Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, Art Education

This study examines how select aspects of art and practice are apprehended in Singapore, in terms of how they come into being, how they are known, lived and responded to. Situated within the broader context of postcolonial globalization, the study considers how art and practice can be understood within situated conditions in Singapore as a means towards decolonizing the pre-constitution of subjectivity of Singapore art in the curriculum. This qualitative research uses grounded theory, Adele Clark's situational analysis (2005) and case study to examine the interviews and works of six art/design practitioners. The work draws on concepts from Karen Barad's theory on the materialization of entities in human and non-human actions and relations (2007), Michel Foucault's grid of intelligibility (1971; 1978), and Appadurai's disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy (1990). Using these concepts, the study considers how subjectivities are made intelligible or constituted within physical-discursive conditions in phenomena. The research investigates how practitioners come to know aspects of art and practice; how they experience, enact, and act against pre-existing subjectivities embedded in structures of practice; and how they respond to these structures in and through their work. The study examines how art/design practitioners traverse and transgress pre-existing subjectivities, and reconfigured these dynamically through splicing strategies in their ongoing becoming in the global cultural economy.

Committee: Christine Ballengee-Morris Dr (Committee Co-Chair); Deborah Smith-Shank Dr (Committee Co-Chair); Sydney Walker Dr (Committee Member); Amy Shuman Dr (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education; Curriculum Development; Education; Education Philosophy; Education Policy; Educational Tests and Measurements; Epistemology; Ethics

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Curriculum and Teaching

While Asian American social studies scholars have explored issues related to curriculum and Asian American students' and teachers' needs (An, 2020, 2022; Gao, 2020; Rodriguez, 2019), none have yet examined Asian American adoptees. Asian American adoptees' racial and ethnic identity development journeys are qualitatively different from those of their non-adopted Asian American peers (Baden et al., 2012), so culturally responsive social studies instruction might look different for them than it would for their non-adopted peers. To begin to fill the gap, this study explored the central research question, “How do Asian American adoptees perceive the relationship between their social studies experiences and their own racial and ethnic identity development?” It also explored two sub-questions: 1) “How do Asian American adoptees identify with their own ethnic groups?” and 2) “How do Asian American adoptees identify with a broader Asian American racial identity?” This study operated from three theoretical frameworks: Baden et al.'s reculturation (2012), Phinney's three-stage ethnic identity formation (1989, 1993), and culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy (Gay, 2002; Ladson-Billings, 1995). Using an instrumental case study that also drew on phenomenology, this study utilized data from semi-structured interviews with five participants, all Asian American adoptees. Findings suggested that social studies' role in the participants' racial and ethnic identity development journeys was minimal. Overall, the participants experienced social studies instruction that presented a narrow picture of Asian American history and reinforced the master narrative. To be more fulfilling to their ethnic and racial identities, participants wanted more instructional time to be spent on Asian and Asian American history, lessons taught on their birth countries' histories and cultures, and lessons that expanded outside of token, conflict-based events. Participants conceptualized connecti (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Nancy Patterson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Hyeyoung Bang Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2023, English

In this project, I set out to investigate how Writing Program Administrators (WPA) can draw on theories, research findings, and best practices of transfer from both composition and second language writing studies in order to develop curricula and pedagogical practices to support multilingual writers in First-Year Composition (FYC). Research from the two separate fields of writing studies around genre and transfer shows that facilitating genre knowledge, genre awareness, genre uptake, discourse community enculturation, and generative dispositions can encourage learners to transfer what they know to new contexts. A transfer-encouraging curriculum needs to recognize and teach the social and learner-based aspects of writing and learning. This is even more important when working with first-year multilingual writers who were enculturated in different cultures other than American culture and have achieved high proficiency in languages other than English before they are enrolled in FYC courses. Drawing on scholarship in rhetorical genre studies, English for specific purposes, and systemic functional linguistics genre studies, this dissertation uses a methodology on genre transferability to understand what FYC programs across the US do (and can do) to support multilingual writers and what theories are guiding programs' curriculum development, pedagogical practices, and professional development activities. I argue that if our goal is to help novice multilingual students effectively respond to the cultural, discoursal, and linguistic challenges they face, then WPAs across institution types must work to develop FYC initiatives that draw on transfer scholarship from both composition studies and second language writing studies. In Chapter 1, I propose a conceptual framework that draws on both fields of writing transfer studies and discuss pedagogical implications for curriculum development and writing instruction for teaching first-year multilingual writers. In Chapter 2, I ou (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Wardle (Committee Chair); Sara Webb-Sunderhaus (Advisor); Tony Cimasko (Advisor); Elizabeth Hutton (Advisor); Thomas Poetter (Advisor) Subjects: Composition; Education; English As A Second Language; Linguistics; Multicultural Education; Rhetoric

