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“You taught us how to change the world”: A Critical Autoethnography Reimagining the Future of Education
Get PDFAs schools become more culturally and linguistically diverse, we need trained, well-prepared educators that value students for who they are, build on their backgrounds, and maintain their unique identities in the classroom. An asset-based, culturally sustaining approach to teaching incorporates theoretical grounding, a consideration of global identities, and a sociopolitical edge that allows students to thrive and think analytically. Through this approach, we can give students more confidence in their abilities as learners by activating their prior knowledge and experience to break down the content and build understanding of it, and we can connect the students to their learning, providing them with a space to recognize themselves and their identities as valued and as crucial in the classroom. The first critical step in challenging current practices and attitudes in the education system and offering solutions to reconstruct education today to be asset-based and culturally sustaining, is teachers’ self-reflection. Toward that end, my autoethnography provides a model of teacher self-reflection. In my autoethnography, I portray my lived experience as a student teacher by analyzing my lesson plans, reflective journals, and evaluation feedback to uncover the assumptions, challenges, and motivations that I encountered. I hope to inspire future teachers to critically analyze their experiences and to recognize that change starts in our own classrooms with us and our students
“It Takes a Village”: The Implications for Gender Roles on Appalachian Family Dynamics
Get PDFWhen we hear the word “Appalachian”, many will look towards the countless examples of negative stereotypes displayed in the media. From Hillbilly Elegy to hyperbolized stories of blue people in the mountains, Appalachians have been perpetuated as backward, dirty, incestual, and stupid. Through incessant dehumanization by the media, Appalachian communities have been ignored and even blamed for their disparities. However, there are historical and social implications factors that stemmed from the major shift in the economic makeup that has led to Appalachian poverty and in turn, shaped the culture and values of the region. In addition, due to geographic isolation, family has become a central value and the most significant avenue for socialization within Appalachia: “family loyalty is so strong as to be almost pathological by modem urban middle class standards,” (Crissman, 1989). This project explores how familial socialization, gender expectations, and gendered labor impact the experience of family in Appalachia. Informed by both Gender and Cultural schema theory and utilizing focus groups and ethnographic methods, this project examines the familial experiences of a specific family in Eastern Kentucky. Appalachian narratives have a history of being manipulated and shared through an outsider’s lens. Ethnographic methods amplify and give agency back to those who have been stripped of such. The main objective of this project is to advocate for social change within Appalachia by sharing Appalachian experiences. This thesis is for and about Appalachia
How to Succeed in Business: An Analysis of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Ownership
No full textA recent rise in small business ownership, along with the subsequent advent and universality of social media usage, presents unique opportunities for these businesses to grow and thrive. This thesis project will analyze the success of various marketing tactics on sales in a small business selling handmade products. It will identify challenges and benefits of venturing into entrepreneurship for a full-time college student. Different business models will be described and compared through a survey of business owners. Ultimately, a detailed business plan will be outlined. At the completion of this thesis, a creative project in collaboration with the Bellarmine University Honors Program will be presented to the university
The Essence of K-12 Teaching in a Catholic Archdiocese in Kentucky During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Get PDFEven before the COVID-19 pandemic research showed that teacher attrition among new teachers (less than five years) was a problem for schools throughout the country and Catholic Schools were facing an even higher rate (Ingersoll, 2003). Research also shows that there are often cultural and structural components of Catholic schools that influence teachers to stay (Youngs, 2013; Convey, 2012, 2014). The COVID-19 pandemic forced the education system to pivot and teachers are expected to continue to have high standards for education while making these shifts.
In the early period of COVID-19 pandemic research was already suggesting attrition rates were rising and teachers were reporting higher stress and depression rates (Steiner & Woo, 2021). An already high-stress, high-attrition profession has become even more vulnerable. This research used a phenomenological approach to examine the essence of the reality of teaching in an Archdiocesan district during the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines the influence of the social and cultural factors during the COVID-19 pandemic on teachers’ beliefs, feelings and behaviors. Guided by the overarching research question: What is the essence of teaching in a large Archdiocese during the COVID-19 pandemic? To explore this essence the following sub-questions were addressed: What factors contributed to or alleviated the additional stress of teaching in this Archdiocese during the COVID-19 pandemic? What types of teacher self-care were effective for Catholic school teachers while dealing with the stressors of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic? Does Catholic school identity influence the teacher experience during COVID-19?
A particular county within this Archdiocese was used for this study because policies, protocols and procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic were governed by the county’s health department. In this county within this Archdiocese, 16,276 Catholic Schools students and 1583 teachers was the bounded case used for this study. There are 30 elementary schools and 8 high schools within this Archdiocese. Participant sample followed a purposeful and tiered approach. Data collection included an online questionnaire (208 participants), five focus groups (36 participants), and individual interviews (6 participants).
The themes and categories emerged from the participants’ responses to the questionnaire, focus groups and one-on-one interviews revealed the true essence of teaching in a large Archdiocese during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data analysis revealed 5 consistent themes that emerged from the research that spoke to the essence of teaching in this Archdiocese during the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) the role of technology as contributor and alleviator of stress 2.) the feeling of doing two jobs 3.) loss of control 4.) transitioning back out of COVID-19 5.) the role of the faith community
Examining the Accuracy of Two Commercially Available Global Positioning System Enabled Watches in Two Trail Conditions
No full textThe purpose of this investigation was to determine the accuracy of the GNSS (global navigation satellite system) in the Coros® Vertix 2 and Garmin® Fēnix 6 during two trail running conditions in a group of recreational trail runners. Six participants completed four self-paced, one-mile trail runs. Accuracy of the two watches in measuring distance were compared across two trail conditions, heavy and light tree coverage. Both watches were worn simultaneously and then switched to the opposite wrists for the next trial. Distance measured by the watches was reported every quarter mile. Mean and standard deviation of the distance measured by the watch were calculated for each condition. Conditions were compared using paired t-tests (
