Congratulations to graduating seniors Jada Wooten, Serena Levin, and Sophie Forstner on successfully meeting the requirements for Honors in the Education Studies concentration! Learn more about their research below, and learn more about the department's criteria for graduating with honors here.
Jada Wooten, "The Pedagogy, Practices, and Problems of Inclusive Arts Education in Out-of-School Settings" (Advisor: Andrea Flores)
My senior thesis explores the question: how do educators in precariously-funded out-of-school spaces design inclusive arts education for their public, which includes those with marginalized identities? To answer this question, I collected ethnographic data, including fieldnotes from participant observation and semi-structured interviews. I also draw from two frameworks in educational literature: inclusive arts pedagogies and the structural inequalities of educational spaces. My primary and secondary research has led to findings on the pedagogy, practices, and problems with inclusive arts education in out-of-school spaces. Firstly, by painting ethnographic portraits of an apprentice, seasoned, and master teaching artist, I reveal that, pedagogically, radical love is central to arts education that centers equity, participants’ needs, flexibility, and connections. Secondly, by considering a participant’s declaration that “Art is LIFE,” in light of ethnographic data and the literature, I point to how pedagogical practices centered in radical love foster expression, which is key to the definition of the arts; develop storytelling for healing and change; create opportunities for societal, physical, and emotional healing; build connections within and across communities; and advance social change in the field of education and beyond. Thirdly, I articulate participants’ experiences with non-profit jobs, grant funding, advocacy, community partnerships, and organizational structures to highlight the problems that impede access to the above practices and benefits of arts education. I conclude by considering the implications of the pedagogy, practice, and problems of arts organizations in the field of arts education learning, research, policy and advocacy, and community building.
Serena Levin, "The Privilege of the PTA: Middle-Class Latinx Parents' Perspectives on Parental Involvement Post-Uvalde" (Advisor: David Rangel)
The present study answers the following questions: post-COVID and in an era of mass shootings, how do middle-class Latinx parents understand the role of Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) within their middle-class Latinx schools, and how does that understanding impact their school-based involvement? The present research illuminates parents’ perceptions of the parent-teacher organization, the perceived benefits associated with participation, and the perceived accessibility of these groups in a post-COVID and post-Uvalde era of schooling. Utilizing 19 semi-structured interviews with middle-class Latinx parents in San Antonio, Texas, this study finds that the role of the PTA has expanded beyond typical PTA responsibilities in a post-Uvalde and pandemic context. According to participants, the PTA had jurisdiction over and privileged attendance to non-PTA events. PTA parents received privileged access to schools, capped events, and sign-up sheets, putting non-PTA members at a disadvantage. Parents had to be involved in the PTA to access their child's school. However, parents' racialized perceptions of the organization made the PTA feel inaccessible, associating the organization with white parenting practices, even when their socioeconomic class provided them with access to these groups. Therefore, the parents in this study who opted not to be involved in the PTA could not access the benefits of PTA involvement for their children. Thus, despite many parents’ desire to be involved in their children’s school, the perceived jurisdiction and inaccessibility of the PTA, a partial product of school safety measures, has made involvement less accessible for nonmember parents. The information from this study provides valuable insights into how schools should address perceived power structures and inequalities that school safety measures have exacerbated.
Sophie Forstner, "Excellence in Brown Athletics: Revised" (Advisor: Lindsay Page)
In 2020, Brown University transitioned several sports teams from varsity to club status in the “Excellence in Brown Athletics Initiative.” The initiative stripped the teams of their ability to recruit and provide preferential admissions for their athletes. The stated goal of these cuts was to increase competitiveness of Brown sports while keeping levels of diversity in athletics the same. This study compares the demographics of Brown student athletes’ high schools, with and without the cut sports, to show the limited effects of the initiative on socioeconomic and racial diversity among Brown’s varsity athletes. By comparing the demographics of each team, I determine how Brown could have cut the same number of athletes while creating a greater, but not momentous shift in diversity. Next, I looked at how student and alumni opinions may have influenced Brown’s decision. The findings of this study suggest that transformative change in diversifying college admissions will not be driven by cutting select groups of varsity sports but rather by reforming the athletic recruitment process and the youth sports pipeline.