Matching Items (7)
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- All Subjects: Education Policy
- Creators: Swadener, Elizabeth
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
The dissertation focuses on one Truku (Indigenous) village in eastern Taiwan and aims to understand the processes and possibilities of bottom-up language revitalization. In 2012, the National Geographic Genographic Legacy Fund supported the village to start a community-driven language revitalization initiative. Drawing on scholarship guided by critical Indigenous research methodologies, critical sociocultural approaches to language policy and planning, and sociocultural approaches to learning, this study is an attempt to generate qualitative ethnographic research to facilitate local praxis. The major findings are four: Firstly, after decades of colonialism, villagers' lived experiences and language ideological standpoints vary significantly across generations and households, which constraints the possibility of collective endeavors. Secondly, building on previous scholars' emphasis on "ideological clarification" prior to language revitalization, I identify the dimension of embodied ideological differences, using cultural historical activity theory to illustrate how certain "mainstream" artifacts (e.g. orthography) can confine orally dominant elders' capacity to contribute. In a similar vein, by closely examining children's voices and language performances, I highlight children's theory of language as relationship-building and a theory of learning as participation in communities of participation, which stand in stark contrast to adult educators' constructs of acquisition and proficiency in traditional SLA. Finally, inspired by children and elders' voices, methodologically I argue for a relational conceptualization of agency and propose a relationship-oriented language revitalization framework. Such framework values and incorporates existing social relationships in praxis, and requires researchers and practitioners to humbly recognize the work of power in social relations and develop a trusting, reflective bond with the villagers before rushing to impose agendas. This dissertation contributes to the scholarship of language policy and planning by incorporating sociocultural learning theories designed to generate praxis-oriented analysis. By contextualizing identity and SLA processes in an Indigenous context, the study also illuminates the affective dimension of language learning and education. Overall this study offers valuable insights for scholars, educators, and practitioners interested in community-based language education. Equally important, this research represents the voices of multiple generations of Truku people, deeply committed to ensuring that future generations remain connected to their heritage language, knowledge system, and ways of being.
ContributorsLin, Man-chiu (Author) / Mccarty, Teresa L. (Thesis advisor) / Romero-Little, Mary Eunice (Committee member) / Swadener, Elizabeth B. (Committee member) / Davis, Kathryn A. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This study examines the contemporary school placement decisions of Navajo parents in the reservation community of Piñon, Arizona. School placement decisions are defined as the school where the parent chooses to enroll his/her child for schooling. Twelve Navajo parents participated in this qualitative study, which explored their past educational experiences in order to garner insight into the current school placement choices they have made for their children. Navajo parents who live within the community of Piñon, AZ who currently have school-aged children living in their household were recruited to participate in this study. Participants took part in 60- to 90-minute interviews that included questions related to their prior educational experiences and current school placement choices for their children. Parents were given an opportunity to reflect about the school placement decisions they have made for their children. The variety of schools Navajo parents are able to choose from were illuminated. These findings have implications for education decision makers by providing insight into which schools parents are choosing and why. The study will assist Navajo Nation policy makers in future educational planning, and may have more general implications for American Indian/Alaskan Native education. This may assist Navajo Education policy makers in making future decisions regarding the newly developed Navajo Department of Education and its education planning. Participants will also benefit from the study by being able to understand how the past has impacted the school placement choices they have made. In doing so parents may be better able to articulate the impetus behind the choices they make for their children, thereby becoming better advocates for themselves and their children. The results of this study impacts scholarly literature as a new viewpoint in the area of school choice. Navajo parents represent a distinct group who make educational choices within a specific context. This study is unique as the impact of historical Indian education policies is considered. Future studies can further expand on the topic creating a unique area of research in the field of Indian education.
ContributorsLansing, Danielle R (Author) / Mccarty, Teresa L. (Thesis advisor) / Romero-Little, Mary Eunice (Committee member) / Frederick, Dale (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
When my attention was brought to the overwhelming lack of family policy support in the United States, my curiosity led me to look into what other industrialized nations are doing to support growing families and find out what policies and programs have been put in place to better facilitate the work-home balance. I first provide a brief background context of family policy in the United States, leading up to the development and implementation of our nation's parental leave legislation, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). I present the crucial concerns of this provision, as well as the effects that policy has on children's well-being. The second major part of this analysis deals with child care programs and the myriad challenges so many families encounter in this realm. Specifically addressed are the topics of affordability, accessibility and quality of child care found in the U.S. After an in-depth look at U.S. policies, I transition to a comparative analysis of parental leave and child care provision in a range of other nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), specifically Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden and Norway. I carefully chose these countries to offer a broad spectrum of family policies to compare to our own. I then return to a discussion of limitations of U.S. family policy and the values and ideology it represents, as well as the importance of strengthening such policies.
