Thinking outside the box: a critical literacy collaborative

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss the practical application of critical librarianship through a critical literacy framework using a Teaching and Learning Grant. The purpose of this project was to provide teacher candidates in The College of Education at Georgia Southern University-Armstrong Campus, with tools to understand and practice reading through the lens of critical literacy. The project also serves as an example of how an instruction librarian can work with students outside of the traditional one-shot instruction session.Design/methodology/approachStudents in the Fall 2016 section of EDUC 2120, Exploring Socio-Cultural Perspectives on Diversity in Educational Contexts were introduced to the concept of critical literacy and participated in a series of interactive faculty-facilitated small group discussions with the librarian and College of Education faculty. They concentrated on an analysis of Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah (2008).FindingsStudents provided positive feedback after the project. Many stated that they learned a great deal about the reading process in general and how to read from a critical literacy perspective. Students also stated that they began to think about looking more critically at information in general. Additionally, these pre-service educators now have more tools to use to help their future students become critical thinkers who can read their world for deeper meanings and understandings.Originality/valueThis project fills a need to help college students understand how to use critical literacy skills and become critical consumers of information. The initiative also fostered meaningful collaboration between a Reference and Instruction Librarian and colleagues in the College of Education while expanding on the one-shot instruction technique.

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What’s sex got to do with it? The preparation of elementary male teacher candidates

Journal for Multicultural Education ◽

10.1108/jme-07-2015-0024 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 2-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shartriya Stewart ◽

Letoynia Coombs ◽

Betty Burston

Keyword(s):

Student Teaching ◽

Teacher Candidates ◽

College Of Education ◽

Female Teacher ◽

Student Records ◽

University Supervisors ◽

Content Type ◽

Teacher Training Programs ◽

Male Teacher ◽

Elementary Teacher Candidates

Purpose This paper examines the experiences and outcomes of male teacher candidates in the College of Education at a large university in California. Design/methodology/approach This mixed methods study highlights findings from the preliminary analysis of student records as well as qualitative observation notes from their university supervisors and master teachers during their student teaching placements. Comments from student teaching assistance plans and remediation tools from the College of Education, Field Placement Office were also used. It also included the quantitative analysis of enrollment data as well as mid- and final student teaching evaluations for one semester. This multiple data triangulation process was used to illuminate the unique challenges and successes of male teacher candidates and the variables that influence their outcomes. Findings There were significant statistical differences (p < 0.05) between the male and female teacher candidates across each key measure used. Male teacher candidates scored lower in the areas of mathematics, assessment, planning and student engagement during instruction. Practical implications This study offers strategies that teachers’ trainers may use to recruit, retain and more effectively support the needs of their male elementary teacher candidates. Originality/value Few studies have examined both qualitative and quantitative data to determine pedagogical factors that impact male teacher candidates’ challenges and/or successes during their student teaching experiences. Moreover, few studies have explored how teacher training programs can more effectively support the needs of this population. This study is designed to fill that void.

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Utilizing Learners’ Linguistic Landscape as a Pedagogical Resource in the Translation Classroom: A case study in the Sultanate of Oman

10.31235/osf.io/zqunm ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ali Algryani ◽

Syerina Syahrin

Keyword(s):

Critical Literacy ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Critical Thinking Skills ◽

Learning Material ◽

Linguistic Landscape ◽

Language Awareness ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Potential Benefits

The study investigates learners’ awareness of their linguistic landscape (LL) and perspectives on the use of LL as part of classroom teaching and learning. It also examines the course instructor’s pedagogical perspective on the use of LL. The study aims to explore the potential benefits of utilizing bilingual public signage representing translational content to develop translation students’ critical literacy, language awareness, and translation skills through reflecting on the use of LL as a teaching and learning material. The study is significant as it addresses the gap in the literature on the use of LL to promote students’ critical literacy, language awareness, and translation skills in the EFL context of Oman. The samples of the study are 58 participants enrolled in undergraduate translation courses at Dhofar University. The data collection methods used in the study consist of focus group discussions, online surveys, and teacher’s retrospective reflection. The quantitative data were analyzed by IBM SPSS V26, while the qualitative data were analyzed by common themes that emerged from students’ feedback and teacher’s reflection. The findings of the study showed positive outcomes on the use of LL as a teaching and learning resource such as improved language awareness, language proficiency, translation skills, creativity, and critical thinking skills. The implication of the study is to draw attention to the existing quality of the learners’ LL and invite them to actively and responsibly participate in improving the linguistic landscapes of their local communities.

