Education Commons^™

Cultural Responsiveness In The Special Education/Esl Department: Faculty Perceptions At Brigham Young University, Temma Jo Devereaux

Theses and Dissertations

Faculty members from Brigham Young University's special education/ESL program participated in professional development centered on increasing multicultural competence. The primary investigator interviewed faculty members regarding their perceptions of professional development. After conducting the interviews, faculty members' feedback was coded to determine whether or not the professional development aided them in infusing more culturally sensitive practices into the curriculum and created a more sensitive learning environment for students from diverse backgrounds. Researchers also coded the faculty members' feedback to determine if faculty members felt they have changed at an individual/personal level in terms of how they view their own cultural background …

Using Robotics To Equip K-12 Teachers: Silicon Prairie Initiative For Robotics In Information Technology (Spirit), Alisa Gilmore, Bing Chen, Neal Grandgenett

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The Silicon Prairie Initiative for Robotics in Information Technology (SPIRIT) is a unique collaborative effort between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) College of Engineering, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) College of Education, and the local Omaha Public Schools (OPS) system. With funding from an NSF ITEST grant, from 2006 – 2008 the initiative recruited and trained 97 math and science middle school teachers through summer workshops and follow-up sessions during the school year, with the goal of equipping teachers in hands-on engineering design principles and providing curriculum development support for STEM instruction. The centerpiece of the training was …

Rural Superintendents: How Do Wyoming Rural Superintendents View And Respond To The Challenges Brought About By External Demands On Their Schools?, Jeanne L. Surface

Faculty Books and Monographs

Very little is known about how superintendents respond to and view the challenges brought about by increasing external performance demands on their schools. This important study uses a multi-case study format to create portraits of five rural superintendents, the challenges they face, and their responses to those challenges. The participant perceptions were organized into five themes: declining enrollment, isolation, board and community relations, celebrated accomplishments, and rural schools in contrast with urban or suburban schools. The superintendents were most proud of changes they had made to improve instruction in their districts. They spoke of challenges with bringing professional development to …

The Emotional Dimensions Of Urban Teacher Change, Nate Mccaughtry, Jeffrey J. Martin, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Donetta Cothran

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

This study used an emotional geographies theoretical framework to analyze the emotional dimensions of urban teacher change. Fifteen urban physical education teachers involved in a comprehensive curriculum reform project were interviewed and observed multiple times across one school year. Data were analyzed using inductive analysis, and trustworthiness measures included triangulation, peer debriefing, researcher journals, and member checks. Teachers reported that emotional dimensions related to their urban students, colleagues, and status heavily influenced their engagement in the project. The discussion section maps the emotional dimensions of these teachers' change experiences onto an emotional geographies framework that situates their experiences in change …

The Professional Development Of Academic Librarians: How Should Institutions Contribute To The Process?, Gregory A. Smith

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Professional development is universally recognized in education and librarianship as imperative for ongoing effectiveness. Most—though not all—academic libraries support professional development through financial assistance and release time. However, while funding and release time are necessary to professional growth, they are not sufficient. The role of the leader as a steward of organizational culture suggests that academic library administrators should concern themselves with fostering an environment conducive to their subordinates’ professional development. Innovative professional development programs in place at a number of academic libraries stand as a corrective to the seemingly haphazard practices of many libraries and librarians. Further research on …

Reflection Upon The Intangible Process Of Professional Development In A Graduate Program In Counseling Psychology, Judy Iris Fletcher, Mary Randa Kapp

Theses

The following narrative is a personal account of the experiences, observations, and awarenesses of two students completing their Masters degrees in counseling psychology. It represents an effort to document what we view as an identifiable and stress-producing process of growth occurring within an academic framework. We feel that this duality of personal growth and professional development is inadequately addressed in graduate programs. Yet, we have found this unstated, underlying, and inevitable threat of uncertainty, risk, and change to be as predictable a reality as the theoretical coursework required.

This paper is written not so much to prove a point as …