Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Date

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Instruction & Curriculum Leadership

Committee Chair

Laurie MacGillivray

Committee Member

Alexander Pratt

Committee Member

Matthew Panozzo

Abstract

The growth of digital education programs in public education, combined with increased legislative restrictions, has created an environment where literacy and English Language Arts teachers are working under complex networks of surveillance and control, where curriculum materials are provided to them by outside designers. Teachers who have ideological or moral issue with the supplied materials may choose to resist and subvert. Previous research in teacher resistance highlights instructional strategies educators used in the pre-and-early digital era: class discussion, subversive reading, and leveraging institutional authority and experience. This dissertation analyzes qualitative interview data gathered from four high school English Language Arts teachers in the state of Tennessee, to examine how methods of teacher resistance has evolved in this current political moment. The data was analyzed using a Foucauldian critical literacy, examining the ways that power is conceptualized through participant narratives. The findings of this study, which saw teachers utilizing classroom discussion, subversive reading, and leveraging institutional authority, suggest that previously employed methods of teacher resistance still have valence in an environment where instruction is mediated by digital platforms.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.”

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest/Clarivate.

Notes

Open Access

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