Education Commons^™

Philosophy For Children As A Form Of Spiritual Education, Olivier Michaud, Maughn Rollins Gregory

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

In the last two decades, some authors in the philosophy for children movement have theorized that the community of philosophical inquiry can be a form of spiritual practice, of the care of the self, or a wisdom practice (De Marzio, 2009; Gregory, 2009, 2013, 2014;Gregory & Laverty, 2009). Yet, it is unclear if philosophy for children is, by itself, a form of spiritual education, or if it requires some sorts of modification to be one. And, if it is or can be a form of spiritual education, we can interrogate in what ways and to what extent is it one. …

[Full Issue] What's Working? What's Not?

New Jersey English Journal

No abstract provided.

Call For Culturally Inclusive Texts In The English Classroom: Books As Mirrors And Windows, Annie Yon

New Jersey English Journal

The literary canon has long been revered in public education as representing the “‘depth and breadth of our national common experience,’ but the problem is that what was once defined as ‘common’—middle class, white, cisgender people—is no longer the reality in our country” (Anderson 1). The United States has a very diverse population, but there is a lack of diverse representation in books taught in the English classroom. In other words, American classics embedded in the curriculum hold merit, but they do not fully represent the stories of all ethnic and culturally diverse students with their own “American” experiences. Poor …

Kairos: A Time For Educational Transformation, Lisa M. Wennerth

New Jersey English Journal

This paper explores a high school English teacher's experience of facing the current problems in today's traditional K-12 public school system and their quest to find answers in Critical Pedagogy, Inquiry Based Learning, student centered curricula, and ungrading practices.

Supporting Growth Mindset In The Post-Covid Classroom: A Case For Skills-Tracking And Goal-Achievement Strategies, Garrett T. Van Curen

New Jersey English Journal

The following essay explores the importance of student skills-tracking and goal-setting in the secondary English language arts classroom as students continue to adapt to in-person instruction following COVID-19 lockdowns and remote/hybrid instruction. The essay explores goal-setting and skills-tracking from the standpoint of growth-mindset and SEL.

Do We Just Continue To Teach? An Examination Of Teaching Through Tragedy By Teaching Tragedy, Janine M. Quimby

New Jersey English Journal

This personal essay explores the nature of teaching through a tragedy (the COVID-19 pandemic) by allowing students to self-select works to read, even if those works contain tragic elements.

Covid-19 Isolation: Daily Lessons, Joseph S. Pizzo

New Jersey English Journal

COVID-19 continually disrupts classroom structure, design, and the lessons being taught. A return to in-person, on-site classrooms is being challenged again by new variants and people’s desire to gather during holidays. Our goal as caring educators is to “educate rather than separate” as we “continue / To humanize / Our study / Of humanities.”

English Language Arts (Ela) Strategies For Teaching Students How To Disagree Productively, Adam V. Piccoli

New Jersey English Journal

This article utilizes research from educators, psychologists, and neuroscientists to derive strategies on how to disagree more productively. Explicit examples of applying these strategies in the English Language Arts classroom are provided. The areas of focus include Rogerian rhetoric, anger management, demonstrating empathy and using open-ended questions to persuade.

Community Building Through Classroom Routine: A Language Arts Class Opener, Deborah Overstreet

New Jersey English Journal

Classroom community is a key component in building the kind of environment where students thrive. Specific academic routine can be an effective method of both creating a supportive classroom community and teaching language arts content.

An Argument For Simplicity: Have Learning Systems Become Too Complicated?, William A. Mesce

New Jersey English Journal

COVID has made higher education institutions more reliant on remote learning platforms, but there is little standardization between institutions, and some of these systems may be unnecessarily complex. This article argues for asking not what such systems could do, but what educators and students need them to do.

Identity Development To Support Disenfranchised Student Engagement, Jessica Hadid

New Jersey English Journal

A challenge for many secondary educators is fostering student engagement. This challenge is enhanced by pandemic related constraints. Although not intuitive at the onset, an effective approach to address waning engagement involves facilitating students’ identity exploration and development. This article explains how identity work connects with task engagement, and presents a model for successfully integrating an identity development program into an existing ELA curriculum.

Writing Our Climate Future: A “Cli-Fi” Writing Process For Students In The Anthropocene, Shannon Falkner

New Jersey English Journal

Like Covid, climate change causes many students to feel afraid and powerless. By studying infographics on climate change, we can help students develop their 21st century literacy skills while educating them about climate change and its solutions. As students draw on that knowledge to write their own “cli-fi” stories, they practice their narrative writing skills and learn how fiction writers address real-world issues in their work. As a result, students come to understand the power of literature to make abstract world issues feel personalized and meaningful to readers and the power they have as writers to effect change.

Professional Development, John Chorazy

New Jersey English Journal

Written from the perspective of a teacher, this poem reflects on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Social Distancing: Closing The Gap Between Digital And Social Media Literacy Practices And Literacy Instruction, Rachel Besharat-Mann

New Jersey English Journal

As adolescents increasingly navigate texts through digital and social media, educators have the crucial task of understanding text production and consumption and bridging these literacy practices into classrooms. This article will discuss the different skill components for digital and social media literacy and application in the classroom.

