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Journey of change: Perspectives of three primary classroom teachers involved in statewide systemic change
Abstract
The purpose of this critical ethnographic study was to examine and analyze the actions of teachers involved in a statewide reform effort in order to arrive at an understanding of what occurs as teachers critically examine their interactions with students, how teachers interpret classroom experiences, the impact of teacher training workshops on practice, and how this influences the changes they make in instruction. The participants were three primary teachers involved in a statewide systemic initiative to change mathematics and science education to be reflective of the national mathematics and science standards. The teachers were encouraged to implement learner-centered pedagogy and curricula into their classroom practice. Data concerning the actions of the teachers and the context in which the actions occurred were collected using educational ethnographic methods that included interviews with teachers, journalling, field observations in classrooms, analysis of teachers' videotapes, and electronic communication. Classroom interactions were examined for gender differences using a modification of Interactions for Sex Equity in Classroom Teaching (INTERSECT). Focusing on gender related data collected over a period of three years provided a means for studying the process of change and helped to establish collaborative relationships with the three participating teachers. The objective tallies of teacher-student interactions made it possible for the participating teachers to detect the presence of gender bias, to reflect on classroom happenings, and make self-initiated changes. The results of this study indicate that the classrooms of the participating teachers have changed to include more active learning opportunities and that the teachers were asking more questions which required original student thinking and had increased the number of higher order questions asked of females. Issues that impact systemic change efforts, suggestions for the development of effective inservice programs, and the need to develop research methodology that is able to assess implementation of learner-centered instruction are discussed.
Subject Area
Curricula|Teaching|Science education|Teacher education
Recommended Citation
Wilcoxson, Catherine Ann, "Journey of change: Perspectives of three primary classroom teachers involved in statewide systemic change" (1994). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9507833.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9507833