<p> Choro is a traditional Brazilian music that began in Rio de Janeiro during the latter half of the nineteenth century. A virtuosic instrumental music, choro developed through Brazilian interpretations of European dance genres, especially polka and waltz. Participation by both amateur and professional musicians characterizes choro's traditional pedagogy, a reflection of informal and formal learning processes and contexts. At the turn of the twenty-first century, choro schools now offer venues for defining and validating the tradition as well as inspiring an atmosphere for innovation and creation. Inherent within the concept of tradition is the dichotomy of continuity and change. This study exposes how institutions negotiate the past and present through a comparison of current and historic pedagogy and modes of learning. Choro institutions use traditional and innovative modes of learning to support and enhance the genre's current practice through community organization, which sustains and contributes to its continued performance. Chapter one focuses on defining choro music, first discussing the etymology of the word 'choro,' followed by a survey of choro's history and review of choro literature. The chapter concludes with an explanation of this investigation's purpose. In chapter two I posit the notion that a music community practices and performs choro. Biographies and stories of choro's past and present community members reveal how they learned choro. The chapter ends with an analysis of the processes that establish and reinforce the community. Chapter three examines how people learn choro. I offer prevailing learning perspectives&mdash;acquisition, participation, and knowledge creation&mdash;and establish categories for modes of learning&mdash;formal, non-formal, and informal&mdash;to define the processes and contexts involved in learning choro. Chapter four discusses the musical codes that characterize choro, what the choro community describes as a musical language. The chapter ends with a description of the curriculum at Escola Portatil de Musica, the school case study used for this dissertation. Chapter five is the summation and conclusions, revealing why musicians learn choro music.</p>

<p> This study addresses how my freshman world history students come to understand controversial issues as provocative within the secondary social studies classroom, and in what ways does their engagement with provocative issues influence their understanding of the content and the world around them. In addition, this research study seeks to discover in what ways does the teaching of these provocative materials inform and influence my curricular decisions, my pedagogy, and my relationship with my students. The three research questions were established to guide this study. </p><p> 1. How do my world history freshman students come to understand provocative materials in regards to the historical content? </p><p> 2. How does my students' engagement with these provocative materials influence their understanding of historical events and the world around them? </p><p> 3. In what ways does the teaching of these provocative materials inform and influence my curricular decisions, my pedagogy, and my relationship with my students? </p><p> Self-Study methodology was selected as a way to personally explore and examine my students understanding of provocative issues as well as my instruction. Grounded theory was utilized exclusively as a coding and analyzing device. To address these questions, thirteen student participants were selected for this study based on the criteria assumed by the questions. Data was collected from individual interviews, group interviews, student blog posts, and my own journal. </p><p> As the data was analyzed and coded, nuanced constructs of the students' thinking began to coalesce on three distinct perceptions of provocative issues which evolved into the findings of this study. The first finding involved students who advocated for the inclusion of provocative issues. Their rationales for this inclusion were; <i>Real World Phenomenon, Provocative for Grade Sake, Provocative for Interest Sake.</i> A second finding involved a student who opposed the inclusion of provocative issues. This student's rationales were labeled <i>Oppositional.</i> The first two findings were partnered with the six students' rationales. The third finding involved the other seven students who had a varying range of nuanced articulation, varied their opinion across time, or lacked a clear robust rationale. This finding was labeled developing rationales. These students' perspectives were labeled <i> other voices.</i> </p><p> In addition to the student data, journaling was utilized to explore my own rationale for using provocative issues within my world history classroom. These journals provided a space for reflection on my practice in regards to the teaching of provocative issues, thus addressing my third research question. The journals, like the other data sources, were coded using grounded theory as the main analytical device. Upon completion of the data analysis of my journals, themes began to emerge that progressed into findings. The self-study findings were categorized as; <i>The Closed Space of Sexuality, The Banality of Violence,</i> and <i>Anti-Americanism Linked to Racism to Foster Critical Thinking. </i> </p>

<p> Giftedness is typically defined as above-average ability, task commitment, and creativity (Renzulli, 2012). However, this definition is socially constructed and leans on the literacy practices of the dominant culture. Understanding various contributors and barriers to giftedness (Suboknik, Olszewski-Kubilis, &amp; Worrell, 2012) can help identified students interrogate their own assumptions about their positions in the school system as well as those of teachers and peers. Since the gifted support classroom is relatively immune from the curricular pressures of the regular education classroom, it provides an ideal context for students to use various literacy practices to reflect on the complex dynamics of the public school system including the ways in which dominant literacies are valued over others generally and in regards to giftedness identification and services. </p><p> This practitioner-research study followed six gifted fifth-grade readers through a four-month long weekly Book Club as they used literacy and dialogue to reflect on, construct, and critically consider their academic identities. An inductive approach was used to generatively code responses and analyze the data. Using literature and informational text, the work supported students in using a critical lens to articulate their academic identities, consciously contemplate the expectations placed upon them in the school setting, and consider the implications of their positioning in that context. They engaged in social practices that aided in and demonstrated comprehension and agency, resulting in their re-conceptualizing the notion of giftedness. In addition, participants viewed giftedness through the perspective of culture, ethnicity, and language. Students' transaction with and dialogue surrounding various text types served as a way to challenge the socially constructed notions of giftedness and the structures that support such definitions.</p>

