Matching Items (5)
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- All Subjects: Early Childhood Education
- All Subjects: Sociology Of Education
- Creators: Romero, Mary
Description
This study sought to analyze the messages being conveyed through the discourse utilized in presenting the public face of The Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board, popularly known as First Things First (FTF) and to reveal how the different discourses and ideologies within FTF have been in the past and currently are "contending and struggling for dominance (Wodak, 2007)." FTF is located within the policy realm of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). The people and the system have been very influential in guiding the course and policies set forth in Arizona since the citizen initiative, Proposition 203, passed in 2006, which allowed for the creation of the Early Childhood Development and Health Board. Lakoff's techniques for analyzing frames of discourse were utilized in conjunction with critical discourse analysis in order to tease out frames of reference, shifts in both discourse and frames, specific modes of messaging, and consistencies and inconsistencies within the public face presented by FTF.
ContributorsMiller, Lisa (Author) / Swadener, Elizabeth B (Thesis advisor) / Nakagawa, Kathy (Committee member) / Romero, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
ABSTRACT Early childhood education (ECE) teacher professional development refers to the various modalities of providing new and or additional content knowledge to the teachers who work with children birth to five. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an Arizona United Way-administered intervention project designed to provide focused professional development activities to 15 ECE teachers at seven high-need, center-based early care and education settings. Specifically, this study determined if these interventions influenced the teachers to undertake formative career path changes such as college coursework. In addition, the study also sought to understand the views, beliefs, and attitudes of these ECE teachers and if/how their perspectives influenced their educational career paths. Data were gathered through the triangulated use of participants' responses to a survey, face-to-face interviews, and a focus group. Findings demonstrate that the teachers understand that professional development, such as college coursework, can increase a person's knowledge on a given topic or field of study, but that they feel qualified to be a teacher for children birth to five even though 12 of the 15 teachers do not hold an AA/AAS or BA/BS degree in any area of study. Further, the teachers suggested that if they were to earn a degree it would most likely be in another field of study beside education. These responses provide another reason professional development efforts to encourage ECE teachers to seek degrees in the field of education may be failing. If ECE teachers wanted to invest time, energy and funds they would acquire a degree, which provided more financial reward and professional respect.
ContributorsOrtiz, Karen J. (Karen Jean) (Author) / Kelley, Michael F. (Thesis advisor) / Enz, Billie J. (Thesis advisor) / Romero, Mary (Committee member) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This study explores experiences of women as they pursue post-secondary computing education in various contexts. Using in-depth interviews, the current study employs qualitative methods and draws from an intersectional approach to focus on how the various barriers emerge for women in different types of computing cultures. In-depth interviews with ten participants were conducted over the course of eight months. Analytical frameworks drawn from the digital divide and explorations of the role of hidden curricula in higher education contexts were used to analyze computing experiences in earlier k-12, informal, workplace, and post-secondary educational contexts to understand how barriers to computing emerge for women. Findings suggest several key themes. First, early experiences in formal education contexts are alienating women who develop an interest in computing. Opportunities for self-guided exploration, play, and tinkering help sustain interest in computing for women of color to engage in computing at the post-secondary level. Second, post-secondary computing climates remain hostile places for women, and in particular, for women of color. Thirdly, women employ a combination of different strategies to navigate these post-secondary computing cultures. Some women internalized existing dominant cultures of computing programs. Others chose exclusively online programs in computing to avoid negative interactions based on assumptions about their identity categories. Some women chose to forge their own pathways through computing to help diversify the culture via teaching, creating their own businesses, and through social programs.
ContributorsRatnabalasuriar, Sheruni (Author) / Romero, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Lim, Merlyna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
In an attempt to gain a greater understanding of the interpretations and attitudes of higher education faculty in education programs teaching critical pedagogy, social justice, student empowerment and related concepts I conducted interviews with twenty faculty members in education programs in the New York City area. It is a study looking at the philosophies and conceptions of faculty and the relationship between those philosophies and their actions in the classroom. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed for trends and patterns. The nature of the questions focused on various aspects of critical pedagogy and allowed for an easy transition to preliminary categories based on the interview questions. The data was reviewed again for similarities and trends, and then again for comparison between the three identified perspectives: Professionalization Perspective, Democratic Student Development Perspective, and Critical Action Perspective.
ContributorsBoudon, Daniel John (Author) / Margolis, Eric (Thesis advisor) / Romero, Mary (Committee member) / Sandlin, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This project was focused on critically analyzing legislation that was proposed in the Arizona State Senate concerning the release of peace-officer information in the wake of involvement in deadly-force incidents. The motivation for this project was drawn from my experience serving as a legislative intern for the Senate democratic staff during the spring of 2015. The first section includes details of the bill itself (SB 1445) and the process it underwent within the legislature. This includes an introduction to the controversies and stakeholders involved in the process. Second, data from interviews that I conducted with both those in support and those in opposition to the bill is analyzed. This section includes an in-depth look into the perspectives of stakeholders that may not have come out during public testimonies. Third, an outline of my own perspective on this bill and its process is included. Fourth, in a segment entitled Contextualizing Race in Policing, the national and local context of this bill is analyzed in order to arrive at conclusions that define problems underlying legislation like SB 1445. Fifth, in a segment entitled Next Steps, ideas are outlined on how to strengthen positive relationships between law enforcement and communities, drawing heavily from the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
ContributorsGalvan, Jose Pedro (Author) / Romero, Mary (Thesis director) / Perez, Nancy (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05