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The increase in cultural diversity within the K-12 U.S. student population has resulted in a greater focus on preparing future teachers to enact culturally responsive pedagogy (Villegas and Lucas, 2002). Over the past two decades, various scholars have studied the perceptions and dispositions of teachers in regard to topics of multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice education. However, there remains a limited number of studies which address beginning teachers' transitions from the conceptualization to the implementation of culturally responsive teaching. This study employs a qualitative approach to examining one first-year teacher's understandings of culturally responsive pedagogy and her experiences with implementing a culturally responsive curriculum unit. The researcher took on the role of a participant-observer to engage in-depth data collection and analysis through the use of a variety of data sources including: interviews, lesson planning sessions, classroom observations, field notes, analytic memos, and reflective journal entries. The findings of the study reveal the importance of coursework on culturally responsive pedagogy during teacher education and the need for increased support, through mentoring and modeling, to assist preservice and novice teachers in their efforts to translate culturally responsive theory into practice. Longitudinal studies which begin in teacher education and follow participants into their first year of teaching are needed to contribute further insight regarding the challenges faced by, and needs of, novice teachers who attempt to teach in culturally responsive ways. Doctor of Philosophy The increase in cultural diversity within the K-12 U.S. student population has resulted in a greater focus on preparing future educators to teach in ways that are responsive to the needs of their culturally diverse students. Over the past two decades, more research has been conducted on topics of multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice education. However, there remains a limited number of studies which address beginning teachers' transitions from their understanding to their implementation of culturally responsive teaching. This study examines one first-year teacher's understandings of culturally responsive teaching and her experiences with implementing a culturally responsive curriculum unit. The researcher conducted in-depth data collection and analysis through the use of a variety of data sources including: interviews, lesson planning sessions, classroom observations, field notes, memos, and reflective journal entries. The findings of the study reveal the importance of coursework on culturally responsive teaching during teacher education and the need for increased support, through mentoring and modeling, to assist preservice and novice teachers in their efforts to translate the concepts of culturally responsive teaching into practice.

Teachers encounter numerous challenges within their first years of teaching. More support needs to be provided to assist novice teachers with navigating challenges that have been persistent in the literature on novice teachers. This study considered how engaging in guided reflective inquiry could support novice teachers' abilities to notice and respond to the challenges they encounter. In particular, this study explored the different identities from which novice teachers can draw inspiration to understand how they may support or constrain the process of responding to challenges. Participating in guided reflective inquiry encouraged novice teachers to explore their responses to individual "wobble moments" (Fecho, 2011) and view those uncertainties as moments of growth. The theories of dialogism (Bakhtin, 1981) and dialogical self theory (Hermans and Hermans-Konopka, 2010) provided a lens through which meanings were created from the generated data. This study focused on six novice teachers within their first three years of full-time teaching and implemented elements of transactional analysis (Stewart, 2011) to analyze the narratives, memos, reflections, and interview discussions generated from the participant and researcher. The ways in which novice teachers noticed the challenges they encountered, used the concept of wobble to engage in dialogue with those challenges, and considered how the exploration of one's identity supported or constrained that process were examined in this study. Three generated understandings indexed the importance of enacting approaches to teacher induction that better support novice teachers: (1) challenges encountered by the participants aligned with persistent struggles that have been well-documented in the literature on teacher challenges, (2) participant responses to wobble moments involved a two-step process of an initial reaction and a decided-upon action, and (3) participant developing teacher identities were influenced by numerous aspects of their dialogical self. The implications of this study point to the need to enact approaches to teacher induction that use guided reflective inquiry as an adaptable structure to support novice teachers' abilities to bring their identities into dialogue with the tensions from challenges they experience in their individual teaching contexts. Doctor of Philosophy The purpose of this study was to examine ways in which novice teachers can be better supported through the challenges that are often within the first years of teaching. This study employed the theoretical frameworks of dialogism (Bakhtin, 1981) and dialogical self theory (Hermans and Hermans-Konopka, 2010) to consider how engaging in guided reflective inquiry could support a novice teacher's abilities to notice and respond to the challenges encountered. An in-depth exploration of the novice teacher's identity supported the process of examining influences on their responses to challenges. Six teachers participated in this study after meeting the criteria of being employed as an English or Language Arts teacher, teaching students within secondary 6th-12th grades, and being within their first three years of full-time teaching. The study involved three stages: an intake interview, three rounds per participant of submitting a wobble narrative and then discussing the wobble moment via Zoom, and a final reflection and interview. Transactional analysis (Stewart, 2011) assisted in the process of coding and analyzing the data to develop three generated understandings: (1) challenges encountered by the participants aligned with persistent struggles that have been well-documented in the literature on teacher challenges, (2) participant responses to wobble moments involved a two-step process of an initial reaction and a decided-upon action, and (3) participant developing teacher identities were influenced by numerous aspects of their dialogical selves. The implications of the understandings promote the necessity for teacher induction to implement guided reflective inquiry as a way to better support novice teachers through the challenges they encounter.

This case study examined what happened when a novice teacher worked from a critical, dialogic stance to explore difference in his secondary English classroom. The study focused on a second-year teacher, employed at a suburban middle school, who had been trained in dialogic pedagogy during his teacher preparation program. Methods included lesson planning sessions, daily observations of the participant's classroom instruction, and participant interviews. Multiple data sources, including recordings of planning sessions, interview transcripts, classroom observation field notes, and analytical memos were generated and analyzed to establish new understandings about how dialogic practice affected his and his students' classroom experiences. These understandings suggested that the participant's efforts to enact a dialogic stance both benefited and complicated his practice. Insights generated by this study offer implications for teacher educators seeking to guide teacher candidates towards the translation of pedagogical theory into successful classroom practice in field placements and early-career classrooms. Doctor of Philosophy This case study examined what happened when a novice teacher worked from a critical, dialogic stance to explore difference in his secondary English classroom. The study focused on a second-year teacher, employed at a suburban middle school, who had been trained in dialogic pedagogy during his teacher preparation program. Methods included lesson planning sessions, daily observations of the participant’s classroom instruction, and participant interviews. Multiple data sources, including recordings of planning sessions, interview transcripts, classroom observation field notes, and analytical memos were generated and analyzed to establish new understandings about how dialogic practice affected his and his students’ classroom experiences. These understandings suggested that the participant’s efforts to enact a dialogic stance both benefited and complicated his practice. Insights generated by this study offer implications for teacher educators seeking to guide teacher candidates towards the translation of pedagogical theory into successful classroom practice in field placements and early-career classrooms.