Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

Teaching Spirituality As Ontology In Public Schools. A Response To "Democratic Foundations Of Spiritual Responsive Pedagogy", Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon

Democracy & Education

In “Democratic Foundations of Spiritually Responsive Pedagogy,” Lingley worried that talk of spirituality is taboo in U.S. public school classrooms. Lingley pointed out that the dominant narrative demands silence on the topic. She wanted to make the case for spiritually responsive pedagogy as vital to an inclusive democracy. I begin this responsive essay by describing Lingley’s argument, and then I strengthen her argument through my work on relational ontologies. When we equate spirituality with ontology, we realize it is impossible to avoid teaching spirituality in our schools, for we begin passing on to our children our fishing nets to help …

Is Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Enough? Toward Culturally “Real”-Evant Curriculum. A Response To "Democratic Foundations For Spiritually Responsive Pedagogy", James A. Gambrell

Democracy & Education

In this response to Lingley's (2016) article "Democratic Foundations of Spiritually Responsive Pedagogy," the author invites the framework of (a)spiritually responsive curriculum to include a more direct engagement with a culturally relevant curriculum as well. The author agrees with Lingley's postulation that (a)spirituality is deeply embedded within the worldview of many students in K–12 classrooms, whether educators include this important aspect of their epistemology or not. Similar to the problems that come when we ignore identities of race, gender, (a)sexuality, (dis)ability, and social class, ignoring these important characteristics of students’ lived experiences is detrimental to learning outcomes and reinforces dominating …

Ypar, Critical Whiteness, And Generative Possibilities. A Response To “Sam And Cristina: A Dialogue Between A High School Teacher And Student About The Commoditization Of People Of Color”, Chris Corces-Zimmerman, Jamie Utt, Nolan L. Cabrera

Democracy & Education

In this response to the article by Tanner and Corrie, the authors provide three critiques of the methodology and theoretical framing of the study with the hopes of informing future scholarship and practice. Specifically, the three critiques addressed in this paper include the integration of CWS frameworks and YPAR methodology, the application and description of CWS and YPAR frameworks, and the role of power in the relationship between educator and student that served as the central medium for the study.

Examination Of The New Tech Model As A Holistic Democracy, Jill Bradley-Levine 4355986, Gina Mosier

Democracy & Education

Using the Degrees of Democracy Framework (Woods & Woods, 2012), we examined eight New Tech (NT) high schools to determine the extent to which they demonstrated characteristics of holistic democracy. We collected qualitative data, including observations and interviews during the fourth year of implementation. Findings indicated that the eight NT schools demonstrated many features of holistic democracy with a few exceptions. This study has implications for researchers and school communities interested in measuring holistic democracy in other schools and within school models.

Gracefully Unexpected, Deeply Present And Positively Disruptive: Love And Queerness In Classroom Community., Benjamin Lee Hicks

Occasional Paper Series

During the winter of 2011, I was moving through some of the more overtly physical phases of gender transition. At the time, I was also a grade 6 teacher in a public elementary school. My presence as a visibly transitioning person in that environment was never intended to be a coming out; it was a choosing in… and there is a difference. I was “out” because I was visibly different, and I was visible because that difference was not expected. I - as a teacher of young children who identifies as a non-binary person, as genderqueer, as trans, and …

“It’S Non-Existent”: Haunting In Trans Youth Narratives About Naming, Julia Sinclair-Palm

Occasional Paper Series

Often, choosing a name is one of the first ways trans people begin to assume a different gender from the one they were assigned at birth. Stories about the process of choosing a name reveal how trans youth negotiate their relationship with their old name and their emerging sense of identity. Working with Avery Gordon’s Ghostly Matters (2008), I explore the ghostly ways birth names remain in the lives of trans youth. Gordon’s concept of ghosts presents an opportunity to think about how trans youth experience their birth name and the complex ways trans youth negotiate their identity at school.