<p> This paper describes a teacher's action research within the place-based education (PBE) program at Forest Grove Community School (FGCS), a first through eighth grade public charter school in Forest Grove, Oregon. It seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in delivering the skills, knowledge, values and internal locus of control necessary to promote stewardship and citizenship among students. A review of literature discusses the factors that contribute to the development of stewardship and citizenship, and how the philosophy of place-based education supports these factors. The researcher uses mixed methodology to gather diverse data regarding the school's program and its impact on the student body, and a collaborative action research approach to examine the program's strengths and identify areas for development. Instruments utilized for data collection include a survey administered to students and parents, teacher reflections, student work samples, and records of professional development meetings. An evaluation of the PBE program details the strengths and potential areas of development revealed through research. The conclusion presents several recommendations to the school for enhancing stewardship and citizenship development among students.</p>

<p> This qualitative research study brings to light the need for a Critical Race Theory approach to early childhood education. Ten early childhood educators were interviewed and asked about how they teach about race and racism with their students. Four major findings are identified and described within the study, Devaluing Children's Ability; Ethnic Identity and Cultural Belonging; Critical Race Turning Points; and Challenges of Teaching About Race and Racism. Critical Race Turning Points is new, innovative conceptual tool and model that describes motivations of educators that work towards positive, social justice oriented change in their teaching. Conclusions recommended in this study include: the need to for a professional organization for early childhood educators working for racial and social justice, a mandate for more consistent education levels for early childhood educators, and inclusion of topics of race, racism, and social difference in early childhood education curriculum.</p>

<p>Abstract This dissertation examines the ways in which the incorporation of a multimodal social semiotic curriculum into a university composition class provided non-traditional options for learning that brought about agentive and empowering identity shifts in students who were labeled as academically underprepared for college level work. Building on a body of research that challenges the dominant discourse of deficit through a view of literacy and of learners as a complex and context-related social practice, this qualitative study employs ethnographic methods to track and document the self-affirming transformations in student's identities as manifested in their written, multimodal, and discoursal performances. The data collected from this study indicates that students' perceptions of self and of potential for academic success within the University were influenced by prior institutional labels and were exacerbated by feelings of marginalization brought on by placement into a University support program. In order to counter the sense of deficiency that usually accompanies such labeling practices, a transformative pedagogical approach designed to invoke change was practiced with the aim to create a learning environment which countered the rigidity of an autonomous view of literacy and instead, embraced a view of literacy that was sociocultural and ideological in nature. To this end, curricular choices were made in an effort to offer students alternative, non-traditional methods of demonstrating their individualized ways of meaning making. The data indicated that a multimodal infused pedagogy and interactions with multimodality served to reveal, track, capture, and document the ways in which identities shifted and changed with the resultant finding of an increased sense of academic achievement and agency in students as identity transformation took place. In addition, significant instances of students' acquisition of agency through self-generated writing and consequent successful repositioning were documented. In light of these findings, I encourage and endorse the assimilation of non- traditional transformative and multimodal practices into the 21st Century college composition class.

<p> This study explores the factors that shape students&rsquo; experience with instructional choices in classroom-based settings, and the role of instructional choice design in positively influencing student engagement and the development of self-regulation skills among high school students who attend an urban high school in the Mid-Atlantic Region, referred to as Aspiration High School. A range of cultural, structural and human resource factors are found to have a limiting effect on students&rsquo; experience with quality instructional choices in school, and as a result, limits their opportunities to practice and develop the self-regulation skills necessary for navigating choices at levels of complexity that mirror the world beyond school (Winne &amp; Perry, 2000; Winne &amp; Hadwin, 1998; Winne, 2001). Teachers and students of Aspiration High School were surveyed to gather insights on their experiences of and perceptions on choice in learning. Two teachers engaged in a series of collaborative lesson design cycles that involved choice-based lesson design, implementation with observation, lesson debriefs, and student work analysis, as well as pre and post student interviews and focus groups. This study identified five elements of high-quality choice designs, and argues for quality choice design as an important mechanism for cultivating learner engagement (Katz &amp; Assor, 2007), developing interventions to support self-regulatory skill development among learners, and nurturing pedagogical shifts among teachers toward more learner-centered designs and practices.</p><p>

