Co-constructing early adolescent education through image-based research : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University, Palmerston North

Professional literature reporting the needs and characteristics, both educational and developmental of early adolescents presents a compelling case that students of this age group are distinct and require the development of a unique educational approach to best support their needs as learners and young people. Although much has been written about these students, little has been written with them, and even fewer studies have involved students themselves as co-researchers to investigate their own experience and understandings. The research reported in the thesis describes the implementation into practice of an image-based research methodology with early adolescent students themselves constructing and articulating their voice as the core focus of the research. The research was predicated on the belief that 'student voice' is the element vital in an educational approach developmentally responsive to students of this age group, and an element all too often missing. Extended Visual Dialogue, the methodological approach devised to implement the research, was employed to conduct exploratory voice research with 38 early adolescent students in Years 7 and 8, across three participating schools in 2004. The approach combined elements from the research genres of voice research, participatory action research and image-based research and the students used a combination of auto-photography (participant-generated photography) and photo elicitation interviews to investigate how they perceive school and learning, perceive their identity as young persons and learners, and perceive the world in which they live. Through the processes of the research progressively, the students shared their perspectives with the adult researcher and brought themselves, and the researcher, to a deeper understanding of their unique point of view as learners in our schools, and as young persons in their own right. The findings of the research revealed the sound understanding the students have about their educational and personal needs, preferences, and agendas, and organised these into a framework representing the perspective of the students, accessible to their teachers as key stimulus for their development as distinctly middle level practitioners and their schools as authentic middle level education providers

Student Voice As Regimes Of Truth: Troubling Authenticity

Student voice: authentic or contrived? In this essay I argue that authenticity in student voice has been largely conflated with a notion of objective truth. I trouble this view for the ways in which it masks power dynamics in student voice in a quest for truth. Instead I proffer a view of student voice as socially constructed through discourses that act as regimes of truth to open up but also discipline and constrain possibilities for action and identity within student voice initiatives. I ‘plug in’ this ‘student voice as regimes of truth’ concept to think with data from a recent collaborative action research project and turn a critically reflexive gaze on the influences dominant discourses of student voice exerted on the practice of participating students and teachers. I argue that this socially constructed view of authenticity offers a generative starting point to open up more socially just possibilities for student voice practice in the middle years

Human-Animal Interactions in Ireland

STEP Category: Education AbroadMy STEP Signature Project was an Education Abroad program to various parts of Ireland which provided a plethora of experiences with the different types of human-animal interactions that they have to offer. The trip included visits to agricultural and production farms and facilities, zoos, and companion animal shelters.The Ohio State University Second-year Transformational Experience Program (STEP)Academic Major: Animal Science

The Principal\u27s Influence on Teacher Efficacy to Foster Student Engagement: A Case Study of Two Elementary Schools

Student engagement has a significant impact on their school experiences and outcomes. Affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement constructs work as interconnected components shaping students’ engagement. Considering the malleable nature of student engagement, possibilities exist to address this construct early thereby influencing the educational trajectory of students. Teacher efficacy, both individual and collective, impacts students’ engagement within schools. School leadership facilitates teacher efficacy through avenues such as instructional feedback, opportunities for collaboration, and shared decision making. This study’s purpose was to understand how the interactions between teachers and leaders facilitate teachers’ strong efficacy beliefs and how teacher’s influence students’ engagement in the classroom. This qualitative case study examined the engagement construct within two high-achieving elementary schools. Using distributed, transformational, and instructional leadership theories, this study examined practices of principals that support teacher efficacy and foster an environment that strengthens student engagement. Participants included teachers with strong efficacy as well as school leaders. Interviews with teachers and leaders, observations, and a review of artifacts identified school practices perceived to positively influence teacher efficacy as well as practices that promoted student engagement. Findings revealed participants demonstrated zeal through positive interactions with stakeholders. Secondly, perceptions confirmed the value of affirming and precise feedback from principals to promote strong efficacy beliefs. Thirdly, findings determined the importance of implementing customized supports for students’ emotional and academic needs to foster engagement. Implications exist for principals to consider how they demonstrate zeal through positive interactions within the school environment. Additionally, school leaders should consider their practices for providing feedback as well as promoting a focus on customized supports for each student. This study highlighted these considerations for leadership practices that promote efficacy and thereby improve student engagement

