(2020). Higher Education Must Do Its Part to Bend the Arc. New England Journal of Higher Education, Nov. America is undergoing a reckoning as the pain, suffering and setbacks caused by years of systemic racism is coming into full view. This heightened awareness around racism, sparked by death and injustice, must result in the development of real pathways to eliminate systemic racism, or it will be a lost opportunity for our generation to do our part in–to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.–bending the long arc of the moral universe toward justice. Higher education, like all other institutions in society, must do its share of bending the arc. Drawing from her experience as a scientist, professor and administrator, author Gilda A. Barabino believes there are a number of ways in which colleges and universities can advance and improve the lives of all students–and especially students of color. Even though higher education institutions are facing significant operational and financial challenges created by the COVID pandemic, nonetheless they must take action today to ensure that they… [Direct]
(2025). Voices of Families of Color: Navigating White Spaces in Gifted Education. Gifted Child Quarterly, v69 n1 p49-67. Even when achievement outcomes are equal, some students of color still do not participate in advanced academic or gifted education programs. To better understand this phenomenon, researchers engaged in a research-practice partnership within the local community to explore the experiences of families of color and assess their needs pertaining to advanced learning opportunities for their children. Data were collected during two family outreach events using a semi-structured interview protocol with focus groups. Focus-group interviews were independently coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings revealed challenges and barriers related to accessing enrichment and advanced academic learning opportunities. Some families discussed their personal experiences of racism, bias, and deficit thinking. Overall, themes illustrated how families of color believed they were perceived by educational practitioners and their desire for a sense of belonging and equitable access to high-quality… [Direct]
(2020). From Ally to Activist: Embracing Activism as an Essential Component of Social Justice Educational Leadership to Combat Injustice in American Schools. Journal of Leadership, Equity, and Research, v6 n2. Educational leaders must embrace activism as central to their efforts to combat racism and other unjust policies in schools. Social justice activism is an intentional action with the goal of bringing about positive social change. It requires leaders to accept their responsibility to actively resist exclusion, prejudice and injustice in our educational system, despite internal or external pressure from others who may thwart their efforts to promote social justice. The aim of this article is to bring to the forefront how social justice education leadership and social activism must be coupled as essential tools within the blueprint to end injustice. This article begins with defining the terms: ally (alliance), advocate (advocacy) or activist (activism) as they relate to social justice leadership in education and places them upon a newly constructed continuum (Social Justice Action Continuum) to battle overt racism and the "New Racism". The continuum recognizes that educational… [PDF]
(2021). Becoming an Anti-Racist Music Educator: Resisting Whiteness in Music Education. Music Educators Journal, v107 n4 p14-20 Jun. In this article, I propose some ways that music educators might become anti-racist. I explore the ways that Whiteness manifests in music education and subsequently examine actions we might take to resist this Whiteness. Ultimately, I suggest anti-racism as a way forward for music education. I delineate some of the ways that Whiteness operates in music education, not to discourage educators but rather to encourage us to notice the way Whiteness pervades our field…. [Direct]
(2024). What's so Marxist about Marxist Educational Theory?. Policy Futures in Education, v22 n8 p1570-1587. The antagonism between "class" and "race" have plagued educational theory for decades. As a communist organizer seeking to move Marxist educational theory out of the stagnant waters of theoretical debates, I turn to recent CRT scholarship, which I find much more in line with the communist project. Yet, this literature omits world-historic and ongoing transformations inaugurated particularly since the beginning of the 20th century by erasing, discounting or, denouncing them. I argue the primary factors inhibiting educational researchers: Anticommunism. The global revolutionary era led largely by revolutionary communists contains the most fruitful explanations of those conditions and connections (and the historical legacies accounting for mass movements in the U.S. today, like the historic 2020 uprising against the War on Black America). This rich and dynamic legacy is what can get educational scholarship beyond the cages of academia. After outlining the… [Direct]
