A Mixed Methods Examination of How Academic High-Achievers Experience and Develop Critical Consciousness

This thesis examines how the social justice potential of academically high-achieving students may be unlocked through critical consciousness. It explores how academic high-achievers experience critical consciousness and identifies important factors that affect its development in these students. The findings indicate that critical consciousness can effectively engage academic high-achievers with social justice and that educators are uniquely positioned to develop critical consciousness in these students.