Intersecting Spaces: A Narrative Exploration of Intersectionality and African American Female School Psychologists

The roles of school psychologists practicing within the public school systems are often defined quantitatively. The focus is often how many students are assessed, what assessment measures provide the most useful snapshots of the students and how the psychometric information will be used for educational planning. Moving away from the numerical aspects of the role, this study examines the narrative voices of the few among many. Reflecting upon the shifting demographics within the field of school psychology, as well as the low number of minority school psychologists within the field, I am examining how African American women within the field of school psychology mediate their intersecting identities. The primary research questions were twofold: (1) how do African American women within the field of school psychology mediate their intersecting identities? (2) How do African American female school psychologists perceive the concept of intersectionality and how their multiple identities impact the development of their professional practices? Through the lenses of critical race theory and black feminist thought, I am examining voice as a means of reclamation and redefinition. The stories that are reflected in the narrative voices of African American female school psychologists are those speaking about a professional life infused with the personal, inclusive of their own cultural experiences and textured by their positions within the margins.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading

Year dc:date.available

2009

Author dc:creator

• Vannoy, Natasha

Contributors dc:contributor

• Meca Williams-Johnson
• Lorraine Gilpin
• Candy Schille

• ETD
• African American women
• School psychologist
• Intersectionality
• Narrative inquiry
• Critical race theory
• Black feminist thought
• Race
• Gender
• School psychologists
• Attitudes
• African American psychologists

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/551

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1551