Education Commons^™

Children And Technology: Why Technology Is Important For Our Children, Jill Mactiernan

Student Theses

Many people get scared when they hear about how much technology runs the world today. They tend to get frightened when they go to a store and have to use a selfcheckout instead of a cashier. Parents are scared of the dangers of the internet and how it will affect their children, so they tend to try to prevent/limit their children’s usage of the internet and other technologies. However, that may not always be the right move. Technology can not be avoided; it is a part of our everyday lives. With proper guidance and teachings, children can learn how to …

Highlighting Teacher Voices: Discussions On Race And Racism In The Elementary Classroom, Carrie Lynn Buckner

Doctoral Dissertations

Throughout my career in education, I have observed that teachers are challenged by engaging in discussions involving race and racism. This study seeks to understand teachers’ feelings further when discussing race and racism in the elementary classroom by answering the research question: How do elementary teachers experience race and racism in their schools and classrooms?

This qualitative, critical narrative inquiry dissertation focused on three participant interviews with public-school elementary teachers in Tennessee. The data generated from these interviews informed narratives and were then analyzed through the lens of Critical Race Theory. This was followed by In Vivo and structural coding …

'It’S Just Filth:’ Banned Books And The Project Of Queer Erasure, Caitlin O'Loughlin, Taylor Schmidt, Jocelyn Glazier

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This paper seeks to explore the connection between the banning of queer books, the creation of discourses of controversy, and the erasure of queer knowledges and peoples from schools. Using a queer theory-informed approach to critical discourse analysis, we ask how these proposed bans seek to erase queer peoples, how this impacts teachers, and what teacher preparation programs can do to counter these acts of destruction.

Exploring The Purdue Teacher Education Program: Focus On Diversity, Equity, And Social Justice, Julia Pirrello

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

During this time of heightened awareness of social injustices via Black Lives Matter protests, the #MeToo movement, and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to ensure that teacher preparation curriculum includes attention to knowledge and skills related to social justice issues in education. Th e purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which social justice, diversity, and equity are addressed in the foundational courses of the Purdue Teacher Education Program (PTEP). McDonald (2005) proposed a framework in which social justice is integrated across all experiences (e.g., courses, activities, clinical placements) in a teacher education program. In an …

Investigating Influences On Intercultural Sensitivity Through Undergraduate And Graduate Students’ Reflections On Identities, Daphne Fauber, Kathryn Mueller

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Due to a shifting global environment and unique personal circumstances, traditional in-person learning experiences that foster cross-cultural interactions and learning, including study abroad programs, have become unavailable to many. In light of this issue, we investigated how a virtual cross-cultural course, such as Global Social Justice in Education (GSJE), could allow undergraduate and graduate students to explore their cultural identities and enhance their intercultural sensitivity. Data for this study was collected via three distinct GSJE reflections completed by a single cohort of 11 Purdue graduate and undergraduate students who interacted with international participants. Purdue participant reflections were analyzed and coded …

Child Science Identity Interview Guide And Protocol, Heidi Cian, Remy Dou

Department of Teaching and Learning

While many data collection tools exist to elicit how individuals think about prototypical STEM persons (e.g., the Draw-a-Scientist assessment), such tools fail to capture the nuance of how individuals think about STEM and STEM personhood and how those perceptions change according to context and “in real life”. We designed the Child Science Identity Interview Guide and Protocol to learn about how youth see everyday experiences as “STEM” (or a particular subfield) and think of themselves and those in their social orbits as STEM persons.

Book Review -The Struggles Of Identity, Education, And Agency In The Lives Of Undocumented Students: The Burden Of Hyperdocumentation, Arli Mohamed

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

This review explores the chapters in The struggles of identity, education, and agency in the lives of undocumented students: The burden of hyperdocumentation. The review examines the content of the book by defining key terms, such as hyperdocumentation, and provides a short synopsis of each chapter to garner the interest of readers. It also examines the nature of undocumented Latinx students in the United States as discussed by the author through her application of appropriate critical social theories to evaluate the experiences of undocumented Latinx students. While describing each chapter’s content, this review also critiques some elements of the …

