Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, EDU Teaching and Learning

This scholarship examines personal creative writing projects as a possible method of engaging in curricular counternarratives and trauma narratives simultaneously. In the current era of standardization in US schools, monocultural standards dominate the educational environment, silencing diverse student perspectives and providing a narrow view of the English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum. Counternarratives, or counterstories, are one practice that ELA educators can use to diversify their classroom content, open the classroom space for critical social justice work, and highlight individual student voices in the curriculum through storytelling— in this case, written storytelling. As writing is a creative pursuit that draws on individual experiences and is naturally linked to processing psychological pain, writing holds the potential to not only document student identities and lived experiences, but also to serve as a form of trauma narrative. A case study analysis of the written responses and interviews of four undergraduate students at a public midwestern university reveals that if educators construct a classroom environment ripe with critical, radical listening, then student stories of difficulty can be contextualized to reveal broader patterns of socialized identity categories. While facets of counternarrative and trauma narrative work can occur simultaneously, teachers must be careful not to equate one narrative type with the other. By engaging in this radical creative writing pursuit, ELA educators can orient their classrooms towards a social justice lens, honor the fullness of student identities, and work towards student growth on writing standards.

Committee: Mollie Blackburn (Advisor); Pranav Jani (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Theory; Secondary Education

Doctor of Education, Miami University, 2022, Educational Leadership

Teachers deserve a voice. Their experiences should be known in order to identify troublesome factors that often make school a constraining place. Their stories, no matter how messy, must be explored to better understand why our society loses many passionate educators. Through autoethnographic inquiry, I analyze my own story using creative works (narrative vignettes and art-based collage) to demonstrate the complicated experience of a modern-day K-12 educator. As a researcher engaging in critical autoethnography, I examine my experience through the principles of the radical imaginary, knowing thyself, understanding teachers as prisoners/oppressors, an ethic of care, critical/feminist lenses and critical hope. These influences are present and visible in the linguistic and visual data presented, which are intended to capture the complex paradoxes that young teachers face in their professional journey. By examining my lived experience, I hope to capture an authentic portrait of my time in public K-12 education to create meaning. This personal work elucidates themes felt by many young teachers to shed light on their difficulties and triumphs. The conclusion of the research provides suggestions for society based on interpretive data analysis.

Committee: Thomas Poetter (Committee Co-Chair); Sheri Leafgren (Committee Member); Lucian Szlizewski (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Early Childhood Education; Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Leadership; Secondary Education; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, English

Though matters of style are a frequent source of public interest, anxiety, and investment, style is often pushed to the margins of composition theory and pedagogy, weighed down by the baggage of historical movements in composition studies. “Style Made Visible: Reanimating Composition Studies Through Comics” investigates three approaches to style—as grammar, voice, and generic performance—in order to reconceive of style in our theory and practice. To remediate and illuminate the issues at hand, I use comics as a site of research, drawing on comics scholarship, graphic narratives, and published author interviews. In each chapter, I employ a single approach to style as a lens, pursue parallels between comics and composition, and finally apply my findings to the classroom, advocating for a pedagogy of style that relies on a foundation of awareness, control, and selection. Overall, my project seeks to advance a pluralized theory of style that invites us to recognize the role(s) of text, composer, and discourse community each in turn and holistically. My first chapter establishes an introduction for my project, noting the recent renaissance of style in composition studies, justifying comics as a site of research, and outlining the research questions and stakes of the project. Chapter 2 investigates local style, noting a disparity between the positions of grammar in comics and composition: Whereas comics creators celebrate the tools of their craft, sentence-based writing pedagogies are neglected as a product of current-traditional rhetoric. Using case studies from Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp and Small's Stitches, I demonstrate how writers can employ local style to move beyond an “ethos of error” and open up new rhetorical possibilities. Chapter 3 explores style as voice, arguing that though voice is valued by independent communities of composers, compositionists have cast it aside along with the expressivist movement. Examining in particular Bechdel's Fun Home and Forn (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jonathan Buehl (Committee Co-Chair); Jared Gardner (Committee Co-Chair); James Phelan (Committee Member); Susan Delagrange (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition; Pedagogy; Rhetoric

