(2024). Whiteness and Fear: Backlash to Mathematics Education Reforms. Thresholds in Education, v47 n1 p23-39. Recent reform efforts to center issues of equity and social justice in mathematics classrooms have been under fire from the loudest sectors of right-wing media. The hysteria around incorporating social justice issues in mathematics classrooms is captured in the artificial binary: STEM or CRT. In our paper, we examine resistance to reform efforts in mathematics education in artifacts geared towards audiences beyond mathematics education researchers through the lens of whiteness. We analyzed artifacts from the Math Wars of the late 1990's and the current backlash towards mathematics education reform (Math Culture Wars) in California and Florida. We identified fear as a significant mechanism to upholding whiteness in the backlash to mathematics education reforms, particularly centering white fear. By describing how fear is constructed in the artifacts, scholars may find more targeted responses to the backlash by addressing the ideas perpetuated in these artifacts. Still, the field of… [PDF]
(2024). Disrupting the Status Quo: Narratives of Women of Color Leaders at California Community Colleges. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Loyola Marymount University. The California Community College (CCC) system is the largest higher education system in the United States and serves diverse students. However, CCC's leadership does not mirror the diversity of its student population. Senior-level positions continue to be dominated by White men, highlighting the lack of diversity among leadership at these institutions and exposing the ongoing underrepresentation of women, especially women of color (WOC), in leadership positions due to the ingrained hierarchal and patriarchal systems in CCCs. This qualitative study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of WOC, who are midlevel administrators at the CCC system. A critical race feminist (CRF) framework guided this study. This study used a critical race counter-storytelling technique to highlight voices and experiences of five WOC participants: Frida (Mexican), Sheila (African American), Valentina (Mexican), Rudii (Black), and Jamie (Chinese American). The findings revealed… [Direct]
(2006). African Studies in a Canadian Academy: A Tool for Liberation or Marginalization?. Online Submission, Paper presented at the Annual Dean's Graduate Student Research Conference: Diverse Perspectives in Education (Ontario, Canada, Apr 24-25, 2006). This research uses critical race theory (CRT) as a conceptual perspective to study and analyze the experiences of ten students of African descent who enrolled in several African studies courses or related courses in an Ontarian university. The students, two females and eight males were interviewed between June and August 2005, using Semi-structured questions. The result of the study indicates that the organization of African studies program, the appointment of program coordinator/professors of African studies, selection of course materials/ readings, and the pedagogical practices of professors in that university tend to marginalize students enrolled in those courses and the program itself. Marginalization takes a variety of forms, including emotional torture, a sense of powerlessness, trivialization of African intellect, and tacit exclusion of Africa from intellectual discourses. The paper concludes by suggesting diversity policies that should be pursued by the academy in order to… [PDF]
(2023). Centering Educators of Color in Teacher Preparation. Phi Delta Kappan, v104 n8 p12-18 May. Traditional teacher education and alternative teacher preparation programs struggle to recruit and retain prospective and early-career educators of color. To address this challenge, Jalene Tamerat and Clifford Lee recount their experiences as teachers and teacher educators-of color. They propose a reframing of pedagogies, curricula, and programmatic structures so they will more effectively center the cultural assets and critical perspectives among future educators of color. They share their personal reflections and offer an overview of the current educational landscape to contextualize and ground their recommendations for how teacher training programs can be more attuned to the needs of teacher candidates from minoritized and historically marginalized backgrounds…. [Direct]
(2023). Encouraging White Allyship in Anti-Racism by Decentring Whiteness. Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences, v16 n1 p31-54 Spr. Racism in higher education continues to harm Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) students, so white faculty need to be good allies in anti-racism by decentring whiteness to better support BIPOC individuals. To increase self-awareness, white faculty should reflect on how they benefit from white privilege and then use this privilege to better support BIPOC students at both the interpersonal and institutional level, to centre BIPOC voices, to advocate for social justice, to condemn racism privately and publicly, to create teachable moments to better inform white students on the harms of prejudice and to intervene if BIPOC students are discriminated against. By being good allies, white faculty can show other white individuals how to use one's privilege to take action in anti-racism…. [Direct]
(2023). Looking Within: Implicit Skin Tone Bias among Teachers of Color. Intercultural Education, v34 n1 p1-21. Colorism is a salient aspect of race in the knowledge construction and preparation of teachers across the globe. This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated attitudes and experiences of colorism among preservice teachers of color, including their own levels of implicit skin tone bias, and implications for their teaching practice. The results revealed that family background greatly influenced participant understanding and attitudes towards colorism. The results also demonstrated similar experiences across racial groups, highlighting the cross cutting and intercultural nature of colorism. Lastly, intersectionality contributed to participants ability to critically explain how colorism manifests in teaching practices. Implications for policy and practice efforts are discussed…. [Direct]
(2023). Interpreting Din√© Epistemologies and Decolonization to Improve Language and Literacy Instruction for Din√© Children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, v54 n3 p707-715 Jul. Purpose: Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) is a recurring topic in preservice teacher and special education personnel training, especially as academic institutions work to implement anti-racist and anti-oppressive teaching pedagogies. These methods of instruction, specifically in the areas of language and literacy, can be implemented by programs that understand the needs of the Indigenous students that their trainees or students will eventually serve. Academic institutions must transform their teaching and mentoring approach to better prepare educators and clinicians who engage with Indigenous communities. Method: This tutorial includes a critical review and will focus on the Din√© traditional perspectives of Sa'ah Naagh√°√≠ Bik'eh H√≥zh√≥√≥n (SNBH), as it applies to the educational experiences of Din√© students. The principle, which represents the process of lifelong learning and reflection, will be used as a model for how Indigenous epistemologies can be used within a decolonized… [Direct]
