Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant: The Effects of Attitudes toward Language and Governance on the Teaching of Culture in Wales

在珍妮特·迪克森·凯勒博士的指导下，研究生史蒂文·马斯将调查威尔士（英国）教师在实施广泛的、跨学科的文化课程时教授威尔士语方面的努力。最近关于教育和国家认同的研究发现，尽管最近设立了威尔士特有的课程，但威尔士公民身份并没有一个统一定义的概念。因此，马斯将在小学教师的历史课中寻找乡土形式的公民身份。他期望找到教师的教学法和教师对威尔士文化、语言和国家治理的态度之间的关系。他将通过课堂参与式观察来观察教学实践，并使用标准的心理量表来测量他们的态度。由于语言选择提供了不同的符号资源，他还将比较威尔士语学校的教师和英语学校的教师。本研究的一个方面涉及教师在教育提供系统中履行其角色时的非正式自我调节：关于威尔士语（Cymraeg）和威尔士政府未来的讨论要求教师在潜在争议区域中进行引导，因为威尔士不是独立于英格兰的。第二个主要维度涉及关于文化差异的更广泛的话语，例如“多样性”的标题。这项研究将促进对公立学校中以国家为导向的文化承诺的不同促进和限制机制的理解。它有可能影响公共政策，无论是在公民身份讨论刚刚开始的威尔士，还是在其他文化多样性和公共教育体系的国家。研究结果将有助于了解文化、语言认同和公共领域的多元性。这项研究也将对社会科学家的教育作出重大贡献。

Under the supervision of Dr. Janet Dixon Keller, graduate student Steven Maas will investigate the efforts of teachers in Wales (United Kingdom) to teach aspects of Welshness in their implementation of a broad, cross-subject, culture curriculum. Recent research on education and national identity has found that no centrally-defined notion of Welsh citizenship exists, despite the recent institution of a Wales-specific curriculum. Therefore, Maas will search for vernacular forms of citizenship among primary school teachers exhibited during history lessons. He anticipates finding a relationship between teachers' pedagogies and teachers' attitudes on Welsh culture, language, and national governance. He will observe the pedagogical practices through participant observation in classrooms and measure their attitudes with standard psychological scales. Because language choice affords different symbolic resources, he also will compare teachers in a Welsh-medium school with teachers in an English-medium school. One dimension of this research concerns teachers' informal self-regulation in performing their roles in the educational delivery system: Discussions of the future of the Welsh language (Cymraeg) and Welsh government require teachers to navigate zones of potential controversy since Wales is not independent of England. A second major dimension concerns broader discourses about cultural difference, such as the rubric of "diversity." This research will advance understanding of mechanisms that variably promote and constrain nation-oriented, cultural commitments in public schools. It has the potential to impact public policy, both in Wales, where discussions of citizenship have just begun, and in other countries with cultural diversity and public education systems. Findings will contribute to knowledge about culture, language identities, and plurality in the public sphere. The research also will contribute significantly to the education of a social scientist.