The present study examined the developing intercultural competence of pre-service English language teachers (ELTs). The nine (9) participants in this study were students within a short-term teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) certification course who engaged in IC exchanges with culturally diverse English language learners (ELLs) within an intensive English program (IEP). The IC exchanges were held once a week over the course of a six-week period. The foci of the IC exchanges were on concepts of cross-cultural understanding in general, and culturally diverse practices within teaching and learning specifically. The purpose of the study was to research how the participant pre-service teachers conceptualized their developing IC competence across the features of attitude, knowledge, and skills (Spitzberg and Chagnon, 2009), as well as their understanding of how to self-direct their IC competence independently. Data were collected through qualitative phenomenographic interview methods before, during, and after the IC exchanges. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, analyzed and categorized under IC features as expressed by the participants. Excerpts of the interviews are presented along with analyses that connect findings to literature of IC competence within educational contexts and second and foreign language teaching, as well as interpretations and discussion by the researcher. The study applied social-cultural theoretical concept of mediation, seeing all human action as subject to multiple interpretations (Eun and Lim, 2009), as well as zone of proximal development (ZPD) that advances the position of learning through interaction and collective engagement between the learner and more capable peers as essential to the learning process (Lantolf and Poehner, 2014). Through analysis of the interviews, the participants expressed benefits of the IC exchanges to their awareness and understanding of diverse cultural practices, specifically within teaching and learning. Participants also expressed a greater self-reflective and ethnorelative stance of their C1, as well as a more developed ability to articulate C1 practices. Additionally, participants discussed a greater understanding of how to foster an environment of cooperative engagement with ELLs within the second/foreign language classroom concerning cultural practices and perspectives. Lastly, analysis revealed the participants' initial understandings and challenges of how to continue developing their IC competence independently. The current study points to the importance of guiding pre-service teachers to develop deeper and more complex understandings of culture. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2017. / April 10, 2017. / cultural synergy, culture, foreign and second language, Intercultural competence, teacher education, TESOL / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeffrey Milligan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michael Leeser, University Representative; Peter Easton, Committee Member; Mostafa Papi, Committee Member.

Orientador: Célia Regina Rossi / Banca: Tania Fator / Banca: Hamilton Edio dos Santos Vieira / Resumo: O presente estudo utiliza a abordagem qualitativa sociodramática para a reflexão da temática da diversidade com professores(as) e coordenadores(as) em uma instituição escolar da rede pública estadual de ensino no interior de São Paulo. O objetivo dessa pesquisa é propor o Sociodrama, método composto de técnicas de ação que auxiliam o desenvolvimento das relações humanas, para compreender como o tema da diversidade emerge para os/as professores/as e o que isso revela sobre o tema e sobre o método sociodramático. O sociodrama enquanto método de pesquisa visa compreender e, ao mesmo tempo, atuar nos processos grupais por meio da ação. Essa atuação viabiliza aos grupos a possibilidade de darem novas respostas e encontrarem saídas mais saudáveis para suas situações-conflito. Nesse estudo, a estrutura e composição dramática do sociodrama permitiu insights profundos a respeito dos papéis assumidos por cada um no exercício da profissão, promovendo um pensar e questionar dentro de outras possibilidades, que nunca haviam pensado e problematizado, o que possibilitou refletir sobre a diversidade com mais amplitude e lançando possibilidades de atuar diferentemente na instituição escolar. / Abstract: The present study will use the qualitative sociodramatic methodology in order to promote a joint reflection about diversity with teachers and coordinators in a public school in São Paulo's inland city. The purpose of this research is to present Sociodrama, a method composed of action techniques which help improving human relations, to understand how diversity emerges for the teachers and what this reveals about the issue and the sociodramatic method. Sociodrama as a research methodology aims to understand, as well as to work inside the group processes by acting. This action allows the groups to give new answers and find healthier ways to their conflict situations. In this study, Sociodrama's dramatic composition and structure offered deep insights regarding the roles taken by each individual in the course of their profession, stimulating them to think and question about possibilities they had never thought and problematized, which made it possible to reflect upon diversity more broadly and offering possibilities to act differently in the school institution / Mestre

This dissertation is about an approach to music teacher education that attempts to prepare pre-service music teachers to find employment while also preparing them to improve the realities of school teaching and learning for themselves and their students. Approaches to music teacher education in the United States have moved from broad one-size-fits-all approaches to specialized approaches that track music education majors into vocal, instrumental, and general music specialties. And at some universities, music teacher educators have considered what it might mean to prepare music education students for state licensure policies that favor all-encompassing licenses, (i.e., P–12 Music, and a marketplace that increasingly seeks broadly qualified teachers). To learn more about the latter approach, East Coast University’s music teacher education program was identified through purposeful selection for examination via intrinsic case study. Through snowball sampling, five faculty members were selected for teaching observations and interviews. In addition, focus groups of student and alumni (self-selected through volunteer sampling) helped develop my understanding and description of the case, and identification of a resultant, overarching theme. The research was focused through Biesta’s three domains of educational purpose beginning with the formation of research questions in each Biestian domain: qualification, socialization, and subjectification. The overarching theme presented in this dissertation involves a dualistic approach to music teacher education: East Coast University prepares music teachers with the skills to win and keep the job and to be change agents capable of improving their educational landscapes. As a result of my research and lengthy field engagement, I believe the preparation ECU music education students receive can be expressed as the tension between broad preparation and a personal orientation. It’s not a universal preparation; rather, it’s the ability to move flexibly across large educational domains, and at the same time, develop a kind of personal orientation that is connected to the particular. This connection is the particularness of who they are as teachers, their own biographies—the lives that they’ve lived, and the specifics of how they’ve lived those lives. In fact, that’s the beginning of a justice-based approach—to know oneself and to be able to work strategically within the particulars of a community. Throughout this intrinsic case study, my own pre-service and in-service teaching stories are interwoven with the participants’ stories in ways that are intended to address my positionality, contextualize the theoretical framework, and examine more deeply emergent research understandings. Recommendations are made for future research and practice, and a final personal reflection considers my still evolving approach to music teacher education and how it was influenced by this study.

