Date of Award

2026-01-31

Degree Name

PhD Education for Social Justice

Dissertation Committee

Maya Kalyanpur, PhD, Chair; Suzanne Stolz, EdD, Committee Member; Zenobia Harper, Gullah Geechee Committee Member

Keywords

Social Justice in Education, Qualitative Research, Case Study

Abstract

African American students in South Carolina experience historical educational suppression (Anderson, 1988; Bowers et al., 2018; Fabel, 2019). This qualitative case study investigated how the use of African Diaspora and Gullah Geechee culture in supplemental education programs supported the academic success of youth. Using a culturally and historically responsive literacy and critical race theoretical framing (Gay, 2013; Hammond, 2015; Ladson-Billings, 2014; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1997; Mills, 1997; Muhammad, 2020), this study captured the voices and insights of community elders and program directors of The Village Group, that makes use of Gullah Geechee cultural, academic, and vocational practices to engage and educate youth in the Lowcountry. It used observations (Paley, 1986), interviews, a deep immersion into the culture (Bhattacharya, 2017; Creswell & Creswell, 2017), and photography of learning sessions. The study found that the program and community elders focused on resilience to maintain its community’s values through education, and when culturally sustaining pedagogy is implemented, students of the African Diaspora thrive in this scholastic environment. This is the power of collective action, a utilization of resistance to deficit mindsets and stereotypes of Black youth within restrictive social structures in the rural south. This resistance is restorative, stemming from years of knowing from elders’ personal experiences that African Diaspora students need to be seen as beautiful, accepted and loved as family, and heard as an equal participant in their education.

Comments

This qualitative case study in a supplemental educational program was supported by the Gullah Geechee Community. My gratitude immeasurable to the kindness and inclusivity given to me as an educational researcher and social justice advocate of students. The commitment to students of the African Diaspora in the Lowcountry of South Carolina is the premise of this research and the educational programming that supports their education. This research is dedicated to the Gullah Geechee community in South Carolina.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Learning and Teaching

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