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“Getting freaky with the founders”

Social Studies Research and Practice ◽

10.1108/ssrp-07-2018-0029 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 28-39

Author(s):

Matthew A. Hensley

Keyword(s):

Social Science ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Science Classroom ◽

Teaching Experience ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Creative Development ◽

Content Type ◽

Founding Fathers ◽

Science Educators ◽

The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to share with social science educators a coherent framework for implementing Hamilton: An American Musical into their classrooms, while also supporting the wider objective of leveraging music to foster disciplinary literacy skills and culturally relevant practices. The framework is a construct that draws on author’s previous teaching experience and its purpose is to inform and support teachers’ practice. Design/methodology/approach The author first highlights literature focused on the effectiveness of using music in the social science classroom as a response to author’s own teaching experience using Hamilton: An American Musical, then hones in on the impact of hip-hop music specifically. Finally, the author unites Pellegrino’s (2013) models (close reading, inquiry, student discovery and creative development) to songs from Miranda’s Hamilton to provide pedagogical strategies and examples that are ready to be implemented in the Secondary US History Classroom. Findings Lin Manuel Miranda’s portrayal of Hamilton and his historical compatriots as ethnically diverse, combustible and provocative figures bring to life experiences that are unexpectedly and uniquely American, connecting with current generations, while remaining anchored in history (Mason, 2017). The success and relatability of Miranda’s Hamilton and this time-warped story of the founding fathers has led social studies teachers to explore ways to use the music, dialogue and messages in their classrooms. Originality/value While many lesson examples related to Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton have proliferated online, there remains a lack of pedagogical coherence to help teachers extend this work as part of a larger framework of practice designed to support teaching and learning through music. The author strives to provide social science educators a strategic, adaptable and ready-to-use framework for implementing Miranda’s Hamilton: An American Musical into their classrooms.

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Entrepreneurship students distilled their learning experience through reflective learning log

Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning ◽

10.1108/jrit-06-2017-0012 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 126-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Khar Kheng Yeoh

Keyword(s):

Teaching And Learning ◽

Learning Experience ◽

Reflective Writing ◽

Reflective Learning ◽

Content Type ◽

Critical Reasoning ◽

To Come ◽

The One ◽

The University ◽

Learning Log

Purpose This Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research is a part of the larger study grant to analyze written reflections through learning log among the third and final year students undertaking BPME 3073 Entrepreneurship module in University Utara Malaysia (UUM). The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The data collection techniques are researcher-directed textual data through reflective learning log, taken from 140 students from three classes. A thematic approach was utilized to present the reflections of the students and all data were recorded in a verbatim format. Findings The findings show that most students have never written a reflective log or essay in the formative assessment. As a consequence, they had difficulty in writing the reflection when being requested to do so. A total 75 (approximately 55 percent) of the reflective logs were identified as level 1 (from 1 to 5 percent) in which reflections were simply written in a descriptive manner, resulted in a balance of 61 learning logs being utilized for further analysis. The students’ reflections on their entrepreneurship’s experience systematically categorize into four different themes comprised of: the nature of entrepreneurship module, entrepreneurial characteristics, opportunity recognition, and creativity and innovation. Research limitations/implications As for the limitation of the study, it is important to not to underestimate the challenges of introducing a grade assessment that most of them are not familiar with in their university academic journey. Students need guidance, assurance and confidence writing something that require personal opinion, own thinking, sensitive and personal nature of narration. For most students as found out in this study, self-confessional writing is hard to come by (they dare not attempt it in the first place), only a handful appreciating the writing start with “I,” “me” as first person. More research in this study should be conducted across the university to gauge the response from the students to see if the result of this study is only applicable to this group of students or to this discipline of studies. The researchers would also like to recommend for future studies which take the form of a longitudinal study of similar kind to examine the problems and challenges with regards to promoting learning reflection at the undergraduate level. Practical implications Based on the result of the 61 students who had demonstrated an ability in reflective writing, it is suggested that perhaps the university should consider offering coursework that contains a component of reflective writing as part of the assessment. As such, if this is implemented, students of such ability like the one in this sample group would have been benefitted from such assessment which look at reflective ability (Greene, 2014) and which they were allowed to form a broader perspective in relation to the module undertaken. This in turns will foster the growth of reflective ability which is recognized as a learned behavior (Gustafson and Bennett, 1999). In addition, for the future exercise of this reflective learning log, the researcher opined that we should encourage our students to engage with another student (e.g. close friend) in a way that encourages talking with, questioning, or confronting, helped the reflective process by placing the learner in a safe environment in which self-revelation can take place. In addition, students were able to distance themselves from their actions, ideas and beliefs, by holding them up for scrutiny in the company of a peer with whom they are willing to take such risks (Hatton and Smith, 1995). Originality/value The results of this research have strongly suggested the need to urgently develop among the students the skills in writing reflectively as they go through the process of higher education which is useful in molding their future professional and entrepreneurial behavior as when they entered the job market which requires a critical reasoning ability.

