CONFRONTING THE BARRIERS TO UNDERSTANDING TEACHING AND LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF MARGINALIZED GROUPS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON RESEARCH CENTERED ON THE VOICES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN EDUCATORS A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Christy M. Dodge January 2013 2013 Christy M. Dodge CONFRONTING THE BARRIERS TO UNDERSTANDING TEACHING AND LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF MARGINALIZED GROUPS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON RESEARCH CENTERED ON THE VOICES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN EDUCATORS Christy M. Dodge, Ph.D. Cornell University 2013 The achievement gap between African-American and European-American students in U.S. public schools is a problem with no simple explanation, and one that leaders struggle to correct. The researcher’s central premise is that there are many ways to improve education for African-American students and that the racial achievement gap is inexcusable. African-American women may offer a unique perspective on this topic, by virtue of their status as women and as African Americans, as well as their experiences as students and teachers. The researcher set out to conduct research exploring the perspectives of African-American female teachers with respect to perceived and actual barriers to the effective education of students, specifically African-American students, teachers’ coping strategies, and teachers’ recommendations for change. However, major obstructing factors prevented the necessary collection of data for that research. In the dissertation, the researcher describes the current climate of education reform in the United States and critiques current reform efforts. She conceptualizes reasons for the structural factors that contribute to and explain the difficulty in collecting data on the experiences and perspectives of African-American teachers in U.S. public schools. Factors that may have prevented schools from allowing access to interview and observe African-American teachers are analyzed. Additionally, the researcher explores the question of why, in the rare cases in which schools did grant permission for the research, African-American teachers may have been uncomfortable participating in interviews about and observations of their experiences and practices. In theorizing about these factors, the researcher discusses the nature of the proposed research, her orientation, and the rationale for the proposed study. Major factors potentially influencing the decisions of school leaders and teachers not to participate are also presented. These include the nature of the public school teaching profession; race relations and history in the United States; education and experience in the United States; and laws, policies, and practices applicable to public education. In evaluating these elements, the researcher brings to light several factors that may prevent such research. The researcher concludes by presenting similar research initiatives and theories on how comparable research goals may be met, and by discussing areas for future research. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Christy Michelle Dodge earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs/German with distinction from the University of Maine, in 1991, at the age of 20. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education, Summa Cum Laude, from the State University of New York at Cortland in 1993. While working as a middle school special education teacher, she attended Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a Master of Science in Special Education in 1998. At Cornell University Christy earned a Master of Science in 2002. She has focused on Curriculum and Instruction and African-American Studies, as a result of her experiences teaching in public schools. While pursuing her studies, Christy was involved in the Graduate Field of Education, serving as the Treasurer and then President of the Cornell Education Society. She was also involved at the university level, working as a Graduate Assistant in the Office of Publications and Statistics, acting as a Fellow for Faculty Interaction Programming at the Big Red Barn Graduate Student Center, and serving as a Student Representative on the Judicial Hearing Board. As part of her studies she spent a year as a Scholar Exchange Student at Harvard University in the African-American Studies program. While writing her dissertation, she has taught education at the kindergarten through twelfth-grade levels. Over the years Christy has also taught regular education and adult education; and she has taught in learning centers and in an after-school program, and has provided independent tutoring services. Christy currently teaches many indigenous Australians at the high school level in a rural community of New South Wales. iii DEDICATION To the many wonderful African-American teachers of yesterday, today, and the future IN MEMORY OF Ramon Daniel Dodge George Clyde Dodge Mary Elizabeth Dodge Mildred Rathbone Jencks iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This has truly been an incredible journey, and I must begin by thanking God. I know that I have been truly blessed and have an important role to serve. I am also grateful for the wonderful people with whom I have been honored to work. My chair, N’Dri Assie-Lumumba, has provided endless support and encouragement. I thank her for holding high expectations, for pushing me to work up to my potential, and for never giving up on me. I especially thank her for believing in me at times when I did not believe in myself. Truly, I am also very grateful for my additional committee members, each having helped me for many years, gently encouraging me forward, and pushing me to improve significantly. I could not have done this without the help and support of Dr. John W. Sipple and Dr. Deborah J. Trumbull. I also am extremely appreciative of Dr. Quinetta Roberson, who had to leave my committee to pursue her own dreams. My family is also owed much gratitude. Without their support and encouragement over a lifetime, I could not have accomplished this. I thank my mom, Lois Jean Rathbone Dodge, for editing numerous times and for always being there for me. She has provided significant support over the years! I thank my dad, George Richard Dodge, and his brother, Dr. Robert Kendall Dodge, for reading and critiquing as well. I also thank my mom and dad for the upbringing they gave me. I thank my brother George Richard Dodge, Jr. Esq., who helped me through and encouraged me at times when I lacked confidence and the belief that I could do this. I thank him for always inspiring me and pushing me to be my best! I am most definitely thankful for his sweet, intelligent, creative wife, Athena Robles, as well! I also am full of gratitude for my younger brother, Ramon Daniel Dodge, whose smile, laughter, and encouragement I will never forget. It was his untimely death that drove me to find purpose in my life and to begin a career in education many years ago. v My friend Diane Elyse Lang is also owed tremendous thanks for always encouraging me and having ongoing faith in me. She has always known the right things to say in cheering me on, and she has helped me in various ways. In addition, I appreciate the assistance and support of everyone who has been a friend over the years!!! Last, but extremely important, I know how blessed I am to be married to Scott Matthew Hargash and to have my son, Scott Daniel Dodge Hargash, to brighten each day! They have not known me without this dissertation as a part of our lives. My husband has been there for me and supported me many times over the years. I thank him, too, for helping me in the ways I needed most, when I know it was not always easy to do so. I thank my son for allowing Mom to do what she needed to do. I love and appreciate all of my family, committee members, and friends immensely! vi TABLE OF CONTENTS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ......................................................................................... iii DEDICATION .............................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. vii CHAPTER I: NARRATIVE OF THE INITIAL FIELDWORK CHALLENGES AND EXPERIENTIAL FACTORS ............................................................................... 1 Research Objectives ................................................................................................. 1 Fieldwork Challenges and Revised Research Objectives ........................................ 7 Professional Background of the Author ................................................................. 11 CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY AND LITERATURE REVIEW FOR THE RESEARCH INITIALLY PURSUED ......................................................................... 36 The Original Methodology ..................................................................................... 36 Theoretical Approach ............................................................................................. 46 An Outsider-Within Perspective ............................................................................. 50 Literature Review on the Perspectives of African-American Female Teachers .... 52 CHAPTER III: PURPOSE OF EDUCATION, VALUE OF DIVERSITY, AND POSITIVE METHODS OF SCHOOLING FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS .................................................................................................................