Thesis (M.I.T.)--The Evergreen State College, 2007. / Title from title screen viewed (9/22/2008). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-108).

This study, conducted in a third-grade classroom in Puerto Rico, analyzed the development of literature discussions, in which through dialogues with the teacher and each other, students learn how to discuss, analyze, and reflect upon what they are reading in class, and relate what they learn to their own circumstances. A combination of three theoretical perspectives served as guide: Reader Response Theory (RRT), which addresses how the dialogue featured in literature discussions helped develop understandings about how power, ideology and identity are interwoven in society; Postcolonial Theory (PT) and Critical Race Theory (CRT), which addresses the dynamics and relations of power in neo-colonial contexts, such as Puerto Rico. The research questions were as follows:1. How do literature discussion and critical literacy practices influence students' understandings of social issues? a) How do these discussions about social issues influence students' understandings of Puerto Rican society and identity? b) How do these discussions influence students' understandings of how political relations constitute Puerto Rican reality? c) How do students take action based on their developing understandings of society? I relied on ethnographic methods, such as participant-observation, interviews, and videotapes of literature discussions, to document how the students, with the help of their teacher, develop discourse practices that allow them to reflect, analyze and discuss their readings, and then plan and take social action on the issues they have studied. I used Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a central strategy of analysis, identifying three major categories that formed part of a broader Identity Theme: Personal, Gender, and Social. A significant aspect of the study is that literature discussions of books based on social issues provide multiple opportunities to reflect, create dialogue, and build understanding about who we are in our current society, who the others are, and provide spaces to develop as social agents. This production of spaces for reflecting on reality, central to this study, fosters in the students a deep process of constructing meaning, elaborates their skills and strategies in reading for a critical understanding of texts and related social issues, and enhances their taking of action for social change.

The purpose of this study was to explore how fifth graders develop critical consciousness regarding the self and the world through critical literacy approaches using multicultural children’s literature. I employed Lewison, Flint, and Van Sluys’ four dimensions of critical literacy. I used a qualitative case study to design, frame and conduct this study in order to collect data and examine students’ cultural patterns including values, beliefs, behaviors, and language that they enacted in the critical literacy practices. I collected data through classroom observations, semi-structured students and teacher interviews, informal conversation, researcher’s reflective journal entries and field notes, and student-made artifacts. Findings show that the students were more aware of their own sociopolitical positions in the school, home and society, as well as how their lives were shaped by the sociocultural and political forces. The students were able to link their critical understanding of their own lives to larger sociopolitical issues associated with power and privilege, and this understanding encouraged them to engage in action for social justice. They were eager to take action such as writing a petition for a gender fairness agenda to create a positive school climate. This study is important for educators who hope to encourage students to become critical thinkers, as it shows how children critically engage in reading, discussion, and action regarding social justice issues through multicultural children’s literature with critical literacy approaches.

Thesis (M.I.T.)--The Evergreen State College, 2010. / Title from title screen (viewed 7/7/2010). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-149).

No description available.

No description available.

The problem of this study was to determine which of a list of forty-seven art competencies designed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for K-12 art specialists were most essential for early childhood and intermediate elementary classroom teachers. Four-point Likert-type scaled instruments were designed and sent to three types of North Carolina educators: (a) 200 elementary classroom teachers, stratified into two equal subgroups of early childhood and intermediate teachers; (b) 100 K-12 art specialists; and (c) all art teacher educators employed at colleges and universities with state approved programs in art education. These subjects were asked to respond to the relevance of each competency for the elementary classroom teacher.

Numerous studies have been published on the efficacy of a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) at the U.S. secondary and postsecondary school levels to increase student access to technology. However, there is a lack of data on the efficacy of a BYOD AUP to increase elementary student technology access. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to determine if a BYOD AUP at the U.S. K-5 level would increase students' access to technology as necessitated by the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This study was grounded in social transmission and transformative theories. The phenomenon of a northwest suburban elementary school BYOD implementation was examined by documenting the perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, lived experiences, and practices of administrators and teachers. This study used interview and classroom observation of a purposive selection of 3 elementary educators, the principal, and superintendent. Coding of data according to key words lead to analysis according to nodes and themes. Triangulation of multiple data sources and member checking helped to establish the credibility of data. Study findings documented increased access to technology for elementary students, best practices and steps to implementation. Study recommendations for elementary educators and administrators considering BYOD include consensus building, AUP, technology infrastructure, communications, professional development, classroom management, and lesson design to inform the field on elementary BYOD. Study findings facilitate social change by providing BYOD implementation recommendations, increasing elementary student access to technology at a reduced cost to districts and schools.