<p> The popularity of visualization as a teaching technique, specifically in higher-grade levels, has decreased in the past decades. Multiple educational theorists such as Vygotsky (1978), Macready (2009), and Dewey (1916), stress the importance of authentic visualization and social interaction in order to increase reading comprehension. Cobb and Kallus (2011) concluded, &ldquo;all readers must, at every moment in the reading process, construct coherent model of reading for the text they read&rdquo; (p. 31). Visualization can occur on a personal level, with the student being able to picture the text in her mind, or at a public level, with students acting out texts and otherwise giving life to what is being read in class.</p><p> This qualitative study was designed to investigate the influence of dramatization within an 11^th grade English classroom. Ultimately, the researcher observed that dramatization led to higher levels of motivation and engagement, as well as increased reading comprehension. Providing struggling readers with varied opportunities to learn is crucial in order to be an effective teacher. After review of existing literature, as well as multiple education theories, it is evident that if a student is removed from the text, she may not feel motivated to read it or give it her full attention. However, if the student is interested and involved, the level of motivation may increase. This engagement and participation that is encouraged by dramatization can ultimately lead to cognitive growth as well as a deeper understanding of the text.</p><p> The eight participants involved in the study were exposed to dramatization lessons during their regular school day along with their classmates. This eight-week study took place as the students in the junior English class were reading <i>Othello.</i> During this study, dramatization was used as a venue for participants to discuss characters and setting, as all students in the class were somehow involved during dramatization lessons. Moley, Bandre and George (2011) stressed the importance of authentic conversations and role-playing. Their study showed that active involvement could increase interest. Whether they were actively acting out a role, helping move desks in order to create a stage, or merely acting as spectators, all participants were actively engaged when dramatization occurred. Providing the participants with the opportunity to link text with bodily experiences correlates to studies performed by Glenberg (2011), who stressed that these bodily experiences will then lead to higher levels of comprehension and memory retention. Upon conclusion of the study, it was also evident to the researcher that dramatization was not only influencing engagement, but it was also positively impacting reading comprehension. These conclusions were drawn based on the data collected by the researcher. Throughout the eight-week research period, various data sources were used. Data sources included researcher (teacher) field notes, pre/post surveys, and participant work samples (tests/quizzes).</p><p> The success of dramatization could be due to the fact that instead of passively reading the text, dramatization requires active involvement from both actors and spectators, which may not only increase comprehension, but also provide a more memorable lesson for the students. Calfee&rsquo;s (1984) study concluded that &ldquo;structure is the key to comprehension &ndash; to comprehend a passage is to create a mental structure&rdquo; (p. 82). Once this mental structure is created, students are more likely to retain the information. Utilizing dramatization could encourage students to take an active role in their learning, thus leading to greater levels of student engagement, and ultimately, increased reading comprehension.</p>

<p> Underscoring the extent to which narrative plays a part in how patients come to integrate their illnesses, and also underscoring the extent to which narrative fluency bears upon the physician-patient interaction, Rita Charon proposed the practice of narrative medicine. Charon defines narrative practice as medicine practiced with the narrative skills of &ldquo;recognizing, absorbing, interpreting, and being moved by the stories of illness&rdquo;. To this end, several medical schools now incorporate literary studies into their curricula as a means to promote ethical, compassionate, and holistic care.</p><p> This dissertation advocates the use of J. M. Coetzee&rsquo;s fiction as one means through which medical students and trainees can achieve the skills advocated by Charon, skills necessary for entering into the practice of narrative medicine. By guiding medical students and trainees through a careful examination of Coetzee&rsquo;s works instructors can help students to: 1) gain narrative fluency, 2) increase awareness of the themes facing ill, dis/abled, or aging patients, and 3) more compassionately inhabit the plights of those who present for care. Coetzee&rsquo;s fictional novels are particularly suited to such study. He utilizes a wide array of narrative structures. Inside his works, embedded meta-fictional elements are discovered vis-&agrave;-vis close reading, and such a discovery process becomes a means for building the clinical skills of close listening and attention. Furthermore, Coetzee&rsquo;s fictions are detailed and incisive, meticulously elaborating the experiences of his varied characters. Through indirection, Coetzee provides vicarious experiences of illness and suffering to developing physicians, experiences that become transferable to their future interactions with patients. Additionally, Coetzee&rsquo;s stories resist moralizing; rather, by <i>entraining</i> readers into the plights of his protagonists, he raises questions about the construction of self-story, the ethics of care, and innumerable motifs surrounding the condition of suffering.</p><p> Finally, as students traverse Coetzee&rsquo;s texts, opportunities arise to experience a bird&rsquo;s-eye view of the effect of &ldquo;narrative wreckage&rdquo; on protagonists. These opportunities will mimic those encountered in clinical practice as developing physicians interact with patients whose lives are changed by the advent of illness. By affording medical students and trainees these lessons, Coetzee&rsquo;s stories become a foundation from which competent, holistic, narrative practice can develop.</p>

