Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Place-Based Education: (Re)Integrating Ecology & Economy, Mark T. Kissling, Angela M. Calabrese Barton

Occasional Paper Series

Describes the relationship between ecology and economy in place-based education.

Curtain Up: Place-Based Teaching & Learning In The New York City Theater District, Peggy Mcnamara, Bryan Andes

Occasional Paper Series

In this article we describe and analyze the process first grade teachers used as they guided their students to investigate a place in their school community called “the Theater District,” an important industry in the neighborhood.

Guggenheim For All: Museum Education For Students On The Spectrum, Chiara Di Lello

Occasional Paper Series

The aim of this paper is to articulate the strengths of Guggenheim For All (GFA) as a place-based learning experience and the ways it can benefit students on the autism spectrum. I review educator practices in light of both Universal Design for Learning principles and best practices for teaching students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and draw on anecdotal data from teachers that support a view of GFA as place-based learning.

Playing In Literary Landscapes: Considering Children's Need For Fantasy Literature In The Place-Based Classroom, Sarah Fischer

Occasional Paper Series

Are the philosophies and pedagogical practices of literature-based classrooms congruent with place-based classrooms? In this paper, the author argues that not only is imaginative literature compatible with place-based philosophies, but it can become a powerful centerpiece of a curriculum aimed at educating for a sense of place and inspiring life-long readers.

Reclaiming The Promise Of Place: An Interview With David Greenwood, Roberta Altman

Occasional Paper Series

David Greenwood (formerly Gruenewald) is a Canada research chair in environmental education at Lakehead University, where he also directs the Centre for Place and Sustainability Studies. He has published widely on critical place-based, environmental, and sustainability education. His current interests are to continue to make connections between the big ideas of place and sustainability and other big ideas and experiences in the arts, mindfulness, embodiment, and being in the world.

Introduction: Claiming The Promise Of Place-Based Education, Roberta Altman, Susan Stires, Susan Weseen

Occasional Paper Series

Each of the papers in Claiming the Promise of Place-based Education offers a much-needed antidote to the forces that disconnect us from the places we teach, learn, and live in. Taken together, they provide an opportunity to reflect on the power of place in education. We invite you to enjoy the fresh air that the authors of this issue of Occasional Papers have brought with them to share with you.

Front Matter And Editors' Notes, Helen Freidus, Mollie Welsh Kruger, Steven Goss

Occasional Paper Series

Cover page, table of contents, editors' notes.

Confessions Of A Media Literacy Scholar-Practitioner: Job Market Advantages, Research Agenda Challenges, And Theory-Driven Production, Christopher Boulton

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This essay explores how higher education’s move away from the liberal arts tradition of learning by thinking and towards more vocational “experiential” approaches has implications for media literacy educators’ career options, scholarly identities, and teaching strategies. Specifically, I consider my own negotiation of increasing administrative and student demands for “hands-on” production courses by confessing both my advantages on the job market and my post-hire challenges in articulating a clear research agenda. I then conclude with a case study of how I repurposed my scholar-practitioner identity and used critical theory to drive production by bringing film students into a cultural studies …

Revolutionary Critical Pedagogy: Staking A Claim Against The Macrostructural Unconscious, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Critical pedagogy currently exists today as precariously as a shabby lean-to room added to a typical American hall-and-parlor house. I am referring to the type of house that formed the basic English prototype for the classic American building we see everywhere in New England and on the East Coast. If the hall-and-parlor house represents education in the main, then we critical educators are as rare as hen’s teeth, shunted to the rear of the house, squatters huddled under a slanted roof, wearing fingerless gloves, clutching our tin cups of broth, spearing biscuits and dreaming of the day when we will …

The Rise Of Neoliberalism - A Transrational Analysis: Towards A New Vision For Urban Education, Dennis Kevin Gregory

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

I was driven to this study by witnessing dramatic changes in urban education in recent years and began to ask the questions: What is going on? And why now? This dissertation will show that an extremely powerful and pervasive global ideology known as neoliberalism is at the core of the answers to these questions. As a result, understanding the Rise of Neoliberalism has become a passionate mission for me.

Ferguson (2009) argues that a different approach to the study of neoliberalism is needed because the current scholarship is unsatisfactory; generating common pejorative and unsurprising conclusions like ‘it is bad for …

In The Service Of What? A Phenomenological Exploration Of African American High School Students' Self-Efficacy In Service Learning, Charemi A. Jones

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study explored how African American high school students from a large Midwestern city make meaning of their service learning experiences within the framework of mandated service learning participation required for high school graduation, and how their lived experiences inform their self-efficacy development. Scholars have previously posited, “student voice in service learning projects positively correlated with improved self-concept, political engagement, and tolerance” (Morgan and Streb, 2001). Within this context, voice is synonymous with students’ self- reflection.