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2011, Educational Leadership

This multiple case study examined corporate involvement in Japanese public elementary schools through 3 corporate programs. In 2005 the Basic Law of Food Education, Shokuiku Kihon Ho was enacted. This law promotes food education as a national movement and encourages food makers to become actively involved with the public sector to provide food education programs. Major food makers approached public elementary schools as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Purposeful sampling was selected, and programs from 3 companies were identified as cases. This researcher conducted email interviews with 35 elementary school teachers and 3 company spokespersons to examine their motivations, implementations, advantages and disadvantages of the programs, benefits to the company, and changes in teachers' perceptions of the companies, if any. The findings first include sources, including governmental, from which teachers initially learned about the programs. Second, the primary reason for program use was food education. Third, the 3 corporate programs studied appeared to be very successful in obtaining publicity in the schools. Two out of 3 companies had their products present in the classroom and also gave their products as gifts. Fourth, teachers were satisfied with corporate programs because they gained professional knowledge, rich materials, and experience-based activities for children. Fifth, the major disadvantage was scheduling. Few teachers recognized that corporate programs effectively influenced the knowledge of teachers and children. Sixth, teachers' perceptions of the companies were positively changed after experiencing the programs. Teachers were impressed with professional knowledge and they tolerated corporate promotions. This study included implications: School policies and professional development are needed to address commercial activity and insure that the children's knowledge would be balanced.

Committee: Joseph Watras PhD (Committee Chair); C. Daniel Raisch PhD (Committee Member); Carolyn S. Ridenour EdD (Committee Member); Dean B. McFarlin PhD (Committee Member); Deron R. Boyles PhD (Advisor); Victor Kobayashi PhD (Advisor); Takao Kamibeppu PhD (Other); Kenta Nakamura PhD (Other) Subjects: Asian Studies; Business Community; Comparative; Educational Leadership; Elementary Education; Public Health

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2004, English/Rhetoric and Writing

This dissertation examines out lesbian teachers in the college composition classroom from a viewpoint of feminist teacher research and “queer geography”. Employing composition history, the ideological erasure of lesbian teacher subjectivities in the composition classroom is outlined. Case studies of lesbian teachers and students in lesbian teachers' composition classrooms indicate in a preliminary way that students' choice of writing topics, student writing and student subject positions are affected by the presence of out lesbian composition teachers.

Committee: Lovie Carter (Advisor); Rachel Vannatta (Other); Donna Nelson-Beene (Other); Valerie Rohy (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2024, College of Education

The researcher investigated the effects of learning in an integrated curriculum environment in a Midwestern urban school among 7th grade students. The control group consisted of students who were enrolled in just a 7th grade social studies class. The test group consisted of students who were enrolled in both a social studies class and visual art class learning about Ancient Greece. The implications of this study have both quantitative and qualitative results. The quantitative show mixed results in the control group vs. the test group in their assessment scores. However, the qualitative results showed an increase of enjoyment in teaching for teachers and learning for students in an integrated learning environment.

