Developing multicultural awareness among high school students through inquiry /
The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive and interpretive account of how a group of high school students and their teacher perceived, interpreted, and experienced a class about multiculturalism. The following questions focused the study: How do the students describe this class? How is...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1996.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=739623561&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive and interpretive account of how a group of high school students and their teacher perceived, interpreted, and experienced a class about multiculturalism. The following questions focused the study: How do the students describe this class? How is the class meaningful for them? How does a teacher respond to multiculturalism in the classroom? How does the teacher describe the class? Theoretical Framework: Students are seldom invited to participate in the decision making involving their own learning. Typically, they play a passive role as receivers of a fixed body of knowledge. Their opinions are not sought because of a lack of trust in students' abilities to know what they need to know. The course design for the American Culture Studies class-based on the educational theories of multicultural education, constructivism, and critical pedagogy--was oppositional to the traditional transmission model. The theoretical framework placed the cultural diversity of students in the center. It involved interpersonal relationships, pedagogical practices, and methodology that affected the success of all students. Knowledge construction became a collaborative activity engaging both the teacher and students in questioning, investigating, interpreting and reflecting on what was being learned. It invited students to participate in a dialogue that promoted critical thought and action. Methods of Inquiry and Data Sources: During the fall of 1994, twenty-one 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students of culturally diverse backgrounds enrolled in a first-time offered semester course, American Culture Studies. The course outline acted as a curricular framework while student inquiry-students' own questions pertaining to cultural topics--drove the curriculum. The students were invited to act as co-researchers to interpret their lived experiences in this class. Ethnographic methods were used. Ten students met with the teacher researcher to analyze tapes of the class. In addition to the student researchers analyses, data sources included student/teacher interviews, students' interviews with each other, field notes, student journal entries, and final course evaluations from which categories were developed which provided the frameworks for the construction of the interpretive accounts. The results of this study revealed the interconnectedness of human relationships, curricular decisions, and pedagogical practices and their effects on the evolution of a learning community. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Curriculum and Instruction". |
| Physical Description: | viii, 183 leaves ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilms Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references: pages 164-171. |