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An Exploratory Study on the Convergence of Black and Indigenous Educators’ Pedagogical and Political Activism: Envisioning Diradical Educational Policy through Conversation, Resistance, and the Pursuit of Thrival

Stewart, Nathaniel D
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0194-1905
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1650032877528999

Abstract Details

2022, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Educational Studies.
The purpose of this study was to envision the educational policy structures that premise collective attempts to build new futures and shift the fulcrum of educational policy studies to Black and Indigenous knowledges. Modern educational policy structures, using colonial logics and guided by anti-Black systems, continue to exclude Black and Indigenous voices from policy making spaces. Or, policy actors outright ban justice-oriented and movement-building work in educational spaces. Even if policy actors are self-described allies, there is still a tendency to focus on what white people can do better. These educational policy realities place Black and Indigenous educator activists within structures that either criminalize justice work, or center whiteness. I designed, invited, and co-created a K-12 Black and Indigenous educator activist collective that established the relational research environment needed to explore political and pedagogical activism, or the exploratory theory of diradicalism, in educational spaces. This study explored the question, “How does a K-12 Black and Indigenous educator activist collective theorize the dynamic interaction between pedagogical and political activism (or, engage in dual educational politics—diradicalism)?” The study design involved 12 hours of discussion from a combination of one-on-one conversations and four collective sessions where we storied about our lives, acknowledged the people who inspired us, and named the actions we have taken in the pursuit of justice, thrival, and liberation. Then, the collective entrusted me to thematically code and interpret our transcribed conversations using NVivo software. My data analysis process, via quantified cluster analysis and thematic coding, illuminated four convergent themes that mechanized how Black and Indigenous educators intersect their dual educational politics—Barrier to Diradicalism, Diradical Intergenerational Knowledge Exchanges, Diradical Envisioning & Building New Futures, and Sustaining Diradicalism. Each convergent theme held unique educational policy studies contributions at the intersections of conversation, activism, thrival, and resistance. Gifted to me by the study’s knowledge contributors, I frame the implications of our work within what I call the Diradical Educational Policy Infrastructure. The collective dreamed, and I interpreted educational policy pillars that would free this collective and other Black and Indigenous diradicals to engage in Black and Indigenous Liberation through mobilizing teaching and learning to set the stage for societal transformation. Our educator activist collective contributes to the broadened educational justice movement and our struggle for Black and Indigenous liberation because we shift the justice through educational policy fulcrum to Black and Indigenous knowledges. Black and Indigenous envisioning is central educational politics. Second, diradicalism complexifies activism to a wide range of educational acts based on perceived and realized power and privilege, illuminates anti-Black, and settler colonial educational policy through examining those dispossessed, marginalized and oppressed, and provides common language to discuss common experiences of educational justice actors across, racial and ethnic solidarities, educational policy levels, and our demands for imaginary realization.
Karen Beard (Advisor)
Winston Thompson (Committee Member)
Timothy San Pedro (Committee Member)
Yvonne Goddard (Committee Member)
291 p.
African Americans; Black Studies; Education Policy; Native Americans; Pedagogy
Black Liberation; Anti-Colonial Methodologies; Black and Indigenous Solidarity; Educator Activists; Political Activism; Critical Pedagogy; Educational Policy

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Stewart, N. D. (2022). An Exploratory Study on the Convergence of Black and Indigenous Educators’ Pedagogical and Political Activism: Envisioning Diradical Educational Policy through Conversation, Resistance, and the Pursuit of Thrival [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1650032877528999

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Stewart, Nathaniel. An Exploratory Study on the Convergence of Black and Indigenous Educators’ Pedagogical and Political Activism: Envisioning Diradical Educational Policy through Conversation, Resistance, and the Pursuit of Thrival. 2022. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1650032877528999.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Stewart, Nathaniel. "An Exploratory Study on the Convergence of Black and Indigenous Educators’ Pedagogical and Political Activism: Envisioning Diradical Educational Policy through Conversation, Resistance, and the Pursuit of Thrival." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1650032877528999

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1650032877528999
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.