College of Education

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Learning Together: The Lived Experience of Bridging in Scholars Studio
(2023) Nardi, Lisa; Hultgren, Francine H; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This hermeneutic phenomenological investigation tends to the connections made in Scholars Studio—an interdisciplinary learning community for first-year students at a public Historically Black College and University (HBCU). In this study, I ask, What is the lived experience of bridging in Scholars Studio? I conceptualize bridging as a pedagogical orientation characterized by making connections across disciplines, between theory and praxis, across time and distance, and with one another. Bridging creates dynamic spaces that resist binary relationships, thus creating the potential for transformation. This study is grounded in the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, Mariana Ortega, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Edward Casey, and David Michael Levin, and follows the methodological structure set forth by Max van Manen. This research captures conversations that bridge the experience of twelve participants—including faculty, students, and staff—who partook in a learning community focused on Black men in education. Through these conversations, the participants affirm the importance of curricula grounded in African American and African history and culture. As participants cross the metaphorical bridge, they consider the “edges” they encounter that are both full of risk and possibility. These edges push them outside of their comfort zones in search of wholeness and create potential sites for improvisation. I end by opening new possibilities for Scholars Studio, including grounding the work in African principles and considering future directions.
ACTIVATING TECHNOCAPITAL: A CASE STUDY OF MARGINALIZED MIDDLE SCHOOL YOUTHS’ EXPERIENCES WITH INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY.
(2023) Crenshaw, Kenyatta Lynn; Elby, Andrew; Croninger, Robert; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This case study explores ways that socio-cultural and environmental factors influence the technological experiences of marginalized, underrepresented youth at an urban summer learning program, which supports Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and environmental sustainability education. The study specifically explores the socio-cultural and environmental aspects of students’ experience with digital literacy/ information communication technology (computer based and mobile technologies), and the pedagogical practices applied by educators (teachers, family members, and peers) that influence the students’ experiences with digital learning over the period of eight weeks. The principal focus is on eight middle school students ranging from nine to twelve years of age who reside in an urban environment with their parents/caregivers. In efforts to better understand the experiences of the students, the focus is shared (but not centered) on the parents/caregivers, educators, and volunteer community members who contribute to the students’ perception and use of technology. A major finding of the study is that community-embedded resources, what have been referred to in the literature as funds of knowledge or community cultural wealth, can play a positive role in shaping students’ experiences with technology, especially when students, parents, and educators use those resources to create culturally relevant learning experiences that contribute to building technocapital. In general, the findings address beliefs and contextual ecological factors that contribute to the appearance and activation of social and cultural capital in the technological practices of marginalized youth. The accounts of youth and parent perspectives uniquely display the ways the funds of knowledge and community cultural wealth act as social and cultural capital. The participant stories present how the networks of the participants’ parents and community contribute to social connectivity and the awareness of civic participation in both the exosystem and mesosystem of their lives. Overall, the findings present an evidence-based contribution to further support the need to understand and advocate for funding and the development of policy to address: 1) racial/ethnic and socioeconomic differences in education; 2) the positive processes by which cultural resources in the communities of marginalized youth are converted into social and educational advantages; and 3) increasing knowledge and utility of the various forms of capital embedded in moderate-to-low income, non-majority communities that play a positive role in youths’ motivation to utilize ICT and develop digital literacy skills that increase productivity and achievement. Keywords: underrepresented youth, supplemental learning program, information communication technology, digital learning, social capital, cultural capital, funds of knowledge, community cultural wealth.
