Modern technological innovations are constantly seen throughout every aspect of life, and higher education is no exception. To this end, this article sheds some light on the types of and pedagogical value of new media adopted by academics to promote self-directed learning at the University of South Africa. The study answers the following questions: Which new media approaches have been adopted by academics to enhance self-directed learning? What is the pedagogical value of new media in an ODL environment? A qualitative approach was employed and data was collected through face-to-face interviews with 30 purposively selected Unisa academics. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model was found relevant to this study. Thematic categorisation was employed for data analysis. The findings depict that a variety of new media have been adopted to promote self-directed learning at Unisa. The study also found that new media are playing a pivotal role in promoting self-directed learning in an ODL landscape. It is therefore important to note that new media have emerged as strong catalysts in fostering pedagogical transformation. / College of Education / M. Ed (Open and Distance Learning)

In this study the author investigates the nature of compassion, ways of developing compassion within ourselves, and ways of bringing compassion into schools. The author sees an imbalance and disconnection in the current Ontario public school system, between education of the mind (to have) and education of the heart (to be). This is demonstrated in the heightening violence in schools, because violence in schools means that students do not feel connected to and are not happy in their schools. To accomplish this purpose, the author explores the different ways we can connect—within ourselves, with classroom subjects, with students in the school, and with the community at large—through life stories of four holistic educators, including herself. Three have taught in Buddhist, Waldorf, and Montessori schools, which all foster compassion not only through empathy, caring, and love, but also through emotional and moral components of heart education, such as intuition, creativity, imagination, joy (Miller, 2006), and moral education (Noddings, 1992). The enquiry uses qualitative research and narrative method that includes portraiture and arts-based enquiry. The findings in the participants’ narratives reveal that compassion comprises spirituality, empathy, and caring. We can develop compassion through contemplation in an awareness of interconnection between the I and the Other. In conclusion, we can foster compassion in schools if we use holistic education’s basic principles of balance, inclusion, and connection (Miller, 1981, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2010), and if we bring in different ways of fostering compassion that the author has explored through four holistic teachers’ narratives in this study. By nurturing and connecting to students’ hearts, rather than forcing knowledge into their heads, it is possible to create schools where students are happy and feel connected to their learning.

In this study the author investigates the nature of compassion, ways of developing compassion within ourselves, and ways of bringing compassion into schools. The author sees an imbalance and disconnection in the current Ontario public school system, between education of the mind (to have) and education of the heart (to be). This is demonstrated in the heightening violence in schools, because violence in schools means that students do not feel connected to and are not happy in their schools. To accomplish this purpose, the author explores the different ways we can connect—within ourselves, with classroom subjects, with students in the school, and with the community at large—through life stories of four holistic educators, including herself. Three have taught in Buddhist, Waldorf, and Montessori schools, which all foster compassion not only through empathy, caring, and love, but also through emotional and moral components of heart education, such as intuition, creativity, imagination, joy (Miller, 2006), and moral education (Noddings, 1992). The enquiry uses qualitative research and narrative method that includes portraiture and arts-based enquiry. The findings in the participants’ narratives reveal that compassion comprises spirituality, empathy, and caring. We can develop compassion through contemplation in an awareness of interconnection between the I and the Other. In conclusion, we can foster compassion in schools if we use holistic education’s basic principles of balance, inclusion, and connection (Miller, 1981, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2010), and if we bring in different ways of fostering compassion that the author has explored through four holistic teachers’ narratives in this study. By nurturing and connecting to students’ hearts, rather than forcing knowledge into their heads, it is possible to create schools where students are happy and feel connected to their learning.

The purpose of this study was to examine the self-directed learning readiness in executive fire officers in relation to the independent variables of personality type, educational attainment, and professional designation. This research utilized a quantitative design. This study utilized the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) with a sample of 250 professional firefighters. The total sample was divided equally between executive-level fire officers and firefighters at 125 each from professional departments in the Southeastern United States. Results were that the mean SDLRS score for the executive-level fire officers was 233.7 and significantly higher than the means of both the firefighters (221.6) and the adult population norm (214). Overall, results also found that the frequency of representation across the eight dominant functions of the MBTI were significantly different between the executive fire officer group and both the firefighter and the MBTI male norm group. However, only extroverted-sensors had a significant difference between the executive fire officers and the firefighters and only extroverted-thinkers had significant difference between executive fire officers and the reported male norm, respectively. Similarly, the executive fire officer sample was compared to a sample of top public managers and found that there were no differences in the representativeness of the two samples. Overall, there were no substantive differences in representativeness of dominant functions between groups. Results indicated significant relationships between education, personality type, and the dependent variable SDLRS scores. The model that was developed explained 15.4% of the variability in SDLRS scores with significant positive correlations for two categories of educational attainment (undergraduate, graduate) and four categories of dominant functions of personality type (ES, EN, ET, and IN). When examining the same model exclusively for executive fire officers, the model explained 9.5% of the variability in SDLRS scores utilizing significant positive correlations for personality type for three categories of dominant function; IN, EN, and ET, respectively. Overall, the results of this study supported the theoretical construct that a high degree of self-directedness in learning was present at the executive fire officer level.