(2023). Readiness for Racialized Encounters in the Career Preparedness of Black HBCU Graduates in White Corporate Environments: A Narrative Inquiry and Critical Race Theory Study. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. This Qualitative Narrative inquiry explored the experiences of Black graduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as they enter into predominantly White working environments. Inspired by a study conducted by the National Opinion Research Center's "Being Black in Corporate America" (National Opinion Research Center, 2019) which discovered 58% of Black individuals faced workplace racism, prompting a mass exodus of millennial employees, this study examines the role HBCUs play in shaping Black graduates' ability to navigate racial challenges. Using Critical Race Theory and narrative research, this study evaluates how well HBCUs prepare Black graduates for confronting racism in White corporate environments and explores the strategies these graduates use to cope with challenging encounters. Using purposive sampling, 8 Black HBCU graduates with post-graduation experience in predominantly White corporate environments were selected to participate. Data… [Direct]
(2020). Latina/o First Generation Community College Students from Rural Backgrounds: How Their Rural Experiences Impact Their Transition to and Success in Higher Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Davis. Many Latinx students whose families have resided in the rural areas of the United States for generations face racist, nativist behavior particular to rural spaces that is pervasive and all encompassing. Living and learning under small town oppression affects Latinx students' educational aspirations, trajectory and achievement of higher education in ways that are different than those of their urban and suburban counterparts. These rural areas and the effects of concentrated racism that becomes normalized in these areas have been virtually unexplored. The narratives of Latinx community college students who come from rural backgrounds and have experiential knowledge of the oppressive surveillance, racist treatment and exclusionary tactics by some educational personnel are examined to identify, understand and analyze the extent to which these experiences affect student higher education achievement. Preliminary findings from a pilot study reveal the negative effects of several generations… [Direct]
(2018). Developing an Antiracist Stance: How White Youth Understand Structural Racism. Journal of Early Adolescence, v38 n6 p745-771 Jun. This qualitative study explored how White youth understand structural racism on an abstract and personalized level and the process of developing these understandings. Structural racism encompasses both institutional racism and the broader effects of racism embedded within social structures. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 16 White youth in seventh or eighth grade in a suburban school. Grounded theory qualitative analysis indicated that developing structural racism understanding for White youth involved a process of (a) developing an initial understanding of the existence and meaning of structural racism, (b) reflecting on this awareness independently and with others, (c) developing emotional connections to these issues (sympathy), (d) developing perspective taking skills and empathy, and (e) engaging and struggling with one's identity as a White person. Results also provided support for the importance of parental racial socialization practices and multicultural antibias… [Direct]
(2024). Variation in Black Students' Conceptions of Academic Support. British Educational Research Journal, v50 n1 p241-259. The persistence of degree-awarding gaps and anti-Black racism warrant an exploration of the quality and effectiveness of academic support offered to Black undergraduate students in British higher education, and how such support is perceived by students. Our phenomenographic study found that Black students' conceptions of academic support range from broad expectations of help with their studies to more advanced understandings of their own agency and the context of academic support. Our results highlight that attempts to enhance academic support should revisit three interconnected areas: what type of academic support is provided, where, and by whom. Most importantly, we propose a new inclusive direction that replaces existing deficit models with approaches that will strengthen Black students' agential effectiveness within historically White institutions…. [Direct]
(2024). "I Think the Teachers Should Really Connect More with the Students": The Influence of Systemic Racism, Inequity, School, and Community Violence on Connection for High School Students Who Are Suspended or Expelled. Youth & Society, v56 n7 p1191-1211. The objective of this constructivist grounded theory study was to understand the experiences of students who have been disciplinarily excluded from school. Fifteen students (male, n = 11; Black, n = 10; having special education needs, n = 9) and 16 multidisciplinary staff in Ontario participated. Students experienced high rates of expanded adversities, including school and community violence, systemic racism and inequity. The importance of connection wove throughout the data; however, three themes were found to block connection: unacknowledged impact of adversity, a climate of fear, and the disproportionate impact of limited resources. Trauma-informed culturally attuned approaches that focus on the disproportionate impact of adversity and school discipline at the point of a disciplinary response, and throughout a student's educational experience, are essential…. [Direct]