EXAMINING ENGLISH-AS-A-FOREIGN-LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ LANGUAGE PRACTICES AND LANGUAGE ATTITUDES THROUGH THE LENS OF TRANSLANGUAGING AND HUMANIZING PEDAGOGY – A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON AN INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL IN CHINA
(2023) Zong, Jiaxuan; MacSwan, Jeff; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Research on translanguaging and humanizing pedagogy has primarily focused on English-as-a-second-language (ESL) contexts, while little attention has been given to the examination and these practices in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) settings. This qualitative case study aims to address this gap by employing empirical evidence from various sources, including classroom observations, student surveys, student and teacher interviews, and quantitative data analysis of student surveys. The study examines teachers’ understanding of and practices with translanguaging and humanizing pedagogy, as well as students’ perceptions and experiences with these pedagogical movements. In light of humanizing pedagogy studies involving pedagogical codeswitching and translanguaging practices, this research is informed and guided by the combined theoretical framework of translanguaging and humanizing pedagogy, derived from the literature review. The research design consists of four main phases: pilot studies and purposeful sampling, QUALITATIVE data collection and analysis, quantitative data collection and analysis, and qualitative data analysis and triangulation. Through thematic analysis, this study reveals three major findings: (1) teachers’ and students’ strong needs and teachers’ self-debate of translanguaging practices, (2) the enactment of humanizing pedagogy through translanguaging practices by teachers, and (3) the enhancement of multilingual and multicultural awareness through translanguaging and humanizing pedagogy practices. Also, the study identifies two additional findings of importance, including the lack of a healthy professional development community for teachers and the entrenched privileges associated with native speakerism and the native speaker fallacy. These findings demonstrate the importance of language teachers being cognizant of the benefits of using students’ first language while acknowledging the criticality of balance in its use. Furthermore, the adherence to an English-only policy may lead to ineffective English language educational experiences, as demonstrated in one of the cases in this study. In addition, the incorporation of students’ first language by educators promotes the implementation of humanizing pedagogy practices, such as drawing on students’ background knowledge, making class content accessible to all students, and enhancing critical consciousness towards different languages and cultures. Moreover, engaging in translanguaging practices fosters a safe and dynamic space for both multilingual students and their teachers to co-construct their understanding of language and its role in conceptual development. By using multiple languages as mediational instruments, these practices enhance metalinguistic awareness and encourage critical reflection on linguistic and cultural differences. Finally, the study offers potential implications and recommendations relevant to teacher preparation programs and language educators.
The HLL-Turned-Language-Teacher: Exploring the Relationship Between Heritage-Language Maintenance and Pedagogical Content Knowledge
(2022) García, Andrés A.; Martin-Beltran, Melinda; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
For over four decades now, fields like applied linguistics and world-language education, have investigated heritage languages, the “nonsocietal or nonmajority languages” (Valdés, 2005, p. 411) typically used in the homes and communities of immigrants and their descendants. While still growing and diversifying, heritage language (HL) research has often focused on how users of these languages—also known as heritage language learners (HLLs)—are different from other language learners, and how teachers can best adapt their instruction to their needs. With so much literature focusing on either HLLs as learners or their teachers, this study aims to bring together these topics in a novel way. Specifically, this multiple-case study centers around three adult HLLs who currently work as teachers of language-related subjects, and it aims to explore whether there is a relationship between their life experiences with HL maintenance and their pedagogical content knowledge. The research questions explored in this study are: 1. How do the focal HLL-turned-language-teachers in this study describe their experiences with HL maintenance and development?2. What kinds of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) are evident in the practice of these HLLs-turned-language-teachers? 3. How do these HLL-turned-language-teachers’ experiences with HL maintenance and development relate to their PCK as L2 teachers? Data collection included teaching observations, interviews with the focal teachers and some of their colleagues who know their teaching directly, and the gathering of relevant teaching artifacts and documents. Data analysis, meanwhile, occurred in a two-tiered approach: within-case and cross-case. That is, each focal case was analyzed individually first, and then patterns were sought across cases during the second phase of data analysis. Findings from this study support the idea that the HL maintenance experiences of HLLs-turned-language-teachers affect their PCK. Moreover, there is remarkable consistency across cases; for not only did they all report the influence of similar factors in their HL maintenance (e.g., supportive families and communities, constant exposure to their HLs through written and spoken media), but they also embraced similar pedagogical techniques and behaviors as part of their PCKs (e.g., translanguaging and native-language supports, building strong bonds with their students). Furthermore, in rationalizing many of these moves by alluding to learning experiences they did not have growing up, or to their own struggles with HL grammar rules, these teachers also show consistency in the potential connections between their life experiences as HLLs and their pedagogy and PCK. Implications from this study, then, are pertinent to heritage-language studies as well as language teacher education, and they include calls to expand the notion of PCK to account for the influence of experiences with language maintenance and loss. Regarding practitioners, this study underscores the relevance of biographical reflection to pedagogical decision-making, and it encourages teachers who wish to make the most of this sort of reflection to expand their notion of “pedagogy” to include student-teacher relationship-building—if it does not do so already.
