abstract: Professional development is best when embedded in one's practice and linked directly to the classroom. Opportunities for teachers to identify specific areas of concern in their classroom and problem solve solutions via action research promotes a culture of inquiry. This culture of inquiry is enhanced when teams of teachers collaborate and share their action research experiences. In this study, action research training was provided to teachers to create a trained cohort of action research teachers within the school. Members of this cohort voluntarily joined with other teachers interested in classroom action research and participated in a professional learning community (PLC). The members of this PLC initiated classroom action research projects and met collaboratively as a PLC. The study examined what collaborative practitioner inquiry contributed to teacher professional development and how my leadership contributed to teacher professional development. Data were collected through the administration of a survey, interviews, transcriptions of PLC meetings, and my research journal. Findings indicate that participants benefited from the provided professional development and my leadership as a result of the intervention. Teachers applied the professional literature and used data to inform their instruction. Teacher collaboration was enhanced and teachers examined instructional practices. Lastly, my leadership enhanced teacher application of action research. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2011

abstract: This research explores the socialization and culture of naturopathic students. Naturopathic physicians are a rapidly growing group of health care providers with a different ideology than conventional physicians. At present they work on the margins of the division of labor in health care. Only 15 U.S. states explicitly recognize, regulate, and license their practice, although the number is increasing. Therefore, the professional socialization of naturopathic students is framed within a context of a changing division of labor in health care. The recent growth of naturopathic physicians reflects the American public's increased interest and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). However, these practitioners are not yet accepted as legitimate physicians by most conventional physicians. This research investigates how the professional socialization of students at a naturopathic medical school prepares them to assume their role as CAM providers in a division of labor that is dominated by conventional physicians. The research examines their choice to attend a naturopathic school, formal and informal socialization at the school, and the student culture. The main research site is a four-year, accredited naturopathic medical school where participant observation, intensive interviews, and a survey were used to collect data. Additional data are presented from observations at a national conference of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Results indicate that the student culture and socialization process at the naturopathic medical school differ in some important ways from the previously documented socialization process at conventional medical schools. The average age of naturopathic students is much older than conventional medical students, and a much larger percentage are women. Unlike conventional medical students, who rely heavily on role models and previous knowledge of what it takes to become a medical doctor, naturopathic students select a career path based on values and beliefs that are more aligned with their own than conventional medicine. The formal and informal training and culture of naturopathic students prepares them to work alongside, rather than within, mainstream medicine. The documentation of how a group of CAM practitioners is created contributes to a better understanding of the ever-changing ideology and division of labor in health care. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Sociology 2011

The current study was based in one higher education institution and examined pre-service teachers’ use of social media to support their own professional development whilst on school placement, through a community of practice lens. The trainees were registered on a one year secondary course designed to lead to a Post Graduate Certificate in Education with 60 credits at Masters Level combined with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) for England and Wales during which the researcher repeatedly interviewed a focus group sample from each subject cohort and analysed transcripts of these interviews through the lens of Wenger’s (1998) concept of a community of practice. The research took place in a national context of review and reform of teacher education in England. Some trainees, for example those studying at the higher education establishment at question, might experience considerable challenge in the school placement. Authentic self-reflection requires a safe place in which pre-service teachers can openly articulate with others what they might see as their own failures as well as successes in the classroom in order to develop a greater sense of self-efficacy and new ideas about teaching. In some instances, such as in the area of behaviour management, the national focus on maintaining good order means that it may become even more challenging and ultimately riskier to share the experience of failure because acknowledgement of this risks the possibility of failing to achieve the requisite standard for qualified teacher status. Besides, to gain qualified teacher status a trainee must attain the Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2013) which include a requirement that a professional teacher upholds the ethos of the school to which the trainee might not be sympathetic. Findings from this research cannot be generalised. However, in this small-scale study it was found that pre-service teachers used private social media to support each other on the course in a number of ways: to establish a group that might be viewed as a community of practice and then, as part of the core enterprise of becoming a qualified teacher, to offer or to receive shared practice or support from another pre-service teacher in the role of more knowledgeable other and to broker new ideas about teaching to each other and to schools themselves from the other communities to which they belonged. Those who networked socially as part of the community of practice were more organised around deadlines. They also more likely to manage risky and stressful situations collaboratively and present an enhanced image of “…a body of common knowledge, practices and approaches” (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2007, pp. 4-5) during their school placement which was unavailable to the trainee who did not participate within the online community. The scope for openly sharing practice and the development of learning communities among pre-service teachers is potentially restricted by the current national and local context of teacher education. However, one conclusion from this study might be that social media can potentially enable pre-service teachers to communicate privately in important ways that support their professional development whilst undertaking their training.

This qualitative dissertation research explored the case studies of four novice special education teachers who were the primary instructors for English language arts for students in grades three through eight with an I.E.P. This study addressed the teachers' perspectives, beliefs, practices, and related induction needs concerning their construction of exemplary practice in the teaching of wtiting. Exemplary writing instruction is defined by the inclusion of (a) the professional standards found in the state of Illinois Professional Teaching Standards, Illinois English Language Arts Standards for All Teachers and (b) the Exceptional Needs Specialist Standards of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Data were obtained over the course of three months from audio-taped, semi-structured interviews, three full class period non-participant observations, and an open-ended written questionnaire addressing the following primary research questions: (1) How do the descriptions by special education teachers of exemplary practice in the instruction of writing align with the professional standards? (2) What do special education novice teachers percieve as the role of teacher educators, mentors, other teachers, administrators, as well as classroom and school contexts, in learning and applying the professional standards in their writing practices? (3) How do novice special education teachers' beliefs about the learning and instruction of writing influence their acquisition of pedagogical knowledge pertaining to the professional standards in their writing practices? All data were transcribed and analyzed from a theoretical perspective of socially situated constructivist learning first by open coding and then coded by research question through cross-case analyses. Data were then analyzed by open-coding, followed by the coding of each research question utilizing a case-by-csae analyses. Data were further analyzed by comparative analyses of data collected by interviews, observations, and open-ended questionnaires to determine emerging patterns, categories, themes, and discrepencies. Findings indicated five emergent themes or issues and associated sub-themes of teacher as learner as common across cases and within- case findings were distributed throughout. These five major themes were (1) k-12 experience in learning to write, (2) learning to teach writing in teacher education programs, (3) learning to teach writing as practicing teachers, