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Engaging Feminism, Transforming Institutions: How Community Engagement Professionals Employ Critical Feminist Praxis To Re-Imagine And Re-Shape The Public Purpose Of Higher Education, Patricia Star Plaxton-Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

Most higher education institutions have mission statements articulating a commitment to serve the public good, and venerate the broader historical project of higher education as a force that improves the lives of individuals and communities. However, the public purpose of higher education is perpetually embattled by intersecting forces of neoliberalism, positivism, and settler colonialism that emphasize priorities like generating revenue, chasing prestige, developing real estate, and connecting students with high paying careers. As our society continues to grapple with pervasive social and environmental injustices, it is imperative that we clarify and strengthen higher education’s civic role in shaping a more …

Parental Involvement In Support Of African American Families, September Rose

Doctoral Dissertations

Meaningful parental engagement has historically been identified as the root cause of the United States’ academic achievement gap in African American education. However, the systematic structures that impose difficulties for African American’s access to education in school and other aspects of their social development must be addressed to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges these African American families face. Society must consider the perpetual marginalization of not only African American students’ academic experiences, but also their professional and personal development as well. The parental engagement with educators in the San Francisco K-8 schools, has not been studied. The purpose …

Community Leader-Scholars With Refugee Experiences: Collective Hope, Healing, And Multi-Generational Resistance, Jane Pak

Doctoral Dissertations

Through a Critical Refugee Studies (CRS) lens that inherently challenges power, encourages multi-disciplinary approaches, and centers refugee epistemologies, this study centers ways of knowing and being among a group of ten Community Leader-Scholars (CoLS) with refugee experiences. This dissertation posits that CoLS offer critical perspectives that introduce new logics that disrupt traditional spaces and power dynamics. I frame CoLS as undergraduate or graduate students (or recent alumni) with refugee experiences who have self-identified and illustrated a commitment to community well-being in one or more of their transnational communities. This study employed qualitative research methods that included 10 interviews and four …

An Examination Of Efficacy And Resilience In College Students: Influences On Socially Responsible Leadership, Paula Berry Atkins

Doctoral Dissertations

My study explored socially responsible leadership and its relationship to leader efficacy and resilience in college students. The investigation also examined the role of gender and race in these relationships. The study employed the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL), which assesses student and educational outcomes relevant to the values underlying the Social Change Model of Student Leadership. The MSL utilizes the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale (Tyree, 1998) as a foundation but also includes measures of leader efficacy and resilience. Utilizing archival data from the 2015 administration of the MSL, my sample (N=840) included equal numbers of males and females equally …

Being In Deep, Authentic, Dramatic Celebration: Narratives Of Community Cultural Workers For Social Change, Mi'jan Celie Tho-Biaz

Doctoral Dissertations

The common discourse in the field of education in the United States during the years 2002 through 2013 centered on the approach of making schools accountable for their students' performance, while aiming to bring proficiency to all students regardless of their socio-economic background. Prior to this study, little research existed on cultural workers who teach, and their associated outcomes with marginalized populations of learners. To fill this gap in the research literature, this study explored the question: How do cultural workers define their work, and in what ways do they connect their stories to the current academic discourse on the …

The Impact Of Emergent Technologies On Interpersonal And Community Interaction Of The Future : A Thematic Analysis Of Selected Novels Of William Gibson And Vernor Vinge, Lyn Motai

Doctoral Dissertations

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Annenberg Rural Challenge Ten Years Later: Looking For A Place For Mathematics In A Rural Appalachia Place-Based Curriculum, Craig Alan Green

Doctoral Dissertations

This quantitative study explored whether or not the mathematics curriculum and instruction of the schools in the TennGaLina cluster were impacted by the place-based educational reform promoted by the Annenberg Rural Challenge. The study focused on the programs of five small rural Southern Appalachian schools. Qualitative methods of grounded theory were used to analyze data from interviews, surveys, and school artifacts.

Social Foundations In Teacher Preparation Programs In The United States: Changes In Roles And Responsibilities From The 1970s To The Present, Melinda M. Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

To counteract the relative isolation and increasing de-valuation of the social foundations of education within teacher preparation programs in colleges of education in the United States, the purpose of this study was to contextualize the multi-faceted professional lives of educators who teach within this interdisciplinary academic field. Using a qualitative methodology encompassing elements of Delphi technique and grounded theory, current assessments of their employment in higher education settings included analysis of present conditions and changes they have experienced throughout the courses of their professorial careers. A comprehensive examination of the present circumstances of the foundations of education included a critique …

Memory, Promise, And Imagination In Iraqi Kurdistan : Leadership In Education Policy Development, Jessica Lynn Jastad

Doctoral Dissertations

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Educators As Adult Learners Creating Sustainable Community Development Through Solicitude And Care For The Other : Critical Inquiry In Northern California And North East Thailand, Patricia G. Perez

Doctoral Dissertations

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Emergency Disaster Preparedness And Community Mental Health Facilities Capacity Following Hurricanes Katrina And Rita, Linda Lee Cannon Peoples

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the research study was to assess the impact of the hurricanes Katrina and Rita on community mental health facilities client service capacity and emergency preparedness in the disaster declared and non-declared areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia and Texas in the U.S.A. The impacts associated with client service capacity and emergency preparedness were evaluated. A survey instrument was created, tested for reliability and used to assess the client service capacity and status of emergency disaster preparedness at community mental health facilities following the hurricanes Katrina and Rita disaster. Differences in the reported client service capacity and emergency …

Seeking Community: Narrative Inquiries Into The Transition Experiences Of Intern Teachers Through Face-To-Face And Electronic Communication, Denise Michele Ousley

Doctoral Dissertations

Secondary education interns in fifth-year licensure programs assume a complex variety of identities: preservice teachers, graduate students, and licensed first-year teachers. Inspired by a dual interest in the complexities of the transition experiences of novice teachers and in the effectiveness of community building through communication, the purpose for this study was to examine four novice teachers’ transitions—from student to student-teacher to licensed teacher—throughout the internship year. The impact of participation in a peer learning community, through electronic and face-to-face communication, was also explored.

The study employed a qualitative research design, which provided the intern-participants with extended opportunities for anecdotal dialogue …