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Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

Navigating Context Collapse: A Strengths-Based Approach To Building Youth Civic Empowerment. A Response To “Blended Spaces: Reimagining Civic Education In A Digital Era”, Ellen Middaugh, Mariah Kornbluh, Mark Felton

Democracy & Education

In the article “Blended Spaces: Reimagining Civic Education in a Digital Era,” the authors joined a new area of research on "civic media literacy," or the capacity to use media with civic intentionality. Building on previous scholarship that examined how to support youth capacity for effective civic inquiry, dialogue, expression, and action in the digital age, the authors contributed to this literature by usefully elaborating on the phenomenon of “context collapse” and the challenges this blurring of the boundaries between public and private spheres may present, particularly in the liminal spaces where the shifting boundaries most clearly depart from the …

Learning From Literature And Legality: Supreme Court Cases And Young Adult Literature In A Social Foundations Of Education Course, Cody Miller

Democracy & Education

In this article, I detail how I revised a social foundations of education course to center major Supreme Court cases relating to K–12 public schools. Scholars in social foundations of education have articulated a vision for the field that fosters and promotes democracy and democratic dispositions. Focusing on the Supreme Court in a social foundations of education course is the result of two factors. First is the Supreme Court’s storied role in shaping K–12 public education. Second is the Supreme Court’s increasingly steep lurch toward antidemocratic jurisprudence, which many legal scholars and journalists covering the judicial branch are raising alarm …

Teachers In Elementary Schools…Do They Have What They Need?, Claire Smith

Education | Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand a group of teachers’ perspectives and experiences about inequitable access to instructional materials for students in K-5 classrooms and the effect this lack of access has had on the teaching and learning process (Albornoz, Berlinski, & Cabrales, 2018). The problem identified for this project was that instructional materials (including textbooks, curriculum documents, and technology) are not equally available at all K-5 schools. Hahnel (2020) discussed how even though California is one of the wealthiest states in the nation, funding awarded to schools in California was not enough to meet educational goals or …

Our Magnitude And Bond: An Ethics Of Care For Art Museum Education, Dana Carlisle Kletchka

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

This work responds to contemporary concerns about the future of art museum education and public practice and art museums more broadly in the wake of a global pandemic that has, at present, killed more than a million people in the United States and sickened millions more. I respond to questions posed by the board of the Journal of Social Theory in Art Education in relation to the theme of Inclusion Invasion, expand upon the relations between art museums and communities posited by a post-critical, socially responsive museological framework, and explore the potential for a feminist philosophical Ethics of Care …

Navigating The Context: Implementing Inquiry In The Middle School Social Studies Classroom, Juliann Noble Healy

Doctor of Education in Secondary and Middle Grades Education Dissertations

Abstract

Despite over a century of advocacy by social studies scholars and professionals and the development of curricular resources to promote inquiry-based learning (IBL) in K-12 social studies, inquiry is not a defining element of the K-12 social studies classroom (Saye, 2017). Teachers face significant barriers to the use of inquiry-based learning. In particular, contextual barriers such as curriculum breadth, high-stakes testing, and lack of context-specific resources are indicated (e.g., Konopack et al., 1994; Martell, 2020; Voet & Wever, 2016). However, recent research presents applications of IBL in K-12 social studies classrooms, which suggests the potential to overcome barriers. This …

Staar Preparation: How It Affects The Perceptions Of Third-Grade Students, Taylor Whitworth

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

Test preparation is a hot button topic in education today. Many studies have looked at students’ and teachers’ perceptions after the administration of the STAAR test. This study investigated third-grade students’ perceptions of the STAAR before and after previous-form test preparation interventions. The researcher used observations, surveys, and interviews to collect data. The data was analyzed using the constant comparative method and descriptive statistics. The author found five major themes that answered the two original research questions. Most students had negative perceptions of the STAAR test prior to intervention, and these often stemmed from information from family members. Overall, the …

Perceptions Of Introverted Students And Their Teacher In A Middle-School Elar Classroom, Kimberly Rempel

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this study was to determine introverted students’ perceptions about their honor’s ELAR class and to determine if they succeed better with choice board assignments versus non-choice assignments. This study was conducted at a West Texas middle school in an honor’s eighth-grade ELAR classroom. Students completed the Myers-Briggs personality test to determine their status as introverted or extroverted (Myers & Myers, 2014). Data was collected through a survey, student and teacher interviews, and student assignment grades. Data was analyzed through the constant comparative method, and students’ grades were compared using descriptive statistics. The study found that teacher and …

