Eastern Michigan University Making Youth Matter: Exclusion and its Impact on the School Lives of African-American Students by Celeste L. Hawkins Dissertation Submitted to the College of Education Eastern Michigan University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Educational Studies Urban Education Dissertation Committee: Valerie Polakow, PhD, Chair Wendy Burke, PhD Linda Williams, PhD Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, PhD May 13, 2014 Ypsilanti, Michigan MAKING YOUTH MATTER ii Dedication To my husband Kevin for loving me unconditionally To my children for being patient To all my family and friends for being supportive In honor of a phenomenal woman who liberates the mind, spirit and encourages us all to rise Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise. Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a Black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise. An excerpt from the poem by Dr. Maya Angelou (1978), “Still I Rise” MAKING YOUTH MATTER iii Acknowledgements My PhD is a stage upon which many players had integral roles in developing the final performance and to them I owe the birth of this work. Most importantly, I give honor and glory to God who has always been the director, captain, navigator, driver, and finisher of this work keeping me grounded, focused, and filled with faith and comfort in knowing that this day would come. It is Proverbs 3: 5-6 that carried me through the process: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Throughout this journey, there were many interesting opportunities, conversations, and experiences, which contributed to the culmination of this particular work. Words cannot express how grateful I am for my wonderful husband Kevin Sr., for his unwavering support, patience, understanding, for never questioning my academic journey, and above all always believing that I could and would do all things. Many thanks go to my absolutely beautiful children, Karis Viviann, Kayden Celeste, and Kevin Grevor Jr. who came into the world as I was discovering and negotiating my educational journey; you’ve redirected my energies on many occasions, but have given me a bright light in this life that fills me with a passion to do more and be more. You have made me laugh and encouraged me to finish by asking the never ending question “Mommy are you still writing?” Our manifesto to each of you as you begin your journey is to live and love with your whole heart, be compassionate, joyful, and grateful and above all know you are loved. Our responsibility as your parents is to practice self-compassion, gratitude, and embrace our own imperfections and deeply hold sacred the gift to truly see each of you so that you will always be reminded wherever you go that you matter, you are seen, you are heard, and you always belong! Your own intellectual curiosity, determination, and bounds of creativity have made me proud to call myself your mother. Many MAKING YOUTH MATTER iv thanks go to my wonderful parents, Vivian and Maurice Butts, for they are truly the beginning of it all and without their unwavering love, support, encouragement, and being my very first warm demanders—there would be no me. To all of my family and friends who have supported me in a multitude of ways, this could not have been done without you. Many, many thanks go to my absolutely amazing dissertation chair, Dr. Valerie Polakow, whose countless hours of dedication to my work, meticulous attention to detail, and immeasurable feedback proved invaluable to this work—the essence of your phenomenological being and exemplary character continues to serve as an inspiration to me each and every day—your high expectations and warm demanding personify what excellent teaching, nurturing, caring, and belonging feels and looks like. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members, Dr. Wendy Burke who always really saw me and whose strength, support, and words of encouragement allowed me to recognize my own strength and contribution I would make through the passion I had for this work. Dr. Linda Williams, for always asking thought provoking questions. Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher who is a consistent and powerful vessel of knowledge. My dissertation committee’s commitments to equity, social justice and education are an inspiration to pay it forward as I move towards my lifelong work—to each of you, I say Thank You. To Dr. Carmen Stokes the very first graduate of the Educational Studies doctoral program and my very dear friend—your insights and the essence of your spirit helped me in more ways than you know—your ongoing feedback, prayers, scriptures, and talking through various stages of writing and critical feedback leading up to the oral defense was immeasurable. You told me, mother to mother it can be done—and so it is! An enormous thank you goes to Manisha Leary whose assistance, patience, grace, and unwavering support allowed me to enter her professional world to impact others and for that I am eternally grateful. To Bralynda Watkins, my best friend in the whole Universe whose undying support, MAKING YOUTH MATTER v encouragement, and unimaginable love have always been the embodiment of exceptional friendship and sisterhood—you are truly the sister I never had. To my dear friend, Charmica Abinojar whose distance did not mean absence—your support, prayers, and love has meant so much. A special shout out to the SBG’s—you know the bar continues to go higher and higher! In the words of Mary Mary: “Go get your blessings.” Many thanks go to the countless students and colleagues I have had the good fortune to meet and for inspiring me to PTTS (you know who you are). A special thanks to Shondra Marshall and Elaine Lloyd in Cohort 4 for consistently speaking favor over me along the way. A special acknowledgment to Veronica Konglim in Cohort 5 who sang me a beautiful song native to her country—my deepest gratitude to you. To Cohort 5 for always being gracious and lifting me up, keep rising, keep shining—you embody support, love, and a commitment to excellence in a grand way. To my fellow Cohort 2 members, thank you for all the encouraging words and support throughout this doctoral journey and I look forward to you walking down this road very soon. To my pastor Dr. Reverend Joseph N. Cousin and his wife Carisalyn Cousin who are not only wonderful spiritual leaders, but family. Your friendship, love, and prayers allowed me to consistently walk in God’s favor. To my entire church family at Bethel A.M.E. Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan, thank you for all your prayers and encouragement. And most importantly to all the participants who shared their stories and time with me. I hope I have captured your words in a way that truly honors you and your experiences. Thanks so much to all the players, especially to the countless people in my memories whose names do not appear—please charge it to my mind and not my heart. My sincere gratitude goes out to each of you for always being the rainbow in my clouds (Maya Angelou). Thank you all so much for sharing this stage with me! MAKING YOUTH MATTER vi Abstract This qualitative dissertation study explored how exclusion and marginalization in schools impact the lives of low-income African-American students. The study focused on the perspectives of youth attending both middle and high schools in Michigan, and investigated how students who have experienced forms of exclusion in their K–12 schooling viewed their educational experiences. In addition to the voices of youth, the perspectives of parents, social workers, and coaches were presented and analyzed. Key themes that emerged from the study were lack of care, lack of belonging, disrupted education, debilitating discipline, the need for language diversity, and persistence and resilience. These themes were analyzed in relation to their intersectionality with language, culture, ethnicity, race, class, and gender. The conceptual frameworks shaping the study included Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, Goffman’s (1963) seminal work on stigmatization, stereotyping and exclusion, and a Rights-Based Framework. A phenomenological approach was utilized to explore the emic meanings of students’ experiences, in combination with a critical ethnographic framework to analyze the findings in relation to broader macro-social issues of race, class, gender, language, and educational achievement. The findings from the study consistently revealed the negative impact of exclusionary policies and practices on students’ experiences in terms of social well-being and academic achievement, and the pervasive deficit assumptions that harmed their potential and possibilities for success. However, the findings also revealed students’ persistence and resilience in overcoming barriers despite their circumstances. Implications highlighted students’ strengths and attributes by challenging the dominant deficit-based educational discourse and advocating for the inclusion of the missing voices of students. Recommendations targeted educational MAKING YOUTH MATTER vii policy and practice, social work interventions and supports, as well as alternatives to zero tolerance disciplinary policies. Ultimately, the study aimed to inform and shape both educational policies and practices by promoting culturally relevant pedagogical practices that engaged African-American students in their school lives. Keywords: African-American students, exclusion, zero-tolerance, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), qualitative research MAKING YOUTH MATTER vii Table of Contents Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 2 Problem Statement .............................................................................................................. 7 Significance and Purpose of the Study ............................................................................. 17 Theoretical Frameworks ................................................................................................... 19 Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 23 Chapter Organization ........................................................................................................ 24 Chapter 2: A Review of the Literature .......................................................................................... 25 The Scarlet Letters: Social Stigma and Exclusion ............................................................ 25 The History of Racial Stigma in Education ...................................................................... 29 Social Exclusion and its Impacts ...................................................................................... 33 Language, Power, and Exclusion ...................................................................................... 36 The Intersectionality of Language, Culture, Race, Class, and Gender ............................. 44 Suspensions, Expulsions and Exclusion ........................................................................... 59 Summary: Marginalized Youth ......................................................................................... 63 Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................................... 66 Disciplined Subjectivity .................................................................................................... 72 Positionality and Critical Reflexivity ................................................................................ 74 Rapport .............................................................................................................................. 75 Authenticating the Research ............................................................................................. 76 Study Design and Study Type ........................................................................................... 77 MAKING YOUTH MATTER viii Study Population and Sample ........................................................................................... 78 Data Gathering and Analysis ............................................................................................ 79 Measures to Ensure Safety, Confidentiality, and Anonymity of Participants .................. 81 Ethical Considerations in Conducting Research with Children and Youth ...................... 82 Chapter 4: Voices of Students ...................................................................................................... 87 Ruth: “I just basically ignored it and kinda sat there and didn’t say anything.” .............. 87 Esther: “I’m gonna finish school, you better believe that!” .............................................. 97 Mark: “I think that kids mess up every now and then…” .............................................. 103 Elisabeth: “I never asked for help...” .............................................................................. 109 Sarah: “I would get in trouble for something stupid...” .................................................. 113 Luke: “They suspend you for being late...” .................................................................... 117 Isaiah: “I don’t like to raise my hand in class...” ............................................................ 123 Summarizing Student Voices .......................................................................................... 125 Chapter 5: Lack of Belonging, Lack of Care, and Persistence and Resilience ........................... 127 Lack of Belonging ........................................................................................................... 128 Lack of Care .................................................................................................................... 140 The Importance of Significant Adults in the Lives of Students ...................................... 147 Persistence and Resilience .............................................................................................. 163 Chapter 6: Disrupted Education, Debilitating Discipline, and Language Games ....................... 170 Disrupted Education ........................................................................................................ 170 Debilitating Discipline .................................................................................................... 172 Language Games ............................................................................................................. 178 Exclusion and its Impacts ............................................................................................... 184