bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
“Becoming” a Teacher
Authors: Gomez Mary Louise , Black Rebecca W. , Allen Anna-Ruth 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context In this article, we trace the development of a prospective secondary science teacher as she begins to examine her identity as a White person. We explore how the social languages of her teacher education program challenge, intermingle, and blend with ones she brought to the program from her midwestern small-town childhood and a professional life in science. Research Design In this case study, we deploy Russian philosopher M. M. Bakhtin's notion of ideological becoming to trace her development from program entry through four semesters of program participation. We show how various fieldwork, course, and volunteer experiences challenge the ways she talks and thinks about herself, her students, teaching, and the roles that race/ethnicity and culture play in these relationships. Research Questions We ask: How does this prospective teacher understand her identity as a White person? What relationship does she understand that this identity has to teaching students who are from many different cultural backgrounds? What kinds of dilemmas arise for a prospective teacher when she begins to understand who she is as a White person? How does she negotiate them? And what role does her teacher education program play in encouraging and supporting her negotiations? Conclusions/Recommendations The article concludes by considering what practicing teachers and university teacher educators might do to support new teachers who have begun to question their identities and those of their students, and to craft pedagogy to meet students’ needs. Included in the recommendations are considerations for the location of class-room placements for prospective teachers; the nurturing of collaborative relationships between classroom teachers and university teachers; teacher education program pedagogy that promotes critical inquiry into issues of race; and the development of communities of prospective teachers who can struggle with such issues as their identities as racialized beings.
Approaching and Attending College: Anthropological and Ethnographic Accounts
Authors: Koyama Jill Peterson 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context This review article draws on the growing body of literature at the interfaces of anthropology and education, as well as other educational studies outside anthropology that have relevance to social and cultural frames. Purpose Drawing together and analyzing anthropological and ethnographic studies, conducted during the last two decades, this review highlights the theoretical, methodological, and analytical patterns that have defined anthropological approaches to studying education. Findings/Results The studies, in the aggregate, tell us a great deal about how students negotiate schooling to create academic identifications, find and construct networks rich in social and cultural capital, and experience a sense of belonging. Conversely, students who are marginalized, constrained, or have limited access to school contexts—through institutionalized practices, policies, and ideologies—are far more likely to disengage academically, to exert their agency, to “resist” school, and to forgo college attendance. What also becomes increasingly clear in regards to college preparation and access is that the experiences of students and their families vary greatly, depending on the social, cultural, political, and historical contexts within which youth's college choices are shaped. As well, the studies reveal that the factors that impact college persistence and completion parallel those found to influence pre-college schooling. Conclusions/Recommendations This review of anthropological studies tell us much less about the actual college experiences of racial/ethnic minority and poor students and the author calls for further scholarship in this area.
Using Alternative Lenses to Examine Effective Teachers’ Use of Technology with Low-Performing Students
Authors: Edmunds Julie A. 
Published: February 2022

Background Much of the literature on the use of technology with low-performing students can be seen as contradictory and limited, primarily because it examines technology use through a single lens: the technology itself. Purpose This study used two lenses—teachers’ instructional practices and the research on effective technology use—to examine the use of technology by effective teachers. Population Short interviews were conducted with 20 teachers (in 13 elementary schools) nominated by their principals as effective at improving the achievement of their low-performing students and as considering technology an important part of their instruction. Three of those teachers were chosen for a more in-depth examination. Research Design The study used a collective case study approach to examine the ways effective teachers used technology with their low-performing students. Data Collection and Analysis Data sources included screening interviews with 20 teachers; extended interviews with three teachers chosen for the case study; five days of observations in three case study classrooms; and interviews with seven students and their parents. Analysis used the constant comparative approach to develop themes that cut across the classrooms and interviews. Findings The teachers in this study used technology in a balanced way that was continuous with their general instructional practices. Their use of technology reflected nine primary roles: to target instruction more effectively; to incorporate a variety of strategies; to support teacher-guided instruction; to increase student involvement in instruction; to facilitate remediation and reinforcement; to promote advanced thinking strategies; to increase access to resources; to motivate students; and to meet the needs of the whole child. Conclusion Examining the use of technology in the context of teachers’ instructional practices provides a fuller picture of the different roles technology can play to support the learning of low-performing students.
