Education Commons^™

A Fiction Of Fragmented Falsehoods: Curriculum Of Unwanted Roads Traveled, Katherine Wyatt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is an inquiry centered on lived ‘otherness’ in different social experiences. Fiction and illustrations are both creative outlets that provide opportunities of curriculum growth by offering the viewer realistic portrayals dealing with truth and factors that make us fundamentally human. “Fiction elicits an interpretation of the world by being itself a worldlike object for interpretation” (Dillard, 1988, p. 155). This study uses fiction and illustrations as vehicles of communication to provide an awareness regarding social issues in everyday lived experiences, exposing the reader to the social, cultural and historical realities persistently impeding the shared constructs of human experiences. Structuring …

Poetically Composed, Educationally Imposed: Exploring Imagination And Poetics In Curriculum—A Memoir, Whitney J. Presnal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through the use of memoir, my work centers on how poetry is situated within public education curriculum. I explore the curricular context of poetry through the lenses of my lived experiences in early childhood, as a K-12 student, and as an early career classroom teacher. My dissertation draws upon a wide array of literature, honing in on the poetic perspectives of philosophers (Aristotle, 1996; Heidegger, 1947 & 1971/2013; Plato, 1955/2007), poets (Hall, 2003; Eliot, 1920 & 2009), and curriculum theorists (Leggo, 1997 & 2018; Pinar, 1994; Sameshima, 2007). The foundation of my work is drawn from my own circular experiences, …

The Nature Of Imagination In Pedagogy: A Qualitative Study Of An Elementary School Setting, Perry S. Shank

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The task of this dissertation is to assess the popular thought of teachers on the topic of imagination and uncover how they incorporate imaginative methods into their current teaching practices. I attempt to ascertain the origination of these current perspectives through an analysis of the imagination from a historical perspective. Through portraiture, a qualitative research tool, I examine how the imagination is currently engaged in an elementary classroom setting. The research questions that guided this inquiry were as follows: 1) What is the intention of teachers who utilize imaginative teaching methods/strategies, 2) what types of instructional practices, activities, and learning …

Waldorf Kindergarten And Reggio-Inspired Kindergarten: Documenting Value And Effectiveness Of Two Arts-Based Approaches, Daria Stowell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Waldorf kindergarten and Reggio-inspired kindergarten are two arts-based approaches to early childhood education that are viewed as strong educational alternatives to traditional education and serve as sources of inspiration for progressive educational reform. This study describes, interprets, and appraises the intentions and operations of two Waldorf kindergartens and two Reggio-inspired kindergartens in the United States in order to uncover the aims, practices, and values of both.

Five questions guide this study: (1) What are the intentions of Waldorf kindergarten and Reggio-inspired kindergarten? (2) What do Waldorf kindergarten and Reggio-inspired kindergarten look like in practice? (3) What do the children have …

A Mixed Method Study On The Role Of The Imagination In The Reading Comprehension Of Low-Progress Adolescents, Enrique A. Puig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Founded on the importance of the imagination according to Greene (1995) and set by the Executive Summary of the 911 Commission Report, the mixed methods grounded theory study looks at a correlation between a set of instruction practices recognized by Egan (2008) for nourishing and developing the imagination and low-progress adolescent students’ comprehension. Descriptive data are provided on the school, students, teachers, and district where the study was conducted to illustrate the limitation and delimitations of the study. The study is limited to low-progress adolescent students as identified by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and uses pre and post Florida …

Landscapes Of Imagination: A Critical Analysis Of Art Textbooks, Lynda C. Kerr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: This qualitative study examined imagination in secondary art textbooks, both historically and in the current educational climate. An arts-based inquiry, as described by Barone & Eisner (Jaeger, 1988), investigated how imagination is manifested in some art books, how the standards movement has tended to limit imagination in art textbooks, and how art textbooks could expand students' imaginations. Using a framework based on the theories of Dewey (1934/1980), Greene (2001), and Eisner (2002), four art textbooks were analyzed for their qualities which expand students' imaginations. The study described a design for an imaginative art textbook. Analysis focused on the …

How Kindergartners' Talks And Drawings Inform Our Ways Of Developing A Curriculum Of Caring And Imagination, Lisa Audet Aliotta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how kindergartners' talks and drawings inform our ways of developing a curriculum of caring and imagination. The mandates of kidnergartners' curriculum tend to emphasize children's mastery of literacy skills while ignoring their natural development and imagination. Author's abstract: This study explores how kindergartners' talks and drawings inform our ways of developing a curriculum of caring and imagination. The mandates of kindergartners' curriculum tend to emphasize children's mastery of literacy skills while ignoring their natural development and imagination. There is a need for developing a curriculum that embraces children's diverse needs, releases their imagination, and cultivates their highest …