This session will encourage school librarians to consider the precepts of the book "Teaching Civics in the Library." Specifically, participants will be encouraged and shown how to utilize high-interest trade books and carefully evaluated websites to immediately integrate school librarianship and civics education. Participants will be introduced to carefully constructed questions eliciting civic discussion, as well as detailed civic action/service project suggestions, for all grade levels, along with civic-oriented reading promotion plans, collection development best practices, grant writing options, and extended units of learning. First, a brief discussion will ensue as to the role of a school librarian in creating civic-minded students pursuant to AASL Learning Standard 3. Next, participants will be introduced to methods and best practices associated with this role, as listed above, actually participating in a Socratic discussion based in award-winning children's literature (for purposes of modeling). Then, a smattering of projects, promotion plans, helpful organizations, and grant opportunities will be highlighted, along with an inquiry as to successful programming across the country. A Q and A session will provide additional information in association with the ideas which most highly piqued audience interest.

In this study an interpretive learning framework that aims to measure learning on the classroom level is introduced. In order to develop and evaluate the value of the framework, a theoretical/empirical study is designed. The researcher attempted to illustrate how the proposed framework provides insights on the problem of classroom-level learning. The framework is developed by construction of connections between the current literature on science learning and Wittgenstein's language-game theory. In this framework learning is defined as change of classroom language-game or discourse. In the proposed framework, learning is measured by analysis of classroom discourse. The empirical explanation power of the framework is evaluated by applying the framework in the analysis of learning in a fifth-grade science classroom. The researcher attempted to analyze how students' colloquial discourse changed to a discourse that bears more resemblance to science discourse. The results of the empirical part of the investigation are presented in three parts: first, the gap between what students did and what they were supposed to do was reported. The gap showed that students during the classroom inquiry wanted to do simple comparisons by direct observation, while they were supposed to do tool-assisted observation and procedural manipulation for a complete comparison. Second, it was illustrated that the first attempt to connect the colloquial to science discourse was done by what was immediately intelligible for students and then the teacher negotiated with students in order to help them to connect the old to the new language-game more purposefully. The researcher suggested that these two events in the science classroom are critical in discourse change. Third, it was illustrated that through the academic year, the way that students did the act of comparison was improved and by the end of the year more accurate causal inferences were observable in classroom communication. At the end of the study, the researcher illustrates that the application of the proposed framework resulted in an improved version of the framework. The improved version of the proposed framework is more connected to the topic of science learning, and is able to measure the change of discourse in higher resolution.

This study used Arts-based research and Narrative Inquiry to explore the rural-urban transition experiences of three high-achieving millennial gay men. Using Clandinin’s (2013) narrative commonplaces of temporality, sociality, and place as frames for understanding each participant’s individual story, the study utilized The Listening Guide (Gilligan, 2015) to illuminate participants’ experiences related to identity development, sense of community, queer migration, and authentic leadership development. In addition to the individual narratives, story threads or themes present in one, two, or all three narrative portraits were analyzed and discussed. The data also included found poetry and original poems written in the style of George Ella Lyon’s (1999) I Am From poem. The study examined the authentic leadership development of the participants and advanced arts-based research through a discussion of the personal, practical, and social justifications of the methodology broadly, and this study in particular. The significance of this study is directly related to the social justifications of theoretical contributions and a social justice orientation. By engaging in the research, the participants told their stories in this way for the first time and gave voice to their past experiences and illuminated the implications of these experiences on their current roles as junior faculty members and administrators in higher education. The narrative portraits and poetry serve as counter-narratives to those of white, straight men which are most often privileged in the academy and beyond. This study demonstrates the usefulness and rigor of using narrative methods to gather and share stories about 1) transitioning between rural and urban places, 2) the experiences of a subset of the millennial cohort and life-course development, 3) and the development of authentic leadership. Each participant expressed a passion and purpose for more socially just classrooms, campus environments, and community spaces, and each participant incorporated this purpose in his teaching, research, and practice in his own way. As more millennial gay men assume leadership positions in universities, board rooms, and city halls, ABR creates the potential capacity for a new generation of public leaderships to usher in societal shifts reflecting a changing America.