“EMBRACING THE UNCERTAINTY”: AN EXPLORATORY CASE STUDY OF IMPROVISATION-BASED TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
(2022) Placek, Dale S; Peercy, Megan; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
While many education researchers have characterized the impromptu nature of classroom teaching as improvisation, few studies of teacher education or professional development (PD) have examined the potential of improvisation workshops for equipping teachers to face unforeseen classroom moments productively. In this dissertation, I introduced an applied theatrical improvisation framework I call Pedagogical Improvisation (PI), and used it to design, implement, and conduct a qualitative case study of an improvisation-based professional development experience (the PIPD) for a group of nine high school teachers. The research questions were:1. How, if at all, did PIPD participation influence teacher-participants’ attitudes toward, and beliefs about, improvisation and improvisational teaching? 2. How, if at all, did PIPD participation influence teacher-participants’ teaching practices, especially with respect to unforeseen classroom moments? Additionally, during the data analysis process, I added a third research question, based on participating teachers’ responses about the benefits of group participation in the PIPD:3. How, if at all, did the PIPD promote the formation of a Community of Practice for teacher-participants? Findings indicated that, as a result of their PIPD experiences, teacher-participants came to see the role of teacher as a professional improviser more clearly, became more comfortable with uncertainty in both the workshop setting and their classrooms, and experimented with various types of teaching practices related to the PIPD workshop activities and the Elements of Improvisation. Teacher-participants also identified several ways in which the PIPD workshops supported their development of improvisational skills/mindsets, and several constraints that served as obstacles to experimenting with improvisational activities or teaching practices in their classrooms. Beyond their individual reflections and applications of the workshop activities to their classroom, PIPD teachers experienced the benefits of group participation through the Community of Practice that formed as a result of the PIPD workshops. By laughing, playing, and learning together in a workshop setting characterized by psychological safety, teachers also came to see themselves as responsible for creating that type of atmosphere for students in their own classrooms, and experimented with many ways of doing so. This dissertation has implications for research, teaching, teacher education, and professional development, and joins a body of now-quickly-growing research across many fields that supports Tint, McWaters, and Van Driel’s (2015) assertion that applied improvisation is “consistently transformative and successful.” Further, it seeks to respond to their call for “rigorous and structured research to ground the findings in larger, evidence-based processes” (p. 73).
