Ethnic Studies Thesis Senior Capstone

Enactment of Critical Consciousness Through Leadership

Presenter: Lien TruongAdvisor: Dr. Cynthia Ganote

May 19th, 2011

Inspiration

Becoming a Sociology Major and Ethnic Studies Minor

Stepping into Leadership Positions

Paying it forward

Enactment of my own Critical Consciousness and the patterns in the community

Literature Review Critical Consciousness is the ability to perceive social,

political, and economic oppression as it occurs in everyday life and take action to transform oppressive elements of society

(Frèire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1970).

Education As Liberation – “we can teach ways that transform consciousness, creating a climate of free expression that is the essence of a truly liberatory liberal arts education” (hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, 1994)

Methods

Surveys were distributed through Survey Monkey. 84 Undergraduate Sociology Majors/Minors by

saint Mary's email address.

Permission and Support from sociology department chair and faculty. Advertise survey through flyers and emails in

each classroom. Faculty highly encouraged students to

participate, but it was voluntary. (no extra credit was given for this survey)

Findings

What are you?

How you identify yourself?

Identify your gender preference

What socioeconomic class did you grow up in?

Are you a sociology major/minor?

Did sociology course(s) help influence your development of critical consciousness?

What level would you rate your own development of critical

consciousness?

How often do you apply critical consciousness in your own life and/or work?

what sociology course(s) first influence you to develop critical consciousness?

When you took your first class in sociology, how did you react?

When you took your second set of classes in Sociology, how did you react?

Progressing into upper division Sociology course(s), how did you react?

Would you consider yourself a student leader?

Where are you a student leader?

How did you primarily serve as a student leader?

Why do you serve as a leader in the smc community?

Do you enact your critical consciousness in collaborating with SMC Community as a

student leader?

Do you interact with your peers as a student leader?

Analysis

Data Collection: Out of 84 surveys released, 52% (n=44)

responded

Majority of participants: Seniors – 38.6% (n=17) White/White American – 45.5 % (n=20) Female – 72.7% (n=32) Middle Class- 54.5% (n=24) Sociology Majors/Minors- 97.7% (n=43)

Did Sociology course(s) help influence your development of Critical Consciousness? “Yes”, 93.2% (n=42)

What level would you rate your own development of Critical Consciousness “Developed”, 47.7% (n=21)

How often d do you apply Critical Consciousness? “Often” – 43.2% (n=19)

What Sociology course(s) first influenced you to develop Critical Consciousness? “ Social Problems” – 59.1% (n=26) “Intro to Soc” – 54.5% (n=24)

Upper Division Sociology classes first influenced Critical Consciousness:

Gender and Society -5 Sociologically Imagination -4 Wealth and Poverty -3 Health and Illness -3 Theory -2 Social Movement and Protests -2 Urban Development -1 Race and Ethnicity -1 Contemporary American Families -1 Marginalized Groups -1 Setting the Foundation -1 New Immigrants -1 Crime and Delinquency -1

When you took your first class in Sociology, how did you react? “ I felt the material were related to my experience and

community” – 86.4 % (n=38) “I felt privilege compared to those in the subordinate group”

– 27.3% (n=12)

When you took your second set of classes in Sociology, how did you react? “ The discussions and readings became very engaging, I

learned a lot” – 72.7% (n=32) “The materials explained my life, community, and

experience as they connect to a broader structure” – 59.1% (n=26)

Progressing into upper division Sociology course(s), how did you react? “I am educated on how systematically disadvantage

others are in their access to resources” – 63.3% (n=28)

“I became a change person through my beliefs and values” – 43.2% (n=19)

“I am an ally to a community of people in the subordinate group” – 43.2% (n=19)

  Would you consider yourself as a student leader?

“No” – 52.3% (n=23) “Yes” –31.8% (n=14)

Where are you a student leader? Intercultural Center– 38.5% (n=5) Residential Life – 30.8% (n=4) Student Involvement and Leadership, High Potential, & Women’s Resource Center – 15.4% (n=2) each.

How do you primarily serve as a student leader? “By creating interactions/dialogue with other students (Ex:

Peer Mentors/Facilitators)” – 73.3% (11) “By promoting social justice in the SMC community (Ex:

Leadership providing opportunities in classrooms and residential halls)” – 33.3% (9)

“By developing programming (Ex: Events/Presentation on Diversity) –40.0% (6)

Why do you serve as a leader in the SMC community? “To make a change/difference” – 93.3% (14) “To provide opportunities for others” – 66.7% (10) “To enhance your own leadership skills” – 66.7% (10)

  Do you enact your current Critical Consciousness in

collaborating with SMC community as student leader? If so, How? “Educating others students, staff, and faculty” – 75.0%

(12) “Challenging institutional principals” – 50.0% (8) “Developing opportunities to empower marginalized

groups” – 50.0% (8)

Do you interact with your peers as a student leader? If so, how ? “Having conversations with students” –

94.4 % (17) “Being an Ally” – 66.7% (12) “Being an advocate” – 66.7% (12)

Overall, how would you describe your progression through Sociology and Critical Consciousness?

These are some major themes that emerge from the personal

responses

“Awareness” – 15

  “Attending Saint Mary's has made me realize a lot of

things about the world. I enjoy reading and learning about the different consciousness we have, especially sociological ones. Since taking courses about sociology, I have learned that some problems that people face aren't always their fault, therefore we have to look at the structures around us in order to realize what is really going on. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of racism and oppression that happens everyday in society, but sometimes when you aren't aware of these discrimination's you can feel as if the whole world is against you. As a consequence of gaining knowledge of society, I have become more conscious about the way I treat people and the institutes around me.”

“Education as liberation” – 12

“My critical consciousness continues to develop into more specific areas on deeper levels, that is the beauty of upper division courses that are on topics specific to on aspect of the social world verses a general overview of how they are all connected. It is up to us a students to critically analyze and engage into our course work and our everyday lives, that's is what it truly means to be critically conscious.”

“Rise in Critical Consciousness” – 12

“I have definitely gone through a transformation as far as developing my critical consciousness and becoming aware of my privilege. It was a non-sociology JanTerm course that first made me realize that I had privilege (Intercultural Dialoguing), and then I learned more about unpacking my privilege through classes like Whiteness and Marginalized Groups.”

“To make a difference” – 3

“I feel that my development of critical consciousness and how it plays a role in my life has become huge. It has lead to my decision to want to work with groups of people who are underrepresented and find ways to be supportive to the community and assist in having their voices heard. It has made me rethink my entire life and how I have been a part of the underrepresented group but have been able to set away from that and push to make a difference”

Conclusion

Sociology students have the ability to enact Critical Consciousness inside and outside of the classroom due to the co-intentional teaching community.

Using their critical consciousness gained through

education, they are able to link personal experiences based on Social location (intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, etc.) with structures of oppression. Then, this form of liberation can be enacted in leadership positions.

Work Cited

Hooks, Bell. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge, 1994. Print.

Frèire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2000. Print.