Using Black Student Voices as Advocacy: Reimagining Equitable Education and Cultivating Dismantled Systems of Power

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: The Bigger Picture: The Impact of Policy and Student Organizing on Systemic Change

Abstract

Most approaches to urban school reform focus on policy and structural inequity without considering student voices. As such, this phenomenological study explores the past experiences of African American students in U.S. urban public schools as a means to reimagine equitable education. Using critical race theory as the theoretical and analytical framework, this study positions Black students as the experts within their own educational understandings. Participants provide individual reflections and detail critical needs in educational reform. Using semi-structured interviews and archival data, the study’s major findings provide insight into ways schools can better address African American student needs, including: curricular revisions, effective teacher hiring, and community partnerships. In doing so, this research gives students critical agency into providing preemptive change.

Author

• Marcia J. Watson-Vandiver, Towson University