Academic literature on the topic 'Culturally diverse classrooms'

Globalisation and internationalisation have brought culturally diverse classrooms into universities and schools worldwide. There are increasing opportunities for culturally diverse teachers and students to interact and learn from each other. This paper investigates the changes that occur when classrooms are managed by teachers with different cultural backgrounds from that of their students, utilising observations and interviews. The research indicates that when people from both collective and individualist cultures are in the same classroom, the different dynamics require adjustments from at least one cultural group to achieve desirable learning outcomes, in particular from the teacher. This is largely due to, in individualistic and collective cultures, teachers having different roles associated with their respective power structure and social hierarchy caused by various ways of establishing and maintaining individual self-esteem and perceiving self in relation to others. It would appear that the changes are engineered by a teacher’s desire to allow students to learn more effectively and teachers’ belief as to what are effective teaching and learning strategies. However, the changes are also accompanied by many challenges and personal growth on the part of the teachers. Bridging cultural differences should never been taken for granted. Should teachers reflect deeply and adjust to changes in classroom culture, the learning and teaching experiences can be both enriching and enlightening. Intellectual challenges and reflections on different home and host cultural assumptions are required when managing students who are from dissimilar cultural backgrounds.

Nurses continue to experience challenges when caring for culturally diverse patients and while working with staff from different cultural, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. The widening landscape of cultural diversity in the nursing classroom provides a vehicle for intercultural learning, supporting intercultural competence development. However, students must embrace culturally diverse learning environments and maximise opportunities to learn with, from and about students from different cultural backgrounds. This requires developing the courage, curiosity and commitment to maximise all intercultural learning opportunities. Drawing on experiences of international students studying in culturally diverse classrooms, this article presents some practical suggestions for meaningfully engaging and capitalising on intercultural learning opportunities.

Despite considerable interest among South African scholars in learner behaviour management in South African schools, there is little literature on learner behaviour management in the context of cultural diversity. The present study investigates this essentially neglected space by focusing on learner behaviour management practices of teachers in culturally diverse classrooms of a high school in the Tshwane South District within the Gauteng Department of Education, South Africa. Cultural diversity is used as a lens to explore the practices of teachers. The theoretical underpinnings of culturally responsive classroom management are used to describe and to interpret learner behaviour management practices of teachers to determine whether the approaches and the resultant strategies that they use are culturally responsive. A qualitative case study approach was used, and data was collected through semi-structured interviews that included critical incident narratives obtained from teachers, analysis of pertinent documents and observations of 10 culturally diverse teachers who teach the same class consisting of culturally diverse learners, as well as of the Discipline Officer and two additional teachers that were identified through snowball sampling. The findings revealed that learner behaviour management practices of most teachers are not culturally responsive. This is a result of factors such as lack of recognition of their own ethnocentrism and biases, as demonstrated mainly by their unrealistic expectations, pessimistic attitudes and stereotyping perceptions; ignorance of learners‟ cultural backgrounds, as demonstrated mainly by teachers‟ denial and minimisation of the importance of understanding learners‟ cultural backgrounds (leading to misinterpretation of the behaviours of culturally different learners); lack of commitment to building a caring classroom community; lack of consciousness of the broader social, economic and political context of the South African education system; and lack of ability to apply culturally responsive classroom management strategies, which is exacerbated by lack of teacher education and development in this regard. The implication of these findings is that teachers need to possess an ethnorelative mindset, and to be interculturally competent. A key recommendation is that teachers should endeavour to move away from ethnocentrism towards being ethnorelative by developing an inclusive outlook, accepting cultural differences and adapting their perspective to take the cultural differences that influence learner behaviour into account. The study also recommends that teacher education programmes should prioritise teacher development on intercultural issues and the acquisition of intercultural competencies, as these aspects are crucial for teachers to appropriately manage the behaviours of learners whose cultural backgrounds are different from their own.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
Education Management and Policy Studies
PhD
Unrestricted

The study of the Back and Forth book of an eleven years old E.S.L. student introduces a type of personal writing which is argued to facilitate meaningful, written communication in the second language. The present study extends the findings of dialogue journal studies of Staton et al. in two directions. 1. The case study of the Back and Forth book activity presents a "communication triangle" which involves parental participation and thus serves as a bridge between school and home. The reported observations focus on the potentials and limitations of the Back and Forth book task in comparison to other journal writing practices. 2. The analysis of the selected 45 journal entries provides some explanation for the weak realization of the task. The application of Mohan's Knowledge Framework as a means of analyzing student writing provides a c picture of the language and content. The Knowledge framework presents guideline for monitoring the development of language and the development of discourse and content. The inconsistency of the task justifies the present study: the multi-purpose task of the Back and Forth book produces unsatisfactory writing, the research question is of determining its reason and provide a guideline to monitor the task in order to obtain more satisfactory product.
