<p> Utilizing the frameworks of critical race theory and culturally relevant pedagogy, this research illustrates ways in which hip-hop pedagogy can create a more liberating educational experience for Black and Latina/o students than currently offered in urban schools. The current literature on hip-hop pedagogy mainly focuses on how hip-hop makes standardized subjects more appealing to urban students while vaguely referencing its relevance to youth living in urban communities. Much less research has specified how hip-hop, within the classroom, can address the issues directly affecting Black and Latina/o youth. Consequently, some may wonder if hip-hop is actually being used to transform education, or merely to help students excel based on the standards of dominant culture (Au, 2005). The purpose of this thesis is to understand contemporary issues facing underprivileged Black and Latina/o youth, effective teaching methods that can be implemented in schools using hip-hop pedagogy, and areas of study relevant to hip-hop culture.</p>

Determining teacher job satisfaction has become a critical focus for public school administrators due to the codification of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Recruitment and retention of quality teachers is both beneficial for continual student achievement and cost effective for school districts. The job satisfaction of those teachers often determines the retention rates. The purpose of this study is to determine key factors that impact job satisfaction of teachers in three urban public elementary schools who have remained in their positions five or more years. This qualitative study was conducted by administering an initial survey to determine qualifications for participation, individual interviews and a focus group. The target population of teachers was from three urban public elementary schools. All data collected were synthesized to identify patterns and/or reoccurring themes in the participant’s responses during the interviews and focus group. All transcripts were cross-referenced with field notes taken during interviews and the focus group. Results were placed in a matrix in order to organize the data based on various coding categories. Based on the data analysis of the emergent themes. the researcher identified three dominate themes: positive student-teacher interactions, participative leadership, and teacher training. The first dominate emergent theme of positive student-teacher interaction was a direct correlation to three out of eight variables chosen for this research design. Those three variables are (a) school size, (b) student achievement, and (c) student discipline. The second dominant emergent theme of participative leadership has a direct correlation to three other variables of the eight chosen for this research design. Those three variables are (a) class assignment, (b) collegial support, and (c) principal behavior. The third dominate emergent theme of teacher training has a direct correlation to the remaining two variables of the eight chosen for this research design. Those two variables are certification method and preparatory programs.

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No description available.

This study focuses on teaching and learning in a multicultural school. It investigates the influence of the development of the self during social interaction of culturally diverse learners at Forest Haven Secondary School. Furthermore, the social environment and parental involvement are also analysed in order to reveal their effectiveness in bringing about a favourable social condition for education in a multicultural school. This study further investigates the teaching strategies and teaching resources that are currently used by educators in a culturally diverse classroom. A combination of sociological theories has been used interchangeably since they are interrelated. The main theory is symbolic interactionism, including the views of Mead (1934) and Berger and Luckmann (1967). For data collection questionnaires, non-participant observation and unstructured interviews with the school principal, educators and learners were engaged in. Data was then analysed, qualitatively and quantitatively, to determine the cause of cultural conflict at the school. The findings of this analysis form the basis for the recommendations made. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2000.

The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge and successful strategies utilized by intercollegiate team sport coaches who have worked with a large number of international athletes. Six head coaches were selected to participate in a semi-structured open-ended interview. At the time of data collection, each participant was coaching a Division I NCAA university female soccer team and had coached at least two international athletes per season in the last five years or at least 10 international student athletes throughout their head coaching careers. An interview guide was created exclusively for this study. The analysis of the data was based on the tenets of grounded theory and followed an inductive process of theory development (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Using the CM and the MML as frameworks, a modified model was designed to portray the cultural perspective of the coaching process. Seven categories indicated the coaches' knowledge of cultural diversity on both athlete development and team success. The categories were called International Athlete Development and International Athlete Performance and Satisfaction, which revealed the coaches' perceptions on international athlete and personal development; (3) Environmental Context, which discussed the American dimension of coaching intercollegiate female soccer athletes; (4) Social and Team Structure, which was the implementation of cultural coaching knowledge, and the following categories; (5) Coach Philosophies and Experiences; (6) International Athlete Individual Aspects and (7) Game Preparation and Game Day, which defined coaches cultural understanding as it relates to aspects of training and competition. This study provided a deeper understanding of cultural coaching competence, leading to the recommendation of effective strategies and interventions for coaching culturally diverse teams and athletes.

