"Everything That They Don't See": Black Students' Community Cultural Wealth at a Boarding School

• In Event: Don't Clip My Wings Before I Learn to Fly: The Stories and Experiences of Black Youth in K–12 Settings

Abstract

Scholars have found that elite boarding schools’ climate can be isolating and alienating for students outside of upper-class and white backgrounds. However, diversity initiatives are changing the demographics of these traditionally homogenous institutions. The paper uses Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth as a lens to examine how Black students activate their capital to navigate and claim their space at these institutions of privilege. Student’s experiences illustrated how they are push back against school structures, create counterspaces, and dismantle stereotypes that peers and faculty hold. Furthermore, this paper highlights how students are prepared to navigate college. By drawing on students’ strength, we are provided with asset-based examples of Black excellence. This research reveals implications for curriculum development, teacher education, and higher education.

Author

• Diamond Howell-Shields, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author