Education Commons^™

Critical Discourse Analysis Of Human Rights Education: Defensoría Del Pueblo Program In Ecuador, Monserrat Fernandez-Vela

Latin American Studies ETDs

This dissertation recognizes Human Rights Education (HRE) discourse as a multifaceted and multimodal construction situated socially and historically. Using a Multimodal Critical Discourse Study (MCDS), the research explores the HRE discourse proposed by the Defensoría del Pueblo de Ecuador (DPE), the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) in charge of designing, approving and implementing contents, methodologies and resources of HRE initiatives nationwide. I focus on the educational, communicational, and ontological discourse of the DPE, materialized in three books published in 2015-2016. The results addressed the stenghts of the communicational and educative content and design of the books, showing the levels of …

Teachers’ Perspectives Of The Observation Process Within The Evaluation, Christine E. Lenhart

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

One of the largest challenges for administrators is to create and implement teacher evaluation systems that help improve teaching and student learning. As policymakers and administrators have worked throughout the United States to develop and implement new teacher evaluation systems, teacher involvement in developing those teacher evaluation systems has been limited. Specifically, the evaluation process and the tools used in a state in the southwestern part of the United States to evaluate teachers do not incorporate teachers’ perspectives, yet they directly impact teacher standing, ability to receive tenure status, and, in some cases, their salary.

The purpose of this research …

Beyond Spectator Sports: Scale Development And Validation For Mediated Sports Consumption, Min Jung Kim

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

One apparent trend impacting spectator sports is the shift in sport fans’ consumption opportunities, having now gained many alternative formats to access sporting events. Sport fans are allowed intentionally and constantly to move from platform to platform and access content on demand. These substitute platforms, including home television, online streaming, social networking, sports bars, and movie cinema, are considered mediated sports consumption, alternative outlets to actual physical attendance of sporting events. As the phenomenon of mediated sports consumption has become a predominant means of spectating sports consumption practice, it is more important than ever to identify and understand how mediated …

Using The Linguistic Experiences Of Youth And Their Families As Curriculum: The Language Box Project, Molly A. Perara-Lunde Ms.

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This qualitative curricular case study investigated the implementation of a project called the Language Box in a seventh grade Humanities classroom in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I worked with the classroom teacher to design the Language Box project, which focused on the language use practices of the students and their families. We designed the project with the goal of addressing issues of home language loss, bilingualism, and English language acquisition. The students in the classroom were almost exclusively Hispanic, many came from low income families and some were undocumented. Each student acted as a researcher, investigating the language use practices in …

Non-Traditional Hispanic Women Students In Post-Secondary Education, Melanie C. Zollner

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Today, the Hispanic population is the fastest growing minority in the United States. As a minority-majority Hispanic state, it is imperative that New Mexico addresses the needs of this population, particularly education, as it creates opportunities for growth. Historically, the Hispanic population experienced limited access to education, which impacted their access to income and occupation, making them expendable.

Throughout history, women have faced inequality. In the United States, women had to overcome several obstacles to have access to education and be allowed to enroll in post-secondary education (Hagedorn, Womack, Vogt, Westebbe, & Kealing, 2002). It must be noted that the …

Knowledge And Desires Of Parents Of Middle School Students With Intellectual Disability Regarding Inclusive Education Laws And Practices In South Korea: Qualitative Case Study, Yunji Jeong

Special Education ETDs

The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge and desires of parents of middle school students with ID regarding inclusive education practices and laws in South Korea. I interviewed seven mothers of children with ID who attended South Korean middle school. Three themes emerged including (a) mother-teacher communication, (b) particular knowledge that suppressed further desires for inclusive education, and (c) culture-based advocacy for inclusive education. I discussed these findings based on Confucianism, collectivism, social and medical models of disability, and Rawls’s theory of justice. The mothers neither knew about inclusive education laws nor valued the laws. Instead, they …

How Schools Create Healthy Testing Cultures And How Principals Use Standardized Test Data To Become Leaders Of Learning, Holly A. Gurule

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Standardized tests are not new to the field of education. The problem with them seems to lie in the ways these tests are now being used as criteria for various high-stakes decisions such as teachers’ evaluations, school grades, school sanctions, and even graduation from high school with a diploma. With so many different uses for standardized tests, it is easy to see how our perception of them has become skewed.

