Term of Award

Spring 2022

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

College of Education

Committee Chair

Sabrina Ross

Committee Member 1

Ming Fang He

Committee Member 2

Robert Lake

Committee Member 3

David Stovall

Committee Member 3 Email

mfs8837@yahoo.com

Abstract

This is an inquiry into the experiences Black males have with the current high school curricula. Theoretically drawing on critical race theory (Bell, 1992; Delgado, 1995; Dixson & Rousseau, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 2009; Solórzano & Yosso, 2001, 2004), I explore how high school Black males’ suggestions and ideas can be used to shift the current curricula to a curricula that is more culturally sustaining. I challenge deficit research on Black male learners by focusing on the educational successes of Black males. Methodologically, I utilize counterstorytelling (Delgado, 2017; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002) to illustrate the experiences of three academically successful high school Black males. Six findings emerged from this inquiry including: (1) Personal connections between participants and teachers encouraged academic success and engagement in the curriculum; (2) Curricular choice supports college and career readiness; (3) Participants used writing as an outlet to express themselves and to reflect on life; (4) The importance of teaching beyond the standardized history curriculum was voiced by some, but not all the participants; (5) The negative impact of majoritarian tales on Black male students’ beliefs about education was evident in the responses of the participants. (6) Participants used academic success strategically as a means of securing future success and as a counternarrative against majoritarian tales about Black males.

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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