The dissertation is focused on changes in an attitude and initiative students at secondary special school with gastronomy orientation to study special subjects after realization a creative project: "Welcome Day - Day of Open Door - Halloween." The target group are students of Secondary School and College for Tourist Industry in České Budějovice. The dissertation is divided into fifth chapters. I the first two chapters different opinions of experts in teaching methods, classical and alternative methods of education and teaching, teachers competence and authority participation, experimental education are compared. The thirds chapter contains proposals for topics of project learning in schools with gastronomy orientation. There is an enumeration of folk traditions and their connection with the culture and gastronomy. The fourth chapter describes the project realization in Secondary School and College for Tourist Industry in České Budějovice. The fifth chapter contains the research targets, the research methods and interpretation of research results. The target of the dissertation is questionnaire comparison of students' attitudes after realization the project learning. The research assumptions are that students appreciate extension special subjects of folk traditions and do not reject to participation in the pro?ject realization.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges in teaching IsiXhosa home language in rural secondary schools. Learners from Grades 8 to 12 perform poorly in IsiXhosa grammar, essay writing, literature and oral work. The researcher sampled 40 learners from each of two senior secondary schools, eight parents and eight IsiXhosa subject specialists (two district based and six school based) to take part in the research. Data for this study were collected during cluster moderations in one of the secondary schools by using document analysis, interviews and questionnaires. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used by the researcher to analyse IsiXhosa results from Grade 8 to Grade 12. Analysis of documents such as mark schedules and marks for formal and informal tasks gave evidence that learners perform poorly in grammar, literature, oral work and essay writing. Scarcity or non-availability of distinctions (levels 6 and 7) in Grade 12 final exams as well as in Grades 8 to 11 proves that the language demands special attention for its teaching and learning in the secondary classroom situation; the conclusions were therefore drawn and recommendations made. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Design and Development)

My graduation theses under the title "Past and present Elementary school of Jaroslav Jezek in the context of teaching Czech language" thesis deals with the early education and teaching of visually impaired children in the Private institution for blind children and sick eyes and further it describes the current characteristics and principles of teaching visually impaired children at the elementary school of Jaroslav Jezek. The graduation theses is divided into five chapters. The first chapter deals with the history of education and teaching visually impaired children in the Czech lands. The second chapter summarizes the principles and specifics of teaching and further highlights the importance of touch and compensatory aids during the class. The third chapter follows the influence of reading and the spoken word for children with visual impairments. The fourth chapter deals with the current concept of teaching the Czech language. The fifth chapter is dedicated to competitions and cultural events, in which children at Elementary school of Jaroslav Jezek participate. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The following study is an exercise in understanding how educators can improve their professional practice in terms of addressing the needs of Aboriginal high school students. The study was delimited to four different high schools in Northwestern Ontario in order to develop a broader understanding of best practices used by various school communities. Interviews were conducted with students and educational professionals such as teachers, administrators, guidance personnel and school board members. The study was completed over a period of one week, where one day was spent in each school completing interviews. This study is unique in two ways: it presents the voices of secondary school educators (which had scarcely been reported or heard in the academic community) outlining the direction in which Aboriginal education should go and secondly, as a researcher I attempted to use the medicine wheel as a model for completing and conducting research. There were a number of findings that appeared through the interviews. Teachers and administrators agreed that in order for Aboriginal students to succeed they needed to have involved parental support. It was important to teachers that parents take an active role in the educational life of their child. Additionally, it was acknowledged that First Nation communities were ideal settings for schooling of Aboriginal students as they were supported by family and community kinships. Yet in this study, it was also acknowledged that First Nation schools suffered financially in comparison to provincial schools. They were not able to provide programming comparable to provincial schools and iii were limited to a barebones program with compulsory courses being offered. In some cases, if students failed a course, they were not able to participate in the rest of the school program, until the course was re-taught in two years. Despite these shortcomings, students might do better in First Nation based schools if they were adequately funded with current resources and adequately compensated teachers. This study offers some suggestions on how to improve the practice of educating First Nation secondary students.

The following study is an exercise in understanding how educators can improve their professional practice in terms of addressing the needs of Aboriginal high school students. The study was delimited to four different high schools in Northwestern Ontario in order to develop a broader understanding of best practices used by various school communities. Interviews were conducted with students and educational professionals such as teachers, administrators, guidance personnel and school board members. The study was completed over a period of one week, where one day was spent in each school completing interviews. This study is unique in two ways: it presents the voices of secondary school educators (which had scarcely been reported or heard in the academic community) outlining the direction in which Aboriginal education should go and secondly, as a researcher I attempted to use the medicine wheel as a model for completing and conducting research. There were a number of findings that appeared through the interviews. Teachers and administrators agreed that in order for Aboriginal students to succeed they needed to have involved parental support. It was important to teachers that parents take an active role in the educational life of their child. Additionally, it was acknowledged that First Nation communities were ideal settings for schooling of Aboriginal students as they were supported by family and community kinships. Yet in this study, it was also acknowledged that First Nation schools suffered financially in comparison to provincial schools. They were not able to provide programming comparable to provincial schools and iii were limited to a barebones program with compulsory courses being offered. In some cases, if students failed a course, they were not able to participate in the rest of the school program, until the course was re-taught in two years. Despite these shortcomings, students might do better in First Nation based schools if they were adequately funded with current resources and adequately compensated teachers. This study offers some suggestions on how to improve the practice of educating First Nation secondary students.