Research indicates that too often the newest teachers do not receive the support and development they need to serve their students well, especially in the hardest-to-staff schools in the highest poverty communities. The purpose of this modified case study was to examine the perceptions of whether, what, and how early career teachers learned from their peer mentoring experience, seeking to illuminate their voices. The following data collection methods were utilized to achieve triangulation: (a) initial one-on-one in-depth interviews to gauge participant perspectives and a second interview to explore further areas of interest after analysis of the first interview, (b) teacher evaluation report to determine the alignment between written supervisory feedback and peer mentoring support, (c) An examination of public documents for each school, with a specific focus on the school’s climate and culture and learning environment. Participants included 10 early career teachers in a 3K-12 public school district in New York City, who were in their first to fourth year of teaching. Results indicated that beginning teachers perceived that they learned strategies, techniques, and instructional methods from their mentors; however, they lacked information to help them navigate the technical aspects of their jobs. Future studies should explore how to leverage all stakeholders within a school community to support the transition of early career teachers into the profession.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of 13 informal teacher leaders who participated in a three-year (district-sponsored and job-embedded) developmentally intentional leadership institute (DILI) and to learn how, if at all, the DILI helped them develop and apply leadership skills, as they continued in their primary roles as teachers. The DILI at the center of my study aimed to develop leadership capacity as a way to overcome barriers to teacher leadership that are described in the literature. I found three features of the DILI that supported this: 1) Using best practices in professional development; 2) Administrators’ participation alongside their teachers; 3) A developmentally intentional curriculum based on Learning-Oriented Leadership. I utilized an exploratory case study methodology, including a district-wide survey of 67 teachers to understand the context of the research site and 34 hours of interviews with three sets of participants including the 13 teachers who completed the three-year DILI, 3 teachers who partially completed the DILI (i.e. completed one or two years), 3 principals and 3 district administrators who directly supervised the teacher leaders. I came to three clusters of findings. First, the DILI created a holding environment for participants (i.e., supported and challenged them, while remaining in place longitudinally) (13/13) which they utilized as a support to their learnings and leadership practice. Second, participants engaged in three perspective shifts [i.e., on themselves (13/13), on the nature of leadership (9/13), and on the utility of collaboration (13/13)]. Third, all 13 teachers transferred their learnings from the DILI to assume acts of leadership in their schools. This included assuming formal leadership responsibilities (13/13), feeling more empowered (13/13) and feeling less stress, even as they took on greater responsibilities (10/13). Moreover, the administrators reported that the teacher leaders positively influenced the district, as they created a “ripple effect” and “lifted the bar” to elevate expectations, professionalism, and practices of collaboration. Implications of my study address the use of this approach (i.e., DILI) by districts to foster teacher leadership, even amidst school cultures of egalitarian norms. These teacher leaders helped to shift culture by driving instructional improvement. Thus, districts can better address increased standards, greater expectations, and other challenges that place too many demands on school administrators to lead alone.

Mentoring has the potential to benefit preservice, new teachers, and experienced teachers, but it is a complex process with few agreements about what might make it most effective. Furthermore, due to teacher demographics affecting the availability of veteran teachers, mentors are consequently drawn from various career points, and some of them have few years of teaching experience. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the complexities of mentoring, particularly of the role that age, experience, and situational factors might play in their work. To pursue this study, I used these research questions: What are the goals and approaches of these six mentors in mentoring new teachers? How do these six mentors carry out that approach? How are mentors’ perspectives impacted by situational factors within a formal program such as working conditions and expectations? I examined mentors’ perspectives about their experiences to give insight as to how to develop the overall support structure of formal mentoring for new teachers. Through in‐depth qualitative research interviews and document analysis, I investigated mentors’ perspectives on their particular set of experiences within a formal mentoring program. Through inductive analysis, my study yielded information about whether and how mentors at different career points identify and understand their mentoring. Even though I anticipated experience would impact the goals and approaches of mentors, my first key finding was that these mentors with varying amounts of teaching experience shared similar goals and approaches. The second key finding was that situational and programmatic factors supported collaboration among the mentors and supported the development of common goals and a common approach. The third key finding was that the structure of the VA program helped to foster collective responsibility for the new teachers amongst the mentor team, and this may have reinforced the mentors’ similar goals and approaches. Given these findings that years of teaching experience may not always be a critical factor in mentors’ approaches, this study shows the potential importance of shared experience and socialization within a mentor team, and scaffolding within a mentoring program.

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