(2023). "We Can Be Leaders": Minoritized Youths' Subjugated (Civic) Knowledges and Social Futures in Two Urban Contexts. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v36 n3 p392-410. This article problematizes traditional and critical conceptions of civic knowledge and centers minoritized youth voices. We utilize case studies from two critical qualitative studies in two urban contexts to suggest that minoritized youths' subjugated knowledges are a type of civic knowledge and necessary for youth to imagine agentic social futures. These case studies indicated that youths' community-based curricular experiences illuminated and tapped into their racialized experiences and embodied knowledge of gentrification, immigration, and racism. As youth expressed and built upon this knowledge, they discussed policy solutions to the injustices they identified, developed a deeper sense of belonging and solidarity with people in their communities, and articulated a desire to "become leaders" and agents of civic and social change. We offer implications for research and call for civic education anchored in the insurrection of subjugated knowledges and youths'… [Direct]
(2023). Moving from EDID Words to Policy Action: A Case Study of a Teacher Education Program's Admissions Policy Reform. Canadian Journal of Education, v46 n2 p359-385. Regardless of the commitments that universities and teacher education programs (TEPs) have publicly stated regarding equity, diversity, inclusion, or decolonization (EDID), rarely do these commitments impact their admission policies or practices. Through examining a small program's efforts at implementing EDID change over a three-year period, this article provides critical reflections, questions, and action steps for TEPs looking to move beyond talking about the importance of EDID, to actually altering policies and procedures to address systemic change. Utilizing the concepts of "equity in" and "equity through" admissions, intake variables (Multiple Mini Interview [MMI], Program Preparation, GPA) were analyzed quantitatively and used in this beginning participatory action research project. Results illustrate the benefits of the MMI, the need for program admissions to account for capacities in relation to anti-racism directly, rather than just generally referring… [PDF] [Direct]
(2021). Our Presence Is Resistance: Stories of Black Women in Senior-Level Student Affairs Positions at Predominantly White Institutions. Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, v14 n2 p166-186. Black women have made tremendous progress in higher education. However, despite increases in enrollment and graduation, research regarding Black women's experiences in senior-level positions in the student affairs field is limited. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of seven Black women in senior-level positions in student affairs at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Analyzed using a Black feminist thought theoretical framework and narrative inquiry, this study amplified the unique standpoints of Black women in student affairs leadership positions at PWIs. The findings revealed strategies used and barriers faced when navigating racism and sexism for Black women in senior-level administrative positions in student affairs…. [Direct]
(2018). "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose": Anti-Black Racism as Fluid, Relentless, Individual and Systemic. Peabody Journal of Education, v93 n1 p66-77. Derrick Bell's thesis, that racism is a permanent feature of society, is frequently misrepresented by detractors as signaling a view of racism as monolithic–bold, obvious, and unchanging. This paper argues that critical race theory [CRT] reveals a very different understanding of racism as relentless, yet fluid, and quick to morph depending on current circumstances. In this way, CRT offers a new perspective on the view that the more things change, the more they stay the same, the central theme for this issue of the "Peabody Journal of Education." This paper focuses on two key issues where the last quarter century has seen considerable superficial change that appears progressive but masks a deeper reality of continued racial injustice: first, the changing contours of the black/white achievement gap in England, and, second, the continuing fascination on both sides of the Atlantic with notions of genetics and intelligence…. [Direct]
(2022). Prioritizing Pro-Blackness in Literacy Research, Scholarship, and Teaching. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, v22 n3 p323-334 Sep. Against the backdrop of endemic anti-Black racism in Early Childhood literacy, we frame these special issues using "Pro-Blackness" as an antidote in early childhood classrooms. "Pro-Black" does note connote "anti"-White or "anti" any other ethnic group and declares an unapologetic, positive perspective regarding Blackness and Black people which is not evident in most educational settings. Pro-Blackness focuses on the agency, resistance, everyday lives, and joy of Black people. We unpack "anti"-Blackness in Early Childhood literacy contexts and offer Pro-Black strategies. We note the pervasive omission of Black theorists and scholarship in teacher education and P-3 classrooms and call for a prioritization of Pro-Black theories, research, policies, literacy practices and assessments…. [Direct]
