Education Commons^™

Critical Literacy And Identities In World Language Education: Telling Reflective Stories Of Digital Storytelling, Keiko Konoeda

Doctoral Dissertations

This paper explores a digital storytelling project in world language education conducted as critical literacy (Janks, 1991; 2000). Digital storytelling here entails the analysis and production of short videos (called digital stories) that tell a storyteller's personally significant experience by digitally combining a voice-over, images, and music. In other words, this study theorizes digital storytelling in a world language as pedagogical opportunities to examine the effects of language in use and to transform their relations to language through the production of and reflection on "identity text" (Cummins et al., 2005). Two areas of guiding questions were: the design process and …

Bay Area Student Involvement In The Environmental And Food Justice Movements: A Narrative Of Motivations, Experiences, And Community Impact, Laura E. Solof

Doctoral Dissertations

Many California public school students lack exposure to any formal, academic curriculum that emphasizes environmental awareness and activism. This may result in a population of adults who believe they know more about the environment than they actually do, lack the skills to compete in an expanding green job market, lack creativity and the ability to problem-solve, suffer from obesity, depression, anxiety, and attention disorders, and unknowingly contribute to the ever-increasing problems of air and water pollution, land and habitat destruction, and other environmental injustices. Community organizations and university programs are filling this much-needed gap in student environmental education, as they …

Participatory Perspectives: A Photovoice Narrative Study Of Zambian Vulnerable Youth, Lori K. Imasiku

Doctoral Dissertations

The United Nations' Millennium Development Goals aim to meet the needs of the world's poorest people by 2015 through universally agreed upon targets. Goal number two aims to provide universal primary education and states that "by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling" (United Nations, 2010). Zambia, located in Sub-Saharan Africa, in an effort to increase school access and attendance, developed the Free Basic Education Plan which eliminated school tuition up to grade 7 and allowed for a large number of children to enroll in school. While this effort …

A Multi-Case Study Of Teens Who Write Outside Of School For Their Own Purposes, Paula Jill Henderson

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomenon of the teen writer as defined as one who answers readily to the label of writer and who reports writing regularly outside of school for his or her own purposes. The research questions guiding this work are: (1) What do these young people write on their own time and for their own purposes? and (2) Why do young writers choose to write and how do they value and understand their own writing practices? In this multi-case study, seven teenage participants were interviewed twice, invited into any of three focus groups …

Mature Women Beyond Foster Care: Narratives On Fractors Contributing To Subjective Well-Being And Life-Sustaining Skills, Marie Elizabeth Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

Studies show that African American children enter foster care at a higher rate and remain in foster care longer. The numbers of Black children in foster care increases in any given year. Studies found that even when controlling for risk and poverty, race affects the decision of whether to provide services or remove children from their families. Although poverty may serve as an indicator of risk, when race is included, it changes the decision threshold.

African American women who aged out of foster care and are living self - sustaining lives are small in number and there is an absence …

The Balance Of Public And Private Identities For Lesbian Teachers, Delanna Kay Reed

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Although tolerance and acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people is growing in the United States, misconceptions and heterosexism still abound. Schools are one of the institutions where traditional gender roles are promoted and homosexuality is often ignored or punished. Too often lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students are bullied by their peers while teachers look the other way. LGBT teachers often fear they will lose their jobs and social standing in the community if they are open about their sexual orientation. This environment provoked me to research lesbian teachers’ perceptions of heteronormativity in their private and …

The Construction And Performance Of Adulthood In 18- To 25-Year-Old Ged Students: A Narrative Exploration, Clara Amelia Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is a narrative study designed to address the changing meaning of adulthood for youths matriculating into adult basic education programs by drawing from the interdisciplinary perspectives of postmodernism, critical social theory, and narrative methodology. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of adult basic education students, ages 18 to 25, and their construction and performance of adulthood. Twelve GED students, ages 18 to 25, enrolled in local non-profit adult education programs, were interviewed individually regarding their experience of leaving high school, transitioning into an adult education program, and their construction and performance of adulthood. …

Exploring The Leadership Practices Of Social Justice Leaders At Urban Charter Schools, Kandle Fraser

Doctoral Dissertations

While by and large urban public schools continue to not serve the needs of all of the students in their communities, there are some school principals who are creating educational equity for all of their students and deserve to be called social justice leaders. This study aimed to expand the field of school leadership studies and focus on social justice leaders in charter schools using a phenomenological interview methodology. Each of four participants was interviewed in three 90-minute sessions. The first interview focused on the person's life history before becoming school leaders, the second was on their leadership practices, and …