This dissertation used a phenomenological approach in investigating the development of a grassroots community history-based educational outreach and chronicled its development from inception to incorporation into the mission of an established institution. The research questions focused on Deweyan principles of student-centered, experiential…

Researchers in history education have argued the importance of closing the gap between how history is practiced in the discipline and how history is taught in schools. This study explores how three teachers who had learned to teach historical thinking in their teacher education program then implemented these practices in their first year of…

"School history" has long since been characterized by teacher-centered lectures and student passivity, which deviates substantially from the inquiry-based and rigorous methodology historians use to actively reconstruct the past. While recent efforts have been made to move toward a more investigative approach in classrooms, little if any…

Through a dynamic interplay of philosophical analysis and fine-tuned fieldwork, this dissertation seeks to bear witness to the presence and power of the "personal core of teaching," a dimension of education that, I argue, is of utmost importance, but which remains largely undervalued by educational policymakers and underexamined by…

The College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) Program continues to expand annually with increased numbers of high school students nationwide enrolling in AP courses and taking end-of-course AP exams, in hopes of earning college credit and strengthening high school transcripts. As the College Board promotes increased minority student participation…

Despite a 100-year-old history and the existence of schools in nearly every country in the world, Waldorf education is a little known and poorly understood educational model that was developed in Europe by Austrian philosopher Rudolph Steiner. For many years it existed in the United States in the form of private schools. Few of their teachers or…

This dissertation describes the teaching methods and educational philosophies of natural philosophy instructors at several of the colleges in colonial and early national North America. It finds two distinct approaches: the demonstrative, in which the instructor centers the course on visually engaging lecture-demonstrations, and the catechetical,…

The concepts of an inclusive classroom, inclusion, co-teaching, and disability have been called poorly defined and in need of fresh conceptual analyses. In Chapter 1, I respond to this call for further analysis and then demonstrate, using current educational headlines, that these concepts of "an inclusive classroom,"…

The history of theological education in North America is a study of the complementary relationship between church and seminary. Theological education between 1980-2017 produced developing partnerships between churches and seminaries as extension centers, teaching sites, and branch campuses. In a select number of instances, a local church began a…

This study was conducted to determine if pre-service teachers could self-identify their philosophy of education and then match that philosophy through their responses to a 48-item survey. Additionally the study was conducted to determine if the pre-service teachers from Middle Tennessee State University would have a more varied philosophical…

In the wake of the French Revolution and the failure of subsequent governments to enact humanistic reforms, Schiller observed in frustration that "a great moment has found a little people…" As we emerge from a once-in-a-century pandemic, navigating crisis after crisis amidst uncertainty and instability, it is easy to sympathize with…

Second language (L2) writing teaching and research in China have enjoyed a rich history and have had remarkable achievements. However, the extensive L2 writing literature created in China has not yet been analyzed comprehensively from theoretical, methodological, and philosophical perspectives. This research synthesis provides a metadisciplinary…

The goal of this dissertation is to develop a connection between poetry and teacher education. I am motivated to undertake this project because poetry is an underappreciated resource, one that has a good deal to teach teachers. Specifically, I believe that poetry can teach teachers about how to creatively and democratically respond to problems of…

The purposes of this study are to identify the features of Kodaly-inspired music teacher education programs that either confirm or refute the notion that signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005 a, b, c) are present in this form of teacher education and to identify whether and how philosophical, pedagogical, and institutional influences support such…

This research study provides an overview of the first 59 years of Hampton Institute development in shaping its curriculum, specifically its teacher education program in preparing Black teachers to teach and take a leadership role in their rural communities. The focus of this research study is in the area of educational reform in exploring…