Rationale For A Phenomenological Research

This study presents a research that was conducted at two elementary schools among young Black students. One was a public school and the other one was a Black independent School (BIS), which is private. The purpose of the study was to examine common teacher practices and black elementary-aged students’ responses to these practices in considering the processes of social reproduction in schools. The strategy use was an ethnographic study of two elementary schools in which the majority were black students; the author states that both schools had a strong commitment to creating a positive and self-affirming learning environment for its students. The mission statements of both schools focus an emphasis on building self-esteem as a means to promote high academic performance among its Black students. Unfortunately, both schools with their unintentional hidden curriculum undermine these efforts by suppressing inappropriate behaviors and conveying messages of black cultural deviance to students in the interest of discipline and conformity to particular “mainstream” cultural norms.

Many phenomenological methodologies have been developed and used by qualitative researchers to review individuals’ experiences. Phenomenology for organizational research, descriptive phenomenological method, hermeneutic phenomenology, interpretive phenomenology, and interpretative phenomenological analysis are the five popular phenomenological methodologies in qualitative inquiry.

Accordingly, the obtained data from this study helped to enhance the literature that already exists in order to gain insight as to why it is becoming increasingly harder to retain African American Female Secondary Educators in the teaching profession. Utilizing a qualitative research methodology, the search to answer the research questions, “What challenges do African American female secondary school educators experience in their interactions with their students in relationship to cultural and social issues?,” “What challenges do African American female secondary school educators experience when addressing their students’ parents in regard to communication and building trust?,” “What challenges do African American female secondary school educators experience with their colleagues in terms of racist

Research by Husband suggest negative impressions and expectations teachers may have towards Black male students, consequently lead to unhopeful results. Educators with unfavorable perspectives regarding African-American male students may cause the student to be less engaged. Hopkins reports that the configurations of schools were never calculated for Black males, “because of the ubiquity of hegemonic, mainstream systems that were not even designed for them from the beginning, it’s no easy task” (Hopkins 82). Hopkins contends the reading barrier of African- American males persist live without a shift of the consistent pattern or model of the dominant group to the “construction, reconstruction and revision of their own lives and thus rebuild and reclaim their communities schools”(Hopkins

My mother’s valuable life lessons made me an analytical young scholar and a head-strong campus leader and activist. Now as a graduate student and an educator in an urban school district, I often reflect on the ways my voice was criminalized and stifled voice during my K-12 experience. Watching my Black female students endure the same type of pushout from their teachers like I did, I began to question what our educational systems are doing to our girls. Seeking answers, I soon grew frustrated with the lack of gender and race based studies for Black girls in urban school settings. We were trapped in the juncture of race and gender—where studies on Black youth focus primarily on issues encountered by Black boys and the studies on girls gives attention to the challenges faced by White girls. Because of the absence of information on Black girls, many often make the assumption that Black girls are not up against some unique challenges of their own—which is far from the

The questions that will be asked are all open-ended and will assist in determining why some African American females don’t fare as well as other ethnicities academically in the public school system. The questions will be rephrased with probes and pauses, depending on how much information is received from the participant. More questions will be added as I proceed through the research process and gather more information from the participant. The focus will be on African American females, and each question that is asked will be recorded and examined in their own words from their perspective. At the end of the study, I will conduct a formal analysis and construction of meaningful findings.

Black girls face historical, institutional and historical factors which increases their risk to underachieve and detach from school. The attitude and institutional practices which limit their opportunities have deep historical roots. Most researches and public debates have failed to unveil the degree of trauma and challenges that are faced by the black girls. Most available information about the challenges are often underreported leading to incorrect inference that their future are not also at risk. For instance, the suspension and expulsion rates of black girls have outpaced that of the other girls. Yet, the efforts to understand and act to these disparate disciplinary patterns are few or futile.