(2024). The Relevance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities: From a Critical Race Theorist Standpoint. Peabody Journal of Education, v99 n2 p201-208. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were created to provide educational opportunities for African Americans when other educational pathways were closed or restricted. These higher education institutions with the assistance of the American Missionary Association and the Freedmen's Bureau, churches and philanthropists, continue to educate African American leaders and advance society at large. From a Critical Race Theorists (CRT) perspective, the promotion and sustainability of HBCUs is relevant and much needed in the 21st century particularly with the gradual elimination of affirmative action standards at mainstream institutions. Acknowledging the persistence of racism, which CRT implores us to do, it is clear that HBCUs are critical educational entities as they lessen equity gaps and create opportunities for marginalized and disproportionately recognized students across the globe…. [Direct]
(2023). Centering Multilingual Learners and Countering Raciolinguistic Ideologies in Teacher Education: Principles, Policies and Practices. Language, Education & Diversity. Multilingual Matters This book details a three-year, multi-stranded study of teacher education programs that prepare future teachers to work with multilingual learners. The book examines how racism and linguicism collaborate to shape the conditions under which teacher candidates learn how to teach. The analysis traces dynamic shifts in thinking and practice as participants reflected on their personal, professional and academic experiences in relation to formal curriculum and assessment policies to interpret what it means to work with multilingual learners in the classroom. The book offers guiding principles — above all, learning "from" multilingual learners, not only "about" them — and presents a suite of teacher-education practices to disrupt the interplay of language and race that so deeply shapes teacher-candidate learning about multilingual learners…. [Direct]
(2021). "What Is the Real Belief on Campus?" Perceptions of Racial Conflict at a Minority-Serving Institution and a Historically White Institution. Teachers College Record, v123 n9 p144-170 Sep. An organizational conflict lens offers a distinct understanding of how higher education administrators and postsecondary students experience racial conflict on their campuses. Despite students of color historically reporting incidents with overt and subtle forms of racism on college campuses (George Mwangi et al., 2018; Hurtado & Ruiz, 2015; Nguyen et al., 2018; Serrano, 2020), postsecondary leaders continue to report positive race relations on campus (Jaschik & Lederman, 2017). This conflict in perception is the focus of this article. To understand how race-related conflicts are perceived in higher education, I examined perceptions of racial conflict across two types of postsecondary campuses. I used compositional diversity, or a numerical illustration of various racial and ethnic groups (Hurtado et al., 1998; Milem et al., 2005), as a determinant to decide which campuses to study for how racial conflict is understood by administrators, faculty, and students. Drawing from… [Direct]
(2024). The Liberatory Stances of Black Women Mathematics Teachers. Educational Studies in Mathematics, v116 n3 p519-538. Black women teachers have a legacy rooted in resisting and disrupting racism and racialization in schools. Yet, stories of Black women teachers enacting their liberatory pedagogy in mathematics go untold. This study centers Black women mathematics teachers' liberatory stances towards teaching mathematics to Black, Latinx, and Southeast Asian students. I use a Black feminist lens to conduct a critical narrative study of five Black women elementary teachers that explores how their racialized mathematics experiences informed their liberatory stances of personal accountability, caring, and being a role model for students in their mathematics classrooms. These liberatory stances resisted normalizing whiteness and anti-Blackness in mathematics classrooms within teachers' schools. Implications include learning about Black women mathematics teachers' liberatory stances in different racialized social systems as a starting place to transform mathematics education for liberation…. [Direct]
(2019). Grappling with Racism as Foundational Practice of Science Teaching. Science Education, v103 n1 p37-60 Jan. While current science teacher education frameworks designed to support high-quality teaching have the potential to promote equitable science learning, they do not substantively engage with how racism organizes science teaching and learning. In this critical qualitative inquiry grounded in critical race theory and sociopolitical perspectives on teaching and learning, I analyzed the contradictions that emerged in science teaching practices that were both intended to support Student of Color science learning and engaged science-specific colorblind ideologies. The critical race theory analysis demonstrated how science teaching practices such as connecting to students' experiences, creating interests in science, representing scientists as role models, and scaffolding doing science maintain unequal racialized power relations between students and science when historical and contemporary legacies of racism are not directly confronted. I also propose a science teaching practice of… [Direct]