Creating Radical Group Care for Doctoral Program Completion: A Polyethnographic Study

• In Event: Responding to the Call: Culturally Responsive Teaching in Pursuit of Justice and Radical Care

Abstract

This polyethnographic study documents how five female doctoral students created a radical care group out of the dire need for emotional and academic support to complete their doctoral program. This study adds to the current repository of consequential research on the part-time doctoral student experience by offering insight into the emotional support gap, barriers, and struggles created by a cohort model that primarily benefits full-time students. Through oral and written polyethnographic conversations, we described how the composition of our radical care group was instrumental in overcoming barriers to completion of our Ph.D.s. Implications from the study suggest teacher education programs need to be committed to programmatically creating the conditions for radical group-care.

Authors

• Angela Pack, Hudson County Community College
  Presenting Author

• Sa-Qwona S. Clark-Singleton, NYC Department of Education
  Presenting Author

• Cyrene Crooms, Montclair State University
  Presenting Author

• Stephanie Brown Tarnowski, Mount Olive Township Board of Education
  Presenting Author

• Graziela Lobato-Creekmur, Education Mosaic LLC
  Non-Presenting Author