Review: Poetter, Thomas S. Curriculum Fragments: A Currere Journey Through Life Processes., Joseph Wiederhold

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Poetter’s book Curriculum Fragments—and the stories shared within— have changed the way I think about education. Redefined it. Recentered it on what matters most—the human experience, the life processes at the center of Poetter’s book: losing, knowing, forgiving, relating, hoping, growing, loving. Each of Poetter’s fragments—reflective narratives written following the Currere methodology (Pinar)—caused me to reevaluate my practice.

...Of Cabbages And Kings, Fall 2025, Emeriti Society, University Of The Pacific

Emeriti Newsletter: "...Of Cabbages and Kings"

"...Of Cabbages and Kings" is the newsletter of the University of the Pacific Emeriti Society. Read more about the Emeriti Society of Pacific by clicking here.

A Faith-Based Approach To Mental Health Challenges, Patrick Leblanc

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This project sheds light on mental health issues within the Black community and the need for faith communities to intentionally address mental health issues in communities of color. Black men are oppressed by an interplay of cultural, historical, societal, and economic factors that impact their well-being. Racial discrimination and oppression are non-medical drivers exacerbating mental health disorders among Black men. The influences of culture and faith fabricate barriers to help-seeking behavior, and mistaken perceptions of masculinity cause many men to suffer in silence. To begin erasing derogatory perceptions of mental health disorders, faith communities need to increase mental health …

Student Perceptions Of The Impact Of Faculty Race And Gender On Their Sense Of Connectedness, Engagement, And Persistence, Sherrie Y. Fuller

Dissertations

This quantitative study examined how faculty demographic characteristics, specifically race and gender, influence undergraduate students’ perceptions of connectedness, engagement, and persistence at a public Midwestern university. Guided by Tinto’s Model of Student Integration (1975, 1993, 2012), the research explored whether perceived alignment between student and faculty identities contributes to students’ sense of belonging and motivation to persist toward degree completion. Data were collected from 100 undergraduate participants representing diverse racial, gender, and academic backgrounds. Participants completed a researcher-developed survey instrument utilizing a four-point Likert scale to measure connectedness, engagement, and persistence.

Works Of Love From Russia, Alisa Gorshenina

International Dialogue

This reflective artist’s statement by Alisa Gorshenina (Alice Hualice) intertwines autobiographical narrative with the creative context of four works produced during and after her politically forced displacement from Russia. Gorshenina recounts a lifelong pattern of resisting external pressures—from expectations to relocate for education and career advancement to demands that she flee Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. She frames her continued desire to live in her hometown of Nizhny Tagil as an act of personal agency and a “new language of resistance,” grounded not in state loyalty but in an authentic, non-nationalistic love of place. Increasing censorship, denunciations, canceled …

Fragments, Najlaa Attaallah

International Dialogue

In Fragments (شظايا), Najlaa Attaallah offers a poetic, intimate, and devastating meditation on exile, trauma, and the unrelenting violence endured by Palestinians in Gaza. Written from Reykjavík yet emotionally tethered to her homeland, Attaallah narrates the psychic rupture caused by witnessing war from afar—the guilt of safety, the suffocating pull of memory, and the sense of existing as “a body without certainty.” Across lyrical vignettes, she explores the collapse of ordinary life under the weight of collective horror: sleeplessness, paralysis, obsessive monitoring of news, and the disintegration of routine maternal roles. The text moves between present anguish and childhood …

Improving The Effectiveness Of The Teacher Professional Learning Communities In Secondary Education, Oscar A. Urieta

Education Theses and Dissertations

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice investigated how to enhance the relevance, effectiveness, and teacher ownership of grade-level Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at a university-affiliated charter school in East Texas. Despite the district’s strong STEM and Project-Based Learning (PBL) emphasis, 60% of high school teachers reported that PLCs felt irrelevant, administratively driven, or misaligned with their daily instructional needs. Using Improvement Science methodologies, including Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, root-cause analysis, a driver diagram, and embedded collaborative structures, this study implemented targeted interventions aimed at shifting teacher perceptions and strengthening PLC practices. Interventions centered on aligning PLC agendas with PBL, implementing structured …

Memory Delayed Is Justice Denied: Why North Carolina Should Amend Its Statute Of Limitations For Child Sexual Abuse Cases, L. Casey Buttke

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Shield For Schools, But No Relief For Students: The Problem With Statutory Immunity In Dieckhaus V. Board Of Governors Of University Of North Carolina, Rachel Elizabeth Stuart