One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted utilizing a pre-printed protocol consisting of open- ended questions designed to elicit authentic responses, allowing the voice of …

The Remedy That's Killing: Cuny, Laguardia, And The Fight For Better Math Policy, Rachel A. Oppenheimer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Nationwide, there is a crisis in math learning and math achievement at all levels of education. Upwards of 80% of students who enter the City University of New York’s community colleges from New York City’s Department of Education high schools fail to meet college level math proficiencies and as a result, are funneled into the system’s remedial math system. Once placed into pre-college remedial arithmetic, pre-algebra, and elementary algebra courses, students fail at alarming rates and research indicates that students’ failure in remedial math has negative ripple effects on their persistence and degree completion. CUNY is not alone in facing …

Primary Sources & Historical Understanding In High School American History, Kristina Nelson

Education Masters Papers

Learning history in high school is often disconnected from the process used by professional historians to understand the past. This research studies the implementation of primary source analysis in the high school American History classroom as a means to increase historical understanding. Previous research focuses on increasing achievement while this study also includes impact on engagement and attitude. Primary source analysis was the main instructional strategy used in one unit of study in a required ninth grade American History course at a suburban high school in April 2016. Student historical understanding was assessed using student self-reports on a daily basis, …

Moving To A District Balanced Literacy Program: A Change Leadership Plan, Cynthia A. Marks, Carol A. Benda

Dissertations

Based upon the requirements of the No Child Left Behind mandate, schools that failed to achieve the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) designation for two consecutive years were required to implement a comprehensive school reform model. This change plan examined the movement from the comprehensive school reform model Success For All (SFA) to a balanced literacy framework within Harmony District 841. The framework advocated for balanced literacy instruction that supported the integration of authentic reading and writing experiences, application of literacy strategies and skills, implementation of a culturally relevant text, focus on professional development for teachers, and provision for effective instructional …

The Creative Warrior: A Holistic Approach To Health And Longevity, Daniel Robert Gray

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

When we look at artists in contemporary society it is unfortunate how many of them turn to drugs, alcohol, and suicide as a means to cope with and escape the world. Sadly, there are artists who never live long enough to have a career or share their brilliance with the world. This tragedy is the underlying motivation for this project. One of our goals at the school where I teach, Idyllwild Arts Academy, is to help prepare students for a life in the arts. For the most part we focus on the skills and concepts of their discipline. This …

The Mothers Of Exiles: Authentic Project-Based Learning In A Social Studies Classroom, Sarah Straub

MLET: The Journal of Middle Level Education in Texas

Dewey and Freire were the initial champions of community engagement in the classroom. This has been refined and adopted by researchers in the development of project-based learning. This specific project includes a component of community service that contributes to the engagement of students in the project. This article chronicles the planning and development of a project as well as the impact that students had on the community. This specific type of project was designed using the SAGE acronym - Student Choice, Authenticity, Global Significance, and Exhibition.

Perceptions Of Eighth Grade State Writing Assessment At A Nationally Recognized Middle School, Jillian M. Quandt

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

This study seeks to understand how one at-risk middle school in Nebraska is consistently beating eighth grade Nebraska State Writing Assessment (NESA-W) averages. The school has significant populations of Hispanic, special education, and low-income students. The study answers the following two research questions. What strategies does the at-risk school utilize to enable its students to exceed the Nebraska average on the NESA-W? What attitudes do the school’s writing teachers, administrators, students, and their parents hold about the NESA-W? Students and their parents answered a multiple-choice survey; teachers and administrators answered a longer, open-ended survey. The researcher used a combination of …

Addressing The Impact Of Deportation On Citizen Children And Their Undocumented Parents, Ismael Mondragon

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

A vast number of parents/children are been affected with high levels of anxiety, depression, and stress when their families are been separated due to deportation. Therefore, I conducted two sets of interviews, a parent component that consisted of eight questions and a child component that consisted of eleven questions. The interviews took approximately 10 minutes each. I interview a small group of six participants, three adults and three children who have gone through the devastated experience of having a family member deported. Hearing the participants experiences I learned that there are not enough programs in the community to help families …

Reflect, React, Exchange: A Cultural Competency Co-Curriculum, Derrick Lewis

Capstone Collection

Cultural competency serves as key component to medical training and education and increasing interest in international health experiences denotes a recent need to respond to globalized health and populations. Reflect, React, Exchange (RRE) is a co-curriculum aims to provide a revised and integrated framework and foster awareness via experience, exchange, reflection, and dialogue at the Clinica de Familia La Romana in La Romana, Dominican Republic. RRE utilizes theories which are appropriate to the transformative learning aims and integral curricular activities of the CFLR Global Health Experience, an 8-week, global health internship experience for health science. It provides students with the …

