Instructional Technology Dissertation Defense Announcement for Laura Cometa
The Educational Technology & Literacy department, Instructional Technology doctoral program invites the university community to a dissertation defense for Laura Cometa.
Chair, Dissertation Committee: Dr. Patricia Rice Doran
Committee Members: Dr. Sadera, Dr. Shargel and Dr. Knollman
Dissertation title: From Professional Development to Praxis: Exploring Teachers’ Experiences with Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Practices
Date of Defense: 4/21/23
Time of Defense: 10:00 am
Location: Hawkins Hall room 110
https://towson-edu.zoom.us/j/97841704427?pwd=UHNxSHFxQ0ltSUZkS2J5MnBQT0JsUT09
Abstract: Classrooms across the U.S. are becoming increasingly diverse, but many teachers are
unprepared to meet the needs of multilingual learners (MLs), students who are learning
English in school. Sustained professional development focused on culturally and
linguistically responsive (CLR-PD) practices aims to equip teachers with “mindsets and
skillsets” to promote equity and success for MLs. This alternative format dissertation
presents three manuscripts that explored the experiences and views of teachers
participating in a three-year CLR-PD graduate studies program. An interpretive
qualitative case study design was used with reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) methods to
develop themes in each of the manuscripts. The first manuscript illuminates the
participants’ experiences with CLR practices and praxis, as they taught MLs during
emergency remote learning (ERL) in the 2020-2021 school year. The second manuscript
describes the participants’ experiences with and notions about CLR school leadership.
The final manuscript adds to our understanding of how participants’ CLR-PD experiences
related to their teacher self-efficacy (TSE) and efforts to build collective teacher
efficacy (CTE) in the 2021-2022 school year after their CLR-PD graduation. These studies
offer insights into how progress can be made to improve instruction and outcomes for
MLs through investing in teachers’ professional learning. Implications for practice and
recommendations for future research are discussed in the conclusion.
Categorised in: General
This post was written by Walczak, Robin