(2020). Teaching about Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Social Work Education: A Systematic Review. Journal of Social Work Education, v56 n2 p215-237. Little of social work literature provides evidence of best teaching practices for preparing social work students to work with clients from historically excluded racial and ethnic groups. A systematic literature review was conducted to assess studies published in the United States during the 10-year period (2007-2016) that examined: (1) social work educators' pedagogical interventions for teaching about racial and ethnic diversity, (2) components of those interventions, (3) methodological designs to evaluate the interventions, and (4) the students' learning outcomes. Following the systematic review protocol, the authors identified and assessed twenty-five studies (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods). The studies reflected a variety of teaching interventions, such as diversity courses and projects, instructional technology, and cultural immersion programs. While many reported positive student learning outcomes, as a whole, the studies lacked methodological rigor and sound… [Direct]
(2018). Desegregation Policy as Social Justice Leadership?: The Case for Critical Consciousness and Racial Literacy. Educational Policy, v32 n3 p395-422 May. Policy making can be viewed as a large-scale attempt at social justice leadership intended to address vast inequities that persist and are perpetuated in the U.S. K-12 education system. The study examines the text of the Minnesota Desegregation Rule to discern its underlying discourses as they relate to race, racism, and social justice. The findings highlight discursive practices that undermine social justice progress and antiracist efforts, demonstrating how well-intended social justice efforts can go awry without active engagement of critical lenses. The article argues that critical consciousness and racial literacy are essential in social justice and antiracist policy making and educational leadership…. [Direct]
(2021). Yes, Rural Communities Do Have African American Male School Leaders. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The purpose of my study is to explore the lived experiences, challenges, and opportunities of African American male school leaders leading in rural schools in North Carolina. My study looks at the intersection of identity in which a school leader in a rural community is an African American male. African American males face numerous barriers in education, yet my eight participants overcame obstacles to lead schools and address the unique challenges associated with rural school leadership. Utilizing the theoretical framework of Critical Race Theory, my eight participants from five school districts shared their lived experiences of leading as rural school leaders. Equally, my study participants shared their beliefs regarding the underrepresentation of African American boys in the field of education. Utilizing basic qualitative research with elements of phenomenology, I conducted eight 60- to 90-minute semi-structured, open-ended interviews to create these counternarratives of African… [Direct]
(2024). Factors That Contribute to Persistence and Retention for Black Males at a Public Four-Year University. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Middle Tennessee State University. In the United States, previous and current data state that Black males have the lowest persistence and graduation rates in higher education institutions among all student populations. Black men in public four-year colleges and universities are generally the lowest-performing male group. According to the US Department of Education, only 38.6% of Black male students graduate within six years from four-year institutions, compared to 64.1% of White male students. There is an array of factors and challenges that contribute to these academic disparities starting as early as Black males' primary education years. There is currently a gap in research addressing factors, particularly as they relate to first-year persistence and retention to their sophomore year. Additional research is still needed to examine college readiness and the first-year academic experiences of Black undergraduate males. Previous research pointed to several factors that had both positive and negative influences on Black… [Direct]
(2022). Narratives of Restorative Space for Black Women Diversity Administrators in Higher Education. ProQuest LLC, D.Ed. Dissertation, Indiana University of Pennsylvania. A disproportionate representation of Black women diversity administrators within postsecondary education are confronted with institutional barriers that have seemingly obstructed their professional discovery, mobility, and success paths. Presented as the bridge leaders and cultural brokers of postsecondary institutions in the face of hegemonic narratives within dominant White institutions (DWIs), they exist in underdefined and complex roles colored with public and hidden agendas (Nixon, 2017). The purpose of the study was to demystify the perceptual and sensemaking realities of Black women diversity administrators for restorative and culturally-affirming experiences and empowerment through institutional accountability within dominant White institutions (DWIs) of higher education. An integrated literature approach in racial microaggressions, gendered racial microaggressions, Black feminism, Black women in higher education administration, and diversity leadership framed the study. This… [Direct]