Education, Faculty of
Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of
Graduate

Research on beliefs and the differential treatment of students of color or minority students has documented teachers' actions and students' lack of success; but most has not focused on the contextual variables pertaining to specific settings and their effect on teachers' beliefs. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the beliefs that effective, experienced community college instructors identified as guiding their teaching in classrooms where students were culturally and/or ethnically different from themselves. A sample of 10 experienced community college teachers was selected from two different community college populations in Northern California. For this phenomenological study, data were collected through intensive, in-depth interviews. The interview questions were focused on teachers' beliefs regarding their role, teacher/student interactions with culturally and/or ethnically-diverse students, decisions about the curriculum and pedagogical practices they choose to use, and how their thinking about socioeconomic class affected their perceptions on the students' ability to learn and be successful. The beliefs that guided these effective community college teachers centered on four basic themes: mastery, voice, authority, and positionality. Each theme encapsulated the areas in which the respondents' beliefs affected the dynamics of their pedagogy to differently produce minority students' identities. Most of the respondents believed that mastery is a collaborative process by which knowledge is constructed. Students take up the narratives of their past through the stories and experiences of the present. It is a cultural recovery. Voice denoted the relationship between identity and difference. By retelling and accepting individual past experiences as valid, students' voices emerged. Beliefs about authority suggested that meanings are produced within relations of power that narrate identities through history, social forms, and mode of ethical address. In regard to positionality, respondents suggested that students who study their own ethnicities and histories gain some sense of those complex and diverse cultural locations that provide them with a sense of voice, place, and identity. They addressed the systemic violence of racism and difference by making ethnicity a site of differences in which identities are structured in relationship to the shifting terrains of history, experiences, and power. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Science education reform in the United States has been slow to reduce the troubling science achievement gap between students from mainstream and non- mainstream backgrounds. Recent data suggest the gap persists in spite of improved attention to the multicultural education of teachers, and in spite of recent, more culturally inclusive and responsive curricular materials and instructional recommendations.In this study, I examine the cases of two European American male novice science teachers in middle schools with highly diverse populations, exploring their perceptions of the necessity of adapting their instructional approaches and the science curricula in order to meet the needs of their predominantly Native American, Mexican American, and African American students. Two theoretical frameworks inform this study, Rodriguez's (2005) sociotransformative constructivism, and Freire's critical pedagogy.I apply a qualitative case study method, to better understand and analyze the classroom setting and power relations of the context. Data consist of semi-structured interviews with each teacher, classroom observation and other field notes, the science curricular and instructional materials, and teachers' lesson plans.Each teacher acknowledged the ethnicities of students positively and noticed distinctive ethnocultural features (e.g., quinceañeras, Mexican Americans). Yet, their teaching approaches were primarily teacher-centric and monocultural. Each followed the book, usually lecturing, and striving dutifully to "cover" the topics. They did not solicit students' knowledge or engage them in dialog to explore their thinking. Even when the curriculum guide detailed relevant science knowledge students of some culturalgroups might have, both teachers declined to use it. These well-meaning teachers did not fully perceive that students whose culturewas different from their own might have different and relevant knowledge, experiences, or histories which were resources for learning. As a result, even when the teachers tried more student- centered, inclusive strategies, such as implementing authentic science activities, they did not support students' construction of knowledge through responsive dialog.Teachers assigned to ethnically and culturally diverse students must be helped to fully understand that learners from other cultures have differing knowledge resources. Science teachers in particular must recognize the social and ideological landscape in which their teaching take place.

