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Using culturally relevant pedagogy to deepen students' socio-political consciousness: an action research project

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Using culturally relevant pedagogy to deepen students' socio-political consciousness: an action research project

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Using Culturally Relevant Pedagogy to Deepen Students’ Socio-Political Consciousness: An
Action Research Project
by
Sonya D. Livingston

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

May 2022

© Copyright by Sonya D. Livingston 2022
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Sonya D. Livingston certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Rashitta Brown-Elize
Artineh Samkian, Committee Co-Chair
Julie Slayton, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022

iv
Abstract
The purposes of this action research study were to utilize culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to
enhance students’ socio-political consciousness so that they would demand high expectations
and academic rigor from their teachers and work with my colleague to operate as adaptive
culturally responsive school leaders (ACRSL) to eliminate marginalization. This study took
place over the course of Spring 2021 semester at David G. Millen Magnet School (DGM) where
I taught eighth grade English Language Arts. DGM is located on the westside of Palmdale,
California, serving majority Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). The components of
my study included: formal and informal critical reflections, class lessons, observations, and
meetings. My research questions were used to drive my field analysis. At the conclusion of my
research, I witnessed increase in students’ socio-political consciousness by being challenged to
think beyond themselves and being held accountable to achieve higher expectations and
academic rigor. My colleague and I worked to consciously operate as ACRSL’s in our classes.
We viewed situations from students’ lenses and considered the concerns and complaints of our
students. We constantly worked for all students to feel included and seen within the curriculum.
We worked to be culturally responsive and competent for our students.
As an educator, I grew in many areas. I grew as a classroom teacher, a colleague, and most
importantly, as an individual. As a classroom teacher, I became more aware of my patience and
the expectations that I held for my students. I became clearer in my instructions and
intentionality around students grasping the concepts provided to them. I became more conscious
of taking my students on the learning journey with me. As a colleague, I became intentional in
how I lesson planned and the conversations that I held with my colleagues. I hold conversations
that are uplifting and purposeful with my colleagues. Lastly, as an individual, I become more

socio-political conscious. I advocate for not only my students but all. I am more action oriented
and move forcefully.

vi
Dedication
To my family, friends, and loved ones who prayed for me and encouraged me to continue to
press forward, thank you! God, I thank you.

To those who helped. As a young woman born with drugs in my system, most people counted
me out. This dissertation and doctorate degree are for all who counted me in. Thank you! This
degree is for US!

To Daddy. “Dr. Livingston, I presume,” is now a statement that is 100% applicable to me!

vii
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I thank God for allowing me to complete my doctorate degree. As the old
saying goes, “it takes a village.” This degree really took a village, and I am beyond grateful for
mine. To my mother who never doubted me and constantly reminded me of my worth, my
assignments and my end goal, I thank you. To my sissy and family who did not allow me to play
family games during the holidays to finish assignments for my dissertation, I was ungrateful
then, but I thank you now. To my lover, thank you for listening to me whine and complain and
never allowing me to quit. To my coworker, Anthony Florence, thank you for staying on me and
reminding me of my end goal. To Mrs. Rose Davis, thank you for being my necessary light in
the darkest tunnel at SVUSD. To my cohort, Wintor, Valencia, Kimberly, Thomas (LaThom),
and Gerry (Young Gerry) thank you from the bottom of my heart for always checking on me and
making sure that I never felt alone during the process. To my study group, Shareesa, Akonam,
and Melanie, I would not have finished when I did without you ladies. To my committee
members, my gratitude overflows for you ladies. Dr. Rashitta Brown-Elize, thank you for being
my role model and mentor that I never realized I needed. Thank you for seeing a little bit of
yourself in me and encouraging me to pursue my doctorate degree and beyond. Dr. Artineh
Samkian, thank you for your guidance and soft-spoken support. Dr. Julie Slayton, thank you,
thank you, thank you! Thank you for being my chair, my confidant during this process, and
pushing me to achieve my very best. You have helped to shape me into the unstoppable educator
that I know I will become. I owe so much of my dissertation to you!
To everyone named, and those unnamed, I acknowledge and thank you all very much. It took a
village to get me here and I can finally say, I am done.
Fin.

viii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... vi
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... vii
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix
Historically Entrenched Inequity ........................................................................................ 4
The Context ......................................................................................................................... 6
Role and Expectation .......................................................................................................... 8
Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................................... 9
Research Methods ............................................................................................................. 17
Participants and Settings ................................................................................................... 19
Actions .............................................................................................................................. 22
Data Collection and Instruments/Protocols ...................................................................... 26
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 29
Limitations and Delimitations ........................................................................................... 31
Credibility and Trustworthiness ........................................................................................ 32
Ethics................................................................................................................................. 32
Findings............................................................................................................................. 33
Afterword .......................................................................................................................... 61
References ..................................................................................................................................... 65

ix
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework 10
Figure 2: Conceptual Framework Revised 12

1

Using Culturally Relevant Pedagogy to Deepen Students’ Socio-Political
Consciousness: An Action Research Project
In grade school, a student’s address can determine their education and future (Semuels,
2016). This relationship between address and life opportunities is a result of the inequities that
exist within public education. Students who live in affluent neighborhoods are more likely to
have access to resources and educational opportunities that may not be afforded to students in
urban neighborhoods (Semuels, 2016). Students who are from historically disadvantaged groups
experience a 51% educational deficit compared to their White counterparts (Snow et al., 2002).
This explains why my parents moved our family from South Los Angeles (SLA) to Simi Valley
(SV) in 2004. My parents had great intentions when enrolling my siblings and me into Simi
Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) and I doubt that they considered the agony that we
would endure attending White schools.
Between the ages of 11–13, I sat in classes where I was the only Black student in class.
At the entire school, there were only five Blacks on campus: two students (one being me), one
front office employee, and two campus supervisors. It was a culture shock transitioning from
SLA where I was in the majority, being able to see myself represented in the culture and
population at the school, to now being the minority in a school in SVUSD. My classes did not
reflect who I was, knew or wanted to be. In SLA, the teacher population was more diverse. I had
BIPOC teachers and very few who were White. As a student in the SVUSD, my teachers were
all White, the curriculum was all White, and if there were any chance of introducing a topic that
involved a Black individual, I was expected to join the conversation. Racism at its finest, I
thought. I hated school! The academic standard was more rigorous than what I had experienced
in my past and I felt that no one met me where I was. I complained to my parents often about
2

how I wished to go back to a school where I felt heard and seen, where I felt a sense of
belongingness, where I felt understood. In SVUSD, I did not feel those things.
While being a student of SVUSD, I felt that the curriculum and expectations set did not
reflect my experiences, background, or lifestyle as a Black individual who lived in a low-income
household. My teachers required most assignments to be typed and submitted, and unfortunately,
my household did not have a printer. Therefore, most of my time was spent at the library to
achieve the assignment requirements. In addition to the academic marginalization that I faced, I
also had to navigate racism from teachers and students. Battling racism head-on and maintaining
academic success was really a struggle that I felt that my teachers were not understanding. When
I expressed the racism, I was facing to adults at my school site, I felt ignored. The anger and
emptiness built up inside and caused me to eventually act out so that I would be sent home. I felt
safer and better at home than I did at school, at the consequence of my parents being
disappointed in me. Eventually, my parents had enough and at the age of 15, we moved to
Lancaster, C.A., and I attended and graduated from Antelope Valley High School (AVHS) of
Antelope Valley Unified School District (AVUSD). AVHS’ population was majority Black and
Latinx, and it was then when I consciously realized the differences between SVUSD and
AVUSD.
Some of the differences between the two were who was reflected in the school, cultural
competence, and the academic expectations that were presented. At AVHS, there were more
representation of Black and Latinx individuals on campus, and I began to feel a sense of
belongingness. The curriculum was still White, but I had teachers who went out of their way to
make the curriculum relevant to my peers and me. My BIPOC teachers and White teacher alike,
showed interest in their BIPOC students and tried their best to make the “White” curriculum
3

relevant to us. The teachers drew from students’ cultural experiences to create relevancy and
make learning fun. Teachers at AVHS, did not only expect their BIPOC students to achieve, but
they also assisted in making sure they succeeded. There was active mentorship that took place
that allowed students to feel that they were not alone. This behavior was not only from BIPOC
teachers and students, but it was reciprocated throughout all individuals on campus, Whites
included. Witnessing and reflecting on such behavior brought me to the realization that the
educators at my high school went out of their way to advocate for equity for their student
population.
It was to my understanding that my high school teachers taught using culturally relevant
pedagogy (CRP), as they adjusted the curriculum to be relevant to my peers and I, and most of
the staff members on campus were operating as culturally responsive school leaders (CRSL), as
they were intent on developing students’ socio-political consciousness, held achievable high
expectations, and were culturally competent. I wanted to be to others what my high school
teachers were to me, so I pursued a career in education. It was my wide range of experiences in
grade school that brought me to realize in high school that I wanted to be an influential educator.
Firsthand experiences allowed me to witness the lack of culturally relevant pedagogy and the
presence of culturally relevant pedagogy that were present in the different school districts. In
SVUSD, academic expectations were set high for students, but achieving them seemed to be
independent, and in AVUSD the academic expectations were set high and worked to be
achievable for students to perform academically well. When taught by educators who believed in
their students and set achievable high expectations for students, I believed that education was for
me and that I too could be successful, even though societal structures produced academic
marginalization.
4

On my journey to become an influential educator, I became an eighth grade English in
Palmdale, C.A. The middle school where I work is about 15 minutes from AVHS, which was
ironic in me receiving a job so close to where I embarked on my career decision. I like to say that
I am a product of my environment and helping others in my environment to achieve greatness.
At the time of this dissertation, I was one of two eighth grade teachers at David G. Millen
Magnet Academy (DGM), where the mandated English curriculum was not culturally inclusive
for students of color, and the leadership of the school perpetuated the White curriculum.
Teachers were not actively encouraged to adopt CRP into their curriculum, which perpetuated a
lack of inclusiveness for Black and Latino students and the opportunity gap persisted (Cooper,
2013; Milner, 2017). In my action research self-study dissertation, I wanted to develop students’
socio-political consciousness so that they would be able to recognize, like I did, that they
deserved more than they were receiving in their academics. I also wanted them to learn to
advocate against the educational system that reproduced their marginalization.
In the remainder of this section, I explain the historically entrenched inequity within
which my study was located. Then, I examine how this inequity was expressed in my context,
and finally, I describe my role in relation to the historically entrenches inequity as well as the
research questions I set out to answer through my action research.
Historically Entrenched Inequity
Black and Latinx students have been disproportionately disadvantaged for generations
(Fitzpatrick, 2015). The disadvantages are evident through economic discrepancies, community
makeup, and in academia (Darling-Hammond, 2001). In 2017–2018, Black and Latinx students
averaged a high school graduation rate of 13% less than their White counterparts (NCES, 2020).
5

