Date of Award

Spring 5-2019

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education & Educational Psychology

First Advisor

Pauline E. Goolkasian, EdD

Second Advisor

Patricia N. Anekwe, EdD

Third Advisor

Rydell Harrison, EdD

Abstract

This researcher sought to understand the strategies of teachers who were effectively educating and communicating through culturally relevant pedagogy at the secondary school level. The qualitative case study utilized a survey to select the participants based on their multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. The study involved two high schools with similar demographic backgrounds. Five teachers and their supervising administrators from each of the schools represented high schools in two different geographic regions (northeast and southeast) of the United States. The research study included interviewing five teachers at each school and their supervising administrator to better understand their lived experiences within the phenomenon of multicultural education. The researcher also conducted classroom observations of the teachers and follow-up interviews with all participants. The data was coded to allow trends and themes to emerge that supported effective communication strategies for a culturally relevant pedagogy. Through a multiphase coding process, the researcher sought to allow themes to emerge from the lived experiences of the participants. These themes included; building relationships, cultural code switching, being human, and engaging students in instruction. Some of the implications for educators and future research included a greater focus on student ownership and researching possible trends in the data to find tools to better support growing educators to better understand the needs of all students.

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