Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2019, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

The acculturation of refugee-immigrant students is a complex process. The acculturation strategies of refugee-immigrant students are dependent upon the dominant society's acculturation expectations. There is ample research to support that refugee-immigrants prefer integration as an acculturation strategy (Berry, 2015). However, integration cannot be truly successful unless the dominant society promotes multiculturalism. The present study used a framework of the Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies (MIRIPS) and the Theories of Prejudice Scale to investigate the dominant society's (teachers) attitudes about the acculturation of refugee-immigrant students (non-dominant group). The constructs investigated were acculturation expectations (multiculturalism, melting pot, segregation, exclusion), multicultural ideology, and the mindset (fixed or growth) towards the malleability of prejudice. The present study also investigated the relationships between these constructs. Online surveys were sent to the teachers of refugee-immigrant students from a midwestern public school district resulting in 50 participants. The findings revealed that participants in the study preferred the acculturation strategy of multiculturalism, had a positive multicultural ideology, and had a growth mindset towards the malleability of prejudice. Despite the high scores in these constructs, a Pearson's Correlation Coefficient test found no statistical significance findings. This was due to the lack of variability in the responses, as all respondents had high scores in multiculturalism, multicultural ideology, and growth mindset. However, findings also revealed a strong relationship between multicultural ideology and the acculturation strategies of melting pot and segregation. The findings have implications to teacher professional development in multicultural education and future research. School districts with refugee-immigrant students can replicate this study to assess if teacher acti (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jane Beese PhD (Committee Chair); Chuck Vergon JD (Committee Member); Patrick Spearman PhD (Committee Member); Xin Liang PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Cultural Anthropology; Multicultural Education; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2010, Educational Administration

In this study, I conduct a critical discourse analysis of Developing the Curriculum Cymreig, a document published by the Welsh Assembly Government in 2003 that provides guidance to schools for the implementation of a distinctively Welsh curriculum. In this study, I ask the following questions: In what ways does the text establish its authority position in regard to its representations of Welshness? and In what ways does the text represent Welshness? The purpose of this analysis is to investigate how ideology is used in manufacturing consent regarding the representation of Welshness, and to “denaturalize” commonsensical assumptions embedded within these representations. This study accomplishes this by analyzing the organizational features of the text and its linguistic and grammatical elements. Particular attention is given to the relational, expressive, and experiential values contained within the text. From this analysis, cogent themes regarding the representation of Welshness were identified and interpreted. The implications of this research are then discussed within the framework of critical pedagogy, wherein the importance of critical thought and political literacy are featured as necessary elements in all stages of curriculum development and implementation.

Committee: Denise Baszile PhD (Committee Chair); Kathleen Abowitz PhD (Committee Member); Richard Quantz PhD (Committee Member); Sherrill Sellers PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Curricula; Curriculum Development; Education; Education History; Education Philosophy; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Educational Sociology; Educational Theory; Ethnic Studies; Multicultural Education; Pedagogy