Language: English

Abstract/Notes: More than ever before, schools and societies are looking to educate children in and for a global world. In the United States, these efforts have taken the form of increased interest in incorporating global or international perspectives into educational curricula, programs, and policy over the past decade (Hayden, 2011; Parker, 2011; U.S. Department of Education, 2012). Despite this interest in what I call global education, ambiguity remains regarding what it means to provide an education for a globalized world, both in terms of its underlying motivations and its ultimate execution in practice (Ortloff, Shah, Lou, & Hamilton, 2012).Two components often placed at the heart of these efforts in the United States—second/foreign language and digital technology—both reflect and contribute to understandings of global education. This study, rooted in an ecological theorization of discourse, asked how different school actors (teachers, administrators, parents, and students) position these two components in education today, how these positionings differ across groups, and what this means for understandings of global education. These questions were investigated through two complementary approaches: a survey distributed to a large cross-section of schools around the United States and an in-depth focal case study of one school. The survey was distributed to teachers, students, parents, and administrators at a broad range of U.S. secondary schools and assessed perceptions of second/foreign language and digital technology in education today. The focal case study focused on two secondary classrooms at a multilingual immersion K-8 school in the western US over a four-month period; data collection included field notes, analytic memos, and audio/video recordings from participant observations as well as multiple rounds of interviews with five students, four teachers, two administrators, and three parents. Data were analyzed using iterative rounds of inductive and deductive coding (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Saldaña, 2009) and critical discourse analysis (Blommaert, 2005; Fairclough, 2001).Findings suggest that second/foreign language and digital technology were positioned in a range of different ways that had concrete ramifications for schools and that built up divergent understandings of global education. The survey component of the study highlighted common discourses reproduced across groups, including: second/foreign language learning as a way to promote cultural understanding and awareness as well as economic opportunity; or digital technology as a threat to learning and as an omnipresent necessity. The focal school offered a more detailed look into these different discourses and their reproduction across groups. Analysis revealed trended similarities and differences across groups. For example, even though parents, teachers, and administrators often articulated a similar understanding of second/foreign language and digital technology, parental actions suggested more alignment with economic-based understandings of these two components. These differences in how second/foreign language and digital technology should be positioned within a global education created a “battle” between parents and the focal school as well as tension within the learning environment. The impact of these discourses and battles on students was unclear: while students at times voiced the discourses that their parents, teachers, and administrators reproduced, data also suggests that students were influenced by outside sources. These findings suggest that resulting understandings of global education were multiple and divergent across school groups. Data analysis also revealed the potential that anxiety, concern, or even fear of globalization and its effects could undergird adult understandings of second/foreign language and of digital technology: beneath economic as well as cultural motivations for second/foreign language and for digital technology learning resided trepidation about a changing world, changing identities, and the unknowns that lay ahead. This suggests that, underneath multiple and complex discourses, there can be a singular discourse that manifests in different ways, nuancing understandings of ecological approaches to discourse. It also suggests that different understandings of global education could stem from the same place: fear or anxiety in the face of a globalizing world. These findings highlight the need for a global education that equips students to navigate a changing world, its challenges, and any potential fears that may arise from these changes and challenges. The study concludes with a pedagogical framework built around discourse analysis that could offer students tools to understand their globalizing world.

Language: English

Published: Berkeley, California, 2017

Abstract/Notes: El presente proyecto de investigación se realizó con el objetivo de analizar la manera en que el Método Montessori contribuye al desarrollo de la expresión oral del Idioma Inglés en los niños de Educación Inicial del Centro Educativo Margarita Naseau en el periodo 2019-2020. El sustento teórico se orientó en la aplicación educativa, materiales didácticos, rol del docente y la enseñanza del idioma inglés. Por lo tanto, el proyecto tiene un enfoque cuali-cuantitativo, de carácter descriptivo y a su vez correlacional, bajo la modalidad socioeducativa que corresponde a una investigación aplicada porque se basa en datos reales. Las técnicas aplicadas en esta investigación fueron encuesta a los docentes y lista de cotejo a los estudiantes del Centro Educativo con el objetivo de determinar cómo el método Montessori contribuye al desarrollo de la expresión oral del idioma Inglés en los estudiantes. Una vez realizado el análisis e interpretación de resultados se concluyó que la aplicación del Método Montessori así como ayuda al niño a ser independiente también lo ayuda aprender diferentes idiomas y además se determinó la importancia que tiene para mejorar la expresión oral. La propuesta en base a los resultados es la elaboración de una guía de actividades lúdicas que incluye la aplicación del Método Montessori y los diferentes materiales a utilizarse.

Language: Spanish

Published: Quito, Ecuador, 2020

Abstract/Notes: High-stakes testing has become mandatory since the reauthorization of the Elementary Secondary Educational Act, 2001 with its No Child Left Behind (NCLB) provisions. Beginning with the 2005-06 school year, students in grades K-8 must be tested yearly in reading and math. Students in secondary schools must be tested once in reading and math. Student scores at all grade levels are then used as part of the formula for determining whether or not a school retains its accreditation or is placed on a "needs improvement" list. Being identified as "needs improvement" for three consecutive years carries an assortment of serious consequences for schools. As a result of these high-stakes tests, secondary language arts teachers are expected to prepare students for state reading assessments. Studies have investigated the effects high-stakes testing has on elementary and secondary curriculum and instruction but have not focused specifically on secondary language arts teachers. Therefore, this study focuses on the effects high-stakes testing is having on secondary language arts' curriculum and instruction. Six high school junior English teachers from a Midwestern state were surveyed and interviewed. Five of the teachers also participated in a focus group discussion. From this data several common themes emerged including a narrowing of their curricula and a loss of instructional time to test preparation and the actual administration of the tests. In addition, teachers expressed feelings of inadequacy about their knowledge of effective pedagogy for improving adolescent reading skills. From this study it becomes clear that secondary language arts teachers need more information on best practices for working with adolescents and improving adolescent reading skills while incorporating the state reading standards and maintaining a meaningful curriculum and engaging instructional strategies. Administrators and state departments of education need to consider ways to provide useful in-services on reading for secondary teachers. In addition, university teacher education programs need to prepare future teachers and offer teachers who are currently in the classroom assistance in developing effective strategies for teaching reading skills to adolescents which will keep the students engaged.

Language: English

Published: Lawrence, Kansas, 2005

Language: English

Archive: Seattle University, Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons, Special Collections

Language: English

Archive: Seattle University, Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons, Special Collections

Language: English

Published: Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company, 2007

ISBN: 978-90-79506-24-8

Series: Montessori Series , 4

Language: English

Published: Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Montessori Pierson Publishing Company, 2017

ISBN: 978-90-79506-28-6

Series: The Montessori Series , 13

Volume: 2 of 2

Abstract/Notes: The first edition of 'The Absorbent Mind' was published in English by Kalakshetra (Madras, India) in 1949. In 1952, Montessori wrote a fully revised edition in Italian, published by Garzanti in 1952. This was the first Italian edition, entitled 'La Mente del Bambino'. This current edition is a translation by Claude Claremont of the Italian 1952 edition.

Language: English

Published: Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company, 2007

Series: The Montessori Series , 1

Language: English