ABSTRACT

AFRICAN AMERICAN SINGLE MOTHERS AS CURRICULA AND TEACHERS:

A QUALITATIVE STUDY
by Altheria Gaston Caldera, Ph.D., 2016
College of Education
Texas Christian University
This research study positions three African American single mothers experiencing
poverty as teachers and curricula to broaden mainstream discourse about African American
women. Two aims guide the project: 1) to illuminate their self-defined living conditions and 2)
to reveal their self-perceived social position. The first part of the study juxtaposes self-defined
realities with externally imposed cultural myths and stereotypes, namely the welfare queen and
the matriarch, to reflect the extent to which participants embody and are impacted by the
representations. Second, it sheds light on how participants view their position in the U.S.
hierarchy. Life history research was used to describe the individuals lives as shaped by their
contexts in order to correct a pervasive miseducation about African American single mothers
who uses government assistance. Black feminist thought, with its emphasis on refuting
controlling images and defining a Black womans standpoint, along with critical race feminism,
with value placed on narrative inquiry and intersections of race, class, and gender, provide the
theoretical foundation of the study. The findings, revealed in six themes that are woven
throughout the narratives, teach us important truths from the lives of the participants in the study.
Participants 1) endured traumatic childhoods, 2) view motherhood as central to their identities, 3)
function within and outside traditional gender roles, 4) struggle to make ends meet mainly due to
un- and under-employment, 5) draw upon religiosity and spirituality to help them navigate the
vicissitudes of life, and 6) are not fully cognizant of institutional barriers.