This quantitative study explores string teachers’ perceptions of citizenship education and its use in the private lesson. Guided by Westheimer and Kahne’s (2004) model of citizenship education the study sought to identify (a) how private string teachers perceive citizenship education, and (b) the factors that influence these perceptions. Four hundred and fifteen (415) members of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) participated in this study by completing an on-line survey that contained both closed and open-ended questions. The resulting data was coded and organized according to the survey questions and the conceptual framework. Research findings revealed that, although teachers did not explicitly consider citizenship education a part of their lessons, their intentions and their report on pedagogical practices could be described as citizenship education when viewed through the conceptual framework used in the study. Indeed, nearly all of the participant responses revealed intentions to include attributes of what Westheimer and Kahne refer to as the Personally Responsible Citizen in their music lessons with students. Educating for traits of other types of citizenship was also reported. Factors deemed influential in string teachers’ perceptions of citizenship education included the following: If the teachers had earned certification in Suzuki pedagogy; the number of years of teaching experience; if teachers self-identified as primarily educators, performers, or both; the age of the students who are taught. Additionally, the study addresses teachers’ statements about the use of competitions, dialogue in lessons, and general attitudes about the appropriateness of citizenship education in several different learning environments. The study findings add to a small but growing body of research that furthers understandings of the links between citizenship education and music education. In addition, the findings contribute to our understanding of the complexity of the relationship between private teachers and their students.

This quantitative study explores string teachers’ perceptions of citizenship education and its use in the private lesson. Guided by Westheimer and Kahne’s (2004) model of citizenship education the study sought to identify (a) how private string teachers perceive citizenship education, and (b) the factors that influence these perceptions. Four hundred and fifteen (415) members of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) participated in this study by completing an on-line survey that contained both closed and open-ended questions. The resulting data was coded and organized according to the survey questions and the conceptual framework. Research findings revealed that, although teachers did not explicitly consider citizenship education a part of their lessons, their intentions and their report on pedagogical practices could be described as citizenship education when viewed through the conceptual framework used in the study. Indeed, nearly all of the participant responses revealed intentions to include attributes of what Westheimer and Kahne refer to as the Personally Responsible Citizen in their music lessons with students. Educating for traits of other types of citizenship was also reported. Factors deemed influential in string teachers’ perceptions of citizenship education included the following: If the teachers had earned certification in Suzuki pedagogy; the number of years of teaching experience; if teachers self-identified as primarily educators, performers, or both; the age of the students who are taught. Additionally, the study addresses teachers’ statements about the use of competitions, dialogue in lessons, and general attitudes about the appropriateness of citizenship education in several different learning environments. The study findings add to a small but growing body of research that furthers understandings of the links between citizenship education and music education. In addition, the findings contribute to our understanding of the complexity of the relationship between private teachers and their students.

No description available.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Impressions and perceptions about Islām, particularly in a world where much of what is known about Islām has emerged from after the tragic devastation of the Twin Towers in New York, are creating huge challenges for Muslims wherever they may find themselves. Women as the more visible believers in Islām are, what I believe, at the forefront of the growing skepticism surrounding Islām. And central to the modern day debates and suspicious regard meted out to Muslim women today is her hijāb (head-scarf). Ironically, it would appear that the same amount of detail and attention that Islamic scholars have devoted to the role of women in Islām and how they are expected to conduct themselves is now at the centre of the modern day debates and suspicious regard. Yet, the debates seldom move beyond what is obviously visible, and so little is known about what has given shape to Muslim women’s being, and how their understanding of Islām has led them to practise their religion in a particular way. This dissertation is premised on the assertion that in order to understand the role of Muslim women in a cosmopolitan society, you need to understand Islām and Islamic education. It sets out to examine and explore as to whether there is commensurability or not between Muslim women and the notion of cosmopolitanism, and what then the implications would be for democratic citizenship education and Islamic education. One of the main findings of the dissertation is that the intent to understand Muslim women’s education and the rationales of their educational contexts and practices opens itself to a plurality of interpretations that reflects the pluralism of understanding constitutive of the practices of Islam both within and outside of cosmopolitanism. Another is that inasmusch as Muslim women have been influenced by living and interacting in a cosmopolitan society, cosmopolitanism has been shaped and shifted by Muslim women. By examining the concepts of knowledge and education in Islām, and exploring the gaps between interpretations of Islam and Qur’anic exegesis, I hope to demystify many of the (mis)perceptions associated with Muslim women, and ultimately with Islām. And finally, by examining how Islamic education can inform a renewed cosmopolitanism, and by looking at how democratic citizenship education can shape a renewed Islamic education, the eventual purpose of this dissertation is to find a way towards peaceful co-existence.

