Education Commons^™

Bhalo Lagena! What Well-Being Means To Young Immigrant South Asian Women, Fatima Jahra , '24

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Classroom: Examining The Impact Of An After-School Program On Latineimmigrant Youth In Philadelphia, Lucia Navarro , '24

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Mariposas Mexas: Embodiment As Resistance At Swarthmore College, Ramiro A. Hernandez , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Political Or Ap®Olitical? Ap Economics Teachers, Neoliberalism, And The Political Classroom, Min Cheng , '18

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

"How does one speak objectively, ifwe're talking about someone's comments about sexually assaulting someone? How am I supposed to be like, 'oh, you know, you gotta understand, he's just saying that.' When somebody's not able to condemn white supremacy stuff, how am I supposed to be like 'well, you know, you're entitled to your opinion on that.' Or infowars stuff, where we got people that are denying that shooting massacres actually happened. Like how do I objectively deal with this ifit's nonsense?" —Mr. Holton

In this qualitative study, I find that progressive public school teachers of AP Economics experience …

From The Margins To The Center: Queer And Trans Teachers Of Color In K-12 Public School, Esteban Cabrera-Duran , '18

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Interviews with nine self-identified queer and trans teachers of color (QTToC) address how teachers both work within and resist the reproductive function of schools. Findings suggest that QTToC enter the profession with a set of values and conunitments. The pedagogies of these teachers can have a trans formative effect on the academic outcomes of students and prepare them to be critical of ideologies and systems of oppression. To fulfill this role and conunitment, teachers must have the support of the school context and culture. This thesis adds to the growing body of literature on QTToC and presents a more optimistic …

The Burdens They Carry: How Black College Students Resist And Internalize Received Messages About Race And Racism, Lydia E. Koku , '18

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

At predominantly white institutions, black college students' understandings of their campus climate are complicated by their experiences of racial microaggressions and racial battle fatigue. In addition to navigating discriminatory encounters with peers, faculty and staff, black college students must contend with systemic inequality. Although prevalent research notes that positive racial socialization practices can prepare young people to think about, address and cope with racism, few studies have qualitatively explored black college students' perceptions of their socialization, and particularly, whether or not they were adequately prepared to experience and conceptualize racism in college. My thesis addresses these gaps by considering how …

Femicide In Buenos Aries: Social Change Through Interpersonal Education, Mckinley Bleskachek , '16

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper explores the trajectory of social thought concerning femicide, particularly as it relates to the 2015 #NiUnaMenos movement in Buenos Aires. Through framing gender as a social construct, this paper illuminates the connection between cultural, structural and personal violence. In this framework, individual murders become a social phenomenon. The critical consciousness fostered by the #NiUnaMenos movement reveals the potential of interpersonal education to effect social change.

Embodying Tibet: Negotiating Tibetan-American Youth Identities At The Tibetan Children's Village Summer School Program, Lekey S. Leidecker , '16

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

My research illuminates the ways that the Tibetan Children’s Village Summer School program, despite its positive intentions, does in fact reinforce a fixed Tibetan identity by intertwining authenticity with a specific set of embodied experiences that do not match that of Tibetan youth living in the United States. Drawing on MacPherson’s (2011) “Fallacies About Language Sustainability” and recommendations for cultural preservation education, I evaluate the summer program’s curriculum as insufficient for promoting new articulations of Tibetan identity that reflects participants’ lived experiences in the United States, and argue that the current system in fact is exacerbating the difficulties that these …

Arts-Based Education For Social Justice, Samantha Stevens , '15

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis explores the arts as a potential framework for achieving social justice through the system of education. The author uses her experience as a student-teacher in a charter school with an arts-based social justice framework as a springboard for discussion, identifying points of tension that arise as educators translate social justice theory into practice in today’s schools. Faced with the challenges of oppression and systemic inequality, educators work to transform schools into vehicles for social justice. Some teachers turn to the charter school model in an effort to sculpt environments fit to meet the needs of students form marginalized …

"A Door To A Good And Happy Life": Building Social And Cultural Capital In A College Success Program, Zachary Kronstat , '15

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis aims to answer the question of how the people involved in a college success program’s middle school component understand the work being done at their site. Using data from two and a half months of participant observation, interviews, and materials collection at the site, the author concludes that this program is an intentional community of practice aiming to close the opportunity gap through developing the social and cultural capital of low-income students of color. The author finds that the site understands the development of social and cultural capital to create career choice and a happy life through college …

"Breaking Out Of The Bubble": Becoming Self-Reflexive In Community-Based Learning Classes At Swarthmore College, Natalia Choi , '15

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

In my Sociology/Anthropology and Educational studies thesis, I explore the processes of self-reflexivity in the context of community-based learning (CBL) classes at Swarthmore College. Drawing upon interviews with professors and students in CBL classes, written materials such as syllabi and students’ reflections, and participant observation in CBL classes, my findings suggest that professors have a critical role to play in supporting students’ process of becoming more self-reflexive. By pairing students’ experiences with critical reflection in the curricula and leading by example, professors can guide students to have profound learning experiences about themselves as well as other communities. Such engagement in …

The Rationalized Yet Unnecessary Policy: The Consequences Of Zero Tolerance Discipline Policies In U.S. Public Schools, Catherine Kelley , '14

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

The goals of this thesis are to highlight the unintended consequences of zero tolerance policies in U.S. public schools and the context surrounding the initial use of zero tolerance policies in schools by uniting existing bodies of research from the past two decades. The prominence of zero tolerance policies has led to the overuse of out-of-school suspension for nonviolent offenses such as tardiness and classroom disruption. It has further led to minority students, especially African American students, being disciplined at higher rates compared to their white peers. I argue that zero tolerance policies are not inherently racist or discriminatory policies, …

Envisioning Community: The Promise Of Teacher Leadership For Career Sustainability, Spencer L. Jones , '13

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis explores the sustainability of the teaching profession by examining teachers’ professional identities and goals and their work conditions. The author concludes that most teachers, while committed to their classrooms, cannot remain teachers in public schools for many years because there are too many structural conditions that compromise their morale and energy. The author further explores teachers’ visions for their careers—primarily opportunities for professional community and collaboration and teacher leadership. Stronger professional communities and more access and opportunities for teacher leadership in the realms of curriculum development, professional development, assessment, and teacher evaluation will benefit schools and student achievement. …

Between Drama And Danger: The Effects Of Latino Second Graders' Identities On Gendered Patterns In School Success, Sam Panepinto , '13

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

In this study, I used participant observation in a second-grade Sheltered English Immersion classroom to investigate how race and gender identities in elementary school may be affecting the gendered achievement gap among Latino students in high school. I spent two weeks working closely with the teacher in this classroom, and gathered data on standardized test scores, discipline in the classroom, and achievement in the classroom as they related to gender.

I found that, while boys and girls acted out at about an equal rate, boys who acted out did so frequently and severely, while nearly all girls acted out, but …