(2020). Black Womanist Teachers' Political Clarity in Theory and Practice. Theory Into Practice, v59 n4 p379-388. Black women educators have a legacy of political clarity about teaching and learning as well as about anti-Black racism. Scholarship on Black women teachers has begun to map out this political clarity (e.g), yet is continually at risk of being devalued and deintellectualized in an educational era that privileges universalist and reductivist (e.g."best-practices") approaches to teaching and learning and over politically relevant forms that are relational and intergenerational, embodied and heterogeneous. Re-focusing our attention back onto the voices of Black women educators already present in educational research, this article distills their understandings of teaching and learning to honor them as womanist intellectual and pedagogical interventions designed to disrupt anti-Black racism. Their intellectual interventions offer a distinct view of teaching and learning and their pedagogical interventions cultivate the brilliance and belonging of Black youth. Understanding these… [Direct]
(2023). "They're Already Punished Enough:" Fugitivity and Abolitionist Lessons from Black Women Alternative School Teachers. Equity & Excellence in Education, v56 n4 p636-647. While much of the literature on Black women teachers documents their legacy of addressing anti-black racism in traditional public-school settings, there is room for more dialogue about the labor of Black women teachers who teach in non-traditional school settings. This study draws on endarkened storywork, a methodological approach derived from the convergence of Endarkened Feminist Epistemologies (EFE) and indigenous storywork (ISW) to grasp insight from the storytelling of Black women teachers at an alternative school in central Georgia. To honor the breadth and depth of storytelling as an analytical tool, this paper focuses on how one of the three Black woman alternative schoolteachers creates a "fugitive space" in which she subverts conventional ways of schooling and offers nuanced narratives about herself and her students. The question that guides this study is how do Black women teachers' praxis in non-traditional school spaces invite us to imagine liberatory… [Direct]
(2022). Critical Race and Feminist Standpoint Theories in Physics Education Research: A Historical Review and Potential Applications. Physical Review Physics Education Research, v18 n1 Article 013101 Jan-Jun. More progress is needed to achieve equity in racial and gender representation in the push to diversify the physical sciences. In order to continue moving towards representation and equity, there is a need for more analytic tools that can help us understand where we are and how we got here. This may also enable meaningful systemic change. In this article, we will review two theoretical frameworks: critical race theory (CRT) and feminist standpoint theory (FST). This paper will guide the reader through the historical context in which each theory was formed, present core tenets and major ideas of each theory, along with external critiques to each theory and where they stand today. This will help readers to further understand CRT and FST, what their role is in education, and how they may be used in physics education research. Simultaneously, this article will serve to broaden perspectives of fundamental societal problems such as racism and sexism…. [Direct]
(2022). Sharing the World without Losing Oneself: Education in a Pluralistic Universe. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, v43 n5 p666-685. One of the challenges contemporary societies faces is resistance to sharing the world. Investments in 'extremist' or 'identitarian' identity positions that desire purity and are intolerant of pluralism and difference undermine education. I explain why it is important to explore 'how ideas feel', understanding the affective investments in these positions and imaginaries, and the fear of loss of identity that can drive such closed positions. In the second part, I turn to the writings of √âdouard Glissant in order to deepen this analysis, paying particular attention to unpacking the desire for purity and the fear of "m√©tissage" or mixing that are commonplace in racism, xenophobia, and ultra-nationalism. Glissant offers another way of understanding identity-in-relation whereby sharing the world does not mean losing oneself. Finally, I draw on his poetic language of archipelagic pedagogies to suggest some ways in which education can invite students to deepen a sense of… [Direct]
(2022). "Being on the Positive End of Every Negative Statistic": Expanding Inclusion of Gifted Education through Considerations of Critical Consciousness as Double Giftedness. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, v45 n2 p157-178 Jun. The narrow manner in which giftedness is often regarded perpetuates the underrepresentation of students of Color in gifted education programs, particularly for Black students. This case study highlights the story of a gifted Black high school student attending a predominantly White high school in the South. Bianca's story illuminates her struggle with myriad racialized challenges within and outside of school and, more importantly, demonstrates her sophisticated and critically conscious appraisal of structural inequities. Interpreted through the lens of critical consciousness, Bianca's story of giftedness illuminates her complex understandings of societal and institutional workings. Given the complexity and effort required to participate in critical ways of knowing, especially concerning the ways in which race and racism function, this study highlights that critically conscious students like Bianca are, in fact, doubly gifted and can offer insights to expand commonly held notions of… [Direct]