In the United States, diverse learners, defined by race, ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic status, do poorly in mathematics in disproportionate numbers. Research suggests that teachers who use instructional practices that build on the cultural strengths of racial and ethnic minorities can increase academic achievement for these students. Using culturally relevant pedagogy as a theoretical framework, this qualitative case study investigated the equity pedagogy of three secondary mathematics student interns in an alternative teacher preparation program during their student teaching experience. The following research questions were also investigated: What school factors do the interns perceive to influence their decisions in implementing equity pedagogy? Which aspects of the teacher education program do the interns perceive to most influence their implementation of equity pedagogy? For the purpose of this study, equity pedagogy is defined as modifying instructional practices in order to facilitate the academic achievement of students from diverse racial, ethnic, and/or socioeconomic backgrounds by applying the components of Zeichner et al.'s (1998) curriculum and instruction principles specifically to the secondary mathematics classroom. Data collected through videotaped classroom observations, field notes, semistructured interviews, and examination of the participants’ reflective journals were analyzed and categorized as follows: building on prior knowledge, high expectations for diverse learners, knowing students well, culturally responsive pedagogical skills, critical consciousness, sharing of power, and multiple funds of knowledge. Data analysis showed evidence of all seven aspects of equity pedagogy by one or more of the participants, although they demonstrated these practices to varying degrees. Colorblindness, lack of appropriate mentors, time constraints, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards (NCTM, 2000), and culturally responsive pedagogical skills that had been modeled in their mathematics methods courses most affected the interns’ implementation of equity pedagogy. These results indicate that preservice teachers need a framework to critically reflect on issues of equity in education, time to develop equitable teaching practices, and teacher educators that go beyond didactic discussions of inequity to make explicit the equitable teaching practices they want their students to learn.

This study was designed to provide information on the reading instructional practices of 36 first grade teachers in nine schools that serve predominantly Spanish-speaking and ELL students in a southeastern U.S. school district. The purpose of this investigation was to describe teaching practices employed during English language arts instruction and to examine their use in relation to instructional grouping strategies, teacher language use, and student engagement. Participating classrooms were observed three times throughout the 2006-07 school year. Data were collected via the Timed Observations of Student Engagement/Language (TO/SEL) classroom observation instrument (Foorman & Schatchneider, 2003). Paired sample t-tests, multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA), and multiple regression analyses were employed to investigate the relationship among the following observed variables: allocation of reading instructional time, grouping strategies, teacher language use and student engagement. Several key findings emerged. Participating teachers spent a greater amount of time on meaning-focused reading instruction (i.e., writing, reading texts, reading comprehension) than on code-focused reading instruction (i.e., word work, spelling, reading fluency, phonemic awareness), both during all four observed grouping strategies and after controlling for individual student seat work. In addition, of five key collapsed instructional variables (word work/spelling, oral language, writing, reading texts, and reading comprehension), teachers spent most time on word work/spelling (19%) and writing (18%). Reading texts and reading comprehension instruction together comprised 26% of total instructional time. Whole class instruction was the grouping strategy of choice among teachers (65% of total observed time); in sharp contrast, teachers spent 11% of observed time engaged in small group instruction, despite research findings supporting the effectiveness of sound grouping instruction. In addition, as little as 1% of teachers' total instructional time was spent in oral language/discussion, and 6% of total instructional time was spent in vocabulary instruction. The results also demonstrated little variation in teacher language use. Thus, evidence of "codeswitching" was not significant. Student engagement was high- 91% of total time students were observed; and was highest during writing and word work/spelling instruction. More longitudinal research is warranted that further explores precisely documented teacher reading instructional practices in relation to student outcomes with culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. Implications for practice include teacher training and professional development on managing small group instruction, and incorporating additional oral language/discussion, vocabulary and meaningful tasks into daily classroom activities.