Cover, Editors' Note, Front Matter, Lauren Zucker, Susan Chenelle, Katie F. Whitley

New Jersey English Journal

No abstract provided.

Investigating Elementary School Students’ Reasoning About Dynamic Angles, Erell Germia

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Angle measurement is a significant topic in almost all areas of mathematics learning and also in many disciplines outside mathematics education, such as engineering and architecture. According to the literature, there are three common conceptions of angles – as union of rays, rotations, and wedges. Researchers argued that students must consider these three angle concepts together to construct a meaningful understanding of angles. However, the curriculum standards for mathematics often present these angle conceptions separately to students, probably resulting in a fragmented understanding of the angle concept. In addition to this problem, the research literature documents multiple alternative conceptions that …

Using Teacher Noticing And Video-Mediated Professional Learning To Develop Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge For Teaching The Derivative, Alfred M. Limbere

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study investigated how problem-solving videos can be used in video-mediated professional learning to support secondary preservice mathematics teachers (PMTs) in developing teacher knowledge for noticing student thinking in the context of the derivative concept in calculus. A model of the trajectory of PMTs’ noticing was constructed as six PMTs viewed and analyzed videos of students’ problem solving. At the same time, the nature of video-mediated interactions that were found to be productive in supporting this knowledge development was examined. A design experiment was used as the research methodology. Data was collected from video recordings of eight semi-structured teaching episodes …

Learning In A Community : An Investigation Of Mentor Inquiry Into Formative Assessment Practices, Erin Riley-Lepo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative, instrumental case study examined how a mentor inquiry community can serve as a space for mentors to articulate their knowledge and what about the inquiry community, its characteristics, might harm or help that development. Using Design-Based Research as the methodology, a mentor inquiry community, composed of three university-based mentors of preservice teachers and I engaged inquiry. Mentors showed their knowledge through their storytelling and problematizing each other’s work. The inquiry community was facilitated by shared symbolic language, and mentors’ off-task talk hindered the current work of the community but may have opened up new avenues of inquiry for …

Charles Peirce And The Community Of Philosophical Inquiry, Maughn Rollins Gregory

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

Introduction: "We individually cannot reasonably hope to attain the ultimate philosophy which we pursue; we can only seek it, therefore, for the community of philosophers." Charles S.Peirce, 1868 (5.265).

Since the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) originated the idea of a ‘community of inquiry’ to describe and promote the norms of scientific inquiry, that idea has been used to characterize a wide variety of educational programs, academic disciplines, and institutional, governmental, and political practices. The first purpose of this essay is to establish that the precise phrase ‘community of inquiry’—which does not occur in Peirce’s writings—was coined in 1978 …

Philosophizing With Children’S Literature: A Response To Turgeon And Wartenberg, Darren Chetty, Maughn Rollins Gregory, Megan Jane Laverty

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

Introduction: With the maturation of a field comes the opportunity and the responsibility to reflect on its sources, its areas and directions of development, debates among its proponents, and critiques originating from inside and outside the field. While early proponents of philosophy for children supported each other in the face of misunderstanding and misapprehension, differences inevitably arose among them, not only concerning materials and methods, but also concerning the very meanings of philosophy, childhood and education. These differences remain among contemporary scholars, educators and practitioners, who continue to engage in robust debates about how to research and practice philosophy with …

Good Science Teaching In An Urban Middle School Context : An Examination Of The Relationship Between Science Teachers And Their Students, William J. Brown

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Good science teaching within an urban middle school context was examined in this qualitative methods study. This research also examined what middle school science teachers prioritized in an urban science classroom and uncovered ways in which culturally responsive teaching showcased itself among inservice teachers. Good science teaching and culturally responsive teaching strategies have been investigated, but its impact on urban middle school science classrooms with marginalized students is where the research is minute.

The data from the study revealed that the following culturally responsive teaching strategies are prioritized to have an impact on marginalized students in urban middle school classrooms: …

Investigating The Collaboration Of Teachers Of Students With Disabilities And Teaching Assistants In The Classroom, Sa-Qwona S. Clark

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative dissertation study examined the complex dynamics and structures (i.e., people and/or explicit/implicit classroom-, school-, and district-wide behaviors and practices and school-wide structures) that influence collaboration between teachers of students with disabilities (TOSD) and teaching assistants (TAs). Specifically, I wanted to learn: (1) What are the complex dynamics (i.e., people and/or explicit/implicit classroom-, school-, and district-wide behaviors and practices and school-wide structures) that interact to influence collaboration between teachers and teaching assistants? (1a) What role does each participant stakeholder (i.e., teacher, teaching assistant, and principal) play in those complex dynamics? (1b) How do participants develop their understandings about the …

Teacher Activism For Emergent Bilingual Learners : A Qualitative Study, Cyrene A. Crooms

