Postsecondary transition can be difficult for At-Promise Youth Receiving Special Education Services (APYRSES). Special educators supporting postsecondary transition often manifest traditional and institutionalized forms of oppressive education while dismissing collective values and beliefs.
This qualitative case study examined the beliefs and attitudes shared by three special education teachers after being introduced to a justice-focused, humanizing intervention to facilitate postsecondary transition for APYRSES. The conceptualized intervention was grounded in liberatory educational frameworks and drew from critical, culturally affirming, sustaining, and humanizing theories that foster cultural reciprocity, self-determination skills, and antiracist social–emotional justice learning to afford opportunities for APYRSES to succeed. The study addressed the urgent need in educational research to recognize and challenge societal inequitable power imbalances between dominant and subordinate identities in the U.S. educational system. The study also acknowledged historical systemic inequities that have maintained status quo and strove to challenge the dominant narrative by highlighting the critical role of special educators in dismantling oppressive systems.
The findings revealed special education teachers’ approaches to postsecondary transition were mechanical in nature, and shaped by convergent thinking and application with the Eurocentric value of independence at the core of their practices. Findings also revealed the exploitation of APYRSES for exclusionary discipline practices. After participating in a humanizing intervention, findings reflected edification in participants’ critical perspectives that rupture the compliance-based practices upholding the dominant hegemony, allowing for a closer examination that builds on educators’ critical understanding of practice as to move toward more equity for diversity.
","abstract_html":"<p>Postsecondary transition can be difficult for At-Promise Youth Receiving Special Education Services (APYRSES). Special educators supporting postsecondary transition often manifest traditional and institutionalized forms of oppressive education while dismissing collective values and beliefs.</p> <p>This qualitative case study examined the beliefs and attitudes shared by three special education teachers after being introduced to a justice-focused, humanizing intervention to facilitate postsecondary transition for APYRSES. The conceptualized intervention was grounded in liberatory educational frameworks and drew from critical, culturally affirming, sustaining, and humanizing theories that foster cultural reciprocity, self-determination skills, and antiracist social–emotional justice learning to afford opportunities for APYRSES to succeed. The study addressed the urgent need in educational research to recognize and challenge societal inequitable power imbalances between dominant and subordinate identities in the U.S. educational system. The study also acknowledged historical systemic inequities that have maintained status quo and strove to challenge the dominant narrative by highlighting the critical role of special educators in dismantling oppressive systems.</p> <p>The findings revealed special education teachers’ approaches to postsecondary transition were mechanical in nature, and shaped by convergent thinking and application with the Eurocentric value of independence at the core of their practices. Findings also revealed the exploitation of APYRSES for exclusionary discipline practices. After participating in a humanizing intervention, findings reflected edification in participants’ critical perspectives that rupture the compliance-based practices upholding the dominant hegemony, allowing for a closer examination that builds on educators’ critical understanding of practice as to move toward more equity for diversity.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sanchez, Karla R."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"PhD Education for Social Justice","degree_level":"Dissertation: Open Access","degree_discipline":"Learning and Teaching","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-05-21T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-05-21T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:41:49Z","subjects":["Postsecondary Transition","Humanizing Pedagogy","At-Promise Youth","Special Education","Students with Disabilities","Accessibility","Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Disability and Equity in Education","Disability Studies","Economics","Educational Leadership","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration","Higher Education","Higher Education Administration","Higher Education and Teaching","Holistic Education","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Race and Ethnicity","Secondary Education","Secondary Education and Teaching","Social Justice","Special Education Administration","Special Education and Teaching","Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/983","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sanchez, Karla R."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-05-07T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Learning and Teaching"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation: Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["PhD Education for Social Justice"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Postsecondary Transition","Humanizing Pedagogy","At-Promise Youth","Special Education","Students with Disabilities","Accessibility","Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Disability and Equity in Education","Disability Studies","Economics","Educational Leadership","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration","Higher Education","Higher Education Administration","Higher Education and Teaching","Holistic Education","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Race and Ethnicity","Secondary Education","Secondary Education and Teaching","Social Justice","Special Education Administration","Special Education and Teaching","Teacher Education and Professional Development"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/983"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Postsecondary transition can be difficult for At-Promise Youth Receiving Special Education Services (APYRSES). Special educators supporting postsecondary transition often manifest traditional and institutionalized forms of oppressive education while dismissing collective values and beliefs.
