Date of Award

1-1-2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Higher Education

First Advisor

Franklin A. Tuitt, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

William Cross

Third Advisor

Lori Patton

Fourth Advisor

Nicole Nicotera

Keywords

College teaching, Educational outcomes, Equity, Expansive/restrictive views of equality, Race, White faculty

Abstract

Attempts to address the ever increasing achievement gap among students have failed to explain how and why educational traditions and teaching practices perpetuate the devaluing of some and the overvaluing of others. This predicament, which plagues our educational system, has been of increased concern, given the growing racial diversity among college students and the saturation of White faculty in the academy. White faculty make up the majority, 79%, of all faculty in the academy. White faculty, whether consciously or unconsciously, are less likely to interrogate how race and racism both privilege them within the academy and influence their faculty behaviors. The result of this cyclical, highly cemented process suggests that there is a relationship between racial consciousness and White faculty members' ability to employ behaviors in their classroom that promote equitable educational outcomes for racially minoritized students. An investigation of the literature revealed that racial consciousness and the behaviors of White faculty in the classroom appeared to be inextricably linked. A conceptual framework, Racial Consciousness and Its Influence on the Behaviors of White Faculty in the Classroom was developed by the author and tested in this study. Constructivist grounded theory was used to explore the role White faculty believe they play in the dismantling of the white supremacy embedded in their classrooms through their faculty behaviors. A substantive theory subsequently emerged. Findings indicate that White faculty with a higher level of racial consciousness employ behaviors in their classroom reflective of a more expansive view of equality in their pursuit of social justice, which they consider synonymous with excellence in teaching. This research bears great significance to higher education research and practice, as it is the first of its kind to utilize critical legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw's (1988) restrictive and expansive views of equality framework to empirically measure and describe excellence in college teaching. Implications for faculty preparation and continued education are also discussed.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Chayla M. Haynes

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

258 p.

Discipline

Higher Education

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