Ethnocultural minority immigrant students carry diverse histories, perspectives, and experiences, which can serve as resources for critical reflection and discussion about social conflicts. Inclusion of diverse students’ identities in the curriculum requires acknowledgement and open discussion of diversity and conflictual issues. In democratic peacebuilding education, diverse students are encouraged to express divergent points of view in open, inclusive dialogue. This ethnographic study with a critical perspective examined how three teachers in urban public elementary school classrooms with ethnocultural minority first- and second-generation immigrant students (aged 9 to 13) implemented different kinds of curriculum content and pedagogy, and how those pedagogies facilitated or impeded inclusive democratic experiences for various students. In these classrooms, peers and teachers shared similar and different cultural backgrounds and migration histories. Data included 110 classroom observations of three teachers and 75 ethnocultural minority students, six interviews with three teachers, 29 group interviews with 53 students, document analysis of ungraded student work and teachers’ planning materials, and a personal journal. Results showed how diverse students experienced and responded to implemented curriculum: when content was explicitly linked to students’ identities and experiences, opportunities for democratic peacebuilding inclusion increased. Dialogic pedagogical processes that encouraged cooperation among students strengthened the class community and invited constructive conflict education. The implicit and explicit curriculum implemented in these three diverse classrooms also shaped how students interpreted democracy in the context of multiculturalism in Canada. Teaching students as though they were all the same, and teaching curriculum content as if it were neutral and uncontestable, did not create equitable social relations. Explicit attention to conflict provided opportunities to uncover the hidden curriculum and to acknowledge structures of power and domination, creating space for development of critical consciousness. Thus culturally relevant curricula and democratic learning opportunities encouraged social and academic engagement and resulted in the inclusion of a wider range of diverse students’ voices.

Current health literacy research is reconceptualizing health literacy and social learning. Theorists are situating health literacy in the contexts of digital media and critical sociocultural theories (e.g., Wharf Higgins & Begoray, 2012), based on the proposition that literacy is a complex and layered human involvement in socio-political contexts (e.g., Gee, 2000; Lankshear & Knobel, 2011; Levin-Zamir, Lemish, & Gofin, 2011; Nahachewsky & Ward, 2007). Research with adolescents in various contexts around the world has indicated that an empowerment approach to literacy education is effective for health literacy interventions (King, 2007). This study responds to the need to design and facilitate high school curriculum to empower adolescents to develop health literacy, and the study responds to the research participants’ choice of mental health as the topic of an interdisciplinary curriculum. Situated in the traditions of qualitative case study research methods, and positioned to engage the online social media contexts in which adolescents participate, this study explored how Critical Media Health Literacy (Wharf Higgins & Begoray, 2012) is expressed by a particular group of Burmese adolescents. The data reveal how the theoretical concept of Critical Media Health Literacy, when operationalized as a unit of analysis for the case study and a theoretical framework for the data collection methods of the case study, can be facilitated in a way that engages the research participants in specific skills’ practice and in cognitive, emotional reflection on their own health and literacies capacities. Data collection methods involved face-to- face interviews, online social media blogs, web page designs, and face-to-face group discussions. The analysis found optimism, anxiety, and taking action were major themes shaping the conditions for the adolescents’ development of health literacy, showing health literacy to be integral with media literacy and critical capacities, and indicating the concept of Critical Media Health Literacy has relevance for curriculum that engages adolescents who are situated in Burma/Myanmar to take action to improve the health of themselves and others in their social contexts. The findings indicate that this population and the applicability of Critical Media Health Literacy for high school curriculum in this setting requires further exploration to understand why social determinants of health are perceived as inevitable, how social pressures related to health are negotiated, and how digital structures influence the criticality of literacies of adolescents in Burma/Myanmar. Theoretical frameworks for further research are proposed for an exploration of the systems of relations in socio- political and economic contexts that influence the development and enactment of Critical Media Health Literacy and health promoting performances of adolescents in Burma/Myanmar. / Graduate / 0998 / 0573 / 0708 / beercm@gmail.com

