| This dissertation examines the perspectives of eight African-American male students through qualitative interviews as they participate in an after school Africentric Rites of Passage Program. The study allowed eight participants to voice their experiences of cultural self-efficacy in both academic and non-academic endeavors and the rationale for their personal struggles through the creation of Photovoice digital diaries. Cultural self-efficacy as defined in this study is an individual's belief in their own forthcoming performances and accomplishments of any kind based on knowledge of their own culture's past history and present state of being. The definition of cultural self-efficacy was derived by the triangulation of theories from Bandura's Self-Efficacy, Viktor Frankl's Logotherapy, and the Africentric Theoretical Perspective.;Data analysis through observation of video recordings, student and staff interviews and student-created Photovoice digital diaries reveal a positive academic and behavioral transformation in some of the participants, however, teacher survey results, and school discipline documents yield results suggest very few to no positive changes in either student academics or behavior. In the case of "Participant Perceptions of Positive Self-Change" versus "Instrumentation Measurements of Little to No Change", this study suggests that participant perceptions should receive more recognition as it is the African-American males self perception that could possibly be the key to finding a solution for closing achievement gaps in education. It is fundamental to also note that the intent of the study was not to implement a problem/solution-type program for the improvement of participants, however, it was an opportunity for the researcher to observe participant interactions and assist in their process of using Photovoice digital diaries to document their expectations and perceptions of cultural self-efficacy as they took part in an after school Africentric Rites of Passage program.;This case study is the first of its nature to examine the self perspectives of both academic and nonacademic cultural self-efficacy in African-American adolescent males. The research further suggests that the grassroots approach in allowing participants the opportunity to give voice to their cultural self-efficacy experiences through the method of Photovoice digital diaries is one that should be examined in the future. |
