Education Commons^™

Spanish Education: Teaching Philosophy Learned From Best Practice And Student And Teacher Engagement., Olivia Anderson

Honors Theses

This honors thesis investigates best practices for teaching Spanish in K–12 settings by conducting qualitative interviews with Spanish teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The study focuses on identifying effective strategies and classroom activities that promote student engagement and language proficiency while examining how teachers continue to develop professionally. Conscious of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ (ACTFL) Five C’s—Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities—the research highlights communication as the central pillar of language learning. Through detailed classroom examples, such as “Mapa del Martes,” student-created cooking videos, and Kagan Strategies, the thesis illustrates how …

April 22, 2025 Blazer Weekly, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

Blazer Weekly (student newsletter)

No abstract provided.

The George-Anne Daily, Georgia Southern University

George-Anne Media Group: Newsletters & Magazines

No abstract provided.

April 22, 2025 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Accessibility Care Beyond The University Disability Office, Mae L. Zurita

Masters Projects

When higher education institutions rely on a single office to provide primarily in-class accommodations for students with diagnosed disabilities, practitioners beyond this office receive little guidance on supporting the broader disabled community in daily practices. By critiquing the dominant models, theories, interventions, and solutions that create an ambiguous responsibility for how practitioners are to include and accommodate disabled people the project can outline alternative methods. A culture of ableism and rampant inaccessibility is innate to how North American higher education operates as an institutional practice. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is treated like a successful initiative that guarantees …

Supporting Teachers In Social Emotional Learning, Olivia Radley

Masters Projects

The development of social emotional skills in children is crucial, yet many teachers lack the necessary training and support to effectively implement social emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom. SEL focuses on essential competencies such as self-regulation, relationship-building, and responsible decision-making that are vital not only for classroom success, but for long-term wellbeing. While teachers have always played a significant role in fostering children’s social and emotional development, research explores the gap in teacher training and preparation for social emotional learning implementation. Effective SEL instruction depends on intentional strategies such as strong classroom management, meaningful relationships with students and families, …

Tracking And Increasing Digital Literacy Skills In Secondary Education, Joseph Elsen

Masters Projects

Some students in secondary schools struggle to perform at proficient levels in their digital literacy skills. These skills are grouped into multiple categories and can be applied to a wide range of interdisciplinary subjects. Students should understand and be analytical about the technology they use, be able to create new content in a creative way, and can collaborate with a global audience in an ethical way (Pangrazio, et. al. 2020). Because of the wide range of disciplines and rapidly changing technology, the definition of being digitally literate has changed in the last twenty-five years. Students with lower digital literacy skills …

Disarming The Deficit: Creating A Positive Disabled Community On Campus, Grace E. Vanhaitsma

Masters Projects

In the United States, the number of individuals with disabilities who pursue a college degree has increased. According to Wagner et al. (2018), 26% of people with disabilities pursued postsecondary education, whether at a two-year (20%) or four-year program (6%). Retention of students with disabilities, however, remains an issue. 41% of all college students with disabilities left school before graduation compared to 33% of their typically abled peers. Disabled students are also more likely to struggle with loneliness and isolation on campus due to a lack of sense of belonging. Having a strong campus community leads to better retention and …

Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Young Learners With Special Needs: Implementation Of The Resilience Based Interaction Model, Laura Knotts

Theses and Dissertations from DePaul University

No abstract provided.

College Sojourners' Reentry Experiences After Studying Abroad, Samantha Rose Maiolo

Honors Scholar Theses

When people think of studying abroad, they often think the experience ends when a study abroad participant returns home, but the reentry experience back home can be just as significant as the experience in the host country. In this study, I explored the following questions: (1) What emotional, social, and academic transitions do students experience when returning home from studying abroad? and (2) In what ways do the experiences students have abroad change their perspective of their life in the home culture? We interviewed 10 and surveyed 3 recent study abroad returnees from a large state university in New England. …

Outdoor Learning On The Edge Of Europe: A Systematic Review Of Practice From Ireland, Tomás Aylward, Maura Colter, Tom Farrelly

