The present study consisted of a phenomenological investigation of African American males who have been expelled from traditional educational settings in New Orleans, LA in order to provide educators with information geared towards increasing academic achievement in African American males. It has been noted that one of the reasons that Black males graduation rates are so low is because in addition to other factors that lead to non-completion, black males are more likely to be expelled from school. In this study, I used a Critical Race theoretical framework to explore gain experiential knowledge of these excluded young men, what they perceive as barriers to their success, and their sentiments on the relationships they have had with educators and peers whom they have encountered. Based on the participants’ responses, seven categories emerged from the data including: (a) Race and Racism, (b) Self Perceptions, (c) Family Expectations and Support, (d) Male Role Models and Mentors, (e) The School Environment, (f) School Discipline, and (g) Alternative School. Study participants described the totality of their education experiences by opening up about what they felt were key factors at play. The stories of the participants provided a deeper context of the nuances of racism and how it impacts their day to day educational experiences overall The results of this study provides data that may enable educators to begin steps to dismantle the school to prison pipeline by ensuring at-risk students are supported and successful in school without having to be removed. This information serves as a catalyst for future inquiry into additional nuances that effect the academic achievement of African American male students in K-12 schools.

This dissertation examines teacher’s perspectives regarding the classroom strategies, behaviors, and approaches they believed best support the development of African American students. Educator perceptions are valuable to understand because perceptions and attitudes undergird behavior and practices. This study focused on perceptions of teachers toward pedagogical strategies, approaches, and teacher behaviors that perceived to best support African American students because of the persisting achievement gap between African American students and their White, middle class counterparts. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy was used as the theoretical framework for this study as it describes approaches to teaching students from historically marginalized groups in ways that are more relevant to their cultural strengths, assets, and knowledge-bases. Q methodology was selected for this study because it was designed to examine human subjectivity using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Forty-two teachers sorted 36 statements, each representing a practice, strategy, or behavior identified by participants as being culturally relevant to African American students, based on their perceived effectiveness. These 42 Q sorts were then correlated. Principal component analysis and Varimax rotation were used to examine the relationships among the correlations and extract 4 factors, 1 of which was bipolar, or containing two different, but mirrored perspectives. The factor arrays of these 5 perspectives were then examined, described, and named: Responsive to Students Cultural Backgrounds, Responding through Honoring and Exploring Culture, Responding through Structure, Routines, and Direct Advocacy, Conducive and Inclusive Learning Environment, Non-responsive Culture Free Pedagogical Practices. Implications and recommendations for practice, theory, and policy were also discussed.

This thesis works to establish a literary theory and cultural studies as a theoretical lens with which we can view harmful emerging pop culture phenomena like the so-called alt right. The premise is supposed in three parts, with the first being a simple introduction to the Pepe character and how he is grounded in literary studies through a comparison of Sherlock Holmes and his early fandom. The second part is a survey of the legacy of Jim Crow and I present the evidence that Pepe is very much Crow’s spiritual successor in their shared preoccupation with white anxiety. The third is a discussion of language in which I bridge the use of memes as language with how that language effectively communicates. Ultimately, Pepe the Frog is able to tap into the pop culture collective through a democratizing of language facilitated by digital spaces on the internet, and his proliferation is made readily viral by the racist language he speaks through ala Jim Crow era anxieties.

Abstract This thesis acknowledges the social and cultural importance of education and the role the institution plays in the construction of knowledge – in this case of young Nunga males. It also recognizes that education is a contested field. I have disrupted constructions of knowledge about young Nunga males in mainstream education by mapping and rapping - or mappin and rappin Aboriginal English - the theories of race, masculinity, performance, cultural capital, body and desire and space and place through the use of Nunga time-space pathways. Through disruption I have shown how the theories of race and masculinity underpin ways in which Blackness and Indignity are played out within the racialisation of education and how the process of racialisation informs young Nunga males’ experiences of schooling. The cultural capital that young Nunga males bring to the classroom and schooling environment must be acknowledged to enable performance of agency in contested time, space and knowledge paradigms. Agency privileges their understanding and desire for change and encourages them to apply strategies that contribute to their own journeys home through time-space pathways that are (at least in part) of their own choosing.

There is a tendency in education theory to place the focus on the consequences of racial hegemony (racism, Eurocentric education, low performance by racial minorities) and ignore that race is antecedent to these consequences. This dissertation explores the treatment of race within critical theory in education. I conduct a metaphysical analysis to examine the race concept as it emerges from the works of various critical theorists in education. This examination shows how some scholars affirm the scientifically discredited race concept by offering racial essentialist approaches for emancipatory education. I argue that one of consequences of these approaches is the further tightening of racial constraints on the student’s personal autonomy. This mandates that critical theorists gain a deeper understanding of race as a problem, conceptually, epistemically, ideologically, and existentially. I argue that critical theorists of education draw from work conducted in the philosophy of race by theorists such as K. Anthony Appiah, Jorge Gracia, Charles Mills, and Naomi Zack to gain insights on the metaphysics of race to better inform theory and praxis. I further recommend the creation of a critical philosophy of race in education to address and combat race as a problem and its consequences. I contend that the groundwork for philosophy of race in education must entail strategies that encourage and assist theorists and teachers to move toward the elimination of the race in society, while utilizing race only as heuristic tool to address its consequences. Additionally, I argue that a philosophy of race in education must advocate for an education for autonomy as a means to racial liberation for students.

