School districts around the country are grappling with the complexities of school leadership in the current climate of accountability and standardization in public education. Some schools have sought alternative models of leadership in an attempt to adopt a more inclusive and democratic standard of decision making. One such model is that of a…

This dissertation is concerned with a move toward community engagement within academia generally, and more specifically the concepts of legitimacy and belonging in engagement practices. My work contributes to a relatively recent shift toward community engagement classifications and designations for institutions of higher education (Saltmarsh and…

Undergraduate students from lower social class backgrounds may experience poorer academic and life satisfaction when encountering classism in higher education. However, few studies have examined links among classism, career, academic, and well-being outcomes among undergraduate students, and existing studies have been cross-sectional. Therefore,…

International tests demonstrate that students' mathematics and reading skills vary widely across countries. I investigate whether a country's cultural characteristics are the fundamental cause of these differences, while family and school characteristics are the proximate causes. I find that while either cultural characteristics or family and…

In this descriptive research study, Caisa Elizabeth Royer, Erin L. Castro, and Estefanie Aguilar Padilla explore the experiences of prison stakeholders in higher education with prison disciplinary power. Based on interviews with nineteen prison education stakeholders, including program directors, instructors, family members of incarcerated…

Issues surrounding gender and sexuality are fundamental determinants of either a liberated or restricted human experience, and comprehensive sex education has been recognized as an essential mechanism to help youth process their gender and sexuality in a standardized, open, safe, and healthy atmosphere. In the absence of such education, Y novels…

A Tripartite Model of Cultural Humility-Music (TMCH-Music) includes three tenets, which are essential to forming a humble character: (a) commitment to lifelong, critical self-reflection; (b) recognition and mitigation of power imbalances; and (c) mutually beneficial partnerships with communities. In this model, I situate cultural humility as a…

Inclusive education for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) presents challenges for school staff and professional development is lacking. Training is not always available when needed, strategies suggested by external experts can be impractical and staff lack autonomy in choosing the best way of being resourced.…

Experiences of Black social work faculty with Black administrators is understudied. This mixed-methods study used a phenomenological approach to explore the experiences of Black social work faculty and staff (N = 55; Mage = 44.26, SD = 12.07) currently or previously supervised by a Black administrator. The main findings were that participants had…

In English language teacher education, we must offer opportunities for future educators to critically engage with topics surrounding the globalization of English, neocolonialism, and standardized notions of language, such as 'native speaker' proficiency. Critical language awareness (CLA) pedagogies, pedagogical approaches that facilitate students'…

In this longitudinal case study, Catherine Compton-­Lilly and Margaret R. Hawkins explore one immigrant youth's engagement with transglobal activities and flows of information and his emerging awareness of the world. Contending that transglobal flows create learning opportunities that are rarely available to children raised in mononational and…

The Transformational Empowerment for Adolescent Marginalised Girls in Malawi (TEAM) project provides complementary basic education to adolescents who have been left behind by the mainstream education system. Its students are primarily girls who face multiple intersecting barriers to learning, including disability, child marriage, motherhood,…

This research reflects on my collaboration with an Indigenous hoop dancer to respond to the Calls to Action from the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The research engages the Anishinaabeg seven sacred teachings and critical decolonizing pedagogy as theoretical frameworks and qualitative inquiry as methodology.…

This study presents a Bakhtinian analysis of discourse among children with Special Educational Needs and Disorders (SEND) in two elementary classrooms, delving into the complicated interaction of voices and perspectives within their communication. The research investigates how the evaluation of peers provides a contextual backdrop for the voices…

This qualitative case study explores Ghanaian graduate students' social and cultural experiences in a technology-mediated learning environment at a southwestern university. Whereas most studies predominantly focus holistically on international students' experiences in the US, and researchers give little attention to nationals from sub-Saharan…