Striving and thriving:Students of color activating agency to negotiate place, position, and relevance at an elite U.S. independent school

Mayikana, Lusanda (2023) Striving and thriving:Students of color activating agency to negotiate place, position, and relevance at an elite U.S. independent school. PhD thesis, UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

This thesis documents the self-perceptions of students of colour in their attempts to claim agency and navigate academic and social discourse in dominated spaces at a U.S. independent school. The study investigated the role played by racial and ethnic socialization as a form of cultural capital embodied by the students of colour in predominantly White U.S. independent schools. It is practitioner research that examines the capacity of students of colour to summon a complement of constructs to actualize their academic potential, navigate new social boundaries, and negotiate a sense of belonging. It argues that the students’ understanding of self as a socialised subjectivity allows them to engage in counter-storytelling and resistance to affirm the value of their voices and self-identity. This thesis seeks to contribute knowledge toward interrogating the colour-blind ideology embedded within the social structures of the American education system and sustains systemic racism and asymmetrical power dynamics. The study concludes by emphasizing the salience of an anti-racist framework in policy discussions to dismantle systemic inequalities in education.