This discrepancy could be a result of multiple factors, including low quality teachers and the lack
of high expectations and academic rigor (Cohn-Vargas & Steele, 2015).
In public education, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) are typically taught by
less qualified educators, which can result in the underachievement of BIPOC students (Darling-
Hammond, 2001). In urban districts, districts with large central city schools, teachers without
certifications or experience are often hired to fill teaching positions because more qualified
teachers refuse job offers in these schools (Jacob, 2007). The lack of experience and knowledge
of these educators can contribute to the academic disadvantages and marginalization that are
present for students of this population (Darling-Hammond, 2001). Studies have shown that
BIPOC teachers hold BIPOC students to higher standards than White teachers; therefore, BIPOC
students have better academic success with BIPOC teachers (Gershenson et al., 2015). Having
teachers of color also contributes to breaking down negative stereotypes, confronting racism, and
promoting socio-political consciousness, subsequently reducing academic marginalization.
(Gershenson et al., 2015)
According to Milner (2010), there are five mindsets that are often held by teachers that
contribute to the opportunity gap. These mindsets are color blindness, cultural conflicts, myth of
meritocracy, low expectations/deficit mindset, and context-neutrality. Of these five mindsets, I
focus on the contribution of low expectations/deficit mindset and context-neutrality. Low
expectations/deficit mindset make it difficult for educators to believe that BIPOC students can
excel beyond the larger societal beliefs (Milner, 2010). Instead, educators may view the
knowledge and skills that these students possess as liabilities instead of assets. Those who do
recognize the knowledge and skills these students have may not understand how to scaffold and
strengthen what already exists in then child, therefore placing the child at a disadvantage and
6

continuing the deficit (Milner, 2010). Educators may also contribute to deficit mindset about
their students by having conversations with their colleagues about specific students, student test
scores, and parents’ views on specific groups of students. Having deficit conversations with
others can transfer other mindsets, expectations, and beliefs, making it difficult for educators to
build and incorporate BIPOC students’ strengths and knowledge into the learning environment
(Milner, 2010). These mindsets perpetuate the opportunity gap through low rigor lessons and low
expectations in their classrooms.
Culturally relevant pedagogy has the power to transform students’ lives. CRP allows
students to develop the necessary skills and ideas to succeed academically, while equipping them
with the knowledge and socio-political consciousness to transform the system (Duncan-Andrade,
2005). Many researchers and educators have turned to the work of Ladson-Billings to guide their
adoption of CRP into the curriculum (Paris & Alim, 2018). Given that Black and Latinx students
are historically disadvantaged and are punished for not being White, (National Education Policy
Center, 2020), CRP can empower students to use their voice to advocate for the change they
wish to see in society (Ladson-Billings, 2014). To successfully adopt CRP into the curriculum,
one must understand their positionality and worldview to create a classroom environment that
reflects academic rigor, high expectations, and socio-political consciousness (Aronson &
Laughter, 2016; Ladson-Billings,1995; Matsumura et al., 2008).
The Context
The context in which this entrenched inequity was expressed was at my school site,
David G. Millen Magnet Academy (DGM). At the time of this study, DGM’s student population
was 85% Black and Latinx and its teacher population was .22% Black and Latinx (David G.
Millen Middle School Profile, 2020). The mismatch presented in the student- teacher ethnic ratio
7

was not compensated for by leadership or the curriculum adopted. As Valenzuela (1999) argued
in her study of Latinx students, DGM students needed to be able to build relationships with their
teachers and connect to the curriculum to be more successful, and these opportunities were not
afforded to them at DGM.
The leader of DGM, Principal Daniels, was not a culturally responsive school leader.
Although he stated that he supported our BIPOC students, he did not encourage or require that
teachers adopt and enact culturally relevant pedagogy. My Black and Latinx students expressed
that they were unable to relate to the White curriculum and found the content quite boring. Yet
when Mr. Florence, my eighth grade English team partner, and I altered the curriculum to be
more culturally relevant, Principal Daniels directed us not to deviate from the given curriculum.
While he acknowledged that we were making the curriculum culturally relevant for our
student’s, stated alterations were not appropriate if the district did not direct us to make them.
His behavior translated into a punishment of the students by requiring that we use a curriculum
that did not reflect the culture and experiences of our students.
Just as I knew something was missing from my educational experience at SVUSD but did
not understand what it was, my students were not as aware of the lack of culturally relevant
pedagogy present throughout their classes at DGM. Their teachers were doing our students a
disservice by enacting low academic expectations and low rigor lessons as well as making no
effort to connect the students to the curriculum because they lacked cultural competence. If
culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) existed, teachers would have responded to
students’ lack of interest in the content being taught by adjusting the curriculum as necessary to
make lessons more rigorous, relevant, and engaging for students.
8

Role and Expectation
As an eighth grade English Language Arts teacher at DGM, I was in a position of
influence. My role was to challenge and help shape my students minds into becoming something
great for our future. It was my duty to hold my students accountable for their actions and to
position them to think critically before acting. As a member of the staff, and one of few Black
teachers on campus, I felt a responsibility to be a voice and advocate for my BIPOC students.
Working with Mr. Florence, we had to be the representation amongst our colleagues for our
students. In doing so, I was able to influence my students to explore and advocate for the
changes they had desired to see in their educational experiences at DGM. I set out to use
culturally relevant pedagogy to enhance the socio-political consciousness of my students so that
they would be aware of the inequities they were experiencing and understand that they could be
do something about them. I encouraged them to be aware of and engaged in social, political, and
economic forces that helped shape their world. As a culturally responsive school leader (CRSL),
I analyzed the way my students responded to discussions, local and world-wide issues and
helped to raise awareness around the issues of concern for my students. I also informed my
colleague of the strategies I used to engage my students and encouraged them to explore
effective strategies of CRP and ACRSL for themselves.
I expected to deepen my students' sociopolitical consciousness so that they would be able
to advocate for culturally relevant pedagogy, high expectations and academic rigor. Thus, I set
out to answer the following two research questions:
1. How do I use culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to promote socio-political
consciousness in my students so that they will advocate for high expectations and
academic rigor in their classes?
9

2. How do I operate as an adaptive culturally responsive school leader with my
colleague to eliminate marginalization?
The remainder of this document contains my conceptual framework, the findings in
response to my research questions, and my afterword. My conceptual framework explains my
research questions and initial actions as it relates to my research questions. The findings section
provides an analysis of the data gathered throughout my study. Lastly, the afterword explains
how I apply what I discovered in my findings into my career beyond my study.
Conceptual Framework
According to Maxwell (2005), a conceptual framework is used to support and inform
research by explaining concepts, assumptions, expectations, and theories that will be used
throughout a study. A conceptual framework is a tentative theory that is subject to change. My
original conceptual framework (Figure 1) presents what I anticipated my role as an eighth grade
English Language Arts teacher at David G. Millen Magnet School to be. The figure demonstrates
how I anticipated to promote and develop my students’ socio-political consciousness so that they
would be able to advocate for more rigorous lessons and assignments. It also shows my effort to
engage the other eighth grade teacher at the school to operate as an adaptive leader to enact
culturally responsive school leadership with him, to put pressure on the school to better address
the needs of BIPOC students at the school.
In the teacher centered circle, I anticipated acting as an adaptive leader to critical reflect
to push back on the school. I also anticipated enacting CRP with my students in order to get them
to become socio-political conscious and advocate for CRP school wide. Lastly, I anticipated
operating as a CRSL with my colleagues so that they too could push back on the school and
demand more for our students.
10

Figure 1
Conceptual Framework

I revised my conceptual framework to account for the alterations that I made to my
actions while I was in the field and after analyzing my data. The revision demonstrates that I did
not work to push back on the school and neither did my colleague, Mr. Florence. Instead, I
worked with Mr. Florence, operating as adaptative culturally responsive school leaders, to co-
construct lessons and assignments that caused our students to utilize CRP to push back on the
school. I directly utilized ACRSL and CRP to encourage and facilitate the push back that I
desired for the students to direct towards the school. Mr. Florence also intended to encourage and
facilitate his students to push back towards the school, as we co-constructed lessons. Since I did
not directly observe Mr. Florence’s work with his students, I am uncertain of how effective or
applicable his work in operating as an ACRSL were with his students. Therefore, the dotted
11

arrows in the diagram between colleague and students was used to illustrate the intention of Mr.
Florence’s work with his students.
Thus, my revised conceptual framework (Figure 2) demonstrates how I operated in my
role to generate new understanding by drawing on my leadership abilities and engage in critical
reflection to develop more equity on campus by having students place pressure on the school to
address and meet their academic needs. Students developed and deepened their socio-political
consciousness, as they became more aware of the ways in which DGM’s structures and actions
reproduced their marginalization. I drew on tenets of CRP, critical reflection, adaptive
leadership, and culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) to foster my students’ socio-
political consciousness. In doing so, they were able to identify the inequities in the curriculum
that existed at DGM that denied them access to a high quality and culturally relevant education.
Considering my drive to eliminate marginalization, I set out to operate as an adaptive
leader with my colleague to be able to tackle the challenges my students faced and help them
thrive beyond those challenges (Heifetz et al., 2009). As an adaptive leader, I prepared lessons
that positioned me to encourage my students to deal with challenges that they faced at DGM and
in changing environment (Northouse, 2016). Operating as a culturally responsive school leader
allows the leader to enact behaviors that position them to meet the needs of their minority
students (Khalifa et al., 2016). CRSL allowed me to promote school reform by going beyond the
duties of a classroom teacher and focusing on equity, inclusion, and social justice school-wide
(Khalifa et al., 2016). By working with Mr. Florence, we were able to reach eighth grade
students, therefore promoting change school-wide.
Throughout the remainder of this narrative, I refer to Figure 2. The diagram helps me
explain how socio-political consciousness, critical reflection, adaptive and culturally responsive
12

school leadership guided my approach of promoting students’ socio-political consciousness. I
also explain how culturally relevant pedagogy were used to promote students’ socio-political
consciousness and advocacy to demand change at DGM. Lastly, I contextualize adaptive
culturally responsive school leadership (ACRSL) as I collaborated with my colleague and used
critical reflection to drive my desired change.

Figure 2
Conceptual Framework Revised

13

Adaptive Leadership to Promote Students’ Socio-Political Consciousness
I chose to use adaptative leadership to promote students’ socio-political consciousness at
the class level because I realized as an adaptative leader, that my students needed change. My
students expressed that they were receiving different expectations in other classes, from what I
held for them in my class. With that knowledge, I desired to help my students realize that they
deserved more than what they were receiving from their teachers. I wanted to do so by moving
them from the attitude of tolerance to not tolerating the low expectations and advocating for what
they deserved. Utilizing adaptive leadership in the classroom was appropriate because I wanted
my students to engage in disorienting the dilemma that they should have more. I used adaptive
leadership to help them acquire a greater socio-political consciousness to advocate for what they
deserved.
As an adaptive leader, I challenged and enabled my students to confront the obstacle(s)
they were faced with at DGM without allowing the obstacles to define them (Heifetz et al.,
2009). To equip my students with the necessary tools needed to confront these obstacles, I
worked with my colleague, Mr. Florence, to utilize four of the six behaviors presented by
Northouse (2016): get on the balcony, maintain disciplined attention, give the work back to the
people (students), and protect leadership voices from below.
Northouse (2016) contends that getting on the balcony is a metaphor for stepping back
and looking at the big picture of a situation. Stepping back and temporarily removing myself
from my role as a classroom teacher, allowed me to find perspective in a what my students
identified as challenging situations. I stepped back to observe and participate in classroom
discussions with my students and planned lessons with Mr. Florence. In my endeavor to identify
the chaos and dysfunction that alarmed my students, I stepped back and observed the
14

conversations and discussions that my students had with one another regarding the inequity
around them. By getting on the balcony, I was able to foster classroom discussions by creating
dialogue, guiding conversations, and gauging students’ behaviors around the issue of equity in
the world and equity at DGM.
Next, through my work with Mr. Florence, I maintained disciplined attention by helping
my students stay focused and address the desired changes at DGM, instead of allowing them to
avoid them (Northouse, 2016). I directed the focus of my actions and my students’ actions
towards socio-political consciousness. I used CRP to encourage and engage my students to
reflect and address the lack of academic rigor and high expectations for all students at DGM. I
created assignments that forced my students to think about the marginalization that occurred for
the BIPOC population by the school.
Then, I gave the work back to my students by empowering them to speak up and use their
voices and personal experiences often. Northouse (2016) contends that effective adaptive leaders
give the work back to the people. I facilitated discussions that built confidence and forced them
to take control of the discussion (Northouse, 2016). I created a safe space within my class where
students were comfortable contributing to and engaging in uncomfortable conversations. I
challenged my students to speak up and I acknowledged their voices, allowing them to feel heard
(Northouse, 2016).
The last behavior I utilized was protecting leadership voices from below (Northouse,
2016). During class discussions, assignments, and activities, I raised questions and concerns that
deepened and developed students’ socio-political consciousness. I cultivated a safe space where
students were brave enough to share their opinions, experiences, and beliefs, without fearing
retaliation or punishment. I facilitated and led class discussions that included and considered the
15

voice of all students. I monitored students’ behaviors and interactions with one another to
eliminate dominance between students.
In conjunction with being an adaptive leader, I utilized culturally relevant school
leadership (CRSL) to contribute to fulfilling the needs of eighth grade students at DGM. CRSL
propelled me forward in being critically reflective and self-aware of my environment and those
whom I served (Khalifa et al., 2016). As an CRSL I co-constructed lessons with Mr. Florence to
include and be sensitive to students’ experiences.
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy to Promote Equity
Education becomes difficult when one does not understand their learners, and culturally
relevant pedagogy helps in understanding the learner, which can contribute to successful school
reform (Santamaría, 2009). According to Duncan-Andrade (2005), CRP engages students by
connecting to their prior knowledge, expose students to experiences of those who may often be
unheard in society, empower students to act on the conditions in their lives, and enact students to
learn and reflect on their successes and struggles throughout their lived experiences. In my class,
I incorporated students’ cultural experiences in class lessons, activities, and discussions. I created
a safe space where students were willing to share their lived experiences, and I used those
experiences and stories to fuel relevant, meaningful, and engaging lessons. I provided students
with multiple opportunities to learn about different cultural perspectives and allowed them to
identify where they were situated in that cultural experience or perspective. I also empowered
students to act on their own experiences and challenged them to discuss and inform others about
personal experiences beyond the classroom.
Culturally relevant pedagogy affirms the cultural identities of students and empowers
them to challenge societal structures that produce inequities (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Milner,
16