Mindfulness Practices In A First-Grade Classroom: Impact On Student Behavior And Student And Teacher Perceptions, Lesslie Picena

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

There has been a rising interest in examining the effectiveness of implementing mindfulness practices to improve students’ behavior. The purpose of this study was to measure the effects that implementing mindfulness practices had on first-grade students’ off-task behaviors during lessons and transitions and to understand students’ and their teacher’s perceptions of the mindfulness practices that were implemented. A mindfulness intervention was implemented for three weeks. Tally sheets and journal entries were gathered to record and reflect on student behavior. Post-intervention surveys, individual student interviews, and a teacher interview were utilized to gather the participants’ perceptions. Quantitative data was analyzed using …

Marxist Analysis Of Social And Economic Narratives In Childrens' Cartoons, Shane Mcgregor

Theses and Dissertations

Using a Marxist framework with a grounding in critical literacy, this study employs a content analysis methodology to analyze 25 episodes of five of the most popular children’s television cartoons in order to understand how these cartoons portray economic and social systems, as well as how the messages these cartoons express would tend to support these systems. In so doing, this research hopes to provide a conceptual framework that educators and parents can use as a guide for demonstration of a critical approach to understanding the curriculum of children’s media inside or outside of the classroom. Educators can modify this …

The Effectiveness Of Using Phonics Instruction And Interventions In Elementary Classrooms, Brittany Kasprick

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Nationwide students have struggled to achieve reading proficiency as measured by standardized tests. Reading is a critical tool for academic success. Lack of reading skills and strategies may contribute to difficulty in several aspects of academic life for students. Research has shown that phonics skills play a crucial part in determining if a student will achieve independent readership. Phonics skills may be foundational building blocks upon which students can develop further reading skills, culminating in independent readership, particularly in early elementary school. Daily phonics interventions may help improve a student’s performance in reading. The focus of this particular, quantitative study …

Cameroonian Immigrant Youths: Perceptions Of Influences On Educational Attainment And Outcomes In American Schools, Marlise De Paul Ngassam

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study uses the lens of expectation theory to highlight the educational achievements of Cameroonian youths in American educational institutions as it also examines their individual educational experiences and the many challenges (social, cultural, and academic) that each encountered in his or her journey toward significant educational outcomes. Findings from this study challenge the misconception that students coming into the United States other than from Asia and Europe are academically inferior to their counterparts born in the U.S. Six francophone Cameroonian-born young adults between the ages of 19-30 residing in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area participated in this study. …

Experiences Of School Administrators And Teachers: Challenges And Promising Practices During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Helen Teresa Hyde Carter

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the lived experiences of teachers and administrators as reflected in their responses regarding instructional materials, instructional delivery, social and emotional well-being of students, and access to critical school services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants shared their experiences about how the instructional materials and delivery modes were selected as well as the guidance and support given by school administrators. Major challenges and concerns along with promising practices related to student engagement, social and emotional well-being of students, and access to critical school services were identified.

A Comparison Of Two Approaches To Promote Multiplication Fact Fluency In Fifth Grade, Jordyn Berger

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Fifth grade students are expected to be fluent in basic multiplication facts by the start of fifth grade, however many are not (Minnesota Department of Education, 2007). When fifth grade students are not fluent in basic multiplication facts, they struggle to understand and master grade level skills and standards (Allen-Lyall, 2018; Burns et al., 2012; Ok & Bryant, 2016; The Math Learning Center, 2017; Wong & Evans, 2007). This quantitative research study compared two classwide approaches to promote multiplication fact fluency in fifth grade. Throughout the research phase, one fifth grade math class practiced multiplication facts for ten minutes each …

The Effects Of Social-Emotional Learning, Classroom Relationships, And Collaborative Learning On Students’ Emotional Intelligence And Academic Achievement, Slade Simpson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Within educational settings, people are quick to blame intellectual development, or a lack thereof, for students’ shortcomings. However, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in issues related to students’ mental health and emotional well-being that have been detrimental to their academic progress. This quasi-experimental study investigated whether or not development of emotional intelligence through the use of social-emotional learning, relationship development, and collaborative learning has a positive impact on a students’ academic achievement. The results of this study were used to help determine if an educational focus on emotional intelligence can provide a viable option to combat …

The Effectiveness Of Explicit Literacy Instruction On Kindergarten And First-Grade Student’S Decoding Abilities, Megan Parenteau, Monica Parenteau, Stacy Olson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