The Influence Of Length Of School Day On Grade 4 And Grade 5 Language Arts And Mathematics Performance In The State Of New Jersey, Meghan M. Plevier

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this relational, non-experimental, explanatory, cross sectional study with quantitative methods was to explain the influence of length of school day, if any, on Grade 4 and Grade 5 student achievement in Language Arts and Mathematics as measured by the high-stakes New Jersey standardized test entitled New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK) 2011. Additionally, the study examined the influence of other student, staff, and school variables such as student mobility, student attendance, percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch (SES), percentage of students with limited English proficiency (LEP), percentage of students with disabilities, …

California Community Colleges Student Equity, Esl And Basic Skills Students, Janet L. Daugherty

Scholarship and Engagement in Education

The leadership of California Community Colleges had been tasked with examining the data of English Language Learners (ELL) in urban, rural and suburban settings. This student popluation has difficulty navigating noncredit language courses that are prerequisites to college level credit courses leading to specialized certiciates and/or an associate's degree. The leaders at the community college level discovered gaps in student course completion data, students for whom English is a second language (ESL). These students sometimes do not receive support services toward successful course completion. Through analyzing course completion data, the leaders can implement student support services to assist ELL in …

The City From Above, Guadalupe Astorga Contreras

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

The city of Tijuana, Mexico has become a second home to many LMU students through programs like De Colores, which introduce students to issues of immigration, poverty, and education. The city varies from L.A.-style skyscrapers and paved roads to shacks along dirt paths. This image shows some of the diversity and growth of the city as it continues to develop, and provides a different perspective on the crowded communities that make up Tijuana.

Tourist To My Own Culture, Guadalupe Astorga Contreras

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

After nine years of living in the U.S. and staying away from her cultural homeland of Mexico, photographer Astorga returned to some of the places she remembered visiting as a child in her native country. Throughout the trip, the unthinkable change from intimacy to unfamiliarity was clear. These pictures show that progression and invite the viewer to become a tourist alongside Astorga as she visits a place she once considered home.

Only 45 Minutes Away, Guadalupe Astorga Contreras

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Being a part of an immigrant family, photographer Astorga has not had the chance to travel much even within her home state of California. Trips through class, clubs and events sponsored by Loyola Marymount University have provided her with the opportunity to visit places like Catalina Island right off the coast of L.A. and see things she and her family had only talked and dreamed of.

Hereisthefamilymotherfatherdickandjane: An Analysis Of Parenting And The Dick And Jane Readers In Morrison’S The Bluest Eye, Rachel Roseman

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

First-generation college student Rachel Roseman has found the American educational and cultural systems to privilege the white, upper to middle classes. As Toni Morrison demonstrates in The Bluest Eye, those who do not fit this mold often lack educational support and have to learn how to navigate cultural systems on their own. Unlike the character of Pecola, who features in the following essay, Roseman had a strong community and family who supported her decision to attend college and, as a result, achieved success.

Understanding School, Tiffany P. Ta

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

As a first-generation college student in the Silicon Valley, author Tiffany Ta grew up in a high-achieving academic culture that she only really began to unpack and understand in college. Upon being exposed to more diverse cultures and backgrounds, Ta began to realize that her upbringing was vastly different than many others, and that some of her classmates' behaviors were unnatural. This poem reflects how she now feels about the experience looking back.

Did You?, Tiffany P. Ta

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This poem is a reflection on first-generation college student Tiffany Ta's family heritage. The piece focuses on the author's grandmother, who Ta never really got to know.

Sheep In A Grotto, Laken D. Brooks

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Many first-generation college students undergo feelings of inadequacy in what is known as "impostor syndrome." This piece of fiction is born from such feelings of identity confusion and formation. The story functions as a written snapshot of an otherwise normal teenager whose life is threatened by a sexual assault; she faces and overcomes trauma at the cusp of her coming of age. Brooks' tale incorporates a raw focus upon the protagonist's ability to persevere and thrive in the face of violence. Ultimately, this text transcends a single character's journey into womanhood to reflect a message of hope and growth.

The Beauty Within Us, Areli C. Hernandez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This piece of prose, inspired by Chapter 23 of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, tells the story of a simple, yet vivacious get-together of migrant Latino workers, exploring the beauty within us--members of the migrant farm worker community.

Carrying On With Wayward Sons, Erika Simpson, Henrik Lagerlund

Political Science Publications

With their brains not maturing until their mid-20s, it's time to use a different approach to life and learning with our young men.