Browsing by Subject "Multicultural education"
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Item An inquiry into a model for normalista preparation and transfer program to the Texas bilingual education teacher program(Texas Tech University, 2003-05) Salazar, DoraTexas teacher education preparation programs have been unable to supply the demand for qualified teachers to serve the growing numbers of Spanish speaking students. Normalista teachers (so called because their preparation took place in Mexican Normal Schools) can become future bilingual teacher candidates. Typically normalistas have served as teachers in Mexico and are currently recent immigrants employed in jobs that are often unrelated to education. My study provides a description of the experiences shared by normalistas who are seeking certification to practice their chosen career in the state of Texas. Many universities have established partnerships with professional development schools for the purpose of providing pre-service teacher preparation. However, only a few have established similar partnerships with colleagues across the United States and Mexico border, presumably because of language and cultural barriers and limited knowledge in understanding of the different preparation paradigm used in the Mexican educational system. Second, my study will add to the knowledge base about Mexican trained educators, who are part of the post baccalaureate population in our universities, alternative certification programs, and in certification programs provided by the Education Service Centers in Texas. My study explores and addressing the special needs of individuals who arrive with this wealth of knowledge in pedagogical understandings, cultural experiences in the classroom, teaching methodologies and strategies for educating a large under served population. Moreover, my study examines and describes the salient ethical and procedural themes that emerge from the interactions with preparing adult English language leamers to serve the large population of elementary students in which Spanish is their native language. My study provides direction in the use of data acquisition and analyses that is qualitative in nature. More specifically the methodology used is survey research that uncovers the experience of normalista teachers in the transitional phase in preparing for teacher certification in Texas as a bilingual education teacher. Special attention must be paid to the practice of ethical codes, perceptions of adult English language learners, and interpersonal interactions that are exclusive to this context. Methodological inquiry and analysis was guided using three basic frameworks: Ogbu's (1986, 1989) voluntary and involuntary immigrant framework, Gibson's (1988) structural inequalities theory, Cummins (1984) interdependence theoretical framework.Item Analysis of minority participation in Texas' East Region and Youth Development Program in relationship to leadership, marketing, and educational opportunities(Texas Tech University, 2004-08) Williams, MontzaWith the ever changing demographic trends of the Texas population, it is important that the Texas 4-H and Youth Development Program be available and accessible to all Texas youth. Several studies have shown that life skill development is positively related to 4-H club participation. However, this study indicates that even though the 4-H club program is available to all youth, fewer minorities choose to participate and, thus, do not benefit from the positive outcomes. This research study utilized two similar questionnaires to obtain data from participants (n=354) of the Texas Cooperative Extension East Region 4-H and Youth Development Program. Participants were involved in 4-H clubs and school curriculum enrichment programs. Having multicultural role models available to mentor and teach is shown to not only promote values and positive behaviors but also creates a corporate culture of acceptance and importance. However, this study indicates that a "likeness" and similar ideas and beliefs are not always necessary when adolescents and youth are deciding to join or remain in an activity or organization. Targeting specific diverse audiences has been a mandate for the 4-H and Youth Development Program since desegregation of the 1960s and efforts have been made to make educational programming available to everyone. Nonetheless, are current techniques being used effectively? Youth are not all alike and differences should be understood. This study gathered information that addressed some ethnic/racial issues pertaining to marketing the 4-H and Youth Development Program. This study determined that differences did exist for youth involved in the East Region 4-H and Youth Development Program and in order to market to the specific audiences, certain media should be used. In order to be a multicultural program, diverse cultures have to be involved in the process. Understanding differences, accepting differences, and appreciating differences is not only a personal choice but is also a corporate choice. Involving minority audiences as well as underserved and underrepresented audiences in Extension programming efforts will take time and creative efforts on the part of faculty members.Item "Art for everyone" at the Georgia Museum of Art : the importance of sociocultural context for school field trips to art museums(2013-05) Steinmann, Callan Elizabeth; Mayer, Melinda M.This thesis is a qualitative case study of a 5th grade field trip program at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, Georgia. The value – educational, social, and otherwise – of direct