Education Commons^™

Shifting To Critical Empathy: Exploring The Ideological Becoming Of Secondary Teachers During Critical, Dialogic Professional Development, Maria Mcsorley

Doctoral Dissertations

The limited research concerning empathy within secondary education continues to focus on student empathy, rather than shifting the gaze to teacher empathy. Moreover, while teacher empathy is generally conceptualized as an innately positive quality, skill, or disposition, the research (while limited) suggests that empathy without deep understanding of social and structural inequity has demonstrated risk. Teachers who, for example, develop and express empathy across lines of difference without knowledge of systemic inequality (particularly about how inequity shows up in schools) have the potential to oversimplify or overidentify with an “other’s” experience (Boler, 1999). This can lead to the false confirmation …

“In Our Very Flesh, (R)Evolution”: An Exploration Of Secondary Education Teachers, Otherness, And Embodiment, Ryan Ambuter

Doctoral Dissertations

In education, the proliferation of a mind/body dualism leaves the pedagogy of the body undertheorized, and its impact on education disregarded. While there is not an absence of research on the body within the field of education, what exists is limited in scope. Little has been written about the connections between teachers’ bodies, pedagogy, and politics at the level of secondary education.

This research specifically focuses on teachers who are visibly other, critically conscious of their bodies, and find power in their difference. The purpose of this study is to make meaning of the stories, experiences, and potential of teachers …

The Institutional Pillars Of China's National College Entrance Exam: A Case Study Of Gaozhong High School And Ncee Reforms, Mei Lan Frame

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is based on a case study of a Beijing high school (referred to as “Gaozhong”) during the initial wave of reforms to the National College Entrance Exam (NCEE). Using the conceptual framework of Richard Scott’s “three pillars” of institutions (2008) to analyze stake holder perception toward the NCEE (administrators, teachers, parents, and students), this study identifies and examines the regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive elements that comprise the NCEE. Congruent with Scott’s theory that these the combined strength and interdependency between institutional elements prevent institutional change, this study also analyzes the three pillars as barriers to the implementation of …

Factors For Academic Success Among African-American Men: A Phenomenological Study, Samuel R. Williams

Doctoral Dissertations

Academic success among African men has increased but many African-American men continue to fall behind the academic achievements of their Caucasian male counterparts. African-American men who achieve academic success have been marginalized in research that primarily focuses on reporting deficit or negative factors that hinder and not promote academic growth. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify environmental, social, and socioeconomic factors that were perceived to contribute to the academic success of African-American men in secondary and post-secondary institutions. The researcher used the Ecological Model of Human Development (EMHD) to identify factors and which systems had the greatest …

Relationships Among Classroom Technology Utilization, Professional Development, And Knowledge About Technology For Secondary Teachers, Stacy L. King

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of technology professional development for secondary teachers toward the usage of that technology in the classroom to assist with the teaching/learning process. This research also examined the effects of knowledge about technology for secondary teachers on the utilization of technology in the classroom. Data were gathered from the Technology Proficiency Self Assessment Instrument issued by the Louisiana State Department of Education. The target population consisted of secondary school teachers in Louisiana from 202 secondary schools in twenty-eight parishes. From the 202 secondary schools in Louisiana, a sample of teachers (n …

An Ethnographic Study Of Participants' Perceptions Of Character Education Including Students, Parents, Teachers, Club Sponsors, Administrators, And Community Support People, Lily Odessa Hogan Stoppleworth

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study examined character education within one educational setting. The researcher created a holistic, narrative description of the extent, quality, and impact of character education at one North Louisiana high school. An emergent design was utilized to examine inductively participants' perceptions of character education initiatives within this single, educational site.

The research questions in this study were: (a) How do participants (students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members) define character education, and what do they perceive its value to be? (b) How do participants perceive character education in relation to values? (c) How is character education viewed by the …

Perceptions Of Principals As To The Degree Of Implementation And Effect Of The Middle School Concept In Louisiana, Susan Nelson Shofner

Doctoral Dissertations

Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century (Carnegie, 1989) contained recommendations for improving middle level education. These recommendations included: (a) creating small communities for learning, (b) teaching a common knowledge core, (c) ensuring success for all students, (d) empowering teachers and administrators, (e) preparing teachers in middle grades, (f) improving academic performance through health and fitness, (g) re-engaging families in the education of adolescents, and (h) connecting schools with communities.

The objectives of this study were to determine, according to middle school principals, the extent to which the Carnegie recommendations have been implemented in the public schools of …

The Effects Of Consideration And Initiating Structure Exhibited By Principals On Teacher Morale In Selected Louisiana Secondary Schools, Robert Wayne Webber

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine whether a statistically significant relationship exists between the leadership styles of principals and teacher morale in the public secondary schools of north Louisiana, as perceived by teachers. The Ohio State studies and Getzels and Guba's Social Systems Model for educational organizations provided the theoretical framework for this study. Selected demographic variables of gender of the teacher, years of teaching experience, and race of the teacher were considered in this study. Information on teacher morale was collected from teachers in 14 randomly selected schools of north Louisiana. Data were obtained concerning teacher morale using the …