(2019). Intersecting Human Development, Social Justice and Gender Equity: A Capability Option. Education as Change, v23 Article 4080. The greatest achievement of any education system lies in its ability to harness and develop human capabilities indiscriminately. This paper aims to show that the development of capabilities is crucial in bolstering individual well-being while at the same time propelling human beings to function adequately at various levels in society. I argue that, for a symmetrical development of capabilities to be attained for all, institutionalised unfreedoms that are perpetuated through entrenched classism, racism and sexism need to be addressed. The claims in this paper respond to the dilemma of continued marginalisation of women in South African higher education by arguing that a capability approach (CA) to human development should be considered as a possible framework through which gender and gendering can be investigated and evaluated. The paper has adopted a critical exploration methodology in discussing theories of social justice and a capability approach to human development. The paper… [Direct]
(2018). A 'Better' Education: An Examination of the Utility of Boarding School for Indigenous Secondary Students in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Education, v62 n2 p192-216 Aug. Over the past 10 years, great improvements have been observed in the Year 12 attainment rate of Indigenous Australians. This has been due, in part, to government funding of programmes aimed at improving education opportunity for Indigenous Australian students, including funding of scholarships for students from remote areas to attend boarding schools. The current qualitative study investigated the perspectives of school leaders and Indigenous secondary students across the Australian state of Western Australia, on the utility and impact of this boarding provision. Students identified that boarding education allowed them to achieve a dual goal of meaningful career pathways and improved health outcomes, although they faced challenges unique to the Indigenous boarding school experience in terms of student self-concept, racism, homesickness and post-school transitions…. [Direct]
(2018). Factors That Impede and Promote the Persistence of Black Women in Athletic Training Programs. Athletic Training Education Journal, v13 n2 p131-147 Apr-Jun. Context: Black women are dramatically underrepresented in the health care profession of athletic training. The research identifies impeding barriers such as racism, sexism, lack of support, and unpreparedness to the successful college completion of ethnically diverse students. However, there are black women who have successfully overcome those impeding barriers to become athletic trainers (ATs). Mentoring is one factor that has been identified as supportive to the retention of ethnically diverse college students. Objective: The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify impeding barriers and promoting factors affecting the retention and credentialing of black women ATs. Design: Qualitative. Setting: Education. Patients or Other Participants: Ten certified ATs who self-identify as black women and matriculated through athletic training programs over the last 4 decades. Main Outcome Measure(s): The perceived factors that impede or promote successful college retention and… [Direct]
(2021). Rappers' (Special) Education Revelations: A Black Feminist Decolonial Analysis. Curriculum Inquiry, v51 n1 p98-117. Using methods informed by ethnomusicology, this study highlights lyrical themes in songs and visual imageries created by Black rappers who attended public schools in the United States. Our analysis reveals the anti-Blackness and ableism these artists encountered and uncovers ideologies conflating Blackness, disability, and inferiority within school-based contexts. The lyrics include rappers' autobiographical accounts, interpretations of first-person narratives, or stories about P-12 students and educators. We begin by situating ourselves as three Black scholars with distinctive geographical and generational entry points into Hip Hop and US special education. We anchor our analysis with Black feminist and decolonial theories that function as the conceptual framing for our contribution to (Black) curriculum studies. We found six lyrical themes spanning across four decades and varying US regions where rap music rose to national prominence. Black rappers offer revelations about… [Direct]
(2021). Advances, Contributions, Obstacles and Opportunities in Student Affairs Assessment. Occasional Paper No. 52. National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment Just over ten years ago, John Schuh and Ann Gansemer-Topf authored NILOA Occasional Paper #7, "The Role of Student Affairs in Student Learning Assessment" (2010). The authors identified contributions and challenges for student affairs assessment and called on student affairs professionals not only to develop meaningful programs and services, but also to verify that those experiences add "value to the student experience at the institution" (p. 6). A decade has passed since student affairs professionals were called to demonstrate student learning through their initiatives and some questions come to mind. How did student affairs professionals respond to this challenge? How did they implement their assessment efforts over the past ten years? Moving forward from 2020, how will student affairs professionals respond to the challenges now facing higher education including challenges induced and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and calls to address institutionalized… [PDF]
