Katie Johnston-Goodstar

“Our Kids Aren’t Dropping Out; They’re Being Pushed Out”: Native American Students and Racial Microaggressions in Schools

ABSTRACT Poor graduation rates, truancy rates, and standardized tests results have been presented as indicators of a school crisis among Native American youths. This crisis, however, relies on ahistoric and deficit models of intervention, which imagine academic success as an individual- or family-level phenomenon. Responding to Reyhner’s (1991) suggestion to assess the role of schools and teachers in working to push students out of school, we explored the experiences of Native American youths in schools. This article documents findings from a community-based mixed-methods study. It establishes not only the significant prevalence of microaggressions for Native American youths in schools but it also presents the unique discriminatory experiences and aspects of those microaggressions. We suggest that these microaggressions play a role in school climate and push-out and provide suggestions for research, professional development, and social action.

Unintended Consequences of Professionalizing Youth Work: Lessons From Teaching and Social Work

In this article, the authors use a comparative historical approach to examine the consequences of professionalization within teaching and social work and to answer the following questions: What are the unintended consequences of professionalization? Has professionalization in these fields supported higher quality practice, increased working conditions and salary, and improved social standing for these professions? What did each of these occupations lose when they professionalized? Did practice change as a result of professionalization? How or how not?