The purpose of this research was to investigate the hypothesis that in order to provide equal educational access and outcomes for all students, an emphasis on teacher sensitivity and clarity of instruction is required in a multicultural classroom. This study offers an in-depth look at varying levels of narrowly defined dominant cultural capital between two different cultural groups within a grade 12 Economics classroom, during May and June of 1996. And if differences in the quantity of narrowly defined cultural capital do, in fact exist, can 'bridging' these knowledge gaps be achieved through clarity of instruction, so that all groups, after receiving the requisite cultural capital, can construct new knowledge effectively. Since the research was exploratory, a qualitative case study design drawing on ethnographic approaches was employed. Interviews were the primary tool chosen for data collection; the secondary tools were documents and the researcher's field notes. This study has revealed that the levels of narrowly defined cultural capital were different between cultures, and that the 'playing field' in a multicultural classroom may be levelled to a significant extent with minimal explanations of the necessary cultural capital. This research highlights the importance of teachers' ongoing assessment of their students knowledge in areas that are non-traditional, and where the knowledge is assumed by the teacher to already be in place. The study concludes with some suggestions for teacher practice and for future research in the field.

A growing body of both substantive and theoretical literature suggests that educational underachievement among certain ethnic groups is due to the cultural discontinuity between mainstream education and minority students. A pedagogy that both uses and reinforces the culture of ethnic minority students, implemented by ethnically similar teachers, is therefore thought to contribute to a more constructive school experience and strengthen the social and political status of the ethnic community as a whole. For this thesis, a group of Haitian educators working in Montreal area schools was interviewed to investigate the extent to which this approach is viewed as a potential solution to the low academic achievement of numerous Haitian students. Some evidence was found that culturally congruent education is, according to the experiences of some of the respondents, a potentially beneficial strategy to curtail educational inequality. In was generally argued, however, that this should be a limited, remedial strategy with little bearing on the communal survival of the Haitian community.

This thesis has been an investigation of the applicability of the middleman minority theory with reference to foreign students studying in the United States.Results of the study showed that the returning students generally corresponded with the criteria of the sojourners. Non-returning students however, did not fulfill all the conditions which apply to the middleman minority group residing in the host country. It was concluded that middleman minority is not a discrete category, but falls into the end of a continuum, which starts with the sojourners. In utilizing the middleman minority theory, two factors were excluded from the theory. These were that foreign students act as middleman between the elite and the masses in a society, and that they prefer to work in liquidable occupations.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Unitec New Zealand, 2008. / Coda (electronic version) title-page has 2009 date. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-121).

South Tyrol, which is situated on the border between Austria and Italy, has been considered a 'peace model' by many nation-states since the creation of the province's autonomy statutes. The objective of these statutes was to allow for minority protection of the German- and Ladin-speaking communities while also permitting Austria to be the 'protector' of South Tyrol even though the province is situated in Italy. Another bi-product of these statutes was the creation of the 'separate but equal' education system, which allowed the German-, Italian- and Ladin-speaking communities to have individual schools in order to protect their culture and language identity. In the past several decades, there has been an increase in 'mixed' marriages with members of differing language groups producing bilingual children. Additionally, civil service positions now require that all applicants have a mandatory comprehension of the L2, or in some cases L3, in order to apply for certain posts. As the education system tries to adjust to local concerns regarding the insufficient teaching of the L2 in monolingual education, the concept of South Tyrol as a 'peace model' is brought into question. In this thesis, I examine how the South Tyrolean school system is reflective of society at large as its divided education mirrors the current fissures existent amongst the language communities. With parents looking for alternative measures to instruct their children in the L2, some residents would prefer a bilingual schooling option to encourage inter-group assimilation. Furthermore, I discuss, outside of education, external social factors in the region which impact L2 learning creating language learning 'blocks' and 'victim' versus 'conqueror' mentalities. The objective of this research is to try and understand how South Tyrol continues to be in transition as the province adjusts to more bilingualism despite the historical need to preserve the language minorities.