Committee: Cathryn Chappell (Advisor) Subjects: Ancient History; Art Education; Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2024, Educational Leadership

In this self-study, I propose a curriculum fragment methodology to work toward a greater understanding of the boundaries (Herdandez-Saca et al., 2023) between special education and disability studies that strengthens both teacher education and disability studies in education (DSE). Specifically, I engage in critical reflection on my teaching practices (Freire, 1998) to explore the possibilities for an educator working in the field of special education with a DSE disposition to engage boundary work as a teacher educator in the tensions between special education and disability studies. In this study, I use curriculum fragments (Poetter & Googins, 2015) to frame a methodology as supported by the curriculum studies traditions of currere (Pinar, 1975), Teacher Lore (Schubert, 1989), and narrative points-of-entry (Schultz et al., 2010). My aim is to excavate my experiences as an educator and professional working with disabled students and adults labeled with multiple and intellectual disabilities and my current experiences as a teacher educator by leveraging curriculum fragments that flow freely through Pinar's (1975) four stages of currere and Martin Heidegger's hermeneutic circle (2008) to facilitate my journey for a narrative. The culmination of this curriculum fragment methodology leads to reimagined possibilities in the boundaries that ultimately culminate with Pinar's (1975) synthetical stage presented in curriculum fragments that interlace the past, present, and future to enhance my teaching practices.

Committee: Thomas Poetter (Committee Chair); Amity Noltemeyer (Committee Member); Joe Malin (Committee Member); Brian Schultz (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Education; Special Education; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, English (Rhetoric and Writing) PhD

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs are an educational initiative that aim to support faculty in implementing writing into their classrooms and engaging students in their learning through writing. WAC courses are typically those outside standard English and Literature courses at postsecondary institutions. This project investigates perspectives at a Midwestern University to explore practices and definitions of WAC, writing, advocacy, and feedback. Specifically, the research focuses on two questions: 1. What are the current understandings and practices of WAC, writing, advocacy, and feedback at Midwestern University? 2. How do WAC programs benefit from collaboration with Writing Centers and community connections from a sustainability standpoint? Using humanistic approaches, this study focuses on the shared experiences of a History WAC faculty member, History WAC student, and the Writing Center Coordinator at Midwestern University. Data was collected through a series of interviews with each participant and coded according to a Grounded Theory approach. The findings from each participant's interviews are represented as an individual chapter sharing their stories as perspectives important to ongoing conversations regarding how WAC is understood, writing is defined and experienced, and advocacy is identified, as well as practices of WAC instructor written feedback on student writing. The project draws connections between WAC, writing, feedback practices, and advocacy discourse as important concepts to WAC sustainability and concludes with potential implications for WAC programs, WAC scholars, and writing instructors. Focusing on inclusionary practices, this study pulls from the experiences at Midwestern University to provide frameworks of race for WAC and self-reflective inclusive sentence-level training for faculty, students, and writing consultants. Furthermore, the study indicates that feedback practices in the WAC classroom should consider students' (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lee Nickoson Ph.D. (Advisor); Lisa Hanasono Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kimberly Spallinger M.A. (Committee Member); Neil Baird Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Pedagogy; Rhetoric

Bachelor of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2023, History

As time moves forward, events from the past become blurred in memory. People remember, honor, and learn from history. On September 11, 2001, the United States lost 2,983 civilian lives in a terrorist attack by al Qaeda. Since 2001, the United States government has made many decisions aimed at protecting those on United States soil. To commemorate the lives lost and to prevent an act of terror in the future, historians evaluate how to remember and learn from the events that occurred on September 11. Learning from the past prepares people for the future. To educate future generations, middle and high school teachers must provide students with valuable lesson plans about September 11. In the middle school and high school classrooms around the country, the process and content used to teach the terrorist attacks of September 11 has evolved over the past twenty years, from relying mostly on personal accounts to include academic articles, textbooks, online resources, and other materials to help students understand how and why September 11 happened the way it did.