A fundamental change in societal values and economic structures is required to address increasing pressures on ecosystems and natural resources. Transition research has developed in the last decades to analyze the co-dynamics of technological, institutional, social and economic elements in the provision of key functions such as energy, water and food supply. This doctoral dissertation provides conceptual and methodological contributions to the pro-active governance of sustainability transitions. Three research gaps are identified that are addressed in this dissertation. First, a comprehensive conceptualization of learning in sustainability transitions is currently missing that comprises learning at multiple societal levels (ranging from individuals to policy-actors). Learning concepts are often not explicitly discussed in transition research even though learning is considered as fundamental for innovation processes, niche formation and development as well as breakthrough and diffusion of innovations. Second, methods for the analysis and design of transition governance processes are lacking that specify case-specific intervention points and roles of actors in the implementation of innovations. Third, participatory modeling approaches are only applied to a limited extent in transition research despite a high potential for supporting communication and learning. The conceptualization of multi-level learning developed in this doctoral research conceptualizes learning at different societal levels as specific learning contexts ranging from individual and group contexts to organizational and policy contexts. The conceptual framework further differentiates between learning processes, intensity, objects, outcomes, subjects and factors, allowing for a more detailed analysis of learning within and across learning contexts. Thus, learning contexts can be linked by processes that involve actors from different learning contexts (e.g., community groups and policy-makers), as well as exchanges of physical aspects, institutions and knowledge (in the form of ‘learning factors’). This research has also provided a classification of model uses in transition research that supports a purposeful discussion of the opportunities of modeling and promising future research directions. The methodology developed in this doctoral research aims at the analysis and design of transition governance processes by specifying the various opportunities to contribute to sustainability transitions through purposeful action at different societal levels, as well as related roles of stakeholders in implementing such processes of change. The methodology combines different streams of previous research: 1) a participatory modeling approach to identify problem perceptions, case-specific sustainability innovations as well as related implementation barriers, drivers and responsibilities; 2) a systematic review to identify supportive and impeding learning factors from the general literature that can complement case-specific factors; and 3) a method for the analysis and design of case-specific transition governance processes. Three case studies in Canada (topic: sustainable food systems), Cyprus (water-energy-food nexus) and Germany (sustainable heating supply) have been selected to test and iteratively develop the methodology described above. The results for each case study reveal that there are learning objects (i.e., learning requirements) in all learning contexts, which underscores the importance of multi-level learning in sustainability transitions, ranging from the individual to the group, organizational and policy levels. Actors have various opportunities to actively facilitate societal transformations towards sustainable development either directly through actions at their particular societal levels (i.e., context-internal learning) or indirectly through actions that influence learning at other societal levels. In fact, most of the learning factors require cooperation across learning contexts during the implementation process. The comparing of learning factors across case studies underline the importance of several factor categories, such as ‘physical a ‘disturbance or crisis’, ‘information and knowledge’. Of the 206 factors identified by stakeholders, 40 factors are case-specific and not contained in the general, review-based factor list. This underscores the value of participatory research, as general, top-down analyses might have overlooked these case-specific factors. The methodology presented in this dissertation allows for the identification and analysis of case-specific intervention points for sustainability transitions at multiple societal levels. The methodology furthermore permits the analysis of interplay between individual, group, organizational and policy actions, which is a first step towards their coordination. The focus on sustainability innovations links the broad topic of sustainability transitions to a set of opportunities for practical interventions and overcoming their implementation barriers. The methodology presented allows for the analysis and design of these interlinkages between learning contexts. While the methodology cannot provide any ‘silver bullets’ for inducing sustainability transitions, it is flexible enough to identify an appropriate abstraction level for analyzing and designing transition governance processes. The methodology developed in this doctoral research also provides several contributions for the development of participatory modeling methods in transition research. Thus, the participatory method supports an integrated analysis of barriers and drivers of sustainability innovations, and allows application in practice and education. The concepts and methods developed in this research project allow for reflection on transition governance processes from a systemic viewpoint. Experiences in the case studies underline the applicability of the concepts and methods developed for the analysis of case-specific transition governance processes. Despite substantial differences in the geographic location, culture and topics addressed, all case studies include promising sustainability innovations and the engagement of multiple actors in their implementation. The diversity and multitude of initiatives in the case study regions provides an optimistic outlook on future opportunities for large-scale sustainability transitions.

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