Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

Building Teacher Empathy And Culturally Responsive Practice Through Professional Development And Self-Reflection, Barbara S. Rieckhoff, Melissa Ockerman, Amira Proweller, James Wolfinger

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

Today’s teachers face growing demands and mandates to support every aspect of a student’s academic success, with additional expectations to support students’ social and emotional needs both inside and outside of the classroom. In the face of increasing student cultural, racial and linguistic diversity, the teaching pool remains relatively homogeneous, consisting largely of white, European-American educators. This disconnect between the lived experiences of teachers and their students makes it difficult for teachers to value and connect to a diverse student body. This qualitative study explores how a collaborative multi-tiered critical professional development model between a non-for-profit organization and a University, …

Symbolic Boundaries And The Clinical Preparation Of Teacher Candidates, Bilge Cerezci, Donald Mcclure

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

The purpose of this essay is to make sense of the two divides in the clinical preparation of teacher candidates: (1) between professional knowledge and skilled practice, and (2) between university-based courses and school-based field experiences. This essay extends the work of Lamont and Molnár (2002) to conceptualize symbolic boundaries related to these two divides. Within this framework, a review of the research highlights three main implications. First, teacher education programs need to design teaching and learning experiences that allow teacher candidates to use the professional knowledge they have gained through their university courses across multiple educational settings. Second, such …

Improving Co-Teachers Relationships, Asher Samuel

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

Co-teaching is an instructional strategy wherein two teachers, a general education teacher and a special education teacher, share instructional responsibilities in a general education class that includes students with disabilities (SWDs) (Friend, 2010). An important component of co-teaching is the relationship between the teachers (Kohler-Evans, 2006), which has been described as a professional marriage (Friend, 2010). However, there is limited information on factors influencing the relationship. This study investigated if teaching experience affects co-teachers’ perception of teamwork. Participants included special and general education co-teachers from eight public school districts in New York City. Co-teachers from grades K-12 completed the Tuckman …

The Impact Of Universally Accelerating Eighth Grade Mathematics Students On Participation And Achievement, Patrick Walsh

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

In New York State students are traditionally scheduled to take Algebra I in their first year of high school mathematics. However, in many schools, the “top” students in a cohort have access to this course in eighth grade, tracking these high-achieving students ahead of their lower-achieving peers. In response, some schools have adopted the policy of “Algebra for all” in eighth grade – called universal acceleration. While this policy ensures equal access to a challenging curriculum for all students, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, and prior achievement, there is a concern that not all students are developmentally ready to take …

Jovsa Education Special Issue: Introduction, Erin Fahle

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

Editors

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

Cover

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

Teaching Non-Cognitive Skills For College: A Qualitative Case Study Of A Low-Income, High-Minority, Urban School District In Southeastern United States, Elizabeth Byron

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This instrumental, multisite case study examines the role of secondary teachers in preparing high school students for the non-cognitive skills needed to persist in and graduate from college, using Bourdieu’s (1984) and Lin’s (1999) social capital theory as a guiding framework. Non-cognitive skills are defined as the “behaviors, thoughts, and feelings” of students (Borghans, 2008). Data collection for this study is based on semi-structured interviews via telecommunications with secondary educators and postsecondary student success practitioners and electronic archived documentation of non-cognitive skills found to be important for college success by the interviewees. In this study, college success is defined as …

You Belong Here: A Critical Look At Community Engagement In Museum Education Through K-16 Place Based Pedagogy, Janelle O'Malley

Student Projects

Historically museums exist as object centered spaces with little consideration of the community and artists that support them. Therefore museums as pedagogical sites must reorient themselves to become people centered spaces incorporating participatory pedagogical experiences for both community members and artists.

There is a lack of research in place-based pedagogies in museum education. It is important now more than ever to recognize the need to center community in museum education. This study will seek to investigate how museums can exact meaningful change through their educational practices and create a sense of belonging in museums for their immediate community. The outcomes …

Immigration Picture Books By #Ownvoices Authors, Sanjuana C. Rodriguez, Karina Gonzalez, Carolina Rojas

Georgia Journal of Literacy

Reviews of Latinx immigration picture books

Seeking Calm Among The Chaos: A Letter From The Editor, Shannon Tovey

Georgia Journal of Literacy

A letter from the Editor of the Georgia Journal of Literacy

Using The Critical Mathematics Pedagogical Framework To Teach Adult Basic Education Learners: A Transformative Convergent Parallel Mixed Methods Study, Matthew D. Gromlich

