia. Disrupting this apartheid allows critical race researchers to move forward in developing methodologies that can be used in anti-racist social justice research. This article describes the use of testimonio as methodology in a LatCrit research study. This conceptual piece will describe how theory, methodology, and epistemology led to the development, collection, and analysis of 40 testimonio interviews with undocumented and US-born Chicana college students. Specific methodological strategies for employing testimonio in LatCrit research are also provided. (Contains 2 figures and 10 notes.)… [Direct]
(2009). "They Don't like Us": Reflections of Turkish Children in a German Preschool. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, v10 n1 p24-34. In this article, the authors present multiple interpretations of a transcript of a discussion with a group of Turkish-German girls in a kindergarten in Berlin, Germany. These five-year-old girls make statements suggesting they experience alienation from their non-Turkish classmates and teachers, and the wider German society. The authors argue that the meanings of these statements should not be taken at face value. Instead, they employ interpretive strategies borrowed mostly from Mikhail Bakhtin and interpretive frameworks taken from Judith Butler, and post-colonial theory and Critical Race Theory to suggest that the girls' utterances can be usefully seen as having a performative dimension and as expressing tensions around immigration that can be found in the larger society. (Contains 1 note.)… [Direct]
(2009). A Barrio Pedagogy: Identity, Intellectualism, Activism, and Academic Achievement through the Evolution of Critically Compassionate Intellectualism. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v12 n2 p217-233 Jul. In this paper we forward our experiences and understanding of how we have used critical race theory (CRT) in our classrooms; more importantly, we bring forth the voices of students as a method of conveying the impact of our CRT classroom exercises. These exercises are parts of three structures that we created to counter the reality of racism and subordination within the American education system. These creations are: the Social Justice Education Project (SJEP); the Critically Compassionate Intellectualism Model of Transformative Education (CCI); and CCI's Third Dimension. An explanation and description of the SJEP and CCI are forthcoming in the next section of this paper, and in last section of this paper we explain CCI's Third Dimension. (Contains 3 figures and 1 note.)… [Direct]
(2009). The Proliferation of Theoretical Paradigms Quandary: How One Novice Researcher Used Eclecticism as a Solution. Qualitative Report, v14 n3 p498-523 Sep. When a doctoral student plans to conduct qualitative education research, the aspect of the dissertation that often becomes problematic is determining which theoretical paradigm(s) might frame the study. In this article, the author discusses how he resolved the quandary through eclecticism. The author begins by describing briefly the purpose of his dissertation study, providing a justification for eclecticism in the selection of theories. He follows with a description of the three theories–poststructural theory, critical race theory, and critical theory–that framed his study and discusses briefly the methodology employed. The author concludes with a discussion of likely objections of his study and with an explanation of why his study was positioned within a critical postmodern paradigm. (Contains 1 table and 12 footnotes.)… [PDF]
(2012). Latinas in Higher Education: An Interpretive Study of Experiential Influences That Impact Their Life Choices. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Kent State University. This basic interpretive qualitative study used individual semi-structured interviews to explore and understand the experiences of seven self-identified Latina participants, who reside in Northeast Ohio and belong to a volunteer organization promoting professional Latinas. The study used Latina Critical Race theory and feminist perspectives to focus on various influences impacting the participants' experiences in higher education, career, and leadership roles, besides exploring the impact of gender, ethnicity, and culture on their experiences within dominant mainstream settings. The research also examines how the Latinas' perceptions of educators and administrators influenced their academic and professional choices. The results of this study suggest that perceived stereotypes and marginalization negatively influence "immigrant to 1.5G or second generation" Latinas' ability to experience higher education as an inclusive environment. Acculturative stress, ethnic identity,… [Direct]
(2012). Disproportionate Suspension of African American Students in Public Schools: A Delphi Study. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Phoenix. The problem addressed in this study was the disproportionate number of African American students who are suspended or expelled at a higher rate than their white counterparts in Michigan public schools. This research was framed with critical race theory and cultural ecology theory of African American students suspended. This study applied a Delphi technique to gather an understanding from experts on why African American students are suspended at a higher rate in public schools than white students. The overarching research question for this study was why are students in Michigan school districts suspended or expelled for minor offenses at a greater rate than white students for the same infractions? The panel of experts consisted of three experts from the field of education. Data were collected through repeated surveys in three rounds. Findings indicated from Round one open-ended question, which generated 20 statements (questions) that were divided into general agreement and… [Direct]
(2012). The Development of Tracking and Its Historical Impact on Minority Students. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Walden University. In the 1920s, high school students were placed on one of three tracks: high, average, and low. Over the years, vocational education was transformed into a low track assignment for students, often racial minorities, who were perceived as less intelligent. However, the interaction between vocational education and tracking policies and practices remained unclear. Using critical race theory, this study produced an historical analysis of the interaction of these two programs. This included a systematic identification of the originating factors influencing tracking and contemporary tracking policies and practices to understand how tracking affected racial minority students' access to equal educational opportunities in the early 1900s and from 2006 to 2009. Data sources used included archival records that contained tracking data, policy discussions, and policy records; these were used to determine how and why tracking was implemented in one public school district and the impact of the… [Direct]
(2012). Invisible Men: The Life Experiences of African American Male Administrators within Predominantly White Public High School Settings. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Argosy University, Atlanta. Currently, there is a dearth of literature on the African American male administrative experience beyond the scope of an urban school environment. The purpose of this phenomenologically-based inquiry was to examine the lived experiences of six African American male high school administrators who worked in a predominantly White school setting. The experiences were obtained through semi-structured interviews and analyzed to reveal themes. The Transformative Leadership Model and Critical Race Theory was the theoretical framework used to understand the leadership style of the participants and the role of race from their perspective as an African American male in a leadership position. It was found that the Transformative Leadership Model was appropriate in identifying the leadership perspectives that existed in each participant. Also, race played an insignificant role in how the participant viewed his experience within the setting. Consequently, it is recommended that African American… [Direct]