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Utilizing Behavior Change Principles to Encourage Community Engagement in Water Protection and Conservation
Get PDFIntegrating behavior change into water conservation efforts is a growing discipline that explores how factors of decision-making can be used to encourage pro-environmental behavior. As water issues of quality and quantity are exacerbated, it is essential to consider the potential of behavioral science as a means to revolutionize traditional approaches to water conservation education and engagement. This capstone project investigates the question: how can behavior change principles be used to engage people in efforts to protect and conserve water? By looking at cognitive foundations, internal and external factors that influence behavior, and particular interventions to encourage water conservation, research shows that impactful behavior change initiatives cater to both the emotional and rational processing of the brain. Through skillfully combining appeals to logic and emotion, behavior change for water conservation becomes possible. The purpose of this capstone project is to create a reinvigorated, engaging member hub webpage for a water-focused nonprofit that embodies behavior change concepts to encourage action for water by integrating social norms into messaging, prioritizing ease of use for the webpage, and evaluating incentives to membership. The goals of this project to enact behavior change for water are threefold: increase water education opportunities, engage members with the nonprofit and the community, and increase an overall sense of community and connection
Chinese Immersion Cultural Teaching and the Use of Authentic Materials
Get PDFAs Chinese language and culture education gains prominence in global contexts, the fusion of language acquisition with cultural competence becomes a central pursuit. Through a comprehensive exploration of theoretical underpinnings and practical applications, this study elucidates the significance of authentic materials as catalysts for cultural engagement within Chinese immersion programs. This paper delves into the dynamic landscape of Chinese Immersion Cultural Teaching by examining the pivotal role of authentic materials in enhancing students\u27 cultural understanding. The resource developed consists of a ten-day lesson plan designed according to the Chinese New Year: Students will first learn the text and new words, and then design a role-play based on the picture book story: The Story of the Nian Beast. At the same time, it also involves authentic materials such as crafts and real cartoons-Yuan Ri. Integration of authentic materials not only enhances cultural understanding but also prepares learners for global citizenship. This synthesis equips them for cross-cultural interactions with empathy and open-mindedness. In conclusion, the study advocates for a pedagogical paradigm that combines language proficiency and cultural competence. Authentic materials transform education beyond language mastery, fostering intercultural harmony. This holistic approach empowers learners to be global communicators and cross-cultural ambassadors. Embracing authentic materials as a pedagogical cornerstone empowers students to navigate diverse cultural landscapes with confidence and respect, heralding a new era of cultural fluency in the realm of language education
Implementing TPR and TPRS in the Adult ESL Classroom with SLIFE Learners: A Teacher’s Diary Study
Get PDFThis study addresses the question: how can TPR and TPRS be used in the adult ESL classroom to teach vocabulary and reading skills? Adult ELLs with limited or interrupted formal education may struggle to learn English in traditional classrooms that rely on pre-existing literacy skills they have not yet developed, such as reading or taking notes. TPR (Total Physical Response) and TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) are methods of teaching language that may make use of body movements, gestures, role-play, drama and oral storytelling to make language understandable before connecting it to its written form. TPR has a long history of use in ESL classrooms, but TPRS has been studied mainly in the foreign language classroom, despite the fact that it emphasizes student engagement, a low stress environment, and the creation of learner-generated texts, which are all characteristics prior research has indicated are important for adult learners. This 10-week qualitative study examined the instructor’s teacher journal and the TPRS stories co-created by the teacher and the class to answer the research question. The study took place in a community-based education program with adult students ranging in age from 16-72, who spoke a variety of languages. Results of the study suggest that the combination of TPR and TPRS may be an effective way to teach vocabulary and reading skills to pre-literate adults. Diary entries recorded students demonstrating their understanding of target vocabulary in a number of ways including responding to commands, role-plays, asking their own questions and sharing their own stories. Observations recorded in the teacher diary also seem to indicate that students were able to begin to connect spoken English to its written form. This study also discusses limitations, implications for teachers and recommendations for further research
How Can Guest English-speaking Teachers Best Promote Students’ Identity and Culture in South Korean Schools
Get PDFEnglish language education in South Korea has complex layers. Ideas of Westernization, globalization, neoliberalism, native-speakerism, language ownership, culture, and identity all play a role in how Koreans view themselves as English language learners. Guest English-speaking Teachers (GETs) should promote student culture and identity to empower students as English speakers in a globalized world and work against ideas of native-speakerism and Westernization. The project created is a website for new and current GETs teaching English in South Korea. Based on research on culture and identity in English language learning in Korea and critically and culturally sustaining pedagogy, this website is meant to provide GETs with resources and activities to learn and critically reflect on teaching practices that better promote student culture and identity. The activities provided on the website incorporate active learning for teachers to critically reflect on their own social identities, teaching practices, and understand their students’ perspectives. This website is also a place of community for GETs to share their experiences and work together to support each other\u27s work towards promoting student culture and identity in their classrooms
Becoming a Badass: Developing Positive Embodiment in Women