Current health literacy research is reconceptualizing health literacy and social learning. Theorists are situating health literacy in the contexts of digital media and critical sociocultural theories (e.g., Wharf Higgins & Begoray, 2012), based on the proposition that literacy is a complex and layered human involvement in socio-political contexts (e.g., Gee, 2000; Lankshear & Knobel, 2011; Levin-Zamir, Lemish, & Gofin, 2011; Nahachewsky & Ward, 2007). Research with adolescents in various contexts around the world has indicated that an empowerment approach to literacy education is effective for health literacy interventions (King, 2007). This study responds to the need to design and facilitate high school curriculum to empower adolescents to develop health literacy, and the study responds to the research participants’ choice of mental health as the topic of an interdisciplinary curriculum. Situated in the traditions of qualitative case study research methods, and positioned to engage the online social media contexts in which adolescents participate, this study explored how Critical Media Health Literacy (Wharf Higgins & Begoray, 2012) is expressed by a particular group of Burmese adolescents. The data reveal how the theoretical concept of Critical Media Health Literacy, when operationalized as a unit of analysis for the case study and a theoretical framework for the data collection methods of the case study, can be facilitated in a way that engages the research participants in specific skills’ practice and in cognitive, emotional reflection on their own health and literacies capacities. Data collection methods involved face-to- face interviews, online social media blogs, web page designs, and face-to-face group discussions. The analysis found optimism, anxiety, and taking action were major themes shaping the conditions for the adolescents’ development of health literacy, showing health literacy to be integral with media literacy and critical capacities, and indicating the concept of Critical Media Health Literacy has relevance for curriculum that engages adolescents who are situated in Burma/Myanmar to take action to improve the health of themselves and others in their social contexts. The findings indicate that this population and the applicability of Critical Media Health Literacy for high school curriculum in this setting requires further exploration to understand why social determinants of health are perceived as inevitable, how social pressures related to health are negotiated, and how digital structures influence the criticality of literacies of adolescents in Burma/Myanmar. Theoretical frameworks for further research are proposed for an exploration of the systems of relations in socio- political and economic contexts that influence the development and enactment of Critical Media Health Literacy and health promoting performances of adolescents in Burma/Myanmar. / Graduate / 0998 / 0573 / 0708 / beercm@gmail.com

Ethnocultural minority immigrant students carry diverse histories, perspectives, and experiences, which can serve as resources for critical reflection and discussion about social conflicts. Inclusion of diverse students’ identities in the curriculum requires acknowledgement and open discussion of diversity and conflictual issues. In democratic peacebuilding education, diverse students are encouraged to express divergent points of view in open, inclusive dialogue. This ethnographic study with a critical perspective examined how three teachers in urban public elementary school classrooms with ethnocultural minority first- and second-generation immigrant students (aged 9 to 13) implemented different kinds of curriculum content and pedagogy, and how those pedagogies facilitated or impeded inclusive democratic experiences for various students. In these classrooms, peers and teachers shared similar and different cultural backgrounds and migration histories. Data included 110 classroom observations of three teachers and 75 ethnocultural minority students, six interviews with three teachers, 29 group interviews with 53 students, document analysis of ungraded student work and teachers’ planning materials, and a personal journal. Results showed how diverse students experienced and responded to implemented curriculum: when content was explicitly linked to students’ identities and experiences, opportunities for democratic peacebuilding inclusion increased. Dialogic pedagogical processes that encouraged cooperation among students strengthened the class community and invited constructive conflict education. The implicit and explicit curriculum implemented in these three diverse classrooms also shaped how students interpreted democracy in the context of multiculturalism in Canada. Teaching students as though they were all the same, and teaching curriculum content as if it were neutral and uncontestable, did not create equitable social relations. Explicit attention to conflict provided opportunities to uncover the hidden curriculum and to acknowledge structures of power and domination, creating space for development of critical consciousness. Thus culturally relevant curricula and democratic learning opportunities encouraged social and academic engagement and resulted in the inclusion of a wider range of diverse students’ voices.

The Westsaharian women are a civic group that during their soon to be thirty years as refugees in the Westsaharian camps in south western Algeria have become empowered as citizens and advanced strongly in political representation. In theory, empowerment of women’s democratic citizenship has been described as a complex phenomenon. To gain an understanding about this in this study, I have described the women’s perceived access to resources and attitudes, and in what way these factors play a role for their active citizenship. This has been done by the use of Axel Hadenius’ theory about the democratic citizenship and Jo Rowlands’ theory about which resources that are to be considered as essential for women’s empowerment. To be able to perform the study, a case study was performed in the Westsaharian refugee camps during April-May 2004, followed up by a second during October-November 2004. The study shows that there are resources and attitudes within both human and social capital that the women perceive to play a significant role for their active citizenship. These factors make the women take part in societal activities, strive to reach higher political positions, and work for a common civic development as women and as Westsaharian citizens. The result of the study further shows that there are contextual inhibiting and encouraging factors that the women perceive to affect their resources and attitudes that play a significant role for their active citizenship.

No description available.