Date of Award

8-26-2022

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Reading and Language Arts

Advisor(s)

Marcelle Haddix

Keywords

antiracist pedagogy, critical race English education, literacy, racial literacy

Subject Categories

Arts and Humanities | Education | Reading and Language | Secondary Education

Abstract

This dissertation uses practitioner inquiry (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999, 2009), narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 1990; Rolling & Bey, 2016; Schaafsma & Vinz, 2011; Toliver, 2020a), composite character counterstorytelling (Baker-Bell, 2020), and critical discourse analysis (Bloome et al., 2008; Bloome & Power-Carter, 2013; Fairclough, 2003; Power-Carter, 2008; Rogers, 2004; van Dijk, 1993) to present findings from a 10-month qualitative study of the understanding and enactment of critical race English education (CREE) (Johnson, 2018, 2021) in one school and the effect of one teacher’s enactment of CREE (Johnson, 2018, 2021) on youth’s understanding of antiracism. Informed by critical whiteness studies (Applebaum, 2010; Delpit, 1988; Frankenburg, 1993; Harris, 1993; Leonardo, 2009; McIntosh, 1988; McIntyre, 1997; Rothenberg, 2008), Black feminism (Combahee River Collective, 1977/2014; Lorde, 1984/2007), and critical literacy theory (Freire, 1970/2000; Luke, 2004, 2012; Vasquez et al., 2019), this study asks the following research questions: (1) How do English teachers in one school engage in CREE to address racial injustice through curricula and pedagogy? (2) How does one English teacher enact CREE in one classroom in order to cultivate racial literacy with students? (3) How do students respond to an antiracist curriculum and pedagogy to develop racial literacy?

Various data sources were collected to address these research questions. Data sources to address research question one include semi-structured interviews with faculty members in one English department in one secondary school. Data sources to address research question two include my own unit plans, lesson plans, and teaching artifacts from three sections of my Advanced Placement (AP) English Literature & Composition course during the 2020-2021 school year. Data sources to address research question three include student-created artifacts from the aforementioned AP English Literature & Composition course. Analysis and writing were informed by narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 1990; Rolling & Bey, 2016; Schaafsma & Vinz, 2011; Toliver, 2020), composite character counterstorytelling (Baker-Bell, 2020) and microethnographic discourse analysis (Bloome & Power-Carter, 2013; Fairclough, 2003; Power-Carter, 2008; Rogers, 2004; van Dijk, 1993).The findings from this study have implications for ELA teachers and literacy teacher educators. In particular, this study proposes that a conscious and concerted enactment of CREE (Johnson, 2018, 2021) by ELA teachers can lead to adolescent racial literacy development.

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