Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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Item In Search of Signature Pedagogies for Teacher Education: The Critical Case of Kodály-Inspired Music Teacher Education(2010) Baumann, Paul J.; Malen, Betty; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purposes of this study are to identify the features of Kodály-inspired music teacher education programs that either confirm or refute the notion that signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005 a, b, c) are present in this form of teacher education and to identify whether and how philosophical, pedagogical, and institutional influences support such pedagogies. Signature pedagogies are shared modes of teaching that are distinct to a specific profession. These pedagogies, based in the cognitive, practical, and normative apprenticeships of professional preparation, dominate the preparation programs of a profession, both within and across institutions. This study employs a collective case study design to examine Kodály-inspired teacher education programs, specifically those endorsed by the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE). This study serves as a critical test of the applicability of the construct of signature pedagogies to teacher education. Because these programs purport to hold shared philosophical and pedagogical ideals and are governed by an endorsing body (OAKE), signature pedagogies ought to be present in these programs if they are present in any teacher education programs. Embedded in this collective case are: (1) a history of Kodály-inspired pedagogy and its adoption and adaptation in the U.S., (2) case studies of two prominent and influential OAKE-endorsed Kodály-inspired teacher education programs, and (3) case studies of four to five faculty in each of these programs. Data sources include primary and secondary texts and documents, observations of the various events and activities that occur as a part of Kodály-inspired teacher education programs, and focus group and individual interviews with program faculty and students. This study finds that the two case sites possess four signature pedagogies: (1) demonstration teaching, (2) master class teaching, (3) discovery learning, and (4) the music literature collection and retrieval system. These pedagogies appear to be inextricably tethered to the contexts, professional body (OAKE), and work of Kodály-inspired music educators though multiple complex linkages. The study closes by assessing the applicability and usefulness of the construct for the discourses and study of teacher education and by offering revisions to the construct that may help to improve the construct's usefulness in future research.Item Communities of Practice for the Development of Adolescent Civic Engagement: An Empirical Study of their Correlates in Australia and the United States(2009) Homana, Gary; Croninger, Robert; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The relationships between a multidimensional model of school community and civic engagement were examined using survey data collected for the 1999 IEA Civic Education Study from large, nationally representative samples of adolescents in Australia and the United States. This study extends previous research by considering the extent to which multiple dimensions of communities of practice influence the development of various civic capacities, and by utilizing multilevel regression techniques. The investigation also examined the extent to which the various dimensions of communities of practice are related to more equitable civic outcomes, and how these associations vary in Australia compared to the United States. All schools have some form of social and cultural context that influences learning. This study examined the influence of three specific dimensions of communities of practice in school, the discourse community, the collaborative community, and the participatory community on three capacities for civic engagement (civic knowledge, norms of democracy, and expectations for informed voting). Other measures of school structure, including individual socioeconomic background and school size and composition were also used in the analyses. The results of the analyses suggest that important, yet subtle, distinctions exist between the association of the various dimensions of communities of practice and civic capacities in Australia and the United States. The findings from the fully conditional models, for example, indicate that both student level and school level perceptions of the communities of practice can help to shape adolescent civic capacities, although the patterns of relationships vary by dimension of communities of practice and measure of civic engagement. This study offers support for the role of communities of practice in the development of student civic outcomes. Individual student participation in and supportive school contexts for positive communities of practice influences the development of adolescent civic engagement. Learning more about communities of practice and its influence on a broader range of civic capacities, especially in terms of the quality and the extent that communities of practice exist in schools, will help educators and schools to strengthen these connections.Item "I'm not enough of anything!": The racial and ethnic identity constructions and negotiations of one-point-five and second generation Nigerians(2009) Awokoya, Janet Tolulope; Wiseman, Donna L; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)For many African youth, questions of identity are pressing concerns. Many who were born in, but raised outside of their country of origin, known as one-point-five immigrants, and their second generation counterparts (Rong & Brown, 2002), often find themselves at the center of several conflicting cultures. These youth are often challenged in their ability to negotiate and reconcile the varying expectations of their respective racial and ethnic groups. While living in multiple, cultural worlds is the experiences of many minority youth (Phelan et al., 1991), it is uniquely challenging for Black immigrant youth as both their blackness and immigrant background make negotiating their racial and ethnic identities more challenging, than non-black and non-immigrant minority youth. Using qualitative methodology (questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and focus group), this dissertation explored the manner in which eleven, one-point-five and second generation Nigerian college students construct and negotiate their racial and ethnic identities. The research was guided by four broad research questions: (1) How do one-point-five and second generation Nigerian college students describe and experience their interactions with Africans and non-Africans (peers, family, and school personnel)? (2) How do they describe and experience their processes of racial and ethnic identity development? (3) How do their interactions with Africans and non-Africans shape their racial and ethnic identity development? (4) How do they negotiate their racial and ethnic identities among Africans and non-Africans? The results