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, EDU Teaching and Learning

This study is a story about the relationships between nine Black men and some of the White educators in the K-12 schools and correctional education settings these men attended. I developed this story from face-to-face individual and group interviews with these men while they were inmates at Springdale Correction Center (a pseudonym), a community based correctional facility located in the Appalachian region of Ohio. I also interviewed the three teachers (each of whom was White) in the education department at SCC for their perceptions of educating Black males. My goal was to examine the school experiences of Black males to better understand education. However, I did not anticipate the degree to which participants' stories would highlight that issues of race and racism in education are pervasive, persistent, and harmful to Black male students. In many respects, the Black male inmates interviewed for this study are new voices in the field of education. No scholars previously analyzed these men's narratives to better understand the cultural relevance of their educators, or their relationships with their educators. On the other hand, this study's participants' voices illustrate what scholars have long been saying—namely, that schools and educators fail to nurture, support, or protect Black male students (Du Bois, 1903; Howard, 2013; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Palmer, Wood, Dancy, & Strayhorn, 2014; Woodson, 1933). This study highlights the importance of relationships between educators and students of color. White educators who have a developing awareness about the social and cultural realities of people who are Black from having relationships with these people are more likely to engage in developing pedagogical relationships with Black male students. A pedagogical relationship is a relationship between an educator and individual or groups of students in which the educator gets to know students, imagine what may help them achieve some educational success, and actually do w (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brian Edmiston PhD (Advisor); Patricia Encison PhD (Committee Member); Dean Cristol PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Curriculum Development; Education; Multicultural Education; Teacher Education; Teaching

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2016, English

This thesis aims to investigate and interpret similarities and differences between Chinese and English narrative rhetoric and then to shed light on cultivating EFL students into multilingual writers. Based on twenty Chinese and twenty American English majors' retellings of a short film story, it is found that Chinese writers are telling-oriented, fond of explicit theme preaching while American writers are showing-oriented, focusing on depicting actions and concrete details. Chinese writers interact with readers in a creative, excited and assertive interlocutor tone whilst American writers engage readers primarily by playing the narrator and character role. Chinese writers rely on figurative languages to embellish their writings whereas American writers exploit oralized expressions to invigorate their stories. The thesis goes on to interpret these cultural-specific narrative tendencies by examining discursive textual and contextual factors and finally suggest multilingual writers should be taught to integrate both cultures' rhetorical strengths into creative narrative writing.

Committee: LuMing Mao (Committee Chair); Tony Cimasko (Committee Member); Jason Palmeri (Committee Member) Subjects: English As A Second Language; Language; Multicultural Education; Multilingual Education; Rhetoric; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, EDU Teaching and Learning

This paper centers on a ten week teacher-research inquiry study in which I taught a high school English Children's Literature elective course at a local independent school. Unlike most secondary English teachers, I made my theoretical framework explicit, and sought to scaffold the terms and concepts of rhetorical narrative theory with our classroom texts. Data are drawn from student journals, essays, and creative projects during this class, as well as my teacher-researcher journal. The research objective was to investigate what happens when secondary students engage with rhetorical narrative theory and use this approach to interpret literature. Data analysis indicates that students were able to translate and integrate this particular interpretive language, and that quite often, I as their teacher merely provided the vocabulary for their pre existing familiarity with the function and form of narrative. Additionally, the data suggest that using children's literature in a secondary classroom allows for independent, deep, thematic textual analysis, which, in turn, is a space primed for narrative theory pedagogy. This study suggests that rhetorical narrative theory, at least when combined with children's literature, is a symbiotic pedagogical and critical match for secondary English students.

Committee: Barbara Kiefer (Advisor); Mollie Blackburn (Committee Member); David Herman (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Language Arts; Literature; Pedagogy; Secondary Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, English

“From Private to Public: Narrative Rhetoric in Composition Pedagogy” argues for a rhetorical revision of narrative in composition studies. Informed by the interdisciplinary narrative turn, this project aims to move past counterproductive debates surrounding ‘personal' writing in order to attend to the rhetorical nature and uses of narrative. To this end, I draw upon a year's worth of classroom-based qualitative research at The Ohio State University in which students analyzed and composed autobiographical texts in multiple genres and modes. Based on this research, I suggest that narrative rhetoric offers an ethical, dialogic orientation toward communication with significant benefits for composition pedagogy and promise for public use. The introductory chapter establishes the exigency offered by the narrative turn and suggests that composition studies has an opportunity to redress a neglect of production in these conversations. I then briefly rehearse the history of personal writing in composition studies, wherein scholars and teachers have debated the merits of narrative in terms of student-centered pedagogies, academic discourse, and critical consciousness. Without diminishing the value of these conversations, I suggest that they have resulted in a terministic screen that emphasizes psychological and personal concerns to the relative neglect of the rhetorical uses of autobiographical composition. To more fully attend to the richness of narrative communication, I propose an alternative set of terminology gleaned from humanistic and social scientific rhetorical theories of narrative. This narrative communication model becomes both a heuristic for analysis and heuretic for production of multimodal narratives in the composition classroom. Building upon this foundation, the three case studies approach autobiographical narrative through different genres and modes. In the course documented in Chapter 2, students analyzed and composed graphic memoirs, examining comics' capa (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Evonne Kay Halasek PhD (Committee Chair); James Phelan PhD (Committee Member); Cynthia L. Selfe PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition; Education; Educational Technology; Higher Education; Instructional Design; Language Arts; Literacy; Pedagogy; Reading Instruction; Rhetoric; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, ED Teaching and Learning (Columbus campus)