This bounded case study of a small elementary school in a large urban district centered on shifting the focus away from looking at standardized tests as a negative, as mere …

Preservice Teachers' Perceptions Of Readiness For Teaching In A 1:1 Classroom, Laura Jeffery

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

With the emergence of digital technology as a primary means to communicate and learn, it is imperative that educators become proficient in utilizing 21^stcentury digital tools and apps. However, research has shown that preservice teachers' levels of readiness for teaching in 1:1 classrooms are not sufficient. Preservice teachers need to increase their proficiency with technology, both hardware and software, in order to maximize student achievement and prepare their future students for a wide array of post-secondary options.

This study examined the perceptions that preservice teachers held regarding their readiness to step into 1:1 classrooms upon completion of their …

Linguistic Discrimination Against Native Spanish Speakers In The New Mexico Bar Examination In The 1970s, Marie Chávez

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

In the 1970s, many people from Hispanic backgrounds, whether their first language was Spanish or English, who had graduated from law school took the New Mexico Bar Examination. A disproportionately large percentage of them (compared with their counterparts who did not come from Hispanic backgrounds) did not pass the Bar Examination. They therefore were denied admission to the bar. This dissertation examines how this came to be.

The study centers on the history of identity politics in New Mexico for Spanish-speaking people and their descendants. It examines the relationship between language and ideologies about race and ethnicity, as well as …

Communicative And Collective Formative Program Evaluation: A Descriptive Case Study Of Experiences Of Teachers And Students In Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Khawaji

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Saudi students who matriculate in programs of higher education in Saudi Arabia confront major language obstacles that hinder their academic output, due to the transition from high school, which employs Arabic-language instruction, to the English-medium of instruction in post-high school education. Preparatory Year Programs (PYPs) established to aid students’ transition, from Arabic to English, have not produced satisfactory results (Alseweed & Daif-Allah, 2013). Those programs have rarely been submitted to any form of formative evaluation procedures (Barnawi, 2011).

This descriptive case study embarked on evaluating formatively the English Language Teaching (ELT) in a Saudi university through bridging the perspectives or …

School And Community Expectations In A Small, Rural, Northern New Mexico School, Mónica J. Martínez-Archuleta

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

School leaders find themselves in constant reflection of their academic ranking in a time of national reform. With the No Child Left Behind Act and Every Student Succeeds Act, expectations around school and student performance are created to compare against national standards. Rural communities have undergone significant social and economic changes due to the decline of family farms, accompanied by people leaving and closing of businesses all which have dramatic effects on rural schools (Petrin, et. al. 2014). With increased attention on academic achievement at the state and federal level, it is imperative that we understand how rural schools address …

Jack D. Forbes And The Search For A Decolonizing Philosophy Of Education, Joshua T. Frank

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This study seeks to explicate and advance contemporary deimperial and decolonial philosophies of education through a reflexive archival inquiry and comparative textual analysis of the corpus of California Indian educational leader (Renape/Lenape) Jack Douglas Forbes (Jan. 7, 1934-Feb. 23, 2011). This study looks across Forbes lifetime at the development of his conception of education and peoplehood-nationhood, his critique of imperialism and colonialism, and finally his development and advocacy for decolonizing-deimperializing forms of education. I will describe his growth as an Indigenous scholar-warrior reading and writing across diverse types of data sources, or as I name all throughout this study as …

Resaka Kolontsaina Le Raha (It Is About Cultures): Cultures And Foreign Language Teaching In Madagascar, Iarintsambatra Rijasoa Andriamanana Josoa

