This capstone explores the deeply personal and professional connections between teacher identity, equitable pedagogy, and classroom design in secondary education. Grounded in the frameworks of Critical Social Justice (CSJ), culturally responsive teaching, and reflection, this work investigates how an educators' lived experiences and positionalities shape the instructional choices they make and the learning environments they create. Through analysis of ethnographic artifacts, including classroom ecology, caregiver and administrator interviews, and student-centered reflections, this study highlights the powerful role of self-awareness in developing inclusive and justice-driven classrooms. Findings suggest that teachers who engage in sustained reflection and focus on building relationships are better equipped to design learning spaces that affirm students’ identities, cultivate trust, and challenge the subtractive deep structures of schooling. This capstone ultimately calls for a pedagogy rooted in authenticity, relational care, and critical consciousness, where my identity is not separate from my teaching, but central to it.
","abstract_html":"<p>This capstone explores the deeply personal and professional connections between teacher identity, equitable pedagogy, and classroom design in secondary education. Grounded in the frameworks of Critical Social Justice (CSJ), culturally responsive teaching, and reflection, this work investigates how an educators' lived experiences and positionalities shape the instructional choices they make and the learning environments they create. Through analysis of ethnographic artifacts, including classroom ecology, caregiver and administrator interviews, and student-centered reflections, this study highlights the powerful role of self-awareness in developing inclusive and justice-driven classrooms. Findings suggest that teachers who engage in sustained reflection and focus on building relationships are better equipped to design learning spaces that affirm students’ identities, cultivate trust, and challenge the subtractive deep structures of schooling. This capstone ultimately calls for a pedagogy rooted in authenticity, relational care, and critical consciousness, where my identity is not separate from my teaching, but central to it.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Rivera, Cynthia Ann Yukiko"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Education, MA","degree_level":"Restricted to Claremont Colleges Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"School of Educational Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:41:17Z","subjects":["Education","Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1074","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Rivera, Cynthia Ann Yukiko"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-05-18T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Educational Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Restricted to Claremont Colleges Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Education, MA"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Education","Teacher Education and Professional Development"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1074"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This capstone explores the deeply personal and professional connections between teacher identity, equitable pedagogy, and classroom design in secondary education. Grounded in the frameworks of Critical Social Justice (CSJ), culturally responsive teaching, and reflection, this work investigates how an educators' lived experiences and positionalities shape the instructional choices they make and the learning environments they create. Through analysis of ethnographic artifacts, including classroom ecology, caregiver and administrator interviews, and student-centered reflections, this study highlights the powerful role of self-awareness in developing inclusive and justice-driven classrooms. Findings suggest that teachers who engage in sustained reflection and focus on building relationships are better equipped to design learning spaces that affirm students’ identities, cultivate trust, and challenge the subtractive deep structures of schooling. This capstone ultimately calls for a pedagogy rooted in authenticity, relational care, and critical consciousness, where my identity is not separate from my teaching, but central to it.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Teacher I Am, The Classroom I Build: Exploring the Intersections of Identity, Equity, and Pedagogy in the Secondary Classroom"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Rivera, Cynthia Ann Yukiko"],"dc:date.available":["2026-05-18T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This capstone explores the deeply personal and professional connections between teacher identity, equitable pedagogy, and classroom design in secondary education. Grounded in the frameworks of Critical Social Justice (CSJ), culturally responsive teaching, and reflection, this work investigates how an educators' lived experiences and positionalities shape the instructional choices they make and the learning environments they create. Through analysis of ethnographic artifacts, including classroom ecology, caregiver and administrator interviews, and student-centered reflections, this study highlights the powerful role of self-awareness in developing inclusive and justice-driven classrooms. Findings suggest that teachers who engage in sustained reflection and focus on building relationships are better equipped to design learning spaces that affirm students’ identities, cultivate trust, and challenge the subtractive deep structures of schooling. This capstone ultimately calls for a pedagogy rooted in authenticity, relational care, and critical consciousness, where my identity is not separate from my teaching, but central to it.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1074"],"dc:subject":["Education","Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"dc:title":["The Teacher I Am, The Classroom I Build: Exploring the Intersections of Identity, Equity, and Pedagogy in the Secondary Classroom"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Educational Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Restricted to Claremont Colleges Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Education, MA"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:41:17Z"}