This research explored the learning conceptions of a culturally diverse population of post-graduate health and life sciences students at a Scottish university; and investigated the relationship between their learning conceptions and academic achievement. There is a vast literature on conceptions of learning deriving from a variety of disciplines, although few studies have addressed the conceptions of experienced learners. A mixed methods approach was implemented, which is underpinned by a phenomenographic methodology. The participants comprised individuals from thirty-two nations, which were broken down into five cultural clusters. Quantitative data were gathered from 156 students, using the Conceptions of Learning Inventory (COLI) (Purdie & Hattie, 2002) and their predicted, and actual, academic performance at the end of their first semester. Three focus groups further explored students’ understanding, and experiences, of learning and assessment. There were some cultural differences in conceptions of learning identified in this study; generally, students from Central Africa scored most learning conceptions higher than students from other cultural clusters. There were no learning conceptions that predicted academic achievement with this group of post-graduate health and life sciences students, although there was a relationship between predicted academic performance and ‘personal development’ and ‘broadening horizons’. Possible explanations for these outcomes are presented. Contrary to previous research, predicted academic performance was not correlated with academic achievement. There were no cultural differences in academic achievement, but more students from Central Africa predicted that they would perform well than students from other cultural clusters. There is some support for learning conceptions sitting in a nested hierarchy, as found by previous research, but this study cannot confirm the exact order of these learning conceptions. In light of these findings, suggestions for future research are considered, with an emphasis on the relationship between learning context and conceptions of learning; and longitudinal research focusing on the development of learning conceptions. Implications of the outcomes from this study for university learning and teaching, as well as international and staff development policies, are presented.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how African heritage language learners in Grade 3 constructed their language identity in a culturally diverse urban classroom. The data reflects the Grade 3 learners’ beliefs and feelings toward being educated in an English-medium school instead of attending a school where they were taught in their home language. A theoretical framework, based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system informed my study. The framework provides a holistic picture of how the Grade 3 learners constructed their language identity, as it did not only focus on the learners as such. The ecological system examined the unique aspects of the learners within their microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem. In this exploration of multiple cases studies from a social constructivism perspective, the researcher collaborated with two Grade 3 teachers, seven parents and six Grade 3 African heritage language learners, to create a mosaic by using semi-structured interviews, documents, observational field notes, narrative reflections, photographs, drawings and a reflective journal. Participants’ perceptions of attending an English-medium school revealed how the Grade 3 learners constructed their language identity through assimilation. The findings revealed that the Grade 3 participants did not favour their home language or heritage culture as much as they favoured the Western culture. The following factors influenced the construction of the Grade 3 learners’ language identity: their environments, the school setting, their teachers’ attitude toward teaching in a culturally diverse classroom, their parents’ attitude toward their attending an English-medium school and lastly their friends.
Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Early Childhood Education
MEd
Unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to advance understanding on how early career teachers imagined themselves to be culturally responsive and how their beliefs and ideologies about teaching a diverse range of learners were challenged and refined during their early years of teaching. This qualitative, exploratory study was conducted in a large, secondary school in eastern Australia that has a highly diverse population of students. Findings indicate that, while these early career teachers lacked preparation for working with diverse learners, building relationships on multiple levels (with students, with fellow beginning teachers, and with senior staff which includes ongoing support and mentoring from colleagues) is essential for the development of early career teachers as culturally responsive practitioners. Findings are discussed in relation to Garmon’s (2005) six key factors for teaching diverse groups of students: openness, self-awareness, commitment to social justice, having intercultural experiences, have support group experiences, and recognising individual growth. These findings have implications for schooling systems in how they can better transition early career teachers to classrooms and for higher education teacher preparation programs in Australia and many other countries with a growing number migrant and refugee students coming into the school system.