Differentiation And Online Learning

The research question investigated in this project was, how can digital teachers utilize differentiation strategies to best meet the needs of their learners in an online environment? It describes the process of creating a standards based literacy unit which utilizes online resources. This project builds on the work of Tomlinson’s approach to differentiation in a traditional in person classroom setting and the community of inquiry (COI) model of online learning. The unit is differentiated according to student academic level, method of content delivery (synchronous or asynchronous), and student sharing. The document shares how the project was created to meet the needs of fourth grade students. The author discusses the challenge and benefits of collecting and utilizing online and technology based resources that evolve and change over time and the advantages of organizing digital curriculum resources for students and teachers

Evidence of Prostate Cancer Progression in Transgender Women After Hormone Replacement Therapy - Scoping Review Protocol

This scoping review aims to determine the extent and quality of evidence regarding prostate cancer progression outcomes in transgender women who have undergone hormone replacement therapy. Notably, transgender females undergoing hormone replacement therapy as a component of the gender affirmation treatment commonly have their prostate, rendering them vulnerable to developing prostate cancer. There is no current agreement about the likelihood of transgender women developing prostate cancer or the impact of hormone replacement therapy on oncogenic molecular pathways. Unfortunately, due to a lack of scientific data and inadequate trust and awareness in the medical community, transgender women are often not provided with the essential information needed to make informed decisions regarding their prostate health. This puts them at risk for a delayed diagnosis. Understanding PC development in transgender women is critical, and addressing this gap in scientific knowledge necessitates highlighting this issue

Custodial Strip Searches of Juveniles: How Safford Informs a New Two-Tiered Standard of Review

In its 2009 decision in Safford Unified School District No. 1 v. Redding, the U.S. Supreme Court first ruled on the constitutionality of strip searches in public schools. The Court held that the strip search of a middle school girl who had allegedly brought painkillers to school violated the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. The Court, however, has never addressed the constitutionality of strip searches in juvenile detention centers (“JDCs”). Strip searches in JDCs are particularly troubling because they may exacerbate the already damaging psychological and emotional impact of detention on youth. Although lower courts appear to agree that the standard for such searches should fall between the standards for school searches and prison searches, courts are still confused about the proper standard, leading to broad discretion by JDC officials who conduct searches. This Note applies the reasoning in Safford to urge courts to consider the age and sex of the offender as well as the nature of the offense committed when considering the constitutionality of strip searches of juveniles who have committed minor offenses. The Note proposes a two-tiered standard of review, based on the level of offense, for determining whether the strip search of a juvenile in JDCs is unconstitutional

Educating Reimbursement Specialists About Plagiocephaly: Improving Efficiency of the Prior Authorization Process for Providers, Healthcare Staff, and Patients

Deformational plagiocephaly (DP) is a condition in which an infant’s head becomes deformed and flattened because of molding forces that manipulate the malleable cranium. DP is very common, impacting an estimated 46% of infants within the United States. The resulting asymmetries of the head and face carry implications for functional, social, and emotional interactions. Helmet therapy is the recommended treatment for persistent moderate-to-severe plagiocephaly. It is most effective when started before six months of life with decreasing correction as the child nears one year old. Helmet therapy is very effective but is also expensive, and insurers have highly variable policies such as prior authorizations (PA) for reimbursement. The PA process is lengthy and requires substantial administrative and clinical effort from craniofacial advanced practice providers, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Insurers frequently require a peer-to-peer discussion, which is a conversation between the craniofacial provider and an insurer-designated medical provider to discuss reasoning behind the clinical recommendation. This is very time consuming and presents a significant administrative burden for the craniofacial provider. The process delays the initiation of helmet therapy, which may negatively impact patient outcomes. This quality improvement project, aimed at improving the prior authorization process, occurred over eight months within a mid-size pediatric orthotics group located in a large urban area in the Midwest. It included the creation and integration of a written brochure tool that was utilized in the PA process. Craniofacial providers and staff completed a pre-and-post-implementation survey assessing their perceptions of the tool’s impact. Additionally, data on insurer communications and outcomes were obtained before and after the tool’s implementation. Results indicate that the educational brochure (1) significantly improved response times from many insurers, thus improving access to helmet therapy for patients, (2) decreased the number of peer-to-peer requests, thereby decreasing the administrative load for the craniofacial provider and expediting access to therapy for patients and (3) ultimately was correlated with increased prior authorization approval. Although these results are limited by several variables, they demonstrate that proactive insurer outreach resulted in significant improvements in PA timeliness and administrative burden. For similar insurer-mediated delays, results suggest that it may be beneficial to facilitate proactive outreach to insurers