This study focuses on a girl-centered, anti-racist, feminist PAR program with Indigenous and racialized girls in Victoria, a smaller, predominantly white city in British Columbia, Canada. As a partnership among antidote: Multiracial and Indigenous Girls and Women’s Network, and an interdisciplinary team of academic researchers who are also members of antidote, this project defies typical insider-outsider dynamics. In this thesis, I intend to speak back to mainstream Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) literature, contesting the notion that this methodology provides an easy escape from the research engine and underlying colonial formations. Practices of YPAR are continuously (re)colonized, producing new forms of colonialism and imperialism. Our process can be described as an ongoing rhythm of disruptions and recolonizations that are not simple opposites, but are mutually reliant and constitutive within neocolonial formations. In other words, our practice involved creatively disrupting new forms of colonialism and imperialism as they emerged, while recognizing that our responses were not outside of these formations. I seek to make our roles as researchers visible, rather than hidden by hegemonic equalizing claims of PAR, and will explore some of the ways that white noise infiltrated our ongoing efforts of decolonizing YPAR practices. / Graduate

Submitted by Daniel Lucas Alves da Silva (danilu157@hotmail.com) on 2018-04-20T14:49:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Daniel - Versão Final - Repositório.pdf: 1014278 bytes, checksum: ae6cad39a074b69fadfc0158454d8be1 (MD5) / Rejected by Elza Mitiko Sato null (elzasato@ibilce.unesp.br), reason: Solicitamos que realize correções na submissão seguindo as orientações abaixo: Problema 01) Está faltando o LOGO da Universidade na capa do seu trabalho.(este item é obrigatório) Problema 02)Solicitamos que faça correção na descrição na folha de rosto e de aprovação. Agradecemos a compreensão. on 2018-04-20T15:49:09Z (GMT) / Submitted by Daniel Lucas Alves da Silva (danilu157@hotmail.com) on 2018-04-23T10:36:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Daniel - Versão Final - Repositório I.pdf: 1110805 bytes, checksum: 9660f0b915e0db1a26aceb17210cee66 (MD5) / Rejected by Elza Mitiko Sato null (elzasato@ibilce.unesp.br), reason: Solicitamos que realize correções na submissão seguindo as orientações abaixo: - Está faltando o LOGO (Símbolo)da Universidade/Câmpus na capa do seu trabalho.(este item é obrigatório) - Solicito que corrija a descrição: Dissertação apresentada como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do título de Mestre em Estudos Linguísticos, junto ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos Linguísticos na área de concentração de Linguística Aplicada, linha de pesquisa de Ensino e Aprendizagem de Línguas, do Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas da Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, Câmpus de São José do Rio Preto. 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No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_dla_me_sjrp.pdf: 1111954 bytes, checksum: 4ed3ca18ab6bbadc62b1024124eb3be0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-06 / Na esteira do crescente interesse em português como língua estrangeira, doravante PLE, este trabalho se propõe a contribuir para a formação de professores de PLE quanto a seu entendimento da dinâmica das relações étnico-raciais que marcam a língua portuguesa na sua variante brasileira, sobretudo, no que diz respeito ao racismo antinegro. Espera-se que, por meio de um instrumento de avaliação voltado a professores de PLE, o EPPLE-PLE, esta formação seja melhor informada para a condução do debate acerca da temática racial e, por consequência, a prática docente destes profissionais possa instanciar uma maior sensibilização por parte de professores e aprendentes da língua para esta dimensão cultural que perpassa a historicidade do português brasileiro. Para tanto, valemo-nos da teoria racial crítica aplicada à formação de professores de língua estrangeira como apresentada por Ferreira (2015) e um seu desdobramento, qual seja o letramento racial segundo Skerret (2011), do conceito de washback by design conforme Messick (1989) e da teoria sociocultural nos termos de Vigostski (1987) para este que é um processo de legitimação da elaboração e da proposição de itens para o referido exame. Trata-se de um processo de legitimação de uma proposição de itens e sua posterior elaboração para o que se pretende possa ser uma intervenção benéfica para a prática de professores de PLE. / In the context of increasing interest in Portuguese as a foreign language (henceforth PFL) this project contributes to the understanding of teachers of PFL regarding the racial dynamics that manifest themselves in Brazilian Portuguese, in particular anti-black racism. We argue that considerations about race should form part of the elaboration of an assessment instrument designed for teachers of PFL, the EPPLE-PLE (a proficiency exam for teachers of foreign languages in its Portuguese acronym). In doing so, as an expected result, teaching can inculcate more awareness, both on the part of teachers and learners of PFL, regarding this cultural dimension that forms part of the history of Brazilian Portuguese. To this end, we make use of critical race theory applied to the education of teachers of a foreign language as presented by Ferreira (2015) and the idea of racial literacy according to Skerret (2011), the concept of washback by design by Messick (1989) and the theory of sociocultural perspective by Vigostki (1987), for the selection of items for the aforementioned exam. This is a legitimation process of the proposition of items and their elaboration for an exam that we deem can be a beneficial intervention in the practice of PFL teachers.

