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This research explored the struggle and resiliency of a Mexican American community in Central Texas as they attempted to maintain, teach, and celebrate their Mexican American roots, customs, knowledge, and celebrations through community education. The research employed critical ethnography to explore history and its impact on self, organization, and community; it also interrogated agency within racially contentious times. Additionally, this research provides insight into public pedagogy of teaching, learning, and leading as a means to remember and record the growth and change within the local Mexican American community. The community learning exchange theory of change informed this dynamic-critical place-based conceptual framework. The study's framework was a hybrid that included: theory of change, public pedagogy, community cultural wealth, culturally relevant pedagogy, and community education through the arts. The research design was grounded in critical ethnography, social cartography, anthropological life, and history mapping. From the research findings, five tenets of critical consciousness emerged and are presented through community voices (i.e., stories from research partners, "el vestido," and visual artifacts), giving breath and description to each tenet. The five tenets were: (a) critical awareness of self; (b) deficit thinking and resiliency (racism and segregation); (c) organic process of an emerging public pedagogy: teaching, learning, and leading; (d) community education; and (e) cultural pride and sustainability. Implications of the research include growing your own leaders which provides an entry point for Mexican Americans to share the ways in which community education has and can uplift a community through teaching, learning, and leading. Last, an implication for the resiliency of the Mexican American community reflected that Teatro has been able to crisscross spaces of contention, peace, and harmony. This research invites the reader to breathe together. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Research shows that children of different backgrounds and cultures learn and perform differently in mathematics despite similar intelligence levels and mathematics instruction (Alvarez & Bali, 2004). Ethnomathematics strives to explore and explain such phenomena in terms of the complex role culture plays in one's background experiences and perceptions that influence cognition and how school is experienced (Ascher, 1991; Barton, 1996; Bishop, 1994; D'Ambrosio, 1994). The importance of recognizing and utilizing the mathematical concepts imbedded in students' everyday activities is stressed in the field of ethnomathematics (Ascher, 1991; Bishop, 1994; Presmeg, 1998). In order to relate students' out-of-school experiences to content learning for the most accessible, effective math instruction, educators must have a deep understanding of students' experiences and how mathematical concepts relate to these. This qualitative research aims to shed light on the out-of-school activities that a group of 4th grade students from the same rural area of the Lowcountry of South Carolina participate. The manner in which the students participate in these activities, including any use of mathematical concepts, was explored. A technique called dialogue journaling, in which students write about their out-of-school experiences with the teacher responding with written questions and comments (Peyton, 1993), was tailored for the purposes of math education. This dialogue journaling was used to learn about students' activities, any utilization of mathematical concepts involved in these activities, and students' perceptions of the embedded mathematics. The journals were also explored as a means for classroom teachers to encourage students to apply more mathematical concepts in their out-of-school activities. It was found these students participate in a large range of daily activities. Activities that were common for many of the students included watching television, riding bikes, playing on the computer, playing video games, sports, horseback riding, hunting, riding four-wheelers, golf carts, and go-carts. Some activities were unique to individuals such as observing spiders and modeling in fashion shows. Mathematical ideas embedded in the manner in which these students participate in their activities began to emerge. These concepts include simple counting, skip counting, patterns, using money, measuring and estimating distance and weight, division, and probability. The students did not readily perceive themselves as using many mathematical ideas during their activities. Mathematical ideas that were recognized by students include simple counting, using money, and measuring. Dialogue journals proved to be an efficient strategy for learning about activities in which students participate, how they participate in such activities, and their perceptions of these activities. The majority of the students liked having written conversations with their teacher in the dialogue journals, but did not like having to respond in the journals for homework. Dialogue journals were able to be used to encourage and push students to apply more mathematical thinking when considering their daily activities in some cases, but not all. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The main research question of this study was: How do student life offices at four diverse Catholic colleges and universities create an environment that is expressive of a Catholic way of life? This research question was operationalized by two research sub questions: How do senior student affairs officers, mid-level student affairs officers, and student leaders understand and articulate the Catholic culture of their institution? How is Catholic culture manifested in the student life office policies, programs, and cultural activities of diverse Catholic institutions? To date, few studies have attempted to explore and compare the role student life offices play in the greater institutionalization of Catholic culture at Catholic colleges and universities. This study aimed to contribute to the literature in Catholic higher education by providing educational and administrational insights about how the student life office assists in the development of Catholic culture in Catholic colleges and universities. This qualitative research used a multiple case study approach to answer the research questions. Data was collected through interviews with the senior student affairs officer, mid-level student affairs officer, and with students in leadership positions. Document analysis was conducted on institutional publications and observations of campus life were used to better understand the ethos on campus. Four small to medium size institutions were purposefully chosen based on an established set of criteria from Morey and Piderit's (2006) Catholic culture model. Findings were presented within case and cross-case. Schein's (2004) organizational culture model was utilized to provide further cultural analysis among Catholic models in the cross-case comparison. The data demonstrated that the student life office was a highly visible manifestation of the Church's teaching; it is where the Catholic mission and identity were incarnated. The researcher discerned six major themes that captured how the student life office contributed to the Catholic culture of its institution: (1) Advocating Social Justice, (2) Inclusive Communities, (3) Students' Intellectual, Moral, and Spiritual Development, (4) Student Affairs' Philosophy and Catholic Identity, (5) Mission Consonance, and (6) Big "C" Catholic vs. Small "c" Catholic. This study revealed the following noteworthy areas: (1) understanding of how student life offices define and pursue Catholic culture, (2) understanding of how student leaders perceive the role of the student life office in promoting Catholic culture, (3) applicability of Morey and Piderit's (2006) model, (4) connection of this understanding to the "Principles of Best Practice for Student Affairs at Catholic Colleges and Universities", and (5) contribution to the literature on how the student life office expresses and promotes Catholic culture. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The practice of hiring adjunct instructors was initially considered to be an anomalous event (Todd, 2004). Community college employment of adjunct instructors, however, witnessed a 50% increase during the 1970s (Cain, 1999) and, by 1984, adjunct instructor utilization in community colleges rose dramatically with an additional 80% growth. Over a 33-year period, 1970-2003, the employment of adjunct faculty in the academe increased 422% (Bouton, 2010). With such a strong adjunct presence within the community college, one question came to mind: How do adjunct and fulltime faculty perceive the other? The purpose of this study was to investigate adjunct perceptions of fulltime faculty and, vice versa, fulltime faculty perceptions of adjunct faculty. With an increasing presence of adjunct instructors within the community college environment, it was deemed important to illuminate the experiences and perceptions held by each strata of faculty concerning the "other." Ethnomethodology was used to conduct this study. Four community college liberal arts fulltime faculty members and four community college liberal arts adjunct faculty members were selected as research participants, utilizing a purposive sampling technique involving four research sites, which were located in the same geographical location within the continental United States. One liberal arts fulltime faculty member and one liberal arts adjunct faculty member who taught in the same field were selected from each of the four sites. Data gathered from semi-structured interviews and institutional artifacts were analyzed to identify emerging themes. From the data analysis, four themes emerged regarding adjunct faculty perceptions of fulltime faculty: (1) "The great collegial divide"; (2) "Mentoring: Fact or faked"; (3) "A conflict of we-ness"; and (4) "Cultural exclusion: An administrative contribution." Four additional themes emerged from the data analysis regarding fulltime faculty perceptions of adjunct faculty: (1) "Doppelganger: An adjunct experience"; (2) "A Planet of the Apes relational disconnect"; (3) "Dysfunctionally functional"; and (4) "An economic response: Hired guns and institutional blight." Finally, eighteen suggestions for best practice within faculty culture were provided, one suggestion involving the possibility of adjuncts serving on hiring and textbook selection committees. