IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Author "Thompson, Chalmer"

Browsing by Author "Thompson, Chalmer"

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Because I Am Human: Centering Black Women with Dis/abilities in Transition Planning from High School to College
(2019-02) Cannon, Mercedes Adell; Thorius, Kathleen; Thompson, Chalmer; Mutegi, Jomo; Rogan, Patricia; Skelton, Seena
There is a dearth of literature about post-secondary transition experiences of Black women with dis/abilities (BWD). In this qualitative study, I explore transition experiences of five post-secondary BWD from high school to college in order to privilege her chronicles and narratives as knowledge. In addition, two urban public high school transition coordinators (TC) participated in the study. Three inquiries guided my dissertation: (1) features of educational experiences narrated by BWD, (2) features of transition services provided to students with dis/abilities, including roles of and approaches as described by the TCs, and (3) how BWD narratives may be leveraged to critique and extend transition services as the TCs described them. I engaged in three semi-structured interviews with six of the seven participants (one interview with the seventh). I drew from Disability Studies/Disability Studies in Education (DSE), Critical Race Theory, and Womanist/Black Feminist Theory and their shared tenets of voice and counternarratives and concepts of social construction and falsification of consciousness to analyze the narratives of BWD participants. I drew from the DS/DSE tenet of interlocking systems of oppression, DisCrit tenet three, race and ability, and constructs of Inputs and Outcomes in work on Modeling Transition Education to analyze the TCs’ narratives and in connection to the narratives of the BWD. Across both sets of participants, three themes in the form of Truths emerged; they were terrible and sticky experiences of racial/dis/ability oppression for the BWDs and, imposing of whiteness and normalization within the transition education practices described by the TCs. For the BWD, those terrible and sticky truths took three forms: (a) Pathologization; (b) Disablement; and (c) Exclusion. Another type of truth in the BWD’s narratives, however, was Subverted Truths: (re)defined identities and radical love, (re)placed competence and knowledge, and (revalued sisterhood and community, the ways of pushing back and resisting the Truths and their effects. I discuss implications for BWD post-secondary transition-planning-and-programming theory, research, policy, practice, praxis, and spirituality.
Black Identity Development on a First Year Affinity Course for African American Males at a Two-Year Community College
(2021-03) Turner, John Cleo; Scheurich, Jim; Hayes, Cleveland; Thompson, Chalmer; Etienne, Leslie; Brown, Roderick
The research for this dissertation is a study of one case example of programs and classes put into place for African American males at community colleges around the United States with a focus on how these programs were successful or not in assisting in the persistence, retention, and graduation of these students. The purpose of using Cross’ (1991) Black Identity Development Theory as a framework for exploring the students’ experiences in racial ‘awakening’ was to track the patterns in how these experiences aligned with Cross’ concepts.
A Critical Race-Feminist Examination of the Influence of Prison, Jail, and School Institutions on the Perspectives of Black Middle School Girls and Their Formerly Incarcerated Single Mothers
(2020-10) Jordan, Patricia Ann; Thompson, Chalmer; Scheurich, James; Kazembe, Lasana; Grommon, Eric
This study explored the perspectives of Black mothers and daughters as they contemplated how two institutions ---schools and prisons/jails -- influenced their relationship with one another. As the incarceration rates for Black females increase in the U.S., examinations of these perspectives can produce insights about the impacts of schools and jails/prisons on the lives of these girls and women, and more pointedly, about the perceived contributions of racist and misogynistic forces on the Black mother-Black daughter relationship. Three pairs of mother-daughter dyads were selected and interviewed for the study. The daughters were Black middle school-aged girls between the ages 10 and 14, and the mothers were of varying ages. Two specific research questions centered on: (1) the participants’ perceptions of how these institutions have had an influence mother and daughter relationships, and (2) how they dealt with problems they faced either separately or together that were associated with school (for both participants in the dyad) and/or that resulted from the jail/prison experience (for the mother). Interviews were analyzed using phenomenological research methods and metaanalyzed from a critical feminist framework. Findings show that both mother and daughter have been resourceful in maintaining strong ties despite the array of forces that challenged these unions. Participants from both sides of these mothers and daughters dyads expressed how mothers’ parenting styles, lifestyle decisions, and self-perceptions were effected by the institutions of schooling and criminal justice. Although the findings of the study offered a glimpse of participants’ perspectives on racism and sexism as forces that influenced their experiences, the relationship issues between them were most prevalent. Further research is recommended to uncover more of the intricacies of sexism and racism as they relate to relationships and personal issues of Black, formerly incarcerated mothers and their pre-teen and teenaged daughters.
