Term of Award
Fall 2025
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)
Document Type and Release Option
Dissertation (restricted to Georgia Southern)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
College of Education
Committee Chair
Ming Fang He
Committee Member 1
John Weaver
Committee Member 2
Robert Lake
Committee Member 3
William Schubert
Abstract
This dissertation, written as a collection of personal essays (Lopate, 1994; Schubert, 1991), defies standardized curricula perpetuated by neoliberalism, high-stakes testing, and the commodification of education. The flight metaphor, derived from my childhood dream, runs through personal essays in my dissertation, which symbolize my personal aspirations and larger struggles and triumphs of minoritized youth in the U.S. I argue that culturally responsive, relevant, and sustaining pedagogy empowers students to transcend systemic barriers and realize their highest potential (Siddle-Walker, 1996). Theoretically my dissertation builds upon a wide array of literature on critical pedagogy and critical theoretical traditions (Freire, 1970/1992; Freire & Shor, 1987; Giroux, 1988, 2004, 2020; Kincheloe, 2008; Macedo, 2019; McLaren 1995, 2002; McLaren & Kincheloe, 2007); radical possibilities (Anyon, 2005); caring in curriculum (Noddings, 2013); power and schooling (Bale & Knopp, 2012); and social justice curriculum (Calderon, 2007; Ferguson, 2001; Sesoy & DiAngelo, 2017). I center culturally and linguistically responsive, relevant, and sustaining pedagogies (Gay, 2000/2010/2018; Ladson-Billings, 1994/2009, 2021; Paris & Alim, 2017), funds of knowledge (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005), and pedagogy of the oppressed and education for critical consciousness (Freire, 1970/1992, 1997, 1998), imagination (Greene, 1995; Lake, 2010), and teachers as intellectuals and cultural workers (Giroux, 1988; Freire, 1998). Methodologically, I employ personal essays (Lopate, 1994; Schubert, 1991) as a form of inquiry, weaving lived experience with reflective analyses of educational practice. I examine the “dream suppressors” confronting marginalized youth and explore how secondary curriculum might become more democratic, worthwhile, liberating, and critically engaging (Dewey, 1968; Apple, 1995, 1996, 2004; Apple & Beane, 1995; Kincheloe, 2008; McLaren, 2002; Schubert, 1997; Spencer, 1861). I draw upon progressive (Apple, 1995, 2004; Au, 2022; Asante, 2017; Chomsky, 2017; Delpit, 2006; He, 2010; hooks, 1994, 2003, 2010; Schultz, 2011, 2017, 2008/2018; Stovall, 2016), cultural, and philosophical resources (Emdin, 2016; Ladson-Billings, 2009, 2021; Gay, 2010; Greene, 1995; Noddings, 2005; Nussbaum, 1997, 2010; hooks, 1994, 2003, 2010) to critique compliance-oriented schooling and to imagine alternatives grounded in care, criticality, and cultural affirmation. I demonstrate how culturally responsive, relevant, sustaining curriculum and transformative teaching practices enable minoritized students to imagine alternative futures (He, 2025) and pursue otherwise dreams. I envision a culturally empowering secondary curriculum that centers students’ dreams, identities, and lived experiences and moves beyond standardization toward liberation, imagination, renewed hope, and practical pathways to educational flourishing.
Recommended Citation
Bright, S. (2025). “RELEASING IMAGINATIONS” AND NURTURING DREAMS: INVIGORATING SECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM FOR MINORITIZED YOUTH IN THE US —PERSONAL NARRATIVE ESSAYS [Review of “RELEASING IMAGINATIONS” AND NURTURING DREAMS: INVIGORATING SECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM FOR MINORITIZED YOUTH IN THE US —PERSONAL NARRATIVE ESSAYS].
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