revealed three major findings that characterized the identity experiences of one-point-five and second generation Nigerian immigrants. First, participants often constructed and negotiated their racial and ethnic identities differently within their families, peer groups and the schooling context. Second, participants had to "learn" the meaning of blackness in the U.S. context, which significantly impacted how they experienced their racial identities. Lastly, participants often felt challenged about the authenticity of their Nigerian identity, by both Africans and non-Africans alike. This study provides a significantly more nuanced discussion on the identity constructions and negotiations of one of the fastest growing segments of the diverse black population--African immigrant youth.Item "Like Who You Are:" Socially Constructed Identity in the Middle School Band(2008-09-03) Hoffman, Adria R; Silvey, Philip E; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to explore the band classroom as a social context and examine its influence on middle school students' identity constructions. Identity theory in sociological research and social identity theory in the field of social psychology provided the theoretical bases for this study. However, the integration of both theories suggested by Deaux and Martin (2003) as well as Stets and Burke (2000) proved most applicable to this inquiry. Both intergroup processes and role identities were explored. This qualitative study included six band students enrolled in a large public middle school located in a metropolitan area on the East Coast. Enrolled in the same sixth grade band class, each of the six participants played a different instrument, and therefore provided a unique perspective on social interactions and the school experience. Ethnography and narrative inquiry informed the data collection process and methodological choices for this collective case study. Data collection included classroom observations, open-ended interviews, and weekly student journals. Data was collected over a period of 5.5 months, ending as students chose to continue or discontinue their band enrollment for the subsequent school year. Interview transcripts, field notes, and student journals were systematically coded first on a case-by-case basis, then compared, contrasted, and interpreted across cases. Findings supported prior research on musical identity and music education. Students simultaneously valued perceived characteristics of their own group while devaluing those of other groups. In addition to supporting prior research findings, this study indicated that middle school band students make choices regarding course enrollment based on influences (rejection or affirmation) of those around them. Students initially chose to enroll in band because friends, teachers, and family members encouraged them to do so. Once they felt accepted as band members, they found particular roles in the band classroom. Based on others' affirmation or rejection of their competency in such roles, they reevaluated whether they felt they belonged in the band. Those who felt rejected or less competent chose to enroll in other courses. Students who felt successful and found unique roles within the band more strongly identified with the group.Item Ad/ministering Education: Gender, Colonialism, and Christianity in Belize and the Anglophone Caribbean(2008-01-28) Rellihan, Heather; Bolles, Augusta L; Women's Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation looks at the relationship between educational achievement and power in the Anglophone Caribbean, with particular emphasis on Belize. Girls are outperforming boys at every level of education, but women still have higher unemployment rates and hold the lowest paying jobs, while men are in more decision-making positions in every sector of the economy. This project considers one major question: Why do women remain in less powerful positions even when they are better educated? To explore this question I look at the role that missionary groups played in administering education under British colonialism. I focus on Belize where religious groups maintain a high level of control over education in the postcolonial era. I use twentieth-century Caribbean literature to suggest the effects of Christian ideology on the hidden curriculum and on women's social, economic, and political power. The literature I discuss includes George Lamming's In the Castle of my Skin (Barbados), Austin Clarke's Growing Up Stupid under the Union Jack (Barbados), Merle Hodge's Crick Crack, Monkey (Trinidad), Merle Collins's Angel (Grenada), Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John and Lucy (Antigua), and Zee Edgell's Beka Lamb (Belize).Item Case study of a gender and reproductive health education training program for adolescent males in rural villages in the state of Gujarat, India(2006-04-27) Banik, Kakali Rita; Lin, Jing; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This case study provides a comprehensive overview of a gender and reproductive health training program for adolescent males in rural villages in the state of Gujarat, India. Specifically, this study outlines the socio-cultural context of the study location; provides a thorough description of the origins and implementation of the training program; highlights the daily life of females living in the study community; and explores the influence the training program has had in changing the attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions on gender and reproductive health on a sample of males in the study. Data for this study was collected using qualitative research methods such as open-ended interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation, and document analysis. The main findings from this study are: 1) The training program has had a positive impact on influencing males' views on increasing the age of marriage for females in the study area; 2) Males are aware of the benefits of educating females and believe that females should be educated further and even study for college; and 3) The males believe this training program provided them with reproductive health and gender information that has been beneficial for their future relations with females. However, change can only occur incrementally due to the restrictive norms of the Rajput caste.Item Curriculum Reform as a Reflection of Tradition and Change: Japanese Teachers Approaches to Dimensions of Difference via the Integrated Curriculum(2006-04-26) MacDonald, Laurence Jon; Finkelstein, Barbara; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the midst of significant social and global change, Japan has embarked upon its most significant education reform since the immediate post-WWll period. In 2002, MEXT enacted the integrated curriculum (sogoteki na gakushu), a decentralization effort intended to empower teachers and schools with the autonomy to create and implement curriculum of their own choosing. The purpose of multi-site case study is to discover if and how Japanese teachers are utilizing the autonomy provided by the integrated curriculum to provide students opportunities to interact with