"If You Are Going to Last in This Profession, You Have to Be Yourself": Qualitative Portraits of Critical Educators in Urban Secondary Schools

Autor/in	Sellers, Kathleen Marie
Titel	"If You Are Going to Last in This Profession, You Have to Be Yourself": Qualitative Portraits of Critical Educators in Urban Secondary Schools
Quelle	(2023), (189 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit Ph.D. Dissertation, Miami University
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
ISBN	979-8-3776-5110-9
Schlagwörter	Hochschulschrift; Dissertation; High School Teachers; Teaching Experience; Urban Schools; Low Income; Catholic Schools; High Schools; Experiential Learning; Social Justice; Educational Practices; Ecology + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Thesis; Dissertations; Academic thesis; High school; High schools; Teacher; Teachers; Oberschule; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Niedriglohn; Katholische Schule; Experiental learning; Erfahrungsorientiertes Lernen; Soziale Gerechtigkeit; Bildungspraxis; Ökologie
Abstract	This study examines the professional experiences of three teachers in a national network of urban, low-income serving, Catholic high schools. These teacher-participants were chosen to participate in this study because they engaged in experiential, community-based pedagogy within this national network and exemplified a commitment to social justice through their teaching practice. As detailed in Chapter One, such teaching practice resembles critical pedagogy and aligns with best practice in quality civic education. Therefore, by examining the experiences of critical educators, this study aimed to illuminate ways we can enhance civic learning for K-12 students by enhancing support for and removing the barriers to critical educators' distinct pedagogical practice. This is particularly important for Students of Color, who have faced historical exclusion from formal and informal modes of civic learning (Campbell, 2012; Lo, 2019). Critical theory (Freire, 1970/1993; Giroux, 2003; Horkheimer, 1972[1992]) and social reproduction theory (Bourdieu, 2016; Bowles & Gintis, 2016) were used to frame this study, which employed qualitative portraiture methodology (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997) to answer two key research questions. The first question--"Why do teachers in this Network engage in experiential, community-based pedagogy?"--drew attention to the internal and external factors impacting my participants' practice. This set up inquiry into the second key research question: "How do these educators exhibit civic and/or critical consciousness about and through their work?" Findings from this study revealed that both internal and external factors contributed to the choice teacher-participants made to engage in experiential, community-based pedagogy. Professional ecology, consisting of local school and corporate cultures, were particularly influential on these teachers. That ecology functioned in distinct ways at each study site to both aid and obstruct the critical teaching practices of teacher-participants. Despite the obstacles they faced, these teachers all expressed dimensions of critical and/or civic consciousness through their pedagogical discourse, relationship-building, and professional practices. However, each teacher also expressed struggles with Freirean duality (Freire, 1970/2005) as they recognized and responded, to varying degrees, to the hegemonic forces at play in their professional contexts. Implications for practitioners, school community partners, and policymakers are discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.] (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01