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Feedback Loops: Fly On The Wall, Patrick Barry

Articles

I recently turned to an interesting source to get some feedback on the way I communicate when leading meetings and speaking to large groups: artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Born into a family of fast-talking New Yorkers who don’t always wait for you to finish your thoughts before they jump in with theirs (my mom grew up in Manhattan and my dad grew up in Long Island), I recently realized that I have developed what the linguist Deborah Tannen calls a “high-involvement” conversation style, especially when I take the lead in meetings or teach my classes. I nod as other people …

Religious Framing, Moral Foundations And Identity: A Replication And Extension, Brianna M. Mucciante

Honors Projects

Two previous pre-registered studies revealed that administering general religion measures had a framing effect, reducing scores on subsequent binding moral foundations and moral self-identity. In a replication and extension, the present study will administer contrasting religious measures (i.e., fundamentalism vs. spirituality) to elucidate the framing mechanisms.

The Loss Of The Moral Principal: How The Attitude Of School Discipline Changed From The 1950s Through The 1980s, Brendan Webster

Honors Projects

This comparative historical analysis examines the profound ideological transformation of student discipline in American secondary schools between 1950 and 1989. Utilizing a comparative textual analysis of primary source documents published in The High School Journal. This study investigates how administrative philosophy, professional concern, and disciplinary practice responded to the sociological and geopolitical views in the respective decades.

The research identifies a core continuity in the school's role as an agent of social control, but documents a fundamental divergence in the mechanisms used to achieve it. The 1950s view, shaped by mental hygiene and democratic idealism, framed discipline as a developmental …

Validating A Creative Teaching Inventory: A Mixed Method Approach To Construct Validity, Todd Kettler, Beatrice Ruiz Buentello, Nilay Ayse Gunel, Madelyn Chance, Laila Y. Sanguras

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Creative pedagogies are increasingly important as the demand for a creative workforce grows. However, there are limited measures of creative pedagogy. One such measure is The Inventory of Teaching Practices in Higher Education. Only one study has been published examining its factor structure when used with undergraduate students. The present study aims to further investigate its construct validity using a convergent mixed methods design. We recruited students (n = 268) from a private university in Texas and administered a modified version of the inventory, with items from each factor presented together followed by two open ended items asking …

In The Pursuit Of Parent Caregiver Well-Being: A Phenomenological Study, Glenda E. Hux, Natalie King, Sarah A. Schoen

Communication Disorders and Occupational Therapy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Unmet needs in parent of children with chronic and complex conditions often result in adverse outcomes to their mental health and well-being. This descriptive phenomenological study explores their lived experiences and daily participation patterns. Thirteen participants in a global cohort shared their experiences via a secure digital platform. Five themes emerged illustrating the parents' pursuit of well-being and the barriers encountered: Embodying the Caregiver Life, Navigating Intricate Realities, Emotional and Existential Landscape, Navigating Healthcare Systems, and Connected Yet Alone. This study underlies parents' occupational participation challenges and the crucial need to address them using parent-centered approaches to promote family well-being.

Sex And Danger, Airborne Ranger: A Historical Analysis Of G.I. Songs, Jody Calls, And Marching Cadences, Travis G. Salley

Dissertations

Military marching cadences have long served as a core feature of basic combat training, reinforcing cohesion, discipline, and esprit de corps. Tradition attributes their origin to a Black soldier, Private Willie Duckworth, who lifted the spirits of his unit with an improvised chant during a 1944 forced march. The chant soon gained national attention and was formally adopted into Army training through the efforts of Colonel Bernard Lentz—Duckworth’s commanding officer and the author of the Army’s close order drill manual. Their relationship, framed by military hierarchy and racial inequality, reflects broader American patterns where Black cultural forms gain institutional legitimacy …

Perceptions Of Leader Emotional Intelligence During Change: A Qualitative Study Of Middle Managers In Higher Education, Kirk Bennett

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

In a world where change is constant, organizations often struggle to adapt. Whether implementing change proactively or responding to external realities, organizational change leaders must navigate the landscape of change with awareness of the potential for follower resistance to derail their efforts. Change and emotion are not easily separated, and change leaders who ignore the emotional realities of change do so at the risk of failure. Leaders who demonstrate emotional intelligence are better equipped to understand and manage the emotions of change in themselves and others. How followers perceive the emotional intelligence of their leaders is crucial to their own …

Ending The Cycle: A New Approach To Decriminalize Mental Illness, Paige E. Kohn

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Today, America faces a health paradox: the nation’s largest jails are the nation’s largest psychiatric institutions. In a criminal justice system designed for punishment, solutions like mental health units or mental health courts try to address this contradiction. Yet, if mental illness is a health issue, and not a criminal issue, then increased investments in the criminal justice system seem misplaced. Instead, a more promising approach is to stop the mentally ill from entering the criminal justice system at all.

