Disease, Bread, Efficiency: Rhetorics of Victorian Education Reform

Disease, Bread, Efficiency: Rhetorics of Victorian Education Reform arose from my observation that, historically speaking, Anglo-American schools have always been “in crisis.” I argue that the crisis of the “failing school” is a rhetorical problem rather than an economic problem as most scholarship suggests. Much like the cultural myth of “the One True Love,” education reform debates tend to position the school as an institution that can rescue the nation from all perceived social ills. Not only is this unrealistic, the patterns of language are inconsistent as ideas about the purpose of school are translated into policy. This causes further disjuncture between ideal notions of the public school and its reality. I treat a range of archival materials through a variety of theoretical frames including metaphor criticism and Kenneth Burke’s notion of the terministic screen, which illustrates that school failure is not an objective occurrence but a rhetorical construction designed to achieve predetermined social ends. This research uncovers three insoluble conditions of public schools in capitalistic societies: a tension between the need for collective education while privileging individualism, a gap between the expansive purposes envisioned by the general public and the narrow measures policy can enact, and a lack of attention to the circulation of institutional energy. I conclude that conversations about education reform can become more productive by respecting the insoluble conditions and searching for non-binary ways to think about schooling

Sustained Employment of Teachers in High Poverty Schools

Author\u27s abstract: The researcher\u27s purpose of this study was to understand from the lived experiences of teachers in high poverty schools the reasons they remained in these schools. A qualitative method was used to conduct the study, which involved interviews with eight teachers (4 elementary, 2 middle and 2 high), one principal and the Superintendent who responded to open-ended interview questions. The interview questions were designed to elicit responses to the research questions and interview questions. The researcher coded transcripts from the interviews for recurring themes and patterns. Field notes from before and after each interview, as well as district and state documents were used as additional sources of data. The study gave teachers in high poverty schools a voice to help the researcher understand the challenges these teachers faced, the satisfaction they obtained and the opportunities that allowed for longevity in high poverty schools. Each teacher shared their lived experiences as they related to the reasons they sustained employment in these schools. The principal and the Superintendent also added to the depth to the study by helping the researcher understand the challenges these teachers faced and the opportunities that allowed for longevity. The research study revealed the teachers in this study faced challenges and difficult working conditions especially in their first year of teaching. Novice teachers in high poverty schools often faced discipline problems, isolation, and a lack of support. However, there were sources of satisfaction and opportunities that alleviated these challenges. The research study revealed several sources that created satisfaction for teachers. The love for teaching, the need to have a relationship with students, a positive relationship with colleagues and administration, time, better pre service experiences, effective induction programs and more effective recruiting were all findings from the research study that could provide opportunities and improve teacher retention in high poverty schools. However, relationships were the key finding that emerged from the lived experiences of the teachers in this study. The researcher understood that the relationships between the teacher and the student, the teacher to self, the teacher and their colleagues, and the teacher and their administration were critically important in their experiences and ultimately in their decision to stay. Teachers gained a sense of accomplishment and reward in these relationships and felt they like they were making a difference in these schools. Finally, these teachers felt a sense of loyalty to the students they served and had a sense of self determination where they saw teaching the children as a challenge and were determined not to fail. These teachers were going to teach these children and help remove the obstacles so the students could be educated. The research study gave an understanding to the issue of teacher retention in high poverty schools and the reasons teachers remain in these schools. School systems should employ time for teachers to build relationships through collaboration and communication. Districts should also implement training in the culture of high poverty schools, student discipline and foster relationship building opportunities for teachers with students and colleagues in high poverty settings

The Possibility of Philosophy in Schools: Jacques Rancière and Community of Philosophical Inquiry

