Advertisement

The Urban Review

, Volume 49, Issue 5, pp 852–873 | Cite as

School–University–Community Pathways to Higher Education: Teacher Perceptions, School Culture and Partnership Building

  • Enrique AlemánJr.
  • Juan A. Freire
  • Ashley McKinney
  • Dolores Delgado Bernal
Article

Abstract

This article provides a snapshot in time of teacher perceptions, school culture, and partnership building. We delineate how teachers perceive our partnership’s purpose and its role in transforming school culture. Second, we describe how teachers express the life expectations they have and the possibilities they hope for their students and the families involved with the partnership. Finally, we outline our thoughts on moving forward with building partnership, continuing to transform school culture, and collaborating with teachers. In conclusion, we discuss the role that partnership building can have on creating pathways to higher education for students in communities of color.

Keywords

Teacher perceptions School culture Deficit thinking University partnership College access 

References

  1. Alemán, E., Jr. (2009). LatCrit educational leadership and advocacy: Struggling over whiteness as property in Texas school finance. Equity & Excellence in Education, 42(2), 183–201.Google Scholar
  2. Alemán, E., Jr., & Rorrer, A. K. (2006). Closing educational achievement gaps for Latino students in Utah: Initiating a policy discourse and framework. Retrieved from Salt Lake City, UT: Utah Education Policy Center. Retrieved from uepc.utah.eduGoogle Scholar
  3. Alemán, E., Jr., Delgado Bernal, D., & Mendoza, S. (2013). Critical race methodological tensions: Nepantla in our community-based praxis. In M. Lynn & A. Dixson (Eds.), Handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 325–338). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  4. Barnett, M., Anderson, J., Houle, M., Higginbotham, T., & Gatling, A. (2010). The process of trust building between university researchers and urban school personnel. Urban Education, 45(5), 630–660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Betsinger, A., García, S. B., & Guerra, P. (2001). Addressing teachers’ beliefs about diverse students through staff development. Journal of Staff Development, 22(2), 24–27.Google Scholar
  6. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
  7. Clifford, M., Millar, S. B., Smith, Z., Hora, M., & DeLima, L. (2008). K20 partnerships: Literature review and recommendations for research (WCER Working Paper No. 2008-3). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Retrieved from http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/publications/workingPapers/papers.php.
  8. Cochran-Smith, M. (1991). Learning to teach against the grain. Harvard Educational Review, 51(3), 279–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Delgado Bernal, D. (1999). Chicana/o education from the Civil Rights era to the present. In J. F. Moreno (Ed.), The elusive quest for equality (pp. 77–108). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educational Review.Google Scholar
  10. Delgado Bernal, D. (2002). Critical race theory, Latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: Recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 105–126.Google Scholar
  11. Delgado Bernal, D., Alemán, E., Jr., & Flores Carmona, J. (2008). Negotiating and contesting transnational and transgenerational Latina/o cultural citizenship: Kindergarteners, their parents, and university students in Utah. Social Justice, 35(1), 28–49.Google Scholar
  12. Delgado Bernal, D., Alemán, E., Jr., & Garavito, A. (2009). Latina/o undergraduate students mentoring Latina/o elementary students: A borderlands analysis of shifting identities and college persistence. Harvard Educational Review, 79(4), 560–585.Google Scholar
  13. Darling-Hammond, L. (2007). The flat earth and education: How America’s committment to equity will determine our future. Educational Researcher, 36(6), 318–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Delavan, M. G., Valdez, V. E., & Freire, J. A. (2016). Language as whose resource?: When global economics usurp the local equity potentials of dual language education. International Multilingual Research Journal. doi: 10.1080/19313152.2016.1204890.
  15. Dryfoos, J. G. (2003). A community school in action. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 11(4), 203–205.Google Scholar
  16. Education Trust. (2004). Education Watch Utah: Key education facts and figures. Retrieved from http://www.edtrust.org.
  17. Foley, D. E. (1997). Deficit thinking models based on culture: The anthropological protest. In R. R. Valencia (Ed.), The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice (pp. 113–131). London, UK: The Falmer Press.Google Scholar
  18. Ford, B. A. (2004). Preparing special educators for culturally responsive school-community partnerships. Teacher Education and Special Education, 27, 224–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Ford, B. A. (2011). Culturally responsive school-community partnerships: Strategies for success. In J. Landsman & C. W. Lewis (Eds.), White teachers/diverse classrooms: Creating inclusive schools, building on students’ diversity, and providing true educational equity (pp. 329–346). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing LLC.Google Scholar
  20. Freire, J. A., Valdez, V. E., & Delavan, M. G. (2016). The (dis)inclusion of Latina/o interests from Utah’s dual language education boom. Journal of Latinos and Education. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2016.1229617.
  21. Freire, J. A. & Valdez, V. E. (2017). Dual language teachers’ stated barriers to implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy. Bilingual Research Journal, 40(1), 55–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. García, S., & Guerra, P. (2004). Deconstructing deficit thinking: Working with educators to create more equitable learning environments. Education and Urban Society, 36(2), 150–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions and emerging confluences. In N. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (Vol. 8, pp. 191–215). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