2010). While critically reflecting on my practices in CRP and how I connected my lessons and
teaching material to best assist my students, I provided assignments that caused students to think
beyond the classroom and locate other societal structures that produced inequities. I had students
identify those structures and they drew connections between their academics and personal
worlds. In my class, I discussed the importance of advocacy, everyday issues, and realistic
stories that my students connected with. I facilitated and led lessons that promoted the
importance of student voice, student culture, and that contributed to the development of their
socio-political consciousness.
Lastly, embedding CRP in daily lessons, enabled students to engage in lessons and
exposed students to various realities. Instilling critical pedagogy within education will teach
students to not accept poverty as an excuse for underachieving (Duncan-Andrade, 2005). CRP is
a step towards students becoming sociopolitical conscious and being able to advocate for the
change they wish to come (Duncan-Andrade, 2005).
Students’ Enactment of Socio-Political Consciousness and Advocacy
Socio-political consciousness allows the educator to re-examine practices, enforce
commitments, and validates community knowledge (Santamaria, 2009). I encouraged my
students to be socio-political conscious, enabling them to think of the greater good, which urged
students to reflect and analyze the importance of the state they were in (Santamaría, 2009). I also
deepened students’ consciousness by forcing them to think critically of personal situations that
made them uneasy. While students thought back on the situations that caused them to feel
uneasy, I had them to think further of the outcome versus the desired or potential outcome of the
situation. I placed students in situations that caused them to think critically, forcing them to place
pressure and reevaluate their situation (Lozenski, 2017). This helped students to become more
17

socio-politically aware. Once students were socio-politically aware, they were able to effectively
demand what they wanted, such as demanding high academic rigor and CRP (Lozenski, 2017).
The increase of students’ socio-politically consciousness encouraged them advocate beyond their
academics.
Conclusion
In this section, I conceptualized Figure 2 by explaining and expanding on my use of the
elements that I set out to utilize. I explained how I used the tenets of culturally relevant
pedagogy, critical reflection, adaptive leadership, and culturally responsive school leadership to
guide my approach to promote students’ socio-political consciousness.
Research Methods
In this section, I discuss how I approached my qualitative action research self-study. I
explain how I conducted the study using qualitative data collection and analysis, my conceptual
framework, and multiple instruments that enabled me to answer my research questions. My
research questions were as follows:
1. How do I use culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to promote socio-political
consciousness in my students so that they will advocate for high expectations and
academic rigor in their classes?
2. How do I operate as an adaptive culturally responsive school leader with my
colleague to eliminate marginalization?
At the start of my study, I doubted my ability of being able to increase my students’
socio-political consciousness. I wanted them to show an increase in their socio-political
consciousness and be confident in voicing their concerns regarding the way their teachers treated
18

them in their classrooms. I also wanted them to have the knowledge that they could and should
advocate for the change they wished to see at the school.
At the beginning of the study, majority of my students trusted me and were comfortable
expressing their opinions and thoughts in my classroom as well as responding to their peers’
opinions and thoughts. I was aware that my non-BIPOC students may have felt out of place
during the discussions that were held and did not intend on making them feel any other way. I
wanted my students to all feel a sense of discomfort, so that they would be able to have
uncomfortable conversations and reflect on their feelings in that moment. Being a strong Black
woman with confidence, students sometimes viewed me as strict, stern, mean, but relatable and
approachable. With that in mind, I was aware that some students’ views may have interfered
with other students’ ability to clearly grasp the concepts being taught and the importance of
being socio-political conscious.
In relation to my colleague, Mr. Florence, as I began the study, I suspected that he viewed
me in a way where trust and honesty were strong components of our relationship. Mr. Florence
had previously encouraged me to speak up and voice my opinions and concerns and had also
suggested that I be less vocal. I believe this behavior stemmed from experiences that Mr.
Florence had been through. He might have had this idea that if I spoke up, I might address
challenging issues in a way that might not be heard in the exact way I desired.
At the outset of the study, I was not as confident when voicing my concerns to students
and faculty alike regarding the lack of academic rigor, high expectations, and culturally relevant
pedagogy that existed within the institution. As I moved to enact change and encouraged student
advocacy, I understood that I had to use my voice to advocate for myself and my students, in
relation to the curriculum. My approach and concerns may have upset some of my colleagues, as
19

my students began to demand more from them. Meeting with Mr. Florence and knowing that he
too operated as an ACRSL with his students to incorporate CRP, provided more comfort for me.
I decided to address student marginalization in my action research study because the
marginalization of minority students has taken place for many years. The quick fixes that existed
at my school, the lack of academic rigor, high expectations, and absence of culturally relevant
pedagogy within my school, had yet to correct the issue at hand (Ladson-Billings, 2014). My
conceptual framework highlighted how I, as a teacher, used critical reflection, adaptive
leadership, culturally responsive school leadership theories, and culturally relevant pedagogy to
develop students’ socio-political consciousness. I promoted socio-political consciousness and
advocacy for students using CRP. I collaborated with my colleague, Mr. Florence using our
understanding of being ACRSLs to expand on ways we increased academic rigor and CRP to
drive students to become aware of the political, social, and economic issues that shaped their
worlds.
Participants and Settings
For this study, I used a purposeful sampling approach to choose the participants who
would allow me to gather the necessary data for my study. Purposeful sampling allows the
researcher to choose her participants based on the topic and characteristics of interest (Johnson &
Christensen, 2014). I chose participants at David G. Millen Magnet Academy who would allow
me to address the marginalization of Black and Latino students at my school site. I monitored my
eight grade students’ growth as it related to their development and enactment of socio-political
consciousness and advocacy for change at DGM.
Participants
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My action research self-study was conducted virtually at DGM due to the COVID-19
pandemic. My participants included eighth grade students in my sixth period and my colleague,
Mr. Anthony Florence, who taught the same content and grade level.
My student participants consisted of my sixth period class. There were 26 students in
Period 6: four Black, 20 Latino and two White students (Palmdale School District, 2020). I chose
this period as my student participants because this group had proven to be more invested and
engaged in previous discussions we had and were students whom I directly influenced. At the
beginning of my study, most of my students were socializing knowers (Drago-Severson & Blum-
DeStefano, 2017) and were moved heavily by their social interactions with their peers and those
who they cared for deeply. Typically, middle school students are more concerned with others’
opinions than their own. When it comes to my students, they sought out approval from others,
such as their friend groups and social circles, and their communications reflected that. I used
adaptive leadership to empower and position my students to challenge the school’s approach of
educating them. My students were aware that they experienced different expectations throughout
their classes, but they were not initially aware that the differences were disadvantages for them.
Throughout my study and at the finalization of my study, my students stayed as socializing
knowers.
Mr. Anthony Florence, a Black gentleman, had taught for more than 25 years. He began
teaching elementary students and had taught middle school for majority of his career. I chose Mr.
Florence because he was very knowledgeable and had previously expressed his experience
working with institutions who had unconsciously reproduced the marginalization of students of
color. He was vocal about his concerns of the achievement gap between Black students and their
White counterparts. He made his concerns known regarding the discrepancy that existed in
21

campus wide discipline and curriculum for our BIPOC students. Working with Mr. Florence we
were able to use our leadership abilities and culturally relevant driven lessons to encourage and
promote socio-political consciousness and influence an increase of academic rigor at DGM.
Using the Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano typology, I initially identified Mr.
Florence as a self-authoring knower, and by the end of the study, I still identified him as being
self-authoring. As defined by Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano (2017), as self-authoring
knowers use their own judgement, they also consider others’ expectations, suggestions, and
assessments. What I observed about Mr. Florence was that he valued character, trust,
relationships, hard work, one’s opinion, and his ability to be able to teach without being
micromanaged. He stressed the importance of being true and honest to oneself by never
diverging from what one truly believes. Mr. Florence prided himself on relationship building as
it related to staff members, students, and parents. He believed in fostering positive relationships
and having dialogue around issues that might be concerning to individuals, as it related to him or
his students. Mr. Florence disliked being micromanaged. He believed that he was more than
capable of teaching in a way where his students could grasp concepts and perform to the best of
their ability. When the principal questioned his teaching methods and approach, he assessed the
expectations set upon him by Mr. Daniels, considered what he should or could change, and then
he proceeded.
Before the study, I assumed that after conversations with Mr. Florence, I would leave
with a new outlook or with ideas and knowledge of how I could influence my learners. I assumed
that he would provide situations and scenarios that challenged me to think beyond what I had
previously thought about. Considering that Mr. Florence was a self-authoring knower, I was sure
to encourage him to continue to collaborate with me to find a solution to the lack of academic
22

rigor at our site. According to Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano (2017), self-authoring
knowers desire to take things into their own hands. As I worked with Mr. Florence, I was
mindful to contribute to discussions by introducing my input and suggestions into the
conversation. This forced him to work with me, and not alone.
Setting of Actions
My actions and interactions with my participants took place remotely because of distance
learning. Meeting remotely (Zoom and telephone) was safest to limit the contact with others
during COVID-19.
I met with my student participants in a whole class setting three times a week (Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday). Conducting my study during instructional time worked best with my
student participants because I was able to keep students in a whole group setting and/or separate
them in breakout rooms. Having the flexibility to teach to the entire class and then place students
in break rooms made facilitating small discussions and witnessing student growth more efficient.
My interactions with Mr. Florence were conducted by telephone. I met with Mr. Florence three
times over the course of my study: once at the beginning of each of the two units, and once
during unit one.
Actions
With my students being social beings, I interacted with my students in both small and
large group settings. During class, I encouraged them to discuss their current mindset and
thoughts around political, social, and economic issues with their peers and loved ones. I
encouraged critical thinking by creating safe spaces for them to feel comfortable enough to
discuss issues that had taken place around them. Approaching it this way allowed students to
develop their understanding instead of using my stance and beliefs to guide how they viewed the
23

