<p> After the Syrian Civil War began, refugee exodus gained unprecedented momentum. Turkey, as one of the major destinations of Syrian refugees, experienced problems regarding the accommodation of a high number of refugees (Dorman, 2014; UNICEF, 2014; USAID, 2015). The scholars widely debated the problems regarding educating refugee (Akkaya, 2013; Arabaci et al. 2013), but the available studies do not focus on experiences of refugee students in the schools.</p><p> This dissertation study, therefore, examines the schooling experiences of Syrian child refugees in a Turkish public school with a developing conceptual framework named as Middle East Refugee Protection Model (MRPM). The MRPM originates as a result of the different expectations and motives among the host countries located in Europe and the Middle East.</p><p> This study uses Critical Qualitative Research. The data is collected through interviews and classroom observations. I employed the reconstructive data analysis strategies and used NVivo qualitative data analysis software to analyze the data.</p><p> The results show that the Syrian refugee students&rsquo; experiences in the school in Turkey are not dependent on the liability of the legal instruments but social norms and values. The school staff and classroom teachers use a child-centric approach to educate and integrate refugee students through accentuating values such as transparency and honesty, determination and commitment, and approving authority. Syrian refugee students in the public school face challenges due to their language skills, the host communities&rsquo; social expectations, and the lack of sustainable refugee education policy. As they continue facing challenges, refugee students begin constructing survival skills and these survival skills help them become an independent being and develop a sense of agency.</p><p> Based on the interpretation of the results, I have created two models to explain the refugee education strategies in the school, and how refugee students make sense of the school staff's approach in educating them. The first model is the refugee education and protection model. It explains the concepts and principles that school staff uses to regulate their refugee education system. The second model is agency and independence development, which explains the stages that refugee students go through to be an agent and an independent student. This dissertation suggests theoretical, political and practical implications of the use of models and effective strategies for educating refugees.</p><p>

<p> Despite the growing population of Muslim students in U.S. public schools, few empirically grounded studies appear in the literature that have reported the opinions and viewpoints about U.S. public schools from the perspective of Muslim parents. This study deeply investigates the perceptions Muslim parents hold about U.S. public schools and focuses on how Muslim identity and other factors shape those views. <i>Q</i> Methodology, a mixed methods technique for the systematic study of subjectivity, is applied to reveal and analyze a varied set of distinct models of shared viewpoints held by Muslim parents about public schools in the U.S. Data were analyzed from 54 Muslim parents in the metropolitan New York City region. This study identified and examined 8 models of shared viewpoints held by Muslim parents. Further analysis demonstrated the relative prevalence of each of the revealed shared viewpoints about U.S. public schools and ways in which the identified models reflect disagreements, consensus, and absence of salience in views about U.S. public schools. Muslim parents&rsquo; Muslim identity, their experience attending schools in the U.S., their children&rsquo;s experience attending schools in the U.S., their experience as school teachers or administrators, their gender, and their highest level of education were examined to predict the likelihood a parent would share views with a particular <i>Q</i> model. Understanding the shared viewpoints of Muslim parents can be useful for educational policymakers, leaders, and teachers, who must ensure an effective and comfortable learning environment for all of their students.</p>

<p> This study employed a model of basic qualitative research which explored teachers&rsquo; pedagogical responses to the unique cultural gaps they experienced in schools where most students were of minority cultural identity. Eight teachers who self-identified as majority culture identity formed the sample group for this study. Semistructured interviews were used to collect their insights regarding their pedagogical decision making they used with the students in the school where they were teaching. Additionally, teachers shared what they described were culturally responsive curriculum samples and then provided a reflection on how they implemented this curriculum. The data showed that these teachers understood the value of providing a culturally responsive pedagogy in their classrooms. Despite this, for numerous reasons, teachers struggled to develop and then apply culturally responsive pedagogy that aligned with models described in literature.</p><p>