Committee: Molly Wood (Advisor); Thomas Taylor (Committee Member); Amy McGuffey (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; History; Middle School Education; Political Science; Secondary Education; Social Studies Education

Master of Arts in Medical Ethics and Humanities, Northeast Ohio Medical University, 2021, College of Graduate Studies

Despite 20% of its population living with a disability, the United States continues to produce physicians who are inadequately trained in delivering equitable healthcare to disabled patients (United States Census Bureau, 2012; Wen, 2014). With patients and healthcare providers alike acknowledging this discrepancy, the medical education system ought to integrate the lived disability experience into existing medical curricula and establish standardized training requirements and competencies for trainees (Santoro et al, 2017). As a solution, I propose a disability-focused medical curriculum. Centered around the theory of care ethics, this longitudinal curriculum redefines “care” as a mutual exchange amongst team members, with the patient as the expert of his or her body, experiences, and community (Kittay, 2011). Both medical students and residents are exposed to didactics and practical experience- based learning that provide a strong understanding of (1) this theory of care ethics, (2) the combination of the positive elements of the medical and social models of disability, and (3) intersectionality. Upon successful implementation of this curriculum, trainees will acknowledge and affirm the patient's lived experience, heal patients in accordance with their personal values, desires, and goals, and work towards the alleviation of any extra burdens endured by patients who exist at multiple intersections of marginalization (Reynolds, 2018). As medical students and residents master these competencies, they will build a medical community that humanizes their patients rather than reinforcing the cycle of misconceptions fashioned by their predecessors.

Committee: Julie Aultman PhD (Advisor); Rachel Bracken PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Medical Ethics

Doctor of Musical Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Music

The Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree has been the terminal degree in music performance, composition, and conducting in North America since the early 1950s. Originally met with criticism, some of which continues to this day, the DMA continues to serve as the gateway for applied music-makers that wish to join the academy. This document investigates and echoes these criticisms surrounding the necessity and design of the DMA in Voice Performance, while submitting new criticisms based in curriculum theory, learning science (pedagogy), and educational psychology. A comparative look at DMA in Voice Performance programs at 57 American universities and conservatories provides context and inspiration for a much-needed consensus on the desired outcomes of this terminal degree in singing. This document responds to this need by proposing a new, revised, and ideal course of study that encourages the singing community to reconsider the limitless possibilities that exist for artist-teachers in the pursuit of a DMA. In so doing, it serves as a mindful guide that institutions may use to tailor their doctoral programs to their strengths, while following best practices that uplift, validate, and ensure the existence of such a degree.

Committee: Scott McCoy DMA (Advisor); Edward Bak MM (Committee Member); Christin Ray PhD (Committee Member); Loretta Robinson MM (Committee Member) Subjects: Curricula; Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Psychology; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Music; Music Education; Pedagogy; Performing Arts; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2019, Curriculum and Instruction (Education)

Education plays a fundamental role in the identity formation of individuals. National identity has been at the heart of our understanding of our nation-states. Globalization has challenged long-lasting beliefs about various forms of identity. In recent years, a number of scholars have called for internationalizing teacher education. The movement for globalizing curriculum questions such concepts as national identity. Recent developments in education have heightened the need for conversation about the complex relationship between national identity and education. Some view national identity as a unifying force while others regard it as a divisive force. There are various areas in education where the role of national identity has been subject to considerable debate. In recent years, the majority of education research on American national identity has focused on students' perspectives. This dissertation is a qualitative study of reflections on American national identity, submitted starting Summer 2008 through Fall 2018 by 83 student teachers across all grade bands (K-12) and content areas (Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Mathematics, Special Education and Modern Languages) who completed three months of student teaching in an overseas country through the Consortium for Overseas Student Teaching during their final undergraduate senior year. Thematic analysis was used as the data research method to identify themes across data. Despite the importance of overseas student teachers' (OSTs) perception of American national identity, this line of research has remained understudied. In this research study, the perspectives of 83 OSTs on American national identity as well as their perspectives on how citizens of their host countries perceived Americans upon completion of their overseas student teaching are described. The differences of OSTs' reflections across host countries are also analyzed in this dissertation. Therefore, this study contributes new findings to the (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Frans Doppen PhD (Advisor); Michael Kopish PhD (Committee Member); Emmanuel Jean Francois PhD (Committee Member); Mathew Felton-Koestler PhD (Committee Member); Charles Lowery PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Education; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Language; Social Studies Education; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, EDU Teaching and Learning

