Publication Title

The European Conference on Education 2024 Official Conference Proceedings

A Mirror Image of Social Justice: A Case Study of Two Midwestern (USA) Somali Teachers Share Their Perceptions in DEI

Authors

Hsuehi Lo, St. Cloud State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-23-2024

Abstract

Via this case study, I explored the social justice of two Somali educators regarding Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) perceptions and their related effectiveness with white third graders. In the interpretive study, I follow the two Somali teachers, Iqro, and Ayan, to explore any challenges they experienced in teaching mostly white students. I had a particular interest in the strategies Iqro and Ayan employed in instructing a group made up of mostly white students (Iqro = 92%, Ayan = 87%). I conducted six interviews and eight observations and analyzed them via critical education research methods (Young et al., 2024). I also analyzed students’ reactions to working with Somali teachers, mostly addressing their sense of racial diversity. Education researchers in the U.S.A. tend to address the experiences and challenges impacting white teachers dealing with cultural diversity. This investigation turns the issue around looking (as it does) at the experiences of diverse teachers. However, the fact showed 97% of teachers in rural area of state of Minnesota are white people and 87% of their students also represent majority white families. Results showed that Iqro and Ayan traced their success to 1) building the sense of belonging in their educational spaces, 2) creating positive interactions, and 3) setting up clear learning goals to maintain students’ success. Qualitative meta-analysis concluded a de-colonizing perspective and use psychological cognition to discuss DEI and social justice.

Comments

The article originally appeared in the European Conference on Education 2024 Official Conference Proceedings. The article can be directly accessed at https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2024.23

Recommended Citation

Lo, Hsuehi, "A Mirror Image of Social Justice: A Case Study of Two Midwestern (USA) Somali Teachers Share Their Perceptions in DEI" (2024). Teacher Development Faculty Publications. 14.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/ed_facpubs/14

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.