Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Leadership, 2005. / Title from second page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [2], iii, 189 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-189).

Thesis (PhD.(Pastoral Family Therapy))-University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

This M.A. thesis is a narrative inquiry into a westerner’s personal stories of teaching and living in Thailand. It narrates the experiences of becoming an ajarn (a teacher), but moreover an ajarn farang (a white teacher) in a Thai university. As International Education programs are largely supplemented with western-developed curricula and teachers, what are the implications for a western teacher when material and pedagogy fails in a new cultural situation? How can a teacher reconcile feelings of power (as a perceived education authority) and powerlessness (as a cultural foreigner)? This narrative inquiry explores the role of story to make meaning out of otherwise uncertain situations. The stories are about experiences deemed emblematic of tensions and ideas employed by multiculturalism, postcolonialism, phenomenology, and transformative education. These discussions aim to expose and exploit borders of experience that exist for reasons of culture, colonialism, location, and race. The transformative exercise of exploring spaces between borders recognizes that people are characters inside one another’s stories, which thereby expands boundaries of identity to anticipate and embrace moments of uncertainty that can inspire innovative pedagogy because of cultural difference, and not in spite of it.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:35:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3101.pdf: 549298 bytes, checksum: 1d7025cbaa80b017931a039e3d71bb48 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-26 / The present investigation was guided by the question, which are the dilemmas faced by public school teachers whilst indicating public policies sacred stories considering education for citizenship? The term sacred story was developed by Clandinin and Connelly ( 1995) to refer to the manner in which the theoretical speech of educational research is presented to teachers. In the context of this research, education for citizenship in the teaching of science is regarded as sacred story. Above all, in the Science-Technology-Society approach to teaching science, education for citizenship has been a strongly emphasized speech in researches as well as in official curricular guidance. Commonly, research in the area of teaching science has treated the issue of education for citizenship in terms of teaching methods, curricular proposals, content selection and the teachers´ representations in respect to the meaning of the term education for citizenship (SANTOS e SCHNETZLER, 1996; PRAIA, GIL-PEREZ e VILCHES, 2007; SANTOS, 2007). In this work, the attempt is to approach the theme from another perspective, proposed by the narrative inquiry. In the educational research, the narrative approach to teachers´ knowledge identifies itself with the comprehensive, interpretive and interactional studies (BORGES, 2001). It is an epistemological approach which understands the experience as a means in which human beings present themselves in relation to reality (CLANDININ e ROSIEK, 2006) and, consequently, takes narratives not only as the phenomena intended to investigate, but also as a research method. The theoretical reference for the comprehension of the teachers´ professional knowledge founded itself in concepts of practical personal knowledge and of professional knowledge landscape (CLANDININ e CONNELLY, 1995). Classroom observations, interviews and informal conversations with the participants, with or without the help of a digital register using a recorder, were methods used for the account and register of stories. Narrative accounts were composed and shared with the participants for the analysis of data, in which it was intended to identify the narrative unities comprehended as elements which allowed to unify as a whole, the stories told by the teachers. The results point out as to how the teachers´ dilemmas relate themselves to their practical personal knowledge and their professional development landscape, indicating how the context assumes a relevant role in the experience of these dilemmas. As possible contributions to this investigation, these results allow a further complex analysis of the teaching in science and education for citizenship theme, giving indication of transforming movements and resistance in teaching practice, frequently analyzed partially by other theoretical-methodological approaches, and how in these movements, actuates the teachers´ professional knowledge landscape. / A presente investigação orientou-se pela questão quais os dilemas enfrentados por professoras da escola pública ao significarem histórias sagradas das políticas públicas considerando a educação para a cidadania? . O termo história sagrada foi desenvolvido por Clandinin e Connelly (1995) para referir a maneira como o discurso teórico da pesquisa educacional é apresentado aos professores.No contexto desta pesquisa, a educação para a cidadania no ensino de ciências é tomada como história sagrada. Sobretudo na abordagem Ciência-Tecnologia-Sociedade para o ensino de Ciências, a educação para a cidadania tem sido um discurso fortemente enfatizado, tanto pelas pesquisas quanto pelas orientações curriculares oficiais. Comumente, a pesquisa na área do ensino de ciências tem tratado da questão da educação para a cidadania em termos dos métodos de ensino, das proposições curriculares, da seleção de conteúdos e das representações dos professores a respeito do significado do termo educação para a cidadania (SANTOS e SCHNETZLER, 1996; PRAIA, GIL-PEREZ e VILCHES, 2007; SANTOS, 2007). Neste trabalho, procurou-se abordar a temática desde outra perspectiva, oferecida