Class
Article
College
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Department
School of Teacher Education and Leadership
Faculty Mentor
Amy Piotrowski
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Purpose: This discourse analysis (Gee, 1999) addresses the moderating effect of school climate on student achievement. It seeks to concretize methods of cultivating an environment that promotes high achievement among traditionally at-risk populations. Both through the inclusion of photographs and descriptions, the visual discourse analysis (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1996) suggests ways that school design may contribute to student achievement, even for schools functioning in borrowed public spaces.Design/Methodology/ApproachBuilding on quantitative analyses (Uline & Tschannen-Moran, 2008) and qualitative descriptions (Castillo-Montoya et al., 2019), this project applies a critical visual discourse methodology to both describe and analyze a visual liberatory curriculum (Freire, 1985) being taught in a high-achieving Harlem charter school.
Findings: Among the most powerful curricula taught in schools are the silent ones. Marking the hallways, entrances, elevators, and walls of classrooms with words, photographs, three dimensional images, and text is an explicit, but silent, curriculum. School facilities are a medium for teaching students without ever speaking aloud. The liberatory visual curriculum at a high-achieving Harlem charter school offers students a critical visual counterstory to trending social and political moves that marginalize and limit the educational destinies of young people of color (Castillo-Montoya et al., 2019).
Originality/Value: Borrowing from discourse studies, this study applies a multimodal lens to school hallways, applying Machin and Mayr’s (2012) critical framework to understand the power at play in educating Black children. The research adds new perspectives for scholars and administrators concerned with school climate, school design, student achievement, and promoting equality in education.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-12-2023 2:30 PM
End Date
4-12-2023 3:30 PM
#blacklivesDOmatter: Critical Counter-Storytelling at a Harlem Charter School
Logan, UT
Purpose: This discourse analysis (Gee, 1999) addresses the moderating effect of school climate on student achievement. It seeks to concretize methods of cultivating an environment that promotes high achievement among traditionally at-risk populations. Both through the inclusion of photographs and descriptions, the visual discourse analysis (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1996) suggests ways that school design may contribute to student achievement, even for schools functioning in borrowed public spaces.Design/Methodology/ApproachBuilding on quantitative analyses (Uline & Tschannen-Moran, 2008) and qualitative descriptions (Castillo-Montoya et al., 2019), this project applies a critical visual discourse methodology to both describe and analyze a visual liberatory curriculum (Freire, 1985) being taught in a high-achieving Harlem charter school.
Findings: Among the most powerful curricula taught in schools are the silent ones. Marking the hallways, entrances, elevators, and walls of classrooms with words, photographs, three dimensional images, and text is an explicit, but silent, curriculum. School facilities are a medium for teaching students without ever speaking aloud. The liberatory visual curriculum at a high-achieving Harlem charter school offers students a critical visual counterstory to trending social and political moves that marginalize and limit the educational destinies of young people of color (Castillo-Montoya et al., 2019).
Originality/Value: Borrowing from discourse studies, this study applies a multimodal lens to school hallways, applying Machin and Mayr’s (2012) critical framework to understand the power at play in educating Black children. The research adds new perspectives for scholars and administrators concerned with school climate, school design, student achievement, and promoting equality in education.