experiences with artworks in the museum setting has been demonstrated in numerous studies (Adams & Sibille, 2005; Burchenal & Grohe, 2007; Burchenal & Lasser, 2007; Henry, 1992; Hubard, 2007), and the single-visit field trip program has been a staple of educational programming at many art museums across the United States. However, much of the recent literature in art education focuses on the benefits of multiple-visit field trip programming (Burchenal & Grohe, 2007; Burchenal & Lasser, 2007), in effect “abandoning” the single-visit program. Given that the single-visit field trip remains a standard in the field, this study sought to explore the ways museum educators can maximize the value of the one-shot field trip model in art museums. Through observations of a 5th grade class on their field trip to the Georgia Museum of Art, interviews with program stakeholders (including museum educators, museum director, the school art teacher, and program donor), and collecting the students’ perspective through written questionnaires, this study revealed insight into the one-visit field trip. An analysis of the various issues and perspectives involved with this type of programming substantiated the hypothesis that there is valuable information to be learned from looking closer at the single-visit program. The findings suggest that by situating itself authentically in its own community, the art museum can make single-visit field trip programs more relevant to students’ lives by employing culturally responsive teaching practices.Item Bridging disciplines to build equity : interdisciplinary mathematics through the lens of critical multicultural education(2006-12) Sivam, Kumaridevi; Salinas, Cinthia; Carmona Dominguez, Guadalupe de la PazCritical theory has shown that the organization of knowledge, forms of transmission of knowledge, and the assessment of acquisition of knowledge are crucial factors in the reproduction of power relationships in society (Freire, 1970; Apple, 1980; McLaren, 1998; Sleeter and McLaren, 1995; Bigelow, 2002). Schooling in the United States has always been designed to benefit particular groups over others, with "race,"class, ethnicity, culture, language, religion and gender among the factors used to differentiate the education offered (Loewen,1995; Oakes, 2005; Watkins, 2001). I extend this framework by taking science and mathematics, which have more often than other disciplines been taken to be neutral, to explicitly be part of this tradition. Research shows that multicultural education usually fails to move beyond superficial levels of modification of the curriculum (Banks, 1995; Nieto, 1995; Lee, Menkart, and Okazawa-Rey, 1997; McLaren and Sleeter, 1995). I build on theories of critical multicultural education and on my own teaching of interdisciplinary courses to propose interdisciplinarity as an approach to science and, in particular, mathematics education as a process of simultaneously challenging biased constructions of disciplinary boundaries and of extending access to the power held by these disciplines. My approach is informed by Delpit's (1988; 1995) framework of codes of power and explicit acknowledgment of these codes as essential to equitable education.Item Charter schools, achievement and segregation : the school choice movement and its effects on diversity and equality in public education(2010-12) Butler, Shira Danielle; Bentley, Keisha L.; Moore, LeslieThis literature review addresses the increasingly popular charter school movement and its effectiveness in academic achievement and multicultural diversity. It examines the literature starting with the foundations of the charter school movement to the present state of American charter schools. Implications for charter school counselors are discussed. Although charter schools are gaining support in some public arenas, and with policymakers, more evidence is needed before charter schools can embody public official’s claims as the new solution in public education.Item Creating art, creating selves : negotiating professional and social identities in preservice teacher education(2012-08) Kraehe, Amelia McCauley, 1977-; Brown, Keffrelyn D.; Urrieta, Jr., Luis; Valenzuela, Angela; Bolin, Paul E.; Carpenter, B. StephenThis critical ethnographic collective case study examined the process of becoming a teacher in the context of visual art education. This longitudinal study was grounded in larger educational concerns regarding the preparation of teachers for socially and culturally diverse U.S. public schools. This framing of teacher learning went beyond traditional dichotomies in educational research that maintain an artificial boundary between learning to teach content and learning to teach all students effectively and equitably. In order to re-integrate the study of teacher learning, this research foregrounds the transactional relationship between a preservice art teacher’s social locations (e.g., race, class, sex-gender, language) and how s/he makes sense of what it means to be an “art teacher.” Specifically, the study asked (a) how preservice art teachers negotiated their emerging art teacher identities in a university-based teacher education program, (b) how their social positions were implicated in that process, and (c) how their teacher identities were meditated by cultural narratives, artifacts, and practices. This approach eschewed simplistic and reductive analyses of teacher identities in order to attain a nuanced understanding of the multiple, sometimes contradictory social processes involved in becoming a teacher. This collective case study centered six preservice art teachers with varied