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative dissertation study explored what informed the pedagogical moves of four teacher activists of emergent bilingual learners (EBLs). Quijano’s (2000) theory of coloniality of power served as a theoretical lens to examine the historical underpinnings of current education language legislation and policies impacting EBLs. There is a growing body of literature on teacher activism, but very few studies center teacher activism for linguistic justice. Picower’s (2012) framework for teacher activism was used to create data sources, which included interviews, artifacts, field visits, and personal communication. Data were analyzed using open and axial coding strategies. Findings were presented in four …

“How Am I A Maker Making A Makerspace?” : A Focus On Teachers In Practice Self-Authoring As Makers In Constrained K-8 Spaces, Bridget Looney

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Although there has been an abundance of empirical inquiry into making in recent years, interestingly, and despite growing interest in the integration of making into N-12 education, little seems to be known empirically about the ways in which teachers are implementing making and creating makerspaces in their own classrooms. Very little direct attention has been paid to ‘pioneer’ N-12 teachers who are engaging students in making. This gap in the research obscures our understanding of how teachers think about making, how they practice as teachers and makers, and how their school context might influence their teaching and making practices. This …

Reconsidering Professional Development Nnd Its Impact On Teacher Learning : An Examination Of Teacher Motivation In A Self-Directed Model Of Teacher Professional Development, Douglas M. Walker

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this study is to understand teacher perceptions of a self-directed professional learning model named Go Time. I examined the factors that influenced teacher learning and motivation to sustain learning in this model. This study contributes to the research on teacher professional development by examining a model that is self-directed and rooted in reflective practice. The study utilized a basic qualitative design in which 10 participants from a single school district participated in two rounds of semi-structured interviews. The purpose of the data collection was to understand teacher’s prior perceptions of professional development and their more current perceptions …

Frog And Toad At The Academy: Gareth B. Matthews On How Children’S Literature Goes Philosophical, Maughn Rollins Gregory, Megan Jane Laverty

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

Gareth B. Matthews (1929–2011) inaugurated the study of philosophy in children’s literature by simultaneously arguing (1) that philosophy is essentially an encounter with certain kinds of perplexities, (2) that genuine philosophical perplexities are readily found in many children’s stories, and (3) that many children are capable of appreciating and enjoying them. He wrote 58 reviews of philosophical children’s stories and co-authored a series of teacher guides for using such stories. Following Matthews’ example, others have produced resources recommending children’s stories as stimuli for intergenerational philosophical dialog. In our research, we study and systematize the different ways that Matthews understood children’s …

Science Literacy Skills Of First-Generation And Underrepresented First-Year Students And The Stem Pioneers Intervention, Rebecca Sarah Katherine Thompson

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

First-generation students and other underrepresented groups face particular challenges at college, which can affect whether they thrive in their courses and remain on track to graduate. For students interested in majoring in a STEM field (science, technology, engineering, and math), science literacy skills are necessary for success in their coursework and future careers. We investigated the impact of demographic factors on science literacy skills, retention, and grade point average (GPA). The STEM Pioneers program at Montclair State University (MSU; Montclair, New Jersey, USA) was designed to support first-generation students with an interest in STEM who have not yet declared a …

Analyzing The Reported Professional Learning Of Ninth-Grade Teachers Participating In An Interdisciplinary Team, Glynnis J. Childress

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Interdisciplinary teaming has been a hallmark of the middle school philosophy for over 30 years and consists of a multitude of benefits for teachers, ranging from job satisfaction to communal support. Yet, interestingly, there is little research on the benefits of interdisciplinary teaming at the high school level, even with an increased focus on teacher collaboration and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Thus, the purpose of this practitioner action research study was to examine the reported professional learning of ninth-grade teachers participating in an interdisciplinary team. The interdisciplinary team consisted of seven secondary level English, science, math, and social studies teachers, …

Languaging School Into Being : A Discourse Analysis Of Online Ela Classes Within The Context Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jason Christopher Toncic

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, school buildings across the United States shut their doors and transitioned students and teachers to remote learning, most often utilizing internet-based technology to provide either asynchronous or synchronous lessons. I was a high school English Language Arts teacher in Stone Valley School District in Northeastern New Jersey when the unprecedented school closures moved my classes online for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.

As a teacher researcher who specialized in New Literacy Studies, I was particularly sensitive to how students and I used technology to continue lessons after the school building shut …

Preservice Teacher Action Research : Making Meaning And Generating Knowledge Through Inquiry, Rachel Ginsberg

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative study, situated in a large state university, investigated how the experiences of preservice teachers conducting action research in their full-time clinical placements as part of a seminar course in a teacher education program fostered a critical teacher inquiry stance. I examined how action research allowed preservice teachers to generate personal and educational knowledge and how their inquiry influenced the ways in which they thought about how teachers make meaning and generate knowledge. Using critical teacher inquiry as a framework allowed a critical lens that prioritized the need and importance of viewing teachers’ inquiry in the classroom as a …