LANGUAGE OBSERVING VISUAL EXPLORATIONS: AFTER SCHOOL ACADEMIC PROGRAMS (LOVE: ASAP) LISTENING TO AFRICAN AMERICAN MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS WITHIN A CULTURALLY RELEVANT PROGRAM by MARIA INEZ WINFIELD (Under the Direction of Peter Smagorinsky) ABSTRACT Language Observing Visual Explorations: After School Academic Program (LOVE: ASAP) is a participatory action qualitative research study. I listen to the voices of African American Middle School girls, and examine their schooling narratives. Poetry, prose and collages personify their narratives as they metacognitively engage in culturally relevant language and visual arts activities. Within theses activities, they explore social justice, history, and accountability. As I excogitate their personal narratives within a critical race narrative frame, evidence of racism, miseducation, suppression, omission, and the oppression of their sui generis and strengths recrudesces. This research addresses the issues that culturally relevant pedagogy remediates, alleviates, and combats. My study creates interlocution between African American Middle School girls, and educational research. INDEX WORDS: African American Girls, Afrocentrism, Arts Based Research, Critical Race Theory, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Learning, Language and Visual Art, Middle School, Narratives, Poetic Representation, Portraiture LANGUAGE OBSERVING VISUAL EXPLORATIONS: AFTER SCHOOL ACADEMIC PROGRAMS (LOVE: ASAP) LISTENING TO AFRICAN AMERICAN MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS WITHIN A CULTURALLY RELEVANT PROGRAM by MARIA INEZ WINFIELD B.S., Northern Arizona University, 1991 MLA, Bread Loaf School of English, 2002 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2007 © 2007 Maria Inez Winfield All Rights Reserved LANGUAGE OBSERVING VISUAL EXPLORATIONS: AFTER SCHOOL ACADEMIC PROGRAMS (LOVE: ASAP) LISTENING TO AFRICAN AMERICAN MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS WITHIN A CULTURALLY RELEVANT PROGRAM by MARIA INEZ WINFIELD Major Professor: Peter Smagorinsky Committee: Juanita Johnson Bailey Richard Siegesmund Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2007 DEDICATION To the children of the African Diaspora, African American Middle School girls, and for all of us who choose to create love, peace, and joy. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To My Father-God with whom all things are possible. To the mighty cloud of witnesses who light the way. And to: My little Mother for being who she is in the world…tiny, titanic, and true; Daddy for teaching me perseverance and faith. To Elizabeth and Bob Peterson, my sister and brother, for dulcet words and brilliant perspectives; my big brother Donald for many blessings and coffee from the Land of Enchantment; it was a necessary luxury; William Christopher and Joseph Vicente for teaching me how to love beyond reason; King Davis, and Dr. “Dad” Powell my surrogate father’s; Cousin Louis, Cousin Addie and the New York Winfield’s for showing me my roots; my cherished friend Nancy Brown for helping me get outside of my head; Evanna, DJ, and Tamika for anchoring my heart to Arizona; My Fairy Godmother, Gwendolyn Shire for the magic; Victoria Pettis for open doors and borrowed books; Becky, Dianne, and Marianne my unsung heroes; May, Mercy, and Michael for joyfulness; from genesis to revelation I thank, Laura, Lauren, Laurie, and Leslie; the amazing, Juanita Johnson Bailey for always holding me in her arms, and never letting go; Richard and Peter for recrudescent championship; my ally, Courtney…you know why; my Bread Loaf Family, your recrudescence in my life leaves joy in its wake, always and always; Alzena and her middle school kids for sharing their classroom with me; Laquisha, Naqwaija, and Taylor for being my angels on earth; Tyra for delicacies, merriment, and rapport; Aaron Sinclair Peterson for unwavering belief in me, for knowing exactly when to call, and for faithful prayer; and my righteous and devoted comrade Nichole Michelle Ray for bread, salad, and tofu, for music, dancing, and silliness… for cascading laughter and salubrious tears, v for watching my critical breakdowns and loving me anyway, for teaching me how to celebrate each victory…without whom I could not have survived. Finally, I thank the Apache Middle School students who are now the Buena High School, Class of 2008…my last 7th graders. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................v FIGURES......................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 Purpose Statement and Questions......................................................................2 Problem Statement.............................................................................................3 Conceptual Framework......................................................................................7 Significance to the Field of Education...............................................................8 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .................................................................11 Finding Emerald’s in Bluegrass: African American Middle School Girls’ Voices....................................................................................................11 Deep Roots: Historical African American Education .................................12 Free and Public Education for All...............................................................14 Fertile Soil: African American Feminists and Pioneers ............................22 Historically Significant Educational Experiences for African American Girls.......................................................................................................26 Sprouting Seeds: An African American Philosophy of Education .............29 In Full Bloom: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy........................................... 36 Because…Hope: Cultural Relevance Theories .......................................... 44 vii The Ladson-Billings Approach ..................................................................47 Afrocentricism.............................................................................................49 Africentrism.................................................................................................51 Transformative ............................................................................................54 Intersectionality of Art and Language.........................................................56 After School Programs ................................................................................59 Chapter Summary........................................................................................69 3 METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................................71 The Research Setting...................................................................................73 Design of Study ..........................................................................................73 Sample Language Art Lessons....................................................................75 Sample Visual Art Lesson...........................................................................76 Overview of Language and Visual Arts Intersectionality...........................77 Program Design: Factors and Considerations ...........................................79 Participant Observation ..............................................................................80 Narrative Methodology ...............................................................................82 Portraiture ..................................................................................................83 Critical Race Theory ...................................................................................86 Sampling Selection and Criteria ................................................................87 Site Selection...............................................................................................89 Data Collection and Analysis ....................................................................90 Data Collection ..........................................................................................90 Written Narratives .......................................................................................91 viii Visual Artifacts ..........................................................................................92 Audio and Video Recordings ......................................................................93 Interviews ..................................................................................................93 Field Observations ......................................................................................94 Field Notes ..................................................................................................95 Data Analysis .............................................................................................96 Authenticity and Credibility........................................................................99 Member Checks...........................................................................................99 Community of Practice..............................................................................100