Ed.D. in Educational Administration & Leadership, 2010
School of Education
November 1, 2010
“My research focuses on the process whereby community funds of knowledge impact education.”
Dr. Arnett Carl Duncan adopted a Kiswahili name – Arnett Mipgani Kweli – in 1984. The name means – Arnett, one who is a warrior for truth. Dr. Duncan teaches United States History, Psychology, and Sociology at Wilmer Amina Carter High School in Rialto, California. He is the Executive Director of Kweli Educational Enterprises, Inc. (KEE), a non-profit corporation.
Dr. Duncan identifies education as a community process, with school as its formal institutional component. With this in mind, Dr. Duncan has developed programs to use the cultural and social capital of local communities to support the informal educational processes in the family and essential youth peer groups. The programs support neighborhood schools. The M-Six-Two: Education, Employment, and Economic Empowerment Program, began this fall. It provides apprenticeships, employment preparation, leadership and character development for high school juniors and seniors. GRASPE (Grassroots Alliance of Students, Parents, and Educators) is a proposed program that provides pre-pregnancy parent training for young adults, and whole-life support for families. The program hopes to provide family support throughout a child’s development and education. Additionally, for nearly eight years, KEE has provided a variety of fun and edifying cultural experiences for young people, including plays, concerts, museums tours, and sporting events.
Dr. Duncan’s research has focused on the process whereby community funds of knowledge impact education. A key finding has been uncovering the essential importance of an empowered youth culture that has substantive influence on the schemes and strategies students use to engage in learning. Dr. Duncan explains,
The essential peer relationships result in a congealing praxis that young people use to navigate the complex issues they confront in their community and in school. Cultural and social capital are salient elements of community funds of knowledge. Consequently, understanding ethnic culture is a necessary aspect of ongoing research and program development.
Dr. Duncan recently presented a paper to the Diop Institute for Scholarly Advancement in Philadelphia, and he has a forthcoming publication in the journal Africalogical Perspectives. Dr. Duncan is a certified trainer in the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and is in the process of becoming a certified Trainer-of-Trainers in the Increase the Peace urban violence reduction program.
Dr. Duncan completed Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees in Sociology at University of California, Riverside. He completed doctoral exams in Sociology at UC, Riverside before family concerns necessitated a withdrawal from the Ph.D. program in 1987. In 2006 he entered the CSU/UCI Joint Ed.D. in Educational Administration and Leadership program and received his degree with an emphas in Urban Educational Leadership in March, 2010. His dissertation was entitled: Cultural Capital, Habitus, and Schemes: A Case Study of African American Student Engagement in a Secondary School.
Dr. Duncan is the proud father of two daughters, Tara and Chesson. He has been married to Kathy for almost 29 years.