This article presents just that: a new approach to decriminalize mental illness. Viewed under an overarching “health justice” lens, the …

Enhancing End-Of-Life Quality In Hospice Care, Gerson Orellana Prudencio

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The‍‌‍‍‌ increasing demand for hospice care in Monterey County is a clear indicator of the rapid growth in the need for end-of-life services driven by the aging population. The project was developed at the Department of Hospice of the Central Coast, which is under the Montage Health Foundation, a non-profit organization. The community served consists of elderly people receiving hospice and end-of-life care, as well as volunteers who provide administrative and indirect support. The Volunteer Handbook aims to create a comprehensive procedural manual for hospice volunteers to improve administrative efficiency and ensure the quality of care. Interviews were conducted with …

Barriers To Hospice Access For The Latino Community, Guadalupe Rivera

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Latino community in Monterey County faces significant obstacles to accessing hospice care, including language barriers and cultural misunderstandings. Many community members are unfamiliar with available hospice services or hold common misconceptions, such as equating hospice only with dying or abandonment. This capstone project, in partnership with the Central Coast Visiting Nurse Association (VNA), investigated these barriers through interviews conducted at a local senior event. An important outcome of the project was the creation of a bilingual (Spanish and English) resource guide for new Social workers which helps social workers efficiently connect Latino families to appropriate services in their preferred …

From Inside The Recording Studio, Mckayla J. Adkison

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This project documents the historical, technical, and creative significance of recording studios through both industry examples and the design and construction of a personal backyard studio. By examining iconic studios such as Abbey Road and Capitol Records, the paper highlights how technological innovation, acoustic engineering, and architectural design have shaped the evolution of recorded music. These concepts are then applied to the planning and construction of a custom-built recording studio, emphasizing room dimensions, sound isolation techniques, acoustic treatment, lighting, and sustainable design choices. In addition, the project addresses the importance of aesthetics and emotional comfort in creating a space that …

Supporting Self-Regulation In Middle Childhood Through Social-Emotional Building, Karen Jimenez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Children in middle childhood, ages 6–12, may struggle to self-regulate their emotions, behaviors, and thoughts. They are becoming more independent, forming deeper friendships, facing greater academic demands, and experiencing more complex situations. Struggles with self-regulation can lead to difficulties in resilience, peer relationships, and school performance, but children who can identify their feelings, understand their emotional triggers, and recognize how these emotions impact their behavior are better able to cope with challenges and stay focused. According to McCabe and Altamura (2011), children with strong social-emotional skills usually have better relationships, more friends, and greater success in school, while those children …

More Than Words: A Parent-Led Approach To Triqui Language Revitalization At Home, Monica Andrade

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Preserving indigenous languages is crucial for maintaining cultural identity, strengthening family bonds, and promoting the healthy development of children. For many immigrant Triqui families, the shift to using dominant languages like English or Spanish can lead to language attrition, a gradual loss of their native language when it is no longer spoken regularly at home (McCarty, 2003). To help Triqui parents actively preserve and promote their heritage language, I conducted a workshop specifically for a group of Triqui mothers at the Greenfield Community Center. The workshop provided practical strategies to engage children in everyday Triqui conversations, strengthen intergenerational connections, foster …

Ignite The Spark: A Multi-State Collaboration For Engaging And Retaining 4-H Volunteers, Meggan Franks, Ken Culp, Karla Knoepfli, T. Ashley Burns, Breanna Wade

Journal of Youth Development

Volunteers are critical to 4-H program delivery; however, volunteer retention remains a persistent challenge within youth development organizations. To address this concern, a coalition of 4-H volunteer specialists from the Southern region designed and delivered a five-part webinar series titled Ignite the Spark: Strategies for Engaging and Retaining 4-H Volunteers. This series provided professional development on volunteer engagement and retention for 4-H youth development professionals across the United States. Topics included personal and program readiness, recruitment, engagement, and retention strategies. More than 450 extension professionals from 12 states participated in the live sessions, with an additional 228 completing asynchronous, …

How Secondary Online Teachers Perceive And Implement Executive Function Strategies In Online Classrooms: A Qualitative Case Study, Erin M. Hall

Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored how secondary online teachers perceive and implement executive function (EF) strategies in fully asynchronous online learning environment. Grounded in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and the Unity and Diversity Model of Executive Function, the study examined how instructional practices support cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control. Data were collected through interviews, a focus group, and artifacts submitted by eleven secondary online teachers. Using iterative thematic analysis, four key findings emerged: (1) teachers used intentional scaffolding strategies- such as modeling, pacing tools, and checklists to support EF development; (2) they emphasized shifting cognitive responsibility …

Peer Mentoring And Teacher Collaboration: A Case Study Of Practices And Self-Efficacy In A Rural Title I School, Whitney Ensley

Dissertations

This qualitative case study examined how peer mentoring influences teacher self-efficacy at a rural elementary school in southeastern Georgia. Using Bandura's self-efficacy theory and Wenger's communities of practice framework, the research investigated how teachers engage in mentoring relationships and how these practices contribute to professional growth.

Semi-structured interviews and reflection journals were conducted with ten elementary teachers representing diverse experience levels (1-21+ years) and grade levels. Findings revealed that meaningful peer mentoring occurred primarily through informal, trust-based relationships within grade-level teams rather than formal programs. Teachers engaged collaboratively in lesson planning, data analysis, and problem-solving.

Results demonstrated that peer mentoring …

The Interplay Between Structure And Teacher Agency In The Detracking Of Algebra 1: A Qualitative Case Study, Kristine Norris

Dissertations

This single qualitative case study examined how detracking Algebra 1 at Mountainview High School (pseudonym) restructured the course’s rules and resources and how teachers exercised agency in response. Guided by Giddens’ structuration theory and Weis and Fine’s critical bifocality, the study explored how institutional structures both shape and are reshaped by teacher action within broader systems of inequality. Participants were seven Algebra 1 teachers involved in the first two years of detracking. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews and analysis focused on two research questions: (1) In what ways did detracking alter the structures of Algebra 1 courses, and (2) …

Teaching For Global Ecological Citizenship: A Case Study Of Rural Teachers’ Experiences And Practices, Sarah L. Tennyson

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine the experiences and practices of rural educators incorporating global ecological citizenship education into the social studies classroom. The systematic themes of social studies education in the past must evolve with the diversity of the classroom. Traditional themes taught must become more globally relevant, including ecological citizenship, the responsibility of citizens to sustain and participate in global ecological issues. One on one interviews with four rural Georgia educators along with artifacts they provided were examined for themes related to two research questions. How do rural educators adapt their instructional strategies to …

Imagine The Peace: Exploring The Intimacy Of Imagined Intergroup Contact In Kosovo, Eric Manley

Dissertations

Peacebuilders have utilized positive intergroup contact in various settings to help groups encounter each other. I implemented three different intimate imagined contact scenarios in Peja, Kosovo with Albanian and Serb participants. I conducted this research to understand how multiple intimate social settings could impact individuals’ encounters with the outgroup during each imagined scenario, thus gathering better operationalization efforts regarding intimacy and imagined contact. Using written responses, interviews, and one-year follow-up interviews, the café and workplace scenarios created a positive experience for most participants, and while half of participants had a positive experience with the fiancé scenario, many more had negative …

Georgia Teachers’ And Leaders’ Perceptions Of Teacher Evaluations, Jessica Okelley

Dissertations

This research is a quantitative, non-experimental study that analyzes teachers’ and leaders’ perceptions of teacher evaluations in Georgia. The goals were to identify similarities and differences in teachers’ and leaders’ perceptions and to determine what factors may contribute to any identified differences. The study was conducted in a high-performing, suburban school district using two similar surveys and Likert scale questions to assess levels of agreement with various statements about the teacher evaluation process. This work was rooted in Self-Determination Theory and Postpositivism.

The study found that teachers and leaders have several common perceptions, like a general disbelief in evaluations’ capacity …

A Phenomenographical Study Of Rural Teacher Retention Before, During, And After The Covid-10 Global Pandemic, Stacey Lb Collins

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This phenomenographical study investigated rural teachers’ perceptions regarding their decisions to remain teaching in rural areas, with attention to experiences before, during, and after the COVID-19 global pandemic. The research was guided by two questions: (1) What experiences do rural teachers perceive impact their decision to remain teaching in rural school systems before, during, and after the COVID-19 global pandemic? and (2) How do rural teachers perceive the role of school administrators in retaining teachers in rural systems, before, during, and after the COVID-19 global pandemic? Participants were teachers who served in rural districts prior to, during, and after …