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

For years, teaching and learning a foreign language (FL) has been equated to exclusively discover and master that target language and its related cultures. There has not been any exploration of other features such as the native language and local cultures in a foreign language classroom. Using a participatory action research, the aim of this study was to tell the story of six Malagasy high school teachers collaborating in a Teacher Learning Community (TLC) to construct and put into practice pedagogical approaches that celebrate and sustain Malagasy students’ identities, cultures, and experiences through classroom activities, and capitalize them for basis …

Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Improves Cognitive Function Among Cvd Patients, Terence A. Moriarty, Kelsey Bourbeau, Christine Mermier, Len Kravitz, Ann Gibson, Nicholas Beltz, Omar Negrete, Micah Zuhl

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Objective: Investigate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) exercise training on cognitive performance and if the changes are associated with alterations in prefrontal cortex (PFC) oxygenation among patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Design: A single group pre-post design. Setting: An outpatient CR program. Subjects: Twenty (15 male, 5 female; mean (SD) age 64.8 (11.6) yrs) patients from an outpatient CR program. Intervention: At least 18 individualized CR sessions (approximately 6 weeks). Main measures: Pre- and post-CR changes in cognitive performance (a measure of 5 constructs from the NIH Fluid Cognition test battery), left-PFC and right-PFC activation (measured using functional …

A Dialectical Relational Analysis Of Tesol Quarterly 2006 Special Issue On Race: Discourse, Race, And White Supremacist Ideology, Ginger A. Looney

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Although the field of TESOL is not racially neutral this dialectical relational analysis examined (1) what discourses did the authors use to deploy race in the articles in the 2006 TESOL Quarterly Special Issue on Race (TQSIR)? and (2) how do these discourses work to either conform to, or resist white supremacist ideology? Analysis of the texts identified four key discourse: racialization, whiteness, emotional labor of racism, and sonic and optic negation of racism. These discourses were examined in the domains of scholarship, curriculum, teachers, and students. In 21 instances, these four discourses work to resist white supremacist ideology. …

Acknowledging The Genealogical: A Deleuzian Hermeneutics Of Narrated Identity, Dietger S. De Maeseneer

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The purpose of this paper is to express the vast scope of identity literature into a practical hermeneutical framework through which to interpret both my personal identity claims and experiences and those of five individuals in New Mexico. Furthermore, it investigates the impact of such framework on educational leadership. Referring back to the work Deleuze and Guattarri (1987), I explore identity ontologically through the three lines (the line of flight, the molecular line, and the molar line) and place these within a horizontally interpreted concentric circle diagram. The line of flight symbolizes the immanent characterized by pure difference and Ideas, …

Found In Space: A Cross-Linguistic Analysis Of Second Language Learners In English Map Task Performance, Susan K. Metheny

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Understanding the relationship between first and second language use in the area of spatial language has broader implications for our understanding of language learning and consequences for the construction of bilingual assessment instruments for second language learners. This study shows that observing and interpreting the task of map drawing and the related behavior of explaining maps can be a way to explore the linguistic emergence of the conceptualization of spatial language (at a moment of simultaneous and synchronized incarnation). Altogether, 50 dyads (pairs) participated in the New Mexico Map Task Project; the project included native speakers of English, Russian, Japanese, …

A Systemic Functional Linguistics Analysis Of The Discourse Of English Friday Sermons, Ahmad Alenezi

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

On every Friday, in every mosque in the world, Muslims gather for Friday sermons in answer to the call: “O you, who have believed, when [the adhan] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu’ah [Friday], then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave trade. That is better for you, if you only knew” (Quran, 62:9). Typically, the Friday prayer is shortened by half to accommodate the presentation of the Friday sermon; this emphasizes the importance of the sermons. The present study is a discourse analysis that examined 12 sermons delivered on the first Friday of every …

The Identification Of Formulaic Sequences In Urdu Language And Their Pedagogical Implication For Sla (Esl/Usl), Hafiz-Muhammad Fazal E Haq