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Corporate branding in perspective: a typology

European Journal of Marketing ◽

10.1108/ejm-07-2017-0450 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 51 (9/10) ◽

pp. 1522-1529 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jonathan E. Schroeder

Keyword(s):

Corporate Branding ◽

Corporate Marketing ◽

Content Type ◽

Cultural Perspectives ◽

Research Areas ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Consumer Perspectives ◽

Interdisciplinary Framework ◽

The One ◽

Corporate Brands

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review a typology of branding that identifies four perspectives on branding: corporate perspectives, consumer perspectives, cultural perspectives and critical perspectives. This typology helps organise and synthesise the growing interdisciplinary literature on brands and branding, and sheds light on the various ways corporate brands work. Design/methodology/approach A brief synthetic review of branding is offered, along with contemporary examples of emerging aspects of the four branding perspectives. Findings The four perspectives demonstrate the growing interdisciplinary interest in brands. They also signal a move away from a focus on the brand-consumer dyad, towards broader social cultural and theoretical concerns. Studies that extend brand research into cultural and historical realms may provide an essential bridge between our understandings, on the one hand, of value residing within the product or producer intention, and on the other, value created by individual consumers or brand communities. Research limitations/implications The insights from this review may shed light on a number of branding research areas, including studies on corporate marketing, cultural heritage brands and strategic brand communication. Practical implications The paper illustrates how complex branding has become and offers conceptual tools to think about and guide branding from multiple points of view. Originality/value This paper provides a selective overview of important recent developments in corporate marketing and brand research over as well as a look at visual aspects of four perspectives of branding as a complement to corporate branding research. The typology of brand perspectives helps organise and illuminate a burgeoning brand literature, and provides an interdisciplinary framework for understanding brands.

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Preparing Teacher-Scholars to Inquire

Handbook of Research on Teacher Education and Professional Development - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-1067-3.ch012 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 227-237

Author(s):

Erik Jon Byker ◽

Heather Coffey ◽

Susan B. Harden ◽

Amy J. Good ◽

Katie E. Brown

Keyword(s):

Theoretical Model ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Teacher Candidates ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

College Of Education ◽

First Year ◽

Effective Teacher ◽

Inquiry Process ◽

Limited Experience ◽

Processing Cycle

Whether it is in the sciences or humanities, inquiry is a valued pedagogy for teaching and learning. Teacher candidates often enter into their teacher preparations programs with limited experience and understanding of the process of inquiry. The chapter's purpose is to introduce and discuss the Inquiry Processing Cycle, which is a theoretical model for engaging in inquiry. The chapter explains how the Inquiry Processing Cycle emerged from Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) from an on-going qualitative study of first-year undergraduate students (n=110) in a College of Education first-year class called Prepared for Success. The study found that the participants perceived that the process of inquiry was a fundamental part of being a successful college student as well as being an effective teacher. Yet, the participants were unclear about how to actually proceed with an inquiry. From these findings, the chapter illustrates how to engage in the inquiry process using the Inquiry Processing Cycle.

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Online conferencing for focus group discussions with teenage girls

Qualitative Research Journal ◽

10.1108/qrj-12-2018-0020 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 281-293

Author(s):

Roberta Thompson

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Remote Access ◽

Power Relationships ◽

Focus Group Discussions ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Content Type ◽

