UNC School of Education

>> Parsons, Eileen

With a focus on African American students, Eileen Parsons’ earlier research examined teacher-constructed learning environments and teachers’ views and instructional practices with respect to culture. She began this work as a doctoral student at Cornell University and continued it in a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Ford Foundation and a research fellowship funded by a grant from the American Educational Research Association, Office of Educational Research. Various premises from three areas of literature direct her current work, which was also funded by the Spencer Foundation. A synthesis of three models from cultural psychology - Cole’s cultural-historical activity theory, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Boykin’s triple quandary, which is specific to African Americans - guides her research. She uses qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the intersections among contexts that are micro, exo, and macro to African American students and are relevant in the teaching and learning of science.

The goal of her research is not solely to contribute to the scarce literature that exists in science education research on culture, race and African Americans, but also to influence the educational experiences of African American students, address the under-representation of African Americans in science and inform the policies that shape the science experiences of African Americans.