(2017). Negotiating White Science in a Racially and Ethnically Diverse United States. Educational Review, v69 n1 p25-50. The racial and ethnic makeup of the United States is in constant flux and is expected to experience substantial increases in racial and ethnic diversity over the next four decades. The problem the American educational system faces is attempting to problematize race/racism in its educational system and creating a system to counteract educational impartialities present for children of color. The disparity we face grows as teacher education programs graduate primarily White female teacher candidates, who express trepidations teaching students of color. In this article, we explore specific influences, confines, and conflicts that exist in urban schools, as a starting point to converse about the issues of race in science education and establish a strong theoretical rationale for the continued investigation of a race-based analysis of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP). Finally, we propose a more inclusive model for teacher preparation programs that embrace and encourage critical… [Direct]
(2019). Multicultural Children Literature in Preservice Teacher Education: Responses through Literature Circles. International Journal of Progressive Education, v15 n4 p130-141. This study aims to analyze preservice teachers' opinions about children books through a literature circle (LC) approach in multicultural learning environments. The data of the present study were collected from the children literature course offered for preservice classroom teachers during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 spring semesters at Hacettepe University. The preservice teachers (PSTs) in children literature course read and responded to Newbery Award winning books both individually and in literature circle groups within a framework of critical literacy and reader response theories. The results of the current study revealed the deficiencies of the pre-service teachers in the process of critical reading and actualization in spite of their satisfactory interpretations of the events. In this study, the PSTs expressed their opinions for the "gaining an understanding of different perspectives on life in the world" and "the cultures of specific groups, developing the skills… [PDF]
(2019). Thinking through the Flesh: A Critical Autoethnography of Racial Body Politics in Urban Teacher Education. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v22 n2 p250-268. Although the ubiquitous nature of whiteness has been scrutinized in research on teacher preparation in the United States, scholarship on how this concept impinges upon the field's overall culture, as well as on pedagogy, is scarce. Thus, I perform a critical autoethnographic study on the relationships among whiteness, pedagogy, and urban teacher education. The inquiry threads Critical Race Theory and feminist theorizing on (Black) bodies, affects, and assemblages, and extends from extant literature illustrating that the dichotomous thinking characteristic of whiteness undergirds the disembodied approaches to teaching and learning prevalent in teacher education programs. This, I discover, leaves one White pre-service teacher ill-equipped to discern and disrupt the materialization of whiteness in an (inter)corporeal encounter with a Black youth in an urban classroom. Additionally, a pedagogy of disembodiment hinders this pre-service teacher from developing robust understandings of how… [Direct]
(2017). "Speaking from the Stomach?" Ventriloquised Ethnocentrisms about Finnish Education. Educational Practice and Theory, v39 n1 p5-29 Apr. In recent years the words 'Finnish education' have been accompanied by utterances of 'an education miracle,' 'the best education system,' 'a success' and a number of other adjectives and superlatives to 'describe' education in Finland. While Finland's PISA ranking has declined media interest and discourses on 'Finnish education' have not relented. Seemingly, Finland's educational system is as popular as it has ever been. Finland's education system is viewed with 'international admiration' yet behind these discourses are a number of discursive contradictions. Using the discursive concept of ventriloquism (Tannen, 2010; Cooren, 2014) we show how 'Finnish education' has become ventriloquised–when 'Finnish education' is uttered a number of automatically generated responses are uttered by speakers. In this sense, discourses on 'the success of the Finnish education system' act as prevailing meta-discourses. We argue that, behind these constructs, can too easily lie ventriloquised… [Direct]
(2018). A Tale of Three Cities: Defining Urban Schools within the Context of Varied Geographic Areas. Education and Urban Society, v50 n6 p507-523 Jul. What constitutes an urban school? This question has confounded social researchers and educators who often limit definitions to population data. H. Richard Milner suggested a framework for defining urban schools that includes population data as well as the racial and social context of schools. This article applied Milner's model to school districts in New York, Nebraska, and New Mexico which exemplified Milner's categories of urban schools: urban intensive, urban emergent, and urban characteristic. Application of the framework to the districts presents a model for teacher educators to deliver two important components of preservice preparation. First, the model can assist preservice teachers to challenge their existing perceptions of urban schools. Second, establishing a framework provides teacher educators the opportunity to guide preservice teachers to view urban schools through a Critical Race Theory lens. Through this lens, preservice teachers can begin to realize the impact of… [Direct]
