4955 research outputs found
Sort by
Mitigating Climate Change: Understanding How Teachers Integrate Social Justice Themes In Environmental Education
Get PDFClimate change is an increasingly severe global issue with devastating repercussions for marginalized, poor, and vulnerable people. As a result, environmental education has evolved over the years to build upon outdoor nature study and ecological concepts to incorporate fundamental principles of social and environmental justices while addressing climate change. This qualitative research study employed both an online survey and semi-structured interviews to address two research questions grounded in the environmental justice movement to determine how social justice intersects with pressing global issues commonly found in environmental science curriculum. First, how do environmental science educators integrate social justice themes in their classrooms? Secondly, how has environmental education evolved to incorporate climate change education? Survey participants were taken from the Advanced Placement Environmental Science Facebook group, and individuals volunteered to participate in a follow-up, indepth interview. The data from the survey indicated participants do in fact teach climate change, are motivated by altruistic principals, and incorporate social justice themes in their AP Environmental Science classrooms. Furthermore, the interviews were transcribed and coded, while memo writing was used to ground theory to answer the primary research question. Environmental science educators do in fact include social justice in their classrooms through case studies, local connections, college preparatory programs, and environmental literacy initiatives
Connecting At-risk Youth To Place: Using Restorative Practices To Improve Learner Awareness Of Local Climate Change
Get PDFEducational practices of restorative practices and outdoor education have often been implemented as two separate entities despite both having similar goals of building relationships while providing a sense of belonging and empowerment for the individual. Restorative practices originated in the justice system and are being increasingly used with at-risk youth in an effort to help the individual heal and rebuild relationships with community and self as a preventative approach to addressing the school-to-prison pipeline. Outdoor education is often conducted through place-based and inquiry-based learning, which uses hands-on experiences to promote increased learner awareness of environmental concerns, such as climate change while also promoting a sense of belonging and stewardship. Participants in this study experienced nature through place-based and inquiry-based hands-on learning experiences regarding local biomes, plants, and climate. During and after lessons, participants reflected on their experiences through discussions and circle talks. Through these lessons, participants also reflected on their own experiences to deepen the connection to community and place. The data analysis confirmed the hypothesis that at-risk youth would have an increased awareness of local climate change as they developed a connection with place and community while also developing intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. By using restorative practices with outdoor experiences, it was determined that this process holistically supports the at-risk youth and provides them with an opportunity to reflect and heal. The hope is that this will help them be successful, academically and personally, increase learner awareness of local climate change, and promote a sense of belonging and stewardship
Need Not Apply: A Systematic Literature Review Re-Evaluating English Prestige and Its Retribution On Foreign English Language Leaders And Their Learners’ Identity
Get PDFThis comprehensive literature review aims to progress the dialogue on the influence of English prestige in the ESL field related to hiring practices, pedagogical practices, and consideration for how it impacts learner success. Traditional interpretations of cultural capital from Bourdieuean theory form a deficit view of Communities of Color with an extension to immigrant families and those for whom English is not the first language. Further to that, Bourdieu\u27s concept of linguistic capital measures against the knowledge of the ability to speak the official language. The English language has served as a gatekeeper worldwide as the demand for English language education has become more common. As a result, a strong command of English impacts college admission, employment, and promotion even outside those countries where English is the official language. By exploring the cultural influences that contribute to English prestige and linguistic capital, Yosso entered as a challenger to the research landscape with a community cultural wealth model. Through the lens of Yosso’s forms of cultural capital, this extended literature review illuminates how English in the classroom informs the perception of NNELL and their identity, ultimately impacting the development of new language learners classrooms
Digital Wellbeing In The Classroom: Choosing Technology That Supports The Whole Child
Get PDFTechnology is rapidly acquiring a new centerstage role in classrooms. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an unmatched era of technology use as teachers and students had to rely on laptops and tablets for many months in order to continue learning. With children’s and adolescents’ daily screen time increasing both at school and at home, educators and parents must acknowledge and grapple with the wide-ranging effects that these new habits can have on wellbeing. This capstone project sought to answer the question: How might a professional development series support teachers as they consider the impacts of screen time on wellbeing while also determining the effectiveness of digital tools on student learning? By providing knowledge about screen time and wellbeing, as well as a set of tools to help analyze educational apps, this professional development series will empower educators to carefully consider technology’s role in student learning and wellbeing
Minnesota School Forest Program: An Evaluation and Exploration of Implementations
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources School Forest Program through answering the following questions: what are the strengths and limitations of the School Forest Program; What are the impacts of individual teacher objectives on the utilization and implementation of the School Forest Program? These questions were investigated using data collected from a survey sent to School Forest Coordinators as well as a data request to the Department of Natural Resources. This study found that participants in the School Forest Program feel that their School Forests add many positive benefits to their classrooms and feel supported by the School Forest Program. The findings also showed that School Forests are highly adaptable learning environments that are serving schools in a large variety of ways. Survey respondents indicated that their School Forests serve multiple age groups, topics, and functions
Implementing Translanguaging Pedagogies to Promote Academic Success of English Learners in an Eighth Grade English Language Arts Classroom
