This study focused on preservice teachers at early childhood and elementary levels to identify prior beliefs they bring to their mathematics methods classes, how these beliefs affect their understandings about mathematics teaching and learning, and how these beliefs are reconstructed while engaged in a contructivist designed mathematics methods course. Data collected included in-depth student journal entries, personal histories of preservice teachers' prior mathematics experiences, and small group interviews. An interpretive analysis of the data identified emergent themes related to preservice teachers' beliefs about themselves as learners and teachers of mathematics and how these beliefs were reconstructed during the course. Five major themes were identified: preservice teachers prior beliefs and experiences; increased understandings about themselves as learners of mathematics; new learning about mathematical pedagogy; new or different ways of learning mathematics; and anger about their previous mathematics experiences.

The focus of this dissertation is to identify, analyze, and critique what I take to be a fundamental contradiction between the ideal mission of the university to serve as the site for the pursuit of truth and the function of Traditionalist humanities curriculums. I argue that because nationalist education makes it nearly impossible for students to engage in the critique of ideology, nationalist education is antithetical to the university's mission. With anything less than the ability to engage in this critique of ideology, there is no way that students can participate meaningfully in the ideal of the university. In the opening chapter I argue first, that the development and preservation of national culture stands in a dialectical relation to the preservation and contestation of national identity; second, that post-secondary education in the arts and humanities is largely education in the national culture; and third, that nationalism mediates the dialectical relation between national culture and national identity. In the second chapter I critique nationalism on the grounds that underlying every nationalist movement (including curricular Traditionalism) is a universalist project which denies the reality of complex personal identity formation. In the third chapter I show that the Traditionalist position (articulated by Bloom, D'Souza, and Searle) seeks to support through curricular control nationalist versions of culture and identity. In the fourth chapter I critique Marx's and Mannheim's theories of ideology since they seek to devise methods for evaluating ideology through epistemic standpoints removed from the site of the production of ideology. And thus I conclude this chapter by asserting that in order to be a critic of ideology one must struggle with and acknowledge multiple and complex social identities. In the final chapter I defend the claim that nationalist education undermines the process of teaching students to be critics of ideology since such an education prevents students from engaging the complexity of the encounter between the knowing subject and the object of knowledge. Moreover, I argue that a decidedly non-nationalist multicultural education offers the possibility of developing heterogeneous group identity without the deleterious consequences invariably brought forth by nationalism.

Students with difficulties learning foreign languages typically come to the university with a history of foreign language failure and native language problems. Often, a foreign language requirement is difficult to complete and is the cause of great anxiety for the learner with linguistic difficulties. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the participating university established a one-credit modified add-on course that at-risk students could take to receive extra support in Spanish. Selection of participants was made according to Ganschow and Sparks' (1991) Foreign Language Screening Instrument. “At-risk” students were asked to participate in the study or were recommended for enrollment into a learning assistance paired course. In this class, students were exposed to a variety of techniques that attempted to accommodate a diversity of learner needs. Results from quantitative measures of change in perceptions of Spanish language tasks over time were inconclusive; on pre- and post-instruction similarities ratings, subjects weighted tasks in a uniform fashion along four interpretable dimensions. To further explore the effectiveness of a modified support course, additional qualitative data were collected on student satisfaction questionnaires and on learner reflection essays throughout the course. Final semester grades and grades on in-class performance measures in the foreign language were also examined to support the notion of inclusion in the foreign language classroom. Findings from this study revealed that such a course had positive effects on the learners, and that the learners benefited from adjustments to the foreign language pedagogy. However, it may not take an extra, learning assistance paired course to achieve these effects. Results from a survey of 27 instructors of Spanish and Portuguese revealed that the teachers are both willing and able to implement such teaching strategies so as to create an inclusive atmosphere that appeals to the needs of all learners. This study showed that incorporating such teaching strategies into the regular Spanish classroom as a part of the course design can effectively provide an alternative to the course waiver and substitution model of accommodation, and that triangulation in the research methodology provides a more complete portrait of the at-risk learner's foreign language learning experience.

The geographic landscape of this study is the Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic, also known by its French name Laos. Located in Southeast Asia, the Lao PDR is one of the six remaining socialist countries in the world. During my fieldwork in the Lao PDR, I facilitated a process of action research with a group of Lao INGO workers. I used qualitative research methods to capture the perceptions of the Lao development workers who collaborated with this study. This dissertation is primarily based on the data documented through interviews, participant observation, focus group discussion and reflective story writing. The core educational problem is to examine the historical reasons for the modest educational infrastructure in the Lao PDR and its impact on the growth of the development sector. The other related issues I explored include the limitations of mainstream development and educational models as well as the opportunities emerging as a result of the country's integration with the globalization process. Within the backdrop of the problem mentioned, the main purpose of this study is to explore an alternative strategy that has potential to facilitate the growth of local human resource capacity. The rationale for this exploratory endeavor is to generate functional knowledge that will potentially assist the policy makers and practitioners to develop an appropriate approach for the local human resource capacity building process. The research method I adapted in the field was a combination of action research and phenomenological inquiry. The key question that I pursued was “What is the process of collaborative capacity building that includes an alternative educational approach and model which have the potential to help Lao INGO staff to increase their capacity as development workers and, in the longer term, develop skills for self-management?”. I employed four techniques of data collection, which included interviewing 26 individuals, documenting action research process through the participant observation method, assisting Lao INGO staff to write reflective stories and conducting three focus group discussions. During the data analysis stage, I tried to incorporate the voices of the participants of the action research project to allow them constructing their way of knowing.