racial, class, gender, and sexual identities, all of whom attended the same undergraduate teacher education program in the southwestern U.S. Social practice theory of identity, and critical curriculum and cultural theory were employed in constructing a multi-leveled relational analysis of the commonalities and divergences in participants’ self-understandings over time. Findings showed historical patterns of institutionalized racism, as well as complex class and sex-gendered meanings of art. These inequitable norms were reproduced in ways distinctive to the asocial and apolitical “common sense” knowledge that was mobilized within the world of art teacher education. Some participants experienced alienation and marginalization based on their social positioning in relation to the world of art education. The findings also illuminated the polyvalent nature of identity through the coexistence of hegemonic identities as well as counter-hegemonic agency. Implications and possibilities for generating more critical, equity-oriented teacher education and art education research, practice, and policy are considered.Item The discourse of mathematization: bilingual students reinventing mathematics and themselves as mathematical thinkers(2008-05) Dominguez, Higinio; Empson, Susan B.In this paper, students' bilingualism and multicultural experiences are examined as cognitive resources for mathematization. Capitalizing on the view of language as action, and on students' familiarity with certain experiences through direct participation, the study includes a conceptual framework, never used with bilingual mathematics learners, to investigate how bilingual students organize and coordinate actions to solve mathematical problems about familiar and unfamiliar experiences in English and Spanish. The study used a research methodology to investigate two questions: (a) How do bilingual students' mathematize familiar experience problems and unfamiliar experience problems in Spanish and English? (b) What do differences and similarities in bilingual students' mathematization across problems and languages reveal about experience and bilingualism as cognitive resources? Findings show important differences. In problems about familiar experiences, students generated more productive actions, more reflective actions, and less unproductive actions than in problems about unfamiliar experience. As for the bilingualism, students used Spanish and English differently. When solving problems in Spanish, they framed actions more socially by including partners or sharing the action with partners, whereas in English they framed actions more individually, more depersonalized, excluding partners and instead relying on words in problems to justify their individual actions. This suggests that reinventing mathematics and themselves as mathematical thinkers is part of using their bilingualism and experiences as cognitive tools, and attention to how they use each language for each type of problem can reveal substantial knowledge about how bilinguals learn mathematics.Item Effects of an instructional unit in diversity on student attitudes and intentions(Texas Tech University, 1994-08) Aguilera, RafaelProblems in communication usually lead to problems and misunderstandings between groups.and individuals. This is an even greater problem when those involved in a communicative interaction possess different values, customs and ways of communicating. The objective of this thesis is to determine whether students' perceptions and attitudes can be changed after being exposed to a unit on diversity. Following the diversity unit, it will be determined whether or not students' attitudes and perceptions were changed. This will be done by examining data collected before and after the diversity unit was delivered.Item Essential practices for early childhood educators who value multicultural perspectives(2014-05) Lee, Sunmin, active 2014; Adair, Jennifer KeysThis report addresses the importance of multicultural education in early childhood classrooms as well as three essential practices for early childhood educators who value multicultural perspectives. The early childhood classroom is the first place in which children develop their identities and recognize cultural differences. Multicultural education can offer opportunities for children to value and understand cultural diversity as they have more experiences outside of their homes and neighborhoods. While there are many kinds of practices that support a multicultural perspective, this paper focuses on three multicultural practices that early childhood educators can incorporate in their classrooms in order to create authentic multicultural classrooms and to promote multiculturalism. The three practices are 1) integrating culturally relevant pedagogy/culturally responsive teaching, 2) understanding multicultural families, and 3) pursuing social justice. These practices can help early childhood educators better understand multicultural students and families and have more meaningful interactions and partnership opportunities with them.Item Exploring characteristics of effective multicultural education in Mexican and Mexican-American art museums(2011-05) Severin, Andrea Vargas; Mayer, Melinda M.; Bolin, PaulThe increase in the Latino population, and specifically the Mexican-American population, in the United States demonstrates the need for meaningful multicultural museum education to, for, and about this demographic. This exploratory case study investigates the educational programming in the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, Illinois and Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, Texas through observations of programs and curricular documents and interviews and seeks to identify characteristics of effective multicultural art education related to this cultural group. While highlighting Mexican and Mexican-American art and artists serves as the primary content of program curricula, museum educators at these institutions aim for education that is socially conscious and meaningful. The author of this study argues that effective multicultural museum programming has the potential to positively impact program participants on an educational, personal, and societal level.Item Exploring the biographies of prospective science teachers: evolving perspectives on diversity and equity(2004) George, Magnia A.; Bethel, Lowell J.Item Life histories of white male teachers of diverse students: intersections with whiteness, masculinity, and difference(2006) Jupp, James Cropsey; Cary, Lisa J.Item Making room for social studies, through read aloud(2016-08) Megargel, Anne Egerton; Palmer, Deborah K.; Callahan, Rebecca MThrough this report, I offer a solution for a problematic gap that I observed in my school’s curriculum: the absence of social studies. Grounding my understanding of the nature of this problem in the school’s mission, I argue that based on research, this absence could actually interfere with our goal of inspiring children to create positive change in their communities in the future. I present data showing the effectiveness of read aloud as a pedagogical practice, and then I show the way in which structuring read aloud around meaningful social issues would actually make it more effective pedagogically over the course of the year. Finally, I outline the structure, materials, and lines of inquiry that teachers might use in a fourth grade context in order to incorporate a multicultural social studies curriculum through the read aloud time which we are allotted two to four times per week. Drawing on frameworks of multicultural education (Banks, 2004) and culturally-relevant instruction (Ladson-Billings, 1994), I demonstrate how the curriculum outlined fulfills the purposes desired. I hope that the adoption of this curriculum at my own school will enable the fourth grade’s continued improvement in our mission to prepare our students to be thoughtful, participatory citizens in their communities, and that this project might serve to spark similar ideas in other contexts.Item Multicultural education in the community college curriculum: a study of social science faculty perspectives and practices(Texas Tech University, 2001-12) Briggs, Cathy LeeMany of the higher education studies regarding multicultural education have been conducted in four-year institutions despite the fact that statistics show a larger number of multicultural students attending community colleges in the United States of America. Because social science faculty deal directly with diversity issues in the content they teach, more studies on faculty and multicultural education can provide a fuller understanding for those who are a part of this open access institution. The primary purpose of this case study was to explore the perspectives and practices of one social science faculty member who taught government at a two-year institution. This study's purpose, questions, definitions, terminology, analysis, and interpretation rested on the five typologies of multicultural education proposed by Sieeter and Grant (1999). The three types of data collection included interviews, classroom observation, and analysis of classroom documents. To generate categories and themes for this study, I employed Strauss and Corbin's (1998) constant comparative method. The results of this study included the participants definition of multiculturalism along with an exploration of his formative experiences with diversity. For each of Slark and Lattuca's (1997) eight curricular components, this study provides examples from the participant's perspectives or classroom practices and then aligns each to the most appropriate of Sleeter and Grant's typologies. Emergent themes included Building on Student Knowledge and Experience, Relevance to the Reai World, Minority Dimensions. The participant's perspectives and practices on multicultural education most closely aligned whh Sleeter and Grant's first and four typologies. Furthermore, the participant's practices and perspectives paralleled the concept of "mainstream multiculturalism" proposed by Rhoads and Valadez (1996). Even though the participant's content was largely multicultural, his methodology was traditional, not stressing multicultural ways of knowing and doing. Finally, I discuss implications for practice and suggestions for future research so that community colleges will one day be on the cutting edge of Education that is Multicultural and Social Reconstructionist.Item Negotiating theory and practice with preservice English/language arts teachers : an examination of burgeoning understandings and practices of multicultural education(2008-05) Saunders, Jane Marie; Salinas, CinthiaThe purpose of this dissertation was to gain greater understanding about how preservice secondary English/language arts teachers made use of multicultural theory and practice in the context of urban classrooms. This qualitative case study examined preservice teachers’ employment of the multicultural knowledge and tools they gained in the university setting when placed in the far different reality of diverse, urban schools. Employing the frame of figured worlds, this research strove to tease out how preservice teachers negotiated the complex and varied worlds