Education Commons^™

Growing Together: Cultivating The Social-Emotional Effects Of Art Education Through Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, Kaitlyn Lawrence

Masters Theses

In many societies, the process of art is recognized as a healing and transformative practice. In recent years, it has been emerging in tandem with social emotional practices and procedures in American education. However, it is also a fact that social emotional learning (SEL) does not account for all students due to its inability to account for the needs of all students in the classroom. SEL alone aims to teach healthy development and emotional management skills, but fails to account for students with varying experiences. While there are those who can and do integrate the skills from the Social Emotional …

An Autoethnography Journey: Social And Emotional Learning In A Post-Covid Classroom, April Edwards

Masters Theses

In this autoethnography journey, we explore the question, "What resources are available for teachers to use to guide SEL instruction, and how effective are those resources post-pandemic?" Post-COVID-19 pandemic, we noticed that our students needed more social interaction time in the classroom. Student behaviors increased alongside teacher frustration. Districts immediately began to see this struggle in the school systems and the growing concern from parents and teachers. Our children were not taught how to respectfully express their social and emotional needs due to the lack of opportunity to practice with others. During this study, we found that teachers …

Liquid Border, Yingfan Jia

Masters Theses

A River is a mighty and constantly-evolving force, leaving behind an intricately designed and constantly changing system. Not just a river, the Rio Grande stretches all the way from Colorado before intersecting with the US-Mexico Border in southern Texas - a point where the powerful forces of nature now merge with a clearly-defined political boundary. The outcome of this is a unique ecological niche, which may often go unnoticed despite its distinctiveness.

Texas is famous for its farms and ranches, and the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas was once an agricultural hub. However, urbanization and the depletion of water …

Academic Faculty Perceptions Of Student-Athletes, Jacob M. Mueller

Masters Theses

The purpose of this qualitative study was to find what perceptions did academic faculty have of student-athletes, if any, at a midsized Midwestern Division-I institution. The study addressed a gap in literature that existed of researched perceptions academic faculty members had of the student-athlete population as there was a lack of literature related to student-athletes through that lens. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Identity Theory for theoretical conceptualization of the data, the study was able to find tangible evidence for the existence of perceptions of student-athletes from academic faculty and what behaviors, exposure, and experiences related to …

Strategies For Raising Low Test Scores Of Minority Students, Shanika Y. Mcclendon

Masters Theses

Abstract

This project is an in-service professional development to prepare teachers for implementing effective strategies for raising minority test scores on standardized tests. These strategies focus on the development of vocabulary and on students’ self-efficacy. The literature shows that the failure for African American and minority students to be successful on standardized test is likely due to lack of support, resources, and adequate preparation. Furthermore, the literature reveals that most of these tests are probably biased toward these students’ cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Studies also show other factors such as stress, stereotyping, depression, and anxiety. Taking into consideration these factors, …

Unchallenged And Obedient: Status Of Nigerian Junior Secondary School Social Studies Curriculum, Toluwalase Solomon

Masters Theses

Bolstering best practice social studies pedagogy is crucial to raising analytical, responsible, moral, and civic-minded students in Nigeria. This study, using content analysis research methods, examined the contents of Nigerian junior secondary school (JSS) social studies curriculum materials to determine the extent to which the curriculum aligns with major social studies teachers’ epistemologies (citizenship transmission, social sciences, and reflective inquiry). Though there have been numerous studies on examining the major social studies teachers’ epistemologies—citizenship transmission, social sciences, and reflective inquiry—yet few have examined the extent to which Nigerian social studies curriculum materials aligns with these epistemologies. Three major findings emerged …

Three Justifications For Support Of Female Student Affairs Professionals, Anna Filipek Adams

Masters Theses

Female student affairs professionals have experienced much advancement in the field. Yet we still suffer gender discrimination in our career paths, salaries, and work experiences. Unfortunately, this issue is not seen as important by decision makers, due to the acceptance of slow change, the past reluctances to begin this discussion, and the arguments of critics. In order to reinvigorate our growth and advancement in the field, I argue that there is value in supporting female student affairs professionals.