(2023). On Being Ed Emcees: Toward Hip-Hop Educational Leadership Theory, Research, and Praxis. Equity & Excellence in Education, v56 n3 p372-394. Advocating for the advancement of hip-hop based education, critical qualitative research, and leadership for educational equity, I explain a theory of hip-hop educational leadership and discuss findings from my hip-hopography of hip-hop educational leaders who are spoken word artists, poets, rappers, or emcees and serve as community partners inside urban high schools across the United States. Using blackout poetic transcription to analyze data, I suggest that these individuals can be called educational emcees, who invoke love as a condition for learning and engagement in their schools through a series of meaningful practices. These individuals also embody poetry and spoken word as an organic hip-hop pedagogy. Opportunities for additional qualitative research about hip-hop educational leadership and educational emcees are presented, along with implications for education leadership preparation, recruitment, and development…. [Direct]
(2023). Beats, Rhymes, and College Life: Making a Case for Mixtape Methodology in Higher Education Research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v36 n3 p314-325. In this article, I will do two things: (1) synthesize existing literature exploring critical methodological frameworks that center race and hip-hop in educational contexts; and (2) propose future considerations for research for research, and introduce a new qualitative methodology called mixtaping. The aim of this article is to contribute to a growing body of scholarship supporting the decolonization of methodological practices, by framing minoritized voices — which are in this case, Black men in higher education, who identify as hip-hop artists — as both the subject of research and the producers of new knowledge…. [Direct]
(2023). Where Are the African American Males? Enrollment Criteria and the Placement of African American Males in Advanced Placement Courses. Urban Education, v58 n10 p2628-2657. This qualitative study was a critical race analysis of Advanced Placement criteria and under-enrollment of African American males in two midwestern urban high schools. Analysis of faculty interviews and documents generated four themes. AP criteria and enrollment were implemented through formal and informal practices, and key roles of individual faculty and collaboration with faculty and families supported AP structures. However, assumptions about African American males, and color and gender-blind dialogue contributed to disproportionate African American male enrollment in AP courses…. [Direct]
(2023). Examining Virginia's African American History Course through the Lens of Racial Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Social Studies, v114 n6 p266-281. During the 2020-2021 academic year, Virginia piloted a state-designed secondary African American history elective in 16 school divisions. Using the framework of Racial Pedagogical Content Knowledge (RPCK), this study examined the treatment of race in the new course by analyzing the state-created curriculum materials and interviewing three teachers that were part of the pilot program. Findings suggest that the curriculum challenged problematic traditional historic narratives, addressed issues of identity and structural racism, and applied racial knowledge through civic action projects. Teachers felt prepared to teach the course due to sustained racially conscious professional development facilitated by the Virginia Department of Education. The curriculum of the state-designed course and its implementation by teachers align with the core tenets of RPCK, such as its interrogation of power structures and inequalities, examination of intersectionality, and empowerment of students to… [Direct]
(2004). Citizenships, Sexualities, and Education. Theory Into Practice, v43 n2 p151-158 May. This article endeavors to pull together various theoretical approaches to curricular reform using the queer student body and queer theory as its starting point. The authors outline the implications of naming, and the possibilities and polemics of citizenship. Offering the intersections of queer theory and critical race theory as a model of intervention, they outline an alternative to universalist discourses of difference and assimilation. In doing so, they hope to develop a better understanding of who queer students are, and an understanding of how they are harmfully positioned as Other within the various discourses of citizenship, curriculum, and educational research….
(2024). Countering Racist Nativism through a Liberating Pedagogy of Praxis. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, v55 n1 p43-64. This article uses a framework that combines LatCrit theory, racist nativism, and liberating pedagogy of praxis (LPP) to examine how a community youth program's LPP practices countered the racist nativism Latinx youth experience in their high school. LPP practices challenged racist nativism by creating a space where Latinx youth faced each other in circles to engage in authentic collective intergenerational dialogue about lived experiences of racist nativism, which cultivated solidarity and a call to action…. [Direct]
(2024). What Do School Administrators Think about Race? A Critical Race Mixed-Method Study. Journal of School Leadership, v34 n2 p177-201. Purpose: This study intends to be a catalyst in preparing school leaders to go beyond the call of social justice, to step into the role of anti-racist school leaders who advocate and actualize systemic changes in the educational landscape. Research Methods: Data were gathered using a mixed method approach, starting with an online survey (ARDSA) of 223 school administrators across Texas followed by in-depth interviews with a representative sample of 19 school administrators. Data analysis techniques included quantitative analysis of surveys to determine school and district administrators' perceptions of racism in schools and need for professional development followed by qualitative analysis to look for patterns and themes. Findings: Women agreed significantly more than men on Perceptions of Racial Inequities, Perceptions of Equitable Expectations, Addressing Racism, Critical Self-Awareness about Race, and Professional Development on Antiracism. Black and Latinx participants placed… [Direct]
(2024). (Re)Setting the Racial Narrative: Antiblackness and Educational Censorship. Education Policy Analysis Archives, v32 n9. Antiblackness is a persistent feature of American society with continued implications for the experiences, outcomes, and well-being of Black communities. In the wake of widespread protests against antiblack police brutality and heightened awareness of racial injustices in 2020, federal, state, and local political actors swiftly began a concerted effort to maintain the illusion of racial progress within the United States. These efforts, which we identify as manifestations of what Carol Anderson (2016) describes as White rage, have taken the form of educational censorship policies that have been successfully enacted in at least 18 states. This study interrogates the policy development process of two such censorship policies in Texas and North Dakota. Drawing on Black critical theory and insights from critical policy analysis, we demonstrate the ways that antiblackness was made legible in the policy development process and conclude with recommendations for combatting the further spread… [PDF]