Career, Academics, Exploration, Shadowing, Application, And Reality Store: Caesars, Brooke Hunstad

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Society’s expectation is that once a student graduates from high school, they will do one of two things; enter the workforce or continue their education. The flaw within this expectation is that rarely do high school students experience what their futures may look like depending on their career path. The focus of this curriculum is to provide knowledge and experiences that can help students reach society’s expectation. The population of focus is middle to high school students, preferably juniors and seniors. Research was collected and a literature review was prepared to support the demand of the curriculum in education and …

Addressing Systemic Inequities: A Psychoeducational Group For Advocating For African Americans, Jaree' Barnwell

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

This paper will discuss and describe the development of an open psychoeducational group that will empower people of the community through education to advocate for African American/Black people within institutions that may perpetuate barriers. Acknowledging that one in four people struggle with mental health issues, it is imperative to consider an appropriate treatment modality that destigmatizes mental health and equips participants with information. This group is especially relevant as one in three African Americans, who struggle with mental health concerns, will never receive the appropriate care comparatively afforded to white populations. This thesis will concisely discuss the education system, the …

Racial Acceptance And Behavior Incidents While Being Educated In An Elementary Dual-Language Classroom, Heather Hodal

Ed.D. Dissertations

Districts and schools are not looking at the data on racial judgments, segregation, and neighborhood quality, along with children’s friendship choices, open-mindedness, and social emotional factors to fully understand and educate others on the benefits of multiculturalism. This case study describes the impact that English-only classrooms and two-way dual language classrooms have on racial acceptance and behavior incidents for kindergarten, first, and second graders in a school located in a Midwest suburb. In utilizing The Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Ruffle, 2000) and Office Discipline Referrals (ODRs) to determine specific behavior problems and the Modified Subtle and Blatant Prejudice Scale …

Identity In The Classroom: How Opening The Classroom Door Opened My Eyes To Keeping Humanity In Education, Maija Overturf

Honors College

Education can be a dehumanizing experience for both students and teachers. Teachers hold a great responsibility to ensure that student identities are validated in school and to this end, must create a safe and welcoming learning environment. This thesis analyzes common dehumanizing practices in schools and ways in which teachers may unconsciously invalidate their students or be invalidated themselves. In a personal reflective manner, this thesis focuses especially on the text Opening the Classroom Door (Chapter 1 of Teaching Towards Democracy) by Ayers et. al (2017) as I evaluate my experiences in the classroom both as a student and teacher, …

Social Justice And The Us Food System: A Critical Course On The Human Dimensions Of Food, Ali Brooks

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

Our world is made up of overlapping political, environmental, and economic spheres that engender social injustice and inequality. Though separate societal issues can seem divergent and unconnected, they are all linked together by one universal necessity: food. Because everyone eats, everyone is connected to—and dependent on—food and the systems that govern it. However, the impacts of our industrial food system are not felt equally among people who hold different positions of power within it.

Today’s industrial food complex operates on the capitalist principle of profit accumulation through exploitation, commodification, and extraction. This set of relations is not defined by scale …

A Proposed Curriculum To Improve The Scientific Literacy Of Pastoral Leadership In The Church, Kacey Mewborn

Selected Honors Theses

Scientific illiteracy is a widespread reality in the Christian church today. The observatory and evidentiary nature of science seems to strongly contradict the faith-based belief in religion that often lacks physical evidence. This contradiction has incited many different conflicts between the congregation of the church and proponents of scientific advancement. A potential cause of this division is that the current education provided for church leaders is severely lacking in exposure to scientific topics that would allow these leaders to effectively communicate with their congregation when scientific issues are raised. Therefore, this research proposes a supplementary curriculum in the form of …

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 …

Justice For All: Social Justice Curriculum For The Young Adult Centered English Classroom, Genevieve Hawkins

Honors Theses

This project is a curriculum-based approach to exploring the integration of social-justice texts, topics, and themes into the secondary English classroom. Discussion of such topics will take place in the context of teaching the contemporary novels The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed, two young-adult novels that discuss how the teenage experience is impacted by instances of racism and police brutality. This examination of race in modern society will be accompanied by supplemental texts, included but not limited to Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine and NPR’s podcast “On the Shoulders …