(2024). "Everyone Got to Eat My Tears": Racialized Emotions, Mentoring Experiences, and the Political and Ethical Commitments of Women of Color Graduate Students in STEM. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of New Mexico. In this project, I examine the emotional and lived experiences of women of color (WOC) graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and how they embody and negotiate racism, classism, and sexism in academia, particularly in White, men-dominated STEM spaces. I utilize critical race theory and intersectionality to shed light on how WOC draw upon their intersecting identities, marginalization, and sense of community to navigate and resist oppressive environments. Specifically, I highlight the ways they experience racialized emotions and leverage vulnerability to resist dominant academic norms and controlling images to preserve their holistic selves, engage in critical reflexivity to challenge harmful mentoring practices, and activate ethics of the embodied self and care through their work, relationship building, and visions of themselves as scientists. This study extends our current understanding of the experiences of WOC in higher education by providing… [Direct]
(2024). Divided by Policy, United by Resilience: Using Transformative Pedagogy to Impact Prospective Teachers in All Contexts. Education Policy Analysis Archives, v32 n62. As American teacher educators and teachers are being roiled by restrictive legislation around critical race theory and divisive concepts in some states, our investigation explored the impact of critical communities of practice (CoP) on redesigning and teaching introduction to education courses with a transformative lens. This manuscript details the collaboration of four equity-minded teacher educators, each representing unique institutional and political contexts. While two authors taught in states which promote culturally sustaining pedagogies, the other two authors taught in states that had passed laws restricting the professional autonomy of educators and honest discussions of race and racism. Participation in this critical CoP as a support group enabled us to better understand and navigate our dichotomous policy contexts and renewed our commitment to teaching prospective teachers to be politically conscious and empowered to teach in anti-racist ways. Our CoP was instrumental in… [PDF]
(2022). Pods in Action: My Reflection Matters. A Virtual Village Where BIPOC Families "Unschool" Together. Center on Reinventing Public Education In 2020, twin forces inspired large numbers of U.S. families of color to look outside traditional schools for their children's education. First, as the COVID-19 pandemic caused schools to shift in and out of virtual or hybrid instruction, many parents looked for other options because they were concerned about keeping their children safe or were dissatisfied with the quality of instruction. At the same time, the racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd sparked a national conversation about systemic racism. For many parents of color, this included questions about whether it would be healthier for their child to be educated outside a system they viewed as replicating injustices. The My Reflection Matters (MRM) Village provided the answer that some of those parents were seeking. MRM Village is a nationwide, virtual network of parents, students, and educators, formed with a mission to "cultivate a space that provides the supports, conversations, and healing required… [PDF]
(2022). Building a Space to Dream: Supporting Indigenous Children's Survivance through Community-Engaged Social and Emotional Learning. Child Development, v93 n3 p699-716 May-Jun. Indigenous communities practice survivance and challenge social and political systems to support their children's identity and well-being. Grounded in transformative social-emotional learning (SEL) and tribal critical race theory, this 3-year community-based participatory research study (2019-2021) examined how a SEL program co-created with an Indigenous community in Flathead Nation in Montana supports anti-racism and anti-colonialism among Indigenous children. Critical reflexivity and thematic analyses of Community Advisory Board meetings and journals written by 60 students (M[subscript age] = 10.3, SD = 1.45; 47% girls; 60% Native American) during the SEL program revealed themes on Indigenous identity, belonging, wellness, and colonialism. These results shed light on challenging the racist and colonial roots of education to support Indigenous children's survivance and social-emotional well-being…. [Direct]
(2022). Towards an Emergent Curriculum for Climate Justice Adult Educators/Activists. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, v62 n3 p298-324 Nov. Ecoliteracy is essential for adult educators/activists en route to creating ecoliterate populations. Working cooperatively with other networks in the spirit of a 'solidarity economy', a group within the PIMA network has run a climate justice education programme through a series of webinars. We describe and analyse a case story of an emergent climate justice curriculum in action. We use an ecofeminist analysis to understand the relational entanglement of ecological breakdown, capitalism, colonialism, racism and patriarchy which in part undergird the breaching of planetary boundaries. We identify five inquiry-based themes which are suggestive as coordinates for orientating curricula for adult educators/activists learning climate justice. One of these is the importance of building ecoliterate alliances through collaborative action as we face the 'socio-ecological hurricane' which is bearing down…. [PDF]