Education Commons^™

Embedding Diversity Into The Curriculum: Facilitating Challenging Conversations, Chimille E. Dillard

Dissertations

Wagner, Kegan, Lahey, Lemons, Garnier, Helsing, and Rasmussen’s (2006) four C’s, consisting of competency, conditions, culture, and context, were used to think systemically when looking at the current (As-Is) and projected (To-Be) in the Galaxy School district. This paper focused on the need to embed past and current racial and gender diversity issues into the everyday curriculum in an effort to have a positive impact on students’ social-emotional learning skills. The current curriculum has limited racial and no gender diversity. Students can go from Kindergarten to eighth grade being taught very little history and current events that are racially and …

Refreshment For The Soul: A Phenomenological Study Of The Student Experience Of Beauty In School, Paul Reiff

Dissertations

Prompted by the ratio-scientific emphasis in the curriculum, I conducted this study to explore the lifeworlds of students to understand their lived experience of beauty in school. This investigation entailed a phenomenological study, the method of which included in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with four high school students. This study aimed to examine the essence of beauty in the lived experience of students in school, to explore the perceptions of students regarding school as a place to appreciate beauty, and to understand the needs of students as a place that develops their aesthetic sensibilities. The findings include the description …

De-Emphasizing Grade-Level Identities: A Case Study Of Mathematics Instruction In An Intermediate Elementary Multiage Classroom, Kevin Oconnor

Dissertations

This is an interpretive study that investigates the nature of the issues, dilemmas, and successes of planning and implementing a mathematics program with minimal reference to grade-level designations in a multiage classroom setting of fourth—and fifth-grade students.

The study focused on how one teacher conceptualized, designed, and structured a mathematics curriculum. An analysis of over 60 hours of interviews conducted over six months revealed a teacher who integrated her knowledge of elementary mathematics with her knowledge and practice of teaching and learning theories, mathematical understanding, curriculum perspectives, and classroom management. This integration is explained through a conceptual framework of the …