Matching Items (73)
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Description
The purpose of this study was to examine compulsory schooling in the United States and its potential to provide an inconsistent avenue to employment for students from neighborhoods of differing socioeconomic status. Specifically, this study asked why do students from privileged neighborhoods typically end up in positions of ownership and

The purpose of this study was to examine compulsory schooling in the United States and its potential to provide an inconsistent avenue to employment for students from neighborhoods of differing socioeconomic status. Specifically, this study asked why do students from privileged neighborhoods typically end up in positions of ownership and management while those from impoverished urban or rural neighborhoods end up in working-class positions or involved in cycles of incarceration and poverty? This research involved the use of qualitative methods, including participant observation and interview, as well as photography, to take a look at a reputable private day school in the southwest. Data was collected over the span of eight weeks and was then analyzed and compared with preexisting data on the schooling experience of students from impoverished urban and rural neighborhoods, particularly data focused on juvenile detention centers. Results showed that compulsory schooling differs in ways that contribute to the preexisting hierarchical class structure. The research suggests that schooling can be detrimental to the future quality of life for students in impoverished neighborhoods, which questions a compulsory school system that exists within the current hierarchical class system.
ContributorsTheodoropoulos, Eftyhia (Author) / Margolis, Eric (Thesis advisor) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Committee member) / Appleton, Nicholas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
This study explored female identity formation, of Ethiopian women and women of Ethiopian heritage as they participate in a coffee (buna) ceremony ritual. The study is anchored in the theoretical framework of a sociocultural perspective which enabled an examination of culture as what individuals do and believe as they

This study explored female identity formation, of Ethiopian women and women of Ethiopian heritage as they participate in a coffee (buna) ceremony ritual. The study is anchored in the theoretical framework of a sociocultural perspective which enabled an examination of culture as what individuals do and believe as they participate in mutually constituted activities. Participants in Ethiopia were asked to photograph their daily routine beginning from the time they awoke until they retired for the night. Thematic analysis of the photographs determined that all participants depicted participation in the Ethiopian coffee ceremony in their photo study. Utilizing the photographs which specifically depicted the ceremony, eight focus groups and one interview consisting of women who have migrated from Ethiopia to Arizona, responded to the typicality of the photographs, as well as what they liked or did not like about the photographs. Focus groups were digitally recorded then transcribed for analysis. A combination of coding, extrapolation of rich texts, and identifying themes and patterns were used to analyze transcripts of the focus groups and interview. The findings suggest that this context is rich with shared meanings pertaining to: material artifacts, gender socialization, creation of a space for free expression, social expectations for communal contributions, and a female rite of passage.
ContributorsPlatt, Jennifer Brinkerhoff, 1971- (Author) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Thesis advisor) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Warriner, Doris (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
Recently, much of the Physical Education literature has focused on confronting the challenges associated with the rising number of overweight children in America's schools. Physical Education programs are often looked to as intervention sites to remedy the current obesity epidemic. Teachers are often also not held accountable for curriculum adherence

Recently, much of the Physical Education literature has focused on confronting the challenges associated with the rising number of overweight children in America's schools. Physical Education programs are often looked to as intervention sites to remedy the current obesity epidemic. Teachers are often also not held accountable for curriculum adherence and student outcomes in Physical Education due to the lack of a common curriculum. Therefore, measuring teacher fidelity to specific Physical Education curricula is imperative to determine student outcomes when teachers follow the model as intended. In response to these issues, it has become increasingly important to measure student physical activity levels in Physical Education programs to determine moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels and to learn about teachers' fidelity to curricular models. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate teacher fidelity to the Dynamic Physical Education (DPE) curricular model after having completed DPE methods courses at the university level, when teaching in a DPE supported or non-supported districts. A secondary purpose of this study was to measure students' physical activity (PA) outcomes in classes where the curricular model was used with various levels of district support. Data were collected using mixed methods including an observation instrument, field notes, informal interviews, document analysis, and direct observation of physical activity. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were run to investigate differences between teacher support groups and by teacher fidelity groups. Teachers from both teacher support groups were teaching the curricular model with moderate to high fidelity. Findings suggest that fidelity levels were related to preparation on the DPE curricular model, ongoing professional development, and administrative support. Although the students were often standing (i.e., 40% of the lesson) and 30% of class time was spent in MVPA; teachers were frequently promoting physical activity both within (51%) and outside (50%) of Physical Education and the school day.
ContributorsKloeppel, Tiffany (Author) / Hodges-Kulinna, Pamela (Thesis advisor) / Van Der Mars, Hans (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
Michael Apple's scholarship on curriculum, educational ideology, and official knowledge continues to be influential to the study of schooling. Drawing on the sociological insights of Pierre Bourdieu and the cultural studies approaches of Raymond Williams, Apple articulates a theory of schooling that pays particular attention to how official knowledge is

