This work reflects an exploratory ecological study of a charter school (CDS) serving refugee, immigrant, and native-born American students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Bronfrenbrenner's (1977; 1986) ecology of human development, Berrys (2009) acculturative taxonomy theory, and Rudmins (2009) secondary culture acquisition hypothesis are used to explore how CDS constructs their highly diverse educational environment. A triangulation of methods is used to assess the physical, social, programmatic, and pedagogic environment of CDS. Findings suggest that CDS is a multicultural acculturative environment as described in Berrys (2009) model. Multiculturalism, as practiced at CDS, lays the foundation for the values the school aims to transmit to its students to shape their perceptions of themselves and others. The schools main curriculum conveys a worldview that closely resembles Bronfenbrenners (1977; 1986) ecology of human development. Thus elementary school students are taught from a young age how structural forces contextualize their experiences, as well as how individual agency and collective action can result in social change. For refugee and minority students, such perspectives are likely to empower them to recognize and confront discrimination, as well as resist pressures to internalize derogatory perceptions of themselves or their efficacy that they are likely to encounter in mainstream culture.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-11302012-225902 |
| Date | 12 December 2012 |
| Creators | Nwosu, Oluchi Chinyere |
| Contributors | Dr. Sandra L. Barnes, Dr. Torin Monahan |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-11302012-225902/ |
| Rights | restrictsix, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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