The composition of classrooms in higher education is rapidly becoming more diverse, presenting new challenges to faculty regarding their teaching and curricular practices. One response in higher education has been the emergence of development programs aimed at helping faculty provide successful, quality education to diverse students. This study describes how faculty who participated in the Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom (TLDC) Faculty and TA Partnership Project (1994–2000) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, reflected on their experiences and pedagogical practices as instructors in diverse classrooms. Participants were faculty members who exhibited variety across academic disciplines, levels of faculty rank, gender, race, and ethnicity. The procedure for this investigation employed quantitative and qualitative research methods. There were 29 responses to the mailed surveys and 10 interviews with participants, some of whom also responded to the mailed survey. The surveys were analyzed for possible correlations between gender and race in participants' responses; the interviews were analyzed for the possible relationships of gender in participants' responses. Whereas participants provided many different accounts of what diversity meant to them as instructors, they unanimously agreed that considerations of diversity were important to their teaching in diverse classrooms. This study's surveys and interviews generated strategies for improving faculty teaching and curricular practices—including the use of student-focused methods, multiple methods, course readings, and considerations of the teaching self—identified by faculty as components central to their perceptions of their experiences and teaching practices with diverse students. Additional strategies, such as fostering community in the diverse classroom and student-focused assessment, emerged from the interview data. Survey responses focused on a personal approach to faculty's sense of their growth as educators in diverse classrooms, whereas interview findings highlighted the need for further institutional support. This research may help development programs, such as the TLDC Project, provide continuing support for faculty to offer successful, quality education to multicultural classrooms.

Secondary physics education in the United States has been shown to be sub-standard, and not even offered in many high schools. National assessment results have suggested that changes in secondary physics education are greatly needed and are slow in coming. One attempt to enhance physics instruction is the UPDATE program. UPDATE is a physics teacher enhancement program offered by the University of Massachusetts. The program is primarily designed to enhance physics teacher knowledge in topical and important areas of contemporary physics that are not always well represented in secondary classrooms. This study assesses the impact of participation in the UPDATE program on the high school physics instruction of the 1995-96 program participants. Focus group interviews, individual interviews, and a questionnaire are methods used to collect data. This document includes transcriptions from both focus group and individual interviews, as well as quantitative results from a questionnaire. Commonalities are drawn from the three sources of data to illustrate the impact of the UPDATE program on participants' high school physics instruction. Aspects of the program which have contributed to enhancement of instruction are also identified and recommendations are made for subsequent teacher enhancement programs. The findings generally indicate that participants became more confident, enthusiastic, gained more physics knowledge, and changed their teaching practices to include more UPDATE related topics. In addition, laboratory experiences as well as laboratory equipment offered to participants during the program contributed significantly to their perceived instructional enhancement.

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This research examines the educational history of Blacks under apartheid, the educational philosophies of different strands of the anti-apartheid movement, and the nature of education reforms in a post-apartheid South Africa. The research analyzes the implications of these reforms for a specific group of marginalized South Africans, former student militants, that is, Black African youths who participated in the anti-apartheid struggle between 1970 to 1992. It is deeply tragic that a majority of this population do not benefit from the educational and economic policies of the new South Africa, and remain poor and unemployed. Based on interviews, surveys and focused group discussions with former student militants in the Northern Province of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, this research examines the gap between the educational vision of the anti-apartheid movement and the nature of the present reforms. My research shows that although based on principles of racial equality, the impact of the reforms can only be understood in the broader context of neoliberal economic reform. The research highlights the contradictions immanent in constructing a deracialized, egalitarian education system that can benefit the Black majority at the same time as the state prioritizes economic growth and competitiveness to succeed in a global economy. The research questions whether the goal of ‘education for liberation’ can truly be attained and the historical oppressions and inequities of the apartheid regime eradicated by education reform that is based on liberal ideals of a nonracialized equal society.

The purpose of this study was to identify, study and implement the characteristics of effective science pedagogy in the multicultural classroom. The ultimate goal was to identify the instructional strategies in the learning process. The scope of the work included the development of wisdom-in-practice by a skillful teacher. A model (KMEEP) was used for describing the processes of learning and teaching within the multicultural classroom. Case studies were written with the goal of using the classroom experiences of the teacher to bridge the gap between theory and praxis.

This qualitative study of the values, beliefs and teaching practices of four teachers at a small private college with a diverse adult student population attempts to bring to light what teaching behaviors help to create an educational climate which includes people of both genders and of different ethnic, racial backgrounds and allows them to succeed in an academic environment. The teachers and students completed weekly teaching and learning journals (derived from Brookfield's (1991) student learning journals) during one semester (spring, 1994). Using grounded theory technique, I uncovered eight activities that both teachers and students felt were effective in providing an inclusive educational environment: (1) use of groups for support, creativity and personal change; (2) conscious student metacognition and self-assessment; (3) interactive classroom activities; (4) exercises which utilize different learning styles; (5) integrative learning which calls upon the different student cultures; (6) close teacher/student and peer/peer feedback connections; (7) academic support components built into the curriculum; and (8) the teacher acting as facilitator. Through a series of teacher interviews, I determined three shared values which appeared congruent with the teachers' actions in the classroom: (1) awareness of the difference between the student cultures, but a reluctance to pre-judge individuals based on cultural assumptions; (2) awareness and utilization of the affective aspects of learning; and (3) a conception of the role of teacher as empowerer. End of the semester focus groups with students added to data obtained from student learning journals to reveal three areas of the learning deemed important for growth: (1) the importance of the social dimension of teaching and learning; (2) the powerful role of the teacher in the learning process; and (3) the importance of applying and integrating the learning into the students' lives. Two problematic areas in the teaching of these four instructors were: (1) a lack of multicultural reading materials within the courses and (2) evaluations methods that were not authentic or inclusive of different learning style orientations. The results of this study hold implications for the administration of programs for adult students of targeted social groups, such as admission policies, class size and teacher training.