educational system in terms of providing academic rigor and high expectations. Allowing
students to collaborate with one another catered to their need to be social with their peers, which
helped to foster a better understanding and response to the content being taught.
To succeed in my self-study action research, I was opened to receiving and utilizing the
feedback received from observations, critical self-reflections, and collaborating with my
participants regarding actions taken to foster students’ socio-politically consciousness through
culturally relevant pedagogy and adaptive and culturally relevant school leadership.
As outlined in my conceptual framework (Figure 2), my ideal state was to get my
students to develop or deepen their socio-political consciousness and demand that teachers at
DGM produced higher expectations, academic rigor, and culturally relevant pedagogy for all
students. I deepened their socio-political consciousness by enacting the tenets of CRP and
adaptive and culturally responsive school leadership. By increasing students’ socio-political
consciousness, students were able to have conversations around applying pressure to
stakeholders to improve the quality of instruction and the relevance of the curriculum or
implementation of the curriculum.
As I worked with Mr. Florence, we noticed our improvement in ACRSL by how we
frequently began our meetings by getting on the balcony to view situations from our students’
perspectives.
Elements of CRP were intentionally embedded into each story and lesson taught. Cultural
competence and high expectations were a part of my action plan. Within a 2-month timespan,
students were encouraged to engage in class discussions each unit, for a total of 6 class sessions
per unit. They were required to read, analyze, and discuss one short story (Unit 1) and one poem
(unit 2). Every 4 weeks, similar cycles of action and data collection were repeated until the
24

conclusion of the study. Each month included 2 weeks of teaching and data collection and 2
weeks of data analysis before moving on to the next readings.
In the first month of data collection, I assigned students to read Abuela Invents the Zero
by Judith Ortiz Cofer. This text was used as the opening text to discussions shaping my students’
identity, culture, race, and background. Most of my students were Latino and some struggled
with their heritage and rejected their native heritage. For example, some of my students did not
confidently speak Spanish and refused to do so. This could have been due to my students feeling
the need to “Americanize” to be accepted by society. During the first cycle, the topics of focus
were: identity and race, social connections, and cultural competence. I met students where they
were, knowing that most of them were not well versed in their knowledge of identity and race,
and provided them with the information necessary to help them rise to the occasion.
Identity and race were illustrated through students describing and identifying their
background and ethnicity. Students were encouraged to share their knowledge of their identity
and how it came about. I encouraged participation in discussions and self-reflection to grapple
with their own identity. I also encouraged them to reflect on how they or their loved ones were
treated by society in comparison to other ethnicities. Students were given assignments that
challenged them to dive into deeper thought of how their identity played a role in how they were
perceived by who they recognize as “Americans.” Lastly, as we read and reflected on Abuela
Invents the Zero, I provided students with discussion questions that required them to converse
and collaborate with their classmates to discuss their perception of cultural competency and
where they were with being culturally competent. Occasionally, students were asked to have
conversations regarding the given topic with their family members to receive an outside
perspective.
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During the first cycle, I worked with Mr. Florence using ACRSL skills to collaborate on
ways to enhance students’ identity, race and owning their background and culture. We got on the
balcony and observed how students were viewing their educational experience. We considered
what they said about their identity, race and culture, and strategized ways to empower them to be
proud of their identity, while we challenged them to consider why they were ashamed of it.
During cycle 2, during the reading of the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes I
used the given curriculum to discuss discrepancies, perseverance, student academic achievement
and socio-political consciousness. I facilitated conversations that helped them write a poem to
their future child.
I began my research process with initially reflecting critically on my worldview and how
it could have affected how I conducted my research. I was mindful and clear of why I chose my
research questions and what I wanted to accomplish by the end of the study. My participation in
critical reflection allowed me to track the progress of my actions from beginning to end in a
concrete way (Brookfield, 2010). In my class, I engaged students in conversation around race
and social justice issues. I enacted the cultural competence and socio-political consciousness
through curriculum given readings. I then met with Mr. Florence to discuss my research
questions and inform him of some of the ways I hoped he would contribute to the success of my
action research study.
Throughout my study, I participated in a series of on-going critical reflections, in class
teaching, meetings and discussions. I critically reflected on my experiences, thoughts, and
actions throughout the action research process. I questioned which actions needed to be taken to
reach my goal with my students and what knowledge or process were most helpful for me to
26

reach my end goal. I met with Mr. Florence on three different occasions to discuss how to use
our ACRSL skills to promote the importance of CRP school wide.
I also acted by checking for understanding with my student learners periodically to see
the growth in their knowledge and understanding of socio-political consciousness because of
CRP. The lessons created consider the whole student, instead of eliminating their culture. I
assigned literature, articles, and visuals for students to consider regarding social issues that were
relatable to them. I used short films, student artifacts, and non-fictional articles as reference
material to illustrate to students that marginalization has taken place for many years. I facilitated
classroom discussions that encouraged students to voice their opinions and concerns regarding
their educational experience and the curriculum. I encouraged student conversations with their
families, peers, and educators to engage others in the content taught in our class.
To bring a close to my action research study, I continued in critical self-reflections and
on-going conversations and discussions with Mr. Florence. I informed students of ways they
could continue to use their socio-political consciousness to advocate for CRP school-wide and
racial equity. I also encouraged students to go out and use their human capital to share the
knowledge they have obtained with their peers.
Data Collection and Instruments/Protocols
To address my first research question, data was gathered through student conversations,
student work samples, observations, and critical self- reflection regarding culturally relevant
pedagogy driven by socio-political consciousness. My second research question addressed
through student observations, conversations with my colleague, and critical self-reflection,
monitored if my colleague and I operated as ACRSL’s to eliminate marginalization.
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Being that this was an action research self-study, I was the main instrument in my study
(Maxwell, 2013). I used critical and non-critical reflections, jottings and notes, audio recordings,
asynchronous and synchronous lessons, student work samples, and meeting artifacts and
documents to collect the necessary data needed to obtain the ideal state that I wanted my
participants and I to achieve by the end of the study.
The mandated district curriculum did not include culturally relevant pedagogy. I used
CRP to implement the curriculum during many of my lessons, to provide students with the
support they needed to be able to engage in meaningful learning opportunities. To reach my ideal
state, I was reflective of the process and my actions during the process. According to Brookfield,
critical reflection is an ongoing process that allows one to check their assumptions, to be sure
that their assumptions are not becoming a block or barrier to being able to critically reflect
(Brookfield, 2010). I had assumptions that led me to believe certain things about my
administration and coworkers regarding CRP. I was mindful of critically reflecting on the
actions, instead of on my assumptions. It was also important for me to have students distinguish
the difference between reflecting and critically reflecting. I made it clear to my students that
critical reflection was not driven by assumptions but by factual information (Brookfield, 2010).
Documents and Artifacts
The documents and artifacts that generated and were collected during my study allowed
me to track how my participants and I progressed towards my goal of having students use their
socio-political consciousness to demand culturally relevant pedagogy from David G. Millen
Magnet School. Over the course of my 2-month study, I generated and collected 9 critical and
non-critical reflections and 7 observations that contributed to the documents and artifacts
throughout the study.
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I generated reflections that were critical and non-critical. My reflections provided insight
into my growth throughout the study, any impediments that occurred during the study, and
thoughts and concerns that arose from the study. I reflected at a minimum once every time I met
with my students, whether informal or formal. I reflected on the pedagogy taught that day and
how students responded to the lesson. I reflected after every meeting with Mr. Florence. I
critically reflected at the end of each week and considered new approaches and questions that
occurred during the week. During my reflection process, I considered the importance of being
present and not trying to rush through the process or use assumptions during my critical
reflection process (Brookfield, 2010; Rodgers, 2002).
Throughout my days I was mindful to jot and write notes that were useful for reflecting
and my “next steps.” I jotted during lessons and meetings to be sure not to assume in any way.
The jottings and notes were used as a reference when I needed to refer to something that
occurred to critically reflect. I also used the jottings and notes to directly quote someone
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Along with jottings and notes, I used recordings to observe each
lesson.
Lastly, zoom lessons were required by the district to be recorded, so I referred to them to
observe and provide better insight into how my students responded to the information and
knowledge presented. I reviewed the lessons to provide myself with an insight into how I
delivered specific subjects and topics.
Observations
I used recordings, jottings and observations to observe my teaching and to monitor my students’
learning development and growth. Recording the meetings provided me with direct quotes that
were used when I critically reflected and proceeded with my students (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
29

When I watched the recordings of my teaching, I observed how I interacted with students, and if
I had any unconscious biases that I operated in. I also observed how I impeded the learning of
my students or interjected my opinion in any way. Once I became aware of biases, I was able to
critically reflect and tried to change and adjust my behavior.
Data Analysis
The purpose of data analysis is to make meaning out of data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Data analysis is the process of understanding how the data collected is a representation of how
one’s research is related to their outset goal. Although, my data collection relied heavily on
observations, I used a variety of data sources (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). The sources I used to
collect data—weekly observations, meetings with Mr. Florence, critical reflections, jottings, and
lesson planning conveyed whether the actions taken, as I used CRP and operated as an ACRSL
fostered an increase in my students’ socio-political consciousness. I collected data in the field
and once I stepped out of the field. Since I participated in an action research self-study
dissertation, my practice required me to begin data collection while I was in the field and
continued collecting data in a series of two cycles ((Herr & Anderson, 2015).
Participating in multiple cycles allowed me to include and apply my data obtained from
cycle one into actions with my participants in cycle two (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The time
frame of each cycle was one month per cycle. The first two weeks of each cycle were spent
collecting in-field data and the last two weeks were spent analyzing the data collected. Between
the two cycles, I spent majority of the time critically reflecting and analyzing how my research
questions were pursued, how/ if I was impeding my students learning, and how I acted to
eliminate the marginalization that students faced. Then, I went back in the field, for cycle two,
and implemented and adjusted as needed to meet my students’ needs. After the completion of
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both cycles, I reflected and analyzed my entire study to determine how successful I was at
pursuing both research questions and identifying any areas of growth and/or improvements.
Being that my study was conducted over multiple cycles, I had to choose an analysis
process that would inform and instruct the decisions made throughout my study, while allowing
me to manage and analyze my gathered data. In doing so, I chose a priori coding. A prior coding
forced me to jot notes while in the field and journal as much as possible to provide more
accuracy to my study (Miles et al., 2014). My jottings were used to provide analytical quick
notes taken in the field that I was able to reference and reflect on to expand on my data once I
left the field. I journaled to capture my thought process regarding the events and my thoughts
that were taking place during my study. Jottings and journals were used as a reflective analytic
tool that helped to keep my gathered data organized and accurate (Herr & Anderson, 2015).
At the completion of in field data collection, I began out of field data analysis. To begin
my analysis, I begin to use analytic tools to assist in creating a codebook to properly analysis my
data (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). I created a codebook and used empirical and a priori coding to
fulfil my data analysis. Some of the codes that I identified in my codebook were adaptive
leadership, CRSL, CRP, critical reflections, and socio-political consciousness. I analyzed
fieldnotes, observations, meeting recordings, analytic memos, and lesson plans to provide further
accuracy to my data collected. After cycle one, the data collected assisted me in creating and
formulating my next steps. The analytic memos provided insight on how to better prepare my
students to think critically and consciously. Having solid evidence for cycle two allowed me to
continue to improve and make sure that I was able to succeed for my students. After cycle two,
my final cycle, I was able to review data collected to reflect on the entire process. The codebook
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created also helped to aggregate the data collected and provide clearer connections and grouping
that I may have not noticed otherwise (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Limitations and Delimitations
Given how I decided to bound my action research study, there are specific limitations and
delimitations that constrained my study. One major limitation of my study was COVID-19.
COVID-19 caused school to be remote, which made it impossible for me to conduct my study in
person. The learning and teaching of remote learning were new to many students and teachers
alike, at DGM, resulting in navigating new obstacles often, related to the pandemic. The
pandemic forced students and teachers to adapt to the new form of education, distance learning.
This caused my study to take place majority through zoom and away from my participants. I was
unable to read body language and non-verbal communication because student cameras were off,
and I met with Mr. Florence over the phone. Furthermore, what I allotted to be a five day/week
lesson, was condensed to three days/week, since the school distance learning schedule only
allowed teachers to meet with students three days out of each week. I originally planned on
meeting with Mr. Florence more frequently, but the distance and our schedules of not being in
person limited the time we were able to meet. Also, being a novice researcher, I was unaware of
some of the situations that arose during the process of my study.
A delimitation of my study was how I determined my participants and being a novice
researcher. I chose my participants because of convenience and the positive relationship that I
previously had with them. As a novice researcher, there were a lot that I was unaware of any
mistake made throughout the process. Another delimitation was my credibility and experience
that I obtained at DGM. My participants were eager to be a part of my study because of my
reputation. Unfortunately, I lost a few observation notes that were gathered for cycle 2, which I
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believe were essential components of my data. I was unable to use evidence of my knowledge
from the lost observations, in honor of keeping the data received factual, limiting my ability to
demonstrate my students’ development of their socio-political consciousness.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
As a researcher, it is important to address how I maintained and increased credibility and
trustworthiness within my study. Given that I participated in a self-study, focusing on myself and
my context, I was able to choose my topic of study. I enacted specific strategies to maintain
credibility and trustworthiness. I completed rich descriptions, data collection, and checked for
alternative outcomes to ensure that I maintained its credibility and trustworthiness (Maxwell,
2013; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Next, I triangulated my data using critical reflections, meeting
notes, jottings, and observations. Triangulation helped me use different lenses to ensure the
accuracy of my data (Brookfield, 2010). Considering the importance of critical reflections, I
reflected critically on my role as an ACRSL, which forced me to challenge many of my biases
and ideologies (Brookfield, 2010).
Ethics
Given that I studied my own practice and used participants that I had built relationships
with, I needed to attend to those relationships and protect each from any risk. One way I
protected the subjects were by receiving Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from
University of Southern California (USC). Having IRB approved helped to avoid or prevent
abusive behavior and any potential violations against the university (Coghlan, 2019). When
submitting my request for approval, I discussed the following ways I attended to ethics in my
study. I made it known to my participants that they had the opportunity and choice to remove
themselves from the study, at any point during the study without being questioned (Herr &
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Anderson, 2015). I made them aware that the information gathered would be utilized to complete
the study, but confidentiality would be kept (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). I kept confidentiality by
securing all data in a cloud drive and giving student participants pseudonyms to protect their
identity.
Considering the importance of accuracy, I did not inform my participants of all the data
that I collected and generated. Students and administration were aware that zoom meetings were
recorded, but I did not inform them that I used the information for my study. I notified Mr.
Florence that I recorded throughout my study, but I did not tell him the frequency of how often I
recorded our conversations. I avoided informing the administration of my recordings to eliminate
any potential of the answer “no,” and to avoid requiring parent signatures. I did not use students’
real names in my study, as the recordings were not for them, but me.
Findings
In this section, I present what I discovered once I stepped out of the field and analyzed
my data in relation to my two research questions. My first research question was focused on my
work with my students: How do I use culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to promote socio-
political consciousness in my students so that they will advocate for high expectations and
academic rigor in their classes? Within this question I utilized what I gathered from lesson
planning, observations, and critical reflections demonstrate how I promoted my students’ socio-
political consciousness. My second research question was driven by my work with my colleague:
How do I operate as an adaptive culturally responsive school leader (ACRSL) with my colleague
to eliminate marginalization? Within this question I collected data from meetings and
conversations with my colleague and critical reflections. The data collected was used to see how
34

