The intersection of academics and culture

Abstract

The public school system is changing and so, too, are the lived experiences of African American students who attend predominantly White high schools through the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) program. Arguably, all students deserve access to high quality education, although student experiences differ in suburban and urban contexts. The lived experiences of suburban Whites and urban African Americans are vastly different. Education scholars continue to explore and research the phenomenon of lived experiences using interpretive phenomenological analysis as a qualitative research method to produce evidence associated with experiences. In this thesis, research interpreted the lived experiences of five African American students attending predominantly White high schools through the METCO program. Guided by cultural identity theory, the study sought to answer the following research question: What are the social and cultural experiences of African American students living in inner-city Boston who attend a predominantly White suburban school through the METCO program? Five major findings were discovered. First, student participants demonstrated an absence of understanding associated with the meaning and purpose of the METCO program. Second, long commutes on the school bus contribute to the lived experience and after-school activity decision-making of METCO students. Third, METCO students desire their suburban schools to nurture cultural interactions in a formalized manner across the student body. Fourth, African American students demonstrated intact cultural identities in their predominantly White suburban settings. Finally, situational occurrences involving culture reveal the ongoing presence of teachable moments for White teachers and school leaders. Keywords: experiences, African American, students, culture, identity, METCO