through which they traveled when learning to teach, and to document their movement from novices committed to equity to those capable of nurturing and enacting social justice. The resulting successes and struggles derived by data analysis yielded three themes. The first detailed the impact of figured worlds in positioning preservice teachers inside of the schools; the second explored the participants’ notions of multiculturalism and their capacity for enacting literacy events supportive of social justice; the third and final theme described the tentative successes of the preservice teachers as they relied on sociocultural tools inside the classroom, as well as their burgeoning advocacy stance regarding students. Findings focused on three areas of interest. First, that the fragmented understandings of multiculturalism inhibited the preservice teachers’ capacity to enact culturally relevant or responsive pedagogy; second, that the participants struggled with how to merge their notions of effective pedagogical practice given the rigid district-adopted curriculum they were expected to teach; and finally, that as the preservice teachers learned to author their own experiences inside the figured world of schools and create a space for students to do the same, they grew into more efficacious practitioners. Implications indicate that first, preservice teacher education programs should offer practicing teachers greater opportunities to consider figured world theory and funds of knowledge approaches early in their fieldwork experiences so that they might better contextualize the experience and develop a mindset that deflects deficit thinking. The second implication directly impacts teacher educators, calling on them to make the abstract theories studied in the university classroom more concrete and connected to the realities existing in schools. The third and final implication calls on teacher education programs to work diligently to foster a dialogue with preservice teachers that centers on issues of social justice.Item Promoting critical multicultural citizenship : a case study of preparing social studies teachers(2009-05) Castro, Antonio Jamie; Salinas, Cinthia; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor)Given the growing cultural and economic diversity of today’s students, this qualitative case study investigates how 4 social studies preservice teachers taught for critical multicultural citizenship during their student teaching semester. The tenets of critical citizenship emerge out of the intersection of critical pedagogy and multicultural education. These tenets for critical multicultural citizenship education include seeking out and challenging gaps in democracy, promoting critical reflection and consciousness, and advocating for collective action to transform institutional injustices. This case study traced perspectives held by participants about the nature of democracy and citizenship and explored how these preservice teachers enacted these views in their classroom teaching. Data collection measures included five observations, reflective journals, three interviews, and other assignments related to the participant’s student teaching coursework. Findings suggest that these participants, all preservice teachers of color, adopted views and teaching practices that aligned with critical multicultural citizenship; however, participants struggled to overcome constraints in their student teaching contexts in order to teach for this kind of citizenship.Item A qualitative case study : an in-service pre kindergarten teacher's perceptions and teaching experience with culturally and linguistically diverse children and families(2011-05) Lee, Hyun Ju; Reifel, Robert Stuart; Brown, Christopher P.; Palmer, Deborah K.; Salinas, Cynthia S.; Schallert, Diane L.This study explores a teacher’s perceptions and teaching practice with culturally and linguistically diverse children and families. A qualitative case study, it follows one in-service pre-kindergarten teacher at a public school. To provide rationales of the study, the researcher adopt culturally responsive teaching, funds of knowledge, developmentally appropriate practice, anti-bias multicultural education and English as a second language learning theories as the conceptual framework. Data were collected through formal interviews, informal conversations, and observations and analyzed using the constant-comparative method. The findings display the results of the study in three aspects: creating a cohesive multicultural community, helping culturally and linguistically diverse children’s English development utilizing their home languages and cultures, and establishing reciprocal relationships with those families. The study finds that a cohesive multicultural community can be created by building caring relationships among community members, by reflecting the children’s cultural and linguistic backgrounds in teaching practice and by practicing anti-bias multicultural education. This study shows the ways of helping the children’s English development according to five themes: understanding the children’s different English abilities, creating a class environment reflecting the children’s home languages and cultures, matching language mates, collaborating with bilingual teachers, and utilizing children as the language experts. This study also finds that reciprocal relationships with culturally and linguistically diverse families can be established by understanding diverse families’ backgrounds, by increasing cross-cultural communications, and by utilizing family resources in her teaching practice. This study reveals that the