Teaching Trans*: Transparent As A Strategy In English Language Arts Classrooms, Joseph D. Sweet, David Lee Carlson

Occasional Paper Series

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how to incorporate a popular television series about being trans*gender into the secondary English Language Arts curriculum. The authors conduct a series of two-hour interviews with the creative and writing teams of the popular television show, Transparent, and examine how to incorporate this material in the English Language Arts classroom along with their combined 16 years of teaching experience. The paper discusses how to incorporate fuse writing assignments and literature activities with adolescents in order to educate young adults about the experiences of being trans*gender as well transform teaching practices as they …

Changing The Shape Of The Landscape: Sexual Diversity Frameworks And The Promise Of Queer Literacy Pedagogy In The Elementary Classroom, Cammie Kim Lin

Occasional Paper Series

Analyzing LGBTQ-inclusive children’s literature and teaching practices in the elementary classroom, the author outlines a vision for a queer literacy pedagogy. The article begins with a description of four different sexual diversity frameworks: homophobia/heterosexism, tolerance/visibility, social justice, and queer. It includes an exploration of children’s literature and teaching practices that exemplify each framework, making explicit the connections between theory and practice. It then expands on the theories, principles, and practices composing queer literacy pedagogy. The article will be of particular interest to teacher educators and elementary classroom teachers, though the frameworks are equally applicable to all levels and settings.

The Sky's The Limit: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum On Sustainable Architecture Within Urban Communities, Sierra Van Ryck Degroot

Graduate Student Independent Studies

As trees continue to fall and buildings rise in our expanding internationally-linked cities, the future of technology, design and the health of the environment rests on instilling the importance of sustainable practices in future generations. In this interdisciplinary curriculum unit designed for grades 3-5 in the New York City metropolitan area, students are studying and then developing their own models of multi-purpose skyscrapers, utilizing sustainable technologies to reduce environmental impact.

The Curriculum Development Of Experienced Teachers Who Are Inexperienced With History-Based Pedagogy.Pdf, John Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15.0px} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px 'Times New Roman'} span.s1 {font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'} span.s2 {font: 7.0px 'Times New Roman'} Contemporary American education initiatives mandate half of all English language arts content is non-fiction. History topics, therefore, will increase within all elementary and English language arts middle level classrooms. The education initiatives have rigorous expectations for students’ close readings of, and written argumentation about, numerous texts representing multiple perspectives about the same historical event, era, or figure. Practicing English language arts teachers must adjust …

Training The Masses: Cultural Competency Training: Ethics And Practices Of Sharing Training Designs For Others To Facilitate: Reflections And Recommendations, Jess K. Mccue

Capstone Collection

This course-linked capstone will focus on the ethics and practices of sharing training designs for others to facilitate. It will look closely at my own experience in sharing cultural competency training designs with others within my organization to facilitate. It will focus on the design itself, but more in-depth on the process of sharing designs and healthy collaboration among facilitators and design creators. My experience took place at City Year Boston where over 260 volunteers enter into our AmeriCorps program to work in Boston Public Schools.

For this capstone I will focus on one project in particular that I developed: …

Higher Education: The Impact On Bosnian Women Who Came As Refugees To The United States, Belma Sadikovic

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the impact college education has on Bosnian refugee women who resettled to the United States. The research findings help us better understand the effect higher education has on female students who came to the United States as refugees, their self-sufficiency and their overall integration into their new society. Using Kunz’s refugee theory and Bourdieu’s theory on social and cultural capital as a theoretical framework, the study explores socio-cultural factors that enable and constrain the ability of Bosnian women to navigate the facets of higher education, and how those factors affect their self-sufficiency and overall integration. The participants …

"Y'All And All These Assessments Is A Little Bit Too Much" : The Effects Of High-Stakes Testing On Critical Literacy Pedagogy., Diana Lalata

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

As the United States of America becomes increasingly diverse, there is a need for teachers to embrace multiculturalism within the classroom. Shifting away from the traditional “banking model” of teaching, educational researchers call for a more critical approach—one in which teachers and students challenge dominant beliefs and practices of education. Foregrounded in those aims of cultural competence and critical consciousness, “critical literacy pedagogy” addresses the politicization of literacy education and employs conscious curriculum and teaching strategies to empower marginalized voices. Although a number of case studies on critical literacy pedagogy show considerable promise in disrupting dominant discourse and developing cultural …