Publications

Outdoor Learning (OL) programmes are a small but impactful part of the Irish educational landscape. This paper presents an overview of the sector through a systematic review of the literature published between 2012 and2023. The research had three aims: to 1) map the strands of practice where OL-related research is happening; 2) synthesize the reported outcomes and 3) indicate gaps in the research. Of the 157 papers screened, 13 met the criteria for inclusion. A hybrid method of review based on reflexive and meta-aggregative synthesis was utilized. Eleven lines-of-action findings were identified across four areas-of-action. These areas were: the role …

Decolonial Underground Pedagogy: Unschooling And Subcultural Learning For Peace And Human Rights, Jazzmin C. Gota

International Journal of Human Rights Education

As an Asian American unschooler growing up in California in the 1990s, I have heard (and had scolded at me by people outside my family) theories and ideas of what education is as well as what it can and cannot be. I vividly recall being told that homeschooling, let alone unschooling (i.e., learning outside of a curriculum or hierarchical structure, see page 57) would stunt my intellectual and social growth. How could I learn outside of a formal classroom? Fast forward 30 years and now I am a doctoral student in International and Multicultural Education, ecstatic to see a book …

Rethinking Human Rights: Critical Insights From Palestinian Youth, Mai Awad

International Journal of Human Rights Education

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted in 1948, articulating a bold vision of a future in which every human being has the essential rights of dignity, freedom, and justice. But so much of that promise may now be at risk, especially with regard to how the UDHR addresses systemic inequities rooted in colonial legacies. This contradiction is especially evident in the lived experiences of marginalized communities in the Global South—where structural inequalities are entrenched in the everyday fabric of life. In the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), for example, principles of human rights appear light years from the …

Queering The Global Filipina Body: Contested Nationalisms In The Filipina/O Diaspora, Edian Valenzuela

International Journal of Human Rights Education

Queering the Global Filipina Body: Contested Nationalisms in the Filipina/o Diaspora, written by Gina K. Velasco, engages with the intersections and relationships of gender, sexuality, and nationalism as it is understood through the nuanced and complex variations of Filipina/o diasporic identities and communities. This book delves into how Filipina/o diasporic identities are constructed, contested, and recreated through the different expressions of gender and sexuality through the discussion of the concept of the Global Filipina Body.

Youth Fiction And Trans Representation, D. Perez-Sornia, Emmanuel Te

International Journal of Human Rights Education

Tom Sandercock begins Youth Fiction and Trans Representation asserting that this is the first book to catalog and trace transgender and gender variant representation across various forms of media (Sandercock, p. i). Sandercock presents a compelling collection of transgender representation case studies, with an intended audience of transgender studies scholars, LGBTQ+ and allied educators seeking to add meaningful gender-explorative literature to their curriculum, and transgender people interested in a gender retrospective view of their childhood or adolescent media. Examining not only mere representation of young transgender and gender variant people, Sandercock explores the intersections of gender and various vertices of …

The Skin And Its Girl: A Novel, Michelle Simotas

International Journal of Human Rights Education

If you’re not reading queer Palestinian stories, you should start. Queer Palestinians have been fighting for their right to live and tell their stories, as queer stories have been criminalized and labeled as a threat to “morality and public decency” (Kakissis, 2017, para 10). In November 2023, “Queering the Map” became an online story wall for queer Palestinians living in Gaza to claim space and be remembered (O’Neal, 2023). Reading these and other queer Palestinians’ stories is an act of resistance. It is through these stories that readers can humanize and connect to the queer Palestinian experience, ensuring it cannot …

Insufficient Memory, Sean Fader

International Journal of Human Rights Education

Artist Statement

Insufficient Memory examines a window of time from 1999 to 2000, when the Hate Crimes Prevention Act was first being debated in Congress (and not passed). In 2018 I discovered an old Sony Digital Mavica which was the first commercially successful digital camera sold in 1999 to 2000. This camera was considered groundbreaking technology because it shot ⅓-of-a-megapixel images to a 3.5-inch floppy. I began thinking about what was overlooked, invisible, or erased in the same moment as that digital camera began to revolutionize imaging and visibility.