This dissertation explores a qualitative case study of Social Studies Methods II and M. Ed. Capstone' classroom for pre-service teachers. Interviews, observations, and lesson plans and edTPA' document analysis were used to describe how pre-service teachers understood social studies and global education contents and concepts. The research documents analyzed how the pre-service teachers negotiated the content, standards and curriculum requirements. The research also examined the constraints teachers faced in teaching social studies and global education. It also examines pre-service teaching thinking on social studies/global education and planning approach to curriculum, including the practice. The findings illustrate that pre-services struggle to include critical global education/social studies knowledge within curriculum and are aware of constraints to including controversial themes within curriculum. The findings also illustrate the challenge of negotiating curriculum when they have limited control over curriculum, especially in regards to state standards and the politics of high-stakes testing. Overall, this study supports research regarding qualitative research within social studies and global education and has implications to developing program within teacher preparation programs.

Committee: Binaya Subedi Dr. (Advisor); Adrian Rodgers Dr. (Committee Member); Melinda Rhoades Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Studies Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2018, Educational Leadership

In this project, I engage in pedagogical research, through self-study, situated in time, space, and place, and work toward reconceptualizing curriculum in which poor, rural, elementary students can unlearn and disrupt constructs of structural racism. I return to the past to explore my own educational experiences in which I failed to acknowledge what it meant to be white in a rural place that is predominantly white. I suggest that miseducation (Woodson, 1933/2010) occurs in rural places but goes unnoticed because of an unexamined commitment to white supremacist patriarchal systems of schooling (hooks, 1994). I engage in a personal healing process by drawing on Critical Race Feminist currere (Baszile, 2015) and place-based pedagogy (Gruenwald, 2003a, 2003b). This healing predicates and includes a personal dialogue with self about the intersection of race, class, and gender in predominantly white places of schooling and is framed in transforming and reclaiming education as the work of women (Grumet, 1988). I utilize Critical Race Feminist currere (Baszile, 2015) to center my own personal and critically reflective narrative to “unlearn” white supremacist attitudes (Allen, 2009). I ask: Who am I, as a white, middle-class, woman teacher in this rural place of schooling? How do my remembered stories of educational experiences inform the healing process necessary for my own decolonization? How might a rural, white, woman teacher – who is herself working on healing from her own colonization and complicity – create a classroom environment that engages students in a similar process to disrupt and refute how this rural place promotes narratives of poor whites who feel justified in speaking insensitivities (in some cases hostilities) toward others?

Committee: Thomas Poetter Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Denise Taliaferro-Baszile Ph.D. (Committee Member); Joel Malin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sheri Leafgren Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, EDU Teaching and Learning

In secondary schools in the United States, youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer (LGBTQ) encounter unwelcoming and unsafe, if not outright hostile, climates, experiences which lead to negative outcomes, both personal and academic. However, school-based supports such as supportive adults, GSA clubs, and LGBT-inclusive curricula have been associated with lower levels of victimization and higher levels of academic attainment. Yet, there is limited empirical research on LGBT-inclusive curriculum and its concomitant pedagogy, particularly studies that examine time periods beyond a single lesson or unit, feature more than a single text, explore a range of sexual and gender identities along with intersectionality, and take a situated approach on criticality. In this study I strive to speak to these gaps. During the 2016-2017 academic year, I conducted a literacy ethnography at Harrison High School, an urban comprehensive public high school with a diverse student population in a Midwestern city. I drew on a range of theoretical perspectives that foregrounded sociocultural dynamics to understand literacy and activism as situated phenomena shaped by power relations. Utilizing an ethnographic logic-of-inquiry, I primarily constructed data through being a participant observer in the English language arts courses of one adult teacher Ms. Abby and the GSA (Genders and Sexualities Alliance) club she advised. Data included fieldnotes, audio and video recorded classroom lessons and GSA meetings, documents (such as curricular texts and youth writing), and interviews with youth, adult teachers, and adult administrators. Drawing from this broader ethnography, I focus on youth's queer-focused activism in a sophomore humanities course that combined English language arts and social studies. In the course, youth enacted queer-focused activism as they took up roles as pedagogues in queer-inclusive literacy events. While commonly in educational literacy scholars (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mollie Blackburn (Advisor); David Bloome (Committee Member); Timothy San Pedro (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Gender; Gender Studies; Glbt Studies; Language Arts; Literacy; Multicultural Education; Reading Instruction; Secondary Education; Teaching

