Title:
A matter of trust: a phenomenological study of academic self-concept formation in urban turnaround students
Author:
John D. Eugene
Thesis Advisor:
Andrew Moore
Committee Member:
Catherine Sarther
Committee Member:
Kathy Doherty
Degree Granting Institution:
Notre Dame of Maryland University--School of Education
Place:
Baltimore (Md.)
Publisher:
Notre Dame of Maryland University
Date Created:
2016
Type of Resource:
text
Genre:
thesis
Language:
eng
Format:
application/pdf
Physical Form:
electronic
Digital Source:
born digital
Abstract:
Though volumes of research have been devoted to the topic of educating at-risk urban youth, the specific experiences of at-risk students who achieve academic success have largely been ignored. This study addresses this gap by examining the lived experiences of urban turnaround students, or students who achieved high school graduation despite a history of risk-based academic failure. Phenomenological methods were used to analyze the transcripts of participant-led interviews with fourteen alumni of Baltimore City Public Schools who matched the turnaround criterion. Analysis revealed that the participants shared a common concern with the development of self-efficacy in the pursuit of their post-secondary academic and professional goals. The participants made narrative sense of their journeys toward self-efficacy through discussion of four themes in their K-12 experiences: 1) the effects of urban poverty, 2) the experience of academic (dis)engagement, 3) noncognitive skill development, and 4) academic self-concept development. Specifically, thematic analysis revealed that all participants grew up with a fundamental sense of socioeconomic and racial disenfranchisement which was exacerbated by their experiences in public schools. Given this context, participants described their past academic disengagement and failure as being less a matter of academic skill than a matter of distrust in American society and the institution of the school. The turnaround process thus required a catalyst, such as a mentor or community, to motivate re-engagement by means of relational trust. In spite of these shared experiences, analysis revealed a marked difference between participants who reported high levels of post-secondary self-efficacy and those who did not. High self-efficacy outcomes were associated with significant noncognitive development in the secondary years, culminating in the development of an academic self-concept grounded in an individual interest. In light of these findings, this study proposes a six-stage construct provisionally termed interest acquisition theory to describe academic self-concept formation in the at-risk student. Additionally, it is argued that the education of at-risk students should be understood through the lens of Michael Polanyi’s view of education as fiduciary, or trust-based. Recommendations are made for corresponding modifications to current educational research and practice.
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Level:
Doctoral
Discipline:
Instructional Leadership for Changing Populations
Restrictions on Access:
Author has given permission to make this work available online.
Use and Reproduction:
The authors of theses and dissertations are the copyright owners. Loyola Notre Dame Library has their permission to store and provide access to these works. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Permission is required to use materials for which Loyola Notre Dame Library, Loyola University Maryland, or Notre Dame of Maryland University hold copyright. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift of purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Identifier:
EugeneJDIII-16