Teenage Girls ◽

Technological Advances ◽

Spontaneous Interaction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of online conferencing platforms for focus group discussions with teenage girls. Design/methodology/approach The paper discusses the use of online conferencing for focus group discussions with Australian teenage girls aged 12–14 years who were participating in a study about their online interaction with friends. It examines both the practical application of online conferencing as a qualitative method as well as the inherent challenges of this context for youth research. Design decisions are explained and methods for ensuring rich contribution are detailed. Findings Online conferencing offers three distinct advantages for focus group work. First, the environment consciously engages participants in spontaneous interaction with other participants by using communication tools familiar to them. Second, elaborated discussion can be stimulated by introducing ideas and trends through visual mediums and artefacts. Third, the virtual setting provides remote access by the researcher which shifts power relationships so discussions flow more naturally between participants. Practical implications Outcomes indicate that online conferencing is an effective method for encouraging participants to share ideas and experiences about aspects of their lives that are often private and/or sensitive. Originality/value Technological advances in online collaboration tools have resulted in an increased use of online conferencing platforms across disciplines especially for teaching and learning contexts. However, application of online conferencing for focus group discussions with young people has not received much attention. Research presented here demonstrates that it is a useful tool for engaging teenage girls in focus group discussions.

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Reading against and writing back

English Teaching Practice & Critique ◽

10.1108/etpc-06-2015-0049 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 350-365

Author(s):

Frank Sligo

Keyword(s):

Critical Literacy ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Academic Community ◽

The Novel ◽

Creative Arts ◽

Content Type ◽

Critical Writing ◽

Academic Differences ◽

Tertiary Teaching ◽

The University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how student learning materials, such as textbooks, are becoming more oriented toward multi-modal approaches using visuality and orality. While such approaches may help students to understand and then to reproduce taught materials, the objective of this paper is to question whether they are serving to promote students’ critical literacy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper assesses the character of current textbooks and other means of student support, such as online learning management systems, and assesses how well they seem able to promote the critical literacy that requires ability in “reading against” and “writing back”. The paper goes on to identify ways in which some parts of the university see orality as preliminary and subordinate to literacy-focused communication, but elsewhere, the pinnacle of students’ work is artistic or creative attainments with lesser need to write complexly literate textual works. Findings – As a means of trying to resolve inherent tensions between differing pedagogical assumptions and methods in the university, the paper proposes ways in which Ong’s (1982, p. 36) nine communication characteristics of “orally based thought and expression” may be able to offer insights into challenges of improving students’ critical literacy. Research limitations/implications – The inherent academic tensions within the university still remain insufficiently theorized. For example, the humanities and social sciences (still) place much store on developing students’ abilities in critical writing, while disciplines such as design or creative arts are much more focused on students’ creative outputs. The paper contributes to a better understanding of such scholars talking past one another. Practical implications – Scholars in different academic camps often note the discrepancies in how their relative pedagogical tasks are to be understood, but typically, it is not clear to them how they might better relate to other parts of the university. The paper aims to elucidate the nature of academic differences that often appear to exist to provide insights into possibly new ways of seeing everyday teaching and learning. Social implications – Ong’s insights into literacy and orality when viewed through a prism of tertiary teaching and learning provide a practical means whereby students and other university stakeholders can develop a better appreciation of the character of the modern university. Originality/value – The novel use of Walter Ong’s model of literacy and orality provides fresh ways of seeing challenges and disputes within the academic community and suggests new ways of seeing students’ work and their teachers’ expectations of them.

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Making room for discomfort

English Teaching Practice & Critique ◽

10.1108/etpc-05-2017-0086 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 290-302 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Betina Hsieh

Keyword(s):

Preservice Teacher ◽

Critical Literacy ◽

Teacher Candidates ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

Teacher Educator ◽

Content Type ◽

Secondary Literacy ◽

Self Reflection ◽

The Usa ◽

Literacy Course

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to relay and discuss the experiences of a teacher educator teaching critical literacy to preservice teacher candidates immediately following the US presidential election in 2016. In a time of increasing polarization in the USA, teachers and teacher educators have unique opportunities to create honest spaces for dialogue, but developing classrooms that can serve as these spaces is not an easy task. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a self-study practitioner narrative of a teacher educator teaching a secondary literacy course. Findings The paper discusses the importance of addressing critical literacy in the context of particular historical moments and as more sustained, engaged work that makes room for minority voices that may not be heard across particular settings. The findings prompt teachers and teacher educators to consider whose voices are present, absent and valued during difficult conversations. Originality/value Making room for uncomfortable dialogues in preservice teacher education classrooms can transform the ways in which teacher candidates (and their future students) engage with written and non-traditional texts in the world around them. Promoting spaces for critical, authentic and honest dialogue requires teacher educators to model the willingness to move beyond their own comfort zones and interrogate their own deeply help beliefs. This paper is evidence of engaged self-reflection, a necessary part of transformative practice related to critical literacy.

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