Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2759
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Item MULTICULTURAL PEDAGOGIES: THREE TEACHERS' UNDERSTANDING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION(2012) Prell, Vanessa Sylvie Calvo; Croninger, Robert; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)While multicultural curriculum is widely used, little is known about how teachers conceive of this curriculum. The purpose of this thesis is to explore teachers' understanding and implementation of multicultural curriculum, including the factors that affect, their beliefs about and practices of multicultural education. My study identifies two pedagogies of multicultural education: student centered and curriculum centered. These pedagogies are shaped by the teachers' view of student engagement, teacher authority, curriculum flexibility, and critical thinking. Teachers' motivations to include multicultural curriculum derived from personal experiences with race and culture. However, teachers struggled with organizational barriers such as limited time, incomplete multicultural knowledge, unachievable curriculum standards, and incompatible mandated texts. This research opens avenues for increased reflection upon and use of multicultural curriculum.Item Cultural Relevance and Montessori(2006-12-11) Massey, Corinne Margueritte; Johnson, Martin; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This master's thesis research consists of a study in which the theoretical and practical congruencies between Equity Pedagogy, an essential component of multicultural education, and the pedagogical elements of Montessori Education are examined. The goals of this study are multi-tiered, existing on both a practical and an intellectual plane. On a practical level, the goals relate to Montessori classroom practice and Montessori teacher education programs. In considering the praxis of a small set of public school teachers, the practical relationship between Montessori and Equity Pedagogy begins to emerge. Praxis was explored using non-intrusive observational techniques with no videotaping. The researcher observed the teacher's manner of addressing the students in a variety of classroom contexts. Student's actions were recorded only as they are pertinent to the teacher's praxis, and identifiable student characteristics were not recorded. At no time during classroom observations will the researcher interrupt or attempt to intervene in teacher-student interactions. Interviews will follow observations in order to examine any discrepancies between teacher praxis and teacher ideology. This research will present an ethnographic case study of the public Montessori program in a suburban county bordering on a large city.