The study takes a grounded theoretical approach to the study of conflicted communication among adolescent youth in an inner city middle school. Ethnographic field methods were utilized over an eighteen month period in an inner city middle school and the surrounding neighborhoods. Conflicted communication is concerned with the use of patterned forms and content of conflict behaviors to both maintain and transform the youths' social world. It arises out of the social construction of adolescence, the institutional and community settings and familial practices. Three questions are posed: What are the patterned forms and content of adolescent conflicted communication? How does the school, community, and family make an impact on conflicted communication? What does the enactment of conflicted communication reveal about the social world of adolescent youth? Audiotapes of mediation sessions between youth, interviews with youth, school personnel, community members and families, as well as field notes comprise the primary data sources. Analyses of these data necessarily cross traditional boundaries to explore these research questions. Descriptive analyses reveal the presence of overarching patterned processes and particular repeated content in conflict situations. An interpretive analysis of 'face,' an often-mentioned symbolic theme, reveals the importance of taking the symbolic dimension into account in order to understand the hidden values inherent in conflicted communication practices. Lastly, a critical analysis examines the interplay between conflicted communication practices and the influence of the inner city institution and neighborhoods on such practices. Framing these three analyses is a meta-theoretical proposition regarding the social world of adolescent youth which suggests that adolescent youth engage in conflicted communication because it provides the means to re-organize social groupings, to experiment with displays and exercise of power, and to test the strength of socio-familial alliances. The study concludes with the suggestion that conflict resolution/mediation programs in schools consider the socio-cultural dimensions and functions of conflict in the lives of adolescents. Rather than striving to eliminate institutional conflict, school personnel need to encourage critical reflection about conflicted communication and help youth identify junctures within conflict situations where less destructive actions might be chosen.

Higher education institutions have a responsibility to educate all. Yet, significant proportions of blacks are not being successfully reached. This, coupled with changing demographics, is forcing educators to be concerned about the future. Under-representation exists in faculty and administrative ranks as well as with students. The hostile climate for black students on predominantly white campuses has been cited as a major concern and barrier to success. Black student alienation has been attributed to a number of variables, but the root of the problem is often traced to the campus climate. It is clear that the environment has a substantial impact on a student's level of satisfaction and can make a difference in whether a student leaves or persists. As the shapers of the climate and the experts on students, student affairs administrators play a key role in campus climate. With this major responsibility, one must ask how much of an understanding of black students' problems and experiences do these administrators have? Through the process of in-depth interviewing, the study examined the perception and the level of understanding of student affairs administrators of the campus climate for black students at Easton College, a predominantly white institution. Administrators are grouped into three groups for comparative purposes: those who are knowledgeable about black students, those who know little about black students, and those who are black. It also includes the perceptions of black students who attend the college. Results of the study indicate that the climate at Easton College is hostile and unwelcoming to its black students. While all the administrators are aware of the hostile climate, the level of knowledge and specificity differed among the three groups. Easton College is doing little to create a learning environment that promotes appreciation. Social and cultural isolation is prevalent. Care and support is limited because of insufficient knowledge and inadequate exposure to black culture. To improve the climate for black students, a number of recommendations are made.

This study explores the career progression and life history of black mathematicians and scientists who teach on university faculties in the United States. It investigates the following questions: Why are there so few black mathematicians and scientists in colleges and universities in the United States? What is the experience of black students who express an interest in science and math? What barriers do black scientists and mathematicians face as they move through school towards their career in higher education? What factors facilitate their success? The current literature shows that there are few women and minorities teaching or working in math and science compared to white men, although reasons for this underrepresentation are still not well understood. I explored this phenomenon by conducting two sets of in-depth interviews with twelve black faculty, six women, six men, from both historically black and predominantly white higher educational institutions in the United States. My interviews were based upon a life history approach that identified the participants' perceptions of the barriers and obstacles, as well as the supports and facilitators encountered in their schooling and career progression. The findings from the study show the importance of a strong family, community, and teacher support for the participants throughout their schooling. Support systems continued to be important in their faculty positions. These support systems include extended family members, teachers, community members, supervisors, and classmates, who serve as role models and mentors. The life study interviews provide striking evidence of the discrimination, isolation, and harassment due to race and gender experienced by black male and female mathematicians and scientists. The racial discrimination and the compounding effect of racism and sexism play out differently for the male and female participants in this study. This study suggests directions for future research on the experiences of young black students who are currently in the math and science educational pipeline. It also offers recommendations for ways in which parents, teachers, administrators, faculty, advisors, and government officials can enhance the educational experiences of black students who express interest and have skills in math and science.

