A Phenomenological Study: Contextualizing Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) High School Students’ Racialized Experiences in a Predominately White Career Technical School

Date of Award

5-5-2024

Degree Name

Ed.D. in Leadership for Organizations

Department

Department of Educational Administration

Advisor/Chair

Greg Smith

Abstract

There is not a single teacher of color on staff in approximately 40 percent of U.S. schools (Bireda & Chait, 2011). This qualitative study was designed to explore the racialized experiences of BIPOC students in a predominately white career technical school district with a teaching staff that comprises less than 4% teachers of color district-wide. Several themes emerged from the research findings: participants valued their career tech education, overwhelmingly described the teaching staff as supportive and helpful, emphasized culturally relevant instruction was lacking, and having a teacher of color was rare, however when they did they viewed them as more understanding and relatable. A pipeline program between Central State University (CSU) an HBCU, and Greenville Career Campuses is being proposed where CSU students can complete their teaching practicum requirements and seek full-time employment at Greenville. One of the concerns with implementing this program is that there is a fairly small number of BIPOC students enrolling in teacher education programs each year. Therefore, many school districts are choosing to implement Grow Your Own (GYO) programs as a means to diversify the workforce. Additionally, mentoring programs are critical to retaining teachers of color as they are disproportionately more likely to leave the profession.

Keywords

BIPOC students racialized experiences, students' career tech education, BIPOC high school students’ experiences, Experiences of high school students of color, Phenomenological study on students of color

Rights Statement

Copyright 2024, author

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS
 
 
 

Links