STREAMS THAT RUN INTO THE RIVER OF LIVED EXPERIENCE: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF INTERN TEACHERS USING CURRERE TO UNDERSTAND CURRICULUM
(2018) Palmer, Leslie; HULTGREN, FRANCINE; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: STREAMS THAT RUN INTO THE RIVER OF LIVED EXPERIENCE: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF INTERN TEACHERS USING CURRERE TO UNDERSTAND CURRICULUM Leslie LuAnn Palmer Doctor of Philosophy, 2018 Dissertation Directed by: Professor Francine Hultgren Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership This dissertation is the culmination of a phenomenological study of intern teachers using the Currere process to gain a broader and deeper understanding of curriculum. The Currere process is a written method developed by William Pinar through which participants recall past memories, imagine future occurrences, analyze the themes that arise in both, and synthesize the meaning to more purposefully shape the present lived experience. The connections that arise from using Currere as part of a phenomenological study of lived experience suggest pedagogical implications for intern teachers’ developing practice in the context of an acknowledged lived classroom curriculum. Grounded in the philosophical contributions of Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, along with van Manen’s phenomenological structure and method, this work explores the development of teachers’ pedagogical orientation within the context of the lived experience of curriculum. I first turn to my personal experience using Currere and also to the experiences of beginning intern teachers using Currere to develop individualized foundations prior to their coursework and internship experiences. I use the metaphor of the river to open up the phenomenon of using Currere to understand curriculum through various sources that reveal relationships with language, dwelling, identity, and hermeneutic phenomenology. The initial themes that arise include moments, in-between spaces, abundance, resilience, and the flow of lived experience. This study focuses on the lived experiences of five Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) interns as they make meaning of curriculum using Currere. Through two individual conversations with each intern and a final whole-group conversation, the interns and I discussed internship experiences, curriculum in the fullness of its meaning, and pedagogical revelations from using the Currere process. Renderings of these conversations and the intern teachers’ written Currere processes reveal themes including navigating unexpected experiences; the difficulties of finding authenticity in a mentor’s classroom; the constant state of being watched, observed, and evaluated; exploring the teacher-self; and discovering the curriculum and pedagogy of lived experience. Based on these emergent themes, I explore ways in which the lived experience of using Currere to understand curriculum has pedagogical implications for teacher practice and teacher preparation. My engagement with the texts of Currere and conversation suggest that opportunities for intern teachers to use the Currere process to understand curriculum can help them discover their own meaning of what it is to be a teacher, develop an orientation of stewardship toward their professional practice, deepen their understanding of curriculum in its abundance, and create a lived curriculum of pedagogical care for the children whom they have committed to serve.
EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF PEER ASSISTANCE AND REVIEW (PAR) ON TEACHERS' PRACTICE
(2018) Curry, David G.; Timmons-Brown, Stephanie; McLaughlin, Margaret J.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Researchers, practitioners, and policy makers widely recognize teacher quality as the school-related factor that has the largest influence on a child’s academic performance. While research has documented the central role that teacher quality plays in promoting student achievement, studies have not yet yielded a consensus on the factors that enhance teacher quality. Understanding which professional development practices prove most effective in addressing district needs can potentially impact how district leaders look to improve both teacher performance and teacher retention. Districts must assess the degree to which existing teacher development activities are helping teachers attain key skills. The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the impact of Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) on the teaching practices of non-tenured teachers as assessed by the teacher observation tool, Framework for Teaching (FfT). This study sought to identify whether there was a statistically significant difference in ratings from a teacher’s first to last formal observation after participating in PAR. In this mixed methods study, quantitative methods were used to examine formal observation data in order determine whether participation in PAR impacted the performance ratings of teachers. Furthermore, qualitative methods, in the form of interviews, were used to gain insight on a teacher’s perception about their participation in PAR and how it has impacted their instructional practices. Results from this study confirm that there was a statistically significant difference in first to last formal observation ratings recorded for all of the eight instructional components tested. Furthermore, data showed that participating teachers believe that their participation in PAR positively influenced the improvement of their instructional practices. This study enriches the literature on Peer Assistance and Review and the impact the program can have on teachers.
Student Experiences of Writing Conferences in a Blended First Year Composition Course: A Case Study
(2017) Swan, Lisa M.; Slater, Wayne H.; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The purpose of this case study was to investigate student experiences in the writing conferences in a blended first year composition course at a large public institution in the Mid-Atlantic region. I applied a critical sociocultural framework, cultural mismatch theory, to examine the relationship between students’ experiences and the culture of an instructor’s writing conference practice. My central research question was: what are students’ experiences in writing conferences in a blended first year composition course? I used an interpretive single-case study design to investigate the writing conference practice of one skillful instructor and the experiences of six students. The instructor offered three writing conferences per semester, each lasting twenty minutes. Data sources included: surveys, artifacts, field notes from observations, audio recorded writing conferences, and interviews. I analyzed the data deductively using a conceptual framework consisting of three key factors in the conference interaction: purpose, participant roles, and classroom context. I presented key findings thematically and discussed them in terms of literature to develop analytic generalizations. Study findings suggested cultural mismatches in the purpose and participant roles of the writing conference. The instructor’s purpose of the conference was invention, yet students’ purposes varied from generating ideas to getting instructor feedback and fixing errors. Students also reported varying familiarity and comfort with the prescribed participant role, which assumed students would prepare materials, direct the conversation, and answer questions. While all the students in this study evaluated their conferences as successful and reported positive outcomes in terms of learning, the students for whom the interaction was relatively culturally congruent described their experiences positively, reporting feelings of confidence and willingness to seek individualized help with their writing. In contrast, the students for whom the interaction was comparably culturally mismatched described their experiences in mixed terms. They reported persistent anxiety and opted not to seek additional individualized help because they did not trust the interaction would be productive. Study findings highlight the general utility of cultural mismatch theory to examine classroom practices. It also suggests a potential refinement of the conceptualization of educational equity to examine students’ experiences of the learning process, in addition to outcomes.
