#BLACK LIVES MATTER - INVESTIGATING LITERACY ENGAGEMENTS OF BLACK ADOLESCENT MALES IN AND OUT-OF-SCHOOL: CASE STUDIES OF FOUR YOUTH IN TWO SPACES
Open Access
Author:
Simmons, Corey L
Graduate Program:
Curriculum and Instruction
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
November 16, 2018
Committee Members:
Jeanine M Staples, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor Jeanine M Staples, Committee Chair/Co-Chair Gail Louise Boldt, Committee Member Ashley Nichol Patterson, Committee Member Darryl Thomas, Outside Member
Keywords:
LITERACY
Abstract:
In an era of increasing low literacy and high dropout among Black adolescent males (BAMs), this study investigates the ways in which BAMs negotiate their in-school and out-of-school literacy engagements. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of socio-cultural theories of literacy, New Literacy Studies and third space theory, this study reports upon four BAM high school students’ literacy engagements in-school and out-of-school. The study examined the influence of space on the adolescents’ transactions with literacy. Also examined was the ways in which the participants constructed meaning through music, art, sport commentary, poetry and rap. Data collected from field notes; observations of in-school and out-of-school literacy engagements; drawing and writings from the classroom, non-classroom and afterschool program spaces; and interviews with the participants were analyzed and organized into recursive themes illustrative of the ways they negotiated their in-school and out-of-school engagements. Analysis revealed that these BAM participants did so by drawing on and making sense of authentic texts as well as enabling texts and by “getting by.” Generally speaking, the BAM participants viewed their in-school and out-of-school literacy engagements as far removed from one another. Largely, the participants’ out-of-school literacy engagements were not recognized or valued in the classroom. Further analysis revealed a significant commonality among the participants - Black Lives Matter.