Critically Conscious White Teachers: A Case Study
(2023-05) Priester-Hanks, Mary Louise; Scheurich, Jim; Thompson, Chalmer; Murphy, Hardy; Blackmon, Sha'Kema; Murtadha, Khaula
Racism is a pervasive and destructive force in society and has no place in schools. White teachers, like all teachers, are responsible for creating a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students. This means being aware and actively working to combat their own biases and stereotypes, providing equal opportunities and support to all students. This instrumental, qualitative study captured the narratives of five White-identifying critically conscious teachers to understand how their critical consciousness is expressed and the opportunities and challenges they experience because of their anti-racism work. The central research question of this study was: How do critically conscious White teachers in a Southern Indiana school district experiencing demographic shifts engage in anti-racism work? Janet Helms’s White Racial Identity Development (WRID) theory was used to explain the teachers’ work towards anti-racism in schools. The findings from this study indicated that White identifying critically conscious teachers White teachers: a) leverage their privilege to promote anti-racism, b) use culturally relevant practices, c) engage in co-conspirator work, d) actively collaborate with BIPOC students and teachers, e) are instrumental in supporting anti-racism efforts, f) are content with making a positive impact on students and society, g) perceive and experience negative professional consequences as a result of their anti-racism work. This study has important implications for teachers, school administrators, and education system stakeholders.
An Examination of the Bachelor's Degree Attainment Experiences of African American Males Post-Incarceration
(2021-08) Wallace, James W., Jr.; Murtadha, Khaula; Thompson, Chalmer; Scheurich, Jim; Applegate, Rachel
The United States of America incarcerates more of its citizens than any other industrialized nation. Moreover, African American males are disproportionately targeted for incarceration in a system reminiscent of the system of slavery abolished after the civil war. As the cycle of recidivism plays itself out in this nation, this research examines the experiences of Black males who have broken the cycle to reestablish themselves within society through educating themselves in our nation's colleges and universities. This work is a phenomenological multiple case study that examines the experiences of five men who were incarcerated for a felony offense and successfully obtained bachelor's degree upon release. This research asks the questions: what motivated the pursuit of a degree, how did they pay for it, what resources were utilized, what challenges were overcome, and what impact this achievement had on their lives? Additionally, this research examines current correctional and educational policies and their impact on the Black community and concludes by making recommendations grounded in the research on how the nation can reduce recidivism rates and better serve African American communities.
An Exploratory Study Comparing a Low Income Black Dominant Urban School to a Low Income White Dominant Urban School in Terms of School Quality
(2020-02) Shipp, Cassandra M.; Scheurich, Jim; Scribner, Samantha; Thompson, Chalmer; Medina, Monica
Urban Schools are often judge on the perceived shortcomings of students’ academic skills and family social economic status. This image is judged more negatively when students are mainly Black students from low-income homes. One of the main sources of that judgement is the overall letter grade each school receives as part of state accountability systems. When urban schools have a preponderance of low income white students (LIW) with higher letter grades than urban schools with a preponderance of Black students from low income homes (LIB), the typical conclusion is that the LIW schools are “better” than the LIB schools. To see if this is validated in other areas of schooling, I selected four areas that it would be possible to use to “compare” in an exploratory fashion these two types of urban schools. Those four are: 1) teacher quality, 2) AP enrollment and completion data, 3) technology usage, and 4) graduation rates, for all of which data is available and/or can be collected. Thus, I will be exploring whether the school’s letter grade does distort the understanding or perception of quality for these two types of schools. The findings of the study indicated that the LIB urban high school was not equal or better than LIW urban high school. Even though there was growth in the four focus areas and in the state accountability grade for LIB urban high school, the LIW urban high school outperformed the LIB urban high school in all areas. This study also confirmed that the LIB urban high schools continue to have the less effective teachers in the classrooms, which leads to little to no change in educational quality.
