Seeing Beyond the Stereotype to See the Whole Human: Teachers’ Perceptions of Media Stereotypes and Black Youth
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Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Educational Policy Studies Dissertations Department of Educational Policy Studies 5-17-2019 Seeing Beyond the Stereotype to See the Whole Human: Teachers’ Perceptions of Media Stereotypes and Black Youth Syreeta Ali McTier Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/eps_diss Recommended Citation McTier, Syreeta Ali, "Seeing Beyond the Stereotype to See the Whole Human: Teachers’ Perceptions of Media Stereotypes and Black Youth." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2019. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/eps_diss/197 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, SEEING BEYOND THE STEREOTYPE TO SEE THE WHOLE HUMAN: TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF MEDIA STEREOTYPES AND BLACK YOUTH, by SYREETA ALI MCTIER, 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 Chairperson, 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. Committee Chair _________________________________ _________________________________ Janice B. Fournillier, Ph.D. Kristen Buras, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member _________________________________ Hayward Richardson, Ed.D. Committee Member _________________________________ Date _________________________________ William Curlette, Ph.D. Chairperson, Department of Educational Pol- icy Studies ______________________________ Paul A. Alberto, Ph.D. Dean, College of Education and Human Development AUTHOR’S STATEMENT By presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the library of Georgia State University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote, to copy from, or to publish this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written, by the College of Education and Human Development’s Director of Graduate Studies, or by me. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly purposes and will not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying from or publication of this dissertation which involves potential financial gain will not be allowed without my written permission. SYREETA ALI MCTIER NOTICE TO BORROWERS All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University library must be used in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. The author of this dissertation is: Syreeta Ali McTier Educational Policy Studies College of Education and Human Development Georgia State University The director of this dissertation is: Joyce E. King, Ph.D. Department of Educational Policy Studies College of Education and Human Development Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30303 CURRICULUM VITAE Syreeta Ali McTier ADDRESS: 6284 Spring Knoll Court Tucker, GA 30084 EDUCATION: Ph.D. 2019 Georgia State University Educational Policy Studies M.S. 2004 Georgia State University Educational Psychology B.S. 2002 Oakwood University Elementary Education PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 2013-present Assistant Principal Smoke Rise Elementary School, DeKalb County School District 2009-2013 Assistant Principal Robert Shaw Traditional Theme School, DeKalb County School District 2003-2009 Teacher Jolly Elementary School, DeKalb County School District PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS: King, J. E., & McTier, S. A. (2015). From dysconsciousness to consciousness of stereotypes that disparage black youth: Calling for transformative school leadership. In M. Khalifa, N. Witherspoon Arnold, A. Osanloo & C. Grant (Eds.), Handbook of urban educational leadership (pp. 159-175). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefied. McTier, S. A. (2013, May). There is more than one way to analyze racism: A tale of two data analysis methods. Paper presented at the Ninth International Congress of Qualitative In- quiry, Urbana-Champaign, IL. Bailey, C., McTier, S. Montgomery, F. & Parham, D. (2001). Don’t even talk about it till Jesus comes: A play on the roots of Black conferences in the Seventh-day Adventist church. Huntsville, AL: Oakwood College Press. PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS 2015 - Present American Educational Research Association 2005- Present Professional Association of Georgia Educators 2012 –Present Association for Media Literacy 2011- 2013 Georgia Association of Educators SEEING BEYOND THE STEREOTYPE TO SEE THE WHOLE HUMAN: TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF MEDIA STEREOTYPES AND BLACK YOUTH by SYREETA ALI MCTIER Under the Direction of Joyce E. King, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Media, including, news, network television, and film communicate messages about peo- ple, places, events, and culture that influence the perceptions of those engaged in the media (Bandura, 2001; Hall, 1973). Media has historically portrayed Black Americans stereotypically as morally and intellectually inferior (Bogle, 1994; Entman & Rojecki, 2000; Greenberg et al., 2002). Similarly, media also portrays Black students stereotypically as violent, disrespectful, lazy, athletic, aggressive, and underachieving (Brown, 2011; Ferguson, 2001; Yosso & Garcia, 2010), while teachers have reported holding deficit perceptions about Black students (Chang & Demyan, 2007; DeCastro-Ambrosetti & Cho, 2011). This single exploratory qualitative case study used the Black Studies Theory of Alterity (Wynter, 2003; King, 2006) as the theoretical framework to investigate teachers’ perceptions of media stereotypes about Black urban youth and the influence of their participation in a researcher designed workshop on their understand- ings. This case study employed a research-as-pedagogy (King, Goss, & McArthur, 2014) data collection method in that the researcher also served as the facilitator of the media workshop. Eighteen pre-service and active teachers enrolled in a multicultural education course and their teacher education professor participated in the three-day media workshop and formed the bounded unit of the case study (Yin, 2009). Data were generated from the three-day media work- shop activities and included a demographic survey, artifacts, class discussions, reflection jour- nals, and interview. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phases of thematic analysis and generated three themes to describe participants’ perceptions and understandings. Theme One, imposing limits, describes the ways stereotypes limit how people think about un- known Black youth, limit humanity by dehumanizing Black youth, and limit Black students’ ed- ucation. Theme Two, media as a source of influence, describes the power of media to influence the thoughts of individuals and society. Theme Three, humanization, describes the ways partici- pants pushed back against stereotypes during the workshop and engaged in critical thought and reflection to confront their biases and improve professional practice. The findings can be used to inform educational policies and design course curricula for teacher education programs to de- velop teachers’ critical competencies in embracing student diversity and combatting deficit- based education. INDEX WORDS: Media stereotypes, Black youth, Teacher perceptions, Urban youth, Black Studies, Alterity SEEING BEYOND THE STEREOTYPE TO SEE THE WHOLE HUMAN: TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF MEDIA STEREOTYPES AND BLACK YOUTH by SYREETA ALI MCTIER A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Foundations of Education in Educational Policy Studies in the College of Education and Human Development Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 2019 Copyright by Syreeta A. McTier 2019 DEDICATION Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! I praise God for life, love, guidance, wis- dom, strength, inspiration, healing, and endurance. I praise God for making the path for me and guiding the way. God has taught me to trust and rely on Him. God’s got me! “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). This work is dedicated to my loving and supportive parents, Samuel Lee McTier, Jr. and Bettye Lou McTier. I cannot thank you both enough for your unconditional love, unwavering support, wisdom, guidance, extensive sacrifices, and inspiration. You laid the foundation for me, pushed me, and encouraged me along this journey. You are the wisest and most loving people I know. I stand on your shoulders. This is OUR work. I would also like to thank my family for being my critical support system, including my brother Samuel Lee McTier, III, my sister Sabrinna Monika McTier, my sister-in-law Akeelah McTier, my best friend and sister Shantil Turner, my love Jermain Hundley and his parents George and Frances Hundley, my sister Nicole George,