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Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education

CEHS Student Research Conference Abstracts


Creating Spaces for Students to Value Process in Art Education

This study examines the theoretical, philosophical, and practical implications of cultivating educative experiences in art classrooms. Drawing on personal experiences as a beginning art teacher I reflect on my own values, beliefs, and assumptions about educating artistic visions. I bring these considerations into conversation with the research literature and the concrete realities of art classrooms today. The centrality of process in art making is evidenced as key to educative experiences in art classrooms and, as such, must be cultivated in students' habits of working and thinking, classroom structures, and teacher response patterns. Attention to process holds powerful learning implication for all learners.

Confines and Collaborations in Art Education:Where Art Meets the Discipline

A qualitative study was conducted interviewing eleven teachers and artists about their classroom experiences during artist residencies in participating schools. A conversation, from the vantage point of the teacher and artist, was created in both a narrative and a video product revealing the confines and collaborations present during artist residencies. The study found that teachers and artists talked about art education and residencies around six central themes: benefits of professional artists in the classroom, the kinds of attributes present in a quality art education, the nature of the activities engaging students during art making, the ways artists and residencies extend the goal of life-long learning, teachers and artists working together successfully, and lastly, what kinds of students seemingly benefit the most from artist residencies. The interviews and video taped commentary flesh out these themes intertwining them into a video product which cuts back and forth between participants≠ voices and narrative thematic sections. The study identified the importance of partnerships and school support for artist residencies to be successful. Each participant revealed how beneficial artist residencies are for students≠ learning. There were also strong implications regarding professional development for teachers and artists working together in the classroom and learning from one another. Artists in residency projects should continue to be implemented into schools. Over half the schools in this inquiry had either created a residency which will sustain itself through students at the summation of the residency, where students will become teachers to younger grades, or the school is working to integrate arts into all their classrooms.

Building Community Through Dialogue

The purpose of this practitioner-based inquiry is to reintroduce relationship within my classroom through the use of journaling, poetry, and conversation. This paper explores the needs of students and teachers to connect meaningfully with each other and to develop and share their own identities as they learn. A diverse group of twenty students were given the opportunity to dialogue with their teacher over a period of four weeks. Journaling, poetry writing and reading were the primary venues for self-expression. Relationships between the educator and students were strengthened and individual identities began to emerge. Of equal importance, a sense of community was born.

Social Acceptance in the Elementary Years

This practitioner-based inquiry focuses on issues of social acceptance in elementary classrooms. Specifically, this inquiry emphasizes how power, control, and authority relate to the issue of social acceptance. This inquiry first frames the nature of schooling as a social enterprise and emphasizes the importance of social issues in education. In addition, children hold their own perceptions of social life in classrooms and these perceptions are directly related to issues of social acceptance. These claims are supported by drawing upon research from various researchers and authors, including John Dewey, Alan Block, Gary Ladd, Thomas Barone, Jens Asendorpf, and many others. In addition, the role that teachers play in these issues is analyzed and outlined. This inquiry utilizes observations and field notes in 4th grade, 6th grade, and 8th grade classrooms as a method to construct a "lived" understanding of these issues among students and teachers. Furthermore, the aim is not to provide my reader with a complete picture, but to provide a "snapshot" of the issues pertaining to social acceptance. This inquiry addresses various themes related to social acceptance, including social networking, self-protective coping strategies, social segregation, societal expectations, gender roles, and the inquiry concludes with some implications for educators. Some of the implications involve increasing teacher awareness of these issues in their own classroom, analyzing power structures, determining which students struggle with social acceptance, increasing interdependence, encouraging dyadic relationships, and learning to accept the diversity that exists within all students because diversity exists within all of us. This inquiry is hopeful the reader will incorporate these implications into their teaching style and many children in elementary classrooms will experience social acceptance in the elementary years.

Establishing And Maintaining Strong Pedagogical Relationships In The Classroom

This practitioner based inquiry focused on the importance of fostering strong pedagogical relationships in the classroom. The project entailed a detailed look at the responsibility of the teacher in forming these bonds and what can happen as a result of them. Many insights were gained through this project including the ability to see with more complexity and understand the impact creating learning situations for meaningful educative experiences (Dewey, 1938) has on students‚ lives and students‚ identities. Through field notes derived from observations three themes emerged as a result of careful analyses and reflection. First, voice was prevalent when a student was able to reveal an inner thought in a public manner. Second, learning connectiveness was demonstrated when students were able to fuse together their lives with their teacher and subject matter. Finally, the author was able to understand how important social control was to classroom performance; this is control that comes from the learning situation itself and is not teacher imposed. The participants in this study were low-income diverse learners with many mis-educative (Dewey, 1938) prior experiences. As a result of this study these students had the opportunity to have Deweyan experiences that allow for further growth in the area of mathematics and education. The inquiry concludes that complexity is powerful and important to the role of an educator and this needs to be made more visible to pre-service teachers.