my colleague and I collaborated to eliminate marginalization within our school site. I intended to
do this by working with Mr. Florence to operate as adaptive culturally responsive school leaders.
Research Question One: How Do I Use Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) to Promote
Socio-Political Consciousness Within My Students so They Will Advocate for High
Expectations and Academic Rigor in Their Classes?
In this action research study, I set out to utilize attributes of culturally relevant pedagogy
(CRP), from the tenets of academic success, cultural competence, and socio-political
consciousness, to promote students’ development of their socio-political consciousness. This was
done so that students would be able to advocate for high expectations and academic rigor in their
classes at our middle school. In my conceptual framework I argued that I would use CRP to
empower students to act on their own experiences and discuss and inform others of their personal
experiences while advocating for change. I undertook this through the completion of two cycles
of study. By the end of the second cycle, students were conscious of the way that their teachers
did not consistently hold high expectations for them. They were aware that the expectations that
were set out for them by some of their teachers were low. In addition, students had a greater
consciousness of the lack of academic rigor and the way that the curriculum did not include
BIPOC students or their experiences. Students were able to identify that the opportunities and
presence that White students had in the curriculum was not reciprocated for students of color.
There were also more students contributing to class discussions by the end of the second cycle.
Students contributed by sharing personal stories and experiences from their cultures. As students
became more aware of the power of their voices and the importance of advocacy, they began to
participate more frequently. My lessons were also more culturally relevant. Since my students
provided their personal experiences and examples, it allowed for the lessons and discussions to
35

be more relatable for the students, which contributed to greater participation. Students were able
to provide feedback and suggestions to one another on ways to advocate for the change they
desired. As an educator, by the end of the study, I was able to more consistently demonstrate
high expectations for my students. I became more patient in my approach to challenge students
to think deeply into the curriculum and content that was presented to them. I did so by providing
scaffolds and allowing students to explain and expand on their contributions to the class
discussion. I also began to bring students along the learning journey with me instead of enabling
them during the process.
Developing Socio-Political Consciousness
To position my students to demand higher expectations from their teachers, I used
cultural competence to develop their socio-political consciousness. One way I did this was by
using Kalhil Adames short film, “Identity SHORT FILM” to help students draw connections to
their cultural experiences. Having students make personal connections to the short film, moved
them to develop or deepen their socio-political consciousness. Another way I did this was by
helping them recognize that the differences that they noticed in their classes, such as submitting
late assignments and lack of relevant content, were inequitable and reproduced academic
marginalization. I also helped them become aware that the marginalization and inequitable
expectations went against their self-interest, and that they should demand more from their
teachers. According to Lozenski (2017), once students are socio-politically aware, they can
effectively demand what they want, such as asking for academic rigor and high expectations.
From the beginning of the semester, students were vocal in expressing the differences
noticed amongst their classes, such as being able to submit late assignments and the lack of
relevant content that was present. While they were aware that there were differences, they were
36

