The Center on History and Education at Teachers College supports new scholarship in the history of education. Many students in various departments and programs at Teachers College make historical questions the focus of their dissertation, or incorporate historical research as a substantial element of their dissertation. To support this work, the Center offers a $12,500 doctoral research fellowship for a Teachers College student whose dissertation focuses in whole or in part on histories of education, broadly defined, in any place or time period. The fellowship is offered annually.
Marcella's dissertation emphasizes the role of policymaking in perpetuating the injustices and social problems faced by public school students in Brazil. The research explores how the creation of stereotypes about the public school child has influenced the policy process and what happened when two of the most prominent Brazilian reformers, Paulo Freire and Darcy Ribeiro, challenged traditional assumptions about these children and public schooling. Although these educators had the academic credentials, experience in policymaking, and a window of opportunity in a moment conducive to change, their reforms failed. The dissertation seeks to understand how questioning the long-standing assumptions about the public school child may have cost Freire and Ribeiro the success of their policies. This discussion can contribute to broader debates on the history of education, policy studies, and how schooling policies play a role in increasing racial and social justice and democratic values in Brazil and beyond.
Leana's dissertation research centers the complicated interplay of history, racial politics, and community sensemaking to explore how racism and antiblackness are reproduced over time and in different public school contexts within Philadelphia. By exploring the educational experiences of three generations of Black Philadelphians (current high school students, their parents and grandparents), this study will document current and former Black students’ understandings of the different manifestations of antiblackness in educational policy and practice over several decades.