Global competence--a necessary attribute in an increasingly interconnected world--describes having the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to act creatively and collaboratively on important global issues. In urban settings comprised of racial, ethnic, and/or linguistic-minority students, especially, a logical but seemingly underutilized facilitator of global competence would be instruction that draws from students’ funds of knowledge--the home-based practices central to a household’s functioning and well-being. In response to a need for deepened insight into how these concepts may interact in practice, the goal of this qualitative study was to better understand the experience of urban teachers as global competence educators, specifically, the extent to which they consider and utilize their students’ funds of knowledge in developing global competence. In this study, 30 Boston area teachers were interviewed using a semi-structured protocol to draw out their understandings of students’ funds of knowledge and their awareness of how these funds of knowledge might be used to further the development of global competence. Data produced in this study were analyzed through a multi-phase thematic coding process. A conceptual framework built upon existing definitions of global competence and funds of knowledge was developed to inform the design and methodology of this study, and was used as a guide for viewing and understanding the produced data. The two major findings of this study were that: (1) teachers, while seemingly able and willing to talk about global competence and funds of knowledge in relation to their students, did not seem to synthesize (or speak about their synthesis of) these concepts in practice, and, (2) in teacher interviews, potential global competence-supporting funds of knowledge were most often recognized in immigrant and/or economically privileged White students. The potential global competence-supporting funds of knowledge possessed by non-immigrant, minority, and presumably, low-income students were not routinely recognized or accessed.

Pluralities of people s crossings of the Mekong Thai-Lao border occur as locals subvert, reject, ignore, and embrace the logic of the national border. From a state-centric point of view, the everyday movements of these people, who rely mainly on a subsistence economy and have their own modes of crossing, are undocumented. I argue that people s mobility co-exists with the practice of sedentary assumption. The aim of this thesis is to promote theory related to the Third Space in Borderland Studies by the presentation and analysis of people s pluralities in border-crossings. The borderland area of Khong Chiam (Thailand)-Sanasomboun (Lao PDR) is the location of an in-between state in which spatial negotiations, temporal negotiations, and negotiations of political subjectivities contribute to the nature of mobility in the Third Space. To achieve the objective of this thesis, ethnographic methodology was used over six months of fieldwork from March to September 2016, and included participant observations, interviews and essay-readings that involved 110 participants in the borderland site. People s movements across the Mekong River border occur daily without formal state approval. From the perspective of the Thai Ban, the river is a lived space in which they catch food and use for transport. However, their interpretation of the Mekong as the state boundary does not completely disappear. This thesis examines the everyday banal pluralities of the Thai Ban s border-crossings by weaving together the three concepts of space, temporality, and negotiations of political subjectivities. The spatial and temporal negotiations involved in the border-crossings shape and are shaped by this other interpretation of the Mekong as a lived space, and different political subjectivities contribute to the pluralities of the crossings. The presentation of these pluralities of border-crossings adds to Borderland Studies specifically and the social sciences in general in the development of an understanding of the Third Space. As this thesis focuses on people s mobility at quasi-state checkpoints and in areas along the Mekong Thai-Lao border with no border checkpoints, it is suggested that future research examines the everyday practices of border-crossings at land borders.

abstract: Parent involvement in their children’s education has been a frequently sought after and highly regarded component in education that has repeatedly been identified as a significant influence that contributes to children’s success in school. Historically, Latino parent involvement has been markedly low in the United States. Researchers’ interest in Latino parents’ involvement in their children’s education has been spurred by this low level of involvement coupled with reports of significant differences in educational achievement between Latino students and students of other ethnic backgrounds. Perceptions of self-efficacy and role construction have been identified as motivators for parent involvement. The purpose of this action research study was to examine the relationship between the Espacio Iluminado Parent Engagement Program as a nontraditional Latino parent involvement opportunity and parents’ perceptions of self-efficacy and role construction as it pertains to supporting the education of their children. The foundation of the program was developed utilizing Third Space Theory (Bhabha, 1994) to generate a framework that had the potential to serve as a model for future parent involvement programs that validated the knowledge of diverse cultures and discourses and encouraged a mediation of the two. Participants’ ratings of Role Construction and Self-Efficacy were significantly improved after their involvement in the parent program. Participants also felt strongly that the program was personally valuable and useful. Future direction might include a longitudinal study to track the academic progress of children of the participants. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2017

