Education Commons^™

Preserving Social Justice Identities: Learning From One Pre-Service Literacy Teacher, Anne Swenson Ticknor

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Identities that include social justice stances are important for pre-service teachers to adopt in teacher education so they may meet the needs of all future students. However maintaining a social justice identity can be difficult when pre-service teachers are confronted with an evaluator without a social justice stance. This article examines how one pre-service teacher preserved a social justice identity by actively resisting racial and cultural stereotypes of students in her student teaching field experience. Analysis of language data illustrates that pre-service teachers can enact social justice pedagogy in elementary classrooms and preserve a social justice identity. This report reveals …

Queer Hybridity And Performance In The Multimedia Texts Of Arroyo And Lozada, Ed Chamberlain

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "Queer Hybridity and Performance in the Multimedia Texts of Arroyo and Lozada" Ed Chamberlain examines the unconventional writing of Puerto Rican writers Rane Arroyo and Ángel Lozada. Arroyo and Lozada craft texts which can be interpreted as performances and these performative texts blend internet-based writings with more traditional genres including the novel and poetry. Arroyo's and Lozada's stylistic approaches exhibit a queer sensibility which resembles the way in which Latina/o queer people construct and perform their cultural identities. Chamberlain argues that these queer performances suggest we can neither create nor identify absolute truth in matters of identity …

Bibimbap: Identity Construction In Korean Third Culture Kids During Higher Education, Megan I. Beard

Theses and Dissertations

Amidst increasing interconnectedness and transmigration of the 21st century, a number of families are leaving South Korea for business, work, or education; their children are raised as Third Culture Kids (TCKs)—children who accompany their parents abroad. This study used the lens of cultural globalization to examine how Korean TCKs used their life experiences to inform their identity construction, especially during higher education. Participants were Korean students and recent alumni from universities in Korea, the United States, and abroad who had spent at least three childhood years living outside Korea with their families. Data were collected through a series of unstructured …

Is Faith On The Campus Tour? Rural, Public College Students' Exploration Of Spiritual And Religious Identity, Tamara Durant

Dissertations - ALL

Abstract

This dissertation examined how students of diverse spiritual or religious beliefs or worldviews at a rural, public college interpreted, made meaning of, and drew upon their spirituality in relation to other aspects of their identity (e.g., race, gender, sexual identity), focusing particularly on the intersections of students' multiple marginalized identities. It was a single-site, qualitative study involving 20 participants attending a rural, mid-sized, predominantly-White northeastern public university. The researcher used semi-structured, in-person interviews, gathering and analyzing data using symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969) with the critical stance possible from applying the lens of the Reconceptualized Model of Multiple Dimensions of …

Chasing Polys: Interdisciplinary Affinity And Its Connection To Physics Identity, Tyler Scott

All Dissertations

This research is based on two motivations that merge by means of the frameworks of interdisciplinary affinity and physics identity. First, a goal of education is to develop interdisciplinary abilities in students' thinking and work. But an often ignored factor is students interests and beliefs about being interdisciplinary. Thus, this work develops and uses a framework called interdisciplinary affinity. It encompasses students interests in making connections across disciplines and their beliefs about their abilities to make those connections. The second motivation of this research is to better understand how to engage more students with physics. Physics identity describes how a …

Socio-Emotional Connections: Identity, Belonging And Learning In Online Interactions. A Literature Review, Janine Delahunty, Irina Verenikina, Pauline Jones

I. Verenikina

This review focuses on three interconnected socio-emotional aspects of online learning: interaction, sense of community and identity formation. In the intangible social space of the virtual classroom, students come together to learn through dialogic, often asynchronous, exchanges. This creates distinctive learning environments where learning goals, interpersonal relationships and emotions are no less important because of their 'virtualness', and for which traditional face-to-face pedagogies are not neatly transferrable. The literature reveals consistent connections between interaction and sense of community. Yet identity, which plausibly and naturally emerges from any social interaction, is much less explored in online learning. While it is widely …

Examining The Process Of Identification In The Mathematics Classroom And The Role Of Students’ Academic Communities, Richard J. Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this research was to provide insight into the identities students develop as they interact in a high school mathematics classroom. A normative divide developed which eventually split the classroom into two distinct academic factions: those who resisted the emerging local definition of what it meant to do mathematics and those who did not resist (i.e. complied or identified). A secondary purpose of this research was to understand the role of students’ academic communities in mathematics identity development. Student narratives helped uncover mathematical spaces outside the classroom that each developed their own unique definition of what it …

Families Of Struggling Readers In The Accountability Era: A Collective Ethnographic Case Study Of Literacy Engagement And Interaction In The Home And School, Sarah Lynn Swauger

