Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Teacher Education

Major Professor

Judson Laughter

Committee Members

Susan Groenke, Leia Cain, Ashlee Anderson, Nicole Black

Abstract

A critical attribute of an anti-racist English Language Arts (ELA) classroom is a curriculum that includes literary works that represent the full Black experience and readings of authentic storytelling (Toliver, 2022). When educators lack the autonomy to select their own classroom texts and/or lack the efficacy to navigate classroom discourse surrounding race and racism, an anti-racist pedagogical framework for literature instruction is critical (Johnson & Neville, 2018). My dissertation addresses the relationship between personal perceptions of literary representations of experience, relationships to race, and implications for pedagogy. The study investigates the choices teachers make when engaging students in Black authored texts and narratives about race and racism through the responses and perceptions students have about experiences in the secondary ELA classroom. My project demonstrates a coupling of theoretical inquiry and empirical project, using the participants’ lived experiences to better understand where and how Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Racial Trauma Theory can be a conceptual framework to attend to issues or gaps in classroom engagement with race in literature. The theoretical findings are responsive to and co-constructed by the lived experiences and perceptions of participants. My empirical study shares Black students’ lived experiences through the lens and methodology of Endarkened Storywork.

Findings revealed that anti-racist pedagogy and trauma-informed pedagogy are not only inextricably linked, when anti-racist pedagogy is missing, misguided, or deficit in the ELA classroom, Black students experience racial (re)traumatization. The same practices that undermine anti-racist pedagogy were the context and cause for racial trauma. Ultimately, my goal within this study is to contribute to ongoing theoretical conversations about promoting an anti-racist, trauma-reducing approach to literature instruction that centers the lived experiences of Black students.

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