(Re)structuring opportunity: Examining the influence of transformative education on the critical consciousness development and occupational aspirations of community college students
This study uses the Ideology, Pedagogy, Access, and Equity (IPAE) tenets of critical self-examination (Alfaro & Hernández, 2016) and the construct of critical consciousness (Darder, 2018; Darder, 2015; Freire, 1973; Freire, 1970; Watts, Deimer, & Voight, 2011; Watts, Griffith, & Abdul-Adil, 1999) as a conceptual framework to explore instructor ideology and practices in the classroom and evaluate the influence of transformative education on the critical consciousness development and occupational aspirations of community college students. Data were collected through a mixed methods approach that incorporated a teacher questionnaire, student interviews, surveys, student self-reflections, curricular analysis, and researcher-participant memos. The results illustrated how critical and transformative education approaches in the classroom contributed to students’ critical consciousness development and occupational aspirations; however, the results did not find a significant relationship between the influence of IPAE and critical reflection, critical motivation, and critical action. Overall, the findings revealed that critical ideological clarity and critical and transformative education approaches contributed to student growth in terms of critical consciousness, occupational/career interests, and degree attainment goals for Latinx community college students, though a correlation between IPAE, critical consciousness, and occupational aspirations was not established. Implications for future practice and research are also discussed.