Interchangeable Oppression: Black Female School Counselors' Experiences with Black Adolescent Girls in Urban Middle Schools
(2021-08) Hicks, Sonya June; Jackson, Tambra; Thompson, Chalmer; Blackmon, Sha'Kema; Morton, Crystal
While much has been written about the work of school counselors in urban schools, there remains a void of information about the unique experiences of Black female school counselors, particularly in relation to their work with Black adolescent girls in the urban middle school space. This qualitative study seeks to illuminate these experiences via the contributions of four Black female school counselors who have worked in this capacity serving Black girls. Three points of inquiry or Research Questions served as guideposts for this study: (1) What are the personal and professional experiences of Black female school counselors in their work with Black adolescent girls in urban middle schools?, (2) What are Black female school counselors’ perspectives on the ways in which they are supported or not supported in working with Black adolescent girls? and, (3) In what ways (if any) does the concept of “mothering” show up in the relationships and counseling practices involving Black female school counselors and Black adolescent girls in urban middle schools? Thus far, it appears that Black women’s voices and perspectives have been devalued and ignored in research relating to school counseling. To adequately represent the perspectives and experiences of Black women as a marginalized group, I employed a critical hermeneutic phenomenological methodology, along with a Black feminist framework. I engaged the participants in two semi-structured interviews, along with asking them to construct a reflective vision board, serving as a mosaic of their lifeworlds as school counselors working with Black adolescent girls. These actions, along with a review of literature on the schooling experiences of Black adolescent girls in urban schools enabled me to acquire data leading to seven overarching themes relating to the following: relationships and connections based on culture and conversation, the need for support from decision-makers on programming, the physical and emotional investment in the work, mentoring, and the marginalization of Black women in school spaces. Lastly, I present conclusions and implications for school systems, school administrators, and professional school counselor organizations to aid in establishing effective practices in serving Black female students and enhancing the overall school counseling profession.
Introduction to Chalmer Thompson & Her Work
(Center for Translating Research Into Practice, IU Indianapolis, 2023-01) Thompson, Chalmer
Dr. Chalmer Thompson briefly discusses her research interests and goals. Her research focuses on how people interact with one another verbally and non-verbally, and on creative ways to reach children in resisting the negative manifestations of racism while simultaneously, advancing strategies that build their identities as sociopolitical beings. She also talks about the work she does abroad in Uganda and the work that she does locally in Indianapolis.
My life is in their hands: Latina adolescent border-crossings, becoming in the shadows, and mental health in schools
(2016-06-22) Elfreich, Alycia Marie; Thompson, Chalmer; Dennis, Barbara; Helfenbein, Robert; Medina, Monica
This project endeavors to move beyond traditional conceptualizations of voice in conventional qualitative research and instead focuses on embodied, liminal experiences of Latina adolescents, the intersections of identity, gender, spirituality, ethnicity, etc., how these junctures broadly impact mental health, and more specifically, how we perceive mental health and well-being within educational institutions. The study draws upon an intervention pilot study that sought to increase resiliency and self-mastery in Latino adolescents while simultaneously reducing their depressive symptoms. However, this project aims to take these findings and focus upon the complex and multiple factors that influence depression, including citizenship status, trauma in crossing the border from Mexico into the United States, and racial and gendered oppression specific to the experiences of Latina adolescent immigrants. Thus, this project explores ways in which four Latina adolescents make sense of their lived experiences through a critical feminist theoretical framework that integrates post/anti colonial feminism. The framework provides a nuanced conceptualization of power, oppression, and marginalization that creates opportunities to explore alternative notions of thinking that encourages new paths to transform interdisciplinary, university, community, and family relationships surrounding mental health concerns within educational institutions. Finally, theory, research, epistemology, and ontology are interwoven to inform a methodology that is fluid, interchanging, and always becoming.
Voices of My Elders: Forgotten Place, Invisible People - A Phenomenological Exploration of the Experiences of African Americans Living in the Rural Southern Black Belt During the Jim Crow Era
(2019-10) Washington, DiAnna; Scheurich, James; Eckes, Suzanne; Medina, Monica; Thompson, Chalmer
The systemic racism imposed on the lives and education aspiration of six of my elders who stayed in the racist South during the ferociously deleterious era of Jim Crow is the focus of this phenomenological critical race study. These stories centered the voices of my elders as powerful weapons to expose white supremacy and the psychophysiological trauma imposed upon my elders. These stories were about the lives, lived experiences, and educational trials and triumphs of six of my Brown and Black hue American elders whose ancestry was born out of slavery and delivered into the vicious Jim Crow era. My work was grounded in Phenomenological Critical Race Theory. Critical Race Theory validates my elders’ narratives and their narratives fortify the tenets of CRT. For you see, racism was an everyday phenomenon my elders experienced as residents of rural Southern America. My elders came to understand “what” they were, Black, by understanding “who” they were not, White. Furthermore, this qualitative phenomenological critical race study was guided by three inquiries, what experiences have you had with Jim Crow; how or in what ways did your experiences with Jim Crow affect your education; and how or in what ways did your experience with Jim Crow affect your life? These inquiries produced four intersecting themes, 1) the survival of racism as part of everyday life, 2) economic exploitation of Black labor, 3) denial of equitable education, and 4) the sociopolitical construction of racial identity, and three significant findings, racist place, sociopolitical oppression, and inequitable education.

Browsing by Author "Thompson, Chalmer"

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