Podcasts in academia have largely been employed as either a supplementary resource to lectures, as an alternative for giving student feedback, or as a specific text to be utilized for research analysis. Largely overshadowed by the prior, there are few examples of podcast ethnographies and even fewer examples of researchers that are experimenting…

The ways in which mentor teachers, as school-based mathematics teacher educators, support prospective teachers during the student teaching experience of teacher preparation has been largely unexplored. In the limited instances when the work of mentor teachers has been researched, the focus ignores the various approaches mentor teachers employ to…

Race and racism are central ideas in the conceptualization of social justice in the US and thus topics of fundamental importance within the social work discipline. Accredited social work schools must include race and racism education in their curricula. Social work pedagogical literature has historically lacked critical, consistent attention to…

Christian colleges and universities offer a unique teaching and learning experience grounded in spiritual formation. However, current scholarship addressing spiritual formation has been mostly isolated to rational epistemologies or narrow applications of practice. A holistic model of pedagogical practice that can be applied across disciplines and…

Critical praxis is an important means of increasing educators' critical consciousness. Culture circles are one avenue for educators to engage in a critical praxis, to dialogue, listen, reflect, and develop direct action steps. Both critical consciousness (Freire) and an ethic of care (Noddings) are essential and require an ongoing critical praxis.…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how elementary teachers thought processes manifested in their teaching praxis. This exploration was conducted around their experiences in a professional learning community centered on Universal Design for Learning (UDL). As a practitioner scholar, I utilized Seidman's (2019) in-depth…

Within the context of higher education, HBCUs are more specifically known, due to their controversial origin, for having mission and vision statements that broadly imply attending this particular institutional type will aid its students in their civic development. However, despite the vast literature on civic engagement and college students,…

Teaching and learning processes often reflect traditional practices that do not meet the academic needs of historically underserved students, especially Latinx and Black students. The goal of the participatory action research project and study, anchored by our collective beliefs in critical pedagogy tenets, was to improve teacher practices and…

This dissertation explores the instructional decision making of White female community college developmental literacy instructors in order to better understand pedagogical practices that impact educational inequities for Black male students in developmental literacy classes. Historically, the U.S education system has underserved Black male…

Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade (2009) wrote that if failure to provide quality education continues, it will not be because we lack the know-how to effectively educate all children, it is because we lack the resolve to do it. As a steadfast leader of teaching and collaborating with children, Duncan-Andrade mentors hope in students and teachers alike. This…

This study investigated two questions: a) What is the relationship between reflection and professional development? and b) What is the role of reflection in teachers' instructional decision-making? Teachers are often conflicted by competing theories (e.g. behaviorist vs. constructivist) and principles (progressives vs. essentialists) at both…

Fueled by the proliferation of new technologies, teachers are being asked to rethink their own practice and deliver instruction designed to help students succeed in the 21st century. The aim is to extend students' intellectual capacity through the use of contemporary tools and to create powerful learning situations which can extend their…

The purpose of this study was to explore and report on the impact of coaching as an embedded part of professional development has on teacher learning and practice in the context of educating English Language Learners (ELLs). A close examination was made of what teachers, coaches and principals believe to be effective professional development and…

Although university students are key participants in knowledge-making processes, their insights about learning are sparsely documented, and too rarely considered in contemporary conversations in higher education. In centering the insights and experiences of students enrolled in two women's studies courses at the University of Maryland, this…

This dissertation investigates how teaching in a hands-on science center contributes to re/shaping one's teaching identity. Situated at the New York Hall of Science (NYHS) in Queens, New York, my research approach is to conduct a critical ethnography where the focus is on improving the teaching and learning of science for all involved. In…