Since the inception of the Iraq War, the Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that over two million US military personnel have cycled through Iraq. This means that over two million American citizens have been exposed to Arabic language and culture for an extended period of time ranging from six months to two years. This exposure exceeds a majority of language study abroad programs, in Arabic and other languages. A large percentage of veterans (estimates vary) return to the U.S. and use the G.I. Bill in order to attain a college degree (Mettler, 2005 & Humes, 2006). What is it about their exposure to the language and culture that motivates them to study the language as part of their college education? What affective factors inside and outside of the classroom play a role in their language learning? Very little research has been conducted in the area of veterans, a federally recognized minority, in the language classroom. The purpose of this study is to explore Iraq war veterans' motivations to study Arabic language post-deployment to Iraq and to describes their experiences while deployed that influenced their academic choices and educational decisions. Through the use of case study narratives, this study identified the wide and varied cultural and linguistic experiences veterans have had in Iraq that play a role in their language learning. Close examination of the case studies led to some understanding how intercultural experiences between U.S. soldiers and Iraqi nationals contribute and relate to Iraq War veterans' Arabic language learning motivation. Because of the growth and emphasis on Arabic language education, powerful sources such as the U.S. State Department and various intelligence agencies, have begun to encourage and fund Arabic language education, so more research in the area of Arabic language motivation is warranted. Using case narrative research methodology, the study described why Iraq war veterans are studying Arabic language and culture and e (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Keiko Samimy PhD (Advisor); Adrien Rodgers PhD (Committee Member); Alam Payind PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Educational Sociology; Educational Theory; Higher Education; International Relations; Language; Linguistics; Literacy; Military History; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Political Science; Psychology; Reading instr

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, ED Teaching and Learning (Columbus campus)

Much of the research on gay and lesbian educators suggests that disclosing one's sexuality positively informs pedagogical approaches. Teachers who disclose reportedly feel more authentic and empowered while also serving as positive role models for students in general and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) youth in particular. However, this hegemonic discourse often ignores people of color, especially Black teachers and the added pressure people's racial background can have on the disclosure process, especially in an educational environment or in the community in which they belong. In an effort to present a counternarrative, this qualitative study used a narrative inquiry approach to explore the lived experiences of a self-identified Black lesbian educator and how the intersection of race and sexuality informed her pedagogy in a large urban school district in the Midwestern part of the United States. Critical Race Theory and Black feminist thought were used as the theoretical frameworks during the analysis phase of this investigation. The findings that described how her lived experiences informed her pedagogy revealed three major themes: a) ethic of care, b) culturally relevant teaching (CRT), and c) silence as homophobia. The participant chose not to disclose her sexuality at work; even so, the results indicated a strong commitment towards students' academic, social and emotional safety in school and beyond, especially GLBT youth. The findings for how the intersection of race and sexuality informed her pedagogy revealed three major themes: a) relevance of race, b) the relevance of sexuality, and c) fear of parents' reactions. However, there was no indication of a clear intersection. Instead, the data revealed that each identity paralleled the other, creating a serpentine motion that kept these two identities apart. As a result, it was concluded that each identity informed pedagogy at different times, but never simultaneously. This allowed the participan (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Cynthia A. Tyson PhD (Advisor); Mollie V. Blackburn PhD (Committee Member); Charles R. Hancock PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2012, Communication Studies (Communication)

Medical school is a formative time when future physicians learn what it means to care for patients and how to practice medicine in complex health systems. As students progress through school, they encounter significant challenges, risks, and expectations. Guided by a narrative perspective, I explore one experiential component of the professional education of medical students in the U.S.—standardized patient labs. Standardized patients are hired by medical schools to follow scripts and act as patients with various ailments and health problems. Medical students interact with standardized patients to practice diagnostic skills and prepare for clinical interactions beyond medical school. In this dissertation, I observe and analyze ways that standardized patient interactions prepare students for the narrative nature of clinical work. I also identify and interpret value sets that are maintained and disrupted through standardized patient interactions. I outline a rationale for the project in Chapter One by exploring contemporary challenges facing the health care industry and medical educators. In Chapter Two, I illustrate the theoretical importance of the project by situating the project within scholarly literature on the narrative nature of medicine and the experience of uncertainty in medicine. I detail my inquiry practices in Chapter Three, a research design that crystallized data gathered through multiple methods including observations, in-depth interviews, and the collection of documents. Chapters Four and Five offer complementary analytic representations of the SP lab at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OUHCOM). To begin, I take readers through a creative narrative vignette representing a typical and realistic medical student encounter in a SP lab. This story offers readers an ethnographic glimpse of the communication processes composing this pedagogy. Then, in Chapter Five, I present a traditional thematic representation developed throu (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lynn Harter PhD (Committee Chair); Austin Babrow PhD (Committee Member); Benjamin Bates PhD (Committee Member); Scott Titsworth PhD (Committee Member); Joe Bianco PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Medical Ethics