published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 2003. / Title from title page screen, viewed November 1, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Stacey Jones Bock, James R. Thompson (co-chairs), Maureen E. Angell, E. Paula Crowley, Barbara S. Heyl. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-183) and abstract. Also available in print.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The purpose of this project is to produce a school website that promotes and enhances communication between the school and parents.

Cross-border programs are often cited as having transformative effects on educators, claiming increased cultural awareness, intercultural understanding and culturally responsive practices. However, these shifts are most commonly evaluated in the days and weeks after teachers return to the U.S. and rarely allow for a long-term, in-depth understanding of the impacts. This dissertation outlines findings from a collaborative action research study that attempted to document the experiences of a small group of K-12 teachers before, during and after their participation in a cross-border experience in Mexico. My overarching questions examined the U.S. school contexts to which four White teachers returned as the under-theorized "next step" to their cross-border experience, specifically seeking to make sense of how new understandings of Mexico influenced their perceptions of, and engagement with Mexican immigrant families. Ongoing inquiry groups were implemented as part of this study; over the course of eighteen months, teachers used this space to critically reflect on their experiences abroad and to plan how they would incorporate new knowledge and understandings into their teaching contexts. Through this process, teachers conceptualized, planned and engaged in three dialogues with Mexican immigrant parents in which they purposefully created a new, "third space" for cross-border narratives, or the mutual sharing of life stories, as they related to their own educational experiences in Mexico and/or the U.S. Utilizing an ethnographic approach, data was collected via field notes and digital recordings of interviews, inquiry group meetings and parent-teacher dialogues. Narrative methods were also used as a principal tool for inquiry and analysis. My findings suggest that the transformative effects of cross-border programs are not solely a result of time spent abroad, but an ongoing process of inquiry, reflection and action once teachers return to the U.S. It was through the transaction of the cross-border experiences, inquiry group meetings, and the powerful narratives that emerged during the parent-teacher dialogues that teachers were able to acknowledge, revisit and rewrite scripts of deficit pertaining to Mexican families at their school site.

This qualitative research inquiry explores the perspectives of a diverse range of participants, namely head teachers, teachers and mothers, towards inclusion of "slow learners" in two primary mainstream schools in the State of Kuwait. The concept of inclusion, through a review of major issues and limitations in the current practice of inclusion is highlighted by this case study. A multi-method data collection approach, using semi-structured interviews and critical discourse analysis of the policy document for inclusion in Kuwait, has led to identifying what has been done, so far in practice, for inclusion, as well as identifying the potential changes that need to be made. Kuwait is a signatory to the UNESCO Salamanca Statement, set out in 1994, which requires states to move towards systems "enabling schools to serve all children". However, to date, "inclusion" in Kuwaiti mainstream schools is limited to two groups of children: those with Down's Syndrome and those referred to as "slow learners", a term used to describe certain children with low IQ. All other children with special educational needs are educated in segregated settings. This study examines policy and explores participants' perspectives towards the inclusion of children identified as "slow learners" in primary mainstream schools in Kuwait, in order to arrive at insights which might further the policy and practice of supporting inclusion of children with special educational needs. This study found that the dominant conceptual model underpinning policy and practice in Kuwait is the "medical model" of disability, as the current understanding and practice of inclusion, teachers' and mothers' perspectives towards inclusion and articulation of the inclusion policy in Kuwait is informed, conceptualized and affected by this model. This understanding lends itself to practices of integration rather than inclusion, However, "the term 'inclusion' replaced 'integration' and is often contrasted with 'exclusion' " (Topping & Maloney, 2005, p.42). Inclusion means equal access and increasing the participation of students with special needs in mainstream school as promoted by the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO,1994), while integration means limited access and less participation of students with special needs in mainstream school, thus integration is "largely a 'disability' or SEN issue" (Topping & Maloney, 2005, p.42). This study also found that perspectives of inclusion are influenced by the social, cultural and religious context of the country. Finally, this study concludes that in the context of Kuwait, there is a clear effect of the cultural understanding of disability on the way that the current policy of inclusive education is represented. Such cultural influence not only affects the policymakers of the region and the way inclusion is implemented, but also it effects "slow learners" in the light of how disability and inclusion are constructed by the head teachers, teachers and mothers in this study. Such cultural and social values and beliefs of Kuwaiti culture pose obstacles to the existence of inclusion in Kuwait, as promoted by the Salamanca Statement. As a signatory to the Salamanca Statement, this study suggests that in order to adequately accommodate "slow learners" and other students with disability in mainstream schools in Kuwait, policy needs to be reconceptualised.

D.Phil. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The recognised benefits of social capital have resulted in a focus on ways to provide support to families within their context or community. At the same time there has been an emphasis on the interplay between environment and experiences in the early years of life and long term physical, neurological, psychosocial and emotional/behavioural developments for humans. Coincidentally the use of out of home care for young children has expanded rapidly. These issues have resulted in a call to reconceptualise the role of early childhood services as a nexus of the community. Researchers are increasingly referring to early childhood services as hubs from which multi-sectoral supports can be developed and delivered. This thesis reviews the current literature about the importance of the early years; the experiences within the early childhood service; the renewed focus on supports for families; and the role of early childhood services as community hubs. Despite a growing body of literature about early childhood services as community hubs and as the basis for developing relationships with families, it was found that there is a dearth of information about the ways in which families and early childhood staff interface in defining what constitutes ‘quality’ within services. Indeed it is shown that the voices of families are rarely, if ever, taken into account in the development of curriculum and assessment practices in early childhood services. Subsequently the supports that could assist staff in undertaking meaningful connections with families are not prominent in the current literature. This thesis addresses this gap in the knowledge base about early childhood service delivery. A sociocultural approach is used to investigate the level of shared perspectives, meaningful participation and other forms of meaning making between a small sample of families in diverse situations and their early childhood service. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are applied in the analyses of how early childhood services enhance or inhibit connectivity for families with preschool-aged children. In Phase One, an in-depth study of three families with diverse situations in one urban centre of Australia (An Aboriginal1 family; a culturally and linguistically diverse family; and a family wherein the father has a physical illness) is conducted. Data collection methods involve purposeful sampling, video taping, semi-structured and structured interviews and non participant observations in both the home and early childhood setting. Findings from Phase One identify six continua of issues, reported by parents to be meaningful in terms of experiences for their children. In Phase Two these findings are incorporated into a questionnaire entitled “Experiences that are valued in the early childhood service”. The questionnaire is administered to staff and families in diverse socio economic and geographical regions in order to test for generalisability of the original findings. This thesis indicates that the role of early childhood services as community and family support services is not well articulated nor well understood by staff or families. The findings from the study include: 1. Rather than supporting families, some forms of information dissemination from early childhood services actually increase pressure on families. 2. Staff and families have differing perceptions about the frequency of communication and the experiences occurring in the early childhood service. Families report that the experiences they value highly are not valued by the service. 3. Despite a strong emphasis on a multicultural approach to early childhood service delivery, not all families value this notion. Rather, families want early childhood services to ‘teach and reflect’ the dominant cultural ways of knowing and learning because this is associated with school success. 1 The researcher uses the term Aboriginal not Indigenous throughout the thesis as this as this is the main term the family used to identify themselves. 4. Some common and widely used measures assessing quality early childhood services do not include measures associated with family and community support. This thesis concludes with a set of recommendations for service delivery and policy decision makers. These focus on the need to embrace a ‘fifth discourse’ for early childhood services – one which defines the sector as the vehicle for providing safe ‘meeting places’ where families and staff participate in meaningful ways that result in true support for the complex role of parenting. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)