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- All Subjects: Education
- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
Description
For many adolescents, high school is a critical period of self-awareness, peer-influence, and identity construction. During this volatile period, young people explore how to express themselves in ways that range from conformity to non-conformity and transgression. This is particularly true when it comes to young people's understanding and expression of gender identity. For some youth, their personal form(s) of gender expression align neatly with social expectations; for others, it does not. When gender expression does not align with social expectations, students may be vulnerable to bullying or harassment by peers or adults. Often, youth who are policed and regulated by their classmates through bullying (or harassment, depending upon the relevant or implemented policy) are targeted based on their perceived identity, be that racial, ethnic, citizenship, or, most frequently, gender and sexuality. This project advances the need for research done from a critical youth studies perspective (both methodologically and ethically) and provides new insight into the types of language and practices used by youth to express, perform and "do" gender. Utilizing qualitative methodology, including participant observation, focus group and individual interviews, surveys, and the collection and content analysis of school ephemera, this research investigated how high school students navigate gender identity amidst other intersecting identities. This project examined how youth both "do" and "perform" gender in their everyday lives as high school students. Their gender identity is frequently understood amidst other intersecting identities, particularly sexual orientation, religion and race. These youth also pointed to several important influences in how they understand their own gender, and the gender identity of those around them, including media and peer groups. Because this research took place at two charter art schools, the findings also provided a framework for understanding how these two schools, and charter art schools more generally, provide alternative spaces for young people to experiment and play with their identity construction. Findings indicate that youth are forced to navigate and construct their gender identity amidst many conflicting and contradictory ideologies. Schools, media, and peer groups all heavily influence the way young people understand themselves.
ContributorsPrior, Sarah (Author) / Cavender, Gray (Thesis advisor) / Adelman, Madelaine (Thesis advisor) / Swadener, Beth Blue (Committee member) / Katsulis, Yasmina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
For some time it has been recognized amongst researchers that individual and collective change should be the goal in educating for sustainability, unfortunately education has generally been ineffective in developing pro-environmental behaviors among students. Still, many scholars and practitioners are counting on education to lead us towards sustainability but suggest that in order to do so we must transition away from current information-intensive education methods. In order to develop and test novel sustainability education techniques, this research integrates pedagogical methods with psychological knowledge to target well-established sustainable behaviors. Through integrating education, behavior change, and sustainability research, I aim to answer: How can we motivate sustainable behavioral change through education programs? More specifically: How do diverse knowledge domains (declarative, procedural, effectiveness, and social) influence sustainable behaviors, both in general as well as before and after a sustainability education program? And: What are barriers hindering education approaches to changing behaviors? In answering these questions, this research involved three distinct stages: (1) Developing a theoretical framework for educating for sustainability and transformative change; (2) Implementing a food and waste focused sustainability educational program with K-12 students and teachers while intensively assessing participants' change over the course of one year; (3) Developing and implementing an extensive survey that examines the quantitative relationships between diverse domains of knowledge and behavior among a large sample of K-12 educators. The results from the education program demonstrated that significant changes in knowledge and behaviors were achieved but social knowledge in terms of food was more resistant to change as compared to that of waste. The survey results demonstrated that K-12 educators have high levels of declarative (factual or technical) knowledge regarding anthropocentric impacts on the environment; however, declarative knowledge does not predict their participation in sustainable behaviors. Rather, procedural and social knowledge significantly influence participation in sustainable food behaviors, where as procedural, effectiveness, and social knowledge impact participation in sustainable waste behaviors. Overall, the findings from this research imply that in order to effectively educate for sustainability, we must move away from nature-centric approaches that focus on declarative knowledge and embrace different domains of knowledge (procedural, effectiveness, and social) that emphasis the social implications of change.