Online Language Learning Counseling (OLLC) is a new method in language learning counseling. It employs various forms of communication (email, chat, and internet telephone) and various instruments (i. e. surveys, plans, and learning journals) in order to systematically complement and support foreign language students\' self-directed learning and work processes between face-to-face and online advising sessions. The specific communicative conditions in OLLC lead to benefits and challenges for the counseling process, which can mainly be traced back to the different modalities of the communication (oral vs. written) and synchronous vs. asynchronous forms of interaction. Based on seven cases, the study describes and analyzes possible applications of this counseling approach. Its methodological framework is a longitudinal action research design with evaluative elements. The cases, which show varying formats of OLLC, are analyzed using qualitative methods applied to different sets of data, including session transcripts, participant interviews, and the counselor\'s reflections. The learners differed in their evaluations of most of the counseling forms and instruments utilized. However, most of them valued the emails that helped them prepare for the sessions and written summaries of the meetings. The in-depth analysis of three paradigmatic cases illustrates varying scenarios of OLLC, taking into account different attitudes, motivation, and working habits. The study thus shows the necessity for a counseling method that is flexible considering both the content as well as the media. The most important benefits of OLLC found in the study were the possibility to trigger self-reflection and to support motivation to learn. The composition of written texts posed a considerable difficulty to the students due to the demands of content creation and foreign language use. For the counselor, technical problems made practicing a non-directive counseling approach difficult. / Online-Sprachlernberatung (OSLB) ist eine Form der individuellen Begleitung von selbstgesteuertem Fremdsprachlernen im universitären Bereich. Dabei werden unterschiedliche digitale Beratungsformen (E-Mail, Internet-Telefon, Chats) und Beratungsinstrumente (z. B. Fragebögen, schriftliche Pläne und Lernertagebücher) eingesetzt, um den Lern- und Arbeitsprozess systematisch zwischen den Präsenz- oder Online-Sprachlernberatungstreffen zu begleiten. Die spezifischen Kommunikationsbedingungen in der OSLB bergen Potenziale, aber auch Herausforderungen, die sich vor allem aus der Synchronität bzw. Asynchronität und der Modalität (Mündlichkeit bzw. Schriftlichkeit) der Interaktion ergeben. Die Studie beschreibt und analysiert anhand von Einzelfallstudien diesen Beratungsansatz. Die Untersuchung stellt eine longitudinal angelegte Aktionsforschung mit evaluativen Elementen dar. Auf Grundlage von sieben Beratungsfällen, die unterschiedliche Profile des Einsatzes von OSLB aufweisen, wurden unterschiedliche Datensätze ausgewertet, die u. a. Beratungstranskripte, Abschlussinterviews mit den Lernenden und die Reflexionen der Beraterin mit einschlossen. Die Lernenden unterschieden sich in ihrer Bewertung der meisten einzelnen Formen und Instrumente, jedoch wurden beratungsvorbereitende E-Mails und schriftliche Zusammenfassungen nach den Sitzungen als hilfreich benannt. Die Analyse dreier paradigmatischer Einzelfälle illustriert verschiedene Szenarien der OSLB unter Berücksichtigung unterschiedlicher Einstellungen, Motive und Arbeitsweisen im digitalen Kontext und belegt damit die Notwendigkeit einer individuellen Beratung, in der flexibel auf die Bedürfnisse der Lerner eingegangen werden kann. Als bedeutendste Potenziale der OSLB erwiesen sich die Möglichkeiten der Anregung zur Selbstreflexion und die Unterstützung der Motivation zum Lernen. Als Herausforderung stellte sich für die Lerner aufgrund inhaltlicher und fremdsprachlicher Anforderungen die Erstellung schriftlicher Texte dar. Für die Beraterin erschwerten technische Gegebenheiten die Durchführung nicht-direktiver Beratung.

