The sexual abuse and prostitution of Black women is a system of oppression that has its foundation in slavery and is still embedded in the culture of the U.S. This ongoing practice of domination, racism, sexism, and class exploitation is at work daily in the lives of Black women. Some of the harsh conditions of today that limit choice and…

This autoethnographic study uses personal memoirs to explore the author's allyship and advocacy efforts throughout the past 24 years in the language teaching profession. Through the process of self-reflexivity and introspection, "turning points" are investigated to understand more about what influences the actions and behaviors of…

Culturally proficient leaders model cultural competence for the entire school community. They create an environment where students from diverse backgrounds feel valued, respected, and safe. When students feel a sense of belonging and affirmation, they are more likely to engage in their learning and perform better academically. Hence, this…

This single-case case study explores the experiences of eight public school educators in the St. Louis area who support English Learners (ELs) and participate in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). The public school system was not designed to support the diversity it is currently experiencing, and educators want to be able to support…

An increasing number of international graduate students who learn English as an Additional Language (EAL) pursue advanced academic degrees in the United States. Previous studies have indicated that international graduate students often face several challenges as EAL learners while socializing in English academic communities and negotiating…

This study examines the collaboration of fifteen high school educators who came together to dialogue addressing patriarchy, sexism, homophobia, and heteronormativity in our practices, curriculum, classrooms, and school. Additionally, this practitioner action research study examines my attempt to queer and disrupt feminist facilitation. The study…

Many pre-service teachers (PSTs) face a common dilemma when completing their internships: they seek to display their own strengths and competencies in teaching while also adhering to the guidance of their mentor teachers and avoiding instructional risks. The underlying structure of the internship promotes a hierarchy which positions mentoring…

The purpose of this action research study was to examine how teachers embedded in cultures of accountability, performance, and rewards, attempted to maintain integrity and professionalism in their instructional choices, with administrators as supportive partners. In addition, I aimed to explore how teachers and administrators balance power…

During its inception in the Colonial Era, higher education was founded for the purpose of educating aristocratic white men (Cohen & Kisker, 2010). Today, men continue to hold the majority of institutional leadership positions and white men surpass the representation of women and men of all other races in professorial positions (Albertine,…

This dissertation is a constructivist grounded theory study of queer fans and their overlapping interactions with fanfiction texts, online platforms, and each other. Informed by queer theory, assemblage theory, and other perspectives from Library and Information Science (LIS), Media Studies, Fan Studies, Science and Technology Studies, and Gender…

Amidst the growing trend toward the use of yoga and mindfulness in K-12 classrooms, there has been an emphasis in research on the use of mindfulness as a tool for supporting the learning and behavioral needs of children. Educators, school leaders, school counselors and mental health workers are implementing mindfulness and yoga as activities and…

This ethnographic study documents the ways four Indonesian-Muslim families who migrated to the United States used online digital telecommunication technology in socializing children into languages, literacy, and religion. Within the primary framework of language socialization, I used multiple theoretical lenses (i.e., transnationalism, cultural…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Iranian women's gendered identities and language learning through the theoretical frameworks of feminist poststructuralism of gender and language, imagined communities, and communities of practice. Additionally, these theoretical constructs were linked to the concepts of agency…

Implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLC), as described by DuFour (2006), has depended upon a balance between teacher buy-in and administrative fiat. The tension between the "bottom-up" character of the former and the "top-down" character of the latter presents a leadership challenge: meeting students' learning…

The concept of communities of practice (CoP) was first introduced by Lave and Wenger in their short monograph, "Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation." Since then, the concept has become immensely popular in a variety of disciplines. This dissertation traces the concept of CoP back to its inception and early transformation at the…