Qualitative research is concerned with meanings of experiences and interactions. Qualitative research is very common in the social sciences, although it is often used in market research as well (Alasuutari, 2010; Nieswiadomy, 2011). There has been quite a rise in qualitative research in the last 30 years. It first started to emerge in journals in the 1960’s, and an increase in the number of qualitative research can be seen in research journals in the 1980’s (Alasuutari, 2010). Instead of looking at the statistical numbers within research, the researcher in interested in getting within the research, and understanding the phenomenon (Leedy, 2011; LoBionod-Wood & Haber, 2013).

Following a critical overview of the literature, this chapter outlines the research methodology. It will provide a justification for a qualitative methodological approach and specification of methods employed. Highlighting the appropriateness of interviews and focus groups in relation to the methodology and overall research. It will also provide recognition of their relative strengths and limitations.

This study will utilize a grounded theory approach to qualitative research. Qualitative research methods are used to uncover meanings individuals or groups assign to a social or human problem (Creswell, 2013, p.43; Denzin & Lincoln, 1998, p.8) and to allow for a “unified theoretical exploration” (Corbin & Strauss, 2007, p.107; Denzin & Lincoln, 1998, p.8). Specifically, a qualitative approach is warranted when the nature of research questions requires further exploration (Stake, 1995). Qualitative research questions usually often begin with how or why statements, to allow the researcher to gain in, in-depth understanding of what is going on relevant to the topic at hand (Seidman, 1998; Patton, 2002, Charmaz, 2006, p.130).

The qualitative design I decided to choose or explain about is the grounded theory methodology. Qualitative methodology is the development of rich descriptions of reality from the data by describing certain processes that capture aspects of unattained by traditional qualitative methodology (Sheperis, Young, & Daniels, 2010). Qualitative research is more concerned with non-statistical methods and analysis of social phenomena (McRoy, 1988). Also, qualitative research most likely use detailed descriptions from a perspective of the research participants, in which they are being examined for specific issues or problems during the study (McRoy, 1988). The grounded theory methodology was originally developed by sociologists and they used the qualitative research in social work field to systematically the

Qualitative research is conducted in a natural setting and attempts to understand a human problem by developing a holistic narrative and reporting detailed views of informants about the culture of a problem. It forms a report with pictures and words. One of the most important distinctions that sets qualitative research apart from more traditional types of research is that qualitative research is holistic in that researchers study phenomena in their entirety rather than narrowing the focus to specific defined variables” (p. 93). Similarly, Cresswell (1984) indicated that qualitative research “is defined as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting” (p. 2). Cresswell’s definition clearly delineates the major characteristics of qualitative research. Pg. 50 (Smith & Davis, 2010).

A qualitative methodology was deemed appropriate for this study’s research aims and will adopt a focus group approach. This will allow the participants to discuss the relevant questions which will provide an in depth exploration of the complexities for participants’ views, attitudes and experiences (reference). Qualitative research studies participants in their natural setting therefore promoting an open communication system between participants and taking a holistic perspective. As a result of this primary data is collected (Miller 2001?). Bowling (2002) states, that the benefit of qualitative research methods is that the interviewer has the freedom to deviate the focus of the study as the data collection progresses. Detailed answers can therefore be acquired which provides beneficial data for the researcher by raising new issues which had not been previously considered. Crombie and Davis (1996), state that this method of data collection allows the researcher to look beyond the words which may give further insight into what an individual really feels. By using this method of study a thorough

Merriam and Tisdell (2016) listed six common research designs in qualitative research, including “basic qualitative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, narrative analysis, and qualitative case study” (p. 23). The authors stated that the basic qualitative research design encompasses the characteristics of all other qualitative research designs, and are common in the field of education and administration. Basic qualitative research as defined by Merriam and Tisdell (2016) is a method grounded in constructivism and seeks to understand how participants ascribe meanings to phenomenon. Additional

Overall, qualitative research design can help give researches options of conducting researching depending on the research topic in question. Further understand the types of qualitative research design can further narrow research method options. Ultimately, qualitative research should continue to be a notable research method since it enables researchers from all fields to examine concepts that are abstract and try to comprehend different