Abstract:
Historically, the diversity of literature in secondary public school classrooms fails to reflect the diversity of the student population in 21st century American schools. Students lack exposure to diverse, relevant texts that mirror their lives and offer a window into the world around them. In our research study we examine how the incorporation of a transformational leadership professional learning community (PLC) model with a cultural focus impacts self-awareness for middle school students. We used a family cultural inventory survey, post-text surveys, and observations to address our question. Growth in all areas is evidenced by the increased percentage of students reporting agree and strongly agree in all areas after reading the first text of the Cultural and Self-Awareness unit. After reading all three texts in the Cultural and Self-Awareness unit, the percentage of students who responded with agree and strongly agree increased significantly for the following questions: “I have a good understanding of my social identity.” (25.28% increase); “I feel like I can relate to and understand other people’s social identities.” (27.87% increase); “I can identify my own prejudices and biases.” (27.91% increase). The majority of the students (74.69%) report being able to identify prejudices and biases (including their own 77.21%) and understand their social identity as well as the social identities of others.