(2022). "A Charge to Keep I Have": Examining the Lived Experiences of Black Religious and Spiritual Life Leaders in Higher Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Howard University. The role of the Black religious and spiritual life leader in higher education is to bring together social, political, spiritual, and educational leaders to help move an institution and the country forward (Faison, 2017). Forster-Smith (2013) compiled an exploration of religious and spiritual life leaders in American higher education. While it was exhaustive, it focused primarily on White religious and spiritual life leaders at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). In a more recent study, Barton et al. (2020) articulated the requisite for a more far-reaching and wide-ranging scope of religious and spiritual life leaders' experiences through a varied group of participants. Interestingly, Barton et al.'s (2020) study had no indication of race. Scholars note the limited and lack of Black's experiences with systemic racism and lack of Black's experiences in higher education, as erasure (McKittrick, 2011; Mustaffa, 2017). This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of ten… [Direct]
(2021). Seeing and Reading Color: Resisting Hegemonic Power from within a Foundations Art Classroom. Art Education, v74 n5 p49-54. White straight cis male colonialism is settled within the fields of art and art education (deSouza, 2018; Elkins & Fiorentini, 2021). Educators and artists must be engaged with the world in which they and their students live. The new civil rights movement demands that they take up the cause of justice and antiracism both in their lives and in their professions. As a White queer nonbinary art teacher Adam Farcus believes it is important that White and privileged educators do antiracist and antibias work because they can serve as a model for allyship, and because they can undermine the essentialist notion that this work is only done by people who experience racism and bias. Farcus' focus on antiracism, antibias, and diversity in art education was prompted by observing curricula that perpetuate the hegemonic canon of art history. Through examples from one of their classrooms, this instructional resource illustrates how art teachers can work within existing curricula to deconstruct… [Direct]
(2018). Moving forward with Social Justice Education in Physical Education Teacher Education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, v23 n5 p461-468. Social justice has been steadily gaining traction in physical education (PE) and physical education teacher education (PETE) for more than 40 years. During that time, scholars have argued for the importance of explicating the hidden curriculum, educating pre-service teachers (PSTs) about equality, sociocultural perspectives and issues, and most recently, taking action through social justice initiatives. A growing body of PETE literature has highlighted issues such as racism, gender, and motor elitism, however limited research has focused specifically on how social justice education (SJE) is enacted in PETE programs around the globe, particularly within the current neoliberal culture. The aim of this special issue is to explore how sociocultural and social justice issues are addressed and implemented in PETE programs internationally. In particular, emphasis has been placed on the similarities and differences across a global teacher education context related to multiple socio-political… [Direct]
(2020). Education Reforms for Inclusion? Interrogating Policy-Practice Disjunctions in Early Childhood Education in Bulgaria. Education Inquiry, v11 n2 p126-143. This article examines how early childhood educators, as policy implementers, perceive reforms in Bulgaria's education system that occurred between 2008 and 2018. Both Roma and non-Roma educators participated in this project that compares perceptions of Bulgarian teachers in public schools and Roma educators in informal educational settings operated by NGOs and religious institutions. Applying intersectionality as a framework, the study draws from anti-Romaism as a particular form of racism that militates against the inclusion of Roma to examine whether and to what extent discourses of minoritized and racialised children are evident in the views held by the Bulgarian educators, resulting, in spite of educational reforms, in practices of pathologizing Roma children. All but one of the participating non-Roma teachers expressed anti-Roma views related to support for school segregation and perceptions of Roma children's inherent academic inability and language deficiency. These views… [Direct]
(2020). Reflections on Importing Critical Race Theory into Social Work: The State of Social Work Literature and Students' Voices. Journal of Social Work Education, v56 n2 p327-340. Critical race theory (CRT) has recently been imported into social work knowledge and included in the title or search term of 20 published social work studies, but little is known about how it is impacting social work practices. This study describes the experiences and perceptions of 21 diverse graduate students in a public, urban university with a nationally accredited MSW program using CRT as its theoretical foundation. Students unanimously embraced CRT as a theory for their careers, but found it confusing and extremely challenging to learn, resulting in contentious and unresolved questions about its applications in social work practices. Despite its resonance in their personal lives as well as those of their clients, these students could not describe how their CRT-infused MSW education would help them reduce racism, marginalization, and oppression or increase social, economic, and environmental justice, and many were frustrated by this gap. Recommendations to clarify, refine, and… [Direct]
