Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Instruction & Curriculum Leadership

Committee Chair

Beverly Cross

Committee Member

Celia Anderson

Committee Member

Angiline Powell

Committee Member

Brian Wright

Abstract

AbstractOne of the great failures, so far, of the United States experiment with democracy is the failure to ensure that every child receives an equitable educational experience. This study was conducted to contribute both to scholarship and to educational practices aimed at correcting years of disenfranchising Black and Brown children through oppressive educational practices. It is not a study of despair, but one of hope that, when professional development opportunities for teachers are designed to disrupt White supremacy in schools, there will be a greater chance that educators will think more critically about their own dispositions and enact more culturally responsive and antiracist practices. In the interest of that pursuit, this researcher explored the findings of how a field-tested professional development model affected teacher understanding of how race operates in schools so that they could be more intentional about disrupting its impact on the learning and experiences of Black and Brown children in an impoverished community The findings suggested that when teachers engage in the Teaching for Equity and Justice Professional Development Model, they become intentional about implementing more equitable educational practices in their classrooms and engage in more culturally mediated practices in the classroom. Teachers in this study became more effective in developing a vision for their classrooms as socially and emotionally safe spaces that mitigate the impact of racism and historical inequities on students. The teachers developed more trusting, personalized, and respectful relationships with their students and created more open, inclusive, and student-centered classrooms.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

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