There is a growing concern among educators regarding how children best develop early literacy skills. Due to this educational concern, the purpose of this study was to investigate and build a better understanding of how explicit and systematic phonics, phonemic, and phonological awareness instruction impact kindergarten and first-grade student’s ability to decode text. Participants of the study included students currently enrolled in the researcher’s kindergarten and first-grade classrooms within two elementary schools consisting of 54 students. The researchers modeled and taught literacy skills and concepts on a daily basis with all students using explicit and systematic literacy instruction. The research …

The Effectiveness Of Explicit Literacy Instruction On Kindergarten And First-Grade Student’S Decoding Abilities, Monica Parenteau, Megan Parenteau, Stacy Olson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

There is a growing concern among educators regarding how children best develop early literacy skills. Due to this educational concern, the purpose of this study was to investigate and build a better understanding of how explicit and systematic phonics, phonemic, and phonological awareness instruction impact kindergarten and first-grade student’s ability to decode text. Participants of the study included students currently enrolled in the researcher’s kindergarten and first-grade classrooms within two elementary schools consisting of 54 students. The researchers modeled and taught literacy skills and concepts on a daily basis with all students using explicit and systematic literacy instruction. The research …

Message And Meaning: Media Literacy And Racial Literacy Among Secondary-School Students, Warren Hynes

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This qualitative study explored the ways in which student use of media literacy tools and different media source materials can influence the conclusions students draw about race in the United States. The author visited eighth-grade social studies students in two different schools (one more economically advantaged; one more economically disadvantaged) for six visits apiece. During these visits, students engaged with several media sources (controlling for bias) covering two issues related to race (housing and immigration). The goal was to determine how the overall use of media literacy tools and the different types of source materials can influence the ways in …

Reevaluating Student Engagement: Exploring And Applying Alternative Assignments In Higher Education Undergraduate Applied Saxophone, Anthony S. Cincotta Ii

Dissertations, 2020-current

Undergraduate applied saxophone study revolves around the conservatory model. This inflexible model, often referred to as a master-apprentice relationship, can create an instructor-centric power dynamic which does not address the needs of the modern student. A classroom where the power lies so heavily with the instructor can stifle student engagement and can create a sense of disenfranchisement. In this setting, students have limited input on their assignment selections. While curricula have evolved with regards to being more culturally diverse, relevant, and inclusive, the approach that educators use to deliver the material has remained largely unchanged. There is limited research on …

Teaching Social-Emotional Learning (Sel) In A Pandemic, Charley Todd, Tori L. Colson, Moriah Smothers

Journal of Practitioner Research

Teaching Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has become increasingly more common in the American school system, and many districts have adopted curricula or strategies to promote its usage. Research has continued to show that students receive various short- and long-term benefits when SEL is taught in the classroom. However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed how SEL instruction was given, and the implications are far-reaching. The purpose of this study is to describe the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on how SEL was taught. In addition, the study identifies challenges and possible solutions to ensure that SEL is taught during incredibly challenging …

Meeting The Jche Team: A Reconstructed Interview, Heesoon Bai, Charles Scott, Cary L. Campbell, Jwalin Patel, Yifan Sun, Jing Lin, Hyeyoung Bang, Sachi Edwards, Deepa Srikantaiah, Yishin Khoo, Denise L. Mchugh

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

This “reconstructed interview-conversation” involves the entire editorial team of the Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education (JCHE). Together, the team dialogues around the shared visions, aspirations, motivations, and aims we have in creating this new journal platform. With this sharing, the team sends out a welcoming invitation to colleagues from around the world to get to know our new journal and to join our work to support and promote contemplative and holistic education. We at JCHE are committed to the ideal of education as transformative integration of mind-body-heart-spirit, which we ultimately understand as a decolonizing project. Through this interview, various …

Investing In Connection: Exploring The Online Graduate Student Experience, Michelle Vaughan

Journal of Practitioner Research

Within the context of online learning, there are challenges presented by the virtual medium that may lead to diminished experiences in learning. Without a physical connection or the ability to feel the support from your teacher, online students can be left isolated, and the pedagogy can easily slip into an execution of tasks as opposed to a pedagogy of care. My inquiry into the online graduate student experience began with a survey to understand how online graduate students describe their experiences as an online learner and their relationships with their instructors. A thematic analysis of their responses revealed themes regarding …

