In an increasing globalized society, the number of professionals, including teachers working in foreign countries has increased. Additionally, the growing diversity in U.S. schools today and the added challenge of equipping students with 21st century skills has necessitated the recruitment of international teachers in U.S. public schools. Although state agencies use the recruitment of international teachers as a way to enhance the global awareness of high school graduates and specifically their knowledge of other cultures, little is known about international teachers' transition to teaching in the U.S. / This study aims at enhancing an understanding of the experiences of international teachers in U.S. public schools in order to interrogate transitional challenges and ruminate on implications for educational leadership. Using a narrative research design eight teachers narrate their stories of transition, adjustment and negotiation. These stories inform the reader about the different identity transitional resources that international teachers utilize as they negotiate who they are as teachers in a foreign space.

The present study is a narrative inquiry into the experience of 9 international graduate students' critical reflection on the practices of their TESOL graduate discourse community, participation modes, and the negotiation process. This study created a space for the NNESs to reflect and articulate their own inquiries about the discourse and their socialization process in The TESOL field. This study also describes the multitude of obstacles NNES ESL teachers overcome in developing the power of their minds. / The importance of this study is that it explores the TESOL discourse community as one of the sources that may contribute to empower/disempowered NNEST in the TESOL field. In other words, it is looking at the TESOL discourse community of prospective teachers as a potential locus for in interactions that can be observed influencing their socialization process. / Data collected during the year of 2009 included one in depth individual interview with 6 of my participants, and two rounds of interviews with a focus group which include 3 of my participants. The benefit of having two interviews in this study was to generate collective dialogue in order to support participants in reconstructing their experiences. / The findings of this study reveal that the international graduate students' perceptions of their respective TESOL graduate programs were varied, depending on the availability of assistance, support, and equal opportunities. Furthermore, when they could relate what they learned, based on their personal experiences and their future teaching environments, their perceptions of their discourse communities were positive, and their academic discourse socialization processes progressed. Academic discourse socialization processes, however, were not only social and political, but also personal and individual. Nevertheless, this study found that international graduate students in the U.S.-based TESOL discourse communities do not simply embrace the practices and knowledge of their discourse communities; rather, they negotiate, resist, and strategize.

The purpose of this case study was to isolate and document descriptive data on a community college-to-university teacher recruitment partnership. The partnership was described by analyzing archived documents, by discerning the perceptions of participants' experiences, and by reporting post-program survey data. The study was limited to one collaborative partnership in the Community College Teaching Scholars Program (CCTSP), which was part of the Texas A&M University System Regents' Initiative for Excellence in Education. / Originally, the program consisted of nine community college-to-university partnerships designed to help prepare a sufficient number of quality teachers for Texas school. The CCTSP was one core strategy in the Regents' Initiative designed to recruit and support students at partnering community colleges as they matriculated into nearby Texas A&M University System universities until 2006 when the program concluded. During its five-year grant-supported period, the system-wide CCTSP experienced significant accomplishments, including an increase in the number of community college transfers into teaching fields. One partnership was studied through intensity sampling because it had (a) reached the cohort goal of 40 students, (b) a high teacher employment rate, and (c) reached a program objective to recruit teachers to high-need teaching fields. Data collection occurred during the summer of 2010. / Multiple data sources provided information about several areas. Document analysis yielded valuable data concerning the recruitment and support functions of the program. CCTSP participants provided responses through telephone interviews as they shared their perceptions about the program. The National Association of Secondary School Principals Teacher Satisfaction Survey collected demographic and statistical data from graduates who became teachers. Collected qualitative data were triangulated while answering the central question of the study: What are the characteristics of successful community college-to-university teacher recruitment programs? Findings from qualitative and quantitative data revealed prominent themes and participant qualities that were reported in a descriptive narrative. Program planners would benefit from data in the development of future teacher recruitment programs. Conclusions indicated that similar partnerships would be an effective, efficient manner for recruiting teachers.

The importance of parental involvement in schools has been the focus of numerous studies (Cotton & Mann, 1994; Hoover-Dempsey & Sadler, 1997; McDermott & Rothenberg, 2000; Trotman, 2001; Epstein & Sanders, 2009). Many of these same studies correlate student achievement with parental involvement and suggest that student achievement is improved when parents are involved in their children's schools. In spite of this positive effect, school involvement continues to be low in many inner-city schools where a large number of parents are ethnic minorities whose socio-economic status is low (Cotton, 2000). Included in this group are the parents of inner-city gifted middle school students. / The purpose of this study was to investigate, evaluate, and determine, from the perspective of a group of inner-city parents of gifted middle school students, factors that foster, or deter, their involvement in their children's schools. Of the plethora of studies that have been conducted on parental involvement, few have focused specifically on school involvement by inner-city parents of gifted adolescents. A survey was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. / Findings revealed that among the major factors that fostered school involvement was a school atmosphere that was inviting, friendly, and caring. A major deterrent to the participants' involvement was the school's failure to communicate with them.

