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Full-Text Articles in Education

The Cultural Contours Of Democracy: Indigenous Epistemologies Informing South African Citizenship, Patricia K. Kubow, Mina Min Nov 2016

The Cultural Contours Of Democracy: Indigenous Epistemologies Informing South African Citizenship, Patricia K. Kubow, Mina Min

Democracy and Education

Drawing upon the African concept of ubuntu, this article examines the epistemic orientations toward individual-society relations that inform democratic citizenship and identity in South Africa. Findings from focus group interviews conducted with 50 Xhosa teachers from all seven primary and intermediate schools in a township outside Cape Town depict the cultural contours of democracy and how the teachers reaffirm and question the dominant Western-oriented democratic narrative. Through ubuntu, defined as the virtue of being human premised upon respect, the Xhosa teachers interrupt the prevailing rights-and-responsibilities discourse to interpose a conception of democracy based on rights, responsibilities, and respect. …


The Relationship Of Formative Assessment To The Professional Development And Perspective Transformation Of Teachers, Kimberly K. Snyder Aug 2016

The Relationship Of Formative Assessment To The Professional Development And Perspective Transformation Of Teachers, Kimberly K. Snyder

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study uses practitioner research to explore teacher perspectives about formative assessment. The researcher engaged in a four-month-long series of professional development sessions with one middle school and two high school English-Language Arts teachers from the Capital View School District. Understanding formative assessment as a process to monitor student learning and then customizing instruction based on the data gathered from the formative assessment is a complex skill in which teachers need practice and even coaching to become adroit. The sessions were intended to help early-career teachers better understand formative assessment and incorporate it as a strategy in their teaching praxis. …


A World Both Big And Small: Understanding Urban Middle School Teachers’ Sense Of Self-Efficacy In An Era Of Accountability, Richard Gallucci May 2016

A World Both Big And Small: Understanding Urban Middle School Teachers’ Sense Of Self-Efficacy In An Era Of Accountability, Richard Gallucci

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This explanatory case study seeks to understand the nature of middle school educators’ self-efficacy in an urban public school district during an era of accountability. The study was conducted in a progressive school district, known as OakRidge Pubic Schools. A sequential mixed methods design with a participant-selection model variation was employed. The study identified teachers’ level of self-efficacy via the Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001), a quantitative survey used to determine high and low self-efficacy focus groups. During these subsequent focus group interviews, the competing objectives of fulfilling responsibilities levied from accountability mandates and initiatives, …


Improving The Mathematical Content Knowledge Of Pre-Service Middle School Teachers, Gregory Hine May 2016

Improving The Mathematical Content Knowledge Of Pre-Service Middle School Teachers, Gregory Hine

Gregory S.C. Hine

The tertiary training of pre-service teachers is pivotal in their professional preparation and formation as qualified educators. Multiple authors posit that teachers require a development of pedagogical content knowledge, or knowing a variety of ways to present mathematical content and to assist students to deepen their understanding (Chick, 2012; Shulman, 1987). Emerick, Hirsch and Berry (2003) argue that high quality teachers must possess appropriate mathematical content knowledge, and must also possess considerable background in communicating effectively to students. There are two aims of this educational research. The first is to investigate the self-perceptions of pre-service middle school teachers enrolled in …


Middle School Teachers’ Perspectives On Promoting Effective Technology Integration, Yona Andrew Rose May 2016

Middle School Teachers’ Perspectives On Promoting Effective Technology Integration, Yona Andrew Rose

All Theses And Dissertations

Technology integration reforms in education have increased in number and expectation throughout schools across the United States. Some instructors have experienced barriers with skill sets, attitudes, professional development opportunities, and collaboration time which have impacted their ability to model good practices. Pictures of qualified, confident teachers integrating technology into their classrooms with regularity and fidelity are unclear. Existing literature was reviewed regarding methods of increasing teacher comfort and knowledge related to technology integration so that the 21st Century Skills of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication can be addressed in public schools. This research study explored what middle school teachers …


An Examination Of Teacher Understandings Of Technology Integration At The Classroom Level, Shawn M. Carlson Phd May 2016

An Examination Of Teacher Understandings Of Technology Integration At The Classroom Level, Shawn M. Carlson Phd

All Student Scholarship

The purpose of this dissertation is to describe and understand how teachers describe the changes in their practices as a result of ten years participation in a one-to-one environment. This research study focuses on one successful middle school’s adoption of laptops to support teaching and learning. A qualitative study using interviews of key participants was undertaken with teachers and administrators. The Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework was used in conjunction with Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation framework to understand from the participants’ perspective changes to their practice. The results indicate teachers underwent changes in their use of technology to …


How To Con Your Teacher, Bernice M. Wilson Jan 2016

How To Con Your Teacher, Bernice M. Wilson

Thought and Practice: (1987-1991) the Journal of the Graduate School of Bank Street College of Education

Describes how specific and detailed instruction in social awareness is as important to teaching the child with learning problems as the teaching of reading.


The Master Teacher: A Personal Reflection, Carol Hillman Jan 2016

The Master Teacher: A Personal Reflection, Carol Hillman

Thought and Practice: (1987-1991) the Journal of the Graduate School of Bank Street College of Education

Describes that working with young children requires an attitude based on willingness to grow, one that puts the teacher as well as the children in the role of the learner.


The Role Of The Teacher In The Interdisciplinary Team, Sue S. Suratt Jan 2016

The Role Of The Teacher In The Interdisciplinary Team, Sue S. Suratt

Thought and Practice: (1987-1991) the Journal of the Graduate School of Bank Street College of Education

Describes the author's impression that teachers are inadequately prepared to assume leadership roles in clinical settings, especially as members of interdisciplinary teams.