The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experience of white principals in understanding their white identity, privilege, and power as they worked to implement socially-just and culturally proficient schools. The findings offer insights into the following questions: 1) How do white school leaders view white identity and the impact, if any, it has on their leadership? 2) How do white school leaders relate to students of color, their parents, and the community? 3) In what ways do white school leaders engage in race talk and address issues of white identity, privilege, and power? 4) What challenges do white school leaders experience as they attempt to end racism in their schools? The study was set in a mostly white suburban school district in the Pacific Northwest. It involved three male and two female white principals who were previously engaged in equity training. Primary data sources included two individual interviews and two focus group sessions which were audiotaped and transcribed. Data analysis involved several coding cycles to identify themes related to the research questions. The analyses indicated the white principals engaged in a number of actions which demonstrated leadership focused on becoming culturally proficient. The knowledge and understanding principals gained in the equity training contributed to their understanding of white privilege and white identity. Their ability to name this understanding while interacting with parents and students of color helped to build relationships and created allies in their work. Due to their perceived lack of skill and knowledge related to implementing equity efforts around cultural competence, principals shared a hesitancy to lead staff into meaningful race talk and other work around white identity, privilege, and power. Challenges also arose as principals worked to manage competing district initiatives, limited staff training time, and the need for support. / Graduation date: 2013

My dissertation is an ethnographic analysis of a public high school in Southeast Los Angeles County. My research analyzes three issues that make major contributions to issues of race and gender within anthropology. First, my ethnography examines the linkages between the prison and public education systems. Second, I argue that as a means to control the movement of black bodies on campus, the public education system denies black students access to traditional spaces of black cultural autonomy. Third, I address the manner in which the public education system constructs and reinforces a particular type of deviant black masculinity with respect to black male youth. Building upon the school-to-prison pipeline scholarship, my dissertation examines the micro-processes by which public education as a state structure facilitates the movement of black male bodies into the labyrinth of the prison system. However, departing from the body of literature, I detail how the public education structure is an ideological and pragmatic extension of the organizational logic of prison. / text

Framed within a context of social justice, this ethnographic study queried seven Mexican American students who pursued teacher certification at a historically Black university (HBCU) in Central Texas. By examining the Mexican American students' perceptions, this study opens conversations to challenge the limited information known about Latino/as attending HBCUs and the programs that prepare preservice teachers of Color. Mexican American students and the HBCU both exist at a crossroads, an intersection of border spaces of race, class, ethnicity, gender, and ability. While border crossers defines the uniqueness of these Mexican American teacher candidates who live in contradictory realities, borderlands defines the HBCU as a site of resistance in the margins of higher education. A Black-White binary, therefore, not only is flawed but also obscures struggles common among Latinos, African Americans, and Others for an equitable education. Through interviews and small group sessions, the teacher candidates shared a high regard for educational achievement, work ethics, and teaching. From the coded data, their stories were analyzed through the lens of critical race theory, borderlands consciousness, and critical pedagogy. Although commonalities exist, each analytical perspective brought to the forefront variant aspects of race, class, gender, and abilities. Linked to these analytical frameworks was the notion of three selves: enduring, situated, and endangered, which helped to illuminate the nature of change and transformation. In tandem with the analyses were member and colleagues checks that helped to provide deeper interrogation and clarity. Findings reveal how race and class shape the teacher candidates' identities as well as the character of the university. Although the Mexican American preservice teachers bring rich cultural legacies and cross-cultural perspectives, their needs and interests are under-addressed by the institution. Yet for them, it was class disparities more than racial injustices that perpetuated problems inside and outside the HBCU. Nonetheless, these teacher candidates believe the validating experiences and cultural network, which they acquired at this HBCU, will support their teaching effectiveness in public schools. The strengths and findings of this study are therefore crucial to rethinking policies and practices as related to teacher education programs and HBCUs, and their impact on communities of Color. / text

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