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2017, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

Abstract This qualitative study utilized ethnographic techniques to explore the potential for change in mental health trainees resulting from the participation in an in vivo Immersive Cultural Plunge (ICP) within the African American Descendant of Chattel Slave community. The ICP combined Multicultural Immersions Experiences (MIE) of Cultural Immersion (CI) and Cultural Plunge (CP) to contribute to the developing body of research utilizing MIEs that incorporate contextual, experiential, and historical knowledge to teach the skill of cultural sensitivity. During the 12- hour ICP the participants experienced an orientation, a lecture, a tour/community interaction, a multimedia presentation within an African American community. In this study, the data collection included participants utilizing email on their personal computers to forward consent forms, five observational protocol forms, and a demographic questionnaire to the researcher. Data from the focus group session were transcribed and combined with emailed Observational Protocols for the thematic analysis. The findings for the study are from two themed areas. The first theme is the under utilization of psychotherapy services for African Americans. The second theme is the effectiveness of the Immersive Cultural Plunge as an MIE. The responses of the mental health trainees to the ICP demonstrated that the cultural competency of the students was altered. Recommendations include using ICP experience for curriculum development for mental health trainees in cultural competency specifically for African Americans and treatment development for the African American Descendant of Chattel Slave client. The electronic version of this dissertation is available free at Ohiolink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd

Committee: Ronald Pilato PsyD (Committee Chair); Munoz-Flores Albert PsyD (Committee Member); Jenkens Damien PhD (Other) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Black History; Clinical Psychology; Therapy

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2015, Secondary Education

This research was designed and conducted in order to examine the life experience of secondary students as they negotiate government/civics course work in the development of a national identity. Critical to a nation's future, it is an exercise of a civic obligation to (a) examine the language and discourse of government/civics programs of study and the historical metanarrative of required K-11 civic education as social constructs with the narrative potential to affect the identity and agency of youth and (b) better understand the impact of “pedagogical places” on students' structured consciousness of a national identity. Within the framework of a social constructionist epistemology, this qualitative investigation employed a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology complemented by the data collection tool of in-depth interviewing with the intent to understand the lived experiences of the students and the meaning students ascribe to a specific experience through storytelling. The conversation generated at the intersection of the interview and the resulting narrative revealed that students' structured consciousness of a national identity is consistently influenced through their knowledge of conceptual interpretations and relationships, a search for association between identity of self and identity of country, and a knowledge of other as encountered during government/civics coursework while only indirectly affected by the historical metanarrative of required K-11 social studies coursework. Interestingly, “pedagogical places” as a Third Space for civic education manifested through student voice, appear to play a competitive role to the traditional civic education classroom in the students' structured consciousness of a national identity. These findings (a) profoundly address the gap in the current body of civic education knowledge that underrepresents the voice of students and (b) suggest greater attention should be paid to the opportunity for st (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brad Maguth Dr. (Advisor); Al DavisoMilam Dr. (Committee Member); Suzanne MacDonald Dr. (Committee Member); Jennifer Milam Dr. (Committee Member); Renee Mudrey-Camino Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Curricula; Education; Multicultural Education; Secondary Education; Social Studies Education; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2015, Curriculum and Instruction Social Studies Education (Education)