I justify the value of supporting of female student affairs professionals from student affairs, human resources, and cultural studies perspectives. From a …

An Orchid In The Land Of Technology: Embodied Presence In A Mediatized World, Kevin Dodd

Masters Theses

This thesis applies the Aesthetic philosophy of John Dewey to the current discourse about mediatization and performance in an effort to explain how a Deweyan conception of embodied aesthetic experience can contribute to meaningful experience and human flourishing in a mediatized culture. The relationship between live presence and technological mediatization is often characterized as oppositional. Through an explication of the process of mediatization and manifestations of presence, this relationship can instead be viewed as reciprocal. An overview of Dewey's theories of experience and aesthetics refutes dualistic thinking and demonstrates how faculties of perception can be engaged and our capacity for …

An Exploration Of The Impact That Postmodernism Has On Competition In Sport, Shara Crow

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact that postmodernism has on competition in sport. Previous studies compartmentalized social thought and competition in sport. This study appreciates that the two are connected, and it is through this connectedness that the impact emerges. By describing, finding, and analyzing relationships through text as well as notating text iteratively, it was found through a postmodernist critical awareness to meta-narratives that sport is expressed in two main themes: (a) identity (b) and hierarchy/authority. Moreover, both of these themes are interrelated to social interaction. These findings indicate that social interpretation impacts the complex …

Acculturation And Identity Development Of Deaf Ethnic Minorities, Glennise Candice Schlinger

Masters Theses

This study examined whether experiences in the family and the education systems could influence Deaf ethnic identity development. Data were collected via administration of the Deaf Acculturation Scale (DAS). Participants’ responses were assessed as outlined by the developers of the DAS (Maxwell-McCaw & Zea, 2011). Results suggested that parents’ attitude towards their child’s deafness may affect the deaf individual’s identity development. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with four deaf ethnic minority participants: One Venezuelan American and three African American. Two hearing parents (both mothers) also participated in the interview: one Venezuelan American and one African American. Thematic analysis was used …

Pretending Teaching Is A Profession: Why Public School Teaching Will Never Be Considered A True Profession, Melissa Ann Harness

Masters Theses

My endeavor in this thesis is to discuss why teaching is not, and has never been considered, part of the true professions. Although much rhetoric is aimed at classifying teachers as true professionals and the teaching field as a true profession, the historical, sociological, and societal means that govern the ideological foundation of a true profession are lacking in the field of education. By using a historical, sociological, philosophical, and linguistic analysis of the words “true profession”, along with “unions”, private teaching organizations, etc., I am able to demonstrate not only why teaching is not a profession, but that …

Psychosocial Theories Of Development: Socializing Future Educators In Modernity, Jennifer Jill Niedzielski

Masters Theses

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the implicit curriculum of high-profile theories of identity and moral development as commonly found in collegiate-level educational psychology texts. My primary concern is the manner in which Erik Erikson's and Lawrence Kohlberg's theories of development implicitly convey modernistic frames of mind of the autonomous individual at a level that goes unnoticed. The manner in which the implicit curriculum socializes future educators to adopt the autonomous individual frame of mind is problematic for our natural world.

The aims of this paper are significant because they illuminate the notion of the autonomous individual as …

The Crisis Of Perception In Education: The Scientific And Historic Evolution Of Systemic Educational Reform, Cynthia C. Phillips

Masters Theses

This study presents a literature synthesis that pertains to the evolution of systemic reform. A hermeneutic and heuristic template illuminates the historical tapestry of educational reform. Examination of the antecedents of four waves of educational reform, indicates that an impending paradigmatic shift parallels and perhaps prompts the evolution of systemic reform. The learning organization metaphor builds the synthesis for the following supposition: the history and philosophy of science drive the construction and deconstruction of mental models held by society. The crisis of perception alludes to the possibility that current mental models, established under the Newtonian paradigm, serve to motivate dysfunctional …

The Effect Of Early Childhood Special Education Teaching Theories On Their Classroom Environments, Cheryl L. Mortimer

Masters Theses

With passage of P.L. 99-457 educators in the United States are going to need to take a very close look at early childhood special education. There will be many new programs beginning in areas where teachers and administrators may be poorly informed. Early childhood special education is effective,but an examination of what part of these programs make it effective needs to be addressed. This study examined how a teachers theoretical orientation toward teaching can affect their preschool special education classroom environment. The environment was evaluated by a section on a survey in which points were accumulated for different environmental factors …

An Appraisal Of A Current Trend In Educational Theory As Presented In A Recent Textbook, Alice Elizabeth Tolle

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Philosophy Of Education As It Influences The Elementary Building Program, Loren Eugene Klaus

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.