ContributorsRedman, Erin (Author) / Larson, Kelli (Thesis advisor) / Eakin, Hallie (Committee member) / Spielmann, Katherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This study collected and examined information on K-12 teachers currently involved in online education in the United States. The purposes of this study included defining the demographics of these teachers, determining the extent to which they were formally educated and/or trained to teach online, and to compare these findings to those from a similar study conducted six years earlier. A web-based survey, including questions in both open and closed form, was used to gather data from 325 participants currently teaching at least one online class at publicly funded K-12 online schools nationwide. Survey questions covered the following six domains: a) personal demographics, b) educational background and experience, c) pre-service training, d) in-service training, and e) current online teaching assignments. The results of this study indicate that those currently teaching online to K-12 students have demographic characteristics that are similar to face-to-face teachers, particularly in terms of gender, age, and ethnicity/race; however, the online teachers generally had higher levels of educational attainment, more years of teaching experience, and were significantly more likely to teach on a part-time basis. It was found that teachers working with K-12 students online are self-motivated, place a high value on learning and education, and enjoy the challenge and process of using technology for this purpose. Based on findings, only a limited number of university-based teacher preparation programs address any aspect of the methods and techniques required for teaching online, and even fewer offer online field placement opportunities for pre-service teachers. For the most part, current online teachers were found to have received training after graduation, while working in the field. Further research is needed to specifically define and empirically validate the methods and techniques required for effective online teaching at the K-12 levels so that formal educational and training programs can be further developed to effectively prepare future K-12 online teachers.
ContributorsLarson, Jean Sutton (Author) / Archambault, Leanna (Thesis advisor) / Savenye, Wilhelmina (Thesis advisor) / Bitter, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
In order to maintain its global position, the United States needs to increase the number of students opting for science careers. Science teachers face a formidable challenge. Students are not choosing science because they do not think coursework is interesting or applies to their lives. These problems often compound for adolescents in urban areas. This action research investigated an innovation aimed at engaging a group of adolescents in the science learning process through cognitive processes and conceptual understanding. It was hoped that this combination would increase students' engagement in the classroom and proficiency in science. The study was conducted with 28 juniors and sophomores in an Environmental Science class in an urban high school with a student body of 97% minority students and 86% students receiving free and reduced lunch. The study used a mixed-methods design. Instruments included a pre- and post-test, Thinking Maps, transcripts of student discourse, and a two-part Engagement Observation Instrument. Data analysis included basic descriptives and a grounded theory approach. Findings show students became engaged in activities when cognitive processes were taught prior to content. Furthermore it was discovered that Thinking Maps were perceived to be an easy tool to use to organize students' thinking and processing. Finally there was a significant increase in student achievement. From these findings implications for future practice and research are offered.
ContributorsSingh, Renu (Author) / Zambo, Debby (Thesis advisor) / Hansen, Cory (Committee member) / Snyder, Jan D (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This dissertation uses constructivist pedagogy to teach acting via Practical Aesthetics, a system of actor training created in the mid/&ndash1980s; by David Mamet and his college acting students. Primarily taught at the Atlantic Theatre Acting School in New York City, Practical Aesthetics has been the focus of little academic research. The same lack of research regarding constructivist pedagogy exists in academic theatre scholarship. The author takes a step toward rectifying this situation. Using an action research methodology, based on approximately thirteen years of teaching experience, the author suggests that Practical Aesthetics and his accompanying voice and movement exercises can be effective in training novice actors. The author melds theory and practice into the educational approach called Praxis to create specific detailed lesson plans which can be used to implement Practical Aesthetics. These lessons constitute primary research on this topic. Compatible voice and movement exercises are also included to provide a comprehensive semester length digest. The first chapter is an introduction, the second outlines Practical Aesthetics, the third focuses on constructivism, the fourth discusses teaching acting using Constructivist Learning Design, the fifth provides narrative lessons that can be used in the classroom, and the closure provides a review as well as suggestions for further research. An intriguing point made in the closure is a call for studies that might determine Practical Aesthetics' applicability and usability in other fields such as law, business, politics, public speaking, and even non-profit work. Although the primary audience for this dissertation is secondary school and college acting instructors, any scholar studying acting theory or constructivist pedagogy may find value in its contents.