Get PDFBecoming a Badass: Developing Positive in Embodiment in Women Nicole O’Connor Abstract Almost everyone hates their bodies (normative discontent), but women and girls are most likely to engage in extreme behaviors to adjust their appearance. The United States’ history as a heteronormative, white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist society contributes to myths about weight and health leading to anti-fat bias and harm on fat bodies. A focus on body image has limited the scope of research and Niva Piran’s Developmental Theory of Embodiment offers an alternative framework for healing normative discontent. As a woman living in a large body, the author interviewed six women about their journey from self-hatred to self-acceptance. She found women can develop positive embodiment by developing a sense of self, participating in supportive relationships, and recognizing their body’s power in movement. Focusing on the body’s agency instead of the body’s appearance offers freedom from self-hatred
Incorporating Opportunities for Diverse Literature into the Early Elementary Classroom
Get PDFThe research shows that student engagement is positively impacted by literature that contains mirrors to their own lives and experiences. This is a set of lessons that are created to be incorporated into the school’s literacy curriculum for 1st and 2nd grade. Through reading and discussing various books, these lessons strive to add places for multicultural students to see their lives mirrored back to them as well as to give all students a chance to see another way of life by looking through a window into someone else’s world. The lesson plans focus on creating space for students to engage with the books through both discussion with their teacher and classmates and personal reflection through drawing and writing. By using critical literacy strategies throughout the discussions and lesson reflections, students are able to engage with multicultural literature in a positive and uplifting way that promotes growth and empathy towards the lived experiences of others
Shared Literacy Adventures Program
Get PDFResearch demonstrates that engaging in shared literacy experiences impact a reader’s literacy skills, their reading self concept and their reading motivation creating long term literacy gains and lifelong readers. There is value in both diverse home literacy experiences and in the literacy curriculum practices that occur in the classroom. However, the gap between the two settings creates disconnects in the overall literacy education of a student. This project is designed to bridge that gap in a positive culturally sustainable way. Each module, which the student self selects from a pool of picture books representing diverse characters, authors, illustrations and literary formats, contains caregiver prompts, activities and enrichment options. Each is carefully designed to align with various educational frameworks and third grade English language arts curriculum standards. The goal of this project is to provide an easily implementable resource for educators, students and caregivers to create positive home literacy experiences supported by educational and curricular frameworks
Teaching Trauma-Informed Pedagogy and Critical Literacy in a Middle School Language Arts Classroom
Get PDFTrauma is an innate human experience. People from every walk of life can experience trauma at any time, in a variety of ways. The awareness of trauma is seeping into the forefront of our society. In particular, education has seen trauma in varying ways. Many educators are tasked with navigating trauma’s tricky waters. This capstone explores the possibility of how trauma-informed pedagogy and critical literacy impact student engagement in a middle school language arts classroom? Much of the literature reviewed in this capstone examines trauma’s complexities, trauma’s manifestation in schools and suggests several strategies that can be implemented to impact student engagement. Examples of these strategies are content selection, journaling, digital storytelling, critical witnessing, and mindfulness
Every Student Succeeds Act Title I and III Grant Spending and Equity Work in Minnesota
Get PDFGeorge, S.G.K. Every Student Succeeds Act Title I and III Grant Spending and Equity Work in Minnesota (2023) The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was introduced as part of President Johnson’s array of suggested civil rights and antipoverty reforms in 1965. ESEA funding was intended to be a supplemental funding source to provide more equitable conditions for all learners in the United States. The last two re-authorizations of the ESEA, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), have entrenched a focus on student achievement as determined by performance on standardized tests. This research had two parts. First, financial data from 67 Minnesota school districts were collected and analyzed to see how districts were spending their ESEA Title I and Title III grant awards during the 2018-2019 school year. Second, qualitative data from 16 districts’ ESSA Title I and Title III grant applications and state-required World’s Best Workforce documentation were coded and analyzed to determine which strategies school leaders reported using to close academic achievement gaps that existed in their disaggregated data. The financial data showed that within Minnesota most ESSA Title I grant expenditures fund teacher positions, and ESSA Title III grant expenditures fund paraprofessional positions. The findings in the qualitative data suggested that school districts considered data-related work and differentiated instruction most frequently as their strategies to address systemic inequity. This finding suggests that school leaders may be invested in analyzing data and supplying academic interventions instead of seeking anti-racist and culturally affirming strategies to address systemic inequities for minoritized populations of learners
Teacher-Student Relationships and Student Behavior
Get PDFThis study addresses the question to what degree do students believe they change their classroom behavior based on teacher-student relationship? This topic is important because it delves into the motivations behind student behavior. This question is tied to past research regarding student-centered learning, teacher-student relationships, and student outcomes related to different classroom factors. The primary method of data collection in this study was a twenty question survey given to four classes of 7th grade students. One student from each class was also interviewed about this same topic. Overall, it was found that teacher-student relationships have an impact on student behavior, and that students are aware that they modify their behavior based on these relationships