abstract: Implementing an assimilative agenda within the traditional U.S. education system has prevented the authentic inclusion, validation, and development of American Indian students. The enduring ramifications, including the loss of cultural identity, underscored the critical need to decolonize, or challenge, the historic assimilative agenda of the school space. The purpose of this action research study was to examine the connection between the cultural exploration activities of Culture Club, cultural identity, and the creation of a Third Space to serve as a decolonizing framework for this Indigenous program conducted within a school space. The epistemological perspective guiding this study was that of constructionism. The theoretical frameworks were post-colonial theory, Indigenous methodology, and, most prominently, Third Space theory. A thorough review of Third Space theory resulted in deduction of four criteria deemed to be necessary for creating a Third Space. These four theoretically-deduced criteria were (a) creating new knowledge, (b) reclaiming and reinscribing hegemonic notions of identity and school, (c) creating new or hybrid identities, and (d) developing more inclusive perspectives. The criteria were employed to create the Culture Club innovation and to determine whether a Third Space was effectively created within Culture Club. This qualitative action research study focused on the Culture Club innovation, an after-school, cultural exploration, extracurricular program for sixth-grade American Indian students, at a Title I school in a large southwest metropolitan area. The participants were five, sixth-grade American Indian students. The role of the researcher was to facilitate a Third Space within Culture Club, as well as collect and analyze data. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews; recorded Culture Club sessions; phase 3, and research journal entries. Once the data were transcribed, eclectic coding methodology, consisting of open, descriptive, and in vivo coding was employed and interpretive analysis procedures followed. Findings showed modest changes in participants’ cultural identities but confirmed the creation of a Third Space within Culture Club. Findings have important implications for both practice and future research. Recommendations for improving and sustaining the decolonizing framework of Culture Club to create safe spaces for American Indian students and their explorations of their Indigeneity are also proposed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2017

This qualitative research follows narrative enquiry principles and explores the implications of studying abroad for overseas doctoral students’ identity evolution. The research argues for the legitimacy of the concept that views identity as a state that evolves over time and across space as it undergoes ambivalence and emancipation (Bhabha 2004; Hall, 1990; Rutherford, 1990). The inquiry was informed by the data collected from in-depth interviews of eight overseas doctoral students from seven nationalities, three academic disciplines, and at different stages in their Ph.D. research. They were individually interviewed four times with an interval of three months in between from 2011 to 2012. The narratives concerning their learning and living experience, interpreted in the light of academic, personal, social, and cultural and national aspects of life, contextualise the participants and reveal their identity evolution and hybrid identities. Findings address dynamics of the Ph.D. journey, supervisory issues, socio-economic factors, national and cultural identities developed overseas, change over time and across space, and impact of being involved in this study. These findings reveal that the overseas doctoral students’ doctoral journey is extraordinary in that it reflects a period of time that is dynamic and destabilizing; it can pose the risk of a loss of cultural identity; it can be transactional; it reveals the family as a strong support system; it illustrates that global awareness is fluid that the social life can undergo ambivalence and emancipation from social codes and cultural norms, and that hybrid identities have various forms. The implications of this study are that there is no linear progression in identity evolution, that being empowering is not always the result of hybrid identities, that a past-present-future dynamic emerges to facilitate identity evolution, and that an overseas doctoral education is part of a personal life spectrum. My study underscores the value of the role of a holistic supervisor that unifies the roles of a mentor and an advisor; indicates that Ph.D. host institution is advised to see overseas doctoral students as more than ‘students’ but as whole persons developing under different circumstances; and, problematises the notion of objectivity in conducting a research study such as this one in which the advantage of empathy outweighs the risks of subjectivity. I distinguished between what I found to be particular to overseas students as compared to observations that I found to be applicable to all doctoral students. While Ph.D. phases, student-Ph.D. relationship, additional requirements and work during the Ph.D. process, supervisor issues, and identity presentation, shifts, and management were indicative of the general doctoral students’ learning and living experiences, writing concerns, socio-economic factors that involved home country situations, friendship sought in a different context, socio-cultural adjustment, and cultural and national identities were signposts of the doctoral student with overseas status. Most importantly, my study suggests that overseas doctoral students are distinct and worth studying and their identities were responsible for a myriad of situations for them to evolve.