ContributorsDobosiewicz, Troy L. (Author) / Saldana, Johnny (Thesis advisor) / Etheridge Woodson, Stephani (Committee member) / Eckard, Bonnie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The purpose of this survey study was to collect data from pre-K-12 educators in the U.S. regarding their perceptions of the purpose, conceptions, use, impact, and results of educational research. The survey tool was based on existing questionnaires and case studies in the literature, as well as newly developed items. 3,908 educators in a database developed over 10+ years at the world's largest education company were sent a recruiting email; 400 elementary and secondary teachers in the final sample completed the online survey containing 48 questions over a three-week deployment period in the spring of 2013. Results indicated that overall teachers believe educational research is important, that the most important purpose of research is to increase effectiveness of classroom practice, yet research is not frequently sought out during the course of practice. Teachers perceive results in research journals as the most trustworthy yet also perceive research journals the most difficult to access (relying second-most often for research via in-service trainings). These findings have implications for teachers, administrators, policy-makers, and researchers. Educational researchers should seek to address both the theoretical and the applied aspects of learning. Professional development must make explicit links between research findings and classroom strategies and tactics, and research must be made more readily available to those who are not currently seeking additional credentialing, and therefore do not individually have access to scholarly literature. Further research is needed to expand the survey sample and refine the survey instrument. Similar research with administrators in pre-K-20 settings as well as in-depth interviews would serve to investigate the "why" of many findings.
ContributorsMahoney, Shawn (Author) / Savenye, Wilhelmina (Thesis advisor) / Nelson, Brian (Committee member) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Public demands for accountability and educational change are at an all-time high. No Child Left Behind set the stage for public accountability of educators and the recently created Race to the Top grant raised the stakes of public school accountability even more with the creation of national standards and assessments as well as public accountability of individual teacher performance based on student test scores. This high-stakes context has placed pressure on local schools to change their instructional practices rapidly to ensure students are learning what they need to in order to perform well on looming Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exams. The purpose of this mixed methods action research study was to explore a shared leadership model and discover the impact of a change facilitation team using the Concerns Based Adoption Model tools on the speed and quality of innovation diffusion at a Title One elementary school. The nine-member change facilitation team received support for 20 weeks in the form of professional development and ongoing team coaching as a means to empower teacher-leaders to more effectively take on the challenges of change. Eight of those members participated in this research. This approach draws on the research on change, learning organizations, and coaching. Quantitative results from the Change Facilitator Stages of Concern Questionnaire were triangulated with qualitative data from interviews, field notes, and Innovation Configuration Maps. Results show the impact on instructional innovation when teacher-leadership is leveraged to support change. Further, there is an important role for change coaches when leading change initiatives. Implications from this study can be used to support other site leaders grappling with instructional innovation and calls for additional research.
ContributorsCruz, Jennifer (Author) / Zambo, Debby (Thesis advisor) / Foulger, Teresa (Committee member) / Tseunis, Paula (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Past experiences influence how teachers identify as teachers, writers, and teachers of writing and impacts what they do in their classrooms, including their motivation and effectiveness in teaching writing. When teachers fail to identify as writers, they tend to spend less time teaching writing and may find it difficult to model a genuine passion and love for writing. Because of this, it is important to address the writing identities of preservice teachers before they enter their own classrooms. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate and address preservice teachers' identities as teachers, writers, and teachers of writing using an adaptation of a visual literacy strategy known as full circling. Quantitative data were collected through a pre- and post Teacher/Writer Identity Survey and qualitative data were collected through classroom discourse transcripts, student reflective journals, field notes, and the researcher's reflective journal. Data analysis included a t-test comparison of pre- and post survey results and open and axial coding of qualitative data to establish major themes from emerging codes. The following conclusions were derived from the data: a) past experiences in writing affected the writing identities of the preservice teachers in the study; b) the full circling process provided a means for the preservice teachers to build knowledge on the traits and skills of effective teachers, writers, and teachers of writing; and, c) through full circling the preservice teachers demonstrated shifts in their identities as teachers, writers, and teachers of writing. Findings provided evidence that using a full circling strategy assisted preservice teachers in uncovering their identities as teachers, writers, and teachers of writing.