(2019). Becoming Tolerable: Subject Constitution of Roma Mediators in Finnish Schools. Intercultural Education, v30 n1 p51-67. Although Finnish politics relating to the Roma tend to be perceived internationally as fairly successful, several obstacles exist for the Roma in education and the labour market. Training of Roma mediators has been actively promoted in Finland to improve the school performance and equality of Roma pupils. This article, based on ethnographic research, focuses on exploring how the current discursive terrain around the topics of tolerance and prejudice functions in the everyday work of mediators. It is argued that the present discourses in school expose the mediators to unequal power relations of tolerance. The terms for being tolerated are set by the potential tolerating actors, the school community. The mediators aim to supply knowledge about the Roma and try to address prejudices as representatives of the Roma. The study identified three different strategies that the mediators used when encountering prejudice: making sure one does not seem too different, parody and feigning naivety…. [Direct]
(2019). The Possibilities and Practicalities of Professional Learning in Support of Indigenous Student Experiences in Schooling: A Systematic Review. Australian Educational Researcher, v46 n2 p341-361 Apr. The import of professional learning in support of quality teaching is well established. Moreover, demonstrating active engagement with ongoing professional learning is now a requirement of maintaining teacher accreditation. For example, within an education policy climate that monitors the achievements of Indigenous learners closely, the evaluation and efficacy of educators with constructively addressing the experiences of these students is under increasing scrutiny, and hence, the significance of professional learning is further heightened. But, what sort of professional learning is well suited and effective in contributing to this undertaking? This systematic review investigated the veracity of the evidence underpinning professional learning research projects that aimed to make a positive change in the approach and abilities of schools to effectively improve the learning experiences of Indigenous students in Australia over the last 10 years. The themes that emerged from the review… [Direct]
(2017). Multiracial Campus Professionals' Experiences with Multiracial Microaggressions. Journal of College Student Development, v58 n7 p1055-1073 Oct. Using a racial microaggressions analytic framework and critical multiracial theory, this research explored multiracial campus professionals' experiences with multiracial microaggressions. Three themes were generated from the narratives of 24 multiracial campus professionals, including Denial of a Multiracial Reality, Assumption of a Monoracial Identity, and Not Monoracial Enough. This study adds to a dearth in research concerning the racialized experiences of campus professionals, a population within higher education that is under-researched, yet influential to the campus environment. The research expands the concept of racial microaggressions and racism by accounting for multiracial individuals' experiences with multiracial microaggressions, a form of everyday monoracism. While this study focuses on the narratives of multiracial professionals, participants' narratives have implications for all constituents working, living, and learning in postsecondary contexts…. [Direct]
(2018). When Ignoring Difference Fails: Using Critical Professional Praxis. About Campus, v23 n1 p27-31 Mar-Apr. This article offers the concept of critical professional praxis as a framework for naming and addressing difference-neutral practices in education (an approach that does not consider the effects of power and privilege associated with social differences in teachers' beliefs, ideas, and actions). Critical professional praxis is using both formal and informal theoretical lenses to illuminate power-laden social differences in the decision-making practices and behaviors of institutional agents and educators in an effort to eliminate inequity. The article shares examples from two educators' experiences of instances they perceived as difference-neutral, focusing on racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and other forms of oppression on a college campus. It concludes that if more people are to succeed and thrive in higher education, teachers must understand their work as embedded within sociocultural and sociopolitical systems in which power is always informing and mediating individual and… [Direct]
(2019). Strengthening European Citizenship Education. Journal of Social Science Education, v18 n3 p55-68 Fall. The article intends to identify whether and to what extent the educational activities supported by the European action programmes of the Council of Europe (CoE), as well as the European Union (EU), contribute to the promotion of active European citizenship. Taking into consideration that an effort is taking place to actively involve citizens — especially the youth — in public life at the national and European level, and that active citizenship is not limited exclusively to voting, a question arises: How to activate and enhance the participation of young people in public life? With reference to the EU, this question could be formulated as follows: ?as a sense of belonging to a European demos been consolidated? Alternatively: Are young — mainly — people familiar with the democratic processes at the European level, such as European elections? In a Europe characterised by political apathy, social racism, racial discriminations and high unemployment rates, what would be the outcome of… [PDF]
