Author ORCID Identifier
Date Available
12-31-2024
Year of Publication
2024
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College
Education
Department/School/Program
Educational Policy Studies and Eval
Advisor
Dr. Kayla Johnson
Abstract
The summer of 2020 saw many aspects of American society deal with the racial reckoning that arose in the wake of the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Their murders sparked outrage, protests, and calls for action and change in the United States through a critical examination of race relations across numerous facets of society. Structures such as educational institutions were called to perform this critical examination much in the same way that cities and industries were. A catalyst in the calls for change came from students through their utilization of social media platforms.
This study is a critical discourse analysis of an independent school’s Black@ social media page, titled POC@FWCD, which was the primary mechanism for detailing issues involving race through the posting of experiences of students of color at this school. This study asks and answers: What discourse is found on the POC@FWCD page and how do these discourses raise awareness of racial/ethnic issues?
Through three-dimensional analysis, five findings relating to the discourse and their impacts on social practices by students of color at FWCD were identified. Social isolation for students based on race and ethnicity occurs regularly. Cultural appropriation emerged as an issue. Slur usage emanated as an issue. A culture existed in which students of color regularly deal with microaggressions. Finally, students of color were required to navigate regular usage of negative stereotyping from other students throughout their FWCD experience. The findings from this study add to the growing literature on social media advocacy amongst student populations.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2024.522
Recommended Citation
Cummings, Chaka, "POC@FWCD: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Black@ Instagram in K-12 Independent Schools" (2024). Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation. 108.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/epe_etds/108
Included in
Educational Leadership Commons, Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons, Secondary Education Commons
