Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

Three Sisters Exchange: Building Alliances And Promoting Justice From The United States To Ecuador, Ariel Climer

Capstone Collection

This paper presents a proposal for a social justice and action-based study abroad program with foundations in the short-term reality tours of the education and human rights-based NGO, Global Exchange, a far-reaching non-profit with friendships built on solidarity against the spread of elite globalization. The program is called the Three Sisters Exchange to honor the sustainable design of indigenous crop planting prevalent around the world. The design comes at a time when international educators offer few programs with foci in social justice. The international education field needs more sustainable programs that take into account global systems. A propagation of such …

Positive Discomfort: Structured Student Reflection In International Service-Based Programs: A Social Justice Curriculum, Stephanie K. Kraemer

Capstone Collection

In the fall of 2009, Princeton University launched the Princeton Bridge Year Program—a service-based, international, pre-freshman “bridge” or “gap” year for 20 accepted students sent to four different countries. Princeton chose the international social enterprise ProWorld Service Corps as its partner organization to run the Bridge Year Program in Urubamba, Peru. Princeton University and ProWorld Peru both state a very clear intention in running this program: to transform participants. Their explicit goal is to turn out students who have a global perspective and are compassionate, humble, aware, innovative and inspired.

But how should program-providers, out in the field, actually accomplish …

Paradise Lost, Found Or Created? Expectations Between Teachers And Vulnerable Children: Case Study On Peace House Secondary School, Northern Tanzania, Kelli Bee

Capstone Collection

The orphans and vulnerable children of northern Tanzania are offered a unique opportunity of education if selected to attend Peace House Secondary School. The school selects the most needy of this ostracized demographic and offers high quality education by focusing on student-centered techniques.

This study investigates the expectations between students and teachers using ethnographic methods carried out in 2010 and 2011, including student-wide survey, classroom observations and interviews with both teachers and students. Student perspective was intentionally of particular focus in data collection.

The study found that expectations which were shared by all participants revolve around passing exams. Students are …

An Investigation Of Higher-Order Thinking Skills In Smaller Learning Community Social Studies Classrooms, Christopher Fischer, Linda Bol, Shana Pribesh

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study investigated the extent to which higher-order thinking skills are promoted in social studies classes in high schools that are implementing smaller learning communities (SLCs). Data collection in this mixed-methods study included classroom observations and in-depth interviews. Findings indicated that higher-order thinking was rarely promoted in SLC classes. Interview data suggests several factors affecting teaching for higher-order thinking in SLC social studies classrooms. These include: high stakes testing, pacing pressures, teachers' dispositions and training, and teacher autonomy.

Philosophy For Teenagers: Finding New Relevence In Old Concepts, Andrea Monteath

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In 2008, the Curriculum Council of Western Australia launched a formal curriculum of philosophy and ethics education for upper secondary students. This thesis is a writing project that provides a new teaching text in support of this course. The thesis is composed of two components, a creative project and an essay. The creative project is a work of non-fiction entitled, Philosophy for Teenagers: Finding New Relevance in Old Concepts, and has been researched and designed employing the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) Philosophy and Ethics course model. Philosophy for Teenagers aims to provide an innovative introduction to concepts such …

Funding The Fundamentals: A Peace First Teacher’S Recommendations For Increased Quality Sixth Grade Curriculum To Effectively Engage And Educate An Increasing Quantity Of Students., Pamela Gonzales

Capstone Collection

In the United States, the top 20% of the population owns 85% of the wealth. This leaves only 15% of the wealth for the rest of the population. This clear disparity of wealth, in combination with the common practice of racial segregation (created by 300 years of inequality) has direct correlations to violence in United States cities. Boston is one of these cities. Impoverished minority neighborhoods are struggling because they exist in a society that is essentially ignoring them. There are fewer opportunities in poor minority neighborhoods, particularly for young people. As a result, a cycle of violence has continued …

Rewriting The Upside Down World: A Reflective Curriculum To Provoke Perspective Transformation And Personal Development Among Ecuaexplora Participants, Katerine A. Mcconnell

Capstone Collection

Rewriting the Upside Down World is a reflective curriculum designed to foster perspective transformation and personal development among EcuaExplora participants. EcuaExplora (EcEx) is a volunteer, intern and study abroad organization that places participants in sustainable projects within its portfolio of health, environment and socio-economic development partners throughout Ecuador. EcEx recently expanded from its base in Guayaquil to include a broader network of Ecuadorian NGO partners in Quito and across the country. The widespread location of its project sites, often in remote areas of the jungle, Sierra and coastal regions, precludes one-on-one gatherings for reflection on participants´ experiences in the field. …

Hector's Helpers Program: Project Compendium, Hector's Helpers

Anti-littering Programs

The Final Project Report reflects activities and accomplishments that occurred during the course of the Task Agreement within BLM Youth Initiative Hector’s Helpers: Youth Combating Litter and Desert Dumping. The project was funded by the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada State office, on behalf of the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). The agencies have jointly worked together for several years under the Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (GBCESU) master agreement FAA060058 in order to develop a strategic plan to combat litter and desert dumping.

