Education Commons^™

For The Love Of Teaching: Pre-Service Teachers’ Experience Of Moral Education, Anne Marie Foley Ruiz

Doctoral Dissertations

Moral aspects of teaching arise each and every day, yet we lack information about how prepared teachers feel about this critical aspect of teaching. This multi-case study explores perceptions of five pre-service teachers in an elementary teacher education program in Western Massachusetts. A series of interviews explore their histories prior to the program and their experiences in the program as related to the pre-service teachers’ orientations to the moral work of teaching. Research questions address the awareness and self-efficacy of student teachers in implementing the moral aspects of teaching. Using Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006), this study explores beliefs …

Examining The Specialized Math Content Knowledge Of Elementary Teachers In The Age Of The Common Core, Stephanie Purington

Doctoral Dissertations

Mathematical standards for students have increased with the development of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and its accompanying high stakes testing. Teachers need strong conceptual knowledge of the mathematics they teach in order to give students the opportunity to learn that math deeply. An earlier study (Ma, 1999) found that US elementary teachers lack the deep knowledge to teach math conceptually. Given the mathematics standards movements of the last two decades, it is plausible that the knowledge base of teachers has changed. Using the framework of Specialized Content Knowledge (SCK), which is the knowledge required to teach math …

A Semiotic Analysis Of Linguistic And Conceptual Development In Mathematics For English Language Learners, Hyunsook Shin

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores how an elementary mathematics teacher supported English language leaners’ (ELLs’) academic language and concept development in the context of current high- stakes school reform. The conceptual frameworks informing this study include Halliday’s theory of systemic functional linguistics (e.g., Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014) and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of concept development (Vygotsky, 1986). Specifically, this study analyzes the interplay between academic and everyday language and how this interplay can facilitate the development of what Vygotsky referred to as “real” or complete concepts as students shift from “spontaneous” to more “scientific” understanding of phenomenon (Vygotsky, 1986, p.173). This year-long qualitative …

Technology Integration And Use In Elementary Mathematics Methods Courses For Pre-Service Teachers, Elzbieta Manos

Doctoral Dissertations

According to the National Educational Technology Plan 2010, technology should be incorporated into teaching methods courses and field experiences and not just in stand-alone technology courses. The teacher preparation programs would provide technology-based learning experiences to prepare pre-service teachers to effectively use technology to improve learning, assessment, and instructional practices. However, the problem is that graduate pre-service teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare pre-service teachers to incorporate technology into their teaching. Furthermore, the teacher preparation programs lacked opportunities for the pre-service teachers to experience technology as learners beyond the stand-alone course in technology. Research shows the need for pre-service …

Verbal -S Productions In The Structured Writing Samples Of Variable Aae-Speaking Fourth-Grade Students With And Without Language Impairment, Jacklyn High Felton

Doctoral Dissertations

Researchers in speech-language pathology and ethnolinguistics have worked to gain knowledge about typical and atypical language patterns of African American children who are identified as African American English (AAE) dialect speakers. Much progress had been made, but limitations in this field of knowledge have persisted, especially for AA children who demonstrate variable use of AAE, presumably through the process of assimilation in the school setting. Therefore, more information is needed to provide diagnostic markers for deviations in typical language development for variable AAE-MAE speakers. Prior empirical research has found that third- and fourth-grade AAE-speaking children with typical language development overtly …

Implicit Bias In Pre-Service Teachers: A Mixed Methods Approach, Tara Pepis

Doctoral Dissertations

Research Goals/Questions Colleges of Education, through educator preparation programs, have applied a scattershot approach to addressing diversity through multicultural teacher education programs. These programs have not been shown to reduce bias levels in pre-service teachers and are not systematic or uniform. (King & Butler, 2015). This study focuses on an alternative approach to preparing pre-service teachers to work with diverse populations. It measured the levels of implicit bias in a sample population of pre-service teachers and attempt to reduce their implicit bias levels. The aim of the dissertation was to answer the following questions:

1. Can a brief, computer-based intervention decrease …

Slavery On Their Minds: Representing The Institution In Children's Picture Books, Raphael E. Rogers

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines how slavery is represented in contemporary children’s picture books. Given that many primary and secondary school teachers are committed to using picture book fiction to teach students about slavery, it is necessary to explore how slavery is depicted in these texts. One of the goals of this study is to contribute to the discussion about how the featured picture books engage with and respond to the early historiography of slavery, which asserted that Black slave were content and docile and that slave owners were kind and paternalistic. This study seeks to analyze how the picture books that …

Performing Critical Consciousness In Teaching: Entanglements Of Knowing, Feeling And Relating, Kathleen A. Mcdonough

Doctoral Dissertations

At a time when education reform is guided by neoliberalism, accountability and standardization have reshaped teaching as highly technocratic and threatened the democratic possibilities of public education. Even so, many teacher education programs have taken up the call to prepare teachers to teach for social justice, whether framed as multicultural education, critical literacy, or critical pedagogy. A construct that ties these pedagogical approaches together is critical consciousness, with the aim of some teacher education efforts to evoke critical consciousness among preservice teachers. This study focuses on exploring how nine educators from elementary grades to higher education experience and enact critical …

Principals’ Perceived Influence Over New Teacher Retention, Meredith Coates

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT Studies report that nearly a third of novice teachers leave the field before their third year of service (Ingersoll, 2002), and almost half of novice teachers leave the field before completing their fifth year of service (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003; Johnson, 2004). These rates of turnover have remained steady (NCES, 2011). Schools are workplaces where teachers face a multitude of factors that collectively contribute to job satisfaction/dissatisfaction. Generally, research has indicated that administrative support has a profound effect on the experiences of new teachers (Ingersoll & Kralik, 2004). The purpose of this phenomenological study is to examine 6 principals’ …