Content-based instruction in the context of Chinese immersion: An exploration of corrective feedback
(2016) Yao, Qin; MacSwan, Jeff; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Immersion education encourages students to learn a new language by actually using the language, and has become a popular form of foreign language instruction since the 1970s. Recent observations of immersion classrooms have shown a high frequency of teachers’ oral corrective feedback (CF). From an interactionist perspective of second language (L2) acquisition that finds a solid foundation for the benefit of conversational interaction in L2 learning, CF as a form of interaction is argued to give L2 learners learning opportunities that attend to the communicative content and linguistic information. This study aims to fill a gap in the literature on immersion—the lack of studies examining CF in Chinese immersion settings, by studying learning opportunities brought about by oral CF in Chinese immersion classrooms. Classroom observations, video-tapings, stimulated recalls, and interviews in four Chinese immersion classrooms revealed that the Chinese immersion teachers explicitly or implicitly corrected students’ errors most of the time, and used eight types of CF strategies to treat their errors, among which the elicitation and recast were used more frequently. In addition, teachers and students were found to engage in negotiations through CF in different interactional contexts (content, language, communication and management), and contexts focusing on content and language allowed more CF and more modified output. Furthermore, the results revealed that students tended to notice the CF in content-focused interactions (compared to other three types of interactional contexts), and that their perception accuracy is influenced by the type of CF and the recipient of the CF. Based on the interaction approach to second language acquisition, the findings of this study contribute to the field by constructing a deeper understanding of intricacies of CF in the context of Chinese immersion teaching. In particular, the study has emphasized the positive role of interactional feedback in second language learning, re-conceptualized output immediately following the CF as learner response to feedback, and revealed the facilitative role of modified output in advancing the engagement of the learner internal mechanism. Moreover, the study has implications for immersion education, specifically concerning CF strategies, pedagogies that balance content and language instruction, immersion program administration, and teacher education.
(inter)FACE: A Study of Black Families Advocating for their Children’s Education
(2016) Morant, Tamyka; Brown, Tara M; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Black students are consistently overrepresented in categories of academic underachievement. Parent engagement has long been touted as an effective strategy for improving the educational outcomes of Black children. However, most parent engagement research reflects deficit based perspectives frame Black parents as problems that must be fixed or mitigated before they can positively contribute to their children’s education. Consequently, parent engagement research and frameworks ignore the perspectives of Black parents and the assets they use to participate effectively in parent engagement. In this case study, I draw on individual and focus group interview data, documents, and observations, to examine how fifteen Black families, collectively known as FACE: 1) define and participate in parental engagement, 2) experience barriers to and opportunities for engagement, and 3) experience benefits of engagement for their children and their own personal development. Guided by Black Feminist and Critical Race Theories, I show how Black families in this study used a myriad of engagement strategies to improve their children’s educational experiences which were invisible to schools and how they used school-sanctioned engagement activities to meet their own objectives. Ultimately, I argue that school-centered parent engagement frameworks and models are ineffective for empowering Black families and accounting for the essential ways that these families contribute to the well-being of their children. Based on my findings, I discuss implications for theory, practice and policy, and research, and make recommendations for a more family-centered approach to parent engagement.

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