The Hector’s Helpers program provides an opportunity to bring environmental …

The Need For School-Based Drug Prevention Programs In The Curriculum, Theodore Waldeck

McNair Poster Presentations

Drugs are still a problem facing our children. Studies have proven that prevention programs are beneficial to our children. In fact, one study, states that for every $150 spent per child for a program, $840 is saved in crime and healthcare costs (Caulkins, Chiesa, Pacula, and Paddock, 2002). What would the savings be if we educated our children from kindergarten, all the way through high school, instead of one, or a couple of years? Therefore, this study is to explain the need for implementing school-based drug prevention programs from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Storytelling As Loving Praxis In Critical Peace Education: A Grounded Theory Study Of Postsecondary Social Justice Educators, Amanda Smith Byron

Dissertations and Theses

Looking through the philosophical lens of love, this study seeks a deeper understanding and appreciation of how postsecondary social justice educators use storytelling, in the context of critical peace education, to create social change. This research explores the guiding question of how storytelling is used to encourage social change and to inspire action toward the goal of greater social justice. The argument for the importance of this research is located within the crisis of neoliberalism, where the very tenets of democratic education are being challenged by an educational agenda that favors standards-based learning and employment training over the critical and …

A Mixed Methods Study Of How The Transition Process Impacts The Autonomy Of Pre-Service Secondary Mathematics Teachers, Linda Kasal Fusco

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This mixed methods study sought to identify the impact that transition into the practice of teaching had on the autonomy of pre-service secondary teachers of Mathematics.  It was based on the belief that a Mathematics teacher’s autonomy depended on: beliefs about Mathematics and how it was learned, reflections on the teaching practice, and social constraints of a secondary school culture. Data was collected between January 2009 and March 2010.  In Phase I (Quantitative) the participants (N = 30), selected from ten State University of New York teacher preparation colleges and universities, completed five instruments to quantify the three factors of …

Connect - October 2009

Connect

No abstract provided.

Does Socio/Economic Status Affect Environmental Awareness In Elementary School Children Interacting With School Gardens?, Grady C. Erickson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This is a case study involving three elementary schools in the greater Lincoln, Nebraska area. These schools were chosen to provide insight to three different economic backgrounds. Saratoga and Randolph from Lincoln Public Schools, and Norris Elementary part of Norris Public Schools 160 was the third school involved in the study. This case study focused on seeing whether socio/economic background had any effect on environmental awareness. To do so, surveys were handed out to each school to help measure environmental awareness. These surveys also helped determine where the environmental literacy standards were in the elementary schools of Lincoln, Nebraska. The …

Educators' Attitudes Toward Outdoor Classrooms And The Cognitive Benefits In Children, Carlie Speedlin

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

A case study was organized at a K-5 elementary school in Lincoln, Nebraksa. This school is Saratoga Elementary School and is a United States Title I Distinguished School1 under No Child Left Behind. It has a population of 266 students, with 47% being minority, 1% gifted, and 28% special education (LPS School Profile Brochure). 80% of the student population is eligible for free/reduced meals, implying that it’s a school with a lower socioeconomic status. At this school a garden space was constructed and an after school garden club was implemented for this case study. The club had been running since …

Teaching Note - Then And Now: Canadian And American Students Discover Each Other, Andrew C. Holman

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Ending Generational Poverty: A Contemporary Application Of The Work Of Paulo Freire In Nicaragua, Los Angeles And Uganda, Nicole Broom

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Para disminuir el nivel de pobreza generacional en poblaciones marginalizadas, hay que explorar formas educativas alternativas porque los esfuerzos existentes no han mostrado una habilidad para reducir ese fenómeno. A pesar de las diferencias en geografía y el estatus socioeconómico de los países de origen de esas organizaciones, las siguientes instituciones comparten ciertos fundamentos filosóficos, muchos de los cuales corresponden a las teorías de Paulo Freire en Pedagogy of the Oppressed, que sirven como prácticas efectivas para servir a poblaciones marginalizadas: Pearl Lagoon’s Academy of Excellence en Laguna de Perlas, Nicaragua; Camino Nuevo Charter Academy en Los Ángeles, California; …

The Relationship Of Personality Traits To Satisfaction With The Team: A Study Of Interdisciplinary Teacher Teams In Rhode Island Middle Schools, Michele D. Humbyrd, Robert K. Gable

Teacher Education

Shared practice in schools has emerged; teachers are moving from isolation to team collaboration where personality traits could be related to quality interactions. Team personality traits and team satisfaction were examined. A survey and interview approach was used for N = 244 full-time teachers from N = 49 interdisciplinary teams at N = 7 middle schools. Descriptive, correlational, multiple regression analyses and coded themes about team members’ personalities and interactions were employed. No significant relationships were found between the BFI traits and Satisfaction with the Team. Team-level analysis indicated a significant negative correlation between Satisfaction with theTeam and Extraversion and …

Ua41 University College Connection, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

España Y El Buen Ciudadano: El Debate Educativo, Thomas Mcafee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During the spring of 2010 I volunteered in the Colegio Cristo de la Yedra as an English language tutor. My original plan was to work in a human rights organization, but this fell through and I therefore decided to help students learn English. While volunteering at this school, I taught four English classes every week, with students whose levels ranged from beginner to intermediate. During the first week, one of my students told me that he did not like the football team Barcelona F.C. because he thought it was just a tool of the Catalan government and that it promoted …

Problematic Conceptualizations: Allies In Teacher Education For Social Justice, Vonzell Agosto

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

This review of the literature on the concept ally and ally identity development was inspired by a qualitative study exploring the identities and social justice values of prospective teachers of color. Although the participants in the original study never used the term ally, their narratives inspired me to characterize them as allies in the struggle for social justice education. However, a review of the literature on allies, as analyzed through critical race theory and critical discourse analysis, revealed emerging conceptualizations of ally as incongruent with minority identities as they position people of color at the periphery of this social justice …