Doctoral Dissertations

This collective case study uses ethnographic methods to explore the literacy engagement and school interactions of two families of struggling adolescent readers within the accountability era following the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a time period where there have been as yet few studies (e.g. Compton-Lilly, 2009) focused on family literacy. Formal and informal interviews with students and their guardians as well as observations and document analysis were the main data sources. Results illuminated the influence of school policies and curricula on students’ families’ interactions and identities (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). The researcher found that families lacking cultural …

Reliability Generalization Of The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised (Meim-R), Hayley Marie Herrington

Theses and Dissertations

The strength of ethnic identity has been linked to higher academic achievement, academic attainment, and overall psychological wellbeing. The Muligroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) was developed to measure ethnic identity development, and this measure has been used widely. The MEIM has since been updated to the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure–Revised (MEIM–R). The relatively new MEIM–R has not been widely studied. In order to solidify researchers' confidence in the measure, a reliability generalization analysis was performed and the data compared to the original MEIM. Random-effects weighted models evaluated internal consistency coefficients (Chronbach's alpha). The MEIM–R demonstrated adequate reliability coefficients (average α …

Immigrants, Roma And Sinti Unveil The “National” In Italian Identity, Francesco Melfi

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

This essay picks up a few threads in the ongoing debate on national identity in Italy. Immigration and the intertwining of cultures locally have stretched the contours of the nation state to a breaking point. As a result, the social self has become a sharply contested terrain between those who want to install a symbolic electronic fence around an imagined fatherland and those who want a more inclusive nation at home in a global world. After discussing the views of Amin Maalouf (2000), Alessandro Dal Lago (2009), Abdelmalek Sayad (1999) and Patrick Manning (2005) on national identity and migration in …

Attitudes Toward Using Social Networking Sites In Educational Settings With Underperforming Latino Youth: A Mixed Methods Study, Keith Howard, Margaret Sauceda Curwen, Nicol R. Howard, Anaida Colon-Muñiz

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The researchers examined the online social networking attitudes of underperforming Latino high school students in an alternative education program that uses technology as the prime venue for learning. A sequential explanatory mixed methods study was used to cross-check multiple sources of data explaining students’ levels of comfort with utilizing a social networking site platform as a supplemental communication tool in connection with their schoolwork. Students were found to be significantly less comfortable using social networking sites than other online communication tools in connection with their schoolwork, and females were significantly more uncomfortable than males using such sites in school.

Toys Don't Have A Gender: Gender Play And Aggression In A Small Co-Operative Play Based Preschool, Bryn Peterson

Honors Theses

In this thesis I explore the relationship between gender and free-play in a small, cooperative preschool in Niskayuna, New York. While psychologists and sociologists have studied gender in young children, I found that children had been largely overlooked in the field of anthropology. While some anthropologists have historically believed that children do not fully understand their culture and cannot be reliable informants, I believe that there is much we can learn by understanding children's games - which often reflect our culture. Through observing children's free play I was able to analyze gender conforming/nonconforming play, aggression, and the themes of the …

Know Your Role: Black College Students, Racial Identity, And Performance, Dafina-Lazarus Stewart

Higher Education and Student Affairs Faculty Publications

This article is a report of a critical constructivist study of racial identity and performance among 13 Black, traditional-age students enrolled at three different colleges, two historically Black and one predominantly White. The study’s approach understood identity to be socially constructed and reliant upon community affirmation and validation. The findings highlight (1) the role of internal community pressure, (2) the ways in which racial performance dominated the students’ discussions of their racial identities, and (3) the intersection of internalized racism and sexism. The overarching conclusion points to the need for promoting acceptance of racial heterogeneity within communities of Black young …

Racial-Ethnic Identity Development In Hispanic Young Adolescent Students : Synthesis Of Literature., Katherine Elizabeth Stemle

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

This paper serves as a meta-analytic analysis of the research published on the development of racial-ethnic identity development in young adolescent Hispanic students. The purpose of the analysis of the peer-reviewed literature is to help support the instruction and development of young adolescent Hispanic students in the classroom. The major emphases of this paper are the definition of racial-ethnic identity, the background and major theories connected to racial-ethnic identity development, the major factors unique to the racial-ethnic identity of Hispanics students, and a list of research based methods teachers can use to help Hispanic students explore and establish a strong …

Social Media Use During The College Transition, Kevin J. Yurasek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Starting college is an exciting and pivotal time for students. During this time, the student will be faced with challenges of his or her social identity and will need to develop or modify identities based on new social situations. Previous research shows that social media play a role in identity development, but there is little information regarding the extent. Are new college students using Facebook during their transition to communicate their new identity/social group to new peers? Are they using Facebook to maintain nostalgia for previous identities/social groups? This information will be valuable to higher education professionals working with these …