The infusion of market-logic has undermined American universities as democratic institutions. This issue was examined through an analysis of what role universities play in democratic governance. As a philosophical inquiry, the data were seminal texts from political science, education, and philosophy, such as those by Alexis de Tocqueville, John Dewey, and Henry Giroux. The most salient theme unveiled by this study was how central universities are to functional democracy, both as key fixtures and critics. However, universities have adopted market-logic ideologies, which inhibit universities’ abilities to function as democratic institutions. The study concludes by calling for a reinvigoration of the public, requiring universities to maintain a public nature. Such transparency lives in tension with neoliberal efforts to privatize public institutions, so universities must provide spaces for debates on that tension. In this way, universities will be able to embody the democratic dispositions necessary for supporting and defending democratic values.

Parent-child conversations in science museums may support children's interest and understanding of science. Researchers have been investigating programs to optimize parental guidance and deepen families' scientific exploration in museums. Inquiry is an approach to science teaching science that mirrors the scientific method, allowing participants to raise questions about a scientific phenomenon and conduct investigations to answer those questions. In this study, an experimental design was used to test the impact of participation in an inquiry-based activity on families' conversations at six science museum exhibits. Half of the families participated in an inquiry activity before exploring exhibits, and half of the families participated in an inquiry activity after exploring exhibits. Two sets of variables found to be important contributors to parent-child conversation at science museums (i.e., exhibit qualities and individual characteristics) were considered. Results indicated that participation in a guided inquiry activity significantly increased parents' high-quality learning talk, specifically providing explanations and making connections to prior experience. Exhibit qualities and individual characteristics are important considerations for designing and implementing an inquiry intervention. Families talked about the inquiry activity after the visit and applied what they had learned to real-life situations at home. Inquiry activities have the potential to empower parents with tools to help them scaffold children's emerging scientific knowledge during shared activity in a science museum. Implications and future directions are discussed. / acase@tulane.edu

The purpose of this study was to investigate the shift of Thai teachers' views of learning and their pedagogical practices from the traditional approach to be more centered on an argument-based inquiry approach (ABI) in Thai classrooms, where teachers and learners have long been familiar with the lecture-based tradition. Other than examining the changes, the study further explored the relationship throughout the ABI implementation phase with a specific focus on driving questions, problem solving and reasoning, and establishing a supportive learning environment. The study was conducted in Thailand with five physics teachers. Data collection involved classroom observations and teacher interviews. The constant comparative method was employed throughout the data analysis process. The research questions that guided this study were: (1) What changes occurred in teachers' pedagogical practices and views of learning throughout the implementation phase of the argument-based inquiry approach? (2) If change did occur, what was the relationship of the change among the observed criteria (questioning, problem solving, and the establishing of a supportive learning environment)? The results revealed that after fourteen weeks, the three teachers who expressed a positive attitude toward the ABI approach and expressed their willingness to practice started to shift their practices and views of learning toward a student-centered model. Although each teacher exhibited a different starting point within the three observed criteria, they all began to shift their practices first, before reflecting on their beliefs. In contrast to these teachers, the other two teachers were impeded by several barriers and therefore failed to implement the approach. These positive attitude, willingness, and shift of practice appear to be connected and necessary for change. The study highlights that in order to support the implementation of the ABI approach, especially in a large class size cultural setting, opportunities for teachers to be challenged in both classroom and cognitive spaces, where they are immersed in authentic practices and be able to reflect on their own actions as well as their existing beliefs, are crucial. However, to advance the dimensions of this issue, long-term professional development and a longitudinal study observing a large class size cultural settings are suggested.

This study was designed to examine the effect of Science Writing Heuristic Approach on Students’ Learning of Multimodal Representations across 4th Grade to 8the Grade Levels. Multimodal representations in the forms of figures, tables, pictures, and charts are part of scientific language. A quasi-experimental design with control and treatment group of classes was used. Students completed the summary writing task by including multimodal representations in the both control and treatment classes. The students’ writing samples were evaluated with four measures of multimodal categories, including sign, functional, conceptual and embeddedness structures. To examine the differences of treatment and control groups and the effect of age, the Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analysis was used in this study. The HLM provides an opportunity to use statistical models that account for nesting of the data. Analysis of quantitative data indicated that the treatment classes significantly outperformed than the control classes on four measures of categories. Age also was a significant contributor to students’ learning of multimodal representations. Three key points emerged from the results. Firstly, the SWH approach had positive effects on students’ understanding of the multimodal representations. Secondly, the impact of the age was different for each category. Thirdly, the categories were used in this study had significant potential when exploring the students learning of multimodal representations. The study indicated some practical benefits that the strategy of promoting argumentative scientific language effectively was resulted in better communication, understanding of the topic with multimodal representations, and some transferring impacts of all these with the summary writing activities.

