Digital Commons Network^™

Black Women Family Childcare Providers’ Roles As Community Mothers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Crystasany R. Turner

Theses and Dissertations

BLACK WOMEN FAMILY CHILDCARE PROVIDERS’ ROLES ASCOMMUNITY MOTHERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Black women family childcare providers have withstood and adapted to numerous socioeconomic and political challenges and have remained a source of stability and connection within the Black community. This study is situated in the midst of the social disruption resulting from a pandemic that deeply impacted the landscape of early care and education. The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to describe the cultural knowledge of Black women early childhood educators as they reacted and organized to support young learners and their families in conditions of hardship, …

The Emergence Of Teacher Self In The Elementary Classroom, Chelsea Cole

Theses and Dissertations

Significant research and ongoing inquiry highlight the importance of understanding and recognizing the development of identities and beliefs among teachers. These studies use techniques of reflection on the past or present to elucidate the developmental process of teacher identities and beliefs and their impact on the profession. The development of teacher identities and beliefs commence during childhood. A dearth of research exists that addresses the emerging developments of teacher identities and beliefs from the perspective of young children. This study uses qualitative methods through focus groups and individual interviews to examine the identities and beliefs held by fifth-grade students who …

The Emergence Of Teacher Self In The Elementary Classroom, Chelsea Cole

Theses and Dissertations

Significant research and ongoing inquiry highlight the importance of understanding and recognizing the development of identities and beliefs among teachers. These studies use techniques of reflection on the past or present to elucidate the developmental process of teacher identities and beliefs and their impact on the profession. The development of teacher identities and beliefs commence during childhood. A dearth of research exists that addresses the emerging developments of teacher identities and beliefs from the perspective of young children. This study uses qualitative methods through focus groups and individual interviews to examine the identities and beliefs held by fifth-grade students who …

A Mixed Methods Evaluation Of An Intersectional Bystander Program Against Sexual Violence Using The Integrated Model Of Behavioral Prediction Within A Cluster Randomized Control Trial, Rose Hennessy

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Sexual violence is a critical public health problem that is particularly salient on college campuses. Bystander intervention is a prevention approach that teaches students who are not directly affected by a situation to take action to help others. Research is needed to understand the relationship between bystander training and changes in behavior to intervene against sexual violence, racism, and unhealthy alcohol outcomes.

Methods: A cluster randomized waitlist control trial was used to evaluate the bystander program Our School TAKES ACTION. Upper-level undergraduate students were randomized by housing floor from buildings of a private, midwestern university. Data was collected in …

The Influence Of Instructor Mental Illness Disclosure On The Perceptions Of Mental Illness, Classroom Climate, Teacher Credibility, Homophily, And Social Attraction, Kirsten L. Bridgemen

Theses and Dissertations

This study uses the lens of Communication Privacy Management theory to analyze the impact an instructor’s depth of disclosure of their mental illness can have on mental illness stigmatization, classroom climate, as well as teacher credibility, homophily, and social attraction. Participants responded to a series of quantitative-based questions regarding a hypothetical syllabus with varied levels of a teacher disclosing their mental illness. Results indicated that none of the investigated dependent variables were negatively affected by the hypothetical instructor’s disclosure, and mental illness stigmatization was lessened. Implications, limitations, and areas for future research are discussed.

Ninth-Grade Students' Motivation For Reading And Course Choice, Mckenna Lyn Simmons

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this explanatory mixed methods study was to better understand how 9th grade honors and general education language arts students valued reading, and to discover if there were any connections between the types of reading values, expectancies for success, and the student’s ultimate language arts course selection. This study was grounded in the expectancy-value theory and considered all 4 task values including utility, attainment, intrinsic, cost, and the expectancies (e.g., past experiences and reader identity) of the participants as well. First, a survey was administered to 9th graders (N = 118) enrolled in either a general language arts …

