In my Social Justice ePortfolio (SJ-eP) I analyze existing diversity and inclusion responses to Black Women Artists, Cultural Workers, Organizers and their communities at Build Your Archive located in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Greater Metro Atlanta as part of CIS 668 (Social Justice and Inclusion Advocacy) course during fall 2023. On this page, I provide my research paradigms and methods which include a literature review.
Methodologies
I decided that Teacher Action Research paired with Archival Research and Document Analysis would be the methodologies that would best fit this particular project. Because it would be taking books, some considered artifacts because of their rarity, analyzing the information from the books and distributing information in such a way that then becomes educational.
Teacher Action Research, the researcher is part of what is being investigated. Teacher Action Research enables teachers to re-examine and change their knowledge by participating in joint activities (Miller and Pine 1990; Koshy 2009). I was specifically interested in this methodology because the end goal was to “engage students to in class to raise their cultural consciousness” Which is what I am now on the path to implementing with the offerings and services of Build Your Archive.
Literature Review
Figure 1 Mapping How Teachers Become Culturally Responsive (source)
In the article, “Mapping How Teachers Become Culturally Responsive” the author determined four zones of development that the teachers fell in based on the interviews that they conducted. They included: Conscious Raising Zone, Conscious Relationship Building Zone, Knowledge and Practice Building Zone, and Practice Refining Zone.
I resonated with most the Knowledge and Practice Building and Practice Refining Zones as they moved beyond relationship building with their students and were able to identify systematic barriers they were experiences and respond with knowledge that was explanatory.
Parkhouse, H., Lyn, R., Severson-Irby, E., Drulis, E., Senechal, J., & Lozada, F. (2023). Mapping How Teachers Become Culturally Responsive. Journal of Teacher Education, 74(4), 383-397. https://doi.org/10.1177/00224871231168076
Design Principles and Discussion
I hope to find that by implementing Teacher Action Research in such away I am able to clearly refine the roadmap of this project. Previously, It just lingering task and building a resource but know I see it more as a knowledge exchange between myself and those that are in community with me.
Application of Teacher Action Research
Within this method and framework, I could also utilize the zones to tier the offerings that I provide. While some work labs may be Conscious Raising others may be considered Knowledge and Practice Building.
Additionally I believe, being able to visually see where I as an educator land in the Zones that were defined by Parkhouse it will be easier to see where I need to educate myself more in my own practice of information seeking.
