Date of Award
Fall 5-10-2024
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Secondary & Middle Grades English Education
Department
Department of Secondary and Middle Grades Education
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Jennifer Dail
Second Advisor
Darren Crovitz
Third Advisor
Robert Montgomery
Abstract
This research seeks to better understand the attitudes and dispositions of advanced-level English Language Arts students toward the activities of academic research and writing, and to explore the ways that critical pedagogies focused on authentic inquiry and composition interact with these attitudes. The project draws upon research in student motivation, sociocultural definitions of literacy, and theories of hybrid identity in order to discover the potential impact of engaging students in critical reflection on their own meaning-making practices, and of curricular and pedagogical choices aimed at making the lessons of the classroom more relevant to the demands of real-world literacy practices and communities. Through the development of a case study of a high school English classroom engaged in a semester-long personal inquiry project, this research offers insights into effective methods for developing classroom communities and student identities that engage in productive academic and social risks, value inquiry and the ambiguity of knowledge, and undertake acts of composition for authentic audiences.
Included in
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons, Rhetoric and Composition Commons, Secondary Education Commons