Inquiry is a fundamental human undertaking. The present study investigated interests-based curriculum and pedagogy in early childhood education, through the creation of a community of inquiry between children, teachers and a researcher. In two case study settings, it explored ways teachers and children co-construct interests based curriculum and ways teachers might strengthen coherence between research, theory, practice and professional learning to support such curriculum construction. During year-long fieldwork, the researcher drew on participant observation techniques, interviews, documentation and co-constructed inquiry discussions as sources of data. Data analysis occurred on two levels: descriptive and theoretical. Sociocultural theory provides a foundation for the approaches to learning and teaching, inquiry, the research design and lenses of interpretation. The study uses two frameworks to explain its findings, challenging and extending current understandings of funds of knowledge and communities of inquiry. In addition, it illuminates the concept of working theories. Discussion of the notion of evidence-informed inquiry explains some types of evidence teachers bring to the complexities of curriculum decision making as their funds of knowledge and working theories, thereby arguing against narrow interpretations of evidence-based practice. This thesis argues that interpretation of children's interests, from a sociocultural perspective, requires a more analytical understanding of children's family and community experiences and their impact on children's inquiry, and of teacher interests and responsibilities in relation to culturally-valued knowledge. Further, the thesis contends that children's and teachers' co-constructed inquiry is dependent on reciprocal and responsive pedagogical relationships that provide meaningful responses during engagement in learning-and-teaching. Links between everyday knowledge and conceptual knowledge in children's learning may be brought together. In this way, participatory learning enables children and teachers to co-create a foundation for conceptual learning. Two inquiry continua and one model are offered to incorporate the key theoretical ideas and arguments of the thesis. It is argued that the model represents components of an interests-based sociocultural curriculum and pedagogy. A funds of knowledge approach has the potential to transform early childhood learning-and-teaching environments, and implement partnerships with families, communities (including the research community) and cultures authentically. Implications for teaching practice, teachers' professional learning, research and policy are discussed to recognise and strengthen both an inquiry focus in pedagogical relationships, and an awareness of funds of knowledge in early childhood education contexts.

Literacy expectations on elementary classrooms are intensifying with each outcry for accountability by the public and by educational policy makers (Hoffman & Pearson, 2001). Many states, including Georgia, have developed new performance-based curricula in response to expectations for academic performance (Georgia Performance Standards, 2005). However, few researchers have focused on how teachers interpret these performance standards in their local classroom settings. This collective case study research, established within a social constructivist theoretical frame (Vygotsky, 1978), provided an in-depth examination of how the mandated language arts policy of the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) influenced teachers’ thoughts and decisions about daily literacy instruction. Specific guiding questions for the study were: (1) What literacy expectations do three second-grade teachers have for their students’ literacy development? (2) Where do these expectations originate? (3) How do these three teachers craft and implement instruction in light of their expectations? (4) How do the state mandates constrain or provide opportunities for these three teachers to develop their expectations and implement instruction for their students’ literacy development? Multiple data sources included interviews, classroom observations and field notes, verbal protocols, classroom artifacts and documents, and the researcher’s journal. Data analysis utilized constant comparison and grounded theory analysis within and across cases (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Trustworthiness and rigor were established through credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability (Guba & Lincoln, 1985). This study was designed to give voice to the teachers at the forefront of increasing accountability measures in Georgia’s public elementary school classrooms. Findings revealed that study participants used different funds of knowledge in complex ways to establish literacy expectations and implement instruction and that a fund of knowledge related to mandated accountability measures was influential in the participants’ instructional decision-making processes. When the delivery model of training for the GPS included opportunities to discuss student learning outcomes and reflect on instructional practices, the GPS directly influenced writing instruction. Implications for action from this study are grounded in the study’s key findings and conclusions and hold relevance for the fields of preservice teacher education, professional learning for teachers, school and county administration, and state and federal educational policy making.

abstract: Established in 1983 by the College Board, the National Hispanic Recognition Program annually recognizes approximately 3,300 Hispanic students who scored the highest on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). These top-performing high school students are recruited by U.S. universities as National Hispanic Scholars with the offer of scholarships. Few studies have been conducted in the past 20 years about National Hispanic Scholars; and none have investigated the role of the scholars' parents in their children's academic success. The purpose of this study was to address the gap in the literature by providing a comprehensive view of the scholar-parent relationship across low-income and high-income categories. The focus was on exploring differences and similarities, according to income, between the scholar-parent relationships and the scholars' negotiation of scholarship achievement and their first-year university experience. The research question was "What are the experiences of low-income and high-income National Hispanic Scholars and the experiences of their parents from the students' childhood academic achievement through their early collegiate maturation?" Topical life history was the research methodology utilized to explore the students' academic progression. Eighteen interviews were conducted, including nine student-parent pairs. The students were asked to include the parent they felt was most influential in their decision to go to college; all students chose their mother. Interviews were conducted utilizing an interview protocol; however, participants were given opportunities to fully explain their responses. Drawing from the recorded and transcribed interviews, the researcher developed narratives for each scholar and analyzed data according to existing literature. Five thematic data categories--academic progression, racial identity, scholarship award, early collegiate maturation process, and matriarchal/ child relationship progression--were further analyzed between and across income groups. The study's major finding was that parents intentionally placed the scholars in schools or facilitated strategic circumstances that would ensure their children's academic success. Parental navigation of their children's academic activities--termed "positioning"--was present in the scholars' lives from their earliest years, and findings indicate the activity contributed to the students' becoming recipients of the National Hispanic Scholars award. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Higher and Postsecondary Education 2010