In North America, research on the issues surrounding first language (L1) literacy, English literacy, and computer literacy has tended to focus on the learning needs of either adult literacy learners whose L1 is English or ESL learners who are literate in their L1. ESL Literacy adults, who have limited or no L1 or English (L2) literacy, have fallen in the gap created by language policy and the resulting language programs and services provided at the federal, state/provincial, and local levels. This study explores what ESL Literacy adults believe their needs are in relation to L1, English, and computer literacy. The context is the existing ESL programs at two schools in the metro area of a large U.S. city in Massachusetts. Participants across the two schools included 19 females and 2 males with limited or no literacy in their first language and in English: five students were enrolled at a school that offered computer literacy as part of its curriculum. In a mixed methods research design, participants were administered a pre-class questionnaire and then a post-class questionnaire to determine if their attitudes and opinions regarding their L1, English (L2), and computer literacy needs had changed after 12 weeks of ESL instruction. The results were triangulated with interview and observation data and revealed that ESL Literacy adults at both schools considered computer literacy to be a basic tool for survival in today's digital society. The intent is that the results may be used as guidelines by ESL educators and program administrators in the modification of existing curricula or in the development of new ESL Literacy curricula that incorporate reading and writing through the use of computers and the internet in an authentic way. / En Amérique du Nord, la recherche touchant la littératie en première langue (L1), la littératie en anglais et la littératie informatique ont tendance à porter principalement sur les besoins des apprenants en littératie adultes dont la L1 est l'anglais ou des apprenants en ALS (anglais langue seconde) dont le niveau de littératie en L1 est adéquat. Les apprenants adultes en littératie en ALS, dont le niveau de littératie en L1 ou en anglais est limité ou inexistant, sont tombés par la brèche créée par les politiques linguistiques et les programmes et services en découlant fournis au niveau national, état/provincial et local. Cette étude explore ce que les apprenants adultes de littératie en ALS perçoivent comme étant leurs besoins en matière de littératie en L1, en anglais et en informatique. Elle s'est déroulée dans le contexte de deux écoles de la région métropolitaine d'une grande ville du Massachusetts offrant des programmes d'ALS. Pour ces deux écoles, 19 femmes et 2 hommes ont participé, dont le degré de littératie pour leur première langue et en anglais était limité ou inexistant : cinq étudiants étaient inscrits à une école qui offrait des cours de littératie informatique dans le cadre de leur curriculum. Dans un modèle de méthodes de recherches mixte, les participants ont reçu un questionnaire avant le début des cours et un questionnaire à la fin des cours afin de déterminer si leurs attitudes et leurs opinions au sujet de la littératie en L1, la littératie en anglais et la littératie informatique avaient changé après 12 semaines d'apprentissage en ALS. Les résultats ont été triangulés avec les données obtenues lors d'interviews et d'observations et ont révélé que les adultes de littératie en ALS aux deux écoles considéraient la littératie informatique comme étant un outil de base pour la survie dans la société numérique d'aujourd'hui. Le but est de permettre aux enseignants et aux administrateurs de programmes d'ALS d'utiliser ces résultats comme lignes directrices pour la modification de curriculums existants ou pour le développement de nouveaux curriculums de littératie en ALS qui intègrent la lecture et l'écriture grâce à l'utilisation authentique d'ordinateurs et de l'Internet.

In this qualitative study, I explore the linguistic and cultural influence of Korean ethnic churches on Korean Canadian students' heritage language and cultural identity maintenance in Montreal. Despite the extensive involvement of Korean immigrants in ethnic churches, very little is known about the linguistic and cultural role of these churches for adult Korean immigrants, let alone for their younger generations who grow up in Canada. Therefore, my research questions focus on how Korean ethnic churches support heritage language and cultural identity maintenance for the younger generations of Korean immigrant families in the Montreal context. I employed an ethnographic and qualitative approach and elicited data from qualitative interviews, participant observation, and group discussions. Data collection took place over a four month period from January through April, 2008. The participants (n=37 in total) were Korean Canadian students who live in Montreal and attend a Korean ethnic church (n=15), their parents (n=10), heritage language and Bible study teachers (n=4), and pastors of the church and of other Korean ethnic churches in the city (n=4). Another group of Korean Canadian students who were not members of a Korean ethnic church was also included (n=4). The results of the study show that Korean ethnic churches in Montreal do indeed play important roles for the maintenance of the HL and cultural identity for the younger generations of Korean immigrant families as major ethnic community institutions. Thus, the Korean ethnic churches are found to have roles far beyond their original religious role. The findings of this study suggest that all the members of the Korean ethnic churches should be more aware of their responsibility for upholding the linguistic and cultural role of the Korean ethnic churches. In addition, all the members of the Korean ethnic churches should make better use of current institutional resources such as the use of heritage language within t / Dans cette étude qualitative, j'explore l'influence linguistique et culturelle des églises ethniques coréennes sur le maintien de la langue d'origine et de l'identité culturelle chez des étudiants canadiens d'origine coréenne à Montréal. Malgré l'implication importante d'immigrants coréens dans les églises ethniques, on en sait très peu au sujet du rôle linguistique et culturel de ces églises pour les immigrants coréens d'âge adulte, sans parler de leur rôle pour la nouvelle generation qui grandit au Canada. Par conséquent, mes questions de recherche se concentrent sur comment les églises ethniques coréennes supportent le maintien de la langue d'origine et de l'identité culturelle pour la nouvelle génération de familles immigrantes coréennes dans le contexte montréalais. A partir d'une approche ethnographique et qualitative, j'ai obtenu des données à partir d'entrevues qualitatives, d'observation participatoire et de discussions de groupe. La collecte de données se fit au cours d'une période de quatre mois entre janvier et avril, 2008. Les participants (n=37 au total) étaient des étudiants canadiens d'origine coréenne qui habitent Montréal et qui fréquentent une église ethnique coréenne (n=15), leurs parents (n=10), des enseignants de la langue d'origine et d'études bibliques (n=4), et des pasteurs de cette église ainsi que d'autres églises ethniques coréennes à Montréal (n=4). Un autre groupe d'étudiants canadiens d'origine coréenne qui ne sont pas membres d'une église ethnique coréenne fut aussi inclus (n=4). Les résultats de l'étude démontrent que les églises ethniques coréennes jouent en effet des rôles importants pour le maintien de la langue d'origine et de l'identité culturelle pour la nouvelle génération de familles immigrantes coréennes en tant qu'institutions communautaires principales. Alors, nous voyons que les églises ethniques coréennes ont des rôles qui surpassent largement leur rôle rel