unaware of how the differences were detrimental to their learning growth and self-interest. To
cultivate their socio-political consciousness, I utilized cultural competence and showed my
students the short film, “Identity Short Film” by Kalhil Adames, which was about a high school
student who put on physical mask as she transitioned through her different friend groups. Each
mask she put on represented who she pretended to be, but not her true self. At the end of the
film, the mask was removed, and her true identity was displayed. I showed the short film to my
students to inform them of the way that these inconsistencies in their learning experiences were
connected to their racial and cultural identities and histories as members of historically
marginalized communities. Following the video I said,
When you think of one’s identity, you want to consider the whole package: identity, race,
culture, heritage. All that makes up who you are. Just like the video showed. Some
people go to different groups/places just to fit in. You must know and be aware of the
environment you are entering. For example, in Ms. Livingston’s class, you cannot submit
late work. In Mr. Bob’s class you may be able to submit late work. You have to be aware
of the differences between the two and be sure to keep them clearly separate and make
sure to always do your best.
In my statement, “When you think of one’s identity, you want to consider the whole
package: identity, race, culture, heritage,” I wanted students to begin to consider their
identity as a package instead of just individual aspects of what they might describe as
identity. By introducing identity as “the whole package,” it was implied in my statement,
“All that makes up who you are,” that they were more than just their skin color or Black or
Latino, although many people mighty identify them only by their skin color. Furthermore, the
video demonstrated how people gravitated towards where they felt more comfortable. I made this
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connection when I said: “Some people go to different groups/places just to fit in.” Students
previously mentioned how they enjoyed being in my class, and the reference to people going to
different groups or places to fit in was meant to allude to the comfortability they felt in my class
in comparison to their other classes. Although I was their only Black teacher and for many of
them, their only BIPOC teacher, I made the statement, “You have to know and be aware of the
environment you are entering,” to get students to realize that the environments that they entered
determined how they were treated and what expectations would be held for them. As the vast
majority of my students were members of the historically marginalized community, that
statement was intended for students to behave according to their best interest, regardless of the
expectations that might be already set for them by a specific teacher or community. Lastly,
implied in my statement,
For example, in Ms. Livingston’s class, you cannot submit late work. In Mr. Bob’s class
you may be able to submit late work. You have to be aware of the differences between
the two and be sure to keep them clearly separate and make sure to always do your best.
I wanted to iterate the different expectations that were given. By comparing the academic
expectations that I held and those held by Mr. Bob—my unwillingness to accept late work and
Mr. Bob’s willingness to accept late work—I was communicating the fact that they experienced
different academic expectations from their teachers and the low expectations received from some
of their teachers were not in their best interest. Instead of accepting the low expectations given to
them, they needed to be aware of what was being provided and presented to them, and demand
more. In addition, I wanted to help students become conscious of how different environments
and classes could be detrimental to them and that it was up to them to hold high expectations for
themselves.
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By the end of my study, students who participated regularly were able to express and
identify the differences that took place in their education. According to Santamaría (2009),
socio-political consciousness enables one to think of the greater good, which urges students to
reflect on and analyze the importance of the current state they are in. Consistent with what it
means to be socio-politically conscious, my students became socio-politically conscious and
aware that the education that they were receiving was unacceptable and detrimental to their
growth as individuals and students. Beyond the classroom structure, some students were aware
that societal structures perpetuated segregation and marginalization in certain communities and
cultures. The vocal Black students who regularly participated in class shared personal
experiences regarding family and friends who had experienced racism because of societal
structures. Students’ demonstration of their emerging socio-political consciousness was evident
during an exchange that took place during a discussion of the poem “Mother to Son” by
Langston Hughes. During a class discussion, I inquired why students believed that the dominant
curriculum taught in schools were surrounding the White culture. Camille (C) stated that she
believed the history of the Black culture was not taught in education because Black history was
predominately slavery. This led me to follow up with Camille and then expand the conversation
to include Hailee (H) and Aaron (A). The exchange was as follows:
Ms. L: Camille, is the Black culture only slavery? Is it that they don’t want to speak of
the negativity or what do you all think? Each culture has negativity in it.
C: Not just that it’s because of our color.
Ms. L: Tell me more, C. What do you mean it is just because of color? I think this is a
good conversation to have. It is also along the lines of us advocating for our
education.
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H: (Private Message) Most of the books that we read are about White men and the
good things that they did. Even though they were slave owners.
Ms. L: How does that make you feel, H?
H: (Verbal) Having older brothers who talk to me about how they are afraid to walk
down the street at night or when a cop pulls up behind them gives me butterflies
in my stomach. I get very nervous for them.
C: (Verbal) I feel like most boys feel that though. They are afraid to walk down the
street because they may be mistaken by the police or someone else. This is mostly
towards Black boys.
Ms. L: Okay, C switched from most boys to Black boys.
A: (Verbal) Yeah, I agree with Camille. I would add Hispanics also. I have witnessed
it myself when I visit LA. They get beat by the cops.
By asking Camille the follow up questions (“Camille, is the Black culture only slavery? Is it that
they don’t want to speak of the negativity or what do you all think? Each culture has negativity
in it.”), I intended for her to clarify her statement. I did not want the absence of Black people’s
experiences in the curriculum to be unclear to Camille or the other students. She responded by
saying that the lack of inclusion was, “Not just that it’s because of our color.” I used Camille’s
statements as an opportunity to invite students to talk about race in the context of one’s skin
color when I said, “Tell me more, Camille. What do you mean it is just not because of color?” In
addition, I made it clear that the conversation was opened for everyone to participate when I said,
“I think this is a good conversation to have.” I also drew the connection back to the importance
of advocacy when I said, “It is also along the lines of us advocating for our education.” Hailee
was the first contributor to the discussion and stated, “Most of the books that we read are about
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White men and the good things that they did. Even though they were slave owners.” Her
statement displayed her consciousness regarding the lack of racial inclusion in the curriculum,
including the lopsidedness of the way the history was presented (discussing the good things they
did and excluding the fact that they were slave owners). When I asked Hailee how she felt about
the exclusion of Black people and their history, she used that opportunity to make a connection
to today’s society. She stated, “Having older brothers who talk to me about how they are afraid
to walk down the street at night or when a cop pulls up behind them gives me butterflies in my
stomach. I get very nervous for them.” Hailee’s comment displays the awareness she had of how
her Black brothers faced racism and the effect it had on her and her concern for them in the
world. Camille then added, “I feel like most boys feel that though. They are afraid to walk down
the street because they may be mistaken by the police or someone else. This is mostly towards
Black boys.” Camille’s statement started off very broad with her stating that she believed all
boys were afraid of being mistaken, then she quickly adjusted to “mostly towards Black boys.”
The adjustment she made displays her thought process and the growth in socio-political
consciousness as she continued to express her knowledge of racism in her community. Lastly,
Aaron also added, “Yeah, I agree with Camille. I would add Hispanics also. I have witnessed it
myself when I visit LA. They get beat by the cops.” Aaron’s statement demonstrated his
consciousness that discrimination did not only take place within the Black community, but also
in other communities of color.
Increase in Student Participation by Empowering Them
According to Northouse (2016), adaptative leaders provide equal opportunities and
grounding for the marginalized to speak and be heard. Leaders who allow followers to use their
voice are empowering and provide confidence that followers can solve problems on their own
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and can address change instead of avoiding it. One way I did this was by giving the work back to
my students. I mobilized my students to become active participants in their education by helping
them become aware of the importance of advocacy and gave them the opportunity to identify the
change they desired in their education.
During cycle one, students were not very responsive during the lessons. Teaching my
lessons via Zoom due to the pandemic resulted in non-responsive students. Out of 26 of my
rostered students, only three participated regularly and only a few students turned in work during
the first cycle. After telling students that their careless actions showed that they held low
expectations for themselves, more students begin to take control and be a part of their education.
This demonstrated that I gave the work back to the students and allowed them to author their
own destiny, in response, more students started participating in discussions and submitting
assignments. By the end of the study, more students begin to regularly participate in class
discussions and submit assignments. The data piece below is in response to assigning an
assignment and providing class time for completion, and only one student completed the
assignment.
Ms. L: Tell me this, how am I supposed to teach you about self-identity and
understanding your culture and your worth when you don’t even care about it?
You can’t say “Ms. Livingston, I care. I care. I care. Those are just words. How
can I say speak up for yourself and let your friends and teachers know you are
important regardless of what society says when you can’t submit simple
assignments? Like, again, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them
drink it. Prime example let’s go over this assignment again. Aaron, I will use
yours probably as an example, just FYI. Thank you for doing it.
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*Displays assignment
This is an easy assignment and grade. Just do it. I come to the padlet and only see
that one person completed the assignment. That means Aaron is the only one who
will receive a satisfying grade on this assignment. I am using Aaron as an
example because he is working to improve his grade. He is SHOWING me that he
not only cares about his appearance, but also his grade. He is showing me that he
hears me and is paying attention. What about the rest of y’all? Your main job is to
succeed in school. Go to class and do what you are supposed to do. If you all just
posted a picture of ANYTHING, you would have received some points. As an
educator and your teacher, I am ashamed when students do not complete simple
assignments like this. Students always say, “Ms. Livingston, I am tired of writing
essays, and you give us too much work.” Essay where? The assignment was to
post a picture of a gif and you can’t even do that. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of
you participate in class and I appreciate that, but I can’t give you a grade on
verbal participation. I need submitted assignments to go along with that. So, this
is what we are focused on today. I need our padlet and the quiz to be completed so
that you all can receive credit. Our focus is still identity. You all matter and it is
way deeper than a skin color. It is deeper than your last name. It is about who you
are. Realistically, honestly, it is something called advocating. What does it mean
to advocate? What does it mean to advocate? Someone google it and post the
definition into the chat. When I say advocate for yourself, what am I saying?
I intended to give the work back to the students by asking them to consider their behavior and
careless attitude towards the material being taught. I stated, “Tell me this, how am I supposed to
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teach you about self-identity and understanding your culture and your worth when you don’t
even care about it?” I made that statement to inform students that the actions that were
demonstrated displayed a lack of care and concern for their identity and culture. The question
asked also placed the work back on the students to consider, as I did not provide an answer for
them. I continued, “You can’t say “Ms. Livingston, I care. I care. I care. Those are just words.
How can I say speak up for yourself and let your friends and teachers know you are important
regardless of what society says when you can’t submit simple assignments?” This was to show
students that advocacy can look different. For me to advocate for them, I needed them to show
interest in their education before someone else can be expected to show interest. I used the
student who submitted the assignment as an example because he was their peer, and I was
hoping that his accomplishments motivated students that they too were capable: “I am using
Aaron as an example because Aaron is working to improve his grade. He is SHOWING me that
he not only cares about his appearance, but also his grade. He is showing me that he hears me
and is paying attention.” Aaron had taken ownership of his work for himself and did not leave it
undone. I continued to add, “Don’t get me wrong, a lot of you participate in class and I
appreciate that, but I can’t give you a grade on verbal participation. I need submitted assignments
to go along with that,” when only a few students really actively participated. I purposely wanted
students to feel left out like they were one of the few who did not participate. Lastly, I ended this
dialogue by relating back to our lesson of identity and advocacy in hopes of students being able
to make relevance of my statements: “You all matter and it is way deeper than a skin color. It is
deeper than your last name. It is about who you are.” My statement was made in hope to give the
work back to the students by empowering them to take action for themselves and understanding
their identity.
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By the end of cycle 2, students were more vocal and were able to provide personal
examples of the expectations received by their teachers, including me. I helped them become
more vocal by asking leading questions that caused them to recognize how the expectations
given to them by many of their teachers did not consider the responsibilities that they may hold
in their families, being of the marginalized community. The conversation went as follow:
Ms. L: Speaking of studying, do you think that you are given the same opportunities of
other students when it comes to test and things of that nature? We know that our
speaker in “Mother to Son” was not granted the same opportunities as her White
counterparts. Do you as a student feel that you are granted the same
opportunities as all students regardless of their ethnicity?
A: Not you ... but all of these other teachers act like we just have that class.
Ms. L: What do you mean Aaron?
A: Like, they act like we just have their class and not six other classes.
Ms. L: In terms of the workload?
A: Yeah. Like they give like three assignments per day and don’t take in to account
the other work that other classes are assigning us. All this is in the same week.
Raquel: The thing is you put that stress on yourself, make an organizer to make sure you
get the job done but make sure you have time to yourself and family
Anthony: Teachers pile up work in one class and expect us to be done in a week.
R: Yeah!!
Ant: No
H: No
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Amy: Yeah [sic] like they give a lot of work and say get it done today but we still have
to deal with other classes work and deal with watching siblings and doing chores
Ms. L: You all sound very passionate about this topic. Do you think that your teachers are
aware of the workload they are giving?
A: They probably do and do not care. I feel like if we were to bring it up to them they
would say that we have enough time. Not you, Ms. Livingston but the rest. They
don’t understand that kids do other things like play sports and extracurricular
activities. I am just saying if they can cut the work in half or something.
Ms. L: Okay, the work that they are giving, do you feel that all work is necessary?
A: I would not say all the work is necessary. I will say depending on what it is.
R: Maybe
Ant: No
Amy: Not really
Ant: Sometimes on a test maybe
Ms. L: What makes the work not necessary?
A: In history we have been learning the same stuff since like second grade. It is just
over and over.
Ms. L: What would you like to learn about?
A: Something different. We already know about Abraham Lincoln and all of that.
Like we already understand the material. We do not need homework on it.
Ms. L: Tell us more, Andrew and Amy. Why isn't it necessary?
R: What Amy said about we still have to take care of our siblings and help out
around the house, like we have a life out of school.
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By asking my students,
Do you think you are given the same opportunities of other students when it comes to
test and things of that nature? … Do you as a student feel that you are granted the same
opportunities as all students regardless of their ethnicity?
I intended to ask them questions that caused them to take ownership in their own thinking
process, by giving the cognitive work back to them. I expected them to disagree, and it was my
hope for them to identify that the marginalized students/ BIPOC population was granted fewer
opportunities than their White counterparts. Instead, Aaron expressed his distaste for the
workload assigned by stating,
Not you... [sic] but all of these other teachers act like we just have that class… [sic] Like
they give like three assignments per day and don’t take in to account the other work that
other classes are assigning us. All this is in the same week.
Aaron’s comment eventually encouraged his peers to contribute to this idea. Majority of them
agreed with him stating things such as, “teachers pile up work in one class and expect us to be
done in a week,” says one student. Another student adding, “Yea, like they give a lot of work and
say get it done today but we still have to deal with other classes work and deal with watching
siblings and doing chores.” These comments alluded to the idea of the expectations that are not
only required of students academically, but also the expectations held of them by their families. I
assumed that since majority of my coworkers are White, a lot of them may be unfamiliar with the
responsibilities that are held of our BIPOC students, and I asked them, “Do you think that your
teachers are aware of the workload they are giving?” Instead of students believing that my
assumption could be true, one student said,
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They probably do and do not care. I feel like if we were to bring it up to them, they would
say that we have enough time. Not you, Ms. Livingston but the rest. They don’t
understand that kids do other things like play sports and extracurricular activities. I am
just saying if they can cut the work in half or something.
As I listened to students’ complaints, I tried to gauge whether the students were complaining or
making relevant arguments. I asked, “Okay, the work that they are giving, do you feel that all
work is necessary?” The responses I received were, “I would not say all the work is necessary. I
will say depending on what it is,” “maybe,” “no,” “not really,” “sometimes, on a test
maybe.” They believe that the work is unnecessary because, “In history we have been learning
the same stuff since like second grade. It is just over and over.” Instead, they would want to
learn, “something different. We already know about Abraham Lincoln and all of that. Like we
already understand the material. We do not need homework on it.” The distaste from the
students’ comments displayed how they did not find relevance in the curriculum and was fed up
with the exclusion.
Academic Rigor
According to Santamaría (2009), culturally relevant pedagogy is intended to provide
equitable learning conditions for all students and allows the teacher to understand their learner.
One of my goals in this action research study was to provide my students with culturally relevant
pedagogy. Santamaría (2009) identified the following elements of culturally relevant pedagogy:
presumes students are capable, supports the development of students’ critical consciousness, and
encourages academic achievement. I believed that I was providing my students with
academically rigorous learning opportunities by communicating to my students that I believed
that they were capable and I encouraging their academic achievement. Looking at the data from
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across the study, I realized that, at the outset of the study, I did not communicate that they were
capable or encourage their academic achievement through the instructional choices that I made.
Instead, I communicated low expectations by rushing and doing the mental work for them. By
the end of the second cycle, I was more patient and allowed my students to think for themselves,
thus communicating high expectations and making them do the mental work.
Cycle 1. During each cycle, I desired to provide my students with high academic rigor
(by communicating that they were capable and encouraging their academic achievement). I
attempted to do this by asking challenging questions, having thought provoking discussions, and
challenging students to expand the conversation with their family and friends. My enactment of
the curriculum I prepared did not demonstrate that I believed that my students were capable of
academically achieving the rigor I set for them. During cycle one, fewer than five of my 23
students participated regularly in class. Being that the lessons were through Zoom due to the
pandemic, students were able to hide behind their computer screens. I assumed that the lack of
participation was because students were not engaged and, in some way, connected to their ability
to handle the content or think deeply in response to the questions being asked. While I was
analyzing observations of my interactions with my students, I realized that I did majority of the
mental work for my students, which assumed that I did not believe they could think deeply on
their own. For example, during cycle one, I showed students the short film, “Identity Short Film”
by Kalhil Adames, where I intended to use the film to discuss the difference of fitting in, and
how that may affect one’s identity. In developing the lesson, I had created intended curriculum
where three higher level questions were asked: In terms of the mask-wearing and our vocabulary
term, identity, and the lessons we have mentioned, how is this related to our life or someone we
know? What do you think may be going through her mind right now? What could the mask
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symbolize? When I enacted the curriculum, I communicated that I held low expectations for my
students. At the outset of the lesson, my academic expectations were high but when confronted
by the students’ silence, I shifted into asking lower-level thinking questions, which showed that I
presumed that my students were not capable to achieve the amount of rigor that I initially set out
for them. For example,
Ms. L: Aaron, you said you were confused during the video. Why were you confused?
A: It was confusing. I just didn’t get it. I did not know what was happening, but I
understand now.
Ms. L: Okay, good. Think about it. In terms of the mask-wearing and our vocabulary
term, identity, and the lessons we have mentioned, how is this related to our life
or someone we know? This is a general question.
[pause for 10 seconds]
Ms. L: Do we know people who may put on a mask? Do we ourselves wear a mysterious
mask to try to fit in?
[pause for 5 seconds]
Ms. L: If you noticed in the video towards the beginning and middle, one of the students
switched masks going between groups. Why do you think she did that? Why may
we change in front of different people?
During the short film Aaron stated that he was confused about what was taking place. After the
video, I inquired about why he was confused, and he stated that he gained clarity as the video
progressed: “It was confusing. I just didn’t get it. I did not know what was happening, but I
understand now.” I then responded by saying, “Okay, good.” In this instance, I dismissed
Aaron’s confusion and did not consider clarifying for other students who may have also been
50

