Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Sociology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 252-258).

This dissertation revises the historical narrative of critical pedagogy in college writing classrooms. It argues that the key principles of critical pedagogy, first articulated by Paulo Freire in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, were practiced by a number of pedagogues as early as the eighteenth century. It examines the teaching practices of these men and shows that they anticipated the methods of critical pedagogy. This dissertation spotlights the need to reinterpret the history of critical pedagogy and to select a wider lens through which to understand the current pedagogical scene. Chapter I defines critical pedagogy as method and explains the Freirean project. Chapter II locates parallels between critical pedagogy and the process and expressive pedagogies of the late 1960s and early '70s. Specifically, it argues that the works of Peter Elbow and Donald Murray embody the principles of critical pedagogy. Their emphasis on the epistemological power of language, for example, prefigures the theoretical foundation upon which Freire constructs his critical methodology. Chapter III argues that the pedagogical advancements of I. A. Richards in the early twentieth century anticipated the teaching methods of critical pedagogy, especially insofar as they established student-centered writing classrooms. Richards's attempts to place student interpretations at the center of the course situate his pedagogy more comfortably among contemporary approaches to writing instruction like critical pedagogy than it does among the formalist approaches to which he is generally linked. Chapter IV argues that Isaac Watts and Philip Doddridge, two eighteenth-century educators, employ teaching methods that parallel contemporary critical pedagogy. Foremost, Watts and Doddridge create participatory learning environments that center on practical subjects. They are among the first educators to teach in the English vernacular and to supplement the traditional classical curriculum with new learning. Chapter V examines the historical contexts in which these preludes to critical pedagogy emerge and shows that Murray, Elbow, Richards, Watts, and Doddridge taught at times when educational access was expanding. It argues that their pedagogies developed in an effort to address classroom diversity and to discover strategies for bringing people into dialogue with each other about the world.

Thesis (Ph. D., Education)--University of Idaho, August 2008. / Major professor: Georgia Johnson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-131). Also available online (PDF file) by subscription or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Boise State University, 2003. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-170). Also available online via the ProQuest Digital Dissertations database.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 213 p.; also includes graphics Includes bibliographical references (p. 204-213). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (M.A.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2005. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Kirk Branch. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-88).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 227-265).

How can I, as a teacher-researcher, read my own practice? How can I, as a teacher-researcher, theorise my practice? These are the central questions pursued in this thesis. They are pursued through three action research projects. The research took place in Firhouse Community College, a second-level school in Dublin. Each of the projects was concerned with exploring the potential of conversation in a number of different school contexts. Chapter one relates my research to the literature on action research and to the literature on dialogue in education, and relates my work to the ethical concepts of friendship and care. The chapter also outlines the methodological approach and the data used in the research. Chapter two relates the interpretative reading of my own practitioner accounts to critical theory and the emancipatory ambition of its reflective practices. A project on student friendship groups is discussed in chapters three and four. These chapters highlight friendship as an important social and educational phenomenon and identify conversation as a concomitant communicative form. These chapters theorise the concept of pedagogical conversation and relate this concept to Aristotle's theory of friendship. Chapter five gives an account of a project with a third-year English class, developed around the ideas of dialogue and friendship. In the course of the project, students organised themselves into reading and discussion groups that were largely autonomous and self-regulating. Chapter six reviews the role and place of the teacher in the discourse of the classroom, in a dialogic teaching situation, and explores the potential of dialogue as means of enquiry and reflection. Chapter seven contrasts the peaceable conversation of professional friendship with the disputatious debate that often occurs at formal staff meetings. Chapter eight offers some reflective comments on the research. This thesis lays the foundation for a theory of teaching as a form of social practice, characterised by a disposition of care that is associated with friendship, and expressed through conversation. In doing so, it makes a valuable and original contribution to the literature on teaching and school culture. In its development of a dialogic model of research, the thesis makes a contribution to the literature on action research and practitioner enquiry.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, December 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jan. 22, 2010). "Department of Teaching and Learning." Includes bibliographical references (p. 234-245).

Dialogic pedagogy involves students as critical inquirers, who can analyze their perspectives and attitudes. Dialogic creates liminal space (Buber, 1965) where conversation generates knowledge and personal relations. I intend to explore these ‘dialogic spaces’ where a group of 20 students and their teacher engage in dialogue around literary texts in an advanced English composition and literature major class of female students of one university in United Arab Emirates (UAE). My study takes further, growing interest in the value of dialogical process in second language learning. It describes the ways in which learners engaged in dialogical process begin to challenge perspectives and power relations. Because of the positive response that followed the sessions (conducted for the pilot study), I wanted to explore the process in relation to gender and culture. My dissertation research takes further the questions raised in the assignment study. I want to consider the conditions that will allow perspectives to remain in dialogue. My research explores how dialogic literacy practices function in relation to particular cultural and ideological discourses (Fairclough, 1992; Gee, 1996; Luke, 1991). The data include: class observations, field notes, semi-structured interviews (of students and the teacher) and writing assignments. The study employs an exploratory research design to discover and understand perspectives of the people involved (Merriam, 1998). I therefore emphasize that the analyses of the data are offered as partial and unfinished interpretations based on a specific theoretical framework. Although the research findings cannot be generalized across all female students in the UAE, they provide some insight into the learning experiences and preferences of Emirati women. Knowledge is finding light in darkness and staying warm in the cold. This is the knowledge our students must acquire. Not facts and theories, but a deep knowing (O’Reilley, 1998). Thus it seems appropriate to me to call this study, ‘the lighting of a fire’ (W.B.Yeats).