(2021). Lived Experiences of African American Administrators at Predominantly White Institutions. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of African American administrators — particularly in relation to upward mobility, perception of value, and challenges faced — who are employed by predominantly White institutions. In this qualitative study, I interviewed ten administrators from eight different universities. Administrators first addressed how they chose their current institutions, the role that mentorship played in their lives and careers, and challenges that they faced as minority staff members at a PWI. Administrators then shared their perception of value at their respective universities, thoughts pertaining to upward mobility for African American administrators at PWIs, the role that race has played in their work environment, and coping mechanisms. My research study findings show that largely positive experiences of participants were heavily related to the opportunity for upward mobility, perceptions that they were valued, support through… [Direct]
(2023). Perceptions of Leadership Preparation Programs: Meeting the Needs of Black Students. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Concordia University Chicago. University preparation programs are designed to prepare educators and future educators for educational leadership positions, such as school principals or superintendents. While degree programs are designed to increase the effectiveness of future school leaders and prepare students for the job requirements, research on the efficacy of such programs is mixed. Courses in principal preparation programs have little connection to k-12 issues or relevance to the expectations and demands of the modern-day administrator. More specific, preparation programs do not adequately prepare school leaders to address issues regarding the impact of race and class on students. Using critical race theory and social justice theory, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how leaders in urban schools describe their leadership training and their ability to support the social-emotional wellbeing of Black students. Data was collected through interviews with 10 school leaders and a review… [Direct]
(2023). Experiencing the Cycles of Love in Teaching: the Praxis of an Early Career Asian American ELA Teacher. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, v22 n4 p546-564. Purpose: Early career teachers (ECTs) of Color are key in making change, resisting racism and pushing back against white supremacy in K-12 education, specifically in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. Through a narrative telling inquiry (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000) of Nora, an Asian American ELA ECT in the Midwest, and by drawing on Fisher's (2011) Critical Integral Pedagogy of Fearlessness, this study aims to recognize the narrative power within teaching praxis as Nora stories herself toward becoming a critical pedagogue. Design/methodology/approach: Using narrative inquiry methodology and methods (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000), the authors simultaneously considered the commonplace tenets of narrative inquiry — temporality, sociality and place — of the intertwined relationships of the participants and observers. The field texts included in the corpus of data include myriad tellings of Nora's experiences in her initial years of teaching ELA. Data were analyzed in stages of… [Direct]
(2018). Of Models and Myths: Asian(Americans) in STEM and the Neoliberal Racial Project. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v21 n5 p607-625. This paper examines historical and contemporary racializations of Asian(Americans) within the STEM system. The prevailing perception of Asian(Americans) as model minorities masks how their multiple and contradictory positionings in the STEM system perpetuate the neoliberal racial project and reproduce systems of racism and oppression. Through a multidisciplinary analysis of STEM education and industry, we demonstrate that the shifting racialization of Asian(Americans) secures advantages for White Americans by promoting meritocracy and producerism and justifies White supremacy. By serving these functions, the racialization of Asian(Americans) within the STEM system is central to the neoliberal racial project. This paper also suggests how STEM education researchers can reveal and resist, rather than veil and support, the neoliberal racial project in STEM…. [Direct]
(2024). Desis in the Divide: Leveraging Our Liminality and Subverting the Stereotypes to Navigate White Supremacy in Higher Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D./HE Dissertation, Azusa Pacific University. This study explored the experiences and contributions of South Asian Americans actively engaged in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the realm of higher education. The research question that framed this study was: What are the lived experiences of South Asian American DEI educators in higher education? Supporting questions included: How do South Asian Americans who have embraced DEI work professionally understand our perceived success, the harms of racism, and our responsibility in the work of racial justice? Given these lived experiences, how do we consider our roles as DEI educators amid the Black-white continuum of racial justice in the United States? I employed a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology to understand the lived experiences of 10 DEI practitioners of South Asian descent across the United States. Three main findings emerged. The first theme, Aunties at the Function, describes how my participants experienced much of their work in… [Direct]