confused. To provide higher-level thinking, I could have had Aaron explain how he came to an
understanding, but I did not do so. I then attempted to have students connect the short film to the
topic of discussion, identity, and students’ personal lives. I challenged them to think about
identity by asking the question, “In terms of the mask-wearing and our vocabulary term, identity,
and the lessons we have mentioned, how is this related to our life or someone we know? This is a
general question.” The rigor of the question required students to provide a response other than
“yes or no,” but initially, students did not respond. The lack of think time given to students (10
seconds) demonstrated that I did not believe students were capable of successfully answering the
question asked. My enactment showed that I did not trust them to be able to think deeply enough
to answer the question, so I quickly reverted the question that I originally asked. They were silent
possibly because the question was a loaded question and required a deeper response. Instead of
allowing students thinking time, after 10 seconds, I demonstrated that students were not capable
of answering my initial question by asking another question. I asked, “Do we know people who
may put on a mask? Do we ourselves wear a mysterious mask to try to fit in?” I assumed that my
follow up question was a continuum of my original question that supported curricular
consciousness, just separated into two different questions. Instead of me scaffolding, I decreased
the rigor by asking yes or no questions. After not receiving a response after the follow up
questions, I proceeded in asking more questions: “If you noticed in the video towards the
beginning and middle, one of the students switched masks going between groups. Why do you
think she did that? Why may we change in front of different people?” I did not receive a
response to any of the questions I asked. I continued asking questions because at the time I
assumed that was what my students needed, but I lowered the rigor I held for my students instead
of scaffolding for them to reach the higher academic rigor. My impatience caused me to think
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quickly, instead of thinking strategically. If I would have taken time and allowed for students to
process the initial question, then I could have built on their knowledge and response to the
questions being asked. Once I was made aware of the lack of rigor and low standards that I
presented to my students, I adjusted for cycle two.
Cycle 2. By the end of the study, I began to academically trust my students more. I did
not rush the lessons, and the academic rigor that was present challenged and caused students to
think more deeply than what they previously showed. I presumed students were capable by not
providing students with the responses that I wanted to hear. I allowed them to think for
themselves and contribute to the statements made by their peers. Students demonstrated that I
encouraged their academic achievement by the growth in participation that was present during
cycle 2. Out of my 23 students 10 participated at least twice during cycle two. This is an increase
from previous lessons, which demonstrated that students were capable, as their leader I just
needed to empower them. My patience allowed me to give the necessary space for students to
think and process the material for themselves. I also scaffolded the lesson as necessary to meet
my students where they were. For example, during the lesson of “Mother to Son,” I introduced
students to the idea of perseverance. Most students identified that the speaker, the mother, had to
persevere through many obstacles. I wanted students to show their understanding of the poem, by
identifying problems from the poem.
Ms. L: Okay, now in the chat, what is a problem that you have noticed?
[pause for 1 minute]
Ms. L: I want you all to engage in the chat. I will start off. The mother struggled.
Amy: She worked hard but still deals with it and telling her son not to give up and keep
working hard
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Ms. L: Yes, that is good Amy.
R: She pushed through
Ms. L: What is that one word we used last time to describe one who pushes through?
While the rest of you are completely silent, think about what she had to push
through. What did the mother have to push through?
C: The mother is having a hard time [sic] so she tries to tell her son that life is hard.
Ms. L: Yes, yes, yes! We are on the right track. I am liking the responses.
R: Challenges.
Ms. L: Challenges like what? She didn’t quit. We know that she didn’t quit because the
poem says [pause]
Ant: I didn’t hear it that well.
A: Shoot being a mother is a challenge.
Ms. L: Absolutely! I can only imagine the struggle of being a parent. Think about the
struggle of being a sibling!
H: Putting food on the table [sic]
C: Having kids [sic]
Ant: Responsibility
Amy: You have to work hard and keep making money to make you kids happy and get
them what they need [sic]
Ms. L: Yes! Kids are expensive. How do we know or what makes us believe that she is
comparing her life to someone/ something else? Where does the comparison come
from? Who or what was she comparing her life to?
R: Money don’t sleep so our parents don’t sleep [sic]
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A: Cos [sic] the rich people have crystal stairs. some rich people
Ms. L: The rich people?! Who are the rich people? Remember this is a safe space so
whatever is said stays in here. So hopefully you all are comfortable with engaging
in conversation regarding this.
H: People with money [sic]
A : Dinero [sic]
Ms. L: Who are the people with money though? We agreed earlier that this may be from
a slave’s perspective.
Ant: White people
H: Whites?
Steph: (private message) White people
In this exchange, I demonstrated that I believed that they were capable of answering the question
by first giving them thinking time. I waited a full minute before following up and I encouraged
students to respond in multiple ways. I suggested that they respond verbally and/or through chat.
Then, when I did follow up, I scaffolded by providing them with an example, to guide them in
the correct direction: “I want you all to engage in the chat. I will start off. The mother struggled.”
The scaffold that I provided allowed students to answer the question in their own way and gave
them an idea of what I was expecting of them. Students responded by saying, “she worked hard
but still deals with it and telling her son not to give up and keep working hard”, “she pushed
through”, “the mother is having a hard time, so she tries to tell her son that life is hard.” Their
responses demonstrated that the scaffold that I provided supported their ability to demonstrate
their understanding of the poem. Their responses also demonstrated the value in the time I
provided for them to think and process what was asked of them. After three students responded, I
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encouraged them and others to respond by saying, “Yes, yes, yes! We are on the right track. I am
liking the responses!” My response was assuring that students were providing correct responses
and encouraged academic achievement. I then proceeded by referring back to previous
discussions and challenging students to recall their prior knowledge, as well as asking a follow
up question: “What is that one word we used last time to describe one who pushes through?
While the rest of you are completely silent, think about what she had to push through. What did
the mother have to push through?” Student R responded very broadly by stating, “challenges.” I
then encouraged academic achievement by having her explain what she meant by challenges:
“Challenges like what? She didn’t quit. We know that she didn’t quit because the poem says.”
Although, she never had the chance to respond to my question because her peers added their
input to the conversation, the question, gave room for others to engage and participate in the
discussion. Students responded to the question that I asked student R by saying: “shoot being a
mother is a challenge,” “putting food on the table,” “having kids,” “responsibility,” “you have to
work hard and keep making money to make your kids happy and get them what they need.” I
encouraged academic achievement by reassuring the students’ responses were correct: “Yes!
Kids are expensive.” I also added: “How do we know or what makes us believe that she is
comparing her life to someone/something else? Where does the comparison come from? Who or
what was she comparing her life to?” I asked loaded questions, but students were able to
successfully answer the questions. They responded by saying, “money don’t sleep so our parents
don’t sleep,” “Cuz the rich people have crystal stairs … some rich people” [sic] I demonstrated
that I believed that my students were capable because I never gave them a way out. Instead, I
asked questions that challenged them to think deeper to explain their statement: “The rich
people?! Who are the rich people?” They continued: “people with money,” “dinero.” Students
55

were responding generally, so I scaffolded by asking clarifying questions that gave students a
better idea of what I was expecting from them: “Who are the people with money though? We
agreed earlier that this may be from a slave’s perspective.” By providing that scaffold, students
were able to provide the correct answer of, “White people.”
The data sample that I provided from cycle one demonstrated that according to
Santamaría’s (2009) idea of the elements of culturally relevant pedagogy, I did not presume my
students capable of thinking on their own and successfully reaching the academic goals that I had
set out for them. Cycle one also demonstrated that I did not support curricular critical
consciousness or encouraged academic achievement in my students, because I did not give them
enough time to think on their own to provided responses to my questions. In cycle two, I made
improvements. My patience and scaffolding allowed me to show that I believed students were
capable of successfully reaching the academic goal that I set out for them to achieve. This
allowed me to support their critical consciousness and encourage their academic achievement.
Overall, as I reflect on the study, the growth that I noticed was satisfying. There is always
room for improvement, and although the study is over, I look forward to the continued growth
for myself and my students. I provided something for the students to think about and consider,
even though the goal was not always clear for them. I also saw the confidence grow within my
students, as more became more vocal and participated in discussions. The clarity that I received
from my study and the experience of seeing how students were willing to follow along, although
unclear of certain things, excited me. I look forward to the conversations and guidance that I can
now provide my students that will continue to encourage academic rigor.
Research Question Two: How Do I Operate as an Adaptive Culturally Responsive School
Leader With My Colleague to Eliminate Marginalization?
56

In my goal to enhance my students’ socio-political consciousness, operating as an
adaptive culturally responsive school leader (ACRSL) was essential to eliminating
marginalization at my middle school site. Adaptive leadership mobilizes individuals to tackle
tough situations, and thrive beyond the challenges (Heifetz et al., 2009). Also, adaptive leaders
prepare and encourage individuals to deal with challenges that they may face in a changing
environment (Northouse, 2016). In conjunction with being an adaptive leader, operating as a
culturally responsive school leader focused on how I as a leader enacted behaviors that
positioned me to meet the needs of my minority students (Khalifa et al., 2016). CRSL allowed
me to promote school reform by going beyond the duties of a classroom teacher to focus on
equity, inclusion, and social justice school-wide (Khalifa et al., 2016). I did this in collaboration
with my colleague and grade level partner, Mr. Florence. With over 25 years of teaching
experience, Mr. Florence was able to assist me in becoming the adaptive culturally responsive
school leader that my students needed me to be. Initially, I intended for the push to be
reciprocated in deepening each other’s ability to operate as an ACRSL, but time constraints
made me unable to focus on deepening Mr. Florence’s ability to operate as an ACRSL. Prior to
fieldwork, I anticipated us meeting frequently, at least once a week, but reality caused us to meet
once every two weeks. Due to the distance and time constraints that distance learning caused, we
met once every two weeks by telephone for fewer than 15 minutes; for a total of three meetings
across the two cycles of data collection. In the time that we had, I made a conscious decision to
focus more on how he could assist me in operating more as an ACRSL so that I could work
towards eliminating the marginalization starting with my students. Being aware of Mr.
Florence’s and my relationship, I assumed that what we discussed would be reciprocated in his
class, as he consciously desired to operate as an ACRSL also. If so, being that he and I were the
57

only eighth grade English Language Arts teachers at our site, our teaching strategies in operating
as ACRSLs were a schoolwide response to eliminate the marginalization present in the eighth-
grade department.
Operating as ACRSL’s to eliminate historically entrenched inequities, Mr. Florence and I
focused on four behaviors mentioned by Northouse (2016). We focused on getting on the
balcony, giving the work back to the people (the students), maintaining disciplined attention, and
protecting leadership voices from below. Below I will provide examples and explain each
behavior as it relates to my action research study. All examples provided are from the first unit of
study and the text Abuela Invents the Zero by Judith Ortiz Cofer.
Getting on the Balcony
Northouse (2016) contends that getting on the balcony is a metaphor for stepping back
and looking at the big picture of a situation. As an ACRSL, I wanted to step back, remove myself
from thinking as a classroom teacher and look at my students’ concerns regarding their
educational experiences both past and present. At the outset of each unit, two of the three times
Mr. Florence and I met, we got on the balcony. During these meetings we developed lesson plans
while considering our students’ experiences and the mandated curriculum that we were given to
teach our students.
The text that was taught, Abuela Invents the Zero, was a part of the mandated and
enforced curriculum. By getting on the balcony, Mr. Florence and I were able to manipulate and
cater the curriculum so that it became conducive and relevant to majority of our students. The
original curriculum did not account for the culture or communities that our students came from,
although a Latino text, so we adapted the curriculum to best serve them.
58

