Researcher Identity Development of Black and Latina/o Scholars Within a Service-Learning Context

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Toward a Just Black Educational Research Paradigm (Table 13)

Abstract

We explored scholar agency within a research training program designed to build research efficacy and sustain commitment to social justice by embedding research experiences in a service-learning context. The program partnered the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools, a summer reading camp and service-learning research site. The central phenomenon of this study was fellows’ researcher identity development in the context of the Freedom Schools service-learning research practicum. We used a phenomenological design to investigate the central phenomenon. We found that early career (i.e., undergraduate, n = 1, and graduate, n = 8) researchers in the Freedom Schools grew in their practice as responsible researchers, built relationships with stakeholders, and developed efficacy for centering stakeholder needs in the research process.

Authors

• Erik S. Rawls, Florida State University

• Alysia D. Roehrig, Florida State University

• Tiyana Herring, Florida State University

• Camille Lewis, Florida State University

• Madelyn McClarey, University of Memphis