This study’s aim was to identify what racialized adoptees experience as strategies and support in relation to racially differentiating expressions (racism). Data was collected using qualitative interviews with five racialized transracially adopted adults. The transcriptions from the interviews were analyzed via thematic analysis. The theoretical approach was based in critical race theory and postcolonial theory. Identified strategies was modification of the body, use of adoptionhood, identity, silence, violence and knowledge of racism. Identified sources of support was other racialized people, white people with special relations to the respondents, the adoptive parents, the LGBTQ-community, separatist rooms for people of colour and the internet. White people are described as a particular group with less ability to give support. The study’s results show that racialized adoptees have little support in their immediate environment and have to develop strategies mostly on their own.

Background: Prior to the early 1990s, most counselor preparation programs did not have multicultural competencies. Therefore, a call was made for the use of multicultural competencies in counselor preparation programs. Yet, the popularization of multicultural competencies of this time in education had a Eurocentric bent, a kind of colorblindness More recently, scholars confirmed that these Eurocentric multicultural competencies had become the primary template from which counselor preparation programs taught culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy. Therefore, a call was made for the use of critical race theory (CRT) in counselor preparation programs to challenge and change Eurocentric cultural competence. Purpose: This study explored the presence of CRT and culturally relevant pedagogy in an educational counseling master’s program preparing community college counselors. Methodology: This content analysis explored an educational counseling master’s program. Various data collection methods employed included program document analysis, and semi-structured interviews of program faculty/counselor-educators, program student-counselors/alumni. Conclusion: The main findings of this content analysis are that although not explicit, and albeit limited, evidence of CRT themes were inferred in some way in the program’s content; while culturally relevant pedagogy was evident within the variety of counseling techniques employed.

<p>This dissertation examines Charles Darwin’s major texts together with literary works by turn-of the-century American women writers—Nella Larsen, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Kate Chopin—in order to trace how evolutionary theory shaped transatlantic cultural ideas of race, particularly black identity, and gender. I focus on the concept of “descent” as the overarching theme organizing categories of the human in evolutionary terms. My perspective and methods—examining race and gender from a black feminist perspective that draws on biopolitics theory, as well as using close reading, affect theory, and attention to narrative in my textual analysis—comprise my argument’s framework. By bringing these perspectives and methods together in my attention to the interplay between Darwinian discourse and American literature, I shed new light on the turn-of-the-century transatlantic exchange between science and culture. Throughout this dissertation, I argue that descent constitutes a central concept and point of tension in evolutionary theory’s inscription of life’s development. I also show how themes of human-animal kinship, the Western binary of rationality and materiality, and reproduction and maternity circulated within this discourse. I contribute to scholarly work relating evolutionist discourse to literature by focusing on American literature: in the context of turn-of-the-century American anxieties about racial and gender hierarchies, the evolutionist paradigm’s configurations of human difference were especially consequential. Moreover, Larsen, Gilman, and Chopin offer responses that reveal this hierarchy’s varied effects on racialized and gendered bodies. I thus demonstrate the significance of examining Darwinian discourse alongside American literature by women writers, an association in need of deeper scholarly attention, especially from a feminist, theoretical perspective. </p><p>This dissertation begins with my application of literary analysis and close reading to Darwin’s major texts in order to uncover how they formed a suggestive foundation for late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century ideologies of race and gender. I use this analysis as the background for my investigation of Larsen’s, Gilman’s, and Chopin’s literary texts. In Chapter 1, I conduct a close reading of Darwin’s articulation of natural selection in <i>The Origin of Species</i>and focus on how Darwin’s syntactical and narrative structure imply evolution as an agential force aimed at linear progress. In Chapter 2, I analyze Darwin’s articulation of the development of race and gender differences in <i>The Descent of Man</i>, as well as Thomas Henry Huxley’s <i>Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature</i>, and argue that Darwin’s and Huxley’s accounts suggest how anxiety over animal-human kinship was alleviated through structuring nonwhite races and women as less developed and hence inferior. In Chapter 3, I argue that Larsen’s novel <i>Quicksand </i>interrogates and complicates aesthetic primitivism and biopolitical racism and sexism, both rooted in evolutionist discourses. Finally, in Chapter 4, I focus on Gilman’s utopian novel <i>Herland</i>and select short stories by Chopin. While Gilman unambiguously advocates for a desexualized white matriarchy, Chopin’s stories waver between support for, and critique of, racial hierarchy. Reading these authors together against the backdrop of white masculine evolutionist theory reveals how this theory roots women as materially bound reproducers of racial hierarchy.</p>