This article reviews and engages a qualitative section of Williams’ 2017 research study that aimed to explore faculty experiences using relational teaching concepts when delivering cultural competence content. Multiple experiences were common to respondents from the results obtained at completion of the survey. Implications for social work education, faculty mentorship and support are discussed. It was concluded that there is an express need for early intervention on behalf of doctoral students being mentored for junior faculty teaching appointments, the use of identity is a healthy and connecting touchstone in social work education classrooms and ongoing work is needed to further engage the work of deconstructing privilege by using professional and personal identities to connect students to content for effective knowledge transfer. Keywords: Social Work; Diversity; Relational-Cultural Theory; Cultural Competence; Relational Teaching.

Aim/Purpose: This paper describes foundational principles of universal instructional design (UID), which is also known as universal design for learning, that support accessibility and inclusivity for a diverse population of students and discusses how these design principles and instructional strategies are being implemented in courses we instruct. Background: The goal of any instructor should be to ensure all students have their learning needs met. Unfortunately, this is complex. Each student is unique and can have individual learning needs and preferences. Consequently, it would likely be impossible to create instructional materials that address the specific learning needs and preferences of every individual. Principles of UID help to minimize this challenge. UID strategies should support deaf and hard of hearing individuals, students with a vision loss, learners who have difficulties staying focussed, weak readers, academically-weak students, students with low confidence, learners with high anxiety, individual learning preferences, and cultural minorities. UID principles should also lead to the creation of instructional materials that support cognitively-gifted students. The principles applied in our classroom, based on the principles of UID, helped to address these challenges that students have and foster a classroom environment that was conducive to supporting the diversity in our student population. Methodology: This is not applicable because this is a practical paper, not a research paper. Contribution This paper provides practical instructional strategies and techniques that can presumably help students with disabilities learn more effectively while also fostering a culture of inclusivity. Findings: There are no formal findings for this paper. Recommendations for Practitioners: Readers should consider applying the discussed instructional strategies and techniques to support their own students that have disabilities. Recommendations for Researchers: Researchers should create instructional interventions for students with specific disabilities and assess whether those interventions help students with that disability learn more effectively. Impact on Society: Although not proven by research on populations of individuals with disabilities, the presented instructional strategies and techniques are presumed to help students with a disability learn more effectively. The aim is for other instructors to create instructional materials with similar instructional strategies and techniques to enable accessibility and promote inclusivity for their diverse population of students. Future Research From a practical perspective, instructors should apply the presented instructional strategies and techniques in their classrooms for their diverse population of students. In-class research could be done afterwards.

Abstract The global learning classroom is an emerging educational trend. The iPodia alliance promotes its peer-learning pedagogy by offering engineering classes with universities around the world. Students’ engagement as one of the important metrics to assess the effectiveness of education design methodology has been under considerable interest for several years. Tri-engagement, comprised of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement provides a comprehensive assessment of learning success. This paper illustrates how a tri-engagement assessment was implemented in a global learning environment and examines the effectiveness of the peer-learning pedagogy in such highly diverse environment. This paper proposes a quantitative method using a modified Likert scale to assess students’ tri-engagement levels comprised of student and teaching assistant surveys, video observations, and analysis of facial emotion recognition, through preparation, data collection, and analysis stages. Comparisons of tri-engagements between the instructor-student activities and the peer-peer discussions, different continent regions, and on-site/remote learning are offered. Results show that the overall iPodia peer-learning activities experienced all positive tri-engagement levels and were not significantly affected by the region diversity (< 6% difference) or the remote learning (< 3% difference) of the iPodia learning classroom. That preliminarily proved that the iPodia peer-learning pedagogy maintains positive tri-engagements in a global engineering class. Additional findings were that the self-raters and observers experienced students’ cognitive engagement differently, and cultural difference would mainly affect students’ behavioral engagement, but unfamiliarity of the content may increase their emotional engagement.

