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Open Access Dissertations
2013
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Carey Delauder Bledsoe
University of Rhode Island, [email protected]
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Bledsoe, Carey Delauder, "Girl Talk: Analyzing Discourse Among Urban Middle School Girls" (2013). Open
Access Dissertations. Paper 123.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/123
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GIRL TALK: ANALYZING DISCOURSE AMONG
URBAN MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS
BY
CAREY DELAUDER BLEDSOE
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND AND RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE
2013
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DISSERTATION
OF
CAREY DELAUDER BLEDSOE
APPROVED:
Dissertation Committee:
Major Professor Lesley Bogad
Carolyn Panofsky
Pete Adamy
Barbara Newman
Nasser H. Zawia
DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND AND RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE
2013
ABSTRACT
This dissertation is a qualitative study of an all-girls’ advisory in a co-
educational, urban middle school located in a mid-sized city in the northeast.
The advisory group met daily over the course of the 2010-2011 academic year.
Drawing from data collected over one year of fieldwork--including participant
observation, analysis of discourse, dynamic interviews, and the analysis of
social constructs --this study explores how a group of mostly African
American and Latina students created a caring community in order to increase
their academic and social success.
Each chapter of the dissertation examines the challenges and obstacles the
girls in the advisory group faced in their daily lives, and how they worked
together to overcome them. I begin by exploring the social constructs of
gender, race, and class that are prevalent to the girls within the advisory group.
I then explore the importance of building an effective and authentic advisory
program to create a community grounded in care as well as my role as the
advisor of this community. Here, I also explore how the girls in the advisory
group began to negotiate their understanding of academic "success", namely
how the girls grew to use their voices and advocate for themselves and others
in order to achieve greater academic success. Furthermore, I discuss why
accountability to the teacher and the group led to academic and social growth
for the girls in the advisory.
I argue throughout the dissertation that an all-girls advisory provides the
caring environment that enabled the girls to experience greater academic
success. This study offers a perspective on how an all-girls advisory group
empowers the girls within the group while providing them with the tools
necessary to negotiate their daily lives. I also argue that the teacher student
relationship is essential to the success of the advisory group and directly linked
to the girls’ academic and social growth.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude towards Doctor Lesley Bogad for her
continual support and guidance and to my dissertation committee members, Dr.
Carolyn Panofsky, Dr. Pete Adamy, and Dr. Barbara Newman, for helping me become
a better educator and researcher. I would also like to thank my husband Kevin for
keeping me grounded and level during my PhD process. Lastly, I would like to thank
the ten wonderful students who opened up their lives to me and allowed me a window
into their thoughts.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................ iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... v
CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1
CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................. 21
REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................... 21
CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................. 49
METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 49
CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................................................. 65
FINDINGS .................................................................................................................. 65
CHAPTER 5 ................................................................................................................ 125
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 125
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 133
v
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Personal History: School and me
My interest in education as a system of privilege began at a very young age. I
was one of the many students distanced by my education. I did not understand the
system of education or how it impacted me as a learner and, more importantly, as a
person.
Growing up in the inner city school system, I was always one of the top students
in my class. During my high school years, my family moved to a suburb outside of
the city; here is where I first experienced discrimination. Moving from an urban
school to a suburban school seemed like the right move, a better education which
would lead to greater experiences and options for my future. Unfortunately, this was
not the case.
During my freshman year, the new school system deemed that my inner city
education was not equal to the suburban education of my peers. It placed me in a
lower track despite my high grades in the classes as well as my ninety seven percent
proficiency scores on standardized tests. I remember on my first day of freshman
Biology the teacher started the class by saying, “This does not matter. None of you
will ever go to college.” What? Where had my family moved me to and why was I
already being labeled? I was fourteen years old. I had dreams and ambition. How
could this teacher judge me without knowing my capabilities?
1
Coming from a working class family, my parents’ response was that “the school
knew best” and if the teachers thought I should be in that class then that was that. My
parents did not know the politics of school. They did not know that you could
questions the system and fight for what was right for your child.
At this young age, I knew this was an injustice; I could name it and knew I had to
fight the system. I remember, September of 1990, going into the guidance office and
scheduling a meeting with my counselor. He was an older, middle aged white man
who really was not interested in meeting with me. I expressed my concern and talked
with him about what the teacher had proclaimed on day one of Biology. The response
was less than satisfying. I was told to prove myself and maybe next year they would
put me in a higher track. I gladly accepted the challenge.
Despite the odds, by my senior year, I was in the highest track the school offered
and earned credit for three college courses. I knew that my situation was different. I
was headstrong and not willing to listen to what the system had decided was best for
me. This determination paid off but it made me an outcast among my peers. They did
not understand why I cared so much about the classes I was assigned or why I had the
desire to fight the system. It also made me wonder how many other students were in
the same situation as I was in and how many of them would speak up and question the
system. I also wondered why my urban education was looked at through a negative
2
future which included college. I wanted to be more than this teacher gave me credit
for and lens understand how one school system could put itself above others, even
when standardized tests were supposed to be measuring the student’s success on an
equal field.
From high school, I entered a mid-sized college in New England. As a Zoology
major, I was exposed to college level math courses. I loved the intensity of the
mathematics classes and decided to pursue a minor in mathematics.
I remember sitting in my Difference Equations class and looking around the
room. I was one of ten students in the room, and the only female. This was the first
time I saw this dynamic in a college course. I remember some of the men in the class
looking at me and wondering what I was doing there. They had all been in math
classes together and had never seen me before. At first I was intimidated, wondering
what I had gotten myself into. Maybe I was not smart enough to be in this classroom?
Maybe the students’ strange looks were justified? And maybe I was in over my head?
Once the class began, the professor introduced me to the engineering cohort and
explained who I was and why I was in the class. At the time, I was involved in a
population study on flour beetles using difference equations to map their growth over
time and predict future populations. Interestingly, the professor felt it was important
to explain this to the class. At that moment my nickname was born, “Flour Beetle.”
The name made me uncomfortable. It had felt as though the students were trying to
make sense of me being in this high level math class with them. The name was cute,
and belittling at the same time. It made me feel less important in the classroom, yet I
did not speak up and ask them to use my real name. Why had I allowed this name to
3
Description:I would like to express my gratitude towards Doctor Lesley Bogad for her continual .. Delpit, Debra Meier, Paolo Freire, and Ted Sizer. This was my