Responding to growing efforts to bring philosophy into K-12 schools in the U.S., this dissertation takes up pedagogical and political concepts used by Jacques Rancière in order to reflect on the motivating principles and limitations of bringing philosophy to schools. Rancière critiques schooling as a mechanism by which socio-economic inequality is justified and argues that academic philosophy, following the rationalist tradition attributed to Plato, is in fact complicit in this justificatory process. Given his staunch position, it might seem that it is impossible to implement philosophy in schools using Rancièrian principles. I argue that there is a practice of philosophy in schools to which Rancière may be sympathetic on a theoretical level. In order to support my position, the principle aim of this work is to provide evidence that Rancière’s works reflect specific critiques and alternative values of both schooling and philosophy that are also represented in the principled pedagogical practice of community of philosophical inquiry (CPI). I begin to think through the possibility of CPI in new and existing schools, as well the way that the notion of possibility itself figures into this line of inquiry. My thesis is that CPI is the philosophical practice most appropriate for schools given the critiques and alternative values of schooling and philosophy shared by Rancière and CPI, but that Rancière may help to inform the way the practice is implemented

The Perceptions of Recent Business Graduates of The Transition Experience From The Collegiate Environment to The Work Environment

This qualitative study represents an examination of the perceptions of 18 recent business college graduates of their transition experiences from college to the workplace. The participant’s ages ranged from 23 to 28 years including 4 males and 14 females of diverse racial and ethic groups. One-on-one, semi-structured, open-ended interviews were the primary method for data collection. Using excerpts from the participants’ interviews, the data were examined and analyzed using content analysis (Patton, 2002) and educational criticism (Eisner, 1998). The data were organized into three main topics: the importance of organizational socialization, the complexity of mentoring in the workplace, and the continuation of young adult development. The findings include the newly hired graduates’ feelings regarding the support received from educators and employers in their transition into the workplace, what should be done to assist them in the transition process, and their continued optimism about their futures with their employers and their desire to succeed

Autophagy Over The Lifespan: Using Fetal, Stem Cell, And Adult Retinal Pigment Epithelium (rpe) Cultures To Model Amd Pathogenesis

Purpose: Dysfunctional autophagy in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) has been implicated as a therapeutic target in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). To explore how RPE autophagy changes over the lifespan and in response to phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments (POS), we compared stem cell-derived RPE (hESC-RPE, iPS-RPE), human fetal RPE (hfRPE), the ARPE-19 cell line, and adult RPE (ad-RPE). Methods: RPE was cultured from 16-week human fetuses and cadaveric eyes. Stem cell- derived RPE was prepared from human embryonic stem cells (hESC-RPE) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS-RPE). LC3 conversion (immunoblotting) and changes in autophagy-related gene expression (qRT2-PCR) were used to monitor autophagy. Relative maturity of RPE cultures was assessed using a panel of signature and maturation genes (qRT2-PCR). Autophagy was manipulated with an inhibitor, Spautin-1, and inducer, Rapamycin. iPS-RPE were challenged with porcine POS daily for up to 1 month, and monitored with confocal-immunomicroscopy. The health of RPE cultures was monitored by the transepithelial electrical resistance (TER). Results: Autophagic flux (immunoblot) increased from stem cell to a peak in 78-year-old RPE, but was reduced in 91-year-old RPE. Spautin-1 inhibited autophagy only partially—the strongest effect was on ARPE-19 and 91-year-old ad-RPE. qRT2-PCR revealed quantitative differences in the expression of autophagy- and maturation-related genes. In iPS-RPE, the expression level of most maturation genes was most similar to hfRPE. However, iPS-RPE and ad-RPE exhibited substantially higher levels of autophagy-related genes than hfRPE. Continuous feeding of POS to iPS-RPE for three weeks lowered TER to physiologic levels. In iPS-RPE, three-weeks of exposure to POS had little effect on autophagy or signature gene-expression, but did result in the accumulation of autofluorescent granules. Continuous feeding of POS to hfRPE for one week increased the expression of autophagy genes to levels observed in iPS- and ad-RPE. Conclusions: The characteristics of autophagy depended on the culture model: autophagy gene expression in iPS-RPE more closely resembled adult RPE than hfRPE. Partial inhibition by Spautin-1 suggests the presence of a non-canonical RPE autophagy pathway that is lost in old age. The accumulation of lipofuscin-like granules induced by POS indicates that complementary RPE cultures will be a valuable aid to explore targets for therapeutic agents for AMD

Religious effects regarding the beliefs about the causes of homelessness

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oklahoma, 1993.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 26-31