College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Term of Award

Spring 2026

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

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

Department

College of Education

Committee Chair

Ming Fang He

Committee Member 1

Robert Lake

Committee Member 2

Michelle Reidel

Committee Member 3

William Schubert

Abstract

As a science educator with ten years of experience teaching across diverse demographics, primarily in the South (Georgia) and, most recently, in New England (New Hampshire), I critically reflect on my lived experiences in rural, urban, and high-poverty schools. I engage memoir as methodology (Walls, 2005; Karr, 2005; Barrington, 2002; Westover, 2018) to interrogate the systemic inequities of public education while examining the transformative potential of culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012; Paris & Alim, 2017). Drawing from my own teaching experiences, I weave personal narrative with critical perspectives on culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies (Ladson-Billings, 2009; Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017; Gorski & Pothini, 2018) to illuminate how inequitable systems such as standardized testing and inadequate teacher preparation programs perpetuate systemic racism and hinder student success. Composing this teacher’s memoir as methodology both humanizes the realities of today’s classrooms and positions culturally sustaining pedagogy as a revolutionary act of social justice.

Six meanings have emerged from my dissertation research: (1) Teachers thrive when they embrace the ability to pivot, adapting to unexpected moments in classrooms every day. (2) Teachers navigate the shades of grey in pedagogical practices, understanding that teaching is an improvisational art where learning objectives, lesson plans, teaching strategies, and assessments have to evolve with changing situations in the classrooms. (3) Teachers take ownership of their growth by creating their own professional development opportunities. (4) Good teaching resists the cookie-cutter approach and instead prioritizes curiosities, connections, and critical thinking rather than drills and deskilling. (5) To cultivate courage and passion for teaching in challenging times, teachers need to develop the courage to take risks, embrace vulnerability, and develop creative insubordination strategies (Baszile, 2023; He, 2023; Schubert, 2023) to transgress established norms and boundaries. (6) There is an increasing demand for teachers to work with students, parents, administrators, and other educational workers to develop a culturally responsive/relevant/sustaining curriculum where the funds of knowledge of teachers and students are valued, all the pedagogical practices are culturally empowering, and equal opportunities are provided for students to reach their highest potential (Siddle Walker, 1996) in education and life.

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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