Identity Crisis: Understanding How American Males’ Self- Perception and Experiences Impact Their Educational Attainment
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 5-2017 Identity Crisis: Understanding How American Males’ Self- Perception and Experiences Impact Their Educational Attainment Jo Yarketta Hawkins-Jones University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Administration and Supervision Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, and the Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons Recommended Citation Hawkins-Jones, Jo Yarketta, "Identity Crisis: Understanding How American Males’ Self-Perception and Experiences Impact Their Educational Attainment" (2017). Dissertations. 1389. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1389 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. IDENTITY CRISIS: UNDERSTANDING HOW AFRICAN AMERICAN MALES’ EXPERIENCES INFLUENCE THEIR SELF-PERCEPTION AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT by Jo Yarketta Hawkins-Jones A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School and the Department of Educational Research and Administration at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved: ________________________________________________ Dr. Ann Blankenship, Committee Chair Assistant Professor, Educational Research and Administration ________________________________________________ Dr. Leslie Locke, Committee Member Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership, University of Iowa ________________________________________________ Dr. Myron Labat, Committee Member Assistant Professor, Educational Research and Administration ________________________________________________ Dr. Chuck Benigno, Committee Member Adjunct Professor, Educational Research and Administration ________________________________________________ Dr. Lilian Hill Department Co-Chair, Educational Research and Administration ________________________________________________ Dr. Karen S. Coats Dean of the Graduate School May 2017 COPYRIGHT BY Jo Yarketta Hawkins-Jones 2017 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT IDENTITY CRISIS: UNDERSTANDING HOW AFRICAN AMERICAN MALES’ EXPERIENCES INFLUENCE THEIR SELF-PERCEPTION AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT by Jo Yarketta Hawkins-Jones May 2017 If you google African American males, the top results include the following words and phrases: poverty, incarceration, locked out of employment, struggle in the classroom, and high school incompletion. Likewise, research continues to show that disadvantages in education and in African American communities are responsible for many Black males’ poor academic achievement and social outcomes. However, there is one key element missing from majority of the research on Black males, their perspectives. This dissertation addresses how the personal and educational experiences of low- income African American males, who dropped out of school, influenced their self- perceptions and decision regarding their educational attainment. It brings awareness to conditions that have historically affected how Black males perceived themselves and their lack of educational attainment. Three major themes emerged from data collection: parental interaction, school climate and culture, and limited resources and opportunities for educational and social advancement. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Ann Blankenship, for being the best coach during this dissertation. Your guidance and encouragement helped me to take my research further than I ever expected. I also extend sincere gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Leslie Locke for giving me a strong foundation to conduct this study and for her willingness to continue to serve as one of my committee members after separating from the university. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Myron Labat and Dr. Chuck Beningo, for their feedback and support during this process. iii DEDICATION To my husband, Erick, and my family and friends, words cannot express how grateful I am for all of you. Thank you for your love, undying support, and words of encouragement. You all made this dissertation possible, with special regards to Henrietta and Leiona for taking great care of Jae while I was either in class or working hard to finalize this project. To my parents, Joe and Rose Hawkins, thank you for loving me, instilling the value of education in me as a young child, and always pushing me to be better than the best. I would also like to acknowledge my special friend, Mr. Blue Morrow and his family for their patience, support, and encouragement. This dissertation is dedicated to my guardian angels, my grandmothers, Legusta Lee and Mary Huddleston, for inspiring me to be an educator; my aunt, Patricia Jenkins, for always believing in me; and my late niece, Kiana Jardae Hawkins. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................ xii CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Historical Perspectives .................................................................................................... 3 Slavery ........................................................................................................................ 4 Post-Slavery ................................................................................................................ 5 Uplifting African Americans: The Philosophies of Washington and DuBois ............ 7 The Great Migration ................................................................................................... 8 Brown v. Board of Education and Desegregation ...................................................... 9 Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................... 10 Cool Pose .................................................................................................................. 10 Culturally Relevant Pedagogy .................................................................................. 12 Statement of Problem .................................................................................................... 14 Purpose of Study ........................................................................................................... 14 Justification ................................................................................................................... 16 Research Question ........................................................................................................ 17 v Limitations .................................................................................................................... 17 Assumptions .................................................................................................................. 17 Definition of Terms....................................................................................................... 18 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER II – LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 20 Research Purpose and Research Question .................................................................... 20 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................. 20 Historical Perspective ................................................................................................... 21 Slavery ...................................................................................................................... 22 Post-Slavery .............................................................................................................. 24 Jim Crow Laws ......................................................................................................... 26 Uplifting African Americans: The Philosophies of Washington and DuBois .......... 27 The New Negros ....................................................................................................... 28 Brown v. Board of Education and School Desegregation ........................................ 30 Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................... 32 Cool Pose .................................................................................................................. 32 Culturally Relevant Pedagogy .................................................................................. 34 Factors that Contribute to African American Males’ Underperformance .................... 36 African American Males’ Self-Perceptions