This qualitative study provides illustrations embedded in case studies of four focal preservice English teachers and illuminates how they negotiated dilemmas related to linguistically informed principles (LIP) and folk beliefs about language (FBL). The study addresses gaps in what researchers know about how to support new teachers as they negotiate understandings about language from their coursework, pre-existing beliefs, field experiences and ongoing practice. By describing the complex phenomenon of preservice teachers' engagement with LIP---and the dilemmas related to enacting these LIP---this study offers a starting place for designing experiences and assessments that provide intersections among language-related domains, such as the teaching of writing, language study, and culturally responsive classroom interactions. / Focusing on preservice English teachers' dilemmas in practice, this study's results include over twenty contextualized illustrations of preservice teachers' classroom interactions, generated from a 1½ year study that followed prospective teachers from coursework into student teaching. Drawing on case study methodology, the study incorporated qualitative and discourse analytic methods to establish dense description of the phenomenon of preservice teachers' negotiation of the conflicts between LIP and FBL. These methods included prolonged engagement with participants, a semi-structured interview protocol, focused observation, and key artifacts of participants' written work. / Results describe language-related dilemmas in English language arts classrooms and linguistic and discourse analytic concepts that grounded participants' responses to these dilemmas. The illustrations exemplify how participants engaged with LIP that enabled them to resist deficit ideologies in their interactions and ways of talking with and about students; how participants responded to unexpected moments of language complexity; and how they negotiated language-related dilemmas, engaging with standard language ideologies and obstacles to discussing language and race in relation to power. Pointing to future possibilities for addressing the complexity of teaching situations, this dissertation calls for teacher preparation to provide new teachers with flexible, adaptable approaches to engaging with linguistic principles in their teaching.

We know little about how English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) preservice teachers' prior experiences and beliefs shape their learning process in teacher preparation programs, particularly in the area of second language (L2) reading instruction although research on preservice teachers' antecedents has offered insights into our understanding of how they learn to become teachers (Johnson, 1992, 1994; Wilson, Floden, & Ferrini-Mundy, 2001). This inquiry was designed to contribute to such knowledge. / The participants were nine ESOL pre-service teachers enrolled in an ESOL program of a large urban university in the southeastern region of the United States. Using modified versions of Language Teaching/Learning Beliefs Questionnaire (Brown & Rogers, 2002), of Multidimensional TESL Theoretical Orientation Profile (Johnson, 1992) and of the Theoretical Orientation of Reading Profile (Deford, 1985), reflective essays submitted during admission, observations, interviews, videotapings, and focus group, the study explored answers to questions regarding the influence of ESOL preservice teachers' antecedents on their learning in coursework and field experiences over three semesters. The inquiry stemmed from the framework of constructivism (Crotty, 1998), of introspection and retrospection (Scarino, 2005), and of How People Learn (Donovan & Bransford, 2005). Data were analyzed using grounded theory and constant comparative techniques (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). / Findings indicated that faculty used various strategies to address teacher candidates' background for conceptual change and development of professional dispositions. Programmatic decisions to select teacher candidates with specific background in learning an L2 were beneficial but teacher preparation programs may need additional instruments to tap candidates' entering beliefs more effectively. Although some aspects of the participants' prior experiences were not beneficial, these experiences generally contributed to their understanding of ESOL education, visions of L2 instruction, and the development of professional dispositions as related to culturally responsive and socially just teaching in important ways. Also, participants' views of reading, visions of reading instruction, reading instruction in field experiences, and their understanding of literacy theory and pedagogy were primarily influenced by their first language reading experiences. Finally, participants were less confident in articulating a vision of L2 reading instruction because of limited L2 reading prior experiences.

English language education officially started in Japanese elementary schools in 2009. Homeroom teachers, whether experienced or not, are responsible for teaching the subject to students. Additionally, teachers are often required to team-teach with a native English speaker. It is plausible that Japanese teachers are anxious about teaching English. This study investigated Japanese teachers' English anxiety and its sources. Teachers' anxiety-coping strategies were also examined. English anxiety includes (a) anxiety about a teacher's own English proficiency and (b) anxiety about teaching English. There were 133 Japanese elementary school teachers participating in the present study, as well one native English teacher, and three in-service teacher trainers. The Teacher Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, 2008), the Situational Teaching Anxiety Scale, follow-up interviews, and a survey were used in this study. Data showed that 77.4% of teachers were anxious about their own English proficiency, and 90.2% of them were anxious about teaching English. The sources of anxiety included lack of experience and training for teaching English and lack of confidence in English communication. Teachers experienced two phases of anxiety, depending on their English teaching experience. The study also has educational implications for less-experienced teachers who have to understand that there are two phases of anxiety. Furthermore, support by the city board of education is important for diminishing teachers' anxiety. / Keywords: English language education, anxiety, elementary school, teacher

In this dissertation, the problem of early childhood teacher turnover is approached from the perspective of professional identity. During three-part semi-structured interviews with twelve highly-educated infant-toddler teachers working in NAEYC-accredited centers in a mid-Atlantic metropolitan area, participants shared information about their career decisions and professional identities. The participant teachers, who were more highly-educated than a representative sample would be, generally "fell into" the career without having had any pre-service training specific to working with infants and toddlers. Teachers described their jobs in terms of boredom and / or frustration, and found more value in experiential learning than from formal professional development opportunities. Teachers in this study self-identified as professional "teachers" while perceiving themselves to be other-identified as unskilled "day care workers." Teachers in this study did not view teaching infants and toddlers as a long-term career option. The findings suggest that the public's perception of infant-toddler teachers as unskilled workers may encourage highly-educated teachers to leave the profession. I use these findings to make recommendations for pre-service educators, administrators, and policymakers.

The purpose of this writing is to explore the relationship students have with popular media as well as the call to implement a Critical Media Skills course at the high school level. The research was interested in finding what images from popular media students were taking into their personal lives and how implementing a Critical Media Skills course could make positive benefits into their lives. From casual observations, informal student interviews, and the creation of an online survey in which 72 high school students participated I was able to collect data about the extent students were consuming popular media and how they believed that skills teaching them to analyze media would be beneficial. From these findings I was able to build upon Patricia Hill Collins (2009) to develop techniques for a classroom in which critical dialogue would be a focus. This exploratory study takes into account student voices, as well research from others in the field of Education and Media Literacy.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.