Lucila T Rudge

This study examines the experience of an IB science teacher candidate enrolled in the IB Educator Certificate Program, who completed her student teaching in an IB public school in the U.S. Using critical reflection as a method of inquiry, this study examines her expectations for student teaching, explore her assumptions as an IB teacher candidate, describes her experience, and discusses the implications of her student teaching experience. This study addresses the inconsistency of student teaching placements in IB schools.

Self-study research is aimed at making explicit the knowledge of practice gained through systematic investigation of one’s professional practices. This self-study examines the collaborative practices between school and university professionals during the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Educator Certificate Program in a U.S. university. This study investigates the challenges encountered throughout the implementation of the program and the complexities of collaboration between school and university professionals. Six school professionals and one university professor (author) were involved in the collaboration. Analysis is focused primarily on the university professor's actions and disposition to collaboration through the perspectives of the school professionals. The determinants of successful collaboration—interactional, organizational, and systemic determinants, identified by Martin-Rodrigues et al. (2005) informed the analysis of this self-study.

This study examines the differences in experiences and perceptions of campus climate of 38 minority students enrolled in a predominantly White institution (PWI). The study included six focus group sessions, each designated for a specific minority group – African American students, Native American students, gender and sexually diverse students, students with disabilities, Latino-Hispanic students, and International students. About half of the participants reported negative experiences with racism
and discrimination on campus whereas the other half reported exactly the opposite. Attribution to discrimination theory was used as a lens to closely analyze participants’ discourse.

The emotional stress faced by teachers at work is gaining increasing attention among researchers. Many teachers around the country leave the profession due to stress related issues and those who stay run the risk of developing the “burnout syndrome.” Burned-out teachers are less prone to show care to their students, have less tolerance for disruptive behavior, and are less dedicated to their work. Classroom climate tends to deteriorate as teachers feel less tolerant and less capable of effectively managing student disruption. Despite the evidence of the stress and emotional challenges that teachers face at work, there seems to be no effort from the educational system to provide support to teachers in this area. To attend to the stress and emotional challenges faced by teachers in Central Ohio, I developed a 10-week course aimed at personal development with a focus on mindfulness practice. This study examines the outcome of this course. Overall, participants reported reduction in stress levels, changes in perception, changes in self, and changes in interpersonal relationships.

The holistic education movement emerged in the mid-1980s as a response to the then dominant worldview of mainstream education. It is an educational paradigm that integrates the idealistic ideas of humanistic education with spiritual philosophical ideas. Holistic education theorists propose an integration of what most progressive and democratic movements in education assume should be kept separate: spirituality and humanistic ideals.  While these two paradigms may be combined philosophically, the author questions whether they can be jointly applied in a single approach to education. This book investigates this question by exploring the pedagogical application of the philosophical principles advocated by leading theorists in the field of holistic education in four selected school systems: Waldorf Schools, Montessori Schools, Reggio Emilia Schools, and Neohumanist Schools. The analysis and detailed description of the pedagogy in these school systems helps illuminate issues involved in the application of holistic education. This book will be especially useful to educators who are seeking to broaden their understanding of the theory and practice of holistic education.

This is a theoretical and interpretative study, in which I analyze and evaluate the pedagogical application of the philosophical ideas advocated by the holistic education movement in four approaches to schooling: Waldorf, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and NeoHumanistic.