Portraits of good intentions

Abstract

Curriculum standards in social studies encourage a curriculum that helps students understand how minority groups and women have historically sought access to equality of opportunity through organization and struggle, as well as a curriculum that supports democratic dialogue and mutual understanding among groups from diverse backgrounds.This study investigated how preservice social studies teachers have experienced efforts to help them understand dimensions of diversity and how these dimensions implicate classroom practices. Their pedagogical intentions were explored using educational criticism and connoisseurship, a humanities-based qualitative methodology that describes, interprets, and evaluates the various dimensions of educational experiences. This investigation followed four preservice social studies teachers and their instructors as they shared their encounters with difference and a diversity education course. Their experiences were rendered as written portraits of their intentions for teaching and learning. These portraits revealed themes of "earnest impotence" and structural obstacles that made truly transformative multicultural education difficult to achieve. Recommendations for curricular enhancements that attend to the "commonplaces" of curriculum are suggested. Abstract Approved: ____________________________________ Thesis Supervisor ____________________________________ __________________________________ Carolyn Colvin __________________________________ Marcus Haack __________________________________ Peter Hlebowitsh __________________________________ Christy Moroye ii To Randy, Alia, and Norah iii The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding. Albert Camus The Plague iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to thank my dear family and friends for their intrepid support and encouragement. My husband, Randy, never batted an eye when I told him I was off to fight the windmills. My dad and Jan made it financially possible for me to start this journey into academia and provided unflappable support throughout the process. My mom and Gary provided the artistic inspiration and it is because of them that I understand the language of music and sound of poetry. I also wish to express my appreciation for my advisor, Bruce, whose patience throughout the ebb and flow of the writing process made it possible for me to keep my perspective throughout the many iterations of this dissertation. There are so many others who deserve more than what I can provide in words: the Tumminaro-Realini Family Educational Trust; my wise partners-in-crime, DeeAnn and Caran, who were the first to teach me what true collegiality can look like; Christy, (who truly deserves her own space in my acknowledgments) who introduced me to Eisner and Schwab, as well as the wonderful organization that is the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum; Carolyn, my mentor extraordinaire; my colleagues at Cornell College; and my dear friends who kept me fed and ...