Date of Award
Summer 7-1-2023
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Secondary Education - English (Ed.D)
Department
Secondary and Middle Grades Education
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Jennifer S. Dail, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Rachel E. Gaines, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Darren Crovitz, Ph.D.
Abstract
This is a qualitative phenomenographic study that uses the theoretical frameworks of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP) (Paris, 2012), Intergroup Contact Theory (Allport 1954), and Social Constructivism (Smagorinsky, 2007) to evaluate how 7th grade students at a Title I middle school in the Southeastern United States experience the phenomenon of peer relationships in the context of a CSP writing unit. Students created, peer edited, and shared multimodal “Where I’m From” (Lyon, n.d.) poems in intentionally created groups. The researcher collected data via participant interviews, participant journals, and a researcher reflection journal. Findings indicated that students developed a better understanding of their peers, built connections, felt more comfortable in class, improved their relationships with their peers, and made new friends as a result of the intervention.
Included in
Educational Methods Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons, Other Education Commons, Secondary Education Commons, Secondary Education and Teaching Commons, Social Justice Commons