Date of Completion
5-3-2017
Embargo Period
5-3-2017
Keywords
Multicultural Literature; Young Adult Literature; Teacher Education; English Education; Race; Ethnicity; Multicultural Education; Dilemma Management; Critical Whiteness Studies; Critical Race Theory
Major Advisor
Wendy J. Glenn
Associate Advisor
Katharine Capshaw
Associate Advisor
Robin Grenier
Field of Study
Curriculum and Instruction
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Open Access
Open Access
Abstract
Researchers have documented a range of dilemmas associated with multicultural and young adult literature. This study used an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis approach to explore the lived experiences of nine White, middle-class teacher participants as they negotiated their perceived dilemmas in planning for and teaching multicultural young adult literature to students in culturally diverse, urban school contexts. Critical Whiteness Studies and Dilemma Management were used as conceptual framework for the study, and data sources included three interviews of each teacher participant occurring before, during, and after the instruction of the unit that included the multicultural young adult text; participant artifacts; and a researcher journal. This study is grounded in the belief that how these teacher participants interpreted and negotiated the dilemmas they associated with multicultural young adult literature was valuable to understand because their perceptions could have shaped both their selection and instruction of such texts. Purposive culturally response teaching fosters students’ sense of self, and a strong self-concept has been linked to high academic achievement. Findings revealed that participants experienced dilemmas pertaining to their identity and knowledge, dilemmas specific to students, dilemmas related to book content, and dilemmas connected to curriculum and resources. To manage these dilemmas, they participated in passive approaches, authoritative approaches, conferences with others, and pedagogical approaches. Discussion includes the ways in which the teaching context did (not) matter, an interrogation of power dynamics, and implications for theory, practice, and research.
Recommended Citation
Ginsberg, Ricki, "“What Right Do You Have To Teach This To Us?”: White Teachers Negotiate Dilemmas Of Multicultural Young Adult Literature In Urban Classrooms" (2017). Doctoral Dissertations. 1435.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/dissertations/1435