This qualitative case study examined the beliefs and attitudes shared by three special education teachers after being introduced to a justice-focused, humanizing intervention to facilitate postsecondary transition for APYRSES. The conceptualized intervention was grounded in liberatory educational frameworks and drew from critical, culturally affirming, sustaining, and humanizing theories that foster cultural reciprocity, self-determination skills, and antiracist social–emotional justice learning to afford opportunities for APYRSES to succeed. The study addressed the urgent need in educational research to recognize and challenge societal inequitable power imbalances between dominant and subordinate identities in the U.S. educational system. The study also acknowledged historical systemic inequities that have maintained status quo and strove to challenge the dominant narrative by highlighting the critical role of special educators in dismantling oppressive systems.
The findings revealed special education teachers’ approaches to postsecondary transition were mechanical in nature, and shaped by convergent thinking and application with the Eurocentric value of independence at the core of their practices. Findings also revealed the exploitation of APYRSES for exclusionary discipline practices. After participating in a humanizing intervention, findings reflected edification in participants’ critical perspectives that rupture the compliance-based practices upholding the dominant hegemony, allowing for a closer examination that builds on educators’ critical understanding of practice as to move toward more equity for diversity.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Equalizing Postsecondary Transition for At-Promise Youth Receiving Special Education Services: A Chance to Succeed"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Sanchez, Karla R."],"dc:date.available":["2023-05-07T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Postsecondary transition can be difficult for At-Promise Youth Receiving Special Education Services (APYRSES). Special educators supporting postsecondary transition often manifest traditional and institutionalized forms of oppressive education while dismissing collective values and beliefs.
This qualitative case study examined the beliefs and attitudes shared by three special education teachers after being introduced to a justice-focused, humanizing intervention to facilitate postsecondary transition for APYRSES. The conceptualized intervention was grounded in liberatory educational frameworks and drew from critical, culturally affirming, sustaining, and humanizing theories that foster cultural reciprocity, self-determination skills, and antiracist social–emotional justice learning to afford opportunities for APYRSES to succeed. The study addressed the urgent need in educational research to recognize and challenge societal inequitable power imbalances between dominant and subordinate identities in the U.S. educational system. The study also acknowledged historical systemic inequities that have maintained status quo and strove to challenge the dominant narrative by highlighting the critical role of special educators in dismantling oppressive systems.
The findings revealed special education teachers’ approaches to postsecondary transition were mechanical in nature, and shaped by convergent thinking and application with the Eurocentric value of independence at the core of their practices. Findings also revealed the exploitation of APYRSES for exclusionary discipline practices. After participating in a humanizing intervention, findings reflected edification in participants’ critical perspectives that rupture the compliance-based practices upholding the dominant hegemony, allowing for a closer examination that builds on educators’ critical understanding of practice as to move toward more equity for diversity.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/983"],"dc:subject":["Postsecondary Transition","Humanizing Pedagogy","At-Promise Youth","Special Education","Students with Disabilities","Accessibility","Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Disability and Equity in Education","Disability Studies","Economics","Educational Leadership","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration","Higher Education","Higher Education Administration","Higher Education and Teaching","Holistic Education","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Race and Ethnicity","Secondary Education","Secondary Education and Teaching","Social Justice","Special Education Administration","Special Education and Teaching","Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"dc:title":["Equalizing Postsecondary Transition for At-Promise Youth Receiving Special Education Services: A Chance to Succeed"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Learning and Teaching"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation: Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["PhD Education for Social Justice"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:41:49Z"}