Get PDFMany mainstream educators in the United States are under the impression that immersing students in English is the best practice in helping students excel academically. Monoglossic ideologies, which only place prominence on one language in the classroom, can send English Learners (ELs) the message that their cultural and linguistic funds of knowledge are not accepted or valued in the school community. As educators, it must be our mission to create a safe space where learners feel tolerated and eager to share about their unique backgrounds and experiences. Translanguaging practices compete with the common misconception that only the target language should be tolerated in the classroom. Translanguaging is a complex, multi-directional meaning-making process where the borders between languages blend together, challenging Western, monoglossic perspectives (García & Sylvan, 2011). This capstone paper and project address the research question: What are effective translanguaging pedagogies that middle school ELA teachers can implement in the mainstream classroom to support the linguistic and academic growth of ELs? Included with the project are the literature review of research, translanguaging strategies for teachers to adapt to their classroom environments, and further recommendations and resources regarding best practices in encouraging and celebrating multilingualism in the classroom. While the curricular materials supplement an eighth grade ELA unit, the translanguaging pedagogies outlined in the project are highly adaptable to various grade levels and subject disciplines
A Visual Phonics Curriculum Resource for First Grade Teachers of Struggling Readers
Get PDFMcGraw, F. (2021). A Visual Phonics Curriculum Resource for First Grade Teachers of Struggling Readers This project addresses the question of how visual phonics can be integrated into a phonics curriculum to improve reading achievement in first grade students. Visual phonics is an intervention tool that provides a hand sign for every phoneme in the English language. It has the ability to reduce the burden of phonological memory by providing a visual and kinesthetic support through the use of hand cues as a way for students to visualize a sound. The goals of this project are to improve phonemic awareness through hand and mouth movement and to incorporate a multisensory representation of sound. Therefore, within each lesson of this curriculum there are visual instructional strategies geared towards the 26 phonograms in the English alphabet. Each phonogram is taught through the use of various visual tools and the lesson progresses from teacher directed instruction to students led activities. The overall curriculum design links direct and explicit visual phonics instructional strategies to phonological awareness and reading growth among first grade students. The foundational development of this curriculum was based upon previous studies conducted by Dr. Chion and her findings on the effectiveness of visual phonics as an intervention tool. Her research, along with others, led to the conclusion that the implementation of this curriculum has the ability to allow students to make deeper connections that allow for the success of reading fluency and accuracy. The hope is that the use of this visual phonics curriculum, when incorporated into a small group setting, can help support phonological awareness and provide an alternative source of information about the English language. This will also serve as an additional tool and resource for educators looking to expand their differentiation in instructional strategies
Effective Differentiation Of Vocabulary Instruction For Upper Elementary Classrooms
Get PDFThe research question examined in this project was, How can I develop effective differentiated vocabulary instruction materials for upper elementary classrooms? It outlines one teacher’s research and the resulting development of a collection of engaging vocabulary activities suitable to be used throughout the entire school year within upper elementary classrooms. These vocabulary activities are reflective of both the learning that occurred through this research process, as well as the author’s personal experience of encountering vocabulary curriculum which lacked cohesion and effectiveness for all learners. Multiple learning styles were considered, as well as simple ways to differentiate the materials for different ability levels. The key findings of the research outlined the importance of a few approaches and strategies, including: enough direct instruction in target vocabulary, engaging independent and group work, allowing for repeated exposures to vocabulary through meaningful and interesting activities, and providing opportunities for self-assessment and reflection, as well as peer-assessment. Keywords: vocabulary, differentiated instruction, upper elementary, task-based instruction, student activitie
Incorporating Physical Activity In The Kindergarten Classroom
Get PDFPhysical activity is something all children need. In today’s world, young children are spending more time on devices and are getting less physical activity at school and home due to busy and overbooked schedules. Research conducted by Abdelbary, Castelli et al., Conyers & Wilson, and Helgelson show that when children move more, they can increase their academic achievement, on-task behavior, and their overall health. Keeping the body active promotes mental clarity by increasing blood flow to the brain, making activity vital to both learning and physical and neurological health (Abdelbary, 2017). The collection of research in this capstone project helps to answer the question, how can teachers incorporate more physical activity in the kindergarten classroom to increase learning? To help promote the use of physical activity in the kindergarten classroom, the capstone project provides an assortment of physical activity ideas and resources in a Google Slides presentation that teachers can implement in their own classrooms. The activities are directly tied to the Minnesota state standards for English Language Arts and Math so teachers can incorporate more physical activity in the kindergarten classroom and increase learning at the same time
Psych 101: Creating An Equitable Psychology Curriculum To Teach Students Dbt Mental Health Skills In An ALC Setting
Get PDFButler, C. (2021). Psych 101: Creating an Equitable Psychology Curriculum to Teach Students DBT Mental Health Skills in an ALC Setting. The research question addressed in this project was, how can we create an equitable psychology curriculum to teach students DBT skills in an ALC setting? The rising mental health needs of modern teenagers were specified. The historical mistreatment of women, people of color, homosexual people, and transgender people in the field of psychology was detailed. Additionally, mental health outcome disparities and misdiagnosis of disorders for people of color were reported. Historical and current realities of education of marginalized populations in the United States were outlined. Culturally responsive teaching was proposed as a framework for creating an equitable curriculum. Factors that can contribute to poor teaching such as cultural blindness, implicit bias, and the deficit perspective were identified. The effectiveness of culturally responsive teaching in the classroom was reviewed. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was identified as a promising method for teaching mental health skills to teens. Dialectics, or the concept that two opposing statements can be true at the same time, were portrayed. The impact of trauma on students in high schools was presented, and DBT was proposed as a possible method to build students’ reliance to trauma. The four skills modules of DBT (mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness) were described and their usefulness and relevance to high school students’ lives was explained. DBT skills and social-emotional learning were connected, and the impact of SEL in the high school classroom was expressed. The history and research related to the DBT STEPS-A curriculum were chronicled. A culturally responsive psychology curriculum was developed that included lessons about traditional psychology content, trauma, addiction, DBT, and each of the four DBT skills modules. The curriculum will be implemented at several diverse Twin Cities suburban ALCs starting in the summer of 2021. Finally, implications and limitations of the new curriculum were stated