This paper, which is an ethnographical analysis of my positionality as a student and an educator, my students, my school, and the surrounding community, is both a written piece of scholarship and a part of my own preparation, experience, and reflection as an educator in my first year of teaching. In the first part of this paper I detail my own identity, my experiences with education, my decision to be a teacher, my educational philosophy, and my growing awareness and competency as a critical justice educator. In the second part of my paper, I present case studies of three of my students, informed through interviews with my students, visits to their homes, and conversations with their families. The third part of this paper chronicles research around community, both my school community, and the greater community in which my school is found. And finally, in the last part of this paper I reflect on my growth as an educator over the course of my first year of teaching, tying in elements from my case study students and scholarly work from my graduate coursework. Taken together, this ethnography will study my year of teaching through a focus on positionality, experience, relationships, pedagogy, community, and reflection.
","abstract_html":"<p>This paper, which is an ethnographical analysis of my positionality as a student and an educator, my students, my school, and the surrounding community, is both a written piece of scholarship and a part of my own preparation, experience, and reflection as an educator in my first year of teaching. In the first part of this paper I detail my own identity, my experiences with education, my decision to be a teacher, my educational philosophy, and my growing awareness and competency as a critical justice educator. In the second part of my paper, I present case studies of three of my students, informed through interviews with my students, visits to their homes, and conversations with their families. The third part of this paper chronicles research around community, both my school community, and the greater community in which my school is found. And finally, in the last part of this paper I reflect on my growth as an educator over the course of my first year of teaching, tying in elements from my case study students and scholarly work from my graduate coursework. Taken together, this ethnography will study my year of teaching through a focus on positionality, experience, relationships, pedagogy, community, and reflection.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McCrary, Kelly"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Teacher Education Internship Program (MA/Credential)","degree_level":"Restricted to Claremont Colleges Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:39:50Z","subjects":["ethnography","teaching","educator","social justice","reflection","Early Childhood Education","Elementary Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/179","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McCrary, Kelly"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-08-05T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Restricted to Claremont Colleges Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Teacher Education Internship Program (MA/Credential)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["ethnography","teaching","educator","social justice","reflection","Early Childhood Education","Elementary Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/179"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This paper, which is an ethnographical analysis of my positionality as a student and an educator, my students, my school, and the surrounding community, is both a written piece of scholarship and a part of my own preparation, experience, and reflection as an educator in my first year of teaching. In the first part of this paper I detail my own identity, my experiences with education, my decision to be a teacher, my educational philosophy, and my growing awareness and competency as a critical justice educator. In the second part of my paper, I present case studies of three of my students, informed through interviews with my students, visits to their homes, and conversations with their families. The third part of this paper chronicles research around community, both my school community, and the greater community in which my school is found. And finally, in the last part of this paper I reflect on my growth as an educator over the course of my first year of teaching, tying in elements from my case study students and scholarly work from my graduate coursework. Taken together, this ethnography will study my year of teaching through a focus on positionality, experience, relationships, pedagogy, community, and reflection.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Practicing the Art of Teaching as a Critical Social Justice Educator"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["McCrary, Kelly"],"dc:date.available":["2020-08-05T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This paper, which is an ethnographical analysis of my positionality as a student and an educator, my students, my school, and the surrounding community, is both a written piece of scholarship and a part of my own preparation, experience, and reflection as an educator in my first year of teaching. In the first part of this paper I detail my own identity, my experiences with education, my decision to be a teacher, my educational philosophy, and my growing awareness and competency as a critical justice educator. In the second part of my paper, I present case studies of three of my students, informed through interviews with my students, visits to their homes, and conversations with their families. The third part of this paper chronicles research around community, both my school community, and the greater community in which my school is found. And finally, in the last part of this paper I reflect on my growth as an educator over the course of my first year of teaching, tying in elements from my case study students and scholarly work from my graduate coursework. Taken together, this ethnography will study my year of teaching through a focus on positionality, experience, relationships, pedagogy, community, and reflection.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/179"],"dc:subject":["ethnography","teaching","educator","social justice","reflection","Early Childhood Education","Elementary Education"],"dc:title":["Practicing the Art of Teaching as a Critical Social Justice Educator"],"thesis:degree_level":["Restricted to Claremont Colleges Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Teacher Education Internship Program (MA/Credential)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:39:50Z"}