  24. Jarsky, K. M., McDonough, P. M., & Núñez, A. M. (2009). Establishing a college culture in secondary schools through P-20 collaboration: A case study. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 8(4), 357–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Larson, C. L., & Murtadha, K. (2002). Leadership for social justice. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 101(1), 134–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Marullo, S., & Edwards, B. (2000). From charity to justice: The potential for university-community collaboration for social change. American Behavioral Scientist, 43(5), 895–912.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. McClafferty, K. A., McDonough, P. M., & Nuñez, A. M. (2002). What is a college culture? Facilitating college preparation through organizational change. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. Retrieved from http://www.bridgingworlds.org/P-20/McClafferty.pdf.
  29. McKenzie, K. B., & Scheurich, J. J. (2008). Teacher resistance to improvement of schools with diverse students. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 11(2), 117–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. McLaughlin, M. W. (1990). The rand change agent study revisited: Macro perspectives and micro realities. Educational Researcher, 19(9), 11–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. McMullan, B. J., Garrett, C. S., Sidler, J., Watts, M., & Wolf, W. C. (1992). A shared responsibility: College/school partnerships serving minority youth. Bala Cynwyd, PA: Center for Assessment and Policy Development.Google Scholar
  32. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
  33. Miller, P. M., & Hafner, M. M. (2008). Moving toward dialogical collaboration: A critical examination of a university–school–community partnership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 44(1), 66–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Nieto, S. (2003). Challenging current notions of “highly qualified teachers” through work in a teachers’ inquiry group. Journal of Teacher Education, 54(5), 386–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Olivos, E. M. (2007). The power of parents: A critical perspective of bicultural parent involvement in public schools. New York, NY: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
  36. Palmer, D. (2010). Race, power, and equity in a multiethnic urban elementary school with a dual-language “strand” program. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 41, 94–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Peel, H. A., Peel, V. V., & Baker, M. E. (2002). School/university partnerships: A viable model. International Journal of Educational Management, 16(7), 319–325.Google Scholar
  38. Perlich, P. S. (2008). Utah’s demographic transformation: A view into the future. Utah Economic and Business Review, 68(3), 1–11.Google Scholar
  39. Quartz, K. H. (2003). “Too angry to leave”: Supporting new teachers’ commitment to transform urban schools. Journal of Teacher Education, 54(2), 99–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Saldaña, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
  41. Sanders, M. G. (Ed.). (2005). Building school-community partnerships: Collaboration for student success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.Google Scholar
  42. Solórzano, D. G. (1997). Images and words that wound: Critical race theory, racial stereotyping and teacher education. Teacher Education Quarterly, 24(3), 5–20.Google Scholar
  43. Solórzano, A. (2005). At the gates of the kingdom: Latino immigrants in Utah, 1900 to 2003. In E. M. Gozdziak & S. F. Martin (Eds.), Beyond the gateway: Immigrants in a changing America (pp. 177–212). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
  44. Spillane, J. P. (1996). School districts matter: Local educational authorities and state instructional policy. Educational Policy, 10(1), 63–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Valdés, G. (1997). Dual-language immersion programs: A cautionary note concerning the education of language-minority students. Harvard Educational Review, 67(3), 391–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Valdez, V. E., Freire, J. A., & Delavan, M. G. (2016). The gentrification of dual language education. Urban Review, 48(4), 601–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  47. Valencia, R. R. (1997). Conceptualizing the notion of deficit thinking. In R. Valencia (Ed.), The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice (pp. 1–12). London, UK: The Farmer Press.Google Scholar
  48. Valencia, R. R., & Black, M. S. (2002). “Mexican Americans don’t value education!”—On the basis of the myth, mythmaking, and debunking. Journal of Latinos and Education, 1(2), 81–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Valencia, R. R., & Solórzano, D. G. (1997). Contemporary deficit thinking. In R. R. Valencia (Ed.), The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice (pp. 72–95). London, UK: The Falmer Press.Google Scholar
  50. Valenzuela, A. (1999). Subtractive schooling: U.S.-Mexican youth and the politics of caring. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
  51. Villalpando, O., & Solórzano, D. (2005). The role of culture in college preparation programs: A review of the research literature. In W. G. Tierney, Z. B. Corwing, & J. E. Colyar (Eds.), Preparing for college: Nine elements of effective outreach (pp. 13–28). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
  52. Vue, R., Haslerig, S., Jayakumar, U. M., & Allen, W. R. (2012). Creating college-going cultures for students of color in the US: Finding a balance between targeted and normative models of intervention. In C. Camp-Yeakey (Ed.), Living on the boundaries: Urban marginality in national and international contexts (pp. 179–195). Cambridge, MA: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Enrique AlemánJr.
    • 1
  • Juan A. Freire
    • 2
    • 3
  • Ashley McKinney
    • 3
  • Dolores Delgado Bernal
    • 4
  1. 1.Department of Educational Leadership and Policy StudiesUniversity of Texas San AntonioSan AntonioUSA
  2. 2.Department of Teacher Education, MCKB, Rm 201Brigham Young UniversityProvoUSA
  3. 3.Utah Education Policy CenterUniversity of UtahSalt Lake CityUSA
  4. 4.Department of Chicana(o)/Latina(o) Studies and the Charter College of EducationCalifornia State University, Los AngelesLos AngelesUSA

Personalised recommendations