https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtFFoCZVfJs

In order to support the imminent need to provide effective pedagogical supports that address anti-Blackness and broad issues of school climate, Dr. Martin sought to better understand the specific, hyperlocal experiences of Black students in independent schools. In a relational narrative case study, she conducted in-depth interviews with Black students and graduates and analyzed fiction and non-fiction public narratives. Translanguaging, critical race theory, and intersectionality guided all aspects of the study design, which found that participants experienced dehumanizing ideologies of language, race, class, and gender that were buffered by positive relationships with faculty and multicultural curricula. This study contributes to emerging research on the socialization of youth in elite prep schools and the experiences of racialized students in these spaces. By examining the specific, hyperlocal experiences of Black students in NYC, it can assist all schools to provide effective diversity, inclusion, and equity programming that address broad issues of school climate, relationships, and pedagogy.

This presentation will explore the methods and findings of the case study that relate to intersections of race, gender, and socioeconomic class. Dr. Martin will share insights that led to new ways of theorizing language and privilege across social identities and will illustrate the importance of the hyperlocal context to youth meaning making. She will conclude with five pedagogical strategies to support student belonging in schools: 1) building knowledge on power and privilege, 2) creating Relational Student Identity Models, 3) designing culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy, 4) designing multimodal lesson plans, and 4) using talk moves to facilitate critical conversations.

Dr. Kahdeidra Monét Martin, BA '06, received her Ph.D. in Urban Education at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York in June 2021. Her dissertation is entitled, "Counterstories of Black High School Students and Graduates of NYC Independent Schools: A Narrative Case Study," and it won the 2022 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Qualitative Research SIG of the American Education Research Association. Her research foci primarily orbit around adolescent literacy, urban education, decolonial pedagogy, sociolinguistics, and qualitative inquiry. In recognition of her commitment to pedagogical excellence, she was one of three graduate student recipients of the 2020 Teaching Award from The Graduate Center.