Abstract The current stage of early years information and communication technology (ICT) integration research has been criticized for not paying enough attention to the unique pedagogical features of early childhood education. Similarly, children’s views about educational use of ICT have been underrepresented in research. This dissertation study contributes to resolving these gaps in the literature by exploring children’s ideas and preservice teachers’ beliefs regarding the role of ICT in early childhood education. The study consists of two data sets that are reported in three empirical articles. The first study focused on children’s ideas and their contextual roots. The second study explored preservice teachers’ beliefs about children and ICT at home. The third study investigated preservice teachers’ perceptions of ICT integration through the frames of teaching, education, and care, referred to as the EDUCARE approach. In this compilation, the findings of the empirical studies are scrutinized through the analytical device of third space theory. The findings suggest that there is a dissonance between the meanings children and preservice teachers give to ICT use. Children conceptualized ICT use as a leisure activity whereas preservice teachers approached ICT mainly through learning. The findings also imply that although EDUCARE has been described as a holistic framework in the context of ICT integration, the framework acts as a disintegrating vehicle: When ICT integration was approached from the perspective of teaching, the views were mainly positive. When the perspective was changed to care, the views were profoundly negative. Care-related concerns were associated with preservice teachers’ beliefs about children’s use of ICT at home being extensive and unregulated. Another exaggerated belief was considering children born-competent ICT users. The results of this study have several implications for early childhood education, as well as preservice teacher education. To make ICT pedagogy truly meaningful for children, ICT should be approached as a cultural form, and space should be given for children’s views, values, and experiences. Additionally, educational technology courses need to pay more attention to aspects of care, as well as to preservice teachers’ often unrealistic beliefs about children and technology. / Tiivistelmä Varhaiskasvatuksen kontekstissa tehty teknologiaintegraatiotutkimus ei ole huomioinut riittävästi varhaiskasvatuksen pedagogisia erityispiirteitä. Myös lasten näkemykset ovat jääneet vähälle huomiolle. Tutkimukseni vastaa tähän tarpeeseen selvittämällä lasten ideoita ja lastentarhanopettajaopiskelijoiden uskomuksia tieto- ja viestintäteknologian roolista varhaiskasvatuksessa. Tutkimusta varten kerättiin kaksi aineistoa ja tulokset on raportoitu kolmessa artikkelissa. Ensimmäinen osatutkimus keskittyi lasten ideoihin ja niiden mediakulttuurisiin juuriin. Toisessa osatutkimuksessa selvitettiin opettajaopiskelijoiden uskomuksia siitä, miten lapset käyttävät tieto- ja viestintäteknologiaa kotona. Kolmannen osatutkimuksen kohteena oli opetuksen, kasvatuksen ja hoidon kehysten (EDUCARE-malli) roolit ja merkitykset opettajaopiskelijoiden teknologiaintegraatiokäsityksissä. Yhteenveto-osiossa tuloksia tarkastellaan kolmannen tilan teorian kautta. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että lasten ja opettajaopiskelijoiden tieto- ja viestintäteknologialle antavat merkitykset eroavat toisistaan. Lapset suhtautuvat tieto- ja viestintäteknologian käyttöön viihteenä, mutta opettajaopiskelijat käsitteellistävät sen oppimisen ja opettamisen välineenä. Tulokset osoittavat myös, että vaikka EDUCARE-malli kuvataan eheyttävänä viitekehyksenä, teknologiaintegraation tapauksessa sillä on myös hajottava ulottuvuus. Kun teknologiaintegraatiota tarkasteltiin opetuskehyksen kautta, näkemykset olivat myönteisiä. Kun näkökulma vaihtui hoitopainotteiseksi, näkemykset muuttuivat huomattavan kielteisiksi. Hoitokehyksen kautta tuotetut huolet kumpusivat uskomuksista, että lapset käyttävät liikaa tieto- ja viestintäteknologiaa kotona. Toinen yleinen uskomus oli, että lapset ovat syntyjään taitavia tieto- ja viestintäteknologian käyttäjiä. Tutkimuksen tulokset ovat merkityksellisiä sekä varhaiskasvatuksen pedagogiikan että opettajankoulutuksen kannalta. Jotta tieto-ja viestintäteknologiaa hyödyntävä pedagoginen toiminta on lapsille merkityksellistä, tulee tieto- ja viestintäteknologiaa käsitellä (media)kulttuurisena ilmiönä ja toiminnassa tulee olla tilaa lasten näkemyksille ja kokemuksille. Opettajankoulutuksessa tulee kiinnittää huomiota hoitokehyksen huomioimiseen sekä opettajaopiskelijoiden usein epärealistisiin uskomuksiin lapsista ja teknologiasta.

