This small-scale ethnographic research study investigated student perceptions of social identity and agency and the usefulness of the construct of the Community of Practice for struggling writers in the context of a pre-university EAP program. The appropriateness of socio-cultural theories in language teaching and learning today stems from social constructivist and social interactionist theories of the role of language in the discursive construction of society, knowledge and power. This study problematised these constructs in the development of writing for learners in a pre-university Higher Education context. Comparing data from focal students who were struggling with writing and from students who were more successful, the biographies of struggling students and their awareness of their futures, or imagined selves and communities, revealed not only learning histories in which they had radically different identities as learners and writers, but also a lack of clarity about their learning trajectory in the writing program. There was no apparent lack of investment in learning among the focal students, who identified themselves as weak writers, although there was frustration and anger at their predicament. The data suggest that they did not identify with the learning community at the start of the project, probably because they resisted belonging to a community which labeled them as failures. During the study a variety of means were used to elicit participants’ perceptions of their status as novice writers and to support their learning trajectory on an individual basis by elucidating the reasons for and requirements of academic writing. By the end of the study the focal students had developed more awareness of the subject positions the writing trajectory afforded them and had chosen ways in which to continue along their learning path. The Community of Practice appears to have potential as a means of supporting the roles of EAP students and teachers as members of the academic community of practice.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore through the lens of culturally responsive instruction (CRI) the development of teachers’ sense of efficacy, as defined by Bandura (1995), to address the literacy learning of diverse first, second, or third grade (i.e., primary grade level) students. In this process, I purposively selected the location and the participants because answering my research questions required that I conduct the investigation within learning settings where culturally and linguistically diverse students in the primary grade levels (i.e., first, second, or third grade) receive literacy instruction. My time in the field and my comprehensive focus on the participants and their teaching practices allowed me to gather rich descriptive data concerning the participants’ perspectives, experiences, and teaching practices through multiple traditional case study data collection means. Four overarching themes emerged from within, between, and across case analysis as significant in the development of teachers’ sense of efficacy to address the literacy learning of their pluralistic student populations in a culturally responsive manner. The themes include: (1) Perspectives shaping literacy instruction provision, (2) Understanding what constitutes CRI, (3) The impact of establishing a collaborative teaching community on the development of teachers’ sense of efficacy, and (4) Foundations of culturally responsive teachers’ sense of efficacy. I base my recommendations for the development of inservice teachers’ sense of efficacy to address the literacy learning of their students using CRI and my recommendations for future research on my study findings.

Abstract Reading is a perennial educational hot topic - but now extends for beyond early literacy to the secondary level. Reading researchers are growing in our knowledge of how to reach and teach struggling adolescent readers yet too often success in literacy is measured solely by performance on standardized tests. Literacy is seen on one hand as a one-dimensional set of skills students need to possess to be successful in school and their future workplaces. A more expansive view of the importance of literacy and what it means to adolescent females' growth as individuals and members of communities is needed. This study focused on selected adolescent girls' perceptions of identity through reading, responding, and discussing literature featuring strong female protagonists. Semi-structured interviews conducted with each of the female participants at the beginning and end of the study, reader response journals in which participants composed weekly responses to their reading, transcripts of the weekly book discussions, field notes, and entries in a researcher reflective journal form the data for this study, emphasizing the focus on the meaning these individuals brought to the phenomena studied: identity exploration within literacy events. This study addressed questions of the how and why of a literary event, and involved a variety of data, thereby making a case study methodology an appropriate choice. Selected participants were the focus of individual case studies and the book club itself was the focus of an additional case study. Self-identity statements and background information gathered on each of the three case study participants helped shape portraits of these adolescent girls, whose perspectives on their own identities were both convergent and divergent. The same proved true when addressing the two exploratory questions: The participants appeared to hold identical perspectives on identity, yet stated unique, varied perspectives on environmental elements influencing their self-identity expression. All three case study participants viewed identity as a developing, evolving process highly influenced by societal standards and expectations - especially for females. The girls also saw the social environment as affecting identity in the frequent mismatch occurring between what the individual perceives as his or her self-identity being expressed and how others in the environment perceive the identity. Psychosocial theories of human development acknowledge that an individual's identity is both located within and without. The participants in the book club all shared this perception of identity as a sociocultural construct. However, the girls' diverse self-identity statements and range of perspectives indicate the need for a new model of female adolescent identity development. This new model needs to reflect girls and their sociocultural worlds of today. Finally, the experiences of the five girls in the book club study indicate the common misperceptions existing concerning the nature of adolescent identity. Again, unlike Erickson's concept of identity as undeveloped in adolescence and shifting with each storm and crisis, the girls in the study indicate the need for a different perspective. Classrooms are unfortunately often bereft of the type of space provided for the girls in the book club. Within this space the girls engaged in deep, thoughtful, critical responses to literature while expressing their self-identities and exploring other's identities. As adolescents, these five girls were provided space by and with a trusted adult to engage in what is acknowledged to be a critical element in human development: identity exploration. To meet the needs of all students, teachers should arrange discussions in both small group and whole class structures. However, successful discussions - those which offer students rich opportunities to engage with text, make connections, derive personal meaning, explore and express self-identity - these discussions will only occur when the teacher has considered not only the physical environment but also the attitudinal environment.