pela pesquisa narrativa. Na pesquisa educacional, a abordagem narrativa dos conhecimentos docentes identifica-se com os estudos compreensivos, interpretativos e interacionistas (BORGES, 2001). Trata-se de uma abordagem epistemológica que compreende a experiência como a maneira pela qual os seres humanos se colocam em relação com a realidade. (CLANDININ e ROSIEK, 2006) e, consequentemente, toma as narrativas não apenas como os fenômenos que se pretende investigar mas também como método de pesquisa. A referência teórica para a compreensão do conhecimento profissional das professoras fundamentou-se nos conceitos de conhecimento pessoal prático e de paisagem do conhecimento profissional (CLANDININ e CONNELLY, 1995). Como métodos para o relato e registro de histórias foram feitas observações em sala de aula, entrevistas e conversas informais com as participantes, com o auxílio ou não do registro digital por meio de um gravador. Para a análise dos dados foram construídos e compartilhados com as participantes relatos de narrativas (narrative accounts), a partir dos quais buscou-se identificar as unidades narrativas (narrative unities) entendidas como os elementos que permitiram unificar em um todo as histórias relatadas pelas professoras. Os resultados apontam como os dilemas vividos pelas professoras relacionam-se ao seu conhecimento pessoal prático e a sua paisagem de desenvolvimento profissional, evidenciando como o contexto assume papel relevante na experiência destes dilemas. Como possíveis contribuições desta investigação, tais resultados permitem uma análise mais complexa sobre a temática do ensino de Ciências e a educação para a cidadania, evidenciando os movimentos de transformação e de resistência na prática docente, frequentemente analisados de forma parcial por outras abordagesn teórico-metodológicas, e como nestes movimentos atuo a paisagem do conhecimento profissional docente.

This qualitative study sets out to explore the experiences of secondary school students while they are learning mathematics in school. By using student stories of learning mathematics as my main data collection method I began to understand the view of mathematics that my students were constructing as they negotiated the complicated terrain that I know as the mathematics classroom. This method of student stories to communicate student voice was selected by me to allow the students the freedom to express themselves in a variety of comfortable, differentiated formats. My methodological approach evolved as the action research phases progressed, allowing for methodological inventiveness (Dadds and Hart 2001). This was a deliberate decision by me so that my research progress could be best served by a suitable methodological approach. The end result was a qualitative study that embraced a living theory model of action research (McNiff 2013), where practitioners can develop their own personal theories of practice (Whitehead 1999). Within this action research structure I used a narrative approach, considering narratives both as a data collection method and as a transformative phenomenon. Using the ideas of narrative research for data collection, I facilitated storytelling workshops with my students, collecting stories to inform the research interest. In this research, using narratives was also considered as a phenomenon because of their influence in allowing authors to model and re-model their experiences through their stories. I found that considering narrative as phenomenon complemented and supported a portraiture methodological stance (Lawrence-Lightfoot 2005). Narrative as a phenomenon also became apparent by the influence the student stories had on my 9 ability to understand my classroom and my subsequent teaching practice. To analyse the story data I utilised the ideas of Anderson (2011) who developed a transpersonal research method that incorporates the researcher's intuition, emotional and personal capacities into the research process. By using a multi-method approach of thematic analysis, symbolic interactionist perspective, input from colleagues and my reflexive intuition, I formed an analysis of the data that could be used to look at similarities and trends in the student stories. In addition, working with the student stories encouraged levels of empathy between the reader and the student author that transformed classroom practice and understandings. There are several ways that this thesis can contribute to practice. Firstly this research develops a pedagogical tool that encourages student voice, celebrates individuality and helps create an approachable interface between mathematics teacher and student. Secondly, it models how this way of working could be used to inform the practice of the classroom teacher by developing a deeper understanding of their students. Thirdly, the identification of particular themes is invaluable to subject department development and planning, and these themes can feed into a department and whole school ethos. Finally, it models a form of action research that encourages critical reflexive practice and utilises the knowledge, experience and intuition of the researcher with the sole purpose of improving the experiences of their students.