Nunavut Inuit youths exhibit cultural resilience and leadership. However, researchers frequently neglect such assets and instead emphasize these youths’ challenges or perceived inadequacies. I conducted an intrinsic case study regarding Nunavut Inuit youths’ experiences with an experiential learning program, Northern Youth Abroad (NYA), in order to investigate participants’ growth in cross-cultural awareness, individual career goals, leadership, and global citizenship. Drawing on post-colonial theory, semi-structured interviews, archival research, and participant observation, I argue that NYA’s Nunavut Inuit participants reported significant personal growth in these four objectives. I also provide an in-depth analysis of how NYA’s Nunavut Inuit participants described and developed distinct and rich leadership styles that draw on Inuit and Euro-Canadian influences.

The aim of this knowledge overview is to compile research about the informal learning ofadolescents working with visual culture and how informal knowledge gained by students in their freetime can be connected to formal art education. A systematic search process resulted in nine peerreviewed articles published between 2000 and 2020. The results describe how the informal learningof adolescents is often connected to interests and occurs in communities which often exist in onlinespaces. Strategies used in informal learning consist of learning through observation, practice, andexperimenting. To connect students' informal knowledge to what happens in the classroom, a thirdspace may be facilitated by including student interests in the teaching and creating online spaces forstudents to share their visual work and give each other feedback. The conclusion stresses theimportance of allowing students to use informal knowledge gained through interests in formaleducation.

This thesis explores the identity construction of migrants in different generations andcircumstances as they are represented in the novels Piccola Sicilia and Jaffa Road by DanielSpeck through narratives. Through an ethnographic narrative analysis with a focus onstorytelling, macro, meso and micro-structures of identity formation are identified to gain insightsinto the identity construction in relation to familial history of three main characters. In doing sothis thesis uncovers how narratives of family history are used in the continuous identityconstruction of migrants in and between generations and how the macro, meso and microstructures influence these narratives of identity. This study therefore provides a comparativeanalysis with a focus on change over time and throughout generation, as well as in differentcontexts that are however interconnected through a single family history. Special attention will bepaid to the construction of senses of belonging and unbelonging within individual identitiesconstructed in the third space, where migrants and their children negotiate their identities throughboth values from home and destination cultures and societies, to explore the concept of hybrididentities of migrants and their families.

This study focuses on a Facebook group utilized by secondary English teachers during the initial crisis period of COVID 19, defined as March 2020-June 2020. During this period, teacher participants used this Facebook group as a community of practice to re-envision pedagogy, using social media as a third space in which to have discussions with other teachers, either to seek help or to share resources. After a qualitative content analysis of 630 initial posts, 14,500 comments, and 13,539 reactions, three themes were determined. Teachers used the Facebook group to re-envision pedagogy by discussing texts and related activities, teachers sought strategies for lessons to implement during a pandemic; by offering a forum for discussion about ethical considerations of social justice and school responsibility, the teachers sought a space to talk openly about how to respond to current events; and by serving as a space for solidarity and support among fellow English teachers, the teachers supported each other through change.