From International Schools to Inner-City Schools: The First Principles of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program
Authors: Conner Jerusha Osberg 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context In the past 35 years, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program has spread to 564 schools across the United States, with an ever-growing share of these schools located in the inner city. These American school sites comprise vastly different contexts than those in which the IB program began-the international schools of Europe.<p> Purpose/Objective/Focus of Study To understand the migration of the IB from international schools to inner-city schools, I examine both the intentions and the implementation of two of the most distinctive features of the program: its assessment system and its emphasis on promoting intercultural competence. Research Design In this analytic essay, I rely on historical accounts to uncover the first principles that the founders sought to embed in the design of these two curricular components. Drawing on accounts written by journalists and educators about the implementation of the IB, I then consider implications of these first principles in the context of American schools generally, and inner-city schools in particular. Conclusions/Recommendations I argue that although the growth of the IB may be due to the broad appeal of its first principles, as the IB continues to spread to new school sites, these first principles remain vulnerable, challenged by the constraints and conventions of the American schooling system. To remain true to its founding ideals and first principles, the program will need to continue to balance interests that in the American context often conflict, such as progressive and standards-based education, and access and prestige.
Angling for Access, Bartering for Change: How Second-Stage Teachers Experience Differentiated Roles in Schools
Authors: Donaldson Morgaen L. , Johnson Susan Moore , Kirkpatrick Cheryl L. , Marinell Will , Steele Jennifer L. , Szczesiul Stacy Agee 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context Increasingly, instructional reforms in US schools place teachers in differentiated roles, such as literacy coach or data analyst. Not only do these roles hold promise for reforming instruction, but they also may make the teaching career more rewarding by offering teachers new challenges over time. In the past, teachers who held roles that distinguished them encountered resistance from colleagues who questioned their distinction and rebuffed their instructional advice (Lortie, 1975; Little, 1988). In doing so, colleagues defended their classroom autonomy and appealed to teaching's traditional egalitarian culture (Little, 1988; Johnson, 1990; Mangin, 2005). As veteran teachers retire, the teachers that take differentiated roles today may be relatively inexperienced and young. Thus, these teachers may violate teaching's allocation of privileges based on seniority (Lortie, 1975) in addition to autonomy and egalitarianism. Purpose In this study, we set out to understand how second-stage (third–tenth year) teachers experienced differentiated roles in the current context of accountability, where instructional change is the order of the day. Participants We selected 20 second-stage teachers who held differentiated roles that were formal, compensated by time or money, and promised to be ongoing rather than temporary. Our sample included teachers working in several metropolitan areas and in a range of school settings. Research Design This is an interview-based, qualitative study. Data Collection and Analysis Data were collected through hour-long, semi-structured interviews. Constructing matrices and writing analytic memos, we conducted cross-case analysis. Findings Among the second-stage teachers we interviewed, only those whose roles sought to change colleagues’ practice provoked resistance from their colleagues. Teachers who held these roles, which we designated “reform roles,” reported that colleagues resisted their efforts to provide feedback and resented their special recognition, especially given their inexperience. Moreover, teachers in reform roles performed these roles strategically, in order to reduce colleagues’ opposition. In some cases, the teachers in our sample reduced the scope of their role in an effort to avoid provoking their colleagues. We concluded that the norms of autonomy, egalitarianism, and seniority continue to exert great influence among teachers, whether veteran or second-stage. Conclusions/Recommendations These findings suggest that instructional reform built on such roles should be designed and implemented with more consideration of the power and persistence of teaching's traditional norms. In this way, these roles might better promote whole-school instructional change and provide appealing career opportunities that retain teachers.