The Dean’S Racial Justice Curriculum Challenge, S Civjan, Erin Baker, Samantha Wojda, Promise Mchenga, Nick Tooker, Esha Uddin, Hannah Wharton, Sophia Chang, Lia Ciemny, Jacqueline Thornton, Wayne Burleson, Paula Rees

Publications

This Work in Progress paper will present the College of Engineering Dean’s Racial Justice Curriculum Challenge. This challenge tasks all faculty in the college to use their engineering problem-solving skills to develop creative ways to incorporate issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice in every class we teach. The challenge was inspired by our students, who requested a greater connection between the technical content of classes and real world issues, in particular the role engineers play in either fostering inclusive solutions or contributing to the propagation of inequities. The intent is to engage faculty in the development of new …

Moving From Harm Mitigation To Affirmative Discrimination Mitigation: The Untapped Potential Of Artificial Intelligence To Fight School Segregation And Other Forms Of Racial Discrimination, Andrew Gall

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Who Is Anointed? The Psychological And Social Justice Implications Of Gifted And Talented Programs In The United States, Emma Caroline Gossett

Senior Projects Spring 2022

This paper explores the repercussions of gifted and talented programs in the United States, looking specifically at resulting psychological effects and social justice implications. This analysis is positioned within the discussion of global power struggles for technological advancement. After the success of the Russian Sputnik satellite in 1957, the United States bolstered initiatives in education to ensure they were producing students who could contribute to the prowess of the nation. Gifted programs allowed for a more in-depth focus on those children deemed useful to the labor market. This resulted in additional pressures placed on certain students to excel. The anointment …

Confronting The Haunted South: A Journey Into The History, Legacy, And Life Of Boggs Academy, Caroline G. Whitcomb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Boggs Academy was a private, Presbyterian boarding school for Blacks that operated from 1906 until 1984 in rural Georgia. The institution, recognized for academic excellence, marked by resilience, and beloved by alumni, existed because of the racism that has plagued this nation since its inception. The stated purpose of this research is four-fold: to record/compile a history of Boggs Academy, to carry on the work Mr. Charles W. Francis began in his Master’s thesis on Boggs Academy, to demonstrate the value of togetherness in qualitative research, and to cast a vision for the future of education built upon the institution’s …

Public Educators Shaking Up Classrooms, Elizabeth Richards

Capstones

Through feedback from the community, largely in the form of continued interviews and conversations with teachers about what they were looking for and how they consumed news, I learned that a newsletter was the best way to reach them.

Navigating the challenges of hybrid learning has meant for teachers multiple lesson planning, which has compounded the existing challenge of being incredibly busy and potentially overwhelmed. A newsletter that could arrive in an email inbox — a place where public teachers spend much of their time — could help bring information directly and prevent teachers from having to spend more time …

Reducing Implicit Bias: Evaluating Cultural Humility And Mindfulness Practices In The Perinatal Microsystem, Charlene Johnson

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: In one perinatal microsystem, an assessment revealed 49 reported events that alleged perceived bias occurred over a one-year period. This project aims to address implicit bias and educational solutions to improve communication and create a culture of humility and equity.

Context: The setting was an urban hospital within a large non-profit healthcare organization. The improvement team included registered nurse champions, obstetrical technicians, midwives, physicians, managers, and an educator.

Intervention: A virtual interactive education session for a multidisciplinary volunteer group (n=18) was introduced followed by five weekly follow-up discussions. The education focused on translating the cultural humility …

Melvin Gets A Passing Grade, Peter London

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

150 word abstract

The author assigns a failing grade to a student in a high school required art course as a consequence of the student not doing any art at all. His chairman, stunned that any one can actually fail art, offers a view of art and teaching and history that upends the author’s own views on the purposes of art, the purposes of teaching and his possible role in history. Confounded by the realization that there might be a domain different, more and better than the one he had been navigating, the author changes the student’s grade, he was, …

Through Critique And Beyond: Speculative Fiction As A Tool Of Critical Pedagogy, Syd Thorne