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Many American university percussion students in the early 21st Century are expected to have performance abilities in genres outside of the Western percussion tradition. With the increase in ethnomusicology programs and the active hiring of teachers with non-Western musical capabilities, many universities now offer multiple options for performance studies outside the Eurocentric practices found in most American programs. This paper discusses the issues faced by the author studying sabar drumming in the School of Music at Arizona State University and Guediawaye. Senegal. The author presents methods and materials that can heighten the educational experience for the students while faithfully disseminating the music and customs of Sabar. In addition to scholarly articles, many of the conclusions are drawn from conversations that took place in the field. The paper approaches ethnomusicological matters of teaching and learning from the perspective of a university music performance student. The author illustrates how hybrid teaching techniques used in the university for Western students can form a heterosis between traditional sabar pedagogical methods and the Western methods used in the university. Key ethnomusicological issues of musical transmission, practice, and the use and nature of special materials show that these hybrid pedagogical methods work to optimize student learning, prepare performance students for eventual study in the field, and help to bridge various cultural gaps through a shared musical knowledge between teacher and student. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Early adolescence can be a difficult experience for many youth. This complex phase of development occurs as children transition to middle school. Within middle school, adolescents are faced with new challenges including ever changing peer groups and different educational and behavioral expectations. These challenges have been recognized as having some bearing on adolescent adjustment to school. Similarly, the relationships adolescents have at school have been associated with academic adjustment. In the current investigation, it was anticipated that the relational context in which adolescents operate at school should also be linked to other indices of adjustment--social and behavioral--by the end of their year in the sixth grade. Thus, the objective of this research was to ascertain the association between sixth grade adjustment and social integration, sense of belonging, and emotional risk relational dynamics that operate within the relational context of middle school community. The sixth grade is generally distinguished as a transition year in the lives of youth. Their move from the elementary school to a new and distinctively different school structure makes the transition challenging. The relational context in which young adolescents function as they navigate the novel environment is proposed to play a role in adolescent adjustment. Many studies have focused on adolescent adjustment, in terms of academic achievement. However, as individuals develop and progress through the developmental trajectory as a whole, adjustment should encompass social, behavioral, as well as academic elements. Considering this, there is a need to examine this phenomenon within a relational context that speaks to the social, behavioral, and cognitive components that would augment an understanding of adjustment. Consequently, the investigation utilized hierarchical linear regression analysis to facilitate comprehension of the extent to which sixth grade adjustment is associated with social integration, sense of belonging, and perceptions of emotional risk within middle school. In addition, the study sought to clarify whether or not gender functioned as a moderator between the dependent variable sixth grade adjustment and each of the independent factors (social integration, sense of belonging, and emotional risk). Analyses demonstrated lack of moderation by gender but revealed significant main effects. Notably, the results suggest that sense of belonging and group centrality matter to adjustment. The significance, limitations, and implications of this study for education and related research are discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Given the increased demographic change of Latinos in our society, the need for understanding who they are, how they live, and more importantly how they lead has never been more urgent. Answers regarding how Latinos lead warrant further empirical research and investigation. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine how a group of elected Latino leaders scored on an acculturation and leadership scale. It also provides a better understanding of how elected Latino leaders define and experience leadership based on their acculturation level and leadership styles. This study also adds to the current body of literature on Latino leadership. Two surveys were administered to a sample of elected Latino leaders to find out how they scored on the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and the Acculturation Rating Scale of Mexican Americans II, to examine how acculturation is associated with leadership styles, and to identify how acculturation gets expressed between leadership styles of elected Latino leaders. A chi-square analysis for independence was used to measure the association of acculturation level and leadership style among this sample. The findings confirm an association between acculturation level and leadership style. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study presents a broad overview of diasporic biliteracy developments in immigrant women after examining observation data in one Taiwanese community. Methodologies include a mixture of narrative inquiry with some ethnographic methods. Fifteen Asian women in diaspora, two Burmese, one Cambodian, one Filipino, four Indonesians, three Thai and four Vietnamese, were interviewed and observed in an immigrant community. Results of this study, with a primary focus on five occurrences in the development of diasporic biliteracy, reached the following conclusions. Immigrants are "D.R.I.F.T." ing in the host country experiencing "D"iasporic Continuum of L1 (see Table 5.1), "R"eversal-Biliteracy (see Table 5.2), "I"mbalanced-Biliterate Reliance (see Table 5.3), "F"irst L2 Effects (see Table 5.4), and "T"ransculturation of Irreplaceable Biliteracy (see Table 5.5), central components of diaspora biliteracy developments. Additionally, the diasporic-biliterate diamond (see Figure 3.1) is vital components and inseparably intertwined with "D.R.I.F.T." The diasporic-biliterate diamond includes simultaneousness, successiveness, hindrances, enhancements, struggles, and successes of diasporic biliteracy. Examining diasporic biliteracy from transnational, translocal, and transDiscourse trajectories reveals how they jointly create various categories of sociolinguistic consequences for immigrant women (see Figure 5.1). [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

"American Languages: Indians, Ethnology, and the Empire for Liberty" is a study of knowledge and power, as it relates to Indian affairs, in the early republic. It details the interactions, exchanges, and networks through which linguistic and racial ideas were produced and it examines the effect of those ideas on Indian administration. First etymology, then philology, guided the study of human descent, migrations, and physical and mental traits, then called ethnology. It would answer questions of Indian origins and the possibility of Indian incorporation into the United States. It was crucial to white Americans seeking to define their polity and prove their cultivation by contributing to the republic of letters. The study of Indian languages was both part of the ongoing ideological construction of the "empire for liberty" and it could serve practical ends for the extension and consolidation of imperial relations with the native groups within and on the borders of the United States. Administrators of Indian affairs simultaneously asserted continental mastery and implicitly admitted that it was yet incomplete. Language could be used to illustrate Indian "civilization" and Indian "savagery," the openness of the U.S. nation and its exclusivity, Indian affinities to "Anglo-Saxons" and their utter difference. Language was a race science frequently opposed to understandings of race defined through the body alone. The War Department repeatedly sought linguistic information that it could use as the basis of policy, but philology was not a discourse of scientific control imposed upon helpless Indians. On the contrary, Indians lay at the heart of almost all that was known of Indian languages. This was especially true once European scientific interest shifted from the study isolated words to grammatical forms, which happened to coincide with debates over Indian removal in the United States. This meant that Indians were in an unprecedented position to shape the most authoritative scientific knowledge of "the Indian" at the moment that U.S. Indian policy was most uncertain. Native tutoring, often mediated through white missionaries, led Peter S. Du Ponceau to refute the notion, shared alike by apologists for removal (e.g. Lewis Cass) and European philosophers (e.g. Wilhelm von Humboldt) that the American languages indicated Indian "savagery." Yet in attempting to prove that Native American languages were not "savage," Du Ponceau defined Indian grammatical forms as unchanging "plans of ideas" that all Indians, and only Indians, possessed. Henry R. Schoolcraft, Indian agent, protege of Cass, and husband to the Ojibwa-Irish Jane Johnston, extended this line of thought and defined a rigid "Indian mind" that refused "civilization." Such conclusions suggested that Indians possessed fixed mental traits. This conclusion largely agreed with those that ethnologists of the "American school" would advance years later, but those scientists argued that language could offer no information on physical race. The rapid (but brief) rise of the American school undermined the ethnological authority of the philological knowledge that Indians, such as David Brown (Cherokee) and Eleazer Williams (Mohawk) had produced in the preceding decades. After decades of debate over Indian "plans of ideas," "patterns of thought," and whether Indian languages were a suitable medium for teaching the concepts of Christianity and republican government--debates intensified by the invention of the Cherokee alphabet and the understanding that Sequoyah, its author, intended it to insulate Cherokee society from white interference--the federal government began moving toward a policy of English-only instruction. Even after the strident opposition of the American school, language remained a key marker of civilization and nationhood. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]