Truly antiracist?: An investigation into the effects of an anti-racist approach to To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAM) is a text that is widely read in the high school canon. Despite its problematic images of Black characters, studies have indicated that when taught using culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), reading TKAM can help students build cultural competence and critical consciousness. However, these studies do not include the voices of Black students. This study tried to fill this void by conducting a case study on three classes of honors Freshman in a micropolitan area who are reading TKAM through a CRP lens. Through classroom observations, interviews and writing samples this study looked to answer the following questions: What are the perceptions, experiences and feelings of Black high school students who read TKAM in a micro-urban school district? How and in what ways does using TKAM affect Black students’ sense of self? How do the experiences of Black students reading TKAM compare to those of White students? Once data was collected it was coded for themes relating to student emotion, cultural competence, critical consciousness, peer relationships, and engagement. Examples of common themes were chosen and then evaluated using critical discourse analysis. Ultimately, this study found that while there are benefits and disadvantages to reading TKAM in this way, many of the benefits applied exclusively to White students. Additionally, while Black students were able to have a space to use their voice and gain community, it was overwise a very negative experience. Recommendations include use of a different text and better teacher training.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Pavlakis, Alyssa

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pak, Yoon
• Kang, Hyun
• Hood, Denice
• Mason, Curtis

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Canon
• Critical Consciousness
• Cultural Competence
• Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
• Critical Discourse Analysis

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Alyssa Pavlakis

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115823

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F115823