(2021). Investigating Society's Educational Debts Due to Racism and Sexism in Student Attitudes about Physics Using Quantitative Critical Race Theory. Physical Review Physics Education Research, v17 n1 Article 010116 Jan-Jun. The American Physical Society calls on its members to improve the diversity of physics by supporting an inclusive culture that encourages women and Black, Indigenous, and people of color to become physicists. In the current educational system, it is unlikely for a student to become a physicist if they do not share the same attitudes about what it means to learn and do physics as those held by most professional physicists. Evidence shows college physics courses and degree programs do not support students in developing these attitudes. Rather physics education filters out students who do not enter college physics courses with these attitudes. To better understand the role of attitudes in the lack of diversity in physics, we investigated the intersecting relationships between racism and sexism in inequities in student attitudes about learning and doing physics using a critical quantitative framework. The analyses used hierarchical linear models to examine students' attitudes as measured… [Direct]
(2024). Voice of the Voiceless: Pathways from High School to Prison. ProQuest LLC, D.Ed. Dissertation, American University. The focus in this dissertation was on the increasing involvement of Black male youth in the carceral system and the connection to their experiences in high school. This problem is multifaceted in education because of the numerous actors and factors that contribute to the antecedents and outcomes of the key players closest to the problem, Black males. The study was designed to address this multilayered problem by employing narratives and storytelling as tools for the intervention and interrogation of anti-Black and unwelcoming school spaces. It was intended to elevate the voices of Black males who have been involved with the court system and change the mindsets and behaviors of high school educators to foster more inclusive environments with the exploration of two imperative research questions: What factors of their high school experience influence formerly court-involved Black males (FCIBM) and their connection to school and court involvement? How does the storytelling of high school… [Direct]
(2014). Racism as Policy: A Critical Race Analysis of Education Reforms in the United States and England. Educational Forum, v78 n1 p26-41. Critical race theory (CRT) views education as one of the principal means by which white supremacy is maintained and presented as normal in society. The article applies CRT to two real-world case studies: changes to education statutes in the state of Arizona (USA) and the introduction of a new measure of educational success in England, the English baccalaureate. The analysis highlights the globalized nature of neoliberal education reform and its fundamentally raced and racist character…. [Direct]
(2022). Examining Teacher Candidates' Backgrounds, Experiences, and Beliefs as Precursors for Developing Dispositions for Democracy. Teachers College Record, v124 n3 p148-176 Mar. Background/Context: In this article, we draw on Villegas's explanations of beliefs as precursors to social justice dispositions and Mills et al.'s Australian research about social justice dispositions as either affirmative or transformative. These conceptual positions assist us in understanding the beliefs that are derived from applicants' schooling and life experiences. Purpose of Study: The article reports on how 46 candidates applying for an Australian equity-oriented initial teacher education (ITE) program described their backgrounds and beliefs around social justice. The purpose of the research is to understand starting point beliefs in order to design a strongly democratic teacher education program for historically hard-to-staff schools. Setting: Expressions of interest were analyzed from applications to an Australian ITE program designed to prepare teachers for hard-to-staff urban and rural secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. Research Design: This research is a… [Direct]
(2023). Chinese Teachers' Raciolinguistic Experiences, Ideologies, and Instructional Practices: Exploring Implementational Spaces for Developing Critical Consciousness in Mandarin Chinese Dual Language Bilingual Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Utah. Dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs, which teach content knowledge in English and a partner language, have shown promise in attaining academic achievement, bilingualism/biliteracy, and sociocultural competence. Recently, scholars have argued for adding critical consciousness as a foundational goal to challenge the hegemonic ideologies in DLBE programs. With the COVID-19 pandemic eliciting anti-Asian racism, linguicism, and xenophobia targeting U.S. Chinese and other Asians, raciolinguistic issues, at the power intersections of race and language, became especially relevant to Mandarin Chinese DLBE programs and their Chinese teachers. This study explored secondary Chinese DLBE teachers' lived experiences, raciolinguistic ideologies, and their instructional practices associated with fostering critical consciousness in their classrooms. Employing a narrative inquiry approach and ethnographic methods, I conducted semistructured interviews with ten secondary Chinese DLBE… [Direct]