This work is dedicated to my family, both in the United States and Barbados, West Indies. Jana Atlas, committee chair, who taught me research methods and design as a fellow in the Leaders in the Education and Training of the Next Generation of School Psychology Practitioners Grant and a number of other psychologist-in-training courses. Participating in the Curriculum and Program Transformation program provided me with great diversity-related pedagogical training and a safe place to discuss my experiences, learn and develop solutions.
Thanks to the graduate students who contributed their time and effort to help with the data analysis process. However, there was a statistically significant change in racial identity for white students enrolled in the Afrocentric psychology class. Students reported having a positive Afrocentric course experience, and many students requested that this course or a similar course be offered again in the future.
The findings suggest that we as Americans can continue to work toward the goals of inclusion by incorporating more than one perspective into higher education institutions and gaining meaningful experience in the process.
Introduction
Social justice as a process and goal posits that everyone is an equal member of society regardless of the social groups to which they belong. The focus of the current research was on social justice applied to racial oppression in an institution of higher education. Regardless, diversity in higher education is particularly important to promote social justice in universities with predominantly white students and faculty (Sciame-Giesecke et al., 2009).
There is considerable research on the culture that underpins curriculum and pedagogy, as well as the need to promote equity and social justice through these avenues. The idea that social justice can and should be promoted through curricula and pedagogical practices was at the heart of this study. Qualitative data was collected to identify and understand responses to the course, recognize discrepancies in racial equity in the university community, and determine the changes students expect to achieve social justice.
I also hypothesized that students taking the Afrocentric psychology course would be aware of social justice issues related to racial oppression in their campus curriculum and pedagogy, reflect on their personal beliefs regarding race, and develop a general interest in diversity-related courses.
Review of Literature
Many Black leaders in the Southern United States encouraged school segregation as an aspect of Black solidarity (Fairclough, 2004). In the second part of the study, children were asked to color a picture of a child in the desired skin color (Clark & Clark, 1950). A qualitative assessment of students' comments while playing with white and black dolls found that children from segregated schools in the South did so more often.
Children from integrated schools in the North were more likely to avoid questions about race (Clark & Clark, 1950). In addition to making psychology more applicable to Black people, social justice is also required to actively make positive changes in the Black community and within Black psychologists themselves. Although Black Psychology was developed in 1970 as psychologists resisted the racist conclusions promoted in the name of science, African-centered Psychology is actually a.
Research into the effects of this separate system formed the basis of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v.
Methodology
All students enrolled in general Introduction to Psychology courses during the semester of the study were eligible to participate. The class standings of the students participating in the course included nine seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen. The percentage of black participants in the experimental group was more than three times that of the control group.
Most of the control group consisted of freshmen, then sophomores and juniors. In the tradition of the African-centered sub-discipline of black psychology, this course presented human thought and behavior through the lens of. A historical overview of the concerns that researchers of African descent had about Western psychology and social science research in the centuries before Black/.
At the beginning of the course, students were informed about the research process and assigned a participant number. Social justice underlies the changes expected to occur in students enrolled in Afrocentric Psychology, and the researcher was a member of the same community and worked with the students toward empowerment. Participants registered during the first meeting of the course on March 17, 2014 and on the last day of classes, May 5, 2014.
The interview guide included a general introductory and concluding question, demographic questions, and questions related to the study hypotheses. Qualitative analysis examined whether and how students changed after completing the Afrocentric Psychology course. In the third step of the analysis, the researcher reads the first copy of the entire material and identifies the themes present in each section (Mertens, 1998, pp. 350-353).
This was to ensure that the meaning of the scripture was clear, as students sometimes did. A brief summary was developed for each quote (i.e. gist, essence) and recorded in the left margin of the page. After completing the theme process, the data analyst reported that he did not have a feel for the process, and believed that the developed themes were appropriate.
The graduate students working as qualitative data analysts were members of the community within which this research was conducted at the time.
Results
Of a total of 14 students in the Afrocentric Psychology experimental group with the required data, six of them (42.9%) held the same level of racial identity, while eight of the experimental group students (57.1%), the majority, had experience. a shift in racial identity. Of the total of 31 students who were in the Psychology control group with the necessary data, 19 of them (61.3%), the majority, held the same level of racial identity, while 12 of the control group students (38.7%) experienced a changing racial identity. Pearson Chi square results indicate that for students who completed the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (WRIAS) there was an association between racial identity change and class enrollment: χ2 (1, N p = 0.046.
Of the Afrocentric Psychology course pretest WRIAS responses, 50% of students had a theoretical but not complete sociopolitical understanding of the implications of race (Pseudo-independence); and 30% of students had active racial humanism expressed from a positive white, non-racist perspective (autonomy). Of the six students who completed the pre- and posttest PRIAS, half (50%) experienced a significant change in their racial identity schemas, while the remaining half remained the same from pre-test to post-test. Five of the participants were particularly empowered by an interview seen in class with Dr.
Parham, author of one of the chapters in the assigned textbook and a respected expert in the field. Convergence themes discuss that black people have rights or opportunities when it is in the interests of the dominant group. Two participants discussed their personal beliefs/experiences and how these influence their view of the world or certain topics.
Nine of the participants discussed the personal characteristics of their friends that made them different from each other. Ten of the sixteen participants reported that race was not important in their lives or to their identity. One participant reported seeing everything in his/her life differently as a result of the course.
She didn't like one of the documentaries and felt there were better documentaries out there. The results of the Pearson Chi square indicated that there was no overall relationship between racial identity change and class enrollment. Awareness of social justice issues related to racial oppression in campus curriculum and pedagogy was not the most frequent theme, but each participant produced quotes within this category that support this aspect of the qualitative hypothesis.
More than just developing an interest in diversity-related courses, many of the participants actively requested that this course or a similar course be offered again in the future.
Discussion
Neither the interracial friendship component of the quantitative hypothesis nor changes in racial identity for non-White students were supported in the current study. Fourth, it appears that the Black students already at the beginning of the study maintain social attitudes in accordance with the Afrocentric Psychology course. One student's conclusion of his course experience eloquently expressed the social justice orientation of the current research.
The social justice process was observed, and the vast majority of the ideas that emerged were in line with social justice oriented ideas, and the qualitative hypotheses. The instructor of this course is identified as a student (albeit a graduate student), a member of the same community as the students enrolled in the class, empowered to improve our collective community. These themes appear to be in direct contrast to some of the ideas presented during the duration of the Afrocentric Psychology course.
The statistical power of the statistical analyzes was significantly reduced due to the small sample size. A review of the descriptive statistics also indicates heterogeneity between the experimental Afrocentric Psychology class group and the control psychology class group, with respect to the sample size, mean, and standard deviation. More specifically, the sample size of the control group was much larger than the experimental group, and the.
If biased statements occur in the classroom, students can be reminded of the procedure and the teacher can respond accordingly. The results of the current study support the idea that some social justice can be achieved by completing a diversity-related course. African psychological ideas before the maafa (i.e. the great disaster of the transatlantic slave trade) were also discussed and connected to current African-centered psychological ideas.
Another meta-analysis of the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale's Cronbach alphas: Implications for validity. Final grades are a combination of the above assignments and activities, rounded to the nearest whole number. 34;It takes every hand in the village to heal and create success, from planting the seed to harvesting the yam tree.
Interest Convergence”(0.39%)- People of color are given rights or allowed opportunities when it is in the interest of the dominant group.
Social Justice Themes by Percentage of Total Themes
