Browsing by Subject "Community of practice"
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Item Bilingual elementary teachers : examining pedagogy and literacy practices(2014-12) Garza, Irene Valles; Salinas, Cinthia; Fránquiz, María E.This study is significant because U.S. schools are continuously being transformed due to the increasing numbers of linguistically and culturally diverse students, in particular Latina/o youths. Therefore, this qualitative dissertation study explored and described ways three Latina Tejana Maestras utilized Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) during literacy learning as they integrated students’ knowledge about their social and cultural environment, including their native language repertoire, while developing and implementing instruction. This study used sociocultural and borderlands theoretical construct to explore and describe ways the Maestras enacted and sustained CRP during literacy events. The sociocultural perspective is a fitting lens because it takes into account how knowledge is constructed in and through social interaction. Borderlands is also a fitting lens because it takes into account the Tejana Maestras borderlands identity of straddling simultaneous worlds — two languages, two cultures. Sociocultural theory and Borderlands theoretical lenses were complemented by CRP, a teaching approach that not only fits the school culture to the students’ culture, but uses the students’ culture as the basis for students to understand themselves and guiding them to becoming academically successful. The two questions used to guide this dissertation were: What culturally responsive pedagogical knowledge and practices do Tejana Maestras enact in bilingual classrooms? Second: How do Tejana Maestras acquire knowledge about the culture, language, and background experience of their students when planning and implementing instruction? The research revealed three themes, a) the presence of Building a Bilingual Classroom Community (BBCC) that was continuously evolving, and seamlessly functioning, as a system was clearly evident in each of the three classrooms, b) the Tejana Maestras notion of agents of change that guided their pedagogical literacy practices, and c) the notion of centering Mexican American students’ values, beliefs, and norms into the pedagogy and curriculum responsive to emergent bilinguals was recognizable. Six findings developed from the data; a) Tejana Maestras foster cultural awareness, b) embrace Latina/o bilingualism, c) employ a menu of culturally responsive literacy practices, d) learn from their students e) are conscious of their identity, and f) teaching philosophy. Due to U.S. schools being transformed by the increasing numbers of linguistically and culturally diverse students, the study demonstrated that it is important to conduct research about Tejana Maestras to learn the ways they are effectively meeting the needs of bilingual students by using CRP to promote academic success.Item Cultivating literacies among emerging bilinguals : case study of a third grade bilingual/bicultural community of practice(2012-05) Lynch, Anissa Wicktor; Fránquiz, María E.; Wetzel, Melissa M.; Callahan, Rebecca M.; Valenzuela, Angela; Heinzelman, Susan S.This study focused on emerging bilingual students in an urban elementary bilingual classroom. Schools and teachers play a fundamental role in emerging bilingual children’s language acquisition and academic preparation. Emerging bilinguals currently enrolled in U.S. schools must learn a new academic language and academic content in a climate marked by standards-based reform and anti-immigrant sentiment. Utilizing case study methodology, this investigation explored the ways in which emerging bilinguals and their teacher co-constructed literacy practices and the connection between literacy practices and identity. Microanalysis of discourse was performed on data collected during literacy practices to examine positionings, the ways people present themselves in a situation. Data included field notes from classroom observations, audio and video recordings, teacher and student interviews, and artifacts in the form of student work and district and curriculum documents. Participants engaged in a wide variety of literacy practices utilizing material resources of the classroom, their teacher, their emerging bilingual abilities, and prior experiences both in and out of the classroom as resources to construct meaning from texts. Literacy practices were characterized by high expectations for student achievement and group membership, the development of students’ linguistic and cultural knowledge, building students’ self-efficacy related to literacy, and affirmation of participants’ bilingual/bicultural identities. Students demonstrated several positionings during literacy practices. Analysis of these positioning suggested that their identities were shaped by their participation in literacy practices and their interactions with other members of this community of practice. The community of practice that participants co-constructed was characterized by a focus on inclusivity, purposeful opening of interactional spaces, expanding repertoires of practice, and caring. Results of this study suggested that teacher and student disposition and affect can be taught, which raised questions about the current focus on only knowledge and skills in teacher education programs rather on teacher disposition and affect. There are also implications for teachers and researchers who have an interest in communities of practice and effectively educating emerging bilingual students.Item Emergent social network communities : hashtags, knowledge building, and communities of practice(2013-05) Ford, Kasey Crystal; Resta, Paul E.The hashtag #phdchat is used by doctoral students all over the world to engage with their peers, share information, and commiserate over their experiences in academia. Anyone can join the conversation simply by typing the tag and publishing a tweet, but many regularly contribute to what has become a vibrant emergent social network community. Using an analysis of the discourse that was labeled with the hashtag over about a one-month period, this paper draws conclusions about who belongs to this community and what the network achieves for the users and as an entity of its own. The researcher makes conclusions about this network by drawing on the attributes of communities of practice and knowledge building communities in order to ground it as its own permutation of a learning community.Item Figured worlds and dual language experts in two-way immersion classes : an ethnographic case study(2011-05) Slade, William Staughan; Palmer, Deborah K.; Callahan, RebeccaTwo-Way Immersion (TWI) programs offer settings and goals that foster multilingual and multicultural communities; however, communities are complex and fluid, and have aspects that may or may not promote equitable education and learning. This research analyzes the actions and interactions of a group of first grade students to address how community develops during the first semester of implementation of a TWI program. Theoretical notions of figured worlds and communities of practice frame the analysis of ethnographic data to provide insight into the complex social and pedagogical dynamics of this setting 1) through conversations with teachers, 2) through observations of teacher-student interactions during teacher-centered activities, and 3) through observations of students interacting with less teacher presence. Findings describe the teachers’ discourses about their students, which centered on issues of equity and dismantling language status hierarchies. The findings also describe practices that the teachers themselves frame as promoting unified, equitable communities; however, analysis was mixed in finding that certain practices appeared to promote unity within the classroom and others appeared to reinforce divisions among students. Key findings also confirm the results of other researchers regarding the positioning of initially bilingual students in TWI as “dual language experts.” This study notes some ramifications of teaching practices and aspects of the specific 50-50 TWI model for the entire community of learners, which, while elevating balanced bilinguals may marginalize English learners and Spanish learners.Item Parents learning online : informal education on parenting through online interactions examined from a community of practice perspective(2010-08) Matthews, Megan Renee; Schallert, Diane L.; Robinson, DanielThis study investigated the online interactions of parents using the constructs of Wenger’s (1998) community of practice theory. Parents were surveyed and blogs and comments selections were examined to determine whether a communities of practice perspective would be appropriate as a construct to examine parents’ online interactions, and whether parents could gain similar benefits to those found from face-to-face parent support groups. This study provides evidence to support the utility of parents’ online interactions and the relevance of a community of practice perspective as analyzed with the components of Wenger’s (1998) Communities of Practice Theory.