(2019). Confronting Racism and White Privilege in Courses on Religion and the Environment: An Inclusive Pedagogical Approach. Teaching Theology & Religion, v22 n4 p269-279 Oct. Courses on religion and the environment must confront racism and white privilege in order to remain relevant for the diverse students who increasingly fill higher education classrooms. Recognizing that traditional approaches for understanding environmentalism can isolate students of color by failing to recognize their own communities and experiences, I offer two assignments — Ecological Footprint Journals and a community-based research project — that empower students to think of environmentalism in new, more relevant ways. This approach has benefitted my students by displacing the dominance of Eurocentric thinking in my curriculum and creating a class culture that values diverse perspectives. It has also profoundly shaped my research trajectory, by helping me identify raced and classed biases that are embedded in my field, and leading me to develop a research project that complements my teaching by challenging some of those hidden assumptions…. [Direct]
(2023). Brain-Waste among Highly-Skilled MeXpatriates: The Underemployment Experiences of Tertiary-Educated Mexicans in the United States. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Arizona. This study acknowledges the potential contribution of Mexican highly-skilled immigrants settled in the United States. Then, to better understand how the brain waste phenomenon (unemployment/underemployment) functions among these immigrants in the United States, by using the lens of neo-racism, Latina/o Critical Race Theory (LatCrit), and Bourdieu's Reconnaissance of Capitals, this qualitative study analyzed tertiary-educated Mexican immigrants (MeXpatriates) ¥ lived-experiences in securing and maintaining employment in the United States, as well as the meaning that these actors make of these experiences. Through Hermeneutic (Interpretive) Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study captures the lived-experiences of 21 MeXpatriates residing in the Arizona, U.S. — Sonora, Mexico border region, collected via in-depth, open-ended interviews and analyzed using Atlas-Ti software. The study finds that tertiary-educated MeXpatriates do not necessarily arrive in the United States with a… [Direct]
(2024). Examining the Impostor Phenomenon among Black MSW Students: A Qualitative Study. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, New York University. The impostor phenomenon (IP) refers to the inability to internalize one's success as the product of one's own efforts. Instead of attributing their success to their own capabilities and intelligence, individuals with IP attribute their success to external factors, such as luck, charm, and having the right connections. In addition, those with IP tend to feel that they have tricked others into believing that they are more intelligent and capable than they are. As a result, they carry a persistent fear of others discovering that they are an impostor. There is currently a lack of research around how IP manifests among Black students attending predominantly White social work programs. This study is the first to explore the racialized experiences of Black/African American social work students while they are attending their social work programs that are housed at PWIs and how these experiences contribute to their feelings of impostorism. It also examines how Black/African American social… [Direct]
(2021). "'We' Made Math!": Black Parents as a Guide for Supporting Black Children's Mathematical Identities. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, v14 n1 p24-44 May. Black parents are often presumed to be uninvolved in their children's education, especially in mathematics. These stereotypes are arguably sustained by White, middle-class expectations for parent engagement. This qualitative study challenges the dominant narrative by exploring the ways eight Black parents support their elementary-aged children's mathematical identities. Although many scholars have examined the relationship between mathematics identity and academic outcomes, few have explored the role parents play in this identity development. Drawing on Martin's (2000) mathematics identity framework and McCarthy Foubert's (2019) Racial Realist Parent Engagement framework, the author argues that Black parents' experiential knowledge of race and racism in mathematical spaces positions them to teach their children about the everyday importance and usefulness of mathematics. Using parent interviews and family observations, the author's findings suggest the parents supported their… [PDF]
(2021). The Importance of Addressing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Schools: Dispelling Myths about Critical Race Theory. Communique, v50 n3 p18-19 Nov. The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) is committed to supporting ongoing dialogue and self-reflection about antiracism, equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice within the organization and the profession of school psychology (NASP, 2020c). This includes promoting honest conversations in schools. Schools have long explored the role of race and racism in this country's history, including disparities in opportunity and education. It is important that students are provided an honest and accurate assessment of history so that they can create a better future. The growing politicization of these issues has manifested in the demonization and purposeful misrepresentation of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and other well-established policies and practices in schools, such as social-emotional instruction and the implementation of culturally responsive practices. The purpose of this document is to provide a general overview of CRT, dispel myths and correct misinformation,… [Direct]