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“I was born here, but I’m not an American”: Latino students’ perceptions of the US history curriculum

Rierson, Stacy Leigh
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1148330036

Abstract Details

2006, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Teaching and Learning.
The purpose of this investigation was to explore Latino students’ perceptions of the US History curriculum at one high school in the Eastern United States. The ultimate objective was to understand if the US History classes are serving the perceived needs of Latino students. Data were collected for six months. Data sources included observation notes, interview transcripts from students, teachers, administrators, and a State Board of Education member, the researcher’s journal, and document analysis of the State Social Studies Standards and a practice version of the State Graduation Test. This study was influenced by Latino Critical Theory. LatCrit builds on the five themes of Critical Race Theory while adding perspectives unique to Latino experiences in the United States such as language acquisition, cultural background, gender, ethnicity, immigration status, and colonial experience. A major finding of this study was that the US History curriculum is or is not meeting student participants’ needs in different ways. The students in Group One stressed the basic need to learn English. Group Two student-participants wanted their culture to be present so that White students would learn about them. Group Three students wanted to learn in more interactive ways, with groups and flashy videos. Students at Crawford did not have an adequate framework around which to make sense of race, racism, and racial tensions. The presence of how race was talked about, and the absence of how race was not talked about, led to negative stereotypes against Latinos based upon ethnicity, immigration status, and native language. The student-participants in all Groups wanted to talk about race. They wanted to talk about their “positive invisibility” at Crawford—that is, the absence of affirmative constructions around their ethnicity, country of origin, and language. The findings suggest that there is a need for more studies with Latino students that focus on the aspects of Latino Critical Theory.
Steven Miller (Advisor)
561 p.
Latino Critical Theory; Critical Race Theory; Multicultural Education; Students' Needs; Social Studies; US History Curriculum

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Rierson, S. L. (2006). “I was born here, but I’m not an American”: Latino students’ perceptions of the US history curriculum [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1148330036

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Rierson, Stacy Leigh. “I was born here, but I’m not an American”: Latino students’ perceptions of the US history curriculum. 2006. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1148330036.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Rierson, Stacy Leigh. "“I was born here, but I’m not an American”: Latino students’ perceptions of the US history curriculum." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1148330036

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1148330036
2,662
© 2006, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.