It is said that Japanese tend to overuse I'm sorry, and a number of studies have confirmed this. Some studies attribute it to Japanese culture; however, does Japanese language have any influence on that? This study, therefore, investigates the uses of the English apologetic phrases, namely, I'm sorry and excuse me by Japanese-L1 learners of English, comparing them with some counterparts in Japanese, sumimasen and gomen (gomennasai). This study also takes the length of residence in English-speaking countries (LOR) into consideration. The data were collected from three different groups: Japanese in Japan whose LOR is less than a year (JJ), Japanese in Montreal whose LOR is over a year (JMtl), and native speakers of English (NSE) in Montreal. Questionnaires and follow-up interviews were administered to answer the research questions.The results showed that JJ group used I'm sorry more often than NSE group. One of the reasons of the overuse of I'm sorry was transfer of Japanese apologetic expressions. However, there were some cases when they said sorry less often than NSE group and JMtl group, and that was probably attributed to their unfamiliarity with the sorry-to-bother-you type of expressions. It was also found that the JJ group sometimes had difficulty using excuse me appropriately, and the reason could be insufficient input of excuse me. Overall, the study showed that Japanese learners' use of these expressions becomes closer to that of the NSE group the longer they stay in an English-speaking country. / Il a souvent été dit que les Japonais utilisent abusivement l'expression « je suis désolé », affirmation qui a d'ailleurs été vérifiée par plusieurs études. Certaines d'entre elles l'attribuent à la culture japonaise, mais la langue japonaise a-t-elle réellement une influence sur l'utilisation du « je suis désolé » en Anglais ? Cette étude explore l'utilisation des phrases d'excuses en Anglais, soit « I'm sorry » et « Excuse me » par des étudiants Japonais-L1 apprenant l'Anglais, en les comparant aux termes japonais « sumimasen » et « gomen (gomennasai) ». Cette étude prend aussi en considération la durée de résidence de l'individu dans des pays anglophones (LOR). Les données ont été recueillies chez trois groupes différents : des Japonais au Japon dont le LOR est inférieur à un an (JJ), des Japonais à Montréal dont le LOR est supérieur à un an (JMtl), et des Montréalais dont la langue natale est l'Anglais (NSE). Des questionnaires et des entrevues de suivi ont été administrées afin de répondre aux questions de recherche.Les résultats indiquent que le groupe JJ utilisait « je suis désolé » plus souvent que le groupe NSE. Une des raisons de cette utilisation excessive serait le transfert des expressions d'excuses japonaises. Néanmoins, certains utilisaient « désolé » moins souvent que les groupes NSE et JMtl, ce qui peut être probablement attribué à l'absence de familiarité avec les expressions du type « désolé de vous déranger ». Il a aussi été noté que le groupe JJ avait parfois des difficultés à utiliser « je m'excuse » aux bons moments, et la raison pourrait être un input insuffisant de l'expression « je m'excuse ». Globalement, cette étude démontre que plus la durée de résidence des étudiants Japonais dans des pays anglophones est longue, plus leur utilisation des expressions d'excuses se rapprochait de celle du groupe NSE.

This paper examines the tensions resulting from multiculturalism's quest to achieve equality through the recognition of cultural difference. The author argues that multiculturalism is inherently limited in its potential to recognize deep difference because it operates through the framework of the conceptual heritage of the Enlightenment's political project. Multiculturalism's dependence on Enlightenment evaluative norms means that difference and diversity can be recognized to the extent that they further the objective of achieving liberty and equality for all. The author examines the theoretical legacy of the Enlightenment as it informs the multicultural project and also analyses the impact of poststructuralist theory on multiculturalist conceptions of identity.