Description
The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore evidence of transformation as perceived by African American undergraduate students who participated in and persisted through community college study abroad programs in Ghana. Critical pedagogy, transformative learning, African ontology, and intercultural communication theoretical paradigms shaped this study’s approach to inquiry. Research questions posed: (a) What is a transformational learning experience for African American students who study abroad in Ghana, West Africa? and (b) What elements of the study abroad experience in Africa distinguish transformational learning for African American students and could be replicated in other study abroad experiences? Methodology comprised hand coding transcripts from semi-structured interviews of 19 African American students who studied abroad in Ghana through their community college in Northern California. Dedoose (Version 8.3.17) and SaturatAPP (Version 1.1) qualitative software was used to further analyze data to identify transformational phenomena. Participant journals, researcher notes, and visual analyses of 20 student-selected photographs informed research findings. Eleven key themes emerged from the analysis: (a) ancestral emotional deicing, (b) motherland-home, (c) humility, (d) transformational unlearning, (e) countering negative social media, (f) symbiotic heritage importance toward dismantling White supremacy education and White privilege in study abroad, (g) happy spirit, (h) African Diaspora harmony identity, (i) faculty-student relationships, (j) centering student equity in study abroad, and (k) dance as a cultural competency. Findings revealed critical self-reflection and making sense of meaning were extensions of the Ghana study abroad experience and were critical to students’ intercultural, socioemotional, and 21st century global citizenship competency attainments.