ContributorsMartin, Amanda Jean (Author) / Swadener, Elizabeth (Thesis advisor) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Committee member) / Joanou, Jamie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Much research has been conducted regarding the current state of public education within the United States. Very little of that research bodes well for the system’s current circumstances or for the direction our system is headed. The debate stems around two opposing ideologies. One believes that there needs to be more accountability via high-stakes testing and the continuum of the status quo that the country has maintained for centuries, regardless of the effect it may be having on the students’ well-being. While the opposing view sees high-stakes testing as a contributing factor to the seemingly unproductive, chaotic, and even harmful conundrum of bias and hegemony that shows a positive correlation of deleterious effects to student well-being. Although this paper references the research of highly esteemed scholars, it asserts that the voices of those that are most relegated to that of undervalued and ignored are precisely the voices that need to be gleaned most relevant. This paper’s purpose is to hear what the ‘experts’ in the field of education, the students themselves, have to say.
ContributorsKhaleesi, Casey (Author) / Swadener, Elizabeth (Thesis advisor) / Bertrand, Melanie (Committee member) / Broberg, Gregory (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Throughout the course of the Honors Thesis/Creative Project, the intent was to gain knowledge regarding national, state and community initiatives regarding Indigenous Language Revitalization and Maintenance (ILRA). For over a year, I had the opportunity to visit a total of five indigenous communities, including Pine Ridge, SD, Gila River Indian Community, AZ, White Mountain Apache, AZ, Cochiti Pueblo, NM and Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM. The goal was to learn about the status of their language, current ILRA initiatives as well as challenges and successes that face American Indian nations. During each visit, key elements to successful language revitalization initiatives were identified that could benefit those continuing their effort to reverse language loss as well as those looking to enter in the field of language revitalization.
ContributorsHutchinson, Jenna Michelle (Author) / Romero-Little, Mary Eunice (Thesis director) / Begay, Jolyana (Committee member) / Sims, Christine P. (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / American Indian Studies Program (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The passing of anti-immigrant legislation in the state of Arizona over the last decade has exacerbated an already oppressive system perpetuated by globalization and its byproducts, neoliberalism and neoconservativism. The social justice activist educators who live and work with the children and families most affected by these laws and policies must learn to navigate these controls if they hope to sustain their work. I have drawn from Freire's work surrounding the theories of praxis and conscientization to explain the motivation of these teachers, and the sociological theory of Communities of Practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998; & Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002), to explain how the group, Arizona Teachers for Justice serves as a space of learning and support for these educators. This dissertation is a multiple case study and has employed semi-structured interviews with four social justice activist educators to understand how social justice activist educators in Arizona cope and sustain their teaching and activism, particularly through their membership in groups such as Arizona Teachers for Justice. The teachers in this study are each at different stages in their careers and each teaches in a different setting and/or grade level. This cross section provides multiple perspectives and varied lenses through which to view the struggles and triumphs of social justice activist educators in the state of Arizona. The teachers in this study share their experiences of being singled out for their activism and explain the ways they cope with such attacks. They explain how they manage to fulfill their dedication to equity by integrating critical materials while adhering to common core standards. They express the anger that keeps them fighting in the streets and the fears that keep them from openly rejecting unjust policies. The findings of this study contribute to the discussion of how to not only prepare social justice activist educators, but ways of supporting and sustaining their very crucial work. Neoliberal and neoconservative attacks on education are pervasive and it is critical that we prepare teachers to face these structural pressures if we hope to ever change the dehumanizing agenda of these global powers.
ContributorsEversman, Kimberly A (Author) / Swadener, Elizabeth (Thesis advisor) / Sandlin, Jennifer (Committee member) / Schugurensky, Daniel, 1958- (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The purposes of this study were (1) to examine the direct and indirect effect of school-level testing policies on reading achievement though changes in amount and types of reading instruction, (2) to investigate the reading trajectories moderated by school-level testing policies longitudinally, and (3) to examine the relationship between testing policies and the achievement gap by exploring whether certain student characteristics moderate the relationship between testing policy and reading achievement, using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten (ECLS-K) Cohort of 2010-2011 data. Findings from a multilevel full structural mediation model suggest that school-level frequency of state/local standardized tests had an indirect effect on student reading achievement through changes in both amount and the types of instruction at the school-level (cross-sectional fall kindergarten sample =12,241 children nested in 1,067 kindergarten classes). The findings from a three-level growth models indicated only children of Asian background and children from high socio-economic backgrounds who had frequent standardized tests in kindergarten accelerated in their monthly reading growth, whereas other children (e.g., low SES, non-Asian children) did not show any changes in the rate of the reading growth (longitudinal sample from fall of kindergarten to spring of first grade = 7,392 children nested in 744 kindergartens). The findings from the current study suggest that testing policy is not an effective means to reduce the achievement gap of children from disadvantaged family backgrounds, underperforming children or that children from low socieo-economic backgrounds. These children did not seem to benefit from frequent standardized tests longitudinally. Implications for supporting school assessment practices and instruction are discussed.
ContributorsIm, Haesung (Author) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Marilyn (Committee member) / Swadener, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Iida, Masumi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015