HOW COUNSELORS POSITION LOW-INCOME AFRICAN AMERICAN PRIMARY SCHOOL GIRLS AS MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE LEARNERS Cirecie West-Olatunji, Ph. D. Lauren Shure.

HOW COUNSELORS POSITION LOW-INCOME

AFRICAN AMERICAN PRIMARY SCHOOL GIRLS AS MATHEMATICS AND

SCIENCE LEARNERSCirecie West-Olatunji, Ph. D.

Lauren Shure Dadria Lewis

University of Florida

Overview of the Study

Only a small percentage of African American females show an interest in mathematics and science education

The researchers interviewed 3 female school counselors in low-resourced elementary schools to explore how they view African American girls as mathematics and science learners

Outcomes of the study suggest that these counselors hold low expectations for these students (Baratelli, A., West-Olatunji, C., Pringle, R., Adams, T. & Shure, L., 2007).

The Problem In the last few decades African Americans

have made strides in science and mathematics yet only a small percentage of these students actually become scientists, mathematicians, and engineers (Atwater, 2000).

Due to greater emphasis on gender disparities, girls have made significant strides in mathematics and science achievement

However, African American girls, particularly those from low income communities, have received very little attention in this area (West-

Olatunji, Pringle, Adams, Baratelli, Goodman & Maxis, 2007).

Review of the Literature

Ethnocentric monoculturalism exists in many schooling environments (West-Olatunji, C., Shure, L., Pringle, R., Adams, T., Baratelli, A., Lewis, D., Milton, K., & Flesner, D., 2008; Cholewa & West-Olatunji, 2008).

Many children living in poverty do not receive equitable educational experiences (Fuller & Tutwiler, 1998).

Counselors often serve as gatekeepers to mathematics and science learning opportunities for African American girls and other socially marginalized students (Kahle & Meece, 1994).

Theoretical Framework

Positionality theory defined:Individuals are defined by their social positioning in relation to their network of relationships; this positioning determines the amount of power a person has (Harley, Jolivette, McCormic & Tice, 2002).

Methods

Semi structured interviews were approximately 50 minutes in duration and held on the school campus

3 counselors in low-resourced elementary schools in the southeastern region of the U. S. with predominately African American student populations

Informed consent Interviews conducted by a White, female

doctoral student in counselor education

Data Analysis

Tapes were transcribed and analyzed by:

a) Listening to the audiotapes of the focus group session and interviews.

b) Listening to the audiotapes while reading through the transcript of the interviews (to assess for accuracy).

c) Reading through the transcript while highlighting comments or phrases that were representative of the participants’ experiences.

d) Clustering highlighted statements into summary statements in the margins of the transcript.

e) Creating domains of meanings from the clustered summary statements.

Results: Prominent Themes

Awareness: Disconnection between theory and practice

Knowledge: Use or disuse of students’ funds of knowledge

Skills: Role confusion/diffusion

Prominent Themes: Awareness “It’s really important for children to meet people

and see people doing these things. And if you want girls to have high achievement in math, they have to see women doing well in math and science. They can’t just go to their pediatrician whose probably a white male and say they want to be a doctor, because they won’t make that connection with him”. Counselor 2

“I don't see them being CPAs at Price Waterhouse ”. “They really can do anything they want to do”. Counselor 3

Prominent Themes: Knowledge “In order to have math and science centers, you

would have to let the children do a little bit of exploration. I think it’s harder to do here because there are so many disciplinary issues”. Counselor 1

“I think they enjoy hands on, when they can create something, or build something…I think relating it to the everyday, even if it’s highly complex, like algebra, there’s a way to make them understand [it] in something that they do every day”. Counselor 2

Prominent Themes: Skills

“You know, to tell you the truth I haven’t spent a lot of time dealing with math and science in the classroom so I haven’t thought about it . I have thought about behavior in the classroom ”. Counselor 1

I brought a lot of people in this year in terms of career…people from science. I wanted it to be a large variety. But I also wanted it to align with what they were studying. So I tried to make it happen while they were studying that unit”. Counselor 3