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-06-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:32:39Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_rmr_me_mar.pdf: 912708 bytes, checksum: 3982e30ad11275a474c27b57efa6a79d (MD5) / Estudos recentes mostram que nem sempre é possível para o professor colocar suas crenças em prática. Tendo em vista tal perspectiva, nesta dissertação, parti do pressuposto que fatores contextuais são um dos grandes responsáveis pela dissonância entre as crenças e as práticas pedagógicas dos professores de línguas estrangeiras. Meus objetivos foram (a) explicitar e analisar minhas crenças e as da professora participante sobre o ensino de línguas estrangeiras; (b) detectar e analisar quais são nossas práticas pedagógicas; (c) por meio desse processo de interlocução, buscar possíveis relações entre o que acreditamos e o que fazemos em sala de aula; (d) produzir conhecimentos que possam contribuir para a formação continuada de professores de língua inglesa e para intervenções mais adequadas, segundo seus contextos de ensino. As perguntas que orientaram esta dissertação foram: (1) quais são as crenças sobre o processo de ensino-aprendizagem de língua estrangeira de duas professoras de língua inglesa da rede pública de ensino? (2) quais as possíveis relações que se estabelecem entre essas crenças e as práticas pedagógicas das duas participantes? O arcabouço teórico deste estudo se fundamenta em um conceito de língua como instrumento de interação e nos estudos sobre crenças. O arcabouço metodológico se fundamenta na Pesquisa Narrativa, por meio da qual escrevo textos de pesquisa, tentando tecer significados acerca de nossas crenças e práticas a partir do material documentário coletado - (a) as histórias de nossa prática pedagógica narradas por mim e pela professora participante, (b) encontros reflexivos, (c) entrevista semiestruturada, (d) filmagem de aulas e (e) observações de aulas. Baseada nos princípios da Hermenêutica, a análise do material documentário objetivou confrontar nossos discursos e ações como professoras de línguas... / Recent studies on teachers’ beliefs show that they are not necessarily expressed in their pedagogical practice. This dissertation is grounded on such perspective and on the presupposition that contextual factors are mainly responsible for the discontinuity between foreign language teachers’ beliefs and their work in the classroom. The objectives of this study were: (a) to make explicit and to analyze my own beliefs regarding foreign language teaching and those of my participant teacher; (b) to detect and to analyze our pedagogical practices; (c) by means of shared reflection, to search for possible relationships between what we believe in and what we do in our classrooms; (d) to produce knowledge as to contribute with the continuing development of teachers of English and adequate intervention in their respective teaching contexts. The research questions that guided my inquiry were the following: (a) what are the beliefs regarding the teaching/learning processes of two public schools teachers of English? (b) what possible relationships can be traced between the beliefs and the pedagogical practice of both participants? The theoretical framework of this study is grounded on a concept of language as an instrument of interaction and on the studies about teachers’ beliefs. The methodological framework draws on the principles of Narrative Inquiry in which I write research texts trying to weave meanings about our beliefs and practices based on the documentary materials that were collected – a) the stories that were told by me and my participant; (b) reflective conversations; (c) semi-structured interviews; (d) video-taped classes; and (e) classroom observation. The analysis of the documentary material was based on hermeneutic principles and aimed at confronting our discourses and actions as foreign language teachers...(Complete abstract, click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-03-10Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:22:53Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 siqueira_rar_dr_mar.pdf: 806191 bytes, checksum: 56e44e61be9a03c3a23ce5e5a81c2625 (MD5) / Esta tese é uma investigação qualitativa que está fundamentada na concepção teórico-metodológica da Pesquisa Narrativa de Clandinin e Connelly, na Formação do Professor Reflexivo de Donald Schön e na Hermenêutica Filosófica de Gadamer. Em seu acabamento estético (tomando este adjetivo como substantivo foulcaultiano, estética da existência), fundamenta-se na concepção de “saber de experiência” de Larrosa. Nesta pesquisa o que está em suspensão é a vivência da pesquisadora como profissional da educação, cuja história é narrada, reconstruída e revivida, assim como, as histórias da participante, com quem a pesquisadora, de uma forma peculiar, compartilha suas “conversas reflexivas”, seus objetos de estudo (relatos e histórias). A tese aqui defendida é a de que a construção do conhecimento pessoal e prático do professor também se dá ao se narrar as histórias de sua experiência profissional e interpretar palavras faladas e escritas – ações estas que são maneiras privilegiadas de acesso à consciência, entendida como abertura (ato intencional) em direção à compreensão do mundo como rede de relações. Assim, este trabalho teve como objetivos gerais (a) resgatar e reviver as histórias da vida pessoal, acadêmica e profissional da pesquisadora envolvida com o exercício da docência num curso de Letras; e (b) resgatar e reconstruir as histórias de vida acadêmica e profissional de uma outra professora, também formadora de professores de Letras, ex-aluna do referido curso. A tese ilustra a relevância teórico-metodológica da pesquisa narrativa para a reflexão e para a transformação da prática profissional dos professores. Os dois estudos aqui contidos, trazem as “conversas reflexivas” e a interpretação hermenêutica como instrumentos de ação social e profissional para o compartilhamento dos sentidos produzidos... / This thesis reports on a qualitative study that is theoretically and methodologically grounded on Narrative Inquiry of D.J. Clandinin and M.F. Connelly, on the Education of the Reflective Teacher of D. Schön, and on Gadamer’s Philosophical Hermeneutics. From its aesthetical point of view (by taking this adjective as a foucaultian noun – the aesthetics of existence), the thesis is grounded on Larossa’s concept of “knowledge derived from experience”. The study focuses on the researcher’s lived experiences as a professional in the field of Education. Her stories, as well as those of her participant become