DOCSLIB.ORG

FORMER INMATES' PERCEPTIONS and BELIEFS ABOUT the VALUE of EARNING a HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA a DISSERTATION in Educational Leaders

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
FORMER INMATES' PERCEPTIONS and BELIEFS ABOUT the VALUE of EARNING a HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA a DISSERTATION in Educational Leaders FORMER INMATES’ PERCEPTIONS AND BELIEFS ABOUT THE VALUE OF EARNING A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA A DISSERTATION IN Educational Leadership, Policy and Foundations Education and Social Science Consortium Presented to the Faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Michael Thomas B.A., Saint Leo University, 2000 M.A., Chapman University, 2005 Kansas City, Missouri 2019 © 2019 MICHAEL THOMAS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FORMER INMATES’ PERCEPTION AND BELIEFS ABOUT THE VALUE OF EARNING A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA Michael Thomas, Candidate for the Doctor of Education Degree University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2019 ABSTRACT Previous studies on correctional education have focused on recidivism. There is limited research from a qualitative perspective on the perceptions of education prior to incarceration. This constructivist narratological case study sought to explore the lived experiences of six former inmates, four African American and two Mexican American from a Midwest Correctional Facility who entered prison without a high school diploma and worked in Prison Industries. Data sources involved a Likert scale questionnaire, documents, and in-depth semi-structured interviews. Analysis involved descriptive statistical analysis of the Likert scale items, and content analysis for documents, and indepth interviews with narratives of the cases developed using a three-dimensional analysis process and socio- cultural analysis followed by within case and cross case analyses. Major themes were: (a) making ends meet; (b) influences within the community; (c) family dynamics; (d school environment; and (e) school-to-prison pipeline. Findings indicated that participants placed a greater value on education post incarceration. iii APPROVAL PAGE The faculty listed below, appointed by the Dean of the School of Education, have examined a dissertation titled “Former Inmates’ Perceptions and Beliefs About The Value of Earning a High School Diploma,” presented by Michael Thomas, candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree , and certify that in their opinion it is worthy of acceptance. Supervisory Committee Loyce Caruthers, PhD, Committee Chair Educational Leadership, Policy, & Foundations Linwood F. Tauheed Department of Economics Donna Davis, Ph.D. Division of Educational Leadership, Policy & Foundations Juan C. Gonzalez, Ph.D. California State University, Fresno Kremen School of Education and Human Development Donna Russell, Ph.D Capella University Department of Educational Psychology iv CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. ix AKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... x PREFACE ........................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION TO STUDY.........................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem. ............................................................................... 3 Purpose and Research Questions .................................................................. 11 Research Questions ........................................................................... 12 Overview of the Theoretical Framework .......................................... 13 Theoretical Framework and Literature Review ............................................ 13 Critical Race Theory ......................................................................... 15 Socio-political Foundation for Forming Dropping-out .................... 18 Correctional Education ..................................................................... 20 Prison Industries ............................................................................... 22 Overview of the Methodology ...................................................................... 25 Significance of the Study .............................................................................. 28 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................... 32 Critical Race Theories in Education ............................................................. 34 Critical Race Theory ......................................................................... 35 Latino Critical Race Theory ............................................................. 36 Prison Industries ............................................................................... 67 Theories and Predictors of Why Students Drop Out ........................ 68 v Latinx Students and the Phenomenon of Dropping Out ................... 72 African American Students and the Phenomenon of Dropping Out ................................................................................... 78 Correctional Education ................................................................................. 84 Correctional Studies .......................................................................... 88 Policies that Affect Correctional Education ..................................... 92 Post-Secondary Education ................................................................ 96 Post-release Employment Opportunities and Prison Stigma ............ 98 Prison Industries ......................................................................................... 103 Economic Impact of Prison Industries ............................................ 104 Types of Prison Industries .............................................................. 107 Criticisms of Prison Industries ........................................................ 109 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 107 3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 109 Research Questions ..................................................................................... 110 Rationale for Qualitative Research ............................................................. 111 Case Study ...................................................................................... 112 Narratology ..................................................................................... 114 Constructivism ................................................................................ 117 The Role of the Researcher ......................................................................... 119 The Design of the Study ............................................................................. 121 Setting ............................................................................................. 121 Sampling Procedures and Participants ............................................ 121 Data Collection ......................................................................................... 123 vi Field Notes ............................................................................................... 128 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 129 Analysis of Questionnaire ........................................................................ 129 Analysis of Qualitative Data .................................................................... 131 Narrative Analysis .................................................................................... 132 Within-case and Cross-case Analysis....................................................... 134 Limitations — Validity, Reliability and Ethical Considerations ........................... 135 Validity and Reliability .......................................................................... 136 Triangulation and Crystallization ........................................................... 139 Ethical Considerations ............................................................................ 140 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................................... 142 Pre-Interview Questionnaire ....................................................................... 145 Participants’ Cases ...................................................................................... 147 Participant One: Harry .................................................................... 148 Participant Two: Michael ............................................................... 155 Participant Three: John ................................................................... 163 Participant Four: Bruce ................................................................... 167 Participant Five: Jesus .................................................................... 172 Participant Six: Carlos .................................................................... 178 Summary ......................................................................................... 185 Findings to the Research Questions............................................................ 186 Summary ..................................................................................................... 189 5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................. 191 Looking Inward and Outward ....................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Afrocentric Education: What Does It Mean to Toronto’S Black Parents?