<p> In the United States, a staggering four thousand students drop out every school day. Moreover, in 2016, the graduation rate in Oregon was only 74.8%, one of the lowest in the nation. Research shows that a disproportionate number of youth leaving school are from historically marginalized communities. Many of these youth resiliently return to education at alternative schools. This research sought to explore the educational experiences of youth in alternative schools in their own voices and perspectives. From a theoretical framework based in sociocultural theory, cultural capital, and critical theory, this study underscored the importance of youth voice in changing the education system by incorporating qualitative methods and YPAR (Youth Participatory Action Research). Working alongside seven youth co-researchers who attended an alternative school in Oregon, we interviewed eight other students at the same school about their educational experiences and perceptions of the education system. The youth co-researchers and I co-constructed four themes collectively: &ldquo;I felt invisible to the teachers&rdquo;; &ldquo;Teaching is a sacred act&rdquo;; &ldquo;Regular high school is like drowning, it&rsquo;s cruel&rdquo;; and &ldquo;Dropping out was [actually] a success.&rdquo; We also compiled counternarratives in the words of the eight student participants, which highlighted how the school system pushed them out despite their desire to learn. Finally, we spoke truth to power, in solidarity with the youth in this study, by presenting our recommendations for educational change to teachers, including how they can co-create spaces with students that foster care and empathy, value youth voice, and are culturally sustaining and identity affirming.</p><p>

<p> This mixed-methods study analyzed the effectiveness of the practices and attitudes of selected African American teachers who use culturally relevant and responsive Afrocentric pedagogies as the instructional foundation for improved academic outcomes with their African American students. The theory of Afrocentricity was used as the philosophical framework to study their pedagogy. Afrocentricity is a mode of thought and practice in which in African people are placed at the center of their own history and culture; engages them as subjects rather than objects; and approaches them with respect for their interests, values, and perspectives (Asante 1980, 2003). Concepts employed from this theoretical framework provided a lens for the triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data collected and analyzed. The setting for this study was a private Afrocentric prekindergarten through 8th-grade school. The participants in this study were 3 African American teachers. Data collected and analyzed supported using culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy to produce improved academic outcomes for students of color (Boykin, 1984, 1994; Hale-Benson, 1986; King, 1991; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Shujaa, 1995; Villegas, 1991).</p><p> Findings suggested that in selected academic settings improved academic performance occurred for African American students when teachers used culture relevant and responsive pedagogy. The following themes were embedded in the pedagogy: self-determination, academic empowerment, cultural empowerment, and family/community empowerment. The findings implied a need for teachers and teacher-training institutions to re-examine, recommit, and re-institute culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy that respects and addresses the culture, education, and social improvement for positive academic outcomes for all children.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> Afrocentricity, Afrocentric Pedagogy, achievement gap, culturally responsive pedagogy.</p>

<p> This mixed methods, multisite case study examined the relational ecology of two urban middle schools that had adopted school-wide restorative practices (SWRPs) and the changes that occurred as a result of the reform initiative. The study was conducted in two Title I middle schools in the Oakland Unified School District in California. A positive relational ecology existed in these two urban middle schools which was built on the interacting and interrelated themes of relational trust, being heard, a relational-based, student-centered culture, and a commitment to the principles of social justice. The positive relational ecology created a strong foundation upon which change could occur at the organizational, individual, and pedagogical levels. Various structures within the schools, including circles, instructional leadership teams, student councils, and peer mediation, created space for teachers and students to be heard and empowered, which subsequently facilitated change and growth for many administrators, teachers, and students. High turnover, lack of initial and ongoing training, and the development of quasi- or non-restorative processes jeopardized program fidelity. Findings revealed that in these restorative schools, relational ecology and change were inseparable, and that they moved and influenced each other. A positive relational ecology created an environment that enabled leaders and staff to feel safe as they embarked on the journey of change. Changes in the ways that members of the school communities related to each other on a daily basis provided additional motivation to continue the change effort, and these changes then in turn strengthened the relational ecologies. Findings of this study are significant and have implications for schools and school districts, policy makers, and teacher and leader education. Future research should include longitudinal, mixed methods studies that assess the school culture before and after implementing SWRPs, as well as experimental or quasi-experimental designs that compare restorative and non-restorative schools. Such studies may provide more empirical evidence that links healthy relational ecologies to student achievement, less teacher turnover, decreased conflict, and healthier communities, thereby strengthening the case for rejecting punitive and discriminatory zero tolerance school discipline policies and adopting restorative justice in education instead.</p>