This study is a qualitative investigation in which five African American women science faculty, in higher education, within the age range of 45–60, were the participants. The data that was collected, over twelve months, was primarily obtained from the in-depth phenomenological interviewing method (Seidman, 1991). The interpretation of the data was the result of ongoing cross analysis of the participants' life experiences, perceptions, and beliefs of the how they navigated and negotiated pathways to careers in the natural sciences, and the meanings they attach to these experiences. The software Ethnograph (V5.0) was used to organize the participants' responses into patterns and emergent themes. The Black women in this study articulated several themes that were critical determinants of their successes and achievements in science careers. From the analysis of the data set, four major findings were identified: (1) "Black Intentional Communities" acted as social agencies for the positive development of the participants; (2) "My World Reality" which was described by the participants as their acceptance of their segregated worlds, not being victims of inequities and injustices, but being resilient and determined to forge on to early academic successes. Early academic successes were identified as precursors and external motivational stimuli to their interests and achievements in science; (3) Their experiences of "Tensions and Double Consciousness" from race and gender negative images and career stereotypes, required the women to make "intra-cultural deviations" from stereotypic career roles and to develop "pragmatic coping strategies" to achieve in science careers and; (4) "Meaning-making"—Significant to the meaning of their journey was the fact that the participants grounded their experiences in a social context rather than in a scientific context and that they ended their journey with expressions of personal satisfactions about their journey and their unique drive and commitment to others, which is, their social responsibility. Implications for future research and the need for a deeper understanding of Black women's experiences in science education and in natural science careers are discussed from a social historic context.

This qualitative study was a means to identify what motivated Black students to serve in the supplemental instruction (SI) leader role, the challenges they experienced, and what they learned while serving in the peer educator role within the context of an historically Black college or university (HBCU). Research targeting the experiences of SI leaders is limited, and there had yet to be a study completed on the experiences of SI leaders of color in any institution type. This research was an assessment of the perceptions of peer educators, providing a benchmark for further exploration on the impact SI can have at other HBCUs as well as how Black students are trained and supported in academic peer educator roles. Twelve SI leaders at Xavier University of Louisiana participated in interviews during the fall 2019 semester. The desire to help others and the position’s connection to their individual professional goals emerged as the primary themes when participants described what motivated them to serve in the SI leader capacity. Participants discussed the struggles of setting expectations and boundaries while serving in the SI role, as well as the positions of peer, friend, classmate, and leader when working with students in their SI sessions. Last, participants credited the SI leader position for helping them to develop and enhance the following skills: networking and relationship-building, communication, organization, emotional intelligence, critical and creative thinking, and leadership and teamwork skills. This study showed the what and how about SI peer educators are developing and enhancing themselves to graduate and professional schools and potential employers. More importantly, this study adds to the literature regarding students of color as the facilitators of the Supplemental Instruction program as most studies targeting the experiences of peer educators have been taken place at predominantly White institutions or samples. The results of this dissertation about SI leaders’ experiences at HBCUs can inform how training could better meet the needs of students of color as recipients and facilitators of peer educator programs. By presenting what peer leaders and SI programs at HBCUs are doing well, the findings can provide insight for peer education programs not accustomed to serving or hiring first-generation students and students of color effectively. This research contributes to addressing the gap in the literature regarding students of color serving in the peer educator role as well as showing the value of mentoring through academic peer education programs.

Until fairly recent history the roles of career woman and mother could not be undertaken concurrently by the majority of women, at least not while their children were young. It is, however, more the norm in modern society for working women to be actively parenting. Complications can arise as these women attempt to find a balance between their personal and professional roles. If the duties and expectations are found to be essentially the same in both venues, as they perhaps are in teaching and parenting, then the role juggling can be doubly difficult. It may also be that the familiarity of the tasks would make going from the mother role to the teacher role considerably easier. This study explores the history of the teacher/mother, the present day experience of the teacher/mother, and the perceptions these woman have concerning their two primary roles. It is the purpose of this study, using the lens of role theory, to explore the experience of teachers who are also mothers as they attempt simultaneously to tackle their roles as educators and parents. Secondary school teachers who are mothers to at least one child in school and still living in their homes were interviewed, using a phenomenological interviewing method, to determine how they perceive their roles as teachers and mothers, what importance they attach to these roles, and how they believe the two roles interact. Special attention was given to possible instances of role strain, and in particular, role conflict.

abstract: This dissertation historicizes the contemporary notions of student misbehavior through a critical study of 19th-century teacher manuals. Instead of reading the texts of the manuals as a window into the experiences of the past, I consider the manuals as discursive operations that enacted practices and ideals. In drawing upon historiographical and analytical methods inspired by Michel Foucault and Sara Ahmed, I explore how the intersection of student misbehavior with teacher pedagogy and disciplinary procedures enact “modes of subjection” (Foucault, 1995) and “affective orientations” (Ahmed, 2006) in the modernization of teacher pedagogy and schooling. I argue that the archive of manuals demonstrates the entanglement of student subjectivity and affect with modernizing regimes of governmentality and the marketplace. I equally argue that the modes of student misbehavior present in the archive provide avenues and strategies for thinking outside contemporary developmental and clinical framing of misbehavior. It is in rethinking misbehavior outside of contemporary frameworks that this dissertation provides an opportunity to reconsider how the boundaries of schooling and school participation might radically open up toward more diversity, inclusivity, and equity. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Learning, Literacies and Technologies 2020

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This study examined the experiences of white, low-income high school students completing their senior year in a rural community and earning their diplomas. The purpose of the study was to examine participants’ stories during high school using a community cultural wealth framework and narrative methodological approach. Results showed that students utilized capitals such as social, moral, familial and resistant in their small communities. Multiple capitals interacted and influenced each other as rural youth draw on these for support.

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