    Afrocentric Education: What does it mean to Toronto’s Black parents? by Patrick Radebe M.Ed., University of Toronto, 2005 B.A. (Hons.), University of Toronto, 2000 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Educational Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) October 2017 Patrick Radebe, 2017 Abstract The miseducation of Black students attending Toronto metropolitan secondary schools, as evinced by poor grades and high dropout rates among the highest in Canada, begs the question of whether responsibility for this phenomenon lies with a public school system informed by a Eurocentric ethos. Drawing on Afrocentric Theory, this critical qualitative study examines Black parents’ perceptions of the Toronto Africentric Alternative School and Afrocentric education. Snowball sampling and ethnographic interviews, i.e., semi-structured interviews, were used to generate data. A total of 12 Black parents, three men and nine women, were interviewed over a 5-month period and data analyzed. It was found that while a majority of the respondents supported the Toronto Africentric Alternative School and Afrocentric education, some were ambivalent and others viewed the school and the education it provides as divisive and unnecessary. The research findings show that the majority of the participants were enamored with Afrocentricity, believing it to be a positive influence on Black lives. While they supported TAAS and AE, the minority, on the other hand, opposed the school and its educational model. The findings also revealed a Black community, divided between a majority seeking to preserve whatever remained of (their) African identity and a determined minority that viewed assimilation to be in the best interests of Black students.
    [Show full text]
  • An Afrocentric Case Study Policy Analysis of Florida Statute 1003.42(H) CHIKE AKUA Georgia State University
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Educational Policy Studies Dissertations Department of Educational Policy Studies Fall 1-6-2017 The Life of a Policy: An Afrocentric Case Study Policy Analysis of Florida Statute 1003.42(h) CHIKE AKUA Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/eps_diss Recommended Citation AKUA, CHIKE, "The Life of a Policy: An Afrocentric Case Study Policy Analysis of Florida Statute 1003.42(h)." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2017. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/eps_diss/155 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Educational Policy Studies at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Policy Studies Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACCEPTANCE This dissertation, THE LIFE OF A POLICY: AN AFROCENTRIC CASE STUDY POLICY ANALYSIS OF FLORIDA STATUTE 1003.42(H), by CHIKE AKUA, was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s Dissertation Advisory Committee. It is accepted by the committee members in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Education and Human Development, Georgia State University. The Dissertation Advisory Committee and the student’s Department Chair, as representatives of the faculty, certify that this dissertation has met all standards of excellence and scholarship as determined by the faculty. _________________________________ _________________________________ Joyce E. King, Ph.D. Janice Fournillier, Ph.D. Committee Chair Committee Member _________________________________ _________________________________ Kristen Buras, Ph.D. Akinyele Umoja, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member _________________________________ Date _________________________________ William Curlette, Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Haiti Unbound a Spiralist Challenge to the Postcolonial Canon H
    HAITI UNBOUND A SPIRALIST CHALLENGE TO THE POSTCOLONIAL CANON H Both politically and in the fields of art and literature, Haiti has long been relegated to the margins of the so-called ‘New World’. Marked by exceptionalism, the voices of some of its AITI most important writers have consequently been muted by the geopolitical realities of the nation’s fraught history. In Haiti Unbound, Kaiama L. Glover offers a close look at the works of three such writers: the Haitian Spiralists Frankétienne, Jean-Claude Fignolé, and René Philoctète. While Spiralism has been acknowledged by scholars and regional writer- intellectuals alike as a crucial contribution to the French-speaking Caribbean literary tradition, the Spiralist ethic-aesthetic has not yet been given the sustained attention of a full-length U study. Glover’s book represents the first effort in any language to consider the works of the three Spiralist authors both individually and collectively, and so fills an astonishingly empty NBO place in the assessment of postcolonial Caribbean aesthetics. Touching on the role and destiny of Haiti in the Americas, Haiti Unbound engages with long- standing issues of imperialism and resistance culture in the transatlantic world. Glover’s timely project emphatically articulates Haiti’s regional and global centrality, combining vital ‘big picture’ reflections on the field of postcolonial studies with elegant analyses of the U philosophical perspective and creative practice of a distinctively Haitian literary phenomenon. Most importantly, perhaps, the book advocates for the inclusion of three largely unrecognized ND voices in the disturbingly fixed roster of writer-intellectuals who have thus far interested theorists of postcolonial (francophone) literature.