Examining Teachers’ Beliefs and Instructional Practices in Secondary Foreign Language Classes on Honors and Non Honors Tracks: The Role of Teaching for Communication
Authors: Morris Michael 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context Little research to date has examined the honors foreign language classroom or how it differs from its non-honors counterpart. This study examines possible differences between the two kinds of classrooms and what factors may affect these differences. Purpose The researcher observed a total of 54 honors and non-honors French and Spanish classes at all levels at a high school in a Midwestern state to ascertain the instructional practices used therein. He also administered questionnaires to and interviewed the seven teachers of these classes regarding the classroom practices he observed and the factors that may have influenced these practices, focusing particularly on any differences between the high-and low-tier classes. Setting A high school of 1,900 students in a small town in a Midwestern state. Subjects Seven high school teachers of French and Spanish. Research Design This study incorporates analysis of the lesson content of the two kinds of classes using the chi-square technique and qualitative techniques to analyze the data yielded by questionnaires and open-ended interviews with each teacher. Findings A highly significant statistical relationship exists between the tier of class (honors v. non-honors) and the type of language activity (form-focused v. communicative). Analysis of teachers’ narratives also reveals several factors that enter into play in shaping their instructional practices. These include: (1) students’ preferences for specific teaching styles and instructional emphases; (2) honors students’ desire for the prestige that comes from enrollment in high-tier classes; (3) students’ level of motivation for language learning; and (4) students’ level of engagement in their language learning. Conclusions The researcher concludes that foreign language educators must address the issue of reserving communicative teaching for elite students for the profession's future viability.
Leaving No Child behind Yet Allowing None Too Far Ahead: Ensuring (In)Equity in Mathematics Education through the Science of Measurement and Instruction
Authors: Ellis Mark 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context For the past century, mathematics education in the United States has been effective at producing outcomes mirroring society's historical inequities. The enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 was intended to address these differential educational outcomes. Given the scope of this legislation's impact on the way in which states, districts, and schools evaluate mathematics learning and conceptualize reforms in the teaching of mathematics, it is critical to examine the possible effects this may have on how mathematical proficiency is determined and distributed. Purpose/Focus of Study This inquiry raises questions about the manner in which the No Child Left Behind Act aims to improve mathematics education through an increased reliance on “objective” science. Specifically, the argument put forth here is that the policies of the No Child Left Behind Act leverage and intensify the “dividing practices” instituted in the early 20th century as a means of justifying the differential stratification of students in schools, thereby making equitable educational outcomes less likely than not. The questions guiding this inquiry are: How did these dividing practices first develop? What are the taken-for-granted assumptions under which they operate? How might technologies related to these practices, given renewed status due to the requirements of the NCLB Act, impact mathematics education? Research Design This inquiry takes the format of an analytic essay, drawing on both a historical perspective of efforts to improve education in the United States through a reliance on scientific methods, and an examination of recent evidence as to how the No Child Left Behind legislation's policies are bring implemented in relation to the assessment and teaching of mathematics. Conclusions/Recommendations Although the intent of the No Child Left Behind legislation is to identify schools in which students are not being educated well and to compel improvement, its approach to doing so is built on a model from which long-standing disparities were constructed in the first place. The use of high-stakes standardized testing and direct instruction (DI) methods of teaching—both likely effects of the policies of the NCLB Act—reify the idea that mathematics is something to be put into students’ heads, apart from their lived experiences and daily lives. This approach to mathematics education provides a rationale for students’ (continued) stratification within an “objective” system of standardized testing and instruction. When considering reforms that aim to reduce inequities in educational outcomes, particularly in mathematics, forms of assessment and instruction must be developed and promoted that get away from the divisiveness of the traditional truth games and move toward a focus on students making sense of mathematics in ways that are meaningful, flexible, and connected to their sense of self.