the foci of her study and they are narrated, reconstructed and relived in a peculiar way – they are shared by means of “reflective conversations”. The thesis here sustained is that the construction of teachers’ personal practical knowledge occurs when they tell the stories of their professional experiences and when they interpret the words that are spoken and written. Such actions are privileged ways to access consciousness, here understood as an opening (an intentional act) towards the understanding of the world as a network of relationships. The general objectives of this study, therefore, were (a) to recover and to relive the stories of the personal, academic and professional life of the researcher during her teaching practice in an undergraduate course of Letters; and (b) to recover and to reconstruct the academic and professional stories of another teacher, who is a teacher educator as well, and one of the researcher’s former students in that course. The thesis illustrates the theoretical-methodological relevance of Narrative Inquiry to the reflection and transformation of teachers’ professional practices. The two studies that are reported here bring “reflective conversations” and the hermeneutic interpretation as instruments of professional and social... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

abstract: ABSTRACT The early desire for and the pursuit of literacy are often mentioned in the teeming volumes devoted to African-American history. However, stories, facts, and figures about the acquisition of numeracy by African Americans have not been equally documented. The focus of this study was to search for the third R, this is the numeracy and mathematics experiences of African Americans who were born in, and before, 1933. The investigation of this generational cadre was pursued in order to develop oral histories and narratives going back to the early 1900s. This study examined formal and informal education and other relevant mathematics-related, lived experiences of unacknowledged and unheralded African Americans, as opposed to the American anomalies of African descent who are most often acknowledged, such as the Benjamin Bannekers, the George Washington Carvers, and other notables. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the use of a survey and interviews. Quantitative results and qualitative findings were blended to present a nuanced perspective of African Americans learning mathematics during a period of Jim Crow, segregation, and discrimination. Their hopes, their fears, their challenges, their aspirations, their successes, and their failures are all tangential to their overall goal of seeking education, including mathematics education, in the early twentieth century. Both formal and informal experiences revealed a picture of life during those times to further enhance the literature regarding the mathematics experiences of African Americans. Key words: Black students, historical, senior citizens, mathematics education, oral history, narrative, narrative inquiry, socio-cultural theory, Jim Crow / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2014

Current accountability measures require English language arts (ELA) teachers to teach literacy skills to all students. However, the population of mainstreamed students is becomingly increasingly diverse and includes students on the autism spectrum for whom literacy skills may lie in opposition to population characteristics. Further, educators are encouraged to respond to students in culturally responsive ways, and current teacher evaluation systems often require teachers to demonstrate cultural competence. However, a dearth of research provides insight into the ways secondary ELA teachers perceive their students on the autism spectrum, or how they interact with those students or support them in culturally responsive ways. This narrative multiple case study was undertaken to examine how five new ELA teachers perceived their students on the autism spectrum and if they enacted culturally responsive practices with them. Further, because the teachers were new to the profession with three years or fewer teaching experience, the study examined in what ways they constructed knowledge about how to teach the population. Themes emerged suggesting, among other things, that 1) ELA teachers perceive both strengths and challenges for their students on the autism spectrum within their content area, 2) ELA teachers rely primarily on other people to help them learn how to teach students on the autism spectrum because other resources are lacking, and 3) ELA teachers tend to demonstrate more culturally responsive practices over time with their students on the autism spectrum depending on the nature of their experiences. I propose a model to capture movement in culturally responsive practices for the autism spectrum utilizing Gay’s (2010) characteristics of culturally responsive pedagogy.

Ecofeminism has long demonstrated how patriarchal structures and masculine norms constitute major obstacles for a transition to an ecologically and socially just society. In recent years, this has been illustrated by the hegemonic masculine performances of world leaders such as Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro. There is a vital need to engage men in changing these structures and norms in favour of environmental and social care. Therefore, pro-feminist and pro-environmental reflective groups for men have been initiated in Sweden. This study explores how men who have participated in these groups narrate the global ecological crisis and their role in it. The political power of these personal narratives must be understood as part of a discursive struggle in the international arena. The narratives construct these men in a way that positions social and environmental justice as normative. This, in turn, challenges the prevailing norms and enables different international environmental politics.