    [Show full text]
  • Information Design Theories
    IIID Public Library Information Design Information Design Theories Rune Pettersson Institute for infology IIID Public Library The “IIID Public Library” is a free resource for all who are interested in information design. This book was kindly donated by the author free of charge to visitors of the IIID Public Library / Website. International Institute for Information Design (IIID) designforum Wien, MQ/quartier 21 Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Wien, Austria www.iiid.net Information Design Theories ID A1 ID A2 Rune Pettersson * Institute for infology Information Design Theories ISBN 978-91-85334-34-6 © Rune Pettersson Tullinge 2016 All illustrations are my own. 2 Preface Information design is a multi-disciplinary, multi-dimensional, and worldwide consideration with influences from areas such as art and aesthetics, behaviour and cognition, communication, design, informa- tion, and language. Information design has practical and theoretical components. As an academic discipline we may view Information Design (ID) as a “theoretical practice” or as a “practical theory.” Information Design has incorporated facts, influences, methods, practices, principles, pro- cesses, strategies, theories, or parts of theories, and tools from a large number of supporting sciences. In this book I present one internal information design theory, and six external information design theories with more than hundred facts, hypotheses, and postulates. The internal theory, called infology theory, is based on research within the academic discipline Information De- sign. The six external information design theories are based on research in supporting sciences. These theories are called Aesthetics theory for ID, Facilitating theory for ID, Communication theory for ID, Provid- ing theory for ID, Information theory for ID, and Language theory for ID.
    [Show full text]
  • 2020 NCTE Annual Reports
    NCTE Annual Reports 2020 NCTE Annual Reports 2020 The National Council of Teachers of English—a professional association of educators in English Studies, literacy, and language arts—annually compiles reports from its volunteer leadership to chronicle the Council's extensive activities. The Annual Reports volume to the NCTE Board of Directors is a central document of record for NCTE activities for the year and includes written reports submitted by officers, editors, and leaders of NCTE's many active subgroups. It provides a rich record of the Council's work, carried out in line with NCTE's constitutional mission: to improve the quality of instruction in English at all educational levels; to encourage research, experimentation, and investigation in the teaching of English; to facilitate professional cooperation of the members; to hold public discussions and programs; to sponsor the publication of desirable articles and reports; and to integrate the efforts of all those who are concerned with the improvement of instruction in English. We invite your review of the Annual Reports to celebrate the work of colleagues, to identify gaps or potential needs, and to offer suggestions to Council leaders and headquarters staff as together we work to serve our mission. Please select a group from the menu below: Presidents Section Steering Committees Conferences Standing Committees Committees Publication Editors Assemblies In Memoriam 2019 Annual Business Meeting Minutes No Reports Submitted This page is traditionally included in this document. It is
    [Show full text]
  • Annotated Selected Bibliography & Index for Teaching African
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 437 478 UD 033 273 AUTHOR Hilliard, Asa G. TITLE Annotated Selected Bibliography & Index for Teaching African-American Learners: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Project. SPONS AGENCY American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Washington, DC.; Philip Morris Inc., New York, NY. PUB DATE 1997-00-00 NOTE 766p. PUB TYPE Reference Materials Bibliographies (131) EDRS PRICE MF04/PC31 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *African Culture; African History; Annotated Bibliographies; Black Dialects; *Black Students; Blacks; *Cultural Awareness; Cultural Differences; Cultural Pluralism; Curriculum; Elementary Secondary Education; Higher Education; Linguistics; Literature; Mass Media; Political Science; Popular Culture; Preservice Teacher Education; Psychology; *Racial Bias; Racial Differences; School Administration; Special Education; Teaching Methods; Teaching Styles; United States History IDENTIFIERS *African Americans; Criminal Justice; Rites of Passage ABSTRACT This annotated bibliography and index presents nearly 2,000 references that are substantially unique to African or African American teaching and learning. Designed to support teacher education, the bibliography features references that were chosen if they were culturally relevant, recognized the African or African American experience, and drew from the cultural experience of African and African American people. References also had to contribute to the enhancement of teaching and learning, had to be based on empirical research, and had to employ rigorous scholarly analysis,