This is the second paper in a four-part series focused on a competency-based approach for personalized education in a group setting. In the first paper, we focus on identifying the competencies and meta-competencies required for the 21st century engineers. In this paper, we provide an overview of an approach to developing competencies needed for the fast changing world and allowing the students to be in charge of their own learning. The approach fosters “learning how to learn” in a collaborative environment. We believe that two of the core competencies required for success in the dynamically changing workplace are the abilities to identify and manage dilemmas. In the third paper, we discuss our approach for helping students learn how to identify dilemmas in the context of an energy policy design problem. The fourth paper is focused on approaches to developing the competency to manage dilemmas associated with the realization of complex, sustainable, socio-techno-eco systems. The approach is presented in the context of a graduate-level course jointly offered at University of Oklahoma, Norman and Washington State University, Pullman during Fall 2011. The students were asked to identify the competencies needed to be successful at creating value in a culturally diverse, distributed engineering world at the beginning of the semester. The students developed these competencies by completing various assignments designed to collaboratively answer a Question for Semester (Q4S). The Q4S was focused on identifying and managing dilemmas associated with energy policy and the next generation bridging fuels. A unique aspect of this course is the collaborative structure in which students completed these assignments individually, in university groups and in collaborative university teams. The group and team structures were developed to ultimately aid individual learning. The details of the answer to the Q4S are elaborated in the other three papers which address identifying and managing dilemmas, specifically related to Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) policy and bridging fuels. The fundamental principles of our approach include a shift in the role of the instructor to orchestrators of learning, shift in the role of students to active learners, providing opportunities to learn, shift in focus from lower levels to upper levels of learning, creation of learning communities, embedding flexibility in courses, leveraging diversity, making students aware of the learning process, and scaffolding. Building on our experience in the course, we discuss specific ways to foster the development of learning organizations within classroom settings. Additionally, we present techniques for scaffolding the learning activities in a distributed classroom based on systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, a shared vision, and team learning. The approach enables personalized learning of individuals in a group setting.

Aim/Purpose: This paper provides the results of the preliminary analysis of the findings of an ongoing study that seeks to examine the social media use, cultural and political awareness, civic engagement, issue prioritization, and social activism of Gen Z students enrolled at four different institutional types located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The aim of this study is to look at the group as a whole as well as compare findings across populations. The institutional types under consideration include a mid-sized majority serving or otherwise referred to as a traditionally white institution (TWI) located in a small coastal city on the Atlantic Ocean, a small Historically Black University (HBCU) located in a rural area, a large community college located in a county that is a mixture of rural and suburban and which sits on the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and graduating high school students enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs in a large urban area. This exploration is purposed to examine the behaviors and expectations of Gen Z students within a representative American region during a time of tremendous turmoil and civil unrest in the United States. Background: Over 74 million strong, Gen Z makes up almost one-quarter of the U.S. population. They already outnumber any current living generation and are the first true digital natives. Born after 1996 and through 2012, they are known for their short attention spans and heightened ability to multi-task. Raised in the age of the smart phone, they have been tethered to digital devices from a young age with most having the preponderance of their childhood milestones commemorated online. Often called Zoomers, they are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation and are on track to be the most well-educated generation in history. Gen Zers in the United States have been found in the research to be progressive and pro-government and viewing increasing racial and ethnic diversity as positive change. Finally, they are less likely to hold xenophobic beliefs such as the notion of American exceptionalism and superiority that have been popular with by prior generations. The United States has been in a period of social and civil unrest in recent years with concerns over systematic racism, rampant inequalities, political polarization, xenophobia, police violence, sexual assault and harassment, and the growing epidemic of gun violence. Anxieties stirred by the COVID-19 pandemic further compounded these issues resulting in a powder keg explosion occurring throughout the