Centering Black Girls’ Experiences in a New York City Independent School

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Educational Justice Within and Beyond School Buildings (Table 27)

Abstract

This mixed methods phenomenological study explores the gendered and racialized experiences of Black girls attending a predominantly white independent school in New York City. We analyzed longitudinal student survey data and interviewed students around issues of school climate, social context, discipline, and challenges. We also implemented professional learning experiences with school faculty to co-investigate the student data. Finally, we gathered faculty perceptions and responses to our findings, and generated classroom and school-wide practices. The girls identified challenges in culture, climate, and diversity, and named community and code switching as factors which enabled them to find success and positivity at school. Thus we interrogate the role of race in school level policies, and imagine educational spaces free of racial injustice.

Authors

• Daron E. Cyr, The Hewitt School

• Lauren P. Bailes, University of Delaware

• Sarah Odell, The Hewitt School