A Retro Development In Education: Evaluating The Feasibility Of Integrating Place-Based Education Into Mississippi Curriculum Standards, Colby K. Mcclain

Honors Theses

This thesis evaluates the feasibility of integrating place-based environmental education activities from Think Green, Take Action: Books and Activities for Kids into the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE) Frameworks for Science and Social Studies for K-5. As children develop and experience the world, their ability to understand and interpret the surrounding environments expand; however, Mississippi schools are not focused on experiential environmental education, even though experiencing and understanding the surrounding environment is vital in fostering eagerness to learn. Due to a growing disconnect between humans and the natural world, this thesis examined 37 place- and environment-based activities for children, sixteen …

A Curriculum Of Civic Responsibility : Transitioning Black American Students To College-Level Writing., Jamila M. Kareem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation considers how racialized differences educational experience transition with Black students as they perform the expectations of college writing curriculum. I address the question: in what ways can a first-year writing curriculum centered on civic responsibility aid in smoother transitions from secondary to postsecondary academic writing for Black students at predominantly White institutions? My study applies racial and critical race methodologies framed within the tenets of critical race theory, institutional whiteness, and the absent presence of race in composition studies. I apply the methodologies in three key ways: analyzing transition practices through racialized perspectives; evaluating general education writing curriculum …

Media, Borders, And Citizenship: Internationalization And Social Justice In An Undergraduate Communication Program At A Public University In New England, Kristi Mientka

Capstone Collection

Higher education in the U.S. is becoming increasingly internationalized, a process which is necessitated by the global economy and the increase in communication and mobility across borders. The process of internationalization has many effects on institutions, programs, faculty, and students. It also has many purposes, among them to improve students’ future employability and to foster understanding of social issues. The communication discipline, which encompasses a variety of studies ranging from media production to interpersonal communication, has seen the effects of internationalization. Those effects are evident in evolving curriculum and pedagogy that reflect the shifting dynamics of the media landscape and …

Of Lizards And Language, Bernadette Gongora

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

No abstract provided.

Using Visible Thinking Routines To Teach About The Impact Of Colonialism On Race Within The Language Arts Classroom, Carol Kelly

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Particularly within Language Arts, the curriculum has historically been based around the classics of Literature, which are heavily dominated by wealthy white men. Finding suitable materials to teach from, whilst still providing the background knowledge of the traditional canon, is a challenge to effective teaching about diversity. I am aware that I come from a culture of whiteness, and this makes me wary of my own biases when teaching about cultural diversity. When approaching this topic I have drawn upon a variety of resources, and this paper will use a mixture of academic research, teaching materials, and self study to …

A Wood Comes Toward Dunsinane: The Synthesis Of Traditional And Constructivist Methodologies, Randall L. Kaplan

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Education professionals now favor Constructivist and project-based strategies for learning over Traditional methods, which include such frowned upon practices as rote memorization and recitation. The Constructivist approach is being taken to its natural apex by educators like Larry Rosenstock who have created Constructivist utopias such as High Tech High in San Diego, the school put under the microscope in the 2015 documentary film Most Likely to Succeed. Project-based, experiential units of study are effective, exciting, and edifying for both students and teachers. They promise to prepare students for the type of world they will inhabit, a world whose economy …

Searching For Ourselves: African Cultural Representation In Children’S Books In The United States, And Implications For Educational Achievement, Lulama Moyo

Sustainability and Social Justice

Using documentary and discourse analysis of children’s literature I explore the extent to which there is a multicultural gap in children’s literature to reveal the prevailing challenges of the colonized and Eurocentric values embedded in the contemporary education system that supports the monocultural socialization of young children in their early formative years. I translate my research through examining four thematic ways on how the multicultural gap is manifested which are subject matter, the lack of African writers, degree of complexity of diasporic experiences, and confronting whiteness. By focusing more specifically on the gap in African diasporic children literature, I review …