Counselor Positionality and Cultural Competence

ASkills and Awareness

-Unintentional-Cognizant of cultural differences-Cognizant of own biases

CSkills and

Knowledge-Marginalizing-Disconnected-Lack of consciousness

Master CounselorMaster Counselor-Culturally-responsive -Appreciative of differences-Cognizant of own biases-Sees possibilities and utilizes strengths

BAwareness and

Knowledge-Theorizing-No ownership-Lack of action

Discussion

Low expectations of low-income African American girls’ achievement likely has implications for their future experiences in mathematics and science

Faculty partnerships for professional development can facilitate movement towards 21st century counselor role

21st Century Counselor: Consultant for teachers and other school personnel Advocate for marginalized students and their

families. Facilitate home-school collaboration by increasing

cultural understanding and respectful two-way communication (Amatea & West-Olatunji, 2007; Bemak, 2000).

Future Research Longitudinal study that investigates the impact

of cultural diversity training on school counselors’ cultural competence and clinical efficacy in culturally diverse school communities.

Investigation of the relationship between racial/cultural identity and counselor effectiveness with culturally diverse students in low-resourced schools.

Holistic exploration of how African American school girls are positioned as mathematics and science learners by counselors, teachers, and parents.

Selected References

Amatea, E., & West-Olatunji, C. A. (2007). Joining the conversation about educating our poorest children: Emerging leadership roles for school counselors in high poverty schools. Professional School Counseling, 11, 81-89.

Atwater, M. M. (2000). Equity for Black Americans in precollege science. Science Education, 84, 154-179.

Baratelli, A., West-Olatunji, C., Pringle, R., Adams, T. & Shure, L. (2007). Positioning toward mathematics and science learning: An examination of factors affecting low-income, African American girls. Educational Resources Information Clearinghouse - ERIC No: ED496526, pp. 1-12.

Bemak, F. (2000). Transforming the role of the counselor to provide leadership in educational reform through collaboration. Professional School Counseling, 3, 323-331.

Cholewa, B., & West-Olatunji, C. (2008). Exploring the relationship among cultural discontinuity, psychological distress, and academic achievement outcomes for low-income, culturally diverse students. Professional School Counseling, 12, 54-61.

Selected References (cont’d) Fuller, M. L. & Tutwiler, S. W. (1998). Chapter 12: Poverty: The Enemy

of Children and Families. In Home-school relations: Working successfully with parents and families. Allyn and Bacon.

Harley, D.A., Jolivette, K., McCormick, K., & Tice, K. (2002). Race, class, and gender: A constellation of positionalities with implications for counseling. Multicultural Counseling and Development, 30, 216-238. Kahle, & Meece, (1994).

West-Olatunji, C., Pringle, R., Adams, T., Baratelli, A., Goodman, R., & Maxis, S. (2007). How African American middle school girls position themselves as mathematics and science learners. International Journal of Learning, 14, 219-228.

West-Olatunji, C., Shure, L., Pringle, R., Adams, T., Baratelli, A., Lewis, D., Milton, K., & Flesner, D. (2008). Increasing mathematics and science achievement among low-income, African American youth using strength-based interventions. International Journal on Learning, 15, 1-10.

Contact Information

Cirecie A. West-Olatunji

Assistant Professor

Department of Counselor Education

Counselor Education

University of Florida

1204 Norman Hall, PO Box 117046

Gainesville, FL 32611

(352) 392-0731, x359

Fax: 352-846-2697

[email protected]

Lauren ShureDoctoral StudentDepartment of Counselor EducationCounselor EducationUniversity of Florida1215 Norman Hall, PO Box 117046Gainesville, FL 32611(352) 392-0731, x200Fax: [email protected]

Dadria LewisDoctoral StudentDepartment of Counselor EducationCounselor EducationUniversity of Florida1215 Norman Hall, PO Box 117046Gainesville, FL 32611(352) 392-0731, x200Fax: [email protected]