Developing Multimodal Digital Literacy: The Application Of Digital Storytelling As A New Avenue For Effective English Learning With Efl Elementary School Students In Korea, Tecnam Yoon

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method research study is to investigate the educational effects of digital storytelling as a communicative language learning strategy in an EFL elementary school class in Korea. In order to find out the benefits and challenges of digital storytelling in EFL class, this study was conducted for 12 weeks in a rural elementary school. Digital storytelling was selected and utilized in the after-school English class, as main teaching and learning tool. Guiding research questions were 1) what are the potential benefits and challenges of digital storytelling for young EFL learners when it is employed in a …

Teachers’ Experiences Of Professional Development In (Post)Crisis Katanga Province, Southeastern Democratic Republic Of Congo: A Case Study Of Teacher Learning Circles, Paul St J Frisoli

Doctoral Dissertations

Teachers in (post)crisis contexts face an array of de-motivating factors such as insecurity, lack of pay, difficult working conditions, minimal leadership, and feeling undervalued (Johnson, 2006; OECD, 2009; Shriberg, 2007). To bolster their motivation and support their teaching, teachers in these settings need a forum where they feel valued as professionals (Asimeng-Boahene, 2003; Bennel & Akyeampong; Kirk & Winthrop, 2007). One model of teacher professional development (TPD) known as "Teacher Learning Circles"(TLCs) is currently being implemented in Katanga province in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for early grade reading teachers. TLCs strive to help teachers adopt innovative teaching techniques …

Rethinking Reiche, Tracie J. Reed

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Part I of the study examines the differences between two environmental assessment methods for the K‐12 education sector: the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Schools Version 3.0 and the British Research Establishment’s (BRE) BREEAM Education issue 2.0. Credit requirements are compared side‐by‐side and against recommendations from researchers in areas such as acoustics, lighting and indoor environment quality. Strengths in the two schemes and areas for improvement are highlighted, with acknowledgement that each scheme offers components and techniques from which the other could benefit. Part II of the study introduces the Howard C. Reiche Community School in Portland, Maine. …

Baseline Study - Part Iii, David R. Evans, Gretchen Rossman, Urvashi Sahni

Strengthening the Education of Girls in India

No abstract provided.

Preliminary Program Effects On Girls' Enrollment And Classroom Learning Environments, David R. Evans, Gretchen Rossman, Urvashi Sahni

Strengthening the Education of Girls in India

No abstract provided.

Plan For The Use Of Findings For Decision-Making And Refinement Of Program, David R. Evans, Gretchen Rossman, Urvashi Sahni

Strengthening the Education of Girls in India

The project, Strengthening the Education of Girls in India, was designed in 1995 through a collaborative effort of USAID officials and Indian nationals who are experts in girls' and women's education. In the three and one-half years since the project was designed, changes have occurred in the climate of support for and thinking about girls' education in India generally and the state of Uttar Pradesh specifically. this document describes salient elements of that changing context and discusses how the project will respond to them. The document also describes how findings thus far from project implementation will shape refinement of the …

Teachers Becoming Action-Researchers: Developing A Teacher-Training Module For Increasing Girls' Participation In Primary Schools, Urvashi Sahni

Strengthening the Education of Girls in India

A participatory action research project was launched in July 1996 and operationalised a year later in July 1997 in district RaeBareilly in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The guiding objective of the project is to strengthen the education of girls in India, by increasing their participation in primary education. This involves broadly an increase in enrollment, attendance, retention and achievement of girls in primary schools, i.e., classes 1 - 5. While there is a clear understanding and acceptance of the fact that there are several societal reasons for unequal participation of boys and girls in primary education, all …

Developing A Teacher-Training Module For Increasing Girls' Participation In Primary Schools: Action Research Phase - A Report, Urvashi Sahni

Strengthening the Education of Girls in India

No abstract provided.

The Image Of The Teacher In Rural Colombia: An Inquiry Into Themes, Metaphors, And Implications For Education, Haleh Arbab

Doctoral Dissertations at the Center for International Education

This dissertation explores the meaning the rural inhabitants of the North of Cauca region in Colombia make of the rural primary school teacher. It examines the themes and metaphors used by rural teachers, community members, and youth to describe the teacher's present image, their perspectives on the possible changes, and the implications of these perceptions for future educational interventions.

The themes and metaphors that emerged alluded to two general images. The researcher has named these the portrait of the teacher as a hero and as an ordinary human being. The first, she proposes, is an ideal image that comes from …

Banfes Project Final Report, Linda A. Pursley

Basic and NonFormal Education Systems (BANFES) Project

There are no outstanding evaluation recommendations at Component II (NTTC), so I have chosen to report my work by logframe outputs, using the question and answer format developed by the Project Evaluation Office for conducting interviews and collecting data on initiatives which were not otherwise evaluated. The second section relates my work to the relevant contractual obligations. Finally, I attempt to summarize what has been accomplished, and to reflect on the current situation and possible directions for the future.

My work with BANFES in Lesotho covers the period beginning in September 1985 and concluding in February 1991. Throughout this period, …

A Staff Development Program For Teachers-In-Charge Of Correspondence Study Centers, Meria Damalisy Khembo

Master's Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

A Curriculum: The Banfes 1990 Study Tour. "Innovations In Primary Education", Greta S. Shultz

Master's Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.