ContributorsHodgins, Ann (Author) / Zambo, Debby (Thesis advisor) / Hansen, Cory (Committee member) / Galligan, Gayle (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Teacher learning in the workplace is situated within a complex context involving the individual and multiple aspects of an educational organization. The present action research study uses a socio-constructionist inquiry lens to further research the local and multifaceted nature of professional learning in schools. The goal is to re-conceptualize professional development away from reductionist approaches that assume teacher practice can be isolated, packaged, and directly transferable into the classroom. The present study examines how lesson study can structure interdisciplinary professional learning to address the current gap in the literature regarding professional development of secondary specialty teachers. Five teachers participated in two lesson study cycles for a period of 13-weeks. This study focused on how teachers co-construct pedagogical knowledge and the extent to which they make changes to their practice. Using a sequential mixed methods research design, this study collected qualitative and quantitative data in three phases. In the initial phase, participants completed a demographical survey and shared a digital ethnography of their philosophy of teaching. Phase two consisted of video recordings for two lesson study cycles. Phase three involved a second survey and semi-structured interviews. Classroom observations were conducted during the first and last phase of the study. All qualitative data was analyzed inductively using open and thematic coding. Cross-case analysis was employed at the analysis stage to integrate data tools for the purpose of complementarity. Results suggest lesson study was an effective, job-embedded model that supports active and continuous professional development that is sustained and transferrable to the classroom. The type of disposition reported and displayed by teachers changed positively over time having transformational effects in the depth of relationships among teachers, increasing co-creation of pedagogical knowledge, and increasing reflectiveness. Teachers' level of openness to learning related to higher levels of effective practices implemented during lessons. Further research is needed to examine the ways in which teacher disposition influences professional learning when secondary specialty teachers engage in lesson study.
ContributorsMesa-Lema, Liliana (Author) / Carlson, David L. (Thesis advisor) / Barnard, Wendy (Committee member) / Medrano, Juan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
ABSTRACT This qualitative study examines how high school art teachers conceive of being a good art teacher. Motivated by my own experiences as an art teacher, I designed this study to add teachers' voices to the conversation surrounding quality in education. My research design included a narrative strand and an arts-based strand. In the narrative strand, I interviewed and observed 12 high school art educators from a major city in the southwest. I conducted an autoethnographic reflection exploring my connection to the research topic and research process. In the arts-based strand I used fiber-arts to further understand my topic. I wrote this dissertation using a narrative approach, blending the traditional research format, voices of participants, and my autoethnographic reflection. I included the results of my arts-based approach in the final chapter. Findings suggest that the teachers in this study conceptualize being a good art teacher as a process of identity construction. Each of the teachers understood what it meant to be a good art teacher in unique ways, connected to their personal experiences and backgrounds. As the teachers engaged in identity work to become the kind of art teacher they wanted to be, they engaged in a process of identity construction that consisted of four steps. I propose a model of identity construction in which the teachers chose teaching practices, evaluated those practices, identified challenges to their identities, and selected strategies to confirm, assert, or defend their desired identities. The findings have implications for teachers to become reflective practitioners; for teacher educators to prepare teachers to engage in reflective practices; and for administrators and policy makers to take into account the cyclical and personal nature of identity construction. This study also has implications for further research including the need to examine the dispositions of art teachers, teachers' evolving conceptions of what it means to be a good art teacher, and the effect labeling teachers' quality has on their identity construction.
ContributorsAndrelchik, Hillary (Author) / Erickson, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Young, Bernard (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014