Papers by Malayna Bernstein
English Education, 2018
In February 2018, teachers and other school personnel in West Virginia went on strike over persis... more In February 2018, teachers and other school personnel in West Virginia went on strike over persis- tently low salaries and a series of other defunding and deprofessionalizing legislative proposals. Over nine days, teachers created signs that argued their cause and showcased their messages on roadsides, in their own communities, en masse at the state capital, and in media outlets across the globe. In this article, we describe five themes that emerged from a discourse analysis of 50 protest signs. In response to circulating dismissive and demeaning discourses, teachers positioned themselves as professionals, content specialists, moral authority figures, valuable resources, and inheritors of cultural legacies.
The phenomenon of " digital divide " is complex and multidimensional, extending beyond issues of ... more The phenomenon of " digital divide " is complex and multidimensional, extending beyond issues of physical access. The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to measure a range of factors related to digital divide among higher education faculty and to evaluate its reliability and validity. Faculty's Information and Communication Technology Access (FICTA) scale was tested and validated with 322 faculty teaching in public and private sector universities. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation confirmed an 8 factor solution corresponding to various dimensions of ICT access. The 57item FICTA scale demonstrated good psychometric properties and offers researchers a tool to examine faculty's access to ICT at four levels – motivational, physical, skills, and usage access.
In order to corroborate and grow teacher educator knowledge (TEK) scholarship, this paper describ... more In order to corroborate and grow teacher educator knowledge (TEK) scholarship, this paper describes an in-depth-focused exploration of a group of teacher educators providing professional development. Our grounded data analysis allowed us to define different major elements, sub-elements, and components that comprise TEK, as well as make explicit how the use of this knowledge—in the context of teaching professional development—draws upon multiple components at any given moment. These findings hold implications for TEK scholarship and practice. Specific to scholarly efforts, while current models for TEK are useful for explicating common understandings amongst the research community, the most functional representations should be fluid and dynamic, in part by balancing both breadth and depth in their scope. Specific to the development of teacher educators, teacher educator preparation should recognize, emphasize, and develop future teacher educators’ layered understandings (i.e. knowledge of students and teachers) and robust knowledge of contexts.
The Sport Psychologist, 2015
In this companion to George Hillocks's final article, two of his students explore the " territory... more In this companion to George Hillocks's final article, two of his students explore the " territory of literature " he maps out for teachers. We examine three claims George stakes in his territory: First, teachers and students should understand literature as a source of argument about moral and philosophical concepts; second, a sophisticated understanding of literature demands a set of explicit typologies that students can follow; and third, students need a systematic way of identifying and interpreting the effects of literary devices and rhetoric. Then we look beyond George's article to consider additional sources and critical approaches to teaching through concepts, typologies, and a rhetoric of literature. As members of the next generation of " Hillocksian " English educators, we argue that George's territory can be open land, home to many literary traditions and visions.
This paper reports on a project that examined teachers’ reading identities and explored ways in w... more This paper reports on a project that examined teachers’ reading identities and explored ways in which those identities were manifested in reading pedagogy and were adopted by students. The paper focuses on one purposively selected teacher and his class. Tom Ziegler’s personal and pedagogical practices were deeply aligned, and his students appeared to “take up” many of his literacy practices as their own. In this way, I examine reading identity on three planes: 1) Tom’s narrative account of how his reading identity developed over the course of his life; 2) how Tom’s reading identity manifested itself in his reading pedagogy; and 3) how students— whose life histories were very different from Toms’—adopted many of his literacy practices.
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Papers by Malayna Bernstein