Mentoring Relationships And The Latino College Student

This practitioner-based inquiry focuses on issues related to mentoring and Latino college students. Latino students are dropping out, feeling alienated, distressed and not a part of the college community. The problem is retention and helping Latino students succeed A review of previous literature documents support for the use of mentoring programs to assist minority students in overcoming many of the barriers they face in higher education. The promising results from the Puente project and the Latino Achievement Mentoring Program (LAMP) show that mentoring can be used successfully. Proper training and a good understanding of the role of a mentor as well as the responsibilities of a mentee (protégé) are needed to obtain a successful mentoring relationship. Implications arise for pre-service and ongoing teacher professional development and all mentoring initiatives.


Creating Mindful Learners:Learning Through Culture And Geography

This practitioner-based inquiry investigated the effectiveness of a newly created, rural middle-school exploratory Spanish curriculum. This endeavor was made possible through a National Geographic grant. The grant monies were used to purchase much needed materials to update and personalize the stated curriculum with a focus on geography and culture to better educate rural seventh and eighth grade Nebraskan students with an emphasis on diversity, cultural acceptance (particularly of the Latino community), alongside scholarly connections. The focus of the inquiry was to examine the improvement and successfulness of the curriculum over a six-week course at both grade levels through daily classroom discussions, in addition to a pre- and post-reflection survey given to each student. The eighth grade level navigated a curriculum rich in culture, exploring famous Latinos/Hispanics. The seventh grade approach was geographically driven, with a concentration on art and oral presentation. These exploratory and student guided approaches revealed that nearly all students were able to correctly identify elements of the Latino/Hispanic culture, yet still struggled with making connections to geographic and cultural/historical contexts. Thus, many eighth grade students still struggle to discern the impact of the Latino culture upon their daily lives, while the seventh grade showed a much larger gain through a curriculum rich in geography. Additional themes also surfaced such as falsehoods related to the Latino culture, necessity of learning a language (such as Spanish), and organizational skills (or lack of). Lastly, the most surprising revelation was one of ignorance, or rather the impact of a lack of cultural experiences and interactions, missing from this particular rural Nebraskan educational system, and the necessity of education to address this lack.


Helping Educators Understand The Black Male Crisis And The Importance Of Fostering Resilience In Public Schools

The purpose of this practitioner-based inquiry is to expose and explain to educators the Black male crisis in America. This paper explores the historical and social factors associated with the plight of Black males and the need for educators to increase their knowledge of relevant factors. The paper also discusses Benard‚s (1991) three protective factors for fostering resilience and uses these factors as a conceptual framework for analyzing specific scenarios involving Black male students in schools. The scenarios are provided to give educators examples and alternative ways of handling behavioral, social and academic challenges. Conclusions and implications for continued study, advocacy and intervention are provided.


Community Space

This practitioner-based study purposefully introduces genuine inquiry into a middle school science classroom. The teacher‚s role toward positioning students to be inquirers is examined. Drawing on the six components of 1) Authentic Tasks 2) Interdependency in Small Group Work 3) Negotiation of Understanding 4) Public Display 5) Collaboration with Experts and 6) Shared Responsibility for Teaching and Learning, the necessary terms and conditions of inquiry and the differences for students and teacher are documented over nine days. This study relays concrete examples, providing insights into how teachers can teach for greater student inquiry and the importance of doing so for learners and learning.

 

Creative Writing as a Medium to Create Self

This practitioner-based inquiry shows how the process of creative writing holds the potency to guide students into greater self-understanding. Given that adolescence is a time of searching for one‚s identity, creative writing can be a medium to help students find and reinvent themselves. For the purpose of this inquiry, twenty poems written by ten students were explored. These students wrote their poems during a lesson purposefully designed to foster identity creation. Two main goals were stated as intentions of this inquiry. The first one was to lead students to analyze, face and comprehend the concepts of identity, self-understanding, inner voice, and change, throughout their own process of creative writing. As a consequence of the main goal of this inquiry, the second goal was to lead students to the understanding that in order to be humanly successful it is necessary to gain knowledge about self in relation to others. The inquiry concludes that teachers might consider utilizing creative writing as medium to lead students to recognize and understand their identities. The teachers‚ role and responsibility within this process is critical and cannot be disregarded.