We began by lesson planning prior to each of the two units we taught over the course of
data collection. During these two meetings, we discussed strategies and assignments that would
connect to our students’ lived experiences. For example, in the first cycle, I asked Mr. Florence,
“How do you believe we could make our lessons more culturally relevant for our students in
relation to the text, Abuela Invents the Zero.” That questioned allowed us to get on the balcony
and broadly discuss what we had previously observed with our students regarding the
marginalization and inequities that they faced and/or had mentioned in previous discussions and
conversations. Previously, students mentioned that the curriculum was repetitive and unrelatable.
By getting on the balcony, we were able to create assignments such as family trees and have
discussions and conversations around their culture and family customs that connected to the text.
After the assignments and conversations, we were able to operate as culturally responsive school
leaders (CRSL) by critically reflecting on the assignments and conversations held to adjust the
given curriculum for students to see themselves or someone they knew in the text (Khalifa et al.,
2016).
Giving the Work Back to the People (Students)
According to Northouse (2016), giving the work back to the people is empowering and
can build confidence. In Unit 1, Mr. Florence and I discussed empowering our students and
building their confidence by challenging them to learn their culture and families’ heritage.
He suggested that we gave the work back to the students by having them create family
trees to get them connected to their families’ heritage and background. Giving the work back to
the students allowed them to become more familiar with their families’ stories. We encouraged
students to have conversations with an older generation family member to be enlightened of
family background that may have been unfamiliar to them prior to the conversation held. By
59

giving the work back to the students, they were able to report their knew knowledge of their
family. Most students were able to include their cultural knowledge and experience when
referring to the characters and discussing Abuela Invents the Zero.
As CRSL’s Mr. Florence and I were able to briefly reflect on our students’ cultures and
heritages to create assignments for that unit and to better be able to learn our students a bit more
(Khalifa et al., 2016).
Maintaining Disciplined Attention
Next, as adaptive culturally responsive school leaders, we wanted to maintain disciplined
attention while critically reflective and self-aware of our students. To maintain disciplined
attention, we were aware that we needed to focus on helping our students address change instead
of avoiding it (Northouse, 2016). We maintained disciplined attention by having students discuss
the generational differences noticed between their lives and the main characters lives from the
text. We were aware that students needed to be familiar with their identity to empathize with
others’ identity. Our desire was to get students to apply the knowledge they received from the
family tree assignment to draw as many connections as possible to their personal lives and the
lack of identity identified in the granddaughter, Constancia’s life. Getting students to empathize
and try to see other’s perspective was our intentions of maintaining disciplined attention and
getting students to be more socio-political conscious about what was taking place beyond them.
As the unit progressed, I demonstrated CRSL as I reported to Mr. Florence that I
observed my students being able to empathize with the abuela more than the granddaughter
(Khalifa et al., 2016). I also told him that I wanted to get students to empathize with others on
our campus in addition to empathizing with the characters from the text. He suggested to
continue to give the work back to the students by assigning dialectical journals and response
60

poems so students could analyze words and respond to others through poetry. This was to help
students view and consider someone else’s perspective and really empathize with them, even if
the story may be completely different from their story.
Protecting Voices From Below
Lastly, instead of ignoring our students’ concerns and comments, we operated as
ACRSLs to provide equal opportunities and grounding for the marginalized to speak and be
heard by the majority (Northouse, 2016). We consciously decided to be more aware and
considerate of the needs of our students (Khalifa et al., 2016). Together, we protected leadership
voices from below by allowing our students to provide their thoughts and concerns regarding the
marginalization and entrenched inequities that they noticed throughout their educational
experience thus far. This opportunity empowered students to speak up and address their disgust
with the education that they have received throughout their middle school experience. By the end
of the two months in field action research data collection, Mr. Florence and I worked to help
students operationalize their desires. This was demonstrated by students being able to name
specific strategies that could promote change, ranging from challenging their teachers during
class lessons to addressing their concerns at a board meeting.
As culturally responsive school leaders, the strategies that were conducted with our
students were a result of questions that we asked ourselves to better serve our students (Khalifa
et al., 2016). We were aware that our marginalized students need were not being fulfilled. As the
ACRSL’s we were, we constantly critically reflected and altered lessons accordingly.
Aside from working with Mr. Florence, I continued to be the best adaptive culturally
responsive school leader that I could be for my students. I mobilized my students to advocate for
the change they desired by encouraging them to identify and voice their concerns. I positioned
61

myself to create a safe space for my students so that they were comfortable in discussing topics
they may not have been mentioned elsewhere. I went beyond my classroom duties to provide
equity and inclusion for my students. I enacted and adjusted the given curriculum to be inclusive
for all my students. We had discussions and conversations that reflected our class culture and the
background of my students. We then took the conversations held and provided ways that
students could actively advocate for the desired change.
Afterword
In this section, I will talk about the growth that I have noticed within myself as I continue
my work as an eighth-grade teacher and leader at my school site. The growth is a result of what I
have learned through my action research dissertation, and how I have and continue to apply it to
my current work as an educator. I will explain how I have noticed self-growth around teacher
clarity, high expectations held for my students, and challenging my students’ socio-political
consciousness. I will also explain how I have noticed my students’ socio-political consciousness
deepen, as well as how I have grown as an educator in relation to the way I work with my
colleagues.
In Relation to Students
Beyond my study, in working with my students, I have noticed growth in myself in the
areas of clarity and holding high expectations for my students. With respect to my students, I
have noticed students developing socio-political consciousness in response to my actions. When
introducing and presenting new ideas to my students, I make sure to bring them along the
learning journey with me. I do so by clarifying what I expect of them in multiple ways. I set clear
expectations by having the expectations written, I verbally repeat the expectations multiple
times, and I ask clear questions and wait for a comprehensible student response before moving
62

forward. I know this to be true because during after a classroom observation from my vice
principal, there was a comment made that alluded to the clear expectations that I set for my
students. The vice principal made a comment where he used the words, “I like how you take
your students on the journey with you.” This is an area that I have grown in because at the
beginning of my data collection, I struggled with taking students on the journey with me. I would
often lose them during the instructions because the lack of clarity, and I would leave them there.
The level of expectations that I hold for my students are visible and brought forth. During
my action research study, I assumed that I held high expectations for my students. During data
analysis I was made aware that the expectations held were low. I now hold students to the high
standard set. I do not give them an easy way out by being impatient and providing them with the
answer. Since the study, I am aware of the time lapse and provide scaffolds as necessary instead
of providing answers. Making my students aware of the clear expectations that I have for them
helps in students meeting the expectations set.
Next, I noticed how I subconsciously challenge students’ socio-political consciousness. I
do so by constantly creating lessons that are relevant and relatable to my students. I continue to
adapt the given curriculum to best serve my students by presenting it in ways that forces my
students to critically think of their educational experience, as well as how they can apply it to
their lives. The socio-politically conscious lessons that are created encourage students to
challenge their current view and mindset and work towards advocating for the desired change.
Lastly, I also witness evidence of my students developing and/or deepening their socio-
political consciousness. My students have become more conscious when contributing to class
discussions and conversations. They are more aware of how their actions may affect those
around them. Prior to my study, students’ responses were quick and less likely related to the
63

initial question or topic. Now, the conversation can be held and facilitated by students because
they are conscious of what is taking place and making an active effort to think before they speak.
My students ask questions of the curriculum and reports from themselves, and teachers have
returned to me regarding students taking charge of their education by questioning the curriculum.
In Relation to Colleague
In reference to collaborating with my colleagues, I constantly remind my colleagues of
the importance of being adaptive culturally responsive school leaders. I do this by encouraging
them to make their lessons and class discussions relevant to the students that we serve. In
professional development meetings, when applicable, I make sure to bring forth the “why”
question to my department. Why are lessons taught the way they are and why is that lesson
important or relevant to our students? This mindset allows me to constantly think of ways to
include my students into lessons, as well as making sure it is a schoolwide adaptation instead of
just in my classroom. I also go the extra step in challenging my colleagues to take a step back
and think of their lessons from the student perspective. Thus far, I have received positive
feedback from my colleagues stating that students are more engaged in their classrooms.
Moving forward, I plan to further my growth as an educator and apply what I have
learned during my action research dissertation to my future practice. This may be done in
creating a professional development for teachers around topics that I have studied or even
further, providing one on one guidance to educators regarding students’ socio-political
consciousness.
Overall, my self-action research dissertation project has allowed me to continue to
promote my students’ socio-political consciousness by taking them on the learning journey with
me and positioning them to be aware of the disorienting and deficit educational opportunities that
64

may be present to them and around them. I also consciously hold my students to high
expectations by providing clear expectations and positioning them to successfully meet the
expectations set. The expectations have become clearer as I intentionally tell my students what I
want and expect of them. I am purposeful in presenting information in multiple forms, to make it
accessible for my students to understand the expectations that they are positioned to achieve. I
now also consciously create lesson plans that are culturally relevant for the students that I service
and critically reflect often to make sure that my students’ learning needs are met through my
lessons and interactions with them.
65

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract The purposes of this action research study were to utilize culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to enhance students’ socio-political consciousness so that they would demand high expectations and academic rigor from their teachers and work with my colleague to operate as adaptive culturally responsive school leaders (ACRSL) to eliminate marginalization. This study took place over the course of Spring 2021 semester at David G. Millen Magnet School (DGM) where I taught eighth grade English Language Arts. DGM is located on the westside of Palmdale, California, serving majority Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). The components of my study included: formal and informal critical reflections, class lessons, observations, and meetings. My research questions were used to drive my field analysis. At the conclusion of my research, I witnessed increase in students’ socio-political consciousness by being challenged to think beyond themselves and being held accountable to achieve higher expectations and academic rigor. My colleague and I worked to consciously operate as ACRSL’s in our classes. We viewed situations from students’ lenses and considered the concerns and complaints of our students. We constantly worked for all students to feel included and seen within the curriculum. We worked to be culturally responsive and competent for our students. ❧ As an educator, I grew in many areas. I grew as a classroom teacher, a colleague, and most importantly, as an individual. As a classroom teacher, I became more aware of my patience and the expectations that I held for my students. I became clearer in my instructions and intentionality around students grasping the concepts provided to them. I became more conscious of taking my students on the learning journey with me. As a colleague, I became intentional in how I lesson planned and the conversations that I held with my colleagues. I hold conversations that are uplifting and purposeful with my colleagues. Lastly, as an individual, I become more socio-political conscious. I advocate for not only my students but all. I am more action-oriented and move forcefully.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Livingston, Sonya D. (author)

Core Title Using culturally relevant pedagogy to deepen students' socio-political consciousness: an action research project

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Educational Leadership

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 02/17/2022

Defense Date 01/26/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag culturally relevant pedagogy,OAI-PMH Harvest,socio-political consciousness

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Samkian, Artineh (committee chair), Slayton, Julie (committee chair), Brown-Elize, Rashitta (committee member)

Creator Email SonyaDLivingston@gmail.com,Sonyaliv@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC110760093

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