Date of Award

Spring 6-13-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning Sciences

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Teaching and Learning Sciences, Curriculum and Instruction

First Advisor

María Salazar

Second Advisor

Brette Garner

Third Advisor

Lisa M. Brownstone

Fourth Advisor

Debora M. Ortega

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Critical consciousness, Critical pedagogy, Explanatory sequential, Preservice, Teacher, Teacher preparation

Abstract

In public K-12 schools today, new teachers lack preparation in the development of their critical consciousness (CC). This study investigated how a teacher preparation program developed preservice teachers’ critical consciousness in order to better prepare them for diverse groups of students and the challenges these students face. This study used a mixed methods explanatory sequential design with a case study design and will consist of two distinct phases: quantitative followed by qualitative followed by mixed methods (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018).

During the quantitative phase of this study, I obtained survey data from the Critical Consciousness of Educators Survey which was administered by Rocky Mountain Teacher Preparation Program (RMTPP) to their preservice teachers (PTs). I then performed a basic descriptive analysis to determine which PTs showed the most growth from the pre-survey to the post-survey and used this analysis to select three participants for the qualitative case study.

In the qualitative phase, I collected curricular materials from faculty and staff from RMTPP. Next, I conducted a focus group interview to gain insight into the program efforts to develop CC among its PTs. I then collected assignments from the three PTs in the case study before conducting individual interviews with each. The first interview was a general interview that followed a semi-structured format and included questions about the assignments. The second interview included specific follow-up questions.

Finally, during the mixed methods phase of this study, I triangulated the data through an analysis comparing the development of CC for each of the PTs by considering the data from their interviews, assignments, and CCES scores. The purpose of this analysis was to investigate the comparison between each participant’s CCES data and the evidence from their assignments and interviews for each of the three dimensions of CC: critical awareness, critical reflection, and critical action.

The four key findings of this study include (a) high growth in critical action; (b) critical reflection as doubting, questioning, and building back up; (c) the “layering” of critical consciousness; and (d) the CCES is an imperfect measure of critical consciousness.

Copyright Date

6-2025

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Nadia Saldaña-Spiegle

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

233 pgs

File Size

1.7 MB

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Available for download on Sunday, July 18, 2027



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