children’s learning experience can be enhanced when integrating their cultural and linguistic knowledge into class learning. The presented examples and descriptions in this study demonstrates the explicit and practical ways of how teachers can cultivate the children’s cultural and linguistic knowledge base, reflect this knowledge base in their class learning, help the children’s English development, and establish reciprocal relationships with families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Thus, this study will be a source of detailed practical information for teachers, teachers’ educators, and educational administrators in early childhood education.Item Raising multicultural awareness of fifth grade students through multicultural education program(2011-08) Sarraj, Huda; Salazar, Dora; Burley, Hansel E.In the pluralistic society that we live in now students should develop acceptance and appreciation for different cultures. A change to the current curriculum is needed for students to develop the necessary global awareness to allow them to succeed in a global society. The reason for the needed change is that the current multicultural resources available focus on superficial issues such as food, holidays, and clothing. This study developed a program for multicultural education based on children’s literature, current events and reflections for fifth grade students for nine days. The increase in multicultural awareness of the studied students was measured through constant comparative analysis of researcher’s and teacher class observations, students’ written responses, and students’ feedback. The analysis revealed the emergence of four themes: First, students enjoy learning about different cultures. Second, students are sympathetic to the main characters in the stories and they place themselves in their unique situations. Third, students believe making judgments about others based on personal pre-conceptions is wrong. Fourth, students believe bullying is wrong and only befriend bullies as a form of protection against them. Recommendation for future studies include using discussion to facilitate learning, incorporating technology into the classroom, and evaluating professional workshops for in-service teachers that address multicultural issues.Item Reflections from effective teachers of African American students: investigating the intersection of preparation, practice, and policy(2007) Haynes, Kenya LaTrece, 1976-; Vincent, Gregory J.This research was a qualitative study of 10 elementary school teachers working with predominantly African American students in a large urban school district. The primary focus of this study was to analyze the perceptions of effective teachers of African American students. The hope is that the data presented in this study will initiate trends that assist in effectively preparing teachers to attain successful outcomes with African American students. Through document analysis and interviews with selected university faculty, this interpretive qualitative study also examined the multicultural education training component that targets African American students in the undergraduate elementary teacher preparation program at a highly selective public university in Texas. The data were collected through interviews and document analysis. The themes that emerged from data collected with the 10 elementary school teachers included (a) perceptions of culture, (b) beliefs about teaching, (c) academic accountability, (d) teacher preparation, and (e) contributions to success. This study utilized Ladson-Billings' (1995a, 2001) theoretical framework of culturally relevant pedagogy to examine teachers' perspectives. Supplemented with interviews of selected university faculty, this study also utilized document analysis of relevant teacher preparation programs and educational policies. Along with uncovering areas of further research, an examination of the various components of this study identifies recommendations for reform of educational practice, teacher preparation programs, and educational policy.Item The relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy and their use of culturally responsive pedagogy(2016-05) Martinez, Julie Ann; Sorrells, Audrey McCray; Linan-Thompson, Sylvia, 1959-; Falcomata, Terry; Cooc, North; Salinas, Cynthia; Ortiz , Alba ACulturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) has drawn persistent criticism due to the lack of empirical data to support its use. A recent review of the research literature found that some features of CRP positively impact the academic achievement of struggling learners. However, teachers’ practices were not well defined. This study utilized mixed methods to explore how 2nd grade teachers’ sense of self-efficacy for teaching diverse learners in dual language classrooms impacted their utilization of CRP. Teacher participants (n=4) completed the Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy (CRTSE) survey (Siwatu, 2007) and based on their scores, were classified into one of three levels of self-efficacy: high, moderate, or low. Data from two classroom observations per teacher, and individual semi-structured interviews with each, were coded and analyzed. Two key findings were that: (a) the alignment among the CRTSE scores, observed practices and teacher reported beliefs about CRP were not consistently aligned and (b) teachers’ conceptualization of CRP primarily focused on students’ bilingual development. This study contributes to research literature on CR pedagogy by examining how bilingual education teachers’ self-efficacy influences their implementation of CR practices.