Term

Summer 2026

Capstone

Dissertation

Degree Name

EdD

Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair

Trish Harvey

Abstract

This qualitative phenological and ethnographic study explored how seven Latine high school students in a suburban public high school defined and experienced community, belonging, and joy, asking what school spaces, experiences, and practices build or diminish these three concepts. Data was collected through four interview sessions per participant, reflective journaling, and three culturally and linguistically responsive walkthrough observations, and were analyzed through layered linguistic, narrative, and thematic coding. Findings showed that belonging and joy were tied to specific spaces rather than felt evenly across the school day. Institutional fairness shaped belonging as much as any relationship. Latine identity was contested, sometimes from within a student’s own community. Authentic cultural representation was rare but deeply impactful when present, and students consistently proposed specific, workable solutions. A period of escalated immigration enforcement unfolded during data collection and shaped several participants’ experiences of fear, resilience, and joy directly. This study offers implications for classroom practice, discipline policy, curriculum, crisis response, and how schools structure student input into decision-making, arguing that these students were not subjects of culturally responsive practices but already its authors.

Research Methodology

Interview, Phenomenological and Ethnographic

Keywords

Latine students, belonging, joy, community, phenomenology, culturally sustaining pedagogy, student voice

dc_type

text

dc_publisher

DigitalCommons@Hamline

dc_format

application/pdf

dc_source

School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

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