abstract: Over 150 years since the abolition of slavery, African Americans still lack equal access to education and other quality of life markers. However, a slow increase in African American students pursuing and obtaining higher education demonstrates the progress of African American academic success. Although still not at an equitable level, this progress, and the voices of success are often muted by the majoritarian narrative of African American student failure. This research focuses on African American student success and examines the specific socio-cultural characteristics and processes that shape the ways in which African American students develop their own counter-narratives to persist and gain access to higher education. This study utilizes narrative inquiry in the form of interviews, artifacts collection and student-drawn identity maps to understand the factors that influence the development of counter-narratives. The primary research questions included: What narratives did African American students tell themselves to help them persist in school, attain a high school diploma and pursue higher education? How did they develop their narratives? How did their narratives influence their educational experiences? Five African American students who attended an elite public university in the southwest United States participated in four to five interviews ranging from six to ten hours in total. Through the analysis of their stories, the importance of culture and context were clear. Specifically their social support systems including their parents, siblings, teachers and mentors, significantly influenced their identity development and human agency. The findings also point to a critical path forward: if society commits to supporting African American student success, then shine a light on stories of persistence and potential rather than shortcomings and failures. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2016

abstract: Preschool children with language delays often struggle to learn new concepts. Proven strategies such as modeling, prompting, reinforcing responses, direct teaching, and hands-on experience matter to young children with language delays. Also important are social interactions and shared experiences with more knowledgeable persons. Within a cultural context Funds of Knowledge, that is the talents, traditions, and abilities families possess and pass down to their children may be a context for these. However, despite their importance the value Funds of Knowledge have has not been explored with parents of children with special needs. This action research study used a mixed-methods design to understand if Funds of Knowledge could be used as context to improve communication between parents and their children and build trust between parents and a teacher. Seven families participated in the study. Quantitative data were gathered with surveys and were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Qualitative data consisted of transcripts from home-visit interviews, parent presentations, and a focus group, and were analyzed with a grounded theory approach. Results indicate parents entered the study with trust in the teacher especially in terms of having competence in her abilities. Data also show that parents used the language strategies provided to improve communication with their children. Data also indicate that the use of a Funds of Knowledge activity allowed parents to share their knowledge and interests with their children and children in the classroom, feel empowered, and express emotions. From these findings, implication for practice and further research are provided. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2014

abstract: Over the past twenty years, the state of Arizona has increasingly become a key location for the debate surrounding immigration and border policy in the United States. Its geographical position within the Southwest North American Region (SWNAR) of the United States and shared physical border with México has forged an extensive history of complicated interconnectedness for the Latino community residing in this borderland (Vélez-Ibáñez, 2017). This dissertation examines Arizona’s anti-immigration legislation, focusing on the years between 2000 and 2018, and how, or if, this legislation affected the political participation of Latinos in the state. This research argues that Latinos, both citizen and undocumented, have galvanized across citizenship lines in response to the anti-immigration legislation aimed at criminalizing Latinos, marginalizing their families, and hindering their access to education, public services, and employment opportunities (Philbin & Ayón, 2016). Using theoretical foundations of political mobilization, this work explores the use of anti-immigration legislation as a mobilizing factor for Latino political participation. Further, the findings suggest that the traditional definition of political participation is not sufficient for the wide-ranging activities of the Latino community. This work, therefore, re-contextualizes the term political participation and establishes Latino political participation by incorporating the concept of “funds of knowledge” to account for Latino political practices that have previously been ignored by the traditional definition. For this study, a series of observations of trends in Latino voting and registration and a descriptive historical analysis of Latino political practices led to the creation of questions for the qualitative interview process. Interviews were conducted with fifteen key Latino informants, and their testimonios provide an explanation for the noted trends in Latino political participation during the election years, highlight the political mobilization that incorporated both the undocumented Latinos and Latino citizens, and provide clarification for a recontextualization of Latino political participation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Transborder Studies 2020

No description available.

For low-income minority and marginalized communities, American democracy’s educational mission remains unfulfilled. Student voices have provided insight into ways that schools disserve and serve students and how schools can improve in promoting academic achievement; however, academically successful low-income students’ voices—particularly those at the elementary school level—are largely excluded from the literature. Providing a platform for student voices, this qualitative, intrinsic critical case study explored six high achieving low-income students’ views of their academic success and how that success was achieved. Participants were six fifthgrade students, their parents, and teacher, in a school-wide Title I urban public school. Data were collected over a 12-week period through individual interviews, observation, participation, and semiformal conversations. Using an immersive pattern analysis, four main categories emerged from the student interview data: student beliefs about their role; classroom structures; teacher practices; and family support. The study found four principal success factors: a dynamic effort-driven view of success and intelligence; a rigorous dialogic classroom that prioritized student voice, critical thinking, collaboration, and social imagination; an accountable classroom culture of high expectations and mastery learning; and the richly diverse experiences and teachings of parents and families as valuable funds of knowledge. Implications and recommendations are included for policy, practice, and future research.

No description available.

No description available.