Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Trudy A. Salsberry / This dissertation examines an understudied group according the American Council on Education: the tenure-track early career faculty (ECF). The focus is on the culturalization, socialization, academic culture, and emergent themes discerned from ten semi-structured interviews with tenure-track ECF. This qualitative bounded system case study was conducted in the context of a Midwestern Carnegie I Research Land-Grant Institution, an institution with emphasis on teaching, research, and service. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed. From these, codes, categories, patterns, and themes were found. Additional documentation was also considered such as participants’ resumes and the faculty handbook, COE: Orientation to COE A Guide for Faculty 2008-2009. The themes included a reliance on socialization from the parent degree granting institution, and an overall request for balance between professional and personal life. In addition the ECFs need mentoring at their new institution in research, writing and publication, in professional identity, and socialization to tacit knowledge via cognitive apprenticeship. A recommendation is that there be a bi-directional conversation on socialization, rather than a top down approach.

The tools of Pierre Bourdieu are garnered in the present study to examine the mechanisms behind choice strategies employed by secondary NQTs when choosing where to teach. 10 Semi-structured interviews, supported by 50 survey responses, form a qualitative foundation, delivering detailed personal narratives which offer a unique insight in to the career trajectories envisioned by the most recent cohort of trainee teachers. Administrative data on secondary schools, with a geographical focus on the area of Greater Manchester, forms a backdrop of the job market, and highlights a concurrent and historical North/South divide which continues to segregate communities, schools and teachers.          Narratives of a teacher shortage prevail and increasingly, where holding a relevant degree is used as a marker of teacher quality, evidence illuminates a significant socio-economic gradient, intensifying the pertinence of the question; who chooses to teach where, and why? The interviews testify to the importance of social background, motivating teachers to pursue a best fit approach which allows them to recreate their own experiences of education and ‘return home’, a divide characterised by a preference for the academic versus the pastoral. Equally, NQTs’ individual levels of capital manipulate the ‘choice’, manoeuvring actors into positions, sometimes outside their comfort zone.

Novice teachers do not have sufficient opportunities to troubleshoot real-world teaching situations prior to having their own classrooms. Antiquated professional development (PD) models lack the collaboration element that provides authentic application of concepts. This qualitative case study was conducted to fill a gap in research on novice teachers' voluntary participation in an online community of practice. The study explored how the situated learning in this virtual community addressed the cognitive and social needs of early career teachers as they made the theory to practice connections. The community of practice framework and the social learning theories supported socialization as essential in early career teachers' growth. Research questions in the study examined five teachers' beliefs about collaboration- in promoting community engagement, the influence of voluntary participation on the quality of teacher engagement, and teachers' perceptions of the use of Web 2.0 technology to build community. A priori codes were created using the theoretical frame and research questions to guide the analysis of audio, transcriptions, observations, and other coded artifacts to find themes and patterns promoting internal validity. Findings revealed teachers' belief in collaboration impacted their level of engagement virtually. While voluntary participation motivates teacher participation, it does not guarantee high quality engagement without accountability. Since attrition is a continual threat to the teaching workforce, study results validate recommending the use of virtual resources to facilitate CoPs to remedy the mentoring and coaching void for early career teachers. Also, innovative use of Web 2.0 tools should be used to expose new teachers to diverse experiences that bridge theory to practice gaps and encourage teacher leadership, which promotes retention.

Doctor of Philosophy / This arts-informed inquiry is grounded in the lived experiences of five self-proclaimed artists including the researcher, who have turned to careers in teaching at varying stages of their lives. The stories of their transitions and evolving identities as both artists and teachers provide the investigative focus for this study. Although this research is relevant to teachers more generally, it specifically focuses on those who have chosen to teach Visual Arts. Particularly suited to a postmodern, arts-informed inquiry, the diverse forms of knowing that create our everyday experiences are acknowledged. The researcher became the bricoleur who collaged the individual stories of the first year artist-teachers into an integrated work of art. This constructivist approach included the use of visual imagery to transcend linguistic description. Through artworks, photographs, a self-narrative and novelette, the multiple ways these early career Visual Arts teachers came to understand themselves and their journeys are explored. This study has the potential to inform novice teachers of the transitions they may experience as they enter the teaching profession. Possible challenges, including the recognition that idealised beliefs might be traded in for more realistic representations, are discussed along with the notions of teaching as an art and the concept of resilience.

Doctor of Philosophy / This arts-informed inquiry is grounded in the lived experiences of five self-proclaimed artists including the researcher, who have turned to careers in teaching at varying stages of their lives. The stories of their transitions and evolving identities as both artists and teachers provide the investigative focus for this study. Although this research is relevant to teachers more generally, it specifically focuses on those who have chosen to teach Visual Arts. Particularly suited to a postmodern, arts-informed inquiry, the diverse forms of knowing that create our everyday experiences are acknowledged. The researcher became the bricoleur who collaged the individual stories of the first year artist-teachers into an integrated work of art. This constructivist approach included the use of visual imagery to transcend linguistic description. Through artworks, photographs, a self-narrative and novelette, the multiple ways these early career Visual Arts teachers came to understand themselves and their journeys are explored. This study has the potential to inform novice teachers of the transitions they may experience as they enter the teaching profession. Possible challenges, including the recognition that idealised beliefs might be traded in for more realistic representations, are discussed along with the notions of teaching as an art and the concept of resilience.