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field projects centers around the issue of hopelessness among teachers and students and examines the genre of speculative fiction as a potential tool for cultivating critical hope in the classroom and as an asset to critical pedagogy. Utopian pedagogy and critical pedagogy make up the theoretical framework of this research and project development. The research explores the use of speculative fiction in three areas: activism and identity, student engagement, and utopian performance. The review of the literature demonstrates that the use of speculative fiction in the classroom has the potential to engage students in conversations about social justice and …

We Didn’T Return To Campus: Covid-19 Pandemic As An Opportunity For Critical Reflection On The Essence Of Education, Marisol Diaz

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

For many students across the United States, their last day on school campuses was the week before spring break of 2020. Due to the rising concern over COVID-19, most schools across PK to higher education moved to remote learning. This article is a critical reflection by the author in which she shares her experiences as a professor in higher education at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The author questions the role of education, using a critical framework and a Marxist analysis of capitalism, to center the function of the education system during COVID-19. From the author’s perspective, economic interests …

Moving Into A New Realm Of Education And Parenting, Katherine Rodriguez-Agüero

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

An Invitation To Imagine Education Otherwise, Grasilel Esperanza Diaz

Occasional Paper Series

This article presents an invitation to imagine education otherwise, what education could be if we took a restorative justice approach and make immediate changes. It focuses on the changes needed to make this vision a reality. Covid-19 has exposed many of the inequalities that exist in education and how these inequalities have negative effects on the neediest students. You are invited to imagine schools as sites of justice and freedom, to think of teaching that is centered on children, caring, and building relationships with families.

The Privatization Movement Is Not Dead! A Book Review Of A Wolf At The Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling Of Public Education And The Future Of School, Jeffrey Frenkiewich

Democracy and Education

In January of 2020, Diane Ravitch published Slaying Goliath, in which she claimed the movement to privatize America’s public school system was dying. While this might be true, the movement is not dead, and this review looks at Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire’s A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door, which examines the history of school privatization and calls for renewed vigilance by those who oppose it. Schneider and Berkshire argued that defenders of public education need three conceptual frames to fight privatization efforts: (a) a clear presentation of the aims and objectives of the privatization movement; (b) knowledge of the …

Practices To Live With, Invitations For Change. A Book Review Of Descriptive Inquiry In Teacher Practice: Cultivating Practical Wisdom In Create Democratic Schools, Dana Frantz Bentley

Democracy and Education

This review explores the discourse between theory and practice put forth in Cara E. Furman and Cecelia E. Traugh's Descriptive Inquiry in Teacher Practice: Cultivating Practical Wisdom to Create Democratic Schools. Through the practice of descriptive inquiry, these two authors engage in a lively examination of schools and educators developing individualized democratic practices. This review explores the engaging conversations between schools, educators, and school communities as they learn to center their democratic teaching on human dignity, and a focus on practical wisdom.

The Lopez Effect Remixed: The Significance Of Mattering Through A Hip-Hop Lens In Education And Beyond, Kashema Hutchinson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The goal of this dissertation is to examine the theoretical frameworks of mattering (Rosenberg & McCullough, 1981; Schlossberg, 1989; Love, 2018) in traditional and non-traditional spaces through a Hip-hop lens. When mattering is applied to marginalized groups, it centers them to a certain extent. In my dissertation, I examine how Dr. Nadia Lopez, the former principal of junior high school, Mott Hall Bridges Academy (MHBA), employed mattering in her holistic approach to education. Her dedication to her students, faculty and staff went viral on the popular blog Humans of New York in January 2015. Lopez’s commitment is to “open a …

Book Review -The Struggles Of Identity, Education, And Agency In The Lives Of Undocumented Students: The Burden Of Hyperdocumentation, Arli Mohamed

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

This review explores the chapters in The struggles of identity, education, and agency in the lives of undocumented students: The burden of hyperdocumentation. The review examines the content of the book by defining key terms, such as hyperdocumentation, and provides a short synopsis of each chapter to garner the interest of readers. It also examines the nature of undocumented Latinx students in the United States as discussed by the author through her application of appropriate critical social theories to evaluate the experiences of undocumented Latinx students. While describing each chapter’s content, this review also critiques some elements of the …