Indigenous Pedagogies: Land, Water, And Kinship

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

A Pedagogy Of Water: Rio Grande/Rio Bravo As Ancestral Waters, Marissa Aki’Nene Munoz

Occasional Paper Series

The purpose of this research project is to facilitate intergenerational teaching and learning of Indigenous knowledge by the frontera communities of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo. Our river is our main source of clean water, and is also a militarized, international border between the US and Mexico. I used the stories and teachings of local Indigenous elders to create a Pedagogy of Water that focuses on the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo as part of the sacred, ancestral landscape of south Texas. This project strengthens the community by connecting multiple generations to the land and river where we live, and demonstrates the perseverance …

Indigenous Water Pedagogies: Cultivating Relations Through The Reading Of Water, Forrest Bruce, Megan Bang, Anna Lees, Nikki Mcdaid, Felicia Peters, Jeanette Bushnell

Occasional Paper Series

In this paper we put forth a model of Indigenous pedagogies that cultivate more ethical relations and complex thinking about water. The first dimension of Indigenous water pedagogies is relations with water which involves ethical decision-making involving water and other more-than-human beings that are in relation to water. The second dimension is reading water which involves learning to make sense of complex phenomena to build theories and explanations about water is it exists in the environment. Together, these two dimensions support complex thinking and decision-making about water in a way that is guided with reciprocal relations with water. We discuss …

Indigenous Pedagogies: Land, Water, And Kinship, Anna Lees, Megan Bang

Occasional Paper Series

Indigenous communities, across lands and waters, engage in and build complex knowledge systems emergent from particular values and ways of perceiving and being in the world (Cajete, 1994; Deloria & Wildcat, 2001). Indigenous knowledge systems, values, and ways of being are understood and enacted within socio-ecological systems grounded in reciprocal kin relations. Meaning: for Indigenous peoples, teaching, learning, living, and being in relation with human and more-than-human beings is central to our knowledge systems. In Issue #49 of the Bank Street Occasional Papers, Indigenous Pedagogies: Land, Water and Kinship, we bring together Indigenous educators and researchers to demonstrate how Indigenous …

Examining The Benefits Of Adding Mindfulness-Based Programs In The Curriculum Of Undergraduate And Graduate Social Work Programs: A Review Of Literature, Sarah M. Dickerson

Honors Thesis

Undergraduate and graduate students are often enveloped in an array of stress and anxiety, and it is no surprise that undergraduate and graduate social work students are faced with high amounts of stress due to vicarious trauma as a result of exposure to via coursework and experiential learning. It also comes as no surprise that social work professionals are exposed to numerous stressors causing the burnout rate for social workers to be high. Mindfulness techniques are used in various cultures and religions around the world with the purpose of synching mind and body. Using mindfulness techniques, individuals can be fully …

Inner Work: Foundational To Contemplative And Holistic Education, Avraham Cohen, Thomas Falkenberg

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

In this interview (conducted by Heesoon Bai), Avraham Cohen and Thomas Falkenberg speak about the origin and practice of their respective inner work and about the need for and ways of bringing more inner work into the world.

2023 Great Expectations Spring Faculty Conference: Education For Humanity, Academic Affairs

Spring Great Expectation Faculty Conference

The 2023 Great Expectations Spring Faculty Conference featured a speech by keynote speaker, Tamara Bilous, Professor of English, Rivne State University, Ukraine.

Professor Tamara Bilous is Educator in Residence at Otterbein University for spring semester (2023). While affiliated with Otterbein, she has engaged in professional development opportunities in the areas of multicultural education and ESL instruction with support from Professor Diane Ross and Erin Johnson.

She joins Otterbein while continuing her teaching and research responsibilities as a Professor of English at Rivne State University of the Humanities, in Rivne, Ukraine. Dr. Bilous is fluent in English, Ukrainian, and Russian, and …

Curriculum, Instruction, And Leadership As A Practice Of Reflexivity In World Language Education: A Systematic Review Of Literature, Jerry L. Parker

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

This article presents the findings of a systemic review of research published by Robert C. Lafayette. Lafayette was a French teacher and teacher educator who worked to revolutionize the teaching of world languages through his articles, books, textbooks, grants, conference presentations, and other scholarly work. To uncover the value of his work in today’s language schooling, this study examined 17 of his articles and book chapters. Using content analysis methodology, the findings of this study concluded that his work contributed mainly to our understanding of curriculum, instruction, and leadership in world language education. His scholarship also provides world language teachers, …