Education Commons^™

Alt-Education: Gender, Language, And Education Across The Right, Catherine Tebaldi

Doctoral Dissertations

I explore the ideologies of gender, language and education in conservative, Christian Nationalist, and White nationalist mothers groups. I draw on my own family history, as well as on two years of blended ethnographic research in online right wing communities and one year of fieldwork in New Orleans, Louisiana, to look at homeschooling, online schools, and public teachers’ social, linguistic, and educational practices -- what I call Alt-Education. Alt-education is of course a play on alt-right, and refers to the far-right ideology; but it also refers to an alternative to mainstream education, and to education through a broader range of …

When Healing And High-Stakes Meet: Restorative Justice In An Era Of Racial Neoliberalism, Dani O'Brien

Doctoral Dissertations

Based on a 3-year ethnography, this dissertation documents the story of Presente, an explicitly critical youth-led restorative justice group attempting to dismantle the school-prison nexus and create a more youth-centered culture at their high-reform high school. This dissertation addresses the questions: How does serving as a restorative justice peer leader impact students? What challenges and opportunities arise as the school tries to transition to more restorative practices? And how do the values central to restorative justice come up against, challenge, and get challenged by neoliberal education reform?

Master's Tools And The Master's House: A Historical Analysis Exploring The Myth Of Educating For Democracy In The United States, Timothy Scott

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past forty-years, neoliberal education reform policies in the U.S. have spurred significant resistance, often galvanized by claims that such policies undermine public education as a vital institution of U.S. democracy. Within this narrative, many activists call to “save our schools” and return them to a time when public schools served the common good. With these narratives in mind, I explore the foundational and persistent power structures that characterize the U.S. as a means to reveal the fundamental purpose of its public education system. The questions that guide my research include: (1) With an understanding that capitalism, white supremacy, …

Seguimos Luchando: Women Educators’ Trajectories In Social Movement Based Popular Education Projects In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jennifer Lee O'Donnell

Doctoral Dissertations

Through a multisite ethnographic investigation, I provide a look at the vision and practices of women teaching in the popular education sector, particularly those who impact social, economic, and political public spaces in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As an alternative to Freirean based education theory, which may overshadow the collective work of women in popular projects, this work highlights women’s commitments to education that contests neoliberal reform, transforming not only curriculum and pedagogies, social practices, and discourses inside classrooms, but the communities where they live as well.

Folklórico Testimonios: Identity, Community, And Agency As Social Justice Cultural Performance For Dancers Of Mexican Folklórico, Manuel Alejandro Perez

Doctoral Dissertations

Mexican students in higher education have few opportunities to learn about their heritage and history outside of Ethnic Studies courses. Some students seek alternative opportunities to learn about their identity and to build community with other Mexican students through folklórico. In Mexican folklórico, dancers learn the techniques and skills to communicate stories about their history, culture, and heritage through movement, song, and dance. This study is the story of Mexican students and folkloristas on their journey to (re)discover identity, community, and agency as they move through higher education.

This study uses testimonio to capture the voice, the struggle, and the …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

"For A Future Tomorrow": The Figured Worlds Of Schoolgirls In Kono, Sierra Leone, Jordene Hale

Doctoral Dissertations

Current research in Sub-Sahara Africa suggests that young women face challenges in accessing and completing schooling, due among other things to gender related school based violence (Bruce & Hallman, 2008; Dunne, Humphreys, & Leach, 2006; Lloyd, Kaufman, & Hewett, 2000). These studies, while valuable in providing documentation on school enrollment and school leaving, do not explore the motivational framework where young women remain in school. The purpose of this dissertation is to trace how schoolgirls’ identities or “figured worlds” (Gee, 2011) are co-constructed in particular contexts by the same cohort of schoolgirls, their teachers, households, and communities through an ethnographic …

Understanding Health Issues Among Adolescent Females In A Northeast Province Of Afghanistan, Amina Davlatshoeva

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of the health issues facing adolescent females (ages 18-21) in rural, northeastern Afghanistan. Incorporating participant observations, in-depth interviews, and narrative inquiries, this study seeks to illustrate adolescent females’ perspectives on health issues. To achieve this goal, ten adolescent females were interviewed in rural, northeastern Afghanistan during 2010. The participants were between 18- and 21-years old. The one-on-one interviews were conducted in a multiple-response format and were structured around three research questions:

• How does a young female’s understanding of health issues shape her identity in northeastern Afghanistan?
• In what ways …

The Power Of The Hula: A Performance Text For Appropriating Identity Among First Hawaiian Youth, Cesily Hong

Doctoral Dissertations

Hawaii is an exotic land with a rich history and a culture imbued with meaning, including the performing arts. Such facets of any land need to be understood and preserved for future generations. The most significant aspect of Hawaiian arts is the hula kahiko, a text in motion, which when performed displays the story of Hawaii's past. The hula was forbidden by Protestant missionaries in the 1820's and was reduced to near cultural extinction. As a result, many First Hawaiians do not clearly understand the richness of their own history. Without this understanding, it is difficult for them to have …

An Ethnographic Study Of Participants' Perceptions Of Character Education Including Students, Parents, Teachers, Club Sponsors, Administrators, And Community Support People, Lily Odessa Hogan Stoppleworth

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study examined character education within one educational setting. The researcher created a holistic, narrative description of the extent, quality, and impact of character education at one North Louisiana high school. An emergent design was utilized to examine inductively participants' perceptions of character education initiatives within this single, educational site.

The research questions in this study were: (a) How do participants (students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members) define character education, and what do they perceive its value to be? (b) How do participants perceive character education in relation to values? (c) How is character education viewed by the …