Teacher and Student Learning and Authentic Intellectual Work
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Preparing Teachers and Students for Democracy: Teacher and Student Learning and Authentic Intellectual Work Author: Ann Marie Gleeson Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2414 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2011 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. BOSTON COLLEGE Lynch School of Education Department of Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction Program of Curriculum and Instruction PREPARING TEACHERS AND STUDENTS FOR DEMOCRACY: TEACHER AND STUDENT LEARNING AND AUTHENTIC INTELLECTUAL WORK Dissertation by ANN MARIE GLEESON submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May, 2011 Copyright by Ann Marie Gleeson 2011 ABSTRACT Preparing Teachers and Students for Democracy: Teacher and Student Learning and Authentic Intellectual Work By Ann Marie Gleeson Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Ph.D., Chair Preparing students to participate in a democratic society means cultivating citizens who are capable of making informed, rational decisions about complex issues related to the common good. In order to do this, teachers need to provide students learning opportunities that promote critical thinking and involve in-depth examination of meaningful content. Drawing on Gutmann’s (1987) theory of democratic education, this dissertation examines how beginning teachers who were prepared in a teacher education program that emphasized social justice and democratic practices think about and engage their students in this type of work. Specifically, using Newmann’s (1996) framework of “authentic intellectual work” as an indicator of knowledge consistent with democratic education, this dissertation examines the extent to which the learning opportunities teachers create and the work that students produce demonstrate authentic intellectual work and examines the degree to which teachers’ understandings of student learning align with authentic intellectual work. This qualitatively-oriented mixed methods study (Creswell, Plano Clark, Gutmann, & Hanson, 2003; Morse & Niehaus, 2009) used quantitative and qualitative methods concurrently to examine 11 beginning teachers’ experiences during the preservice period and first two years of teaching. Using the Teacher Assessment/Pupil Learning protocol, this study draws upon quantitative methods to evaluate teachers’ assessments/assignments (n=53) and students’ work (n=481) on these assignments and qualitative methods to analyze interviews (n=54). Findings suggest that these beginning teachers and their students engaged in “moderate” levels of authentic intellectual work, although this varied widely. The quality of assessments was positively correlated to the quality of student learning. The degree to which teachers fostered authentic learning opportunities is complicated by teachers’ beliefs about assessment and student learning and particular contextual factors such as time, accountability frameworks, classroom management, student ability, and content area. Teachers whose goals for learning aligned with authentic intellectual work were more likely to construct more authentic learning opportunities. This dissertation argues that evaluations of teacher performance and student learning must account for the quality of learning and utilize multiple measures of evaluation. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The list of people to thank for making this dissertation possible is longer than the dissertation itself. This journey was a difficult one and I am so very grateful that I did not travel it alone. To Dr. Marilyn Cochran-Smith, whose support and guidance over these past eight years have proved invaluable. To simply say that this dissertation would not be what it is without your effort is an understatement. Your dedication and determination to see this dissertation through to its completion are the only reasons that it is finished, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Thank you for refusing to let me quit, for knowing when I needed time away and when I needed someone to push me back. Your tremendous support has meant more to me than I could possibly express. To Dr. Patrick McQuillan, who has taught me, by example, what it means to be a great teacher and researcher. Thank you for your guidance and advice throughout my program and for always considering what opportunities and experiences would best fit my own goals and passions. To Dr. Joseph Pedulla, whose kindness and patience were surely tested by this historian with rudimentary math skills, but who always had an open door and supportive words. Thank you for your willingness to work with me and for asking the hard questions that forced me to consider different ways to approach my research. To all the members of the QCS research team, this is as much your work as it is mine. I would like to specially thank Lisa D’Souza, Joan Barnatt, Dianna Terrell, Karen Shakman, Cindy Jong, and Kara Mitchell for taking the time out of busy lives to contribute to this dissertation. In addition, I would like to thank Aubrey Scheopner Torres and Sarah Enterline for their work and support on this project. I am incredibly privileged to have you all as colleagues and friends. To my friends and colleagues at the FDR and JFK Presidential Libraries, thank you for your unwavering support. Your willingness to accommodate my busy schedule allowed me to remain connected in the field doing the work I love, while I pursued my academic interests. I would also like to extend my appreciation to my new colleagues at Primary Source. I could not ask for a more supportive work environment and I look forward to working with you without the burden of finishing my dissertation! To members of the Boston College community, especially Cynthia Mohammed, Marsha Biernat, and Moira Raftery, who were always willing to listen and were indispensable when it came to everything administrative throughout my doctoral program. Thank you for making sure I did what I was supposed to do. i To my friends Meredyth Waterman, Kristin Berbae, Emily Presseau, Elissa Zizmor, Lianna Pizzo, and Sharon Kelly, thank you for everything, but especially for believing in me, for keeping me sane, making me laugh, providing me with food and shelter, and offering a shoulder to cry on when I needed one. Hopefully I now have time to see you all again! To my dear friend, Anne Pfitzner Gatling, I would not have finished this dissertation without you. When times were the darkest, you were there. Thank you for making me leave an empty apartment and start doing work again. We have both earned a cupcake! Thank you (and Michael, Isabella, and Caroline) for being part of my family. To my siblings and their spouses, JoAnn, Chris, Chrissy, Bruce, Kathy, Scott, and John, and my nieces and nephew, Danielle, Lindsay, Bridget, Brittany, Katelyn, Aurora, and Craig, this dissertation should finally answer your question, “When is Annie going to finish school?” Thank you for being the most amazing family whose love and faith in me is unparalleled. Most importantly, to my Mom and Dad, words cannot express what you mean to me. Thank you for making all of this possible and for your unwavering love and support. This is for you. And finally, for Michelle. Although you’re not here to finish the journey with me, you are on every page of this work. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES.............................................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER ONE: PREPARING TEACHERS AND STUDENTS FOR DEMOCRACY ...................................................................................................................1 THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ....................................................................................................... 6 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................ 8 ORGANIZATION OF THE DISSERTATION ....................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................14 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ...................................................................................................... 14 Democratic Education ...................................................................................................... 14 Gutmann’s Theory of Democratic Education ............................................................... 20 Critical Thinking ........................................................................................................... 23 Authentic Intellectual Work .......................................................................................... 29 Newmann’s Authentic Intellectual Work ............................................................. 35 Critiques of Authentic Intellectual Work ............................................................. 43 Authentic Intellectual Work and Democratic Education ..................................... 46 EMPIRICAL