summer of 2020 and leading well into 2021. As a result, the United States has deteriorated significantly in the Civil Unrest Index falling from 91st to 34th. The vitriol, polarization, protests, murders, and shootings have all occurred during Gen Z’s formative years, and the limited research available indicates that it has shaped their values and political views. Methodology: The Mid-Atlantic region is a portion of the United States that exists as the overlap between the northeastern and southeastern portions of the country. It includes the nation’s capital, as well as large urban centers, small cities, suburbs, and rural enclaves. It is one of the most socially, economically, racially, and culturally diverse parts of the United States and is often referred to as the “typically American region.” An electronic survey was administered to students from 2019 through 2021 attending a high school dual enrollment program, a minority serving institution, a majority serving institution, and a community college all located within the larger mid-Atlantic region. The survey included a combination of multiple response, Likert scaled, dichotomous, open ended, and ordinal questions. It was developed in the Survey Monkey system and reviewed by several content and methodological experts in order to examine bias, vagueness, or potential semantic problems. Finally, the survey was pilot tested prior to implementation in order to explore the efficacy of the research methodology. It was then modified accordingly prior to widespread distribution to potential participants. The surveys were administered to students enrolled in classes taught by the authors all of whom are educators. Participation was voluntary, optional, and anonymous. Over 800 individuals completed the survey with just over 700 usable results, after partial completes and the responses of individuals outside of the 18-24 age range were removed. Findings: Participants in this study overwhelmingly were users of social media. In descending order, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Tik Tok were the most popular social media services reported as being used. When volume of use was considered, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Twitter were the most cited with most participants reporting using Instagram and Snapchat multiple times a day. When asked to select which social media service they would use if forced to choose just one, the number one choice was YouTube followed by Instagram and Snapchat. Additionally, more than half of participants responded that they have uploaded a video to a video sharing site such as YouTube or Tik Tok. When asked about their familiarity with different technologies, participants overwhelmingly responded that they are “very familiar” with smart phones, searching the Web, social media, and email. About half the respondents said that they were “very familiar” with common computer applications such as the Microsoft Office Suite or Google Suite with another third saying that they were “somewhat familiar.” When asked about Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Blackboard, Course Compass, Canvas, Edmodo, Moodle, Course Sites, Google Classroom, Mindtap, Schoology, Absorb, D2L, itslearning, Otus, PowerSchool, or WizIQ, only 43% said they were “very familiar” with 31% responding that they were “somewhat familiar.” Finally, about half the students were either “very” or “somewhat” familiar with operating systems such as Windows. A few preferences with respect to technology in the teaching and learning process were explored in the survey. Most students (85%) responded that they want course announcements and reminders sent to their phones, 76% expect their courses to incorporate the use of technology, 71% want their courses to have course websites, and 71% said that they would rather watch a video than read a book chapter. When asked to consider the future, over 81% or respondents reported that technology will play a major role in their future career. Most participants considered themselves “informed” or “well informed” about current events although few considered themselves “very informed” or “well informed” about politics. When asked how they get their news, the most common forum reported for getting news and information about current events and politics was social media with 81% of respondents reporting. Gen Z is known to be an engaged generation and the participants in this study were not an exception. As such, it came as no surprise to discover that, in the past year more than 78% of respondents had educated friends or family about an important social or political issue, about half (48%) had donated to a cause of importance to them, more than a quarter (26%) had participated in a march or rally, and a quarter (26%) had actively boycotted a product or company. Further, about 37% consider themselves to be a social activist with another 41% responding that aren’t sure if they would consider themselves an activist and only 22% saying that they would not consider themselves an activist. When asked what issues were important to them, the most frequently cited were Black Lives Matter (75%), human trafficking (68%), sexual assault/harassment/Me Too (66.49%), gun violence (65.82%), women’s rights (65.15%), climate change (55.4%), immigration reform/deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) (48.8%), and LGBTQ+ rights (47.39%). When the schools were compared, there were only minor differences in social media use with the high school students indicating slightly more use of Tik Tok