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

In this study, an effort has been made to explore formulaicity in the Urdu language and its pedagogical implication in second language acquisition, both for English as a second language and Urdu as second language learners. It is believed that formulaic sequences or prefabs make more than fifty percent of a language. These formulaic sequences are of various kinds encompassing idioms, proverbs, collocations and sometimes, simple fillers. For the current study, data will be collected from two widely circulated Urdu newspapers. The data will consist of lexical chunks or formulas, which will be identified on the basis of eleven criteria …

Teacher Perceptions Of Environmental Science In Rural Northwestern New Mexico Public Schools, Marie Quiahuitl Julienne

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

In this study, I explored what teachers perceive as the factors that impact their teaching of environmental science in rural secondary level schools in northwestern New Mexico. I adapted Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) ecological systems model, based on four environmental subsystem levels (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem), as the conceptual framework to address the major research question of this study, and developed 18 interview questions to explore teachers’ perceptions of factors that influence their teaching of environmental science. I investigated the perspectives science teachers have about environmental science topics and the influences they perceive that affect how they teach environmental science, and …

Are Steps Per Day Enough? Quality Versus Quantity Of Ambulatory Behavior After A Light-Intensity Physical Activity Intervention For Older Cancer Survivors., Elizabeth Michaela Harding

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Physical activity and exercise are powerful means by which to preserve physical function, and stave off mobility loss, morbidity and mortality. Historically, physical activity (PA) interventions have been structured around the national guidelines for PA and exercise. However, some populations such as older adults and those with chronic disease and mobility limitations may find these recommendations too rigorous or daunting. Consequently, they tend to spend more time engaged in sedentary behaviors that further exacerbate the already detrimental effects of age and chronic disease. PA interventions that serve to bridge the gap between sedentary behavior and exercise are needed as our …

Supporting Pre-Service Teachers With Skills From Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Almut K. Zieher

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

Mindfulness trainings, which tend to include daily home meditation practice, have been found to improve in- and pre-service teachers well-being, but findings indicate that participants struggle to complete the recommended home meditation practice. A mindfulness training based on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills may be a more feasible training format for teachers because the home practice is informal and easily integrated into daily life. DBT skills are also discrete and easy-to-understand and directly relate to the intrapersonal and interpersonal challenges teachers face. Although DBT skills-based trainings have been used with non-clinical populations, to date no study has been identified exploring …

Affecting Social Change For Transgender And Gender-Expansive Children: Exploring Advocates' Perspectives, Cortny Stark

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

This interpretive case study explored the experience of advocates as they pursue social change for transgender and gender-expansive children (ages 4-12). The aim of the study is to improve current understanding of the process of advocacy for this population, as well as the context in which advocacy efforts occur. Data consisted of hour long interviews, advocacy artifacts as recommended by participants, and the researcher’s field journal. Participants included 12 advocates from a variety of backgrounds and geographic locations within the United States, to include educators, community advocates, and helping professionals. Implications of this study may include increased understanding of the …

Toward A Nuevomexicana Consciousness: An Exploration Of Identity Through Education As Manifest Through The Colonial Legacy, Mercedes V. Avila

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of the colonial legacy in informing the New Mexican Educational System in the present day. I engage a group of three self-identified young Nuevomexicana students in seeking to understand the spaces in which one must maneuver in order to thrive in an otherwise marginalizing system of Western Academia. Through a qualitative study, I hope to identify the intricacies of the New Mexican identity and the relationship these students hold with their determined homeland. By implementing the methods of interview, and participant observation in an undergraduate freshmen classroom, I will investigate …

Social Determinants Of Health And Variability In Weight Trends Of Children Of Low Income Families Living In New Mexico, Molly Aileen Morrison

