Education Commons^™

Creating Grace And Space: The Foundation On Which Progressive Educators Build A Sense Of Belonging And Safety For Marginalized Gender And Sexual Diverse High School Students, Lisa M. Ortiz

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This descriptive case study focused on a single high school community which is intentional in its efforts to craft a school culture, fostering belonging and safety in students who are Gender and Sexual Diverse (GSD). The researcher examined the perspectives of classroom-based and non-classroom-based educators, as they strove to articulate how they address the needs of this student-population without negatively impacting academic and other school priorities, and how they incorporate understandings regarding this population into their practice. Through a multi-phase process including interviews, observations, focus group, and document analysis, the researcher explored how seven educator-participants navigate changing demographics both personally …

A Qualitative Study Of The Positive Transformation Of Public High School Cultures As Perceived By Administrators, Teachers, And Classified Staff Members, Amy L. Besler

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to discover the factors which contribute to the positive transformation of a comprehensive public high school’s culture as perceived by the school’s administrators, teachers, and classified staff. An additional purpose of the study is to determine what similarities and differences exist between the perceptions of administrators, teachers, and classified staff.

Methodology: The researcher identified comprehensive public high schools within the state of California where measurable growth in positive perceptions of school culture had been achieved within the preceding two to four years. Of this target population, six schools were identified, through …

The Influence Of Physical Education Teachers' Beliefs On Secondary School-Based Physical Activity Opportunities: A Case Study Of One Ontario Public School, Gregory D. Rickwood

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this inquiry was to investigate the relationship between the beliefs of physical education teachers from one public secondary school in Ontario concerning physical activity and school-based physical activity opportunities. More concisely, did physical education teachers’ beliefs influence school-based physical activity opportunities and were there other social factors that influenced their engagement in these opportunities.

The method of inquiry was grounded in the academic literature that examined the characteristics of effective school cultures, and how culture was related to school-based physical activity opportunities. From this review, it showed that a post-positivism framework within a case study design …