than the other participants. All groups were virtually equal when it came to how informed they perceived themselves about current events and politics. Consensus among groups existed with respect to how they get their news, and the community college and high school students were slightly more likely to have participated in a march, protest, or rally in the last 12 months than the university students. The community college and high school students were also slightly more likely to consider themselves social activists than the participants from either of the universities. When the importance of the issues was considered, significant differences based on institutional type were noted. Black Lives Matter (BLM) was identified as important by the largest portion of students attending the HBCU followed by the community college students and high school students. Less than half of the students attending the TWI considered BLM an important issue. Human trafficking was cited as important by a higher percentage of students attending the HBCU and urban high school than at the suburban and rural community college or the TWI. Sexual assault was considered important by the majority of students at all the schools with the percentage a bit smaller from the majority serving institution. About two thirds of the students at the high school, community college, and HBCU considered gun violence important versus about half the students at the majority serving institution. Women’s rights were reported as being important by more of the high school and HBCU participants than the community college or TWI. Climate change was considered important by about half the students at all schools with a slightly smaller portion reporting out the HBCU. Immigration reform/DACA was reported as important by half the high school, community college, and HBCU participants with only a third of the students from the majority serving institution citing it as an important issue. With respect to LGBTQ rights approximately half of the high school and community college participants cited it as important, 44.53% of the HBCU students, and only about a quarter of the students attending the majority serving institution. Contribution and Conclusion: This paper provides a timely investigation into the mindset of generation Z students living in the United States during a period of heightened civic unrest. This insight is useful to educators who should be informed about the generation of students that is currently populating higher education. The findings of this study are consistent with public opinion polls by Pew Research Center. According to the findings, the Gen Z students participating in this study are heavy users of multiple social media, expect technology to be integrated into teaching and learning, anticipate a future career where technology will play an important role, informed about current and political events, use social media as their main source for getting news and information, and fairly engaged in social activism. When institutional type was compared the students from the university with the more affluent and less diverse population were less likely to find social justice issues important than the other groups. Recommendations for Practitioners: During disruptive and contentious times, it is negligent to think that the abounding issues plaguing society are not important to our students. Gauging the issues of importance and levels of civic engagement provides us crucial information towards understanding the attitudes of students. Further, knowing how our students gain information, their social media usage, as well as how informed they are about current events and political issues can be used to more effectively communicate and educate. Recommendations for Researchers: As social media continues to proliferate daily life and become a vital means of news and information gathering, additional studies such as the one presented here are needed. Additionally, in other countries facing similarly turbulent times, measuring student interest, awareness, and engagement is highly informative. Impact on Society: During a highly contentious period replete with a large volume of civil unrest and compounded by a global pandemic, understanding the behaviors and attitudes of students can help us as higher education faculty be more attuned when it comes to the design and delivery of curriculum. Future Research This presentation presents preliminary findings. Data is still being collected and much more extensive statistical analyses will be performed.

Schools and school systems are experiencing an instructional support gap that results in limited opportunities for educators to analyze, reflect on and improve research-based practices for ELLs so that outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students can change. To address this need, an inter-disciplinary research team from the Center for Equity for English Learners, comprised of educational leaders, teachers, researchers, and content experts developed a classroom observational instrument—the Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies (OPAL). The OPAL is intended for teachers, educational leaders, coaches, and others to conduct focused classroom observations for three potential purposes: research/evaluation, professional development, and coaching. In this article the authors introduce the OPAL’s research base, describe how to use the OPAL tool, and provide examples of the applied use of the OPAL to support professional learning and evaluate a three-year school reform effort.