Are elementary teachers self-directed learners? If so, do their learning activities outside their classrooms translate into their classrooms? The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship, if any, between elementary teachers’ self-directed learning and activities in their classrooms. A two phase, mixed methods design first utilized a quantitative study from which the results were used to denote the type of data collected in the second, qualitative phase. The quantitative Phase I of this study involved using a survey instrument in order to identify self-directed learners and identify categories of teacher learners. These quantitative data were gathered through the use of the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale [SDLRS/LPA] (Guglielmino 1977) which was administered online to 100 teacher respondents. The responses to the instruments were also analyzed statistically in order to generate descriptive statistics for this population of teachers. For the teachers in this study [N=100], the mean was 240.89 with a standard deviation of 2.019. The range was 91 and the variance was 407.735. This score fell within the “above average” range which indicated the teachers had developed an above average readiness for self-directed learning and determination of their own learning needs and goals and the ability to plan and carry out their own learning (Guglielmino 2011). In Phase II, nine teachers scoring “high” and “above average” were interviewed. Results from the interviews revealed that teachers participate in self-directed learning activities which expressed their creative and professional selves. When the teachers in this study found that professional development did not meet the immediate needs of their classroom, they planned and sought additional knowledge on their own. It was found that teacher self-directed learning actually included characteristics that research has found to be essential for successfully implemented professional development that results in improved student achievement. Implications of the study for practice and further research were also discussed.

Conservatoires all over the world are re-examining their educational roles and practices in a changing cultural and economic context, including re-evaluating their function as sites of relevant learning. This dissertation by publication contributes to this re-examination by investigating understandings of assessment, evaluative reflection, the relationship between know-how and knowledge, autonomous learning, community of practice and the student experience of these pedagogies in one Queensland conservatorium. The study is presented in the form of a synopsis and five publications, with additional data that will form the basis of further post-doctoral publication. It is focused on non-traditional pedagogical processes operating within a bachelor of popular music program, processes that have been intuited by the academic teacher who is also the author of this dissertation. What these processes have in common is the philosophical rejection of teacher-led pedagogy and an insistence upon, and scaffolding of, self-directed student action and reflection. The aim of the dissertation, in keeping with the rationale for a professional doctorate, is to subject this approach to systematic theoretical and empirical scrutiny, and thereby to further refine and strengthen the practices in terms of their capacity to engage young people in self-directed approaches to quality music making. John Biggs's presage/process/product learning model (1999) provides a structure for this systematic evaluation of the pedagogical work. The study understands the learning characteristics that students bring to the program, combined with the structures and pedagogical approaches in place in the program, to be the key presage elements; the learning activities (including assessment as learning) that occur within the program are the key process elements; the key products are the learning outcomes for the students and the ongoing development of the program and pedagogical approaches informed by reflection on empirical data including data collected as part of this research. The study demonstrates the significance of recognising and valuing presage and process elements that enable students to perform from the basis of their intuitive know how while being recorded, and then apply their knowledge-based critical reflection skills to an appraisal of their own work and the work of their peers while hearing the recording played back. While not displacing the teacher as mentor and critical friend, this moves responsibility for learning to the student as a self-monitoring, strategic decision-maker about the nature and quality of their learning products. The program requirement that students write meaningfully about the process appears to encourage the embracing of both conscious and unconscious ways of knowing and doing. As a documentation of this type of teaching, the study presents an argument for a broader incorporation of student-led pedagogy into higher education in general and conservatoria in particular. It concludes that aspects of education that enhance students' abilities to learn, including self- and peer assessment, self-directed learning, reflective practice, and both independent and collaborative work that incorporates program-wide learning, are likely to enhance integrated creative practice. This project has made it possible to disseminate a scholarly engagement with such processes through publication in academic and professional contexts.