Michael Apple's scholarship on curriculum, educational ideology, and official knowledge continues to be influential to the study of schooling. Drawing on the sociological insights of Pierre Bourdieu and the cultural studies approaches of Raymond Williams, Apple articulates a theory of schooling that pays particular attention to how official knowledge is incorporated into the processes of schooling, including textbooks. In an effort to contribute to Apple's scholarship on textbooks, this study analyzed high school American history textbooks from the 1960s through the 2000s with specific attention to the urban riots of the late-1960s, sixties counterculture, and the women's movement utilizing Julia Kristeva's psychoanalytic concept of abjection to augment Apple's theory of knowledge incorporation. This combination reveals not only how select knowledge is incorporated as official knowledge, but also how knowledge is treated as abject, as unfit for the curricular body of official knowledge and the selective tradition of American history. To bridge the theoretical frameworks of incorporation and abjection Raymond Williams' theory of structures of feeling and Slavoj iek's theory of ideological quilting are employed to show how feelings and emotional investments maintain ideologies. The theoretical framework developed and the interpretive analyses undertaken demonstrate how textbook depictions of these historical events structure students' present educational experiences with race, class, and gender.
ContributorsKearl, Benjamin (Author) / Margolis, Eric (Thesis advisor) / Blumenfeld-Jones, Donald (Committee member) / Sandlin, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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In this dissertation I present data gathered from an eleven-month qualitative research study with adolescents living and working on the streets of Lima, Peru. Through the pairing of photovoice with participant observations, this work incorporates distinctive methodological and theoretical viewpoints in order to complicate prevailing understandings of street life.

In this dissertation I present data gathered from an eleven-month qualitative research study with adolescents living and working on the streets of Lima, Peru. Through the pairing of photovoice with participant observations, this work incorporates distinctive methodological and theoretical viewpoints in order to complicate prevailing understandings of street life. In this dissertation, I examine the identities that children and adolescents on the street develop in context, and the ways in which photography can be a useful tool in understanding identity development among this population. Through a framework integrating theories of identity and identity performance with spatial theories, I outline how identity development among children and adolescents living on the street is directly connected to their relationships with the urban landscape and the outreach organizations that serve them. The organizations and institutions that surround children on the street shape who they are, how they are perceived by society, and how they view and understand themselves in context. It is through the interaction with aid organizations and the urban landscape that a street identity is learned and developed. Furthermore, as organizations, children and adolescents come together within the context of the city, a unique street space is created. I argue that identity and agency are directly tied to this space. I also present the street as a thirdspace of possibility, where children and adolescents are able to act out various aspects of the self that they would be unable to pursue otherwise. Weaved throughout this dissertation are non-traditional writing forms including narrative and critical personal narrative addressing my own experiences conducting this research, my impact on the research context, and how I understand the data gathered.
ContributorsJoanou, Jamie Patrice (Author) / Swadener, Beth B. (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Committee member) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
The Civil Rights Project estimates that Black girls are among the least likely to graduate from high school. More specifically, only about half, or 56%, of freshman Black girls graduate with their class four years later. Beyond the statistics little is known about Black girls who drop out, why

The Civil Rights Project estimates that Black girls are among the least likely to graduate from high school. More specifically, only about half, or 56%, of freshman Black girls graduate with their class four years later. Beyond the statistics little is known about Black girls who drop out, why they leave school and what happens to them once they are gone. This study is a grounded theory analysis of the stories eight adult Black women told about dropping out of high school with a particular focus on how dropping out affected their lives as workers, mothers and returners to education. There is one conclusion about dropping out and another about Black female identity. First, the women in my study were adolescents during the 1980s, experienced life at the intersection of Blackness, womaness, and poverty and lived in the harsh conditions of a Black American hyperghetto. Using a synthesis between intersectionality and hyperghettoization I found that the women were so determined to improve their economic and personal conditions that they took on occupations that seemed to promise freedom, wealth and safety. Because they were so focused on their new lives, their school attendance suffered as a consequence. In the second conclusion I argued that Black women draw their insights about Black female identity from two competing sources. The two sources are their lived experience and popular controlling images of Black female identity.
ContributorsGriffin, Erica Nicole (Author) / Powers, Jeanne (Thesis advisor) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
This study examines the possibility of using social and historical contexts, image analysis, and personal themes to engage adolescent photography students in the craft of photography. This new curriculum was designed around large themes that correspond to the developmental stage of adolescence. Issues such as self-identity, teenage stereotypes, school,

This study examines the possibility of using social and historical contexts, image analysis, and personal themes to engage adolescent photography students in the craft of photography. This new curriculum was designed around large themes that correspond to the developmental stage of adolescence. Issues such as self-identity, teenage stereotypes, school, family, and community were explored through examining historical documents and photographs, comparing popular culture perspectives, and learning basic semiotics. The students then worked within these ideas by creating their own photographs and reflecting upon their art making choices. The new approach was implemented in an analog film class in which basic 35mm camera and film techniques are taught. It is argued that meaning making motivates the adolescent photographer rather than the achievement of strong technical skills. This qualitative study was conducted using an action research approach, in which the author was both the classroom teacher and the researcher. The study incorporates data collected from student-created photographs, student written responses, interviews of students, interviews of photography teachers, and the researcher's field notes. Major themes were discovered over time by applying a grounded theory approach to understanding the data. The curriculum brought a new level of student engagement, both in participation in the course and in the complexity of their image making. By incorporating the chosen topics, students' images were rich with personal meaning. Students retained concepts of historical and social uses for photography and demonstrated a base understanding of semiotic theory. Furthermore, the data points to a stronger sense of community and teacher-student relationships within the classroom. The researcher argues that this deeper rapport is due to the concentration on personal themes within the practice of photography. Setbacks within the study included censorship by the school of mature subjects, a limited amount of equipment, and a limited amount of time with the students. This study demonstrates the need for art curriculum to provide connections between visual art, interdisciplinary associations, students' level of development, and students' personal interests. The research provides a possible approach to redesigning curriculum for photography courses for the twenty-first century student.
ContributorsOverby, Alexandra (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Erickson, Mary (Committee member) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011