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An exploration of the racialized experiences of students of color in predominantly white independent schools.
- Format:
- Book
- Thesis/Dissertation
- Author/Creator:
- Washington-Smart, Robbin M.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Multicultural education.
- Middle school education.
- Educational sociology.
- 0340.
- 0450.
- 0455.
- Penn dissertations--Educational and Organizational Leadership.
- Educational and Organizational Leadership--Penn dissertations.
- Penn dissertations--Education.
- Education--Penn dissertations.
- Local Subjects:
- Penn dissertations--Educational and Organizational Leadership.
- Educational and Organizational Leadership--Penn dissertations.
- Penn dissertations--Education.
- Education--Penn dissertations.
- 0340.
- 0450.
- 0455.
- Physical Description:
- 258 pages
- Contained In:
- Dissertation Abstracts International 72-07A.
- System Details:
- Mode of access: World Wide Web.
- text file
- Summary:
- Little research has explored the racialized experiences of middle school students of color in predominantly white independent schools. This study is designed to fill this gap by surveying such students in the Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey area and analyzing the variability of racial stress and coping experiences reported. Questions asked: (1) How often do students encounter racial and ethnic conflict and stress? (2) How important is having meaningful relationships with faculty and staff of color? (3) How do the frequency of practice and the importance placed upon racial literacy by an institution influence the psychological sense of student membership above and beyond the influence of demographics? (4) Does racial socialization mediate relationships between students' racial stress and their sense of belonging?
- Surveys designed to elicit demographic and other quantitative data were administered to 201 students of color, ages 12 to 16 years. Thirty of the 201 students participated in one of three focus groups and answered open-ended questions about racial stress, racial socialization, racial coping, and initiation of discussions about race, racial literacy and sense of school membership.
- Three theories framed this research. Critical Race Theory explains schools' efforts to reduce or eliminate marginalization through the recognition and promotion of historically disenfranchised peoples by redressing stereotyping and enhancing plurality. The Recast Theory proposes that racial socialization processes mediate and mitigate the pressures of racial stress and their negative impact on racial coping. Lastly, the Racial Literacy Theory describes the level of integration of students of color into the social, economic, political and cultural worlds of the predominant society. This research supported pronouncements (Finn & Voelkl, 1993; Foster, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995) about the linkage between school connectedness, self-esteem, and socialization skills.
- This study found: (1) respondents' sense of school membership and self-esteem decreased, as school racism experiences increased in frequency; (2) students used racial/ethnic socialization skills to cope with racial stress as well as to reappraise norms and change others' perspectives; and, (3) students most frequently mentioned they were alienated from school and important social networks because of race, income, lifestyle, and others' sense of entitlement.
- Notes:
- Thesis (Ed.D. in Education) -- University of Pennsylvania, 2011.
- Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-07, Section: A, page: 2334.
- Adviser: Howard C. Stevenson.
- Local Notes:
- School code: 0175.
- ISBN:
- 9781124631615
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license.
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