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The goal of this study was to design and implement curricula in the Adult Basic Education classroom that aligned to the Critical Mathematics Pedagogical Framework. Specifically, this study assessed if ABE students’ mathematics anxiety and mathematics self-efficacy ware affected by curricula that aligns to the Critical Mathematics Pedagogical Framework. Using a transformative convergent parallel mixed methods study, this study showed that students taught using CMPF-based lessons specifically reflected on their own attitudes towards mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety, number positioning, and the need for societal change around mathematical concepts. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to highlight student reflections and …

Facilitating Conversations On Difficult Topics In The Classroom: Teachers’ Stories Of Opening Spaces Using Children’S Literature

Occasional Paper Series

For this edition of the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series, we invited educators to share stories from their practice: times when they utilized children’s literature and conversations to address real life; the difficult topics that children experience through the mirror of their own experiences or the windows of their peers, communities, or world.

Conversations About Death That Are Provoked By Literature, Cara E. Furman

Occasional Paper Series

How do teachers have conversations about death with young children? In this paper, I focus specifically on how teachers might support unplanned conversations that were provoked by children’s literature. In analyzing a series of events in which such conversations occurred, I argue that to do so required going against three conventions in literacy education: close reading, staying on task, and appropriate school talk. I then speak to how teacher educators might prepare teachers for these unexpected but important digressions.

If I Knew Then What I Do Now: Fostering Pre-Service Teachers’ Capacity To Promote Expansive And Critical Conversations With Children’S Literature, Stephen Adam Crawley

Occasional Paper Series

In this article, I reflect on my practices as a teacher educator and respond to the following questions: How do I foster the capacity of pre-service teachers to use children’s literature to promote expansive and critical conversations in the classroom? How do pre-service teachers report their stances and sense of preparedness when reflecting on the course? To address these questions, I share two strategies I employed in my undergraduate course for elementary education majors: 1) emphasizing children's literature as windows and mirrors and 2) considering stakeholder responses. For each strategy, I include preservice teachers’ (PTs’) statements that reflect how the …

Choosing Difficult, Choosing Important In Fifth-Grade Read-Aloud, Chiara Dilello

Occasional Paper Series

In this essay, I share my critical reflections and pedagogical choices (some more successful than others) while using a whole-class chapter book read-aloud to engage my students in conversation about complex topics, including racism and gender, which we might not have discussed otherwise. It is my hope to model one small way I as a White teacher have tried to disrupt Whiteness in my classroom as part of a larger commitment to anti-racist teaching, and help teachers feel more prepared to undertake similar work in their own settings.

Gender-Inclusive Children’S Literature As A Preventative Measure: Moving Beyond A Reactive Approach To Lgbtq+ Topics In The Classroom, Shelby Brody

Occasional Paper Series

This article addresses the common perception of gender non-conforming and gender-expansive identities as difficult classroom topics. The lack of gender-inclusive curricula in American schools results in a reactive approach to teaching about queerness, specifically about people who identify as transgender and/or gender non-conforming. Teachers need to adopt a proactive approach to teaching about queerness in order to prevent gender-based discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools and in the world. Trans-inclusive children’s literature has become more available in recent years. However, teachers need to be conscious of popular narratives that offer a limited perspective on people who identify as transgender and …

Taking A Journey To The Land Of All: Using Children’S Literature To Explore Gender Identity And Expression With Young Children, Kerry Elson, Kindel Nash

Occasional Paper Series

Children’s literature is a powerful tool that helps shape young children’s understandings of themselves and the world. As such, children’s literature can help young children develop deeper and more nuanced understandings about gender, gender identity, and gender expression. This article shares how teacher Kerry Elson planned and implemented a curriculum with first-grade students that focused on gender identity and expression. In this curriculum, she carefully selected children’s literature to explore gender identity and expression with young children.

Storytime Is A Sunrise: Employing Children’S Literature To Mediate Socio-Emotional Challenges In The Life Of A Young Child, Carolina Soto Bonds

Occasional Paper Series

This piece explores the trials and victories of a teacher's literary therapy for Will* a student faced with the ravages of mental health struggles and instability in his home life. The purpose here is to divulge the vulnerabilities of a personal story in the hopes of generating support for other educators who might be battling similar conflicts. Along the way, as varying children's books like My Happy Sad Mummy, by Michelle Vasiliu, and The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas, play integral parts in emotional healing, the teacher confronts her own internal unrests as Will's obstacles inch too close to home. …

Introduction: Facilitating Conversations On Difficult Topics In The Classroom: Teachers’ Stories Of Opening Spaces Using Children’S Literature, Mollie Welsh Kruger, Susie Rolander, Susan Stires

Occasional Paper Series

For this edition of the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series, we invited educators to share stories from their practice: times when they utilized children’s literature and conversations to address real life; the difficult topics that children experience through the mirror of their own experiences or the windows of their peers, communities, or world.