abstract: ABSTRACT Early career science teachers are often assigned to classrooms with high numbers of English language learners (ELL students). As these teachers learn to become effective practitioners, the circumstances surrounding them merit a thorough examination. This study examines the longitudinal changes in Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and practices of six early career science teachers who taught in urban schools. The teachers participated in the Alternative Support for Induction Science Teachers (ASIST) program during their initial two years of teaching. Our research team followed the participants over a five-year period. This study focuses on data from Years 1, 3, and 5. The data collected included classroom observations and interviews. In addition, classroom artifacts were collected periodically for the purpose of triangulation. The analysis of the data revealed that with the support of the ASIST program, the teachers implemented inquiry lessons and utilized instructional materials that promoted academic language skills and science competencies among their ELL students. Conversely, standardized testing, teaching assignment, and school culture played a role in constraining the implementation of inquiry-based practices. The results of this study call for collaborative efforts among university science educators and school administrators to provide professional development opportunities and support for the implementation of inquiry and language practices among early career science teachers of ELL students. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2011

This research aims to understand the different practices and strategies early career researchers and PhD students from the social sciences have in Social Networking Sites (SNSs) for science communication in one particular country: Brazil. Following this purpose, the central research question is which are the motives and rationale of the researchers for using social networking sites for science communication. Two sub-questions arise from this general research question: How do practices and strategies relate to the academic system of this country? And How do the traditional science communication practices translate into the use of Social Networking Sites (SNS)? This research is empirically oriented building up on case studies in Brazil. This study makes use of the adaptation that Van Dijck (2013) made of the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and the review of affordances of social media platforms (Bucher & Helmond, 2016) to apply it to the study of social media as the theoretical approach. The methodological approach of this research is qualitative, using both interviews and netnography as research methods. The primary motivations for using different Social Networking Sites are all related to connectivity: communication with peers, to the public and research subjects, updating themselves about their research issue, dissemination of research, availability of papers, self-branding and participation in interest groups are the most mentioned. These motivations translate into cross-posting practices and integrated communication strategies -combining online and offline elements- on the different Social Networking Sites. These motivations translate into perceived affordances all related to social affordances, therefore, social capital processes: availability, scalability, visibility and multimediality. The academic system of the country has remained unchanged as it privileges traditional scholarly academic formats; therefore, early career researchers and PhD students from the social sciences only use the different Social Networking Sites (SNS) as a side aid but not as a primary means of communication. Social media is underused as a means of public science communication, even though these platforms offer a lot of advantages for pursuing such issue. Traditional science communication practices translate into the use of Social Networking Sites (SNSs). The most important issue that came out in this report was the fact that social affordances provided by Social Networking (SNSs) are still required to be endorsed by real life meeting to start further collaboration and the fact that English is the preferred language for such issues.

Denna studie undersöker studie- och yrkesvägledares uppfattningar om tidig vägledning. Kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta utbildade och verksamma studie- och yrkesvägledare har genomförts. Det insamlade materialet analyseras utifrån Linda S. Gottfredsons (2002) Theory of Circumscription, Compromise, and Self-Creation. Studiens resultat visar att studie- och yrkesvägledare uppfattar att tidig vägledning kan motverka stereotypa föreställningar i arbetslivet, öka individers valkompetens och självkännedom samt göra att individer tar mer välgrundade beslut. Tidig vägledning kan enligt studie- och yrkesvägledare även bidra till stora samhällsekonomiska vinster. Enligt studie- och yrkesvägledare behöver studie- och yrkesvägledning i vid bemärkelse vara hela skolans ansvar och finnas med som en röd tråd genom hela skolgången. Centrala faktorer för att kunna bedriva tidig vägledning är enligt studie- och yrkesvägledare att vägledning behöver bli högre prioriterad och att det krävs en ökad kunskap hos huvudmän, skolledare och andra professioner kring vad studie- och yrkesvägledning innebär och vad den bidra med. / This study examines career guidance counsellors’ perceptions of early career guidance. Supporting this study are semi-structured interviews conducted with eight qualified and active career guidance counsellors. Collected material is analysed utilising Linda S. Gottfredson’s (2002) Theory of Circumscription, Compromise, and Self-Creation. Results of this study show that career guidance counsellors perceive that early career guidance can prevent stereotypical conceptions of work life, help increase an individual's competence and self-awareness as well as help individuals make more informed decisions. According to career guidance counsellors, early career guidance can also contribute to broader socio-economic benefits. This study recognises that career guidance in a broad sense needs to be the responsibility of an entire school and be included as a common thread throughout schooling. To be able to conduct career guidance at an earlier stage, career guidance counsellors claim that career guidance needs to be given higher priority among school leaders and other professions within the school. Consequently, an increased knowledge of the benefits of career guidance is required among these professions.

Yes / This paper offers a critical reflection on the experience of two former Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) - the authors - who were tasked with creating a digital learning program during the first UK national lockdown in 2020. The program drew from an emerging body of literature that seeks to employ Freirian pedagogies in the digital classroom and was designed to equip both new and established members of faculty with the skills needed for online teaching. While taking on this challenge, however, the experienced GTAs found that their pedagogical instincts and practices were challenged by their positionalities as young Early Career Researchers (ECRs) from underrepresented groups in British Academia. The aim of this paper is thus to scrutinise the potential for online learning to democratise and shift perceived hierarchies within academia, not only for students, but for ECRs navigating the structures of university teaching in the current employment climate.

The script, Millennium Bridge, is an investigation into the passions and fears that are shaping contemporary Australia today. Charting the political climate of the past decade, at the play's centre a man is building a bridge from Australia to Asia. The central dramatic question being asked is &quotIn an environment where the emphasis on economic prosperity overrides that of human rights and freedom of speech--what will be the consequences for the Australian people?" The accompanying analysis of the ten-year period it took to write Millennium Bridge illuminates the significance of institutional issues on a play and playwright's development. Written from the perspective of a mid-career playwright, the paper argues that the professional and personal circumstances within which a work of art is created (and their effect on the playwright's confidence and financial capacities) are a significant determinant of the productivity of playwrights.