'Is This Student Voice?' Students and Teachers Re-negotiate Power through Governance Partnerships in the Classroom

A change in status for students to position them influentially as educational decision-makers with teachers is identified as a key dimension of student voice research and pedagogy. Despite over 30 years of student voice research and pedagogical practice, this change in student status remains problematic. Accountability agendas associated with neo-liberalism intermingle with student voice ideals contributing to contradictory purposes for, and in some cases diminutive instantiations of, student voice research and practice. This tension often renders student influence illusory, fleeting or difficult to sustain. Greater theorising of the power dynamics at work in enacting ongoing student influence in pedagogical and curriculum design, that also takes account of expectations and demands on teachers’ practice, is called for. This research contributes to this challenge. Three teachers and their Year Seven and Eight students within one intermediate school collaborated across a three-cycle action research project to identify and utilise student perceptions of effective teaching and engagement as a basis for co-constructing responsive and reciprocal pedagogy as governance partners. The teachers met regularly to plan and reflect on aspects of enacting the teacher/student governance partnerships in their classes, collaborating to ensure that aspects of teacher voice were addressed in the process of enacting student voice. A student research group of 12 students drawn from the three participating classes provided ongoing reflection and insight into classroom power dynamics as the research unfolded. Teacher/student ‘governance partnerships’ were enacted as a way to maximise student influence within classroom-based pedagogy and curriculum decision-making. A power analytic framework was developed to theorise the relationships between voice and power by mashing Lukes’ three-dimensional theory of faced power with Foucault’s micro-physics of power and theories of discourse and discourse analysis. Three findings emerged from this research. Firstly the research established that the vantage point from which student voice practice was experienced influenced how that practice was perceived. Teachers were more certain that their co-constructive action research work with students represented student voice in action because the students demonstrated behaviour teachers identified with student voice. Participatory strategies enacted within the action research meant that student talk and reflection about their learning and themselves as learners increased. Teachers gained valuable insight into their students as learners as well as the efficacy of their teaching from this student talk. As teachers came to increasingly trust their students’ contributions, students’ thinking came to influence teachers’ thinking and the student voice curriculum in the three classrooms. Students from their vantage point were more ambivalent in their evaluation of these same actions. Although they appreciated having a say in deciding aspects of the classroom programme, they identified pedagogical decision-making as a clear responsibility for teachers who they perceived were professionally trained for this responsibility. Secondly, the power analytic frame developed for the research illuminated visible and less visible aspects of how power dynamics influenced teachers’ and students’ action as governance partners. Persistent tensions between co-construction and accountability agendas meant that teachers and students were constrained in their student voice action by school expectations and macro accountability demands. However they were able to negotiate ways to address these constraints, largely in ways that accommodated rather than challenged them. Thirdly the shift in power dynamics between teachers and students in the research classrooms generated spaces conducive to the emergence of a student discourse on student voice. Students identified the importance of knowing and being known as learners by their peers, rather than being motivated to establish influential relationships with teachers. This student-student collaboration theme pushes back against adult-centric student voice discourses focused on increasing the influence of students in conventionally teacher-dominated decision-making domains. Implications from this research suggest that although building student influence in classrooms as a means to elevate their status as governance partners with teachers is necessary, student voice practice and research needs to look beyond the classroom to bring taken-for-granted elements of school culture expectations, and how these constrain classroom possibilities for action, into the student voice agenda. Teachers and researchers need also to consider how their conceptions of student voice are imposed within the context of compulsory classwork on students. The power analytic frame developed for this research may assist students, teachers, policy makers and researchers to keep the problematic nature of student voice in schools to the forefront as they plan, implement and critically reflect on classroom and school student voice initiatives to scaffold student influence within the educative process