Literacies Of The Rainbow Corn Mother: A Queer Indigenous Eye For Dei, Paul David Terry, Jamal Epperson

International Journal of Human Rights Education

The landscape of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work is currently undergoing a critical evaluation and facing attacks, revealing the limitations of performative initiatives entrenched in colonial frameworks. These initiatives often fail to acknowledge and address the erasure of Indigenous and queer identities, alongside the need for genuine representation within institutional settings. This approach may lead to creating inclusivity shaped by colonial law rather than fostering the true inclusivity and belonging that communities seek.

Advocates are calling for a shift towards a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to DEI work, urging organizations to move beyond performative gestures and toward meaningful …

Queer Rights Learning Through Transnational, Digital Communities Of Practice, Hayley D’Souza, Brindaalakshmi Kumbakonam, Bren Kutch, Aparna Arora, Vani Bhardwaj

International Journal of Human Rights Education

Traditional human rights education (HRE), and education writ-large, often depends on and reinforces binary hierarchies. The Society of Gender Professionals (SGP) reflects on how its trans-national, digital communities of practice (“Gender Circles”) are actively “queering” traditional HRE. This article shares reflections and learnings from 14 one-on-one interviews with Gender Circle participants, most notably from the Breaking Gender/Sex Binaries Circles. By facilitating spaces that co-create knowledge, build community, and center lived experiences of people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC,) SGP disrupts and queers binaries and hierarchies in education and other constructs, such as with …

Fierce Love And Resistance: Lgbtqia2s+ Youth Thriving In The In-Between Spaces, Linsay Demartino, S. Gavin Weiser

International Journal of Human Rights Education

This article presents the preliminary ruminations of an ongoing project to build critical inclusion for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, and the countless affirmative ways in which people choose to self-identify (LGBTQIA2S+) youth. This article begins with a brief review of the current data on the LGBTQIA2S+ experience in preK-12 schools and pivots to the literature on hopeful practices, like gender and sexuality alliances (GSAs) and critical inclusivity, or the policies and processes that fully integrate the intersectional queer experience. This work is framed by the criticality of queering space by creating a nepantla, an …

(Don’T) Fight For Your Right To Party: Exploring The Educational Significance Of Trans Joy At Prom, Annaliese Devita

International Journal of Human Rights Education

Prom, a hallmark of American adolescence, is often dismissed as a frivolous tradition, yet it holds profound significance as a space for youth identity formation, social belonging, and cultural navigation. For trans and gender-expansive youth, the stakes of participation in this rite of passage are heightened amidst escalating attacks on their existence. This essay, drawing from graduate thesis research at the University of Edinburgh, examines the historical roots of prom, its embedded cis-heteronormative structures, and how Queer Youth Proms (QYPs) function as sites of resilience, joy, and self-determination for trans youth. While QYPs offer a critical refuge, their existence underscores …

Citizenship Education For Trans Inclusion, Jac Bastian, Hans Svennevig

International Journal of Human Rights Education

Amidst a backdrop of rising hate crimes and hostility towards the trans community, educational institutions have emerged as an area of contestation. How can educators navigate this to create rights respecting classrooms that empower active citizens who advocate for trans equality? This piece provides a community-based commentary that considers the legal responsibilities and duties of teachers to safeguard children and young people. It informs us on opportunities for the consideration of educators’ duties through the lens of Yogyakarta Principles+10 and the UNCRC.

Sociocultural Contexts Of Hiv Transmission For Newcomer Black Gay, Bisexual Men (Gbm) Who Have Sex With Men: Implications For Sexual Health Education And Human Rights In Ontario, Canada, Lance T. Mccready, Nadia Junaid

International Journal of Human Rights Education

This article examines the sociocultural and structural conditions that shape HIV vulnerability among newcomer Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) in Ontario, Canada. Based on qualitative data from focus groups with 22 newcomer Black GBM, the study explores how intersecting experiences of anti-Black racism, homophobia, trauma, and precarity during migration and resettlement impact access to sexual health education and care. Participants shared accounts of violence in their countries of origin, challenges navigating Canada’s housing and healthcare systems, and the ongoing mental health impacts of displacement and marginalization. Using a community-based participatory research framework, and …

Educational Joy, Queer Despair: Freirean Perspectives On Digital Queer Hre Initiatives In Russia, Anastasia Lavrenyuk, Anastasiia Lvova