 

Parent Involvement: A Desperate Need For Latino Students' Success

This practitioner-based inquiry focuses on parent involvement as a crucial element for students≠ success. The targeted population for this inquiry was Latino English Language Learners at an Elementary School in an urban public school system. This project explored the reasons why the lack of parent involvement affects the success of Latino students. Also, the causes of why Latino parents do not attend school activities were analyzed. The collection of the data through field notes, self study, and observations, were gathered throughout the school year, during school activities, parent/teacher conferences, and informal meetings with parents. It was evident in the findings of this inquiry that Latino students desperately need parents involved in their education in order to increase their academic and social success. The findings also reveal that parents need supports to be integrated into society, culture and the school system. The inquiry concludes that school administrative structures and Latino parents need to improve the existing relationship between them in order to promote parent involvement alongside students≠ academic success.

 

Exploring Adolescent Identities:The Role of After-School Programming in Identities in the Making

This practitioner-based inquiry focuses on the relationship and impact of after-school programming on youth identity. Through review of literature alongside participant/researcher observations within a community-based after-school program, the inquiry reveals the similarities and differences of after-school and school based programs, supporting the effectiveness of after-school programming toward shaping youth identities. The author, as a community educator, utilizes dialogue with participating youth alongside observations within a local after school program to locate conditions contributing to healthy identity formation. Ten themes: Ownership, Excitement, Pride, Environment, Time, Conversation, Direct Interaction, Trust, Care, and Relationships, prove to contribute to the success of after school programming, specifically regarding the formation of adolescent identities. The ten interrelated and interdependent themes provide a solid foundation indicating that stronger self-identities are key to healthy communities.

 

Strengthening The Latino Identity Through the Implementation of Story, Ethnicity, and Affirmation in the Classroom

This study weaves together the author‚s personal journey toward a positive Mexican American identification alongside field notes from the author‚s/educator‚s classroom. A practitioner-based inquiry was conducted to find out if three methods: (1) teacher and student stories, (2) infusing multicultural education, and (3) the affirmation of culture, reinforce the Latino adolescent identity development. The results revealed that students‚ and teachers‚ stories of identity validated student beliefs, and connected school to their lives. Learning became more relevant within a safe environment where students could discuss issues of race and ethnicity. This inquiry is intended to serve an educative role offering insights to all educators and interested others as the most recent U.S. Census statistics indicate Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic-racial group and also, given that it is a young population, there is a high probability that most public school classrooms will include one or more Hispanic students.

Experience or Ganas? A Personal Narrative

This practitioner-based inquiry is concerned with the educational experiences of Mexican students attaining and persisting through higher education. Mexicans have one of the lowest rates of post-secondary attainment, and this inquiry is an attempt to point out the experiences shared, allowing students to overcome adversity and attain a higher education. The author uses a personal narrative account of his own educational experiences to reveal themes contributing to attaining, persisting, and seeking out graduate level coursework. The author focuses on pre-collegiate experiences supplying the drive to achieve at a high level. Interrelated themes of parental support, involvement, resiliency, and race emerge as supports. Resources, school personnel, and race are discussed as adversities the author faced causing resistance in higher educational achievement. The narrative concludes that the adversities experienced both effected the author negatively, and also supplied some drive, along with the supports that swayed the ?tension? in a positive direction, fostering higher educational attainment and persistence. The impact of others in this regard can not be ignored. Educators must gain greater cognizance of their power and responsibility in the lives of all students.

 

Afterschool Education: Fertile Ground for Student Growth

The afterschool terrain is of growing interest to researchers and policy makers, as more and more young people spend time in structured afterschool programs. Most of the studies investigate the impact that afterschool programs play in improving academics and reducing the likelihood of young people engaging in risky behaviors, or are pragmatic studies designed to help the afterschool educator with concerns such as program structure and youth retention. Many are funded and supported by government institutions and agencies. More research is needed to capture complexities of afterschool education. The central idea that I have explored is the role that afterschool programs play in the community. Through interviews with afterschool educators and recursive self-study, the following themes emerged as present in quality afterschool educational settings: the presence of flexibility and creativity, the presence of space, the presence of student choice and the presence of a caring community. Implications for practice include: supporting broader ways to view and discuss the importance of afterschool education, critically examining the middle places present in afterschool settings and intentionally maintaining the flexible and subversive elements of afterschool education that can lead to unanticipated outcomes.