Thesis (M.S.)--Rowan University, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

<p> Young people who are homeless or runaway encounter numerous barriers in obtaining an education (Milner,2013). Concurrently, their schooling experiences have been restricted by neoliberal policy initiatives that have muted investments in building an engaged US citizenry, moving curriculum from content to skill-based learning (Au, 2013). Since civic opportunities for young adults in marginalized communities are not often available and unevenly distributed across social class and race/ethnicity (Ginwright, 2010), participants and I co-created a youth activism club with participants to gain a fuller, more nuanced understanding of the intersection of literacies, civic engagement, and homeless urban youth aged 16-23. </p><p> This study draws upon positioning theory and narrative inquiry and works to uncover the ways young people of color who frequented the Scope Resource Center (SRC) for Homeless and Runaway Youth positioned themselves towards critical literacies and as activists in their communities. </p><p> Primary findings indicate examinations of power structures morphed as participants expanded critical thinking outwardly over time, moving from micro, through mezzo, and into macro level questioning. Participants engaged in dialogue around texts resulting in intertextual multiliterate positioning and associations were made between critical YA texts and embodied civic action, enabling participants to position themselves as cultural critics and resisters of the status quo. Data suggests established adolescent civic engagement indicators (Flanagan &amp; Levine, 2010) need to be adapted and expanded to include indicators linked to new literacies and online spaces that helped participants position themselves as active, engaged citizens.</p><p>

<p> In this qualitative case study, intersectionality of strategies for teaching in an inclusive classroom with students with disabilities and strategies for teaching the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will be explored. A gap in the literature demonstrated a need for further research in the area of CCSS for students with disabilities and more particularly how students in an inclusive program access CCSS. In order to research the possible intersectionality of CCSS and inclusion of students with disabilities in education the use of qualitative case study methodology through the analysis of interviews, observations, and reflective memos took place. An a priori theme development approach was used. Findings suggest five recommendations for successful implementation of CCSS in inclusive classrooms: (1) build in collaboration time for all stakeholders; (2) use well-trained teachers in inclusive models; (3) find the correct level of support; (4) conduct professional development within other district trainings and; (5) provide a consultation and coaching model. Recommendations for future research are included.</p><p>

Having ratified and signed many international conventions and declarations on mainstreaming gender issues, Lesotho was compelled to review some of its policies and laws to ensure equitable distribution of resources to both female and male citizens in the name of democracy and development. This study sought to establish whether progress has been made in the field of education in promoting gender sensitivity and removing gender bias and stereotypes, which among other things, manifest themselves in textbooks through textual messages and images. Taken as one of the agents of socialisation in Lesotho, it is believed that textbooks can foster either gender sensitivity or negative gender discrimination; hence this study examines primary language textbooks to ascertain their role in this regard. Seven language textbooks, two written in Sesotho and five in English, were analysed in terms of gender. Gender was understood as a social phenomenon, and this made it imperative for the study to draw on theories and perspectives from different social disciplines. In the main, however, the analysis was informed by feminist theories, notably feminist stylistics as postulated by Mills (1995c). Psychoanalytical perspectives were employed in an attempt to explain the impact of under-representation, stereotypical, and sexist language, on the identities of the affected pupils. The study has established that the examined prescribed primary school language textbooks are not gender-sensitive and it has therefore recommended guidelines for use by textbooks evaluators, selectors, editors, publishers, authors, and other stakeholders in textbook production and procurement processes. Both quantitative and qualitative analytical methods were used in order to cater for quantifiable data and discourse-type data.