<p> Despite the growth in the US population of persons of color and the need for allied health professionals to improve healthcare disparity, people of color make up only 20% of the total enrollment in professional occupational therapy education programs (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2016a). Inequalities in the participation of people of color can lead to diminished educational experiences for all students, isolation for occupational therapy students and professionals of color, and decreased healthcare quality for minority clients. This five phase, qualitative interpretive/constructivist study explored the academic experiences of occupational therapists of color, guided by the following research questions: </p><p> 1. How do occupational therapy practitioners of color ascribe meaning to their educational experiences in their OT program? </p><p> 2. How do occupational therapy practitioners of color describe their perceived facilitators and barriers to educational success? </p><p> 3. In what ways do occupational therapy students/practitioners of color navigate their culture of origin and the majority White culture in order to succeed in occupational therapy educational programs and in professional practice? </p><p> AOTA (2016b) professionals (<i>N</i>=14) were solicited by email through their Multicultural, Diversity and Inclusion Network and participated in Phases I, II, and III. Participants completed demographic and interest questionnaires in Phase I; a reflective questionnaire regarding educational facilitators and barriers in Phase II; and depth interviews in Phase III. Using Colaizzi&rsquo;s data analysis strategy (Colaizzi,1978), the results of the Phase III interviews were used to complete the Phase IV elite informant interviews with OT leaders (<i>N</i>=4). Phase V consisted of a document analysis of historical and current policy documents. </p><p> Six themes emerged from this study: 1) Decision to Enroll in an OT program, 2) Educational Program Culture, 3) Faculty Relationships, 4) Peer Relationships, 5) Student Resilience, and 6) Working Professionals.These results reveal participant persistence towards professional OT goals; however, academic and leadership success did not shield participants from marginalization or racism. These results may inform OT professionals regarding enrollment strategies for students of color and the imperative for student-centered program standards and zero- tolerance policies regarding discrimination within OT educational programs. </p><p>

Black and Hispanic students continue to be excluded from the learning environmentmore than three times the rate of their White classmates. The effects of this include low student achievement, reduced chances of graduating from high school, and an increased chance of entering the school-to-prison pipeline. Restorative justice was introduced to schools and school systems as an alternative to suspension and other exclusionary practices. The purpose of this study was to examine how school personnel implement and sustain restorative justice practices to reduce the number of Black and Hispanic students disproportionately affected by zero tolerance policies or exclusionary practices. The overarching research question of this study was the following: How do school personnel describe and understand the implementation of restorative justice practices? To address my research question, I conducted a single case study of a school in a large Atlantic coast school system. Data collection methods included: semi-structured interviews of school personnel and leadership, observations, and document review. Four major findings emerged from this study: (1) Cultural understanding, understanding implicit bias, and student-school personnel relationships create the conditions to reduce schoolwide disciplinary infractions and improve climate and culture; (2) School leadership intentional about supporting the mindset shift of staff from punitive to restorative contributes to the development of a positive learning community and supports the implementation of restorative justice and its associated practices; (3) Sustainability of restorative justice depends on the following levers: consistency of restorative justice practices, staff support, and onboarding of new staff members; (4) Professional development, specifically professional development at the school and district level, served as the vehicle to build the capacity of staff as it relates to restorative justice theory, mindset and cultural proficiency (cultural understandings).

Based on intercultural education, socio-cultural analysis, and decolonization and critical pedagogy perspectives, this dissertation explores contradictions in Peruvian intercultural education policy and examines the potential role that African and Afro-Peruvian thought may have in the reform of this policy. Despite redefinitions of the Peruvian state as multicultural/multilingual and the adoption of intercultural concepts in Peruvian education law, the official interpretation of intercultural principles has tended to undermine the social transforming potential implicit in intercultural education. First, official Peruvian education policy overlooks the historical and cultural contributions of non-European and non-Incan social groups. Second, it fails to address inequality and inequity between socio-cultural groups in the access to economic-political resources. Third, it restricts intercultural education programs to Indigenous speaking communities. This study notes how Peruvian intercultural education policy is shaped by state discourses on national identity and by the structure of official Peruvian identity, the Castilian-Inca mestizo entity, and thus ignores Peru's African, Asian, and Middle Eastern roots. By arguing for the inclusion of Afro-Peruvian traditions, this research offers a model for opening intercultural education policy to other excluded socio-cultural groups. Archival and contemporary evidence is used to show how the substantial African presence in Peru has been erased from official history, with negative socio-political consequences for Afro-Peruvians. It presents the philosophical, political, pedagogical, and sociological contributions of the Senegalese Leopold Sedar Senghor (1906–2001), and the Afro-Peruvians Nicomedes Santa Cruz Gamarra (1925–1992) and Jose Carlos Luciano Huapaya (1956–2002) as bases for rethinking Peruvian cultural diversity and intercultural policies from decolonized, democratic, and global perspectives. Further, it presents objections and counter-proposals to intercultural education policies of the Peruvian state that were gathered in a small pilot study of the personnel of the Afro-PeruvianYapatera High School and the nonprofit organizations CEDET and Lundu. Finally, it articulates these counter-proposals with Senghor, Santa Cruz, and Luciano's theoretical inputs for decolonizing and democratizing Peruvian intercultural education policy.