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

When evaluating the prevalence of obesity rates throughout New Mexico (NM), it appears these rates have reached a plateau. A recent study conducted by the NM Department of Health (DOH) found that NM was among 19 other states that have had a first time decrease in child obesity rates among low income families. However, when examined deeper, when looking at geographical areas throughout NM, hidden geography of weight disparities become apparent. Although obesity rates may have decreased in some areas, they have increased in others. The purpose of this study is to effectively evaluate variability in weight trends between geographical …

Transborder Testimonios Of Language Learning And Socialization, Maria Teresa Guevara Beltrán

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This qualitative study utilizes a Chicana/Latina feminist lens and the Latin American tradition of Testimonio to explore Spanish-speaking immigrants’ experiences of migration, language learning and socialization, paying close attention to the ways in which the multilayered intersections of identity, race, class, gender, nationality, language, citizenship and power shape these experiences. In the context of a grassroots English as a Second Language class, testimonios are elicited through multimodal data collection methods, including visual, oral and written forms. Critical perspectives of second language learning and second language socialization research in bilingual contexts provide a multidisciplinary framework for this study, bridging conceptual parallels …

An Odyssey To The Self: Voices Of L2 Arab Writers And Institutional Practices, Majed Abduallah Alharbi

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

The term ‘voice’ has been a pivotal metaphor in the fields of composition studies and applied linguistics, and it still has a strong implicit and/or explicit presence in the U.S. classroom. This critical case study examines 6 Saudi graduate student writers’ voices in various U.S. universities. Data were collected by analyzing texts of students’ papers and in-depth interviews with each participant. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as an overarching framework and analytical tool, this study examines the voices of Saudi students as they resist and/or perpetuate dominant ideologies both in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia when writing in their L2 …

The Underrepresentation Of Hispanics As Tenured Or Tenured Track Professors: A Critical Analysis Of Hispanic Faculty Experiences At Three Southwestern Universities, Frank R. Tellez

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

THE UNDERREPRESENTATION OF HISPANICS AS TENURED OR TENURED TRACK PROFESSORS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HISPANIC FACULTY EXPERIENCES AT THREE SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITIES by Frank R. Tellez B.S., Political Science, and History, University of New Mexico, 2000 M.A., History, University of New Mexico, 2004 Ph.D., Language, Literature & Sociocultural Studies, University of New Mexico, 2019 ABSTRACT The numbers speak for themselves. Hispanics are underrepresented in the tenure or tenure-track professorships. This study focuses on barriers Hispanics must overcome to obtain tenure and tenure-track positions in higher education successfully, and once hired to navigate promotion from assistant to associate to full professor. The …

Perspectives Of Behavioral Health Providers In School Based Health Clinics (Sbhc) About Behavioral Health Services And Low-Income Adolescent Males’ Academic Achievement, Suzanne Gagnon

Nursing ETDs

ABSTRACT

Low-income adolescent males are subject to both health and educational inequities. Male adolescents are the least likely of all pediatric age and gender groups to access either primary care or behavioral health services. This same population is most likely to not complete high school or college. Health and educational outcomes are both affected by social determinants. School-based Health Centers (SBHCs) are known for providing access to primary care and behavioral health services for low-income and vulnerable populations. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to identify themes from one-on-one semi-structured qualitative interviews with behavioral health providers, who provide …

Rich Points In Between Cultures, Languages, And Pedagogies: Experiences And Perspectives Of International Teaching Assistants In The Usa, Natalia V. Rud

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

ABSTRACT

This study presents a qualitative, multiple case, instrumental case study which explores experiences and positionality of International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) in the US academia. Drawing from, first, the earlier research which focuses on ITAs’ language, culture, and pedagogy with, mostly, a “deficit” perspective and, second, from recent publications which concentrate on exploring ITAs’ identities and perceptions, this study investigates how ITAs approach differences and similarities (rich points) during everyday discourses in their various communities of practice. The conceptual framework is represented by Agar’s (1996, 2006) vision on rich points (differences and similarities); Lave and Wenger’s (1991) concept of community …