    [Show full text]
  • Meeting the Unique Needs of All Learners Purpose 3
    Meeting the Unique Needs of All Learners Purpose 3 The Master of Science Degree in Education AUDREY COHEN SCHOOL FOR HUMAN SERVICES AND EDUCATION SPRING 2012 ©Metropolitan College of New York 431 Canal Street, New York, NY 10013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission by Metropolitan College of NY. MEETING THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF ALL LEARNERS Purpose 3 PAGE POLICIES 3 DEFINITIONS 5 THE PURPOSE-CENTERED EDUCATOR PROFICIENCIES 7 ASSESSMENT SYSTEM 17 THE PURPOSE DIMENSION® 21 Meeting the Unique Needs of All Learners THE VALUES & ETHICS DIMENSION® 44 The Power of Technology in the Learning Process THE SELF & OTHERS DIMENSION® 51 Exploring Cultural Diversity through the Arts THE SYSTEMS DIMENSION® 61 Science Methods and Curriculum in Elementary School THE SKILLS DIMENSION® 70 Inclusion: Teaching Strategies and Classroom Management THE COMMUNICATIONS DIMENSION® 75 Diagnostic and Enrichment Techniques in Reading LESSON PLAN OUTLINE 80 ACADEMIC CALENDAR 83 2 POLICIES Attendance: Students are required to arrive on time and attend all scheduled classes, to complete all assignments by the due date, and to actively participate in class discussions. Additionally, students are responsible for knowing missed material. Faculty need not offer make-ups or extensions for missed work. Students who miss multiple classes may jeopardize their good standing. Students who accumulate excessive absences or lateness may be recommended for withdrawal. Grading System A 4.000 A- 3.667 B+ 3.333 B 3.000 B- 2.667 C+ 2.333 C 2.000 F 0.000 FNS 0.000 Fail, No Show - Student never appeared in the course FWD 0.000 Fail, Withdrawal - Student stopped attending the course I 0.000 Incomplete – instructor must submit Incomplete Grade Notification with Grade Roster to give an Incomplete W 0.000 Student officially withdrew from the course Please note: At the graduate level, the lowest passing grade a student may receive is a C.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Study of Maroon Novels by Black Women. Randi Gray Kristensen Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 2000 Rights of Passage: a Cross -Cultural Study of Maroon Novels by Black Women. Randi Gray Kristensen Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Kristensen, Randi Gray, "Rights of Passage: a Cross -Cultural Study of Maroon Novels by Black Women." (2000). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7205. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7205 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS * This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy subm itted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bieedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright by Beauty Lee Bragg 2004
    Copyright by Beauty Lee Bragg 2004 The Dissertation Committee for Beauty Lee Bragg Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: The Body in the Text: Female Engagements With Black Identity Committee: ________________________________ Helena Woodard, Supervisor ________________________________ Phillip Barrish ________________________________ Mia Carter ________________________________ Vera Fennell ________________________________ Jennifer Wilks The Body in the Text: Female Engagements With Black Identity by Beauty Lee Bragg, M.A., B.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December, 2004 UMI Number: 3150547 Copyright 2004 by Bragg, Beauty Lee All rights reserved. UMI Microform 3150547 Copyright 2005 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 This work is dedicated to all the Black women, real and fictional, whose flexibility, strength, and creativity have been, to me, life-long inspirations. Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge all those friends and colleagues at various colleges and universities around the state of Colorado, where the bulk of this work was completed, who offered me so much support. Outstanding among them was Claire Garcia, who provided invaluable professional guidance as a supervisor during my tenure as a Riley Scholar in Residence at the Colorado College. I have truly been blessed to be able to assemble such a dynamic dissertation committee.