dimensions of difference based on Japan's changing cultural landscape and global role. This multi-site case study is based on seventeen months of field work in Japan, at which time I analyzed government and school documents; interviewed teachers, administrators, scholars, and leaders of NPO/NGOs; and observed integrated curriculum activities in 60 public schools. Based on this data, I uncovered three approaches to the integrated curriculum that confront students with dimensions of difference: 1) the human rights education approach; 2) the cultural co-existence approach; and 3) the international understanding education approach. In the context of the human rights approach, teachers implemented curriculum to help students: 1) develop self-esteem; 2) contend with issues of bullying and social exclusion; 3) and learn about the rights of minorities, the disabled, and the homeless. Schools in ethnically diverse communities implement a cultural co-existence approach to the integrated curriculum, engaging students in the exploration of human migration and the growing ethnic diversity of their communities. In the international understanding approach, teachers help students explore foreign cultural influences on Japanese culture; the nation's relationship with its Asian neighbors; and the role of the Japanese Government and NPO/NGOs in overseas development and volunteerism. While these approaches to the integrated curriculum were by no means universal, the findings of this study confirmed that many schools in diverse urban areas did implement at least one of these three approaches.Item Class Advantage: Social Class and Knowledge Production In Classrooms Under The New Accountability(2005-04-20) Aaron, Philbert; Selden, Steven; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: CLASS ADVANTAGE: SOCIAL CLASS AND KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION IN ELEMENTARY CLASSROOMS UNDER THE NEW ACCOUNTABILITY Philbert Aaron, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Professor Steven Selden Department of Education Policy and Leadership This study interrogates the relationship between social class and academic achievement. It examines the ways in which social class and the new accountability policy influence teachers' and students' co-production of knowledge in the elementary school classroom. The study analyzes student and teacher talk in two elementary school reading classrooms in a mid-Atlantic state. The first school is categorized as middle-class, having less than 5% of its student body receiving Free and Reduced-price Meals (FARMs). The second is classified as working-class, having more than 60% of its students receiving FARMs. The study draws upon the work of the British sociolinguist, Basil Bernstein. Bernstein's theory of symbolic control provides both theoretical base and method for the inquiry. Using Bernstein's frameworks for classification and framing, language data on teacher-student pedagogical interaction was collected by note-taking during classroom observation in the Spring of 2004. These data were analyzed using a priori codes, including 'visible' (explicit or traditional) and 'invisible' (implicit or constructivist) practice. The study finds that pedagogical practice in the middle class school incorporated both visible (traditional) and invisible (constructivist) practices, while pedagogy in the working class school is of the purely visible type. In addition, the middle class school also achieves a faster pace of learning than does the working class school. Faster pace is indicated by syntactical (elaborated) text whereas in the working class school a lexical (brief utterances) text is produced. The study concludes that social class has unanticipated consequences for academic achievement under the new accountability. By providing identical policy tools to local schools, irrespective of student class location, the new accountability promotes a visible (traditional) pedagogy. Differences in family cultural, social, and economic capital mean that the working class school does not meet the social assumptions of a visible pedagogy and these differences manifest themselves in differentials in achievement.Item The Effects of Critical Thinking Pedagogy During the Ninth Grade on High School Dropout(2005-03-01) Boccanfuso, Christopher Michael; Martin, Steven P; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This paper tests existing educational theory regarding the effectiveness of interactive pedagogy in order to determine the predictive ability of interactive pedagogy during ninth grade math and English classes towards graduation. This is done using a mixed methods approach which examines correlations between student teacher interaction and dropout through logistic regression models using data from the Philadelphia Educational Longitudinal Study (PELS), and qualitatively links interactive methods examined in the quantitative section (and some not examined) to pedagogy the sample of Philadelphia ninth-grade students find effective. Quantitative results provide strong evidence that low student-teacher interaction predicts a higher probability of dropout, as well as make suggestive connections between interactive methods and graduation. The qualitative results link both the non-interactive methods as part of the "pedagogy of poverty" and in-class discussion to pedagogy which students find effective in creating attachment to school, confirming the quantitative findings. Implications for educational theory are discussed.Item Teacher and Guidance Counselor Perceptions of Classroom Diversity: Are Institutional Barriers Discouraging Classroom Diversity in Advanced Courses?(2004-12-06) Eworo-Enfumo, Karolyn; Dance, Lory J; Milkie, Melissa A; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Since the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision in 1954, and the implementation of city-wide and nation-wide initiatives toward re-integration of schools that followed in subsequent decades, school populations across the country have diversified considerably. However, segregation continues to exist within schools. For example, minority students in accelerated (Advanced Placement or Honors) classes continue to be underrepresented. Theorists and educators alike often employ cultural models of minority underachievement in education to explain the near absence of students of color in many of our nation's accelerated public high school classes. Yet institutional barriers may be critical components of the exclusion of minority students from these classes. This study examined the case of a large public High School in Virginia where white students make up 25% of the total school population, but 58% of advanced courses, black students make up 43% of the total school population, but only 24% of advanced courses, and Hispanic students make up 25% of the school student body, but only 9% of advanced courses. The study found institutional barriers in the form of inconsistently implemented policy, and subjective decision making by school faculty in policy enforcement, as possible explanations for the persistence of the lack of diversity in advanced courses.