"We Ain't, Goin' Nowhere, We Can't Be Stopped Now": Exploring the Adaptive Coping Mechanisms Employed in the Public Education System by Racially Diverse Students

• In Event: 35.078 - MTCC Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: 35.078-6 - Understanding Student Perspectives Regarding Stressful Experiences

Abstract

The public education system in the United States embodies stressors associated with racial alienation, discrimination, and harassment for the racially marginalized student. The dominant narrative chooses to link maladaptive outcomes to individual and cultural deficits without considering how public schools function as a contentious space. This narrative fails to recognize the adaptive coping mechanisms racially marginalized students employ. This paper aims to share the findings from a mixed methods study investigating the adaptive coping mechanisms racially marginalized students engaged in encountering racial alienation, discrimination, and harassment in school. Discussion centers on the value of internal assets and the importance of constructing healing spaces for racially diverse students.

Authors

• Dawn X Henderson, Village of Wisdom

• Samuel L Baxter, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Berdine Gordon-Littréan, Ed.D. Independent Consulting Solutions LLC

• Jacqueline B Flemmings

• Jesha Jones

• Stacey Lawson

• Kirstyn McLeod