Bibliography: leaves 111-117. / The aim of the study was to determine the effects of alternative assessment practices on the writings of seven learners in a Grade 11 English second language class. Conventional assessment practices are inadequate when set against new knowledge of the role played by assessment in supporting learning and teaching. Presently writing and assessment are based on viewing writing as product which is assessed as a single mark of achievement. I set out to develop and implement an alternative writing and assessment programme in the context of typical classroom demands. Alternative practices see writing as process and assessment as embedded in that process. Though alternative assessment practices use a multiplicity of methods, they prefer a criterion based analyses that reflects the developmental aspect of learning to write. Since alternative assessment reflects the developmental aspect of writing, it eschews negative feedback to learners about their writing. The writings of seven learners were analysed to determine if alternative practices had any effect. In addition three reflection questionnaires were administered to gauge the attitude of learners to the alternative programme. My reflections and observations also provided the data for gauging the impact of the programme. Based on the data, the findings and implications of the programme suggest that though there is no conclusive evidence to argue that learners' writing changed as a result of implementing alternative practices, it appeared that learners‘ attitude to writing became more positive; learners became more confident as a result of having more of an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of their writing; and the classroom climate for learning to write improved. At the same time alternative assessment practices gave the teacher valuable information and an opportunity to reflect critically on improvements for setting criteria; on communicating assessment to learners; on assessment design and strategies and defining the assessment method suited to modes of writing discourse.

<p>Past research has shown that learner-centered environments can improve students' self-esteem and increase their academic skills. The purpose of this study was to determine whether teaching the core curriculum within a caring classroom environment increases students ability to communicate effectively and perform at higher achievement levels in writing. The study addressed the experiences of teachers in implementing a new writing program with a strong emphasis on social skill development as a precursor to good writing. Guided by the social learning theories of Dewey, Rogers, and Vygotsky, who contended that social interaction is vital to the development of cognition, a qualitative case study was undertaken consisting of individual interviews with 15 teachers at 6 elementary schools in southwestern Connecticut. Data were collected to address the extent to which a caring community of students can foster positive academic outcomes. Data were analyzed and coded to discover common themes. Results showed that teachers perceived that the social skills taught through the program did increase students writing skills. In addition, students had better listening skills and were more comfortable taking academic risks. This finding supports past social learning theories. Based on these findings, 3 days of professional learning workshops were created with the goals of building student-teacher relationships, creating learner-centered environments, and curtailing bullying. Equipping teachers with this resource will help to create social change by helping students become better communicators in a diverse society, increasing their graduation rates, and preparing them to enter the global workforce of the 21st century. </p>

<p> Writing conferences are a writing process tool to aid students with writing development. Conferences are underutilized due to time constraints and lack of direction. This qualitative study examines whole class writing conferences, a conference method that includes all members of the class participating in weekly discussion of written drafts. Fourteen first-year undergraduate composition students and their teacher at a United States New England university meet in twenty-two class periods where they learn about and then participate in whole class writing conferences. Field notes from class observations and from writing conference discussions, written feedback from each student on drafts reviewed during whole class writing conferences, original drafts and revisions of writing, student interview data, and student survey data are analyzed. Students are active participants in this method, showing independence in writing decisions and appropriate evaluative response to writing. Evidence from the data reveals that students revised essays, improving introductions, transitions, topic sentences, and supporting paragraphs. All revisions include the addition of details. Use of this method created a supportive community in this classroom, and students communicated positive experiences with participation in whole class writing conferences. Whole class writing conferences provide an opportunity for students to learn about writing in a way that is consistent with how undergraduate students develop, practice, and write ideas.</p>

<p> In an age of standardization of learning and the learner, literacy is narrowly defined to view young people from a deficit rather than a strength perspective. Empowering learners to draw on knowledges and experiences that they have access to in their everyday lives broadens the view of literacy learning. Research on literacy as a sociocultural practice, rural literacies, and performance theory frame this inquiry that seeks to understand how students are positioned as capable users of multiple literacy practices. This work examines: How do students living in rural contexts bring personal stories and interests into classrooms to make sense of literacy learning? What pedagogical practices make visible students' personal stories and interests as resources for literacy? How do students negotiate lived and imagined experience in classroom literacy engagements?</p><p> Using ethnographic methodologies and a practice centered performance approach, this research foregrounds the complexities of literacy learning that are responsive to this midwestern rural school community. Over the course of one academic year, I observed and participated in the everyday literacy events in a sixth grade and a second grade classroom. This work focuses on how rurality is imagined and experienced in these focal classrooms and the pedagogical practices that establish an ethos of sharing personal stories and experiences. An analysis of student created multimedia videos demonstrates how these literacy events were a location to 1) enact cultural ways of knowing, 2) negotiate multiple discourses that were significant in students' worlds, and 3) create new possibilities for using literacies and participating in classrooms. In the midst of tensions that place students as objects of instructional and political policies, discourses of possibility are created when young people are positioned as capable subjects who contribute and create knowing.</p>