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is a controversial environmental issue in Ohio and many other states. Often, fracking and other environmental issues are regarded as topics for the sciences, neglecting the social aspects that should be addressed through social studies. The purpose of this mixed-methods exploratory study was to determine the status and barriers to teaching about fracking in Ohio high school American Government classes. An online survey was used to collect data from 62 Ohio high school teachers across three typologies: rural, suburban, and urban. This research included teachers' perspectives, personal beliefs, and professional practices related to fracking, civics education, controversial issues, environmental education, and current events. Previous research has examined these subject areas. Currently, however, there have been no studies about teaching about fracking in the social studies. Four major findings from this study address the status and barriers to teaching about fracking in Ohio. First, there were notable variances by typology when examining whether or not teachers taught about fracking, were concerned about it, and whether they believed fracking to be controversial. Second, respondents teaching in communities with the greatest prevalence of fracking taught about it the most, even though they rated themselves as having the least amount of knowledge of and concern about the topic. Meanwhile, teachers with no to little prevalence of hydraulic fracking in their communities had the highest level concern and knowledge but taught about it the least. Third, across all typologies, students' inability to navigate controversial issues was the most frequently cited barrier to teaching about fracking. Finally, civic engagement rather than civic action was primarily taught as reflected in the types of required civic activities. Being personally responsible and participatory was the predominant perception of good citizenship wh (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Frans Doppen (Committee Chair); Nancy Patterson (Committee Chair); Geoffrey Buckley (Committee Member); Ginger Weade (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Studies Education

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2014, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Curriculum and Instruction

Using critical exploration method (Duckworth, 2006) and constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2003), this in-depth qualitative research explores older Ethiopian elementary school children's conceptualization of their national identity. Twelve children between the ages eight and fourteen were recruited from one private and one public elementary school in Ethiopia. They were interviewed on their knowledge, beliefs, and attitude towards their country and their national in-group. Their responses were analyzed in light of the age-old tension between utopianism and anti-utopianism—a tension that translates to the Tewahedo (Oneness, Unity) versus Dualism debate that became more visible in the 5th century separation of Roman Catholic and Oriental Christologies. The analysis showed that six children gravitated towards the anti-utopian (dualistic) cognitive orientation where as the other six showed a more utopian outlook of their society and their national identity. The two groups had deep differences in their perspective on twelve major areas. These were: on the value of money, on how they see being “human” and in relation to being “Ethiopian,” on the purpose of work and the public sector, on the what and why of technology, on what counts as valuable knowledge, on the cause and implications of inequality, on what counts as excellence, success, and victory, on nature/environment, on the balance between masculine and feminine principles in the social and natural world, on women and motherhood, on a sense of national continuity and the meaning of change, and on the nature and function of government. The children in the anti-utopian group saw these areas mainly from masculine, militaristic, and dualistic perspective on themselves, their society, their environment, and societal institutions. The findings from the children's interview were further triangulated by analysis of grades three to five environmental science and social studies textbook contents an (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Linda Plevyak Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Vanessa Allen-Brown Ph.D. (Committee Member); Marcus Johnson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Terry Kershaw Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Curricula

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Educational Studies

From the key role that socialist feminists (who use some Marxist theoretical concepts) played in organizing many of the first academic women's studies programs (Kennedy 2008) to the central explorations of questions both with and against Marx in feminist theory, Marxist and Marxist feminist theory historically held a visible and vital place in the field. However since the introduction of post-theories to the humanities and social sciences in the late twentieth century, Marxist feminists charge that women's studies has abandoned Marx completely (Ebert 1995, Kelly 2002, Cotter 2007, Gimenez 2010) while some socialist feminists charge that Marxist theory is built into contemporary feminist theory in concepts such as “globalization” and “anti-racism” even if we don't call it “Marxist” (Gardiner 2008). So, who is correct? What is the place of Marxist theory in academic women's studies today? Within the social and cultural foundations of education, one way to explore these questions is to analyze which theories and concepts are core to the field's undergraduate curriculum—to determine what women's studies is teaching in its core courses. Since introduction to women's studies and feminist theory comprise the field's core courses (Salley, Winkler, Celeen, & Meck 2004), a representative sample of current in-use syllabi from these courses was collected from across the US. The most frequently assigned core course authors and titles are established. A descriptive and deductive content analysis is performed as each of the most frequently assigned course readings is run through the Marxist Theory Filter, comprised of the theory's key components, in order to determine which, if any, of these core course readings are Marxist. The study supports the assertions of Marxist feminists and finds that Marxist theory is not only marginalized, but is nearly invisible in the core curriculum; and post-theories, particularly multicultural, global and postcolonial feminist theories that utiliz (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Marvin Berlowitz PhD (Committee Chair); Vanessa Allen-brown PhD (Committee Member); Sandra Browning PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Sociology