Si se puede! (yes we can!): a critical ethnography of students' identities in an urban debate league

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Publication Type dissertation
School or College College of Humanities
Department Communication
Author Mathis, Sara M.
Title Si se puede! (yes we can!): a critical ethnography of students' identities in an urban debate league
Date 2015-12
Description Policy debate is an educational practice that researchers have verified teaches students an important skill set that is highly valued in today's workforce and communities. The problem is that this interscholastic activity has traditionally excluded students from underrepresented populations and those who live in poverty. In the late 1990s, Urban Debate Leagues (UDLs) were created to rectify this problem. UDLs brought policy debate to large urban school districts. Quantitative research shows that UDL students improve their GPAs, test scores, graduation and college matriculation rates. However, there is little qualitative research to support these findings. In this dissertation, I argue that identity is what changes students. Students are influenced by many different identities that they are able to explore through the UDL program. The study asks two questions 1) what identities are offered by a UDL? and 2) what tensions exist between the identities experienced in the UDL and the students' social identities? Critical ethnography and portraiture were the two methodologies utilized. Analysis of the data showed that students explored three types of identities-debater, academic, and the Carlinville Urban Debate League. The findings also showed tensions between debater identities and student's social identities particularly race and class. It was determined that identity was the key to understanding the influence of UDLs on its participants.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject debate; ethnography; identity
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Doctor of Philosophy
Language eng
Rights Management © Sara M. Mathis
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 27,303 bytes
Identifier etd3/id/4033
ARK ark:/87278/s60p479v
Setname ir_etd
ID 197583
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s60p479v