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- Genre: Academic theses
Description
Mexico City has an ongoing air pollution issue that negatively affects its citizens and surroundings with current structural disconnections preventing the city from improving its overall air quality. Thematic methodological analysis reveals current obstacles and barriers, as well as variables contributing to this persistent problem. A historical background reveals current programs and policies implemented to improve Mexico’s City air quality. Mexico City’s current systems, infrastructure, and policies are inadequate and ineffective. There is a lack of appropriate regulation on other modes of transportation, and the current government system fails to identify how the class disparity in the city and lack of adequate education are contributing to this ongoing problem. Education and adequate public awareness can potentially aid the fight against air pollution in the Metropolitan City.
ContributorsGarcia, Lucero (Author) / Duarte, Marisa E. (Thesis advisor) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Committee member) / Richter, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Inclusive education has become a global movement through the policies of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (e.g., Salamanca Statement). These policies led many developing nations to adopt these policies in their national policy agendas. Turkey has developed inclusive education policies that deal with the education of students with disabilities (SwD). However, although SwD are the largest group who are marginalized and excluded from educational opportunities, there are other groups (e.g., cultural-linguistic minorities) who experience educational inequities in access and participation in learning opportunities and deal with enduring marginalization in education. This study examined a) Turkish teachers’ and parents’ conceptualizations of inclusive education for diverse groups of students, namely SwD, Kurdish students (KS), and girls, who experience educational inequities, b) how their construction of students’ identities influenced students' educational experiences in relation to inclusive education, c) how their stories revealed identities, differences and power, and what role privilege played in marginalization, labeling, and exclusion of students within conceptualizations of inclusive education. I used cultural historical activity theory (Engeström, 1999) and figured worlds (Holland et al., 1998) to understand the teachers’ and parents’ interpretations and experiences about inclusive education. This qualitative study was conducted in four different schools in Maki, a small southwestern city in Turkey. A classroom photo, with a vignette written description, and a movie documentary were used as stimuli to generate focus group discussions and individual interviews. I conducted classroom observations to explore the context of schooling and how students were positioned within the classrooms. Classroom artifacts were additionally collected, and the data were analyzed using a constant-comparative method. The study findings demonstrated that students had different equity struggles in access, meaningful participation, and having equal outcomes in their education. The education activity system was not inclusive, but rather was exclusive by serving only certain students. SwD and girls had difficulty accessing education due to cultural-historical practices and institutional culture. On the other hand, Turkish-only language policy and practices created tensions for KS to participate fully in education activity systems. Although stakeholders advocated girls’ education, many of them constructed SwD’s and KS’ identities from deficit perspectives.
ContributorsKilinc, Sultan (Author) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Thesis advisor) / Kozleski, Elizabeth B. (Thesis advisor) / Swadener, Elizabeth Blue (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This study examines the identity development of young women in the context of an urban high school in the Southwest. All of the participants were academically successful and on-track to graduate from high school, ostensibly ready for “college, career and life.” Life story interviews were co-constructed with the teacher-researcher. These accounts were recorded, transcribed and coded for themes related to identity development. The narrative interviews were treated as historical accounts of identity development and, simultaneously, as performances of identity in the figured world of the urban high school. The interviews reflected the participants’ ability to create a coherent life story modulated to the context of the interview. Generally, they used the interviews as an opportunity to test ideas about their identity, or to perform an ideal self. Several key findings emerged. First, while content and focus of the interviews varied widely, there was a common formulation of success among the participants akin to the traditional “American Dream.” Second, the participants, although sharing key long term goals, had a diverse repertoire of strategies to achieve their goals. Last, schooling, both informal and formal, played different roles in supporting the women during this transition from childhood to adulthood. Results indicate that multiple pathways exist for students to find success in US high schools, and that the “college for all” narrative may limit educators’ ability to support students as they create their own narratives of successful lives.
ContributorsBogusch, Emily Bridget (Author) / Nakagawa, Kathy (Thesis advisor) / Swadener, Beth Blue (Committee member) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Committee member) / Klimek, Barbara (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The study explored the academic journey of Latinas who participated in the Hispanic Mother-Daughter Program (HMDP) and completed a bachelor’s degree. The literature highlighted intersecting influencers that contributed to the Latinx academic journey. To account for this multidimensional nature, I utilized a conceptual framework with strengths in intersectionality and institutional impact: the psychosociocultural (PSC) approach and Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit). This framework set the foundation for a research design that accounted for potential nuances. Using a modified version of Seidman’s three-series and Atkinson’s life story interviews, I designed three interviews per participant with interview scripts that created space to tailor questions to unique participant responses but still captured context, details, and reflections. The outcome of the data was produced in three modalities: profiles, themes within each research questions, and overall key findings. I utilize the literature review and conceptual framework where appropriate to interpret the overall key findings. I ended this dissertation by providing implications and recommendations for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.
ContributorsWilliams, Tiffany (Author) / Brayboy, Bryan (Thesis advisor) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Committee member) / Solyom, Jessica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
The United States is currently the world's largest reception and placement country of the nearly 22 million refugees worldwide. Of the numbers of refugees resettled, almost half of them are under the age of 18 and are arriving in American schools having experienced trauma, stress, and limited education during the conflict in their home country. Teacher experiences with refugee students can have a profound effect on the way refugee children feel they are received in the school community. Drawing on previous studies that emphasize the challenges that refugee students face, this thesis looks at the training that teachers receive that prepares them to work with refugee students in public schools in Maricopa County, Arizona. Through a review of the literature and data collected from teacher and former refugee student interviews, this research explores what teachers know and need to know to teach refugee students successfully. Innovative practices that teachers employ are also highlighted, and recommendations for further research, policy, and practice are provided.
ContributorsHenderson, Joanna (Author) / Schugurensky, Daniel, 1958- (Thesis advisor) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Thesis advisor) / Androff, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017