Education Commons^™

Pre-Service Teachers’ Engagement In A Discourse About Integers From A Sfardian Perspective, Douglas M. Platt

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study describes the way 14 pre-service teachers engaged in discourse about integers. The discourse being examined is framed by Sfard’s view of a discourse as being composed of the four elements word use, visual mediators, routines, and narratives (Sfard, 2008). These elements combine to form a means for people to exchange and preserve ideas and coordinate actions within a society. Each of the participants in this study engaged in a seven question, semi-structured interview (Merriam, 2009), which included prompts for the enactment of computations modeled with colored chips and the number line, in addition to written and spoken representations. …

Online Connectivity : A Social Study Of Educators’ Affinity For Teaching And Learning Using Social Media, Beverly R. Plein

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative study investigated an online space for educators, known as #sschat, for the purpose of helping to inform and shape more formal professional learning experiences. Participants were able to engage in asynchronous and synchronous discussions related to social studies education by interacting in any of the four hashtags associated with the #sschat affinity space (i.e., #engsschat, #hsgovchat, #sschat, #worldgeochat), the #sschat Facebook page, the archived #chat sessions, and/or by contributing to the creation of the weekly #worldgeochat questions.

Seven common elements of Gee’s affinity spaces conceptual framework were used to frame this study. This framework drew attention to the …

Learning To Teach Physics : Exploring Teacher Knowledge, Practice, And Identity, Nellista E. Bess

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Urban and rural high schools in the United States often struggle in regard to the staffing of their physics classrooms with qualified teachers. Some states have responded to this challenge with education policy as a means of addressing the critical shortages of physics teachers by permitting inservice teachers to attain physics certification through endorsement programs. Although research on alternative certification typically evaluates and compares diverse models, this study focuses on teachers’ own perceptions of their experience in the aforementioned program, as well as their learning and development in and beyond preparation for physics endorsement.

In this qualitative multiple case study, …

Cultivating Success : How Two General Education Teachers Created Inclusion Classrooms For Their Students, Natalie A. Lacatena

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative study examined the beliefs, instructional practices, and classroom climate of two general education inclusion teachers working in a single-teacher context. For purposes of this study, a single-teacher context was defined as a classroom in which a general education teacher instructed general education students and students with identified needs without the collaboration of a special education teacher. Two general education middle school teachers, nominated by their colleagues as successful at working with included students, completed a belief survey, participated in three one-on-one interviews, and were observed on eight separate occasions. A Disability Studies in Education lens was used as …

State Of Mind : A Poststructural Analysis Of Governmentality And Teacher Education Professionalism Using Policy Texts, Todd A. Bates

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This dissertation comprises a multilayered inquiry into the complex interplay between governance and teacher education. It adopts Goodlad’s (1990/1994) stance that teacher education best serves democratic society when it is self-governing and maintains decision-making authority with respect to the preparation of teachers. However, pervasive and prescriptive state and federal policies create a regulatory context that supplants the ability of teacher educators to exercise authority over fundamental aspects of their work, including the identification, recruitment, preparation, and assessment of future teachers.

Bacchi and Goodwin (2016) argue that prevailing educational policy critiques underexamine governmentalities—mindsets that render individuals and societies governable (Foucault, 2007). …

Collaborative Teacher-Driven Professional Development : The Documented Journey Of A Practitioner Action Research Teacher Study Group, Brenna D. Bohny

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Laws such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the Every Student Succeeds Act have shaped the landscape of education in many ways, including how professional development is structured. As a result, professional development has become increasingly limited to training teachers to carry out top-down mandated reforms based on subject-knowledge rather than concentrating on teacher learning efforts focused on the growth of adults as learners (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2006, 2009; Hirsch, 2006; Mertler, 2010). Organic, teacher-driven professional development, such as action research, provide teachers with opportunities to disrupt the often paternalistic power structures that currently exist. …

In Their Own Words: Teachers Make Meaning Of Participation In A Community Of Practice, Laura Lee Ripley

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Recent studies on effective professional development in schools have paid attention to the concept of learning done in professional communities, but ignore teacher recommendations and voices. This case study focused on the meaning teachers made from participation in a community of practice in a school implementing reforms.

Founded in Wenger and Lave’s concept of the community of practice, defined as groups of people who come together routinely and who learn to do things better as a result, this study follows a community of practice in the face of a significant school reform where very little other professional development had been …