    [Show full text]
  • Praisesongs of Place 297
    WATSON AND BEYMER Praisesongs of Place 297 Praisesongs of Place: Youth Envisioning Space and Place in a Literacy and Songwriting Initiative Vaughn W. M. Watson Michigan State University Alecia Beymer Michigan State University We analyze the interplay of youth enacting multiliteracies across three contexts of spaces and places: youths’ journal writing; the social and physical setting of Community Music School, where the after-school Verses Project took place; and the social and geographical setting of the city of Detroit. We construct a framework built on theoretical perspectives situating youths’ multiliteracies activities as social practices. Participants were emboldened to draw upon their pasts toward present and future action-taking, by writing across a genre we call praisesongs of place. Our data sources included observations, ethnographic field notes, curriculum-planning meeting notes, transcribed focus-group interviews, researcher memos, and multimodal artifacts including participants’ songs and writing notebooks. Our analysis involved contextualizing youths’ community-based multiliteracies practices as extending meanings of spaces and places across two themes inviting contemporary meanings of praisesongs of place: youth constructing tributes to their city, and youth envisioning strengths in communities. Our findings support English teachers and others in designing curriculum and teaching practices toward the ongoing work of envisioning teaching and learning as extending within and beyond classrooms. Detroit: Success for us has always been a long shot But when we accomplish something doubters be left in distraught. Two great powerhouses Cass and King To[o] bad our Lions have never had a ring Belle Isle: A beautiful island You can come visit or just keep riding Going to Coney Island with chili cheese fries, deep fryin.
    [Show full text]
  • ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: the CRITICAL
    ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE CRITICAL CULTURAL CYPHER: HIP HOP’S ROLE IN ENGAGING STUDENTS IN A DISCOURSE OF ENLIGHTENMENT A.Dee Williams, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation Directed By: Associate Professor Marvin Lynn Department of Education Hip Hop culture has been much maligned in the field of education for its disruptive role in the lives of youth. As such, education has ignored a cultural force that has had a major role in the development of youth identity. This study seeks to capitalize on the relationship between youth and Hip Hop culture through the engagement of high school students in a series of liberating intergroup dialogues with Hip Hop at their center. Based on the Cultural Circles of Paulo Freire and the theoretical frameworks of Critical Social Theory and Critical Race Theory, the Critical Cultural Cyphers – a Cypher is a Hip Hop term that describes a site where valued knowledge is constructed – were designed to cultivate the participants’ development of three areas: 1) the development of counter-narratives 2) the use of a language of critique and transcendence, and 3) the development of consientização or critical consciousness. Employing the methodology of critical ethnography, this study engaged eight high school seniors through a series of formal and informal interviews, mainstream academic classroom observations, and their participation in the inter-group dialogues. Within the dialogue, the participants attempted to 1) negotiate and integrate their constructions of definitions of Hip Hop culture, 2) identify problems within Hip Hop culture, and 3) develop individual and collective actions the group could take towards the resolution of the identified problems.
    [Show full text]
  • Using African Diaspora Literacy to Heal and Restore the Souls of Young Black Children
    Using African Diaspora Literacy to Heal and Restore the Souls of Young Black Children Gloria Boutte University of South Carolina - Columbia, South Carolina USA George L. Johnson South Carolina State University - Orangeburg, South Carolina USA Kamania Wynter-Hoyte University of South Carolina - Columbia, South Carolina USA U. E. Uyoata University of Uyo - Uyo, Nigeria All over the world, African worldviews and epistemologies have been and are currently being overlooked, undervalued, and delegitimized (Fanon, 1963; Hilliard, 2002; King, 2005; King & Swartz, 2014, 2016; Watkins, 2005; Woodson, 1933/1990). This pervasive process of anti-Africanism is so endemic that it frequently goes unnoticed even among people of the African Diaspora. This essay focuses on the revitalization of indigenous African knowledges and collective solidarity among people in the African Diaspora. As Dillard (2012) reminded us in her book, Learning to (Re)member the things we’ve learned to forget: Endarkened feminisms, spirituality, and the sacred nature of research and teaching, it is important for Black people to reconnect and reclaim African indigenous ways of being and knowing. Doing so is essential to the survival of our souls. Acknowledging the importance of naming the oppression in order to begin to dismantle it, we explain that the divorcing of African people from their collective heritage is systemic and intentional. That is, it did not happen by chance and it is supported by policies, laws, mores, and practices—even within educational contexts (or perhaps we should say—particularly within these settings). Similar to anti-bias and critical multicultural approaches in Early Childhood Education (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010; Pelo, 2008; Souto-Manning, 2013), this article seeks to interrupt, counter, and promote praxis (reflective action) on behalf of Black children specifically, and all children in general.
    [Show full text]