(2015). The 20th-Year Anniversary of Critical Race Theory in Education: Implications for Leading to Eliminate Racism. Educational Administration Quarterly, v51 n5 p791-833 Dec. Purpose: Though the first published application of critical race theory (CRT) to education occurred 20 years ago, implications of CRT for educational leadership did not occur until L√≥pez conducted a CRT analysis of the politics of education literature in 2003. No publications explicitly identify the implications of CRT for leadership practice. Given the gap in the literature, the research question that anchors this article asks, "How can CRT inform educational leadership to eliminate racism?" Research Method: To address the research question, I conducted a literature analysis of CRT in educational leadership, identified the CRT tenets that guided each publication, and derived six primary, interrelated CRT tenets from this analysis. I also extracted from the publications explicit and implicit implications for leadership practice as these implications related directly to each of the six CRT tenets. Findings/Implications: I describe each of the CRT tenets and explain how each… [Direct]
(2021). The Democratic Imperative for Higher Education: Empowering Students to Become Active Citizens. Liberal Education, v107 n2 Spr. The blows of the financial recession of 2007-09 and now the COVID-19 crisis have emboldened populist political leaders across the globe. Their platforms typically involve a mixture of nativist or nationalist tropes, often infused with hostility to refugees and immigrants and built upon foundations of racism and intolerance. The internet provides access to a hitherto unimaginable amount of information and the means for its lightning-fast dissemination, while also permitting populist leaders to spread lies and misinformation just as quickly. Also the commercial imperative in social media that clusters the like-minded, originally for the purpose of targeted advertising, also means that people are bombarded by messages confirming their beliefs, discouraging any critical discernment. One of the core social objectives of education is to prepare children and young people to become active and responsible individuals, equipped with the competences that will enable them to have a full and… [Direct]
(2018). Policy Implications for School Desegregation and School Choice in Chicago. Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education, v50 n4 p584-603 Nov. School desegregation in Chicago was derived from the implementation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This article follows the formation of this policy to its implementation in Chicago. First, the federal government used the Civil Rights Act to garner school desegregation. Then, the Chicago Board of Education created desegregation plans for Chicago Public Schools which included school choice options. Finally, the article uses the oral histories of 68 graduates of three Chicago public high schools to demonstrate how the policy was utilized. The entire process reveals the continuation of institutional racism as school desegregation in Chicago was effectively limited as only a few Black and Latino students benefited from school desegregation…. [Direct]
(2022). Policy Dialogue: The War over How History Is Taught. History of Education Quarterly, v62 n2 p231-239 May. Conflict over the curriculum is nothing new in American public education, which has never been insulated from the culture wars. In the past few years, conflict over the teaching of race has torn through history and social studies classrooms, inciting the most serious fight over America's past since the last "history war" in the 1990s. At issue in the current conflict are debates over what schools should teach K-12 students about the history of race and racism in the United States. The chief flashpoint in this fight has been the "New York Times's" 1619 Project, led by journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, which seeks to retell the story of America's founding through the lens of racial inequality. Pushback on the 1619 Project has included the Trump administration's 1776 Commission, which produced a series of proposals seeking to ban 1619-aligned curricula and oppose critical race theory. For this policy dialogue, the "HEQ" editors asked Donnalie Jamnah and… [Direct]
(2020). Inequities, Support, and Success: Influences on Native American Students' Sense of Belonging in Public, Postsecondary Education. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, California State University, Stanislaus. Endemic issues of racism and colonialism create barriers to Native American students' access to higher education. Using tribal critical race theory (TribalCrit) as a theoretical underpinning, this study explored how Native American students develop and experience a sense of belonging at a public, postsecondary institution. Using a phenomenological approach, I interviewed and analyzed Native American students' stories regarding their sense of belonging in higher education. Themes emerged that revealed connections between students' educational experiences and connections to their cultural heritage prior to entering college and development of sense of belonging through campus spaces and relationships with faculty, staff, and fellow Native American students that contributed to bicultural efficacy and enculturation. Findings suggest that culturally affirming practices contribute to development of sense of belonging which serves to nourish Native American students' self-affirmation and… [Direct]