Date of Award

Fall 12-9-2025

Access Restriction

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate in Education

Department

Education

School or College

School of Education

First Advisor

Elizabeth Reilly

Second Advisor

Darin Earley

Third Advisor

Jeffery Sapp

Abstract

ABSTRACT Commedia Accademica: An Autoethnographic Trajectory of the Metacognitive Awakening and Critical Consciousness Development of an Afro-Belizean American Male Math Teacher by Jason Gregory Garcia The current autoethnography involved an epic poetic approach that sought to dismantle and disrupt an intricate network of the school-to-prison pipeline (McCarter, 2017) paradigms designed to subjugate African American male pupils in dysfunctional educational contexts. R. S. Smith (2025) stated, “Autoethnographies can use alternate forms of representation. . . . Because the study was an autoethnography, my reality, as researcher-participant, is seen through a unique window to the world” (p. 22). The literature suggests implementing innovative initiatives and promoting the practice of equity from a compassionate perspective and calls for radical analysis and longitudinal, varied forms of research that delegitimize inhumane and discriminatory endeavors. The current autoethnography addressed the following questions: (a) What experiences, as an African American male math teacher, shaped how I conceptualized or practiced the facilitation of mathematics instruction?; (b) What was the nature of my pedagogical approach to teach math, and how did that pedagogy to teach math evolve over time?; (c) What were some of the challenges I conceptualized and practiced teaching mathematics to Black boys, especially as I tried to enact change in the statistics related to that demographic?; (d) How did I respond to these challenges?; and (e) How were the ways in which I conceptualized and practiced teaching mathematics to Black boys congruent with, or at odds with, the conceptual framework of my practice themes of epistemic consistency, self-mastery, designing assessments using funds of knowledge, and speaking cultural pedagogical talk. The study offers implications for African American male math teacher preparation, practice, and future research.

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