Des recherches en psychologie fonctionnaliste et en psychologie sociale ont établi de manière robuste l’existence de liens entre les émotions et la cognition, entre les émotions et l’apprentissage de langues et entre les émotions et les performances en langues étrangères. Cette thèse, inscrite dans le champ des sciences du langage - et de la didactique des langues, a pour objectif de décrire et d’analyser les manifestations verbales des émotions dans des entretiens de conseil à partir d’un corpus constitué d’authentiques séquences de travail enregistrées et transcrites. L’analyse porte sur les épisodes émotionnels et sur les énoncés d’émotions dans le contexte de l’entretien de conseil. La méthodologie utilisée pour repérer les épisodes émotionnels comporte deux étapes : une première étape où des signaux linguistiques considérés comme signalant potentiellement une émotion sont repérés, et par accumulation, indiquent des séquences particulières dans les entretiens de conseil, et une seconde étape où les séquences ainsi isolées sont étudiées qualitativement afin de mettre en évidence la présence ou l’absence d’émotion. Sur le plan des épisodes émotionnels, nos analyses mettent en évidence une gamme d’émotions plus large chez les apprenants, et une tendance chez les conseillères à utiliser leurs propres émotions afin d’effectuer du travail émotionnel auprès de l’apprenant. Sur le plan discursif, l’observation des énoncés d’émotions permet tout d’abord de mettre en évidence la place centrale de l’apprenant : une large majorité des énoncés d’émotions désignent en effet l’apprenant comme personne concernée par l’émotion. Par ailleurs, des postures différentes ont pu être identifiées chez les conseillères et chez les apprenants quant à l’utilisation des termes d’émotion. L’apprenant utilise principalement les énoncés d’émotion afin de s’auto-attribuer des émotions tandis que les conseillères utilisent les énoncés d’émotion afin de projeter des émotions chez les apprenants. Les observations effectuées permettent également de mettre en évidence un lien entre les émotions évoquées dans les entretiens de conseil et le déroulement de la formation. De manière générale, les émotions (épisodes émotionnels et énoncés d’émotion) apparaissent comme des indicateurs précis du déroulement de la formation. / Research in functionalist psychology and social psychology has shown the existence of strong relationships between emotions and cognition, between emotions and language learning, and between emotions and performances in foreign languages. This thesis in applied linguistics aims to describe and analyse the verbal manifestations of emotions from a corpus of authentic advising sessions which were recorded and transcribed. The analysis focuses on emotional episodes and emotion statements in the context of advising sessions. The methodology used to identify emotional episodes comprises two stages: in the first stage, linguistic cues are identified as potential signals of an emotion and, when accumulated, indicate particular sequences of speech; in the second stage, these sequences are isolated and qualitatively studied in order to either confirm or reject the presence of emotions. In terms of emotional episodes, the analyses show that learners exhibit a more diverse range of emotions than advisors. There is also a tendency for advisors to use their own emotions while performing emotional work. The observation of emotion statements shows first the centrality of the learner’s position: a large majority of emotion statements indeed involve the learner. Second, different postures were identified between advisers and learners in the use of terms of emotion. When using emotion statements, learners aim to self-assign emotions while advisers use emotion statements to project emotions on to learners. The analysis also helped to highlight the link between emotions expressed in advising sessions and the rhythm of learning. In general, emotions (emotional episodes and emotion statements) appear to be accurate indicators of progress in the learning process.

Cette thèse porte sur l’étude des processus de formation par les expériences de voyage en Extrême-Orient. En procédant à un détour "au plus lointain", la recherche travaille par le voyage, les passages et les transitions réalisés par contact et expérience de l'ailleurs, mais aussi avec le retour dans le quotidien. Ainsi, la recherche veut contribuer à l'élaboration d'un modèle de la transformation de la vie adulte dans un contexte de mondialisation. Empiriquement, la recherche repose sur l'étude d'un parcours de vie, celui d'un adulte né en France dans les années 1970, en procédant selon une méthodologie d'enquête qui croise les entretiens biographiques visant la narration du parcours de vie, et les entretiens d'explicitation pour l'exploration de moments singuliers. Le rapprochement fait au final entre "pratiques du voyage" et "pratiques réflexives" aboutit à l'élaboration d'un cadre pour repenser les pratiques d'accompagnement dans le champ de la formation professionnelle / This thesis is a study of the transformation processes undergone by a Western adult, in the first half of his life, after a series of trips to the Far East. In making a detour "to the most distant," the aim is not to think the training process with reference to the extraordinary journeys or the unusal trials, regardless of the everyday life. Concisely, the connection made between "journey paractices" and "reflexive practices" leads to the formulation of a framework to think the initiated transformations and to structure accompanying practices in the field of vocational training. Emprirically, the research is based on the study of the journey of life of an adult born in France in the 1970s. The whole study is fulfilled according to a survey methodology called "biographical explanation." The used methodology consists of crossing biographical interviews -the narration of the life course in its different periods- and the explanation interviews to explore the unique and special moments

The aim of this essay is to investigate which of the goals in the syllabus, and with that what knowledge of Swedish, four students taking the SFI (Swedish for Immigrants) level 3 course believed themselves to have attained and to compare their self-assessments with their results on the National Test of Swedish for adult immigrants. The method used for the investigation is the individual interview. In addition to taking the National Test, the participants in the investigation were asked to mark the goals they believe themselves to have attained. The results show that the informants who best demonstrated awareness of their own knowledge are able to talk freely about their knowledge and difficulties, and when they mark the goals they believe they have attained, these correspond, on the whole, to how they responded in the interviews. One of the informants finds it more difficult than the others to assess her knowledge. A comparison between her experiences and the National Test results revealed several inconsistencies. For example, she claims that she can communicate in Swedish, but still she didn’t pass the test.