Exploring North Texas Elementary Principals’ Viewpoints Regarding The Influence Of Culturally Responsive Teaching On School Climate And School Culture, Monica Latrice Tatum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Public schools in the United States have become more diverse due to immigration and the mass exodus of the White population to the suburbs. Growing demographic changes and a consistently White educational labor force raise concern regarding how schools address the needs of their diverse student populations. Much research exists concerning teachers’ implementation of culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practices. However, a void remains in the literature regarding the role of school leadership in this process. An understanding of culturally competent principals’ perspectives on CRT needs more attention to address how school leaders create safe and equitable environments for diverse …

Understanding Conflict In Education For Democracy. A Response To "The Value Of Conflict And Disagreement In Democratic Teacher Education", Steven P. Camicia

Democracy & Education

Teachers are often apprehensive about facilitating deliberation in classrooms because conflicts can develop when deliberations surround issues of authentic concern to students. However, conflict is central to deliberation, and the identities and experiences of participants must be reflected in deliberation. These differences challenge the assumptions of neutrality and a common good that can restrain conflict. Harell’s article focuses upon many of these aspects of deliberation and the essential role of facilitators as conflicts emerge from deliberation. In my response to Harell, I extend his findings by developing the themes of conflict, identity, and inclusion. These themes are conceptually linked and …

No More Teaching Without Positive Relationships, Annie P. Spear

Michigan Reading Journal

No abstract provided.

Research Across The Curriculum: Using Cognitive Science To Answer The Call For Better Legal Research Instruction, Tenielle Fordyce-Ruff

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The American Bar Association (ABA), law students, and employers are demanding that law schools do better when teaching legal research. Academic critics are demanding that law professors begin to apply the lessons from the science of learning to improve student outcomes. The practice of law is changing.

Yet, the data shows that law schools are not changing their legal research curriculum to respond to the need of their students or to address the ABA’s mandate. This stagnation comes at the same time as an explosion in legal information and a decrease in technical research skills among incoming students. This article …

A Study Of The Impact Of A University’S Program For Intellectual Disabilities On Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions And Attitudes, Tyanne N. Bailey

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Opportunities for individuals with exceptional needs to participate in inclusive environments have increased in recent years due to the implementation of various laws. Throughout the history of education, individuals with exceptional needs were prevented from attending higher education institutions; however, the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008 provided opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities to attend higher education institutions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how a university’s program to assist students with intellectual disabilities successfully transition from high school to adulthood impacted undergraduate students’ perceptions and comfort level of working with individuals with intellectual disabilities. This …

Book Review - Alternative Education Tutors: A Poetic Inquiry, Nicole Rallis

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

A book review of Adrian Schoone's "Constellations of Alternative Education Tutors" published in 2020 as part of the Springer Briefs in Arts-Based Educational Research book series.

Art: The Language We Use When There Is Nothing We Can Say, Peter London

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

When matters of ultimate concern are upon us, the language with which we ordinarily negotiate life reveals its limitations. At these pivotal moments of life, we spontaneously yield to tears or laughter or song or silence. At these high moments reason no longer feels sufficient, is too slow, too pedantic. In these moments we shift inexorably from walking to dancing, from speaking to singing. We rely upon song to console us, we believe in song to hold us steady, to carry us past or closer. We rely on art, these seemingly flimsy things to save us.

Co-Creation With Youth: Teaching Artistry And Art Outreach Programs, Hallie Morrison

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

This article shares my process and reflection as a teaching artist on a specific project with the Chicago Opera Theater (COT). An extension of my personal and professional practices that aims to provide larger painting experiences for students than they are normally provided, this project takes place in Chicago public schools through a model of Arts Partnership in which COT brings in multidisciplinary arts education. Beyond being an educational program, this school-based artistic co-creation resulted in opportunities for professional learning, intracultural bonding, and empowering moments for youth. This article includes images of the art teaching process, arts integration program tools, …

Editing My Own Drum, Adrienne Adams

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

The author examines her art and poetry practice exploring how the "Badlands" of Alberta, Canada in particular Áísínai'pi (Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park), are "the bones of the earth". She looks at the visual and linguistic poetry within them and examines her wording to decolonize her practice and learning/unlearning from the land and the cultures; Blackfoot and Settler, and peoples that inhabit it. She highlights how her process of editing a specific poem “My Own Drum” prompted and echoes an examination of her practice that leads to the writing of a new poem written during this process, revealing some of her findings. …