Life Histories of Latino/a Teacher Candidates
Authors: Gomez Mary Louise , Rodriguez Terri L. , Agosto Vonzell 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context In this article, we explore the life histories of two Latino/a prospective elementary teachers in a large Midwestern university; examine their knowledge, strengths, and needs as teachers; and consider how teacher educators might capitalize on these. We explore how these prospective teachers’ prior family, home, K–12 schooling, and university experiences have forged their identities and affected how they think about campus peers and classroom colleagues, and their obligations to their students. Research Questions In analyzing these life histories, we ask: What knowledge, strengths, and needs do Latino/a teacher candidates bring to campus when enrolling in teacher education, and how do prospective teachers negotiate these? What implications do Latino/a teacher candidates’ experiences have for teacher educators? Conclusions and Recommendations Our findings suggest that teacher educators turn their attention to five dimensions of teacher education: whom we hire as teacher educators, how we model classroom pedagogy for students, how we help all prospective teachers excavate their identities, how prospective teachers’ language skills and cultural backgrounds are taken into account on campus and in school experiences, and how we deploy experiences with various cultural communities for prospective teachers. Whom we hire as teacher educators is significant because the course content, assignments presented to students, and ways that they take into account the concerns of all students are related to the identity and experiences of the teacher educator. Modeling classroom practices that honor prospective teachers’ prior knowledge, experiences, and questions is significant because how they are taught paves the way for what possibilities they see for including all students in their future classrooms. Our analyses also suggest that all teacher candidates require careful reflection on their identities and standpoints, and what these mean for their interactions with and understandings of the viewpoints of peers, colleagues, families, and students. We also encourage teacher education programs to take into account prospective teachers’ language and cultural knowledge when placing students in classrooms and devising assignments for their teaching. Further, we encourage community experiences for all teachers that include interactions with families of different heritage and social class backgrounds so that they might develop more and deeper understandings of various families and communities.
The Pedagogy of Monsters: Scary Disturbances in a Doctoral Research Preparation Course
Authors: Lesko Nancy , Simmons Jacqueline , Quarshie Antoinette , Newton Nicki 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context Although doctoral education is an important component of research universities, few investigations of doctoral education exist. Furthermore, with the push in education and in other disciplines to help beginning researchers understand multiple paradigmatic, epistemological, and theoretical orientations that define fields of study, few reports explore the attempts and their effects. Purpose This study sought to understand the unusually strong student responses to a new doctoral core course that aimed to initiate them into the competing theoretical, epistemological, and paradigmatic complexity of contemporary educational research. This study developed from the authors’ experiences with the course in an attempt to understand students’ conflicted responses. Setting A private urban graduate school of education was the setting for this study. Participants Participants were doctoral students who enrolled in the core course between 1999 and 2002. By virtue of the action research design, the authors were also participants. Research Design The overarching design developed from action research in that we sought to investigate a question that arose from our teaching practice. Our initial research question was, How can we understand students’ highly charged responses to the doctoral core course? The inquiry drew upon three traditions in qualitative interpretive research: action research, collective memory work, and deep interpretation and reflection. Data Collection and Analysis Data were collected via three collective memory groups and through the sustained and collaborative sharing of the authors’ own varied experiences of the doctoral core course. Findings/Results Students’ stories of turmoil in the doctoral course are interpreted as disruptions that occurred when familiar ideas about knowledge and learning, identities, and social networks were breached. These disturbances—encounters with ambivalence, and the awareness of more than one way to interpret, categorize, and feel about phenomena—were related to instances in which their reading, perceptions, and identities were challenged. These disturbances were frightening, and students defended against the uncertainty and the attendant questions of their own competence by recuperating stable ideas of knowledge, self, and community through talk of authentic learning, noncompetitive peers, caring professors, and a harmonious academic community. Conclusions/Recommendations The doctoral core course took on a life of its own, like Frankenstein, achieving effects beyond the original intention and desires of its creators and its students. We now recognize some of the limits to the critical curriculum that we developed, revised, and enacted. We have sought to tame some disturbing aspects of the course and also to admit that teaching that interferes will always produce unpredictable and mixed responses.