Year Of The Adopted Family: Selected Folktales For The Seasons Of Adoptee Personal And Cultural Identity, Rachel R. Hedman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a study of the application of storytelling to adoptive family bonding, sensemaking, and cultural adjustment, I selected 12 world folktales for adoptive families to use as oral storytelling activities. I designed and facilitated a workshop for 7 adoptive families focusing on how to select, to learn, and to tell stories as well as how to play story-based games with their children. Each adult told 1 of the 12 folktales, played 1 or 2 of 37 games (12 traditional games, 25 storybased games), and shared reactions and interactions of family members. Using the term “story talk” to describe conversational byplay …

Student Identity Considerations And Implications Associated With Socioscientific Issues Instruction, Mitchel James Ruzek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to explore how aspects of identity, perceived levels of controversy, and the strength of a student's attachment to their controversial identity relate to conceptual understanding and knowledge acquisition during socioscientific issues (SSI) based instruction in a biology classroom. The knowledge gained from this study will have the capacity to enhance our understanding of the role that attachment to identity plays during SSI negotiation. Additionally, insight was gained into the role played by aspects of identity in conceptual understanding of scientifically controversial topics during SSI based instruction.

This study contributed to the existing knowledge base …

The Invisible Composition Classroom: The Reciprocity Of Face, Identity, And Politeness, Pennie L. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of face and identity as they arise in a first year composition classroom. Using the illuminating theoretical framework of linguistic politeness theory, new understandings of the social interactions in the composition classroom are unveiled. Specifically, through an analysis of the politeness strategies that students use during the peer review process, it becomes clear that students prefer to temper their critique of others' work rather than openly criticize that work. Additionally, students offer far more positive feedback than their peers' work perhaps merits, minimize the revision work they suggest, and downplay their own authority over each …

Discourses Of Experience: The Disciplining Of Identities And Practices In Student Teaching, Anita Sanyal Tudela

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The aim of this paper is to understand how ideas about teaching and learning to teach are structured and regulated in the student teaching component in university teacher education, and how these ideas are linked to the constructed identities of the student- and the collaborating teacher. I use critical discourse analysis to unpack the everyday language of collaborating teachers. I argue that, through the continued citation of assumptions about experience, the student teacher and collaborating teacher are constructed within prefigured and recognizable categories. This process sanctions and forecloses particular practices. I argue that this mechanism makes way for the reproduction …

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Medical Students’ Reflective Writing: Social Accountability, The Hidden Curriculum, And Critical Reflexivity, Stacey Ritz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In recent years, many medical schools have adopted a ‘social accountability’ approach, implementing a variety of activities and curricula aimed at developing a sense of social responsibility in medical students. The research of this thesis uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) to scrutinize the writing of senior medical students, with a view to uncovering how identity, ideology, and social position are expressed by students who have undertaken a curriculum designed with social accountability in mind. The analysis examines the conditions of discourse practice, student orientations to a professional medical identity, and ideologies of community, rurality, indigeneity, and gender. I discuss these …

Science Youth Action Research: Promoting Critical Science Literacy Through Relevance And Agency, Elizabeth Coleman

Dissertations

This three-article dissertation presents complementary perspectives on Science Youth Action Research (Sci-YAR), a K-12 curriculum designed to emphasize relevance and agency to promote youth's science learning. In Sci-YAR, youth conduct action research projects to better understand science-related issues in their lives, schools, or communities, while they simultaneously document, analyze, and reflect upon their own practices as researchers. The first article defines Sci-YAR and argues for its potential to enhance youth's participation as citizens in a democratic society. The second article details findings from a case study of youth engaged in Sci-YAR, describing how the curriculum enabled and constrained youth's identity …

A Structural Model Of Leadership Self-Efficacy For Asian American Students: Examining Influences Of Collective Racial Esteem And Resilience, Corinne Maekawa Kodama

Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between racial identity, using the constructs of collective racial esteem (CRE), and resilience on LSE for a diverse sample of 2,223 Asian American college students, using data from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, a national survey of college outcomes. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the relationship between CRE and Resilience, as well as Non-Discriminatory Climate and Identity-based Experiences, on LSE. The model was tested for invariance for gender as well as for five Asian American ethnic groups (Chinese, Indian/Pakistani, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese).

Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the 4-item CRE subscales were …

Educator Identities. Emerging Issues Within Personal And Professional Identities: Changes Experienced By Australian Pre-Service Teachers Following Professional Exposure To Educational Practice Within Childcare Settings, Doireann O'Connor, Christine Mcgunnigle, Tracy Treasure, Serena Davie

Education Papers and Journal Articles

This paper presents the findings of a research project investigating the perceptions and expectations held by pre-service teachers regarding the childcare sector. It presents the views of a group of pre-service teachers both before and after their exposure to practice within childcare following a ten week practicum. The personal experiences of the research participants impacted greatly on their evolutionary understanding of and attitude towards the childcare sector. Thematic analysis of the data produced several key concepts that illuminated issues of identity conflict across the care and education divide. This paper makes a necessary contribution to the current research context where …

The Walled Fortress: An Autoethnography Of An International Student Who Became An Esl Educator, Elizabeth Ann Corah-Hopkins

Wayne State University Dissertations

Through autoethnographic research, I conduct an intimate investigation into my experience as a sojourner college student in West Germany to see how my emotive response to that experience and its associated sense of self work to generate a deeper and more empathetic understanding of my role as an English as a second language (ESL) professional. I employ a layered account whereby I weave personal narrative, poetry, and sketching into academic writing so as to reach the emotive core of the research. I explore complex discriminatory relations in the classroom and beyond and learn how I as an ESL professional have …

Socio-Emotional Connections: Identity, Belonging And Learning In Online Interactions. A Literature Review, Janine Delahunty, Irina Verenikina, Pauline Jones

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This review focuses on three interconnected socio-emotional aspects of online learning: interaction, sense of community and identity formation. In the intangible social space of the virtual classroom, students come together to learn through dialogic, often asynchronous, exchanges. This creates distinctive learning environments where learning goals, interpersonal relationships and emotions are no less important because of their 'virtualness', and for which traditional face-to-face pedagogies are not neatly transferrable. The literature reveals consistent connections between interaction and sense of community. Yet identity, which plausibly and naturally emerges from any social interaction, is much less explored in online learning. While it is widely …

“Creative Writing As Freedom, Education As Exploration”: Creative Writing As Literary And Visual Arts Pedagogy In The First Year Teacher-Education Experience, Nicole Anae

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The themed presentation at the Sydney Writers’ Festival on May 25, 2013 entitled “Creative Writing as Freedom, Education as Exploration” brought together three key players in a discussion about imaginative freedom, and the evidence suggesting that the impact of creativity and creative writing on young minds held long lasting, ongoing implications. This is a particularly crucial conversation given the factors stifling creative writing pedagogies in contemporary classrooms. In contributing to the ongoing dialogue about literary creativity, this theorized classroom-based discussion explores the integration of creative writing as literary and visual arts pedagogy among first year preservice-teachers developing an …

A Study Of The Experience Of Female African-American Seventh Graders In A Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math (Stem) Afterschool Program, Beverley Fiona Hinds

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine what inspires or leads seventh-grade African-American girls toward an interest in STEM, to characterize and describe the context of an out-of-school STEM learning environment, explore the impact on the seventh- grade African-American girls who participated in the program as it relates to individual STEM identity, and identify personal and academic experiences of seventh-grade African- American girls that contribute to the discouragement or pursuit of science and math-related academic pathways and careers. Notable findings in this study included the following: 1. Participants were interested in STEM and able to identify both external …

Academically Resilient Minority Doctoral Students Who Experienced Poverty And Parental Substance Abuse, Marcia Boatman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a lack of research on the academic resilience of minority, first-generation, online doctoral students (MFOD) who experienced poverty and parental substance abuse (PSA). The purpose of this study was to explore how MFOD who overcame poverty and PSA developed academic resilience. Resilience theory and Kember's model of attrition in online programs provided a conceptual framework for this study. The research questions guiding this qualitative study concerned how MFOD perceive and interpret their academic resilience and protective factors. A purposeful sample of 6 students participated in semistructured interviews. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted, which included a case by …

Transitions And Turning Points: How First In Female Students Story Their Transition To University And Student Identity Formation, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this article is to explore how one group of students reflect upon their transition into the higher education environment. This qualitative research project followed one group of female undergraduate students as they moved through the first year of study. All of the participants were the first in their family to consider further education and each participated in four semi-structured interviews over one year. Drawing on the conceptual lens of 'turning points', the intent is to provide a 'close-up' analysis of the complex process of identity formation within the university landscape. By revisiting the students at various points …

A Look Into The Latino Experience: The Process Of Identity Formation For Latinos In The United States, Angelica M. Ferreira

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the educational acculturation experience of Latinos in the United States (U.S.) and the processes of identity formation. Through the historical Latino experience in the early 20th century, we can see the remaining influences of historical inequality (e.g. exploitation of labor, de jure segregation) through negative perceptions of Latinos. Negative stereotypes and incorrect assumptions presented in society (e.g. media, educational system, and justice system) perpetuate inferiority in comparison to White Americans. In the context of a school environment, Latino children begin to realize they are different. When non-native English speakers enter the classroom, immediate differences in language, cultural …