AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC JOURNEY TO CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS: HOW A WHITE FACULTY MEMBER AT A HISPANIC SERVING INSTITUTION MOVES FROM ALLY TO ACCOMPLICE BY LEARNING STUDENT STRUGGLES

Author

Benjamin Mercer Drury, National Louis University

Degree Date

4-2023

Document Type

Dissertation - Public Access

Degree Name

Ed.D. Doctor of Education

Academic Discipline

Curriculum, Advocacy, and Policy

First Advisor

Tiffeny Jimenez

Second Advisor

Terry Smith

Third Advisor

Todd Price

Abstract

This study serves to document my transition into critical consciousness – or conscientização – through interactions with my students. I utilize narrative autoethnographic methods, content analysis, qualitative interviewing, and personal reflection to document my transformation from objectively interested faculty member to accomplice by learning about how the life of my students outside of school affected their performance inside of school. Significant findings fall into two categories: personal and professional. Personally, this study was cathartic. By using a scholarly lens to analyze and reflect on my experience, I was able to process my experience in the context of existing research and original research I conducted for this study. Professionally, this study serves as a ‘counterstory’ intended to document the need for Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). Implications for this study include upward social mobility through education for Latinx students and challenging HSIs to invest in facilitating conscientização through professional development.

Recommended Citation

Drury, Benjamin Mercer, "AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC JOURNEY TO CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS: HOW A WHITE FACULTY MEMBER AT A HISPANIC SERVING INSTITUTION MOVES FROM ALLY TO ACCOMPLICE BY LEARNING STUDENT STRUGGLES" (2023). Dissertations. 957.
https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/957