Geographical Research in the Digital Humanities: Spatial Concepts, Approaches and Methods

The richness of social and cultural theory in the humanities offers countless opportunities for using theory-informed concepts in data-based analysis workflows. The contributors to this volume thus encourage further research utilizing out-of-the-box models and approaches to space and place in the field of Digital Humanities. The collection follows the two complementary goals of providing promising conceptualisations of space and place for a broad audience from Digital Humanities, and of presenting current work in Digital Humanities using different conceptualisations of space and place or offering innovative methods for their analysis

Curriculum enactment, challenges and enablers for change and transformation in early childhood education

This research study examines the ECE curriculum in the changing and evolving landscape of early childhood care and education in a diverse and globalized society and world that is becoming increasingly connected via advances in communicative technology. The study aimed to explore the relationship between the enacted curriculum and the intended curriculum as guided by the national curriculum framework in diverse early childhood education settings in Singapore. With broad objectives framing the study, an exploratory sequential QUAL-quan mixed methods research design was adopted. The first phase involved visual ethnography and netnography, as well as interviews with twenty-two teacher participants. In-depth interviews with five of these twenty-two participants provided a greater depth of understanding of the perspectives and experiences of the early childhood educators. These interview findings, together with participant-generated data were collated in the qualitative phase. A survey instrument was designed drawing on the data derived from the first phase of the study, as well as relevant research literature. Mixed methods research was considered as it is able to integrate qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques; giving voice to participants and allows a greater comprehensiveness by addressing the research questions through complementary approaches. The qualitative phase enabled a more detailed investigation on curriculum enactment and the challenges faced by teachers in ECE settings while the quantitative allowed a more objective description of various aspects of curriculum delivery and challenges faced. The study also identifies some of the enabling conditions that have allowed transformation and positive change within the context of early childhood services in Singapore. The thesis also argues for the development of a sustainable and future oriented approach to the curriculum through the blending of approaches that include the adoption of not only the national curriculum guidelines, but also more international modern approaches that challenge localized practices and traditions. It also contends that a pedagogical third space in the curriculum allows for a more inclusive approach that is both culturally and practically relevant. The implications of this study are tied to teacher preparation, professional development, in-service learning and future-oriented curriculum development and research directions

Teacher Professional Learning in Multiliteracies Pedagogy: Exploring the Lived Curriculum of Preservice and In-service Educators

The purpose of this exploratory case study is to examine the lived curriculum (Aoki, 1993) of preservice teachers enrolled in a Bachelor of Education language arts course and in-service teachers enrolled in an online graduate program, both with a focus on multiliteracies pedagogy. Through this study, the rationale is to understand how these formal professional learning experiences shape teachers’ perceptions of their literacy pedagogy. Specifically, the aim is to gain insight into how to promote multiliteracies pedagogy in preservice and in-service professional learning. This dissertation research builds upon two qualitative exploratory case studies (Stake, 2010; Yin, 2012) rooted in a theory of literacy learning and pedagogy called multiliteracies (New London Group, 1996; Cope & Kalantzis, 2009; Kalantzis and Cope, 2016) and two theories of curriculum: lived curriculum (Aoki, 1993) and curricular commonplaces (Schwab, 1973). I collected in-depth interviews and artifacts from six focal participants, three preservice and three in-service educators. For triangulation of data, other data sources included curriculum and program documents and interviews with the graduate program manager, the language arts program coordinator, and instructors from both programs. Through a reflexive iterative approach to data analysis the findings show that the preservice educators struggle in their coming-to-know multiliteracies through the language arts course as they simultaneously strive to build their foundational knowledge in a variety of content areas. There are also limited ways of seeing the pedagogy used in practice during preservice candidate practicums. However, preservice candidates did develop a disposition towards using multiliteracies in their perceptions of their developing literacy pedagogy. The in-service educators in the graduate program, having built foundational knowledge through their careers, such as lesson planning and assessment and evaluation of students, perceived a change in their literacy pedagogy to include multiliteracies. In-service educators engaged in plentiful opportunities to make meaning multimodally through their online courses. Conclusions suggest that immersion in teachers’ professional learning in multiliteracies, with opportunities to create a diversity of multimodal texts and to see and use the pedagogy in practice, is key to developing more than just a disposition to use multiliteracies. Further research on ways to create meaningful opportunities for preservice teachers within a pedagogy of multiliteracies is important

An investigation into the ways in which children use collaborative talk to develop their response to text

In 2 vols.Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN016183 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Teachers developing language-driven CLIL through collaborative action research in Argentina