Previous research has demonstrated that students from some visible ethnic minority groups may be discriminated against by teachers and policies of many school systems. This research has reviewed evidence indicating how Black, Mexican-American and Native Indian students are accorded differential treatment by teachers. Some of the research has shown how students from some cultural minority groups are at greater risk of being inappropriately referred or placed in special classes. This form of ethnic discrimination can be harmful to those cultural minority children who are removed from the regular class setting. This problem has not been adequately researched in Canada. Through the use of a researcher designed questionnaire, this thesis has reviewed teacher bias toward visible ethnic minority groups in special education referrals. The questionnaire consisted of nine questions regarding respondent characteristics, a fictitious case history of a grade five male student described as having some academic and behaviour problems, and nine response items regarding educational placement. The questionnaires were identical except for the brief reference to the ethnicity of the child described in the case study. The child was described as either Native Indian, Oriental, East Indian or Caucasian. A Likert-type scale was used for the subjects to rate agreement or disagreement to the nine items. Questionnaires were sent to 591 Vancouver public elementary school teachers within 29 randomly selected elementary schools. Questionnaires were returned from 396 subjects. Some questionnaires were returned blank or incomplete, therefore, data analysis was performed on the responses of 347 subjects (58.54% of all the teachers who received the questionnaires). This sample represented about 20% of the population of Vancouver public elementary school teachers. The results provided evidence of teacher discrimination against the child described as Native Indian. In addition, a positive bias was observed in the teacher responses for the Caucasian child and especially for the Oriental child. The teacher's responses to the questionnaire items revealed that the child described as Native Indian tended to be rated as being more suitable for placement in a special class for behaviourally disordered, would not be as likely to graduate from high school and had parents who would not be as cooperative. Female teachers were more likely to refer the child to a class for behaviourally disordered children and less likely to expect cooperation from the child's parents, than male teachers. Teachers who taught for 21 years or longer were more likely to consider the child in the case study as being a detriment to the education of the other children. Teachers who spoke English as second language were more likely to refer the child to a class for slow learners and expect greater cooperation from the child's parents, than teachers who spoke English as their first language. In addition, Special education teachers, teachers more familiar with special education programs and teachers who had university credits in special education, rated the children in a significantly more optimistic manner than regular teachers. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this research was to investigate the hypothesis that in order to provide equal educational access and outcomes for all students, an emphasis on teacher sensitivity and clarity of instruction is required in a multicultural classroom. This study offers an in-depth look at varying levels of narrowly defined dominant cultural capital between two different cultural groups within a grade 12 Economics classroom, during May and June of 1996. And if differences in the quantity of narrowly defined cultural capital do, in fact exist, can 'bridging' these knowledge gaps be achieved through clarity of instruction, so that all groups, after receiving the requisite cultural capital, can construct new knowledge effectively. Since the research was exploratory, a qualitative case study design drawing on ethnographic approaches was employed. Interviews were the primary tool chosen for data collection; the secondary tools were documents and the researcher's field notes. This study has revealed that the levels of narrowly defined cultural capital were different between cultures, and that the 'playing field' in a multicultural classroom may be levelled to a significant extent with minimal explanations of the necessary cultural capital. This research highlights the importance of teachers' ongoing assessment of their students knowledge in areas that are non-traditional, and where the knowledge is assumed by the teacher to already be in place. The study concludes with some suggestions for teacher practice and for future research in the field. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this qualitative teacher research study is to explore the ways in which the use of performance in the college composition classroom can impact under-represented writers and their engagement in the writing process. Through the lens of performance theory, this study identifies how students present their sociocultural knowledge through writing and explores how this presentation, as a performance of the self, informs pedagogical practice. One of the major problems typically troubling developmental or basic freshman composition classrooms is that too many of the students seem detached from their own writing and indifferently engaged in their own writing process. This study focuses on examining how the students’ presentation of their knowledge and their own lived experiences through writing and performing their writing in collaboration with classmates influences the quality of their engagement with their own writing and their attitudes toward the academic work of a freshman English class. To this end, data were collected in the form of observation field notes of student writing conferences and performances, student responses to reflective questions, and student writing. The study used discourse analysis to examine, compare, and analyze the data collected. My interpretations of data were framed by my own performance experiences and the discourse of performance theory, which allowed me to analyze my students’ conferences and group work as rehearsals and preparation for the final performance of their writing and their writing as a performance of the self.

No description available.

No description available.