Ämnet samhällskunskap är ett ämne som behandlar innehåll som ska förbereda eleverna för att bli demokratiska medborgare. För att det ska kunna ske är det av vikt att lärarna ger eleverna möjligheter att lära sig det. I studien är syftet att undersöka vilka metoder som lärare uppfattar motiverar elever samt vilka metoder som lärare uppfattar som framgångsrika för elevers kunskapsutveckling i ämnet samhällskunskap. Studien har gjorts ur ett årskurs 4–6 perspektiv. Studien tar sin grund i den sociokulturella teoribildningen, där tanken om lärande i samspel, och lärande genom medierande verktyg, är av vikt. En kvalitativ metod har använts för studien. För att belysa lärarnas uppfattningar av motiverande och kunskapsutvecklande metoder har kvalitativa intervjuer använts. Efter genomförda intervjuer, bearbetades materialet och analys samt kodning gjordes. Resultatet visar att lärarnas uppfattningar om vilka metoder som motiverar elever och vilka metoder som anses kunskapsutvecklande i stora drag handlar om att eleverna gynnas av ett varierat arbetssätt där det ingår att de får dela med sig utav sina tankar och idéer genom bland annat grupparbete, diskussioner och praktiskt arbete. Slutsatsen av studien är att lärarnas uppfattningar av vad det är som motiverar och utvecklar elevernas kunskaper till stora delar stämmer överens med vad forskning säger. Det är därmed av stor vikt att som lärare vara medveten om vad det är som motiverar eleverna för att en faktisk kunskapsutveckling ska ske. / The civic education contains subjects that is supposed to prepare pupils to become democratic citizens. To be able to fulfil that goal it is important for teachers to give the pupils opportunities to learn about it. The aim of this study is therefore to examine which methods teachers apprehend to be successful for pupil’s knowledge development and their motivation in civics education. This study has been done in the perspective of the Swedish primary school. The study is based on the sociocultural learning theory, where learning in cooperation, and learning through mediating tools is important. A qualitative method has been used for this study. To acknowledge the teacher’s perceptions about motivating and knowledge development, this study has used qualitive interviews. After the interviews were done, the material was processed and analyzed, furthermore a coding was done. The result showed that the teacher’s perception about which methods that motivates the pupils and which methods that are knowledge developing was that they should vary their teaching. For example, the pupils should be in an environment where they can share their thoughts and ideas through working in groups, discussions, and practical tasks. The conclusion of this study is that the teacher’s perceptions of what is considered motivating and knowledge developing mainly agrees with what research says. There it is important for teachers to be aware of what motivates pupils for an actual knowledge development to happen.

A trending national concern is the increasing number of English language learners (ELL) who are being reclassified as long-term English language learners (LTELL) instead of progressing to the general education classroom. This trend is a local problem for the study elementary schools. Guided by sociocultural learning theory that outlined ESL best instructional practices, the purpose of this case study was to examine the instructional practices of elementary ESL teachers. Ten ESL teachers from each grade level from 1st to 5th grades were interviewed and observed. Analysis and organization of the data through its transcription and coding led to the emergence of 5 themes: sociocultural best practices, sociocultural deficiencies, other practices, district ESL program, and teacher needs. Findings included that the district ESL program was not executed with fidelity, there was a need for teacher think-alouds during instruction, and teachers were not consistently implementing decoding strategies with ESL students. A white paper was developed to share the findings with district leaders regarding maintaining fidelity of the ESL program by training teachers, providing necessary resources and other factors related to student success. Increasing the learning and language acquisition of the ESL students within the district may produce an overall positive social impact on society by increasing students' ability to contribute in their communities.