College of Education
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Perspectives on Power Structures in U.S.-Funded Foreign Aid(2024) Bloom, Heidi Nicole; Lin, Jing; Ginsburg, Mark; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research explores U.S.-funded foreign aid policies and practices from the perspectives of foreign aid professionals, focusing on their views regarding the impact of neocolonialism, obstacles in decolonizing the sector, and power dynamics within crucial aspects of foreign aid practices. Historically, U.S.-funded foreign aid has prioritized national interests, reflected colonial dynamics, and perpetuated neocolonial legacies. Using a decolonial lens as its conceptual framework, the study examines the discursive construction of meanings and relationships within the foreign aid sector. Through a mixed-methods approach involving 91 survey responses, 15 interviews, and post-interview questionnaires conducted one year later, the research gathers diverse perspectives across various foreign aid sectors. The findings underscore neocolonial practices, stressing the importance of local consultation in program design and highlighting challenges in funding allocation and political imperatives. While positive shifts prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement suggest progress toward power redistribution and diversity initiatives, skepticism remains about their depth. The study concludes with a systems approach, advocating for interventions at individual, organizational, and governmental levels to disrupt neocolonial practices, promote anti-racism, empower local counterparts, and reform policies. This comprehensive approach aims to enhance equity and effectiveness in the foreign aid ecosystem through self-reflection and critical analysis from the perspectives of foreign aid professionals.Item ASSESSING THE PROCESS OF IMPLEMENTING INCLUSIVE EDUCATION POLICY AT THE EARLY CHILDHOOD LEVEL IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO(2014) Joseph, LENISA N.; Lieber, Joan; McLaughlin, Margaret; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the implementation of inclusive education at the early childhood level in Trinidad and Tobago. Subjects included officials from the Ministry of Education and teachers who are involved in implementation of the policies for children at early childhood centers. I used qualitative methodology in order to best assess inclusive education implementation process at the early childhood level using the implementation framework of Fixsen et al (2005) and the UNESCO (2005) guidelines for inclusive education. Using a combination of data collection methods I assessed from senior ministry officials and teachers at pilot schools how the implementation of inclusive education at the early childhood level was progressing. The written documents of the former government used to access loans for the initiative reflects use of all three drivers of the Fixsen framework. The actual implementation was affected by the lack of a sufficient number of teachers required for the initiative. In addition the former government lost the election during the early stages of implementation and changes at the Ministerial level resulted in alterations in implementation plans. The current government has not continued the same inclusive education model. The findings are reflective of what can happen when new education initiatives are attempted by a top down approach without sufficient infrastructure. As this is often the case in many developing countries, it leads to gaps between policies and their implementation. The study also indicates the need for ensuring that there are resources at the ground level and sustained support and technical assistance in order for countries to successfully implement inclusive education policies.Item Beyond Academic Capitalism: Innovation and Entrepreneurship as Institutional Ethos at a Public Research University(2014) McClure, Kevin Richard; Stromquist, Nelly P.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The theory of academic capitalism provides a cogent explanation of the actors, organizations, and networks that initiated a shift in U.S. higher education from a "public good knowledge/learning regime" to an emerging "academic capitalist knowledge/learning regime." In the academic capitalist knowledge/learning regime, the claims of entrepreneurs, administrators, and corporations--amidst amplified market forces--have come to supersede the claims of the public. Research thus far has not analyzed the process by which the multiple levels of higher education institutions adopt values and norms of the academic capitalist knowledge/learning regime. Using case study methodology, this dissertation empirically examines the development and dissemination of an institutional ethos that, consistent with the theory of academic capitalism, has attributed great importance to innovation and entrepreneurship at a public doctoral/research-intensive university in the United States between 1998 and 2013. Specifically, I am interested in explaining why this ethos was initiated and supported by university leaders and how it has been translated into incentives for faculty members and academic opportunities for undergraduate students. Therefore, this dissertation traces academic capitalism as a multi-level process at one higher education institution. The findings demonstrate that meanings ascribed to innovation and entrepreneurship vary across the campus. However, there is a preponderance of language and examples derived from the for-profit sector. The individuals on campus instrumental in crafting the innovation and entrepreneurship ethos were central administrators, particularly presidents and provosts. The main motivations for supporting the ethos were generating revenue in the future, continuing a land-grant tradition of service to the state, and attempting to keep pace with institutional peers and garner prestige. Efforts to translate the ethos into incentives for faculty have been limited in scope and mainly cater to disciplines in sciences, engineering, and technology. However, there is clearly emphasis placed on developing the entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate students. The implications of these incentives and academic opportunities are analyzed, suggesting possible outcomes of innovation and entrepreneurship as institutional ethos.Item Beyond "No/Homo": An Institutional Ethnographic Exploration of Teachers' Understandings of Gendered Harassment Policies(2012) Chen, Elke; Mawhinney, Hanne B; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This institutional ethnography explored how teachers who attended district-sponsored professional development workshop(s) on sexuality or gendered harassment came to understand their school district's gendered harassment policies. The goal of the project was to explore how teachers constructed and understood homophobic harassment, sexual harassment, and harassment for gender non-conformity, in order to examine their understandings of those policies and how they incorporated them into their daily work. The study is an institutional ethnography in which I explored the interactions between organizational practices, policies, and the experiences of six health and physical education teachers. This sociological approach involves an explication of how complex human actions, in this case, teachers' understandings of gendered harassment policies, are coordinated by various kinds of texts, policies, and procedures. In particular, I investigated how standards-based accountability and its accompanying school practices coordinated the activities of health and physical education teachers and their understandings of their school district's gendered harassment policies. The social relations of standards-based accountability and physical education generated an empirical ground for the analysis of how gendered harassment policies in a school setting are organized. By inquiring into the activities of health and physical education teachers in a school setting, I explicated how these teachers' knowledge of gendered harassment and gendered harassment policies is socially organized.