In this three-article dissertation, I explore the history of Western gardens in educational literature as well as the ontologies and epistemologies that underpin contemporary learning in gardens. Through a critical posthumanist and Indigenous scholarship lens, I collaborated with a school garden, a community garden and an indigenous garden to…

This dissertation makes a significant contribution to the literature for several reasons. In paper one, I argue that learning a set of useful concrete practices, in addition to CRP mindsets, can help White scholars and educators prepare to lead diverse classrooms, build culturally relevant curricula, and form strong relationships with students…

While grassroots and student activism surrounding the first Earth Day in 1970 played a role in fostering environmental studies programs around the country, this dissertation narrates the untold story of other forces that served as crucial catalysts. Established conservation education models, the dynamics of college and university funding, and the…

This critical bricolage study interrogated colonial mentality (CM) among six Filipina educators who are members of the Decolonial Studies Research Network through "kuwentuhan" (storytelling) sessions and used insights gathered from the "kuwentuhan" sessions to facilitate a group ideation session with the participants on how…

This dissertation investigated the development of stereotypes surrounding public school children in Brazil, primarily focusing on poor students of Afro descent. It explored how these stereotypes have influenced education policymaking and examined the efforts of Darcy Ribeiro and Paulo Freire to challenge these prevailing notions. Employing…

This project engages in the cultural exegesis of digital technology for the benefit of training men and women for Christian service in a world shaped by the presence of technologies like smart phones and social media. The author developed a course dedicated to teaching students at an undergraduate Bible college to apply the words of Paul in 2…

Current literature has suggested that despite scholars in other fields gleaning vast amounts of experimental data to use to hone curriculum decisions and support their disciplines, researchers in social studies education have failed to look at Significant Life Experiences (SLEs) of Historical Preservationists (HPs) for the same benefit. The…

This study examined the extent hiring for mission and personal religious formation play a role in a Catholic parochial elementary school lay principal's spiritual leadership. This study also examined the relationship between a principal's personal and professional demographics and a principal's spiritual leadership. Ciriello (1993) was used to…

Computer games are now a significant cultural phenomenon, and a significant artistic output of humanity. However, little effort and attention have been paid to how the medium of games and interactive software developed, and even less to the historical storage of software development documentation. This thesis borrows methodologies and practices…

This study explores how libraries mediated interactions between black readers and texts in twentieth century South Africa. By situating libraries as vital infrastructures of reading, I critically examine how librarians tried to build the habit of reading within black communities. Beginning in the 1930s with the Carnegie Corporation of New York's…

This case study provided an analysis of expectations of 10 college history/social science professors at a single 4-year state university. In this qualitative dissertation study, the researcher explored how history/social science professors provide access to social capital resources to increase college readiness. Stanton-Salazar's (2010) social…

Educators in the social studies content area have struggled for over a century with how to best instruct their students in critical thinking. A growing group of researchers in the discipline of history, one of the major components of social studies education, support teaching the domain-specific skills of historical thinking through the process of…

History education experts are increasingly interested in the concept of "historical consciousness"--that is, how as individuals we orient ourselves in time and create for ourselves "historical identity". But is encouraging students to feel personally connected to the past potentially in tension with promoting their historical…

Elementary school students' knowledge of history appears to be at an all-time low as evidenced by the 2010 NAEP scores that indicated only 20% of fourth-grade students scored at the "at least proficient" level in a test of historic knowledge. Many culprits are being blamed for this dismal performance of U. S. students, such as No Child…

The purpose of this study was to explore the construction of a collaborative Baptist digital library and archive on the Internet. The study investigated how a central electronic location of digitized Baptist primary source materials could look and work on the Internet and how such a project could benefit Baptist history professors, the primary…