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is an umbrella term for the integration of content and second/foreign language learning through different models. As in a continuum, these models range from content-driven to language-driven explorations. Such a broad learning approach may be European in origin and driving aims but its influence has reached other diverse contexts outside Europe. As a teacher-researcher working in collaboration with three colleagues, I investigated the beliefs, motivations, and overall experiences of a group of teachers and learners who adopted an indigenous language-driven CLIL version in a secondary school in southern Argentina. In the year 2009, we started to include curricular content in our EFL lessons. Although these were isolated episodes, I noted the potential of content and language integration and decided to research and improve our own practices through a collaborative action research project from March to November 2011. The action research comprised three cycles over the 2011 school year. Each cycle included three stages: action (teachers developed their materials), intervention (teachers taught with those materials; lessons were audio-recorded) and evaluation (student surveys and group interview with teachers and students). Data analysis focused on a thematic approach using inductive coding as categories emerged from the data themselves. The experience revealed (1) higher levels of motivation and participation among learners and teachers, (2) teachers’ professional development through collaborative materials development and research instruments such as group interviews, (3) a rise in teachers’ autonomy, (4) reconfiguration of teachers’ identity, (5) an interest in combining a grammar-based coursebook with teacher’s materials, (6) the belief that CLIL is an approach to be adopted after students have been exposed to a more traditional language learning approach for a number of years, (7) syllabus negotiation, and (8) the development of teacher-derived principles which may constitute the backbone of CLIL didactic transposition. This action research project indicates that language-driven CLIL experiences need to create spaces for equal participation and autonomy in syllabus planning which includes lessons and materials. Furthermore, CLIL in EFL contexts may offer significant outcomes if contents are truly context-responsive

A phenomenology of collaboration in contemporary composition and performance

This thesis considers how collaboration between composer and performer affects the practice of these musicians. The established paradigm for the creation of new work in the context of contemporary classical music promotes separation between composers and performers. Typically the composer is seen as 'creator', the performer as 'interpreter', and the audience as the 'recipient' of the music. This inherent hegemony creates division between these musicians, creating expre~si~e barriers in the development and the dissemination of new work. In this research, the creative processes of both composition and performance are assessed in the context of collaborative practice,in a continuum where both composers and performers are seen as integrated elements within music making. IIi order to evaluate collaborative practice between composer and performer I commissioned five Irish composers to write solo bass clarinet pieces for me to perform.. These five individual cases provided an opportunity to examine collaboration in a practical framework. An integral part of each commission was the examination of collaboration through the careful documentation of the creative processes of interactive practice. Over the course of a year I worked collaboratively with the composers concerned in a series of practical sessions where the new works were discussed. and tried out. A key part of these meetings was the investigation of various elements relating to collaboration, including. notation, improvisation and transmission. A significant amount of data was collected in the course of this examination including audio recordings and transcripts ofmeetings. The fmdings from this research 'indicate that collaboration between composers and performers can have significant beneficial effects on musicians' practice. These benefits include increased motivation, creative stimulation, multiple communication modes and notational clarification. These represent some of the practical fmdings from this investigation of the effect collaboration has on the practice of composers and performers

Teacher research as a response to Miss, do we really have to pass this class? : examining discourses in the middle school students\u27 foreign language classroom.

It seems a paradox that the United States, a country with a highly diverse population and a long history of immigration, has one of the poorest records of sustained public foreign language programs when compared to similar post industrial countries. In an educational system such as the one in United States that is not centralized, foreign language instruction appears not to be a real, tangible necessity. In this situation are engulfed many school districts that are left with state and/or national guidelines and an ever-changing budget, to decide who should learn what languages, if any. By framing and understanding the foreign language education in this context, this ethnographic study examines through a post-structuralist perspective, a current program in the United States and looks specifically at how issues of motivation and power get constructed by students in the foreign language classroom of an urban middle school setting. This study also examines how language policies enacted through class instruction impact student endorsement of foreign language education during the formative years in U.S. public schools that may influence learning, and may generate resistance, or lack of motivation to learn a foreign language. Critical discourse analysis is employed in this study as a tool to: (1) review and analyze specific recent legislation that is interpreted and enacted in the foreign language program of a local school system, (2) examine data collected through interviews with students and administrators, and (3) understand classroom interactions within the local political context of a school system. In examining the social, textual and discursive levels of these policies, it is possible to challenge how traditional education defines the roles of teachers and students and to envision new relations of power that could condition the existence of new learners\u27 identities and new possibilities for teachers. This study will contribute towards the understanding of classroom practices in foreign language programs as they influence and are influenced by language planning and policy decisions, and so point to areas where change can be made. In terms of stating the practical implications for the foreign language field, the concept of student endorsement, as it is employed in this study, is examined for its potential as a viable replacement for the traditional notion of student motivation. Understanding endorsement issues in relation to the current language policies on learning situates learning not as an individual psychological factor but rather as a socially shaped response that can be changed. Furthermore, teachers\u27 and administrators\u27 understanding of endorsement could challenge current policies and practices that contribute to the devaluing and reduction of benefits of foreign language instruction

Maori in governance: The voices of Maori trustees

While the education reforms of 1989 promised much for Maori in education, Maori membership on Boards of Trustees continues to be disproportionately low against that of non-Maori members. The governance role is significant in influencing the provision and outcomes of education for Maori students, but there has been little research into the experiences of Maori in school governance, or the factors that impact on successful partnerships between Maori and Pakeha on school boards. This research project presents the governance stories of six Maori trustees from different mainstream primary schools. With reference to the Treaty of Waitangi, it explores Maori and Pakeha conceptions of partnership, and discusses the effectiveness of the education reforms in promoting and sustaining partnership with Maori at school governance level. Through interviews conducted as part of this research, Maori trustees' understandings of their role in governance, the board's obligations to the Treaty of Waitangi, and the expectations placed on them as Maori by the board, and by their own Maori community, are explored. This project highlights some of the complex issues Maori trustees face within a governance structure which is incongruous with traditional Maori principles of collectivism, and illuminates the duality of role many Maori negotiate as school trustees