The purpose of this study was to determine principals' attitudes toward the use of culturally relevant pedagogy and culturally responsive leadership in predominately African American schools. Culturally relevant pedagogy, culturally responsive teaching, culturally responsive urban leadership, and ethnohumanist leadership are the study's theoretical underpinnings. The research question was as follows: To what extent, if any, do principals of predominately African American schools promote culturally relevant pedagogy and utilize culturally responsive leadership? The sample for this mixed methods study was secondary school principals and teachers in predominately African American schools. Seven principals and 43 teachers participated in the study. The research methods used were vignettes, interviews, surveys, content analysis, and document analysis. Vignettes containing 10 scenarios of principals performing culturally responsive leadership practices were distributed to principals who were asked to rate them with a Likert scale. In addition, principals were asked 13 open ended questions about culturally relevant pedagogy and culturally responsive leadership in an interview. Teachers were asked to complete a 10 question on-line survey about their principals' leadership from a culturally responsive perspective. Reviews of school improvement plans, principals' messages, and mission and vision statements were also conducted. / The study found that (a) principals admitted that they had a limited knowledge of the concepts of culturally relevant pedagogy and culturally responsive leadership, (b) principals theoretically viewed culturally relevant pedagogy and culturally responsive leadership as useful tools in educating African American student populations as evidenced by their responses to the vignettes, (c) principals had a general understanding of African American culture and exhibited sensitivity to the cultural needs of African American students, (d) stressed the managing of difficult students or the diffusing of problematic situations as a benefit of having teachers trained in culturally relevant pedagogy and (e) principals in the study did not actively encourage teachers to utilize culturally relevant pedagogy as a means to improve the academic achievement of African American students. / by Tressey Weaver. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_3430 |
| Contributors | Weaver, Tressey., College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | xiii, 174 p. : ill., electronic |
| Coverage | United States, United States, United States |
| Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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