International Journal of Human Rights Education

This study examines the contribution of recent digital queer educational projects aimed at a Russian-speaking audience, such as Queerorama and Lesbian Lobby, to the development of critical consciousness and transformative action within the queer communities in contemporary Russia. Analyzing the online discussion of the projects through the lens of Freirean critical pedagogy, the research reveals that while the projects educate their audiences on queer cultural history and highlight the contradictions within the current homophobic societal and legislative environment, they cannot be qualified as praxis, as they often fall short of translating said awareness into action. Users conceptualize the projects as …

Categories Are Made To Be Broken: Uncovering Strategies And Pedagogies Of Blaqueer Resistance, Femi Higgins

International Journal of Human Rights Education

This article explores the liberatory praxis and spaces of BlaQueer (Black & Queer) and Trans communities, focusing on educational settings that promote the rights and well-being of Black LGBTQ+ people and how these BlaQueer/Trans educational projects disrupt asymmetrical citizenship and violence. The analysis of BlaQueer/Trans educational projects, ranging from ballroom houses to community-based education programs, reveals core competencies that align with human rights education (HRE) and principles of ballroom culture. These include critical thinking and analysis of power structures and embodied resistance pedagogies that interrogate identity and unequal citizenship while building power to dismantle interlocking oppressive systems. The article contends …

Queer Youth Futures Now! Education And Research As A Transformative Praxis For Queer Youth Globally, Cody Freeman

International Journal of Human Rights Education

Despite growing movements, queer youth find themselves in the spotlight of intense backlash. While anti-queer activism becomes increasingly visible, queer youth activists engage in worldmaking practices through their educational activism. This narrative literature review examines how scholarly literature discusses education and research as a transformative praxis to further queer youths’ envisioned ways of being and their activism in the future. Employing the concept of queer futurity, this article highlights how queer youth move through time and space, co-create knowledge through participatory research, and engage in activism within and beyond school settings. It also underscores the need for critically reflexive, relational …

Introduction: Queering Human Rights Education: Research, Praxis And Liberation For Lgbtqia2s+, David Donahue, Lori Selke, Maria Autrey Noriega, Mauro Sifuentes

International Journal of Human Rights Education

No abstract provided.

Ijhre Vol. 9: Queering Human Rights Education: Research, Praxis And Liberation For Lgbtqia2s+, David Donahue, Lori Selke, Maria Autrey Noriega, Mauro Sifuentes

International Journal of Human Rights Education

This special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights Education, Queering Human Rights Education: Research, Praxis and Liberation for LGBTQIA2S+, presents research, reflection on practice, and reviews of new scholarship that highlight the experience of LGBTQIA2S+ students, educators, and activists through a human rights lens. The articles draw on diverse methodologies, perspectives, and intersecting identities to reimagine not just schools but all spaces of learning, from ballrooms to the internet, as sites for LGBTQ+ joy and liberation. The scholarship in this issue is “queer” not only in its focus on LGBTQ+ stakeholders in education but also in the …

The Impact Of Rubric-Based Feedback On Efl Writing Proficiency: Exploring Revision Skills, Learning Transfer, And Cognitive Overload, Ahmed Abdelraheem Elyan

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

This study explores how rubric-based feedback influences the writing development of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, with a particular focus on their revision practices, learning transfer, and the challenges they face with cognitive overload. The research was carried out in a high school context in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), aiming to understand the real impact of structured feedback on students’ writing performance.
Twenty Arabic-speaking students participated in the study, completing four essay writing tasks over eight weeks. These included a pre-test, two feedback-supported drafts, and a post-test. Their essays were assessed using an analytic rubric designed to …

Resilience And Demographics As Predictors Of Internet Addiction Among Polytechnic Library Users In South-South, Nigeria., Godwin Oberhiri-Orumah (Cln, Mnla), Esharenana E. Adomi Prof

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study investigated resilience and demographics as predictors of internet addiction among polytechnic library users in South-South, Nigeria. The study adopted the correlational research design. The population for the study was 3,302 library users from which a sample size of 412 library users in five federal polytechnics using the multi-stage sampling technique was selected. The instrument used for data collection was the questionnaire. The results show that the extent of Internet addiction among polytechnic library users in South-South Nigeria is moderate. The study also found that the level of resilience among polytechnic library users in South-South Nigeria is to a …