Date of Award
8-2007
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Educational Studies
First Advisor
Dr. Lauren Freedman
Second Advisor
Dr. Tracy DeMars
Third Advisor
Dr. Jill Hermann-Wilmarth
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
In this theoretically-based thesis, I metacognitively explore the transactional relationship between critical inquiry and literacy development. Throughout the writing, I reveal my own learning in studying these concepts. Embedded in the discussion of research, readers will engage with my personal reflections, confessions, and applications of what I learned (and am still learning).
Through countless dialogues (academic and otherwise) and my study of literature and self, I found that literacy is much more than what it has been carved out to be by programs promising to raise standardized test scores. Additionally, by breaking the mold, I found that critical inquiry provides significance (which should be education’s focus) to one’s learning, which then determines the durability and capacity of one’s literacy development.
Furthermore, I address the implications for learners in both academic and non-academic venues and how this marriage of literacy and critical inquiry sheds light on how we function as learners in a changing world.
Recommended Citation
Gardner, Cherilyn L., "From Sandbox to Altar: What I Didn’t Know, Thought I Knew, and Discovered about Learning and Relationships" (2007). Masters Theses. 1419.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1419