Afrocentricity for all: A case study examining the self-healing power of alternative curricula as a mediating tool of inclusion

1 online resource (246 pages) : PDF

2015

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Student achievement and school reform are some of the most pervasive topics in public school discourse. However, the curriculum is one area that remains virtually unchanged across U.S. schools. The efflorescence of federal legislative policies, such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and Race to the Top (RTTT) have attempted to modify national assessment measures without preemptively seeking true curriculum or pedagogical reform. As a result, today's non-White students seldom have the opportunity to learn and identify with multicultural perspectives in history. One alternative approach is to expose students to an Afrocentric education (Allen, 2009, 2010; Dei, 1994, 1996; Hilliard, 1998; Hilliard & Amankwatia, 1998; King, Swartz, Campbell, Lemons-Smith, & López, 2014; Murrell, 2002). Using a case study design, this work explores the perceptions and experiences of students and teachers at an Afrocentric school. The study examines the utility of Afrocentric schools as a curricular model of racial inclusion. The Afrocentric school this study investigates is high performing, and boasts 70% and 77% percent student mastery in mathematics and reading, respectively. The findings reveal that the students and teachers described their school as having: (a) a familial community, (b) small learning environment, (c) embedded Black history, (d) ancestral inspiration, (e) edification and positive imagery, and (f) an inclusive curricula that is welcoming of all students. The results of this study are especially important when considering the lack of multiculturalism found in traditional public schools and the dismal state of U.S. student achievement.

doctoral dissertations

Education
Curriculum planning
African Americans--Study and teaching
Ethnicity--Study and teaching

Ph.D.

African-Centered
Afrocentric Education
Afrocentricity
Case Study
Curriculum
Inclusion

Curriculum & Instruction

Wiggan, Greg

Hutchison, Charles
Abrams, Lyndon
Smith-Ruiz, Dorothy

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2015.

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Watson_uncc_0694D_10770

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:1738