Teacher Lore Concerning Teaching English Language Learners In Urban Schools: A Reciprocal Determinist Analysis, Helen Clare Colby

Theses and Dissertations

Changing patterns of immigration have caused schools in the U.S., which previously encountered few to no English Language Learners (ELLs), to see classrooms filled with many ELLs (Massey & Capoferro, 2008; Walker et al., 2004). Existing research on teaching ELLs focused heavily on the work of pre-service or early years educators’ teaching in secondary or post-secondary settings (de Courcy, 2011; Flynt, 2018; Rahman et al., 2018). This study uncovered the teacher lore of four veteran teachers of ELLs employed at a Title I, urban elementary school in the Rocky Mountain region. Data collection and analysis utilized techniques of narrative research, …

Elementary School Teachers’ Perspectives And Practices Of Multicultural Education In Indonesia, Robby Anggriawan

Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of the study was to investigate multiculturalism and multicultural education perspectives and practices of elementary school teachers in Indonesia. The research was designed as a qualitative case study which focused on seven elementary school teachers as study participants. In this study, semi-structured interviews are used to evaluate teachers’ understanding of culture as defined by Creshaw (1989, 2008) and multiculturalism concept by using four levels of understanding multiculturalism as defined by Nieto (1994, 2017). As well as elementary school teachers’ practices of multicultural education implementation as outlined by Banks (1999, 2019). The results of the study showed that …

Examining Career And Technical Education Practitioner Preparation And Professional Development Needs, Shane Wilson Lange

Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study was used to investigate Illinois automotive educator professional development needs and to identify the demographic landscape of Illinois secondary and post-secondary automotive teachers. The study should bring a greater understanding of what automotive teachers feel they need to learn in order to continue as successful educators. A modified Borich (1980) needs assessment model was used to identify the perceived importance and ability levels for 32 professional competencies. Mean Weighted Discrepancy Scores (MWDS) were calculated using the importance and ability scores in order to report the professional development need. The administered survey was also utilized to examine their …

The ‘ Dialogic’ Of Pedagogical Design: Elementary Teachers Who Consistently Integrate Digital Technologies, Aaron R. Gierhart

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the pervasiveness of digital technologies in society and educational settings, gaps in digital participation for elementary learners and means-end views of the benefits and effectiveness of digital innovations for teaching and learning persist. The focus on digital technologies at the elementary level must shift to critical pedagogy in order to promote effective teaching and learning and equitable student participation in an increasingly digital society. A teacher’s pedagogy continually evolves across their entire life journey and is never fully mastered; therefore, in order to better understand the development of pedagogical design with digital technologies by elementary teachers, it was vital …

Teacher Approaches To Women’S History, Gender, And Feminism In Secondary Social Studies, Kimberly R. Bowman

Theses and Dissertations

While several scholars have worked to reimagine social studies curriculum from a feminist perspective, there are few studies that look at how teachers understand and experience gender equity work (Bohan, 2017; Engebretson, 2018). This study seeks to bridge that gap between theory and practice in order to progress toward a more gender-equitable social studies education. Utilizing a hermeneutic circle design to facilitate dialogue across participants, I conducted one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with seven secondary social studies teacher participants and collected participant-provided curriculum materials. Using techniques from constructivist grounded theory, I analyzed how teachers made sense of their experiences trying to include …

Language-Supportive Strategies And Their Associations With Child Language Outcomes During Instructional Time, Erin S. Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I conducted a correlational study that examined the frequency of educator-delivered language-supportive strategies during instructional time in public Kindergarten classrooms. Additionally, I explored the association between educators’ use of language-supportive strategies and child language outcomes. To index child language, I assessed a sample of 96 children from 10 different classrooms on standardized measures of expressive and receptive language. I recruited 10 educators to participate in the present study and assessed their use of language-supportive strategies during instructional time in the classroom through transcription and coding of audio recordings. The educators completed demographic forms for themselves as well …