How do elementary educators approach cultural diversity within international school settings? How do North American teachers negotiate the tensions and experiences they have as cultural agents living abroad while valuing the cultural identities of the students they serve? This study describes how international teachers' unique positions, experiences and perspectives affect their attention to cultural diversity within their classrooms. Sociocultural theory frames this study with emphasis on personal and professional identities, narrative inquiry and culturally responsive teaching. I interweave narrative inquiry and ethnographic research methods as theoretical and methodological frameworks. I interviewed and observed the 3 North American educators in their elementary classrooms in an American school in China over several weeks. Data collected in this study included interview transcripts, artifacts from the school and classrooms, photographs and field notes. I also weave my own stories from my experiences as an international teacher throughout the study. The Atlas TI qualitative computer program assisted the constant-comparative analysis process. Grounded and axial coding revealed a pattern across participants' stories and approaches to cultural diversity. All three teachers authored stories from their cross cultural experiences that informed their identities as educators. The teachers questioned their cultural agent role, reflected on their responses and took action in their teaching to be culturally responsive. The approaches each teacher implemented to be responsive to the cultural worlds in their classroom related to their cultural agent identities in their personal stories of cross-cultural experiences. Findings indicated that teachers were more likely to be culturally responsive in their teaching when they implemented a constructivist educational philosophy in their classrooms. This study reconceptualized cultural responsiveness to include the diverse cultural worlds of the student, teacher and international school setting.

The achievement gap has long been viewed as a persistent shortcoming of the public education system in the U.S. The achievement gap also highlights the challenges faced by Latino populations with educational achievements and future employment prospects. The purpose of this multiple-case study was to describe how four Latina adolescents, each of whom identified herself as a struggling or “not good” reader, reauthored their reading identities by acting as reading tutors to elementary students. This study combined elements of narrative inquiry with multiple case study research. The four participants—Paula, Lucia, Cassandra, and Amaia (all names are pseudonyms)—were selected from a cross-age tutoring program for Latino youth called Latinos in Action located in the state of Utah. As part of this class, ninth-graders received training on how to provide tutoring in reading to elementary students, and they tutored elementary students twice per week for 30 minutes. The participants underwent 6 months of tutoring. Prior to tutoring, the participants were interviewed to ascertain how their reader identities had developed through adolescence. Subsequent interviews with the participants, teachers, and family members, in addition to observed tutoring sessions, illustrated ways that tutoring provided an avenue for the participants to re-author their reader identities. Using these data, I worked with participants to develop narratives regarding their reading experiences and identities. I used an a priori Bakhtinian framework to explain what I viewed in the narratives, with conclusions confirmed by each participant. Finally, I used constant comparative analytic methods to identify common themes across the participants’ stories. From the analysis, I identified five major themes as the findings of this study: examples at home, school as authoritative, fluent oral reading in English, reading aloud in tutoring, and changes in reading practices. The process of tutoring younger students provided a place, within the authoritative space of the school setting, where the participants were able to practice this skill. The results of this study indicated that educators and policy makers can look to cross-age tutoring as one method to provide adolescent, struggling readers with opportunities to positively adjust their reader identities.

The purpose of this new materialist study was to examine the subject performativity of ‘biracial’ individuals in an interview setting in order to disrupt the humanist assumptions of racial identity in psychological research. I also sought to promote critical resistance to subjectification to examine ‘race’ without reifying participants’ raced subjects. Four research questions guided this study: How does the researcher, researched, and interview intra-activity serve to instantiate the biracial subject? Under what material alterations to the interview process do different subjects come to be? Which subjects come to be or fail to come to be in the interview intra-action? How does purposeful entanglement function during the interview process? In this experimental critical qualitative inquiry study, I interviewed five ‘black-white biracial’ undergraduate students three times each while enacting a series of agential cuts within and between each interview. By altering the flow of material during the interviews, I provoked multiple identity instantiations and analyzed the process of subjectification/individuation. Grounded in Barad’s agential realism, and guided by Simondon, Foucault, and Butler my analysis of this data suggests that humanist models of ‘racial’ identity are insufficient, and findings further suggest that a posthumanist and post-qualitative account of ‘biracial’ identity offers more insight into the performativity of ‘raced’ subjects. This research provides a path for psychological identity research to ethically evolve past the linguistic and ontological turns.