I explore the role of Philosophy for Children (P4C) and critical pedagogy in middle-school education and argue that P4C is a crucial component of an emancipatory education. A critical P4C is necessary to provide students what education ought to provide, that is moral reasoning skills, tools for thinking, and ability to engage in discourse. Proponents often justify P4C claims that philosophy lessons in K-12 education by demonstrating the improvement of outcomes in other subjects and gains in cognitive skills. Instead, I argue for an intrinsic value to engaging in philosophy with children. Critical pedagogy, and the methods developed within its framework, are helpful here to examine the structure of educational practice and its role in dehumanization, which "is a distortion of the vocation of becoming more fully human"; critical pedagogy is intended to be a tool for both the oppressors and the oppressed to become aware of their dehumanization. First, I justify P4C by showing that precollege students can understand and engage in philosophical discussion using academic references and my own experience working with middle-school students at the Ivy School in Portland, Oregon. Next I examine the philosophical influences of P4C alongside critical pedagogy to show how they interact and compliment each other. Lastly, I envision pedagogical techniques for carrying out Critical P4C in the classroom. Implementing critical P4C has the capacity to create communities of inquiry around questions of agency and freedom that are central to critical pedagogy. Critical P4C offers strategies for engaging students in socio-political discussions and promises to break the boundaries between "school life" and the students' everyday life outside the classroom.

In September of 2014, 43 Rural Teacher College students disappeared as part of a series of human rights violations that brought unprecedented global attention to the Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teacher College in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero. Within the context of these events, this research centers on the student-driven advocacy that emerges across Mexican Rural Teacher Colleges today. These Colleges historically serve as an avenue for young men and women from humble, rural, or farmworking backgrounds to train as elementary and bilingual educators. Rural Teacher Colleges emerged from the spirit of the Mexican Revolution, and they have long weathered disenfranchisement, including accusations of being nests for communists and school closures in the 1960s. The aim of this study is to illuminate how Rural Teacher College students are continuously advocating for school maintenance, student essentials, and education programs. This research identifies student-driven advocacy strategies, which may exist beyond calls for justice for the missing 43 students. The study is based on three primary questions: What are Rural Teacher College students advocating for? Which strategies do students engage in to promote those issues? What are the benefits and challenges of different advocacy mediums? This study draws from semi-structured interviews with one Rural Teacher College student. Interviews are transcribed and translated, and they lend a student perspective and voice to research analysis. Further, an online document analysis examines social media statements and Rural Teacher College webpages. Preliminary results indicate students face numerous barriers in maintaining consistent educational opportunities. The study serves as a platform to highlight how students organize themselves in innovative ways. Further, it has implications for understanding the political and social justice consciousness attached to a Rural Teacher College education. This study will influence future research on the issue of student-led advocacy and the development of civic engagement via online platforms.

The present study examines low-income Latina mothers' influence on their preschool aged children's self-regulation of caloric intake. There is limited research done on the minority population in regards to parenting styles associated with children's self-regulation of eating. The research conducted is part of a larger study and analyzes the children's self-regulation and parents pressuring their children to eat as contributors to childhood obesity in terms of several procedures. The total number of participants consisted of 187 low-income Head Start Latina mothers with the exception of 2 grandmothers and their preschool children. Mothers were recruited through Head Start, a federally funded preschool program for low-income families and their children. Four procedures are used in my study, which observe children in the eating in the absence of hunger task, caregiver reports of feeding practices, observed pressure to eat during meals, and anthropometrics. It is predicted that caregivers who pressure their children to eat at the first time point will have children who show low levels of self-regulation and higher BMI's 18 months later. These results will have implications for the development of programs to address childhood obesity.

This study examines Black-Latino/a race relations at predominantly white institutions focusing on the Pullman campus of Washington State University (WSU), where Black and Latino/as make up 17% of the student population. Focus groups will be conducted with students and in-depth interviews with faculty members and staff to unpack the complexities of Black-Latino/a relations at Washington State University. In such interviews, I will expose common histories, struggles, and the strained relations both of these groups have with one another on campus. The literature review focuses on the complexities, complications, and commonalities of Black-Latino/a relations operating on a larger context in society, and affecting the dynamics between these two groups today. Themes included within the literature review are common histories of the struggle, stereotypes, intergroup contact theory, coalition building, and Black-Latino/a relations in higher education. Two theories are used to situate and analyze Black-Latino/a relations in great depth: (1) critical race theory, originally developed by legal scholars, and (2) intergroup contact theory. Critical Race Theory will aid to understand the relationship of Black and Latino/as relations related to conceptions of race in the U.S., racism, and power. The intergroup contact theory deals with explaining prejudices and other preconceived notions that affect relations between Blacks and Latino/as. I suggest from the findings of the literature review that the strained relations between Black and Latino/a students at WSU, limits activism and friendships that can arise from alliances and coalitions. Therefore, the study posits that students and faculty can take initiative to build bridges on campus between Blacks and Latino/as, to bring both groups together in order for activism and social projects to thrive and benefit our communities of color.

Fostering students’ motivation and interest in higher education composition classes is vital to sustain student engagement. However, short-term motivation does not necessarily determine long-term success; recent research has found that an individual’s level of grit plays a significant role in his or her long-term success (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007). To investigate the role of grit in writing classrooms, we are exploring how writing instructors can foster students’ grit for a greater chance of long-term success. Because Duckworth et al. (2007) consider interest and effort to be crucial factors in grit, we chose to examine whether or not service-learning (SL) can foster students’ grit, as SL been shown to increase student engagement in the past. Using Duckworth et al.’s eight-question grit scale, this project investigated the impact of SL on the grit of students in basic writing classes at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, comparing three SL classes (Group 1) and two non-SL classes (Group 2). Data was analyzed using t-tests to compare the average grit scores between the groups at mid- and post-semester. Although results indicated no significant correlation between grit and SL, this study suggests that grit stems more from internal rather than external motivators. Thus, this research can potentially open up a conversation about factors and influences that affect an individual’s grit.

The school-to-prison pipeline has been extensively documented, yet for the purpose of expanding research on this methodology, this paper shows the effect of the pipeline in the State of Washington. To elaborate, the "school-to-prison pipeline" refers to the policies and practices that drive our nation's K-12 students out of classrooms, and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. The central theme of this paper lies in the investigation of how this form of systemic racism truly exists within Washington State. By examining scholarly works arguing two main theories (youth control complex, and the New Jim Crow), this investigation synthesizes the cause of the racially disproportionate representation of students in school disciplinary actions, and its end result in the United States. These different approaches will be used to comprehend the outcomes of Washington State school disciplinary actions in K-12 education. Through a qualitative research process, this examination paints a picture of the kind of future that awaits a portion of the students within it.

Public investments in children are thought to benefit society by producing a healthy and productive workforce. However, in the race to produce competitive workers in the new international market, differing political approaches can result in variations in expenditures and disparities amongst children. In this research I analyze how overall childhood well-being differs between red states (states that voted for the Republican presidential candidate in two out of the last three elections) and blue states (states that voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in two out of the last three elections) to see if political ideologies are related to child outcomes. I also consider whether any differences between red states and blue states vary significantly for black and white youth. I look at three dimensions of childhood wellbeing: (1) health (infant mortality, percent immunized and Medicaid expenditures), (2) educational achievement (high school dropout rate and education expenditure per pupil), and (3) economic security (percent of population below the poverty line, and state expenditure on welfare programs) to determine which political orientation is associated with better conditions for youth. I expect Blue states, or Democratic leaning states, to yield better scores of adolescent wellbeing due to their advocacy for a larger social safety net. Previous research has shown that blacks typically have worse health, lower educational attainment and less economic security than do whites. Therefore, I expect blacks to fare more poorly than whites on the barometer of child well-being. I extend previous work by considering racial differences within a political orientation. Preliminary results have shown somde childhood wellbeing indicators to significantly favor whites in Blue states over Whites in Red states, however this difference was not signficant for Blacks. I have no hypothesis regarding whether the relationship between political orientation and child well-being differs significantly by race. I anticipate that my research will contribute to a more in-depth understanding of how different political outlooks influence the nation’s one of the most vulnerable populations--children. With the upcoming 2016 presidential race, this research is especially relevant.