God > grit: A phenomenological analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors for Black male students previously labeled “at-risk”

Authors

• Marcia J. Watson-Vandiver, Towson UniversityFollow

Abstract

This phenomenological study examines the intersections of faith, learning, and racialized experiences in K-12 schooling. In doing so, this research explores the experiences of Black[1] males in U.S. public schools who were once labeled academically or behaviorally “at risk.” Here, at-risk is a term that typically applies to students “in jeopardy of progressing academically due to circumstances that may impact educational performance” (MSDE, 2018). While the purview of academic, school discipline, and behavior discourse are saturated with conversations on racial disparities, the exigent problem still remains. As such, this research provides a nuanced probe into intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors that promote student success. Participants (Black males, ages 25-35, n= 9) provide individual reflections of their past schooling experiences and also detail critical needs in educational reform. In doing so, this research recasts Black males as experts, not observers, within educational research. Using semi-structured interviews, participants provide in-depth, retrospective perspectives of schooling [spanning from the 1990s onward] and reconceptualize renewed possibilities of educational reform for Black students today. The study’s major findings demonstrate that existing discourse on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation fail to capture evidences of the “intangible,” such as belief systems, spirituality, or formalized religion. Whereas these factors can presumably be characterized as external factors, the liberatory expression of Black faith systems, as evidenced in visceral spirituality, or the God-within, is typical in many African American interpretations of religion. To that end, an abductive inquiry into belief systems – both within and outside the realm of mainstream Christianity – is explored in this study. The study’s major findings surface important topics in educational reform and help to broaden the scope of research to explore concepts of Blackness, belief, and “the intangible” within phenomenological studies.

[1]Note: Due to the U.S. contextualization of this paper, the terms African American and Black are used interchangeably. I acknowledge the potential ethnic inconsistencies between (and within) these two terms.

Recommended Citation

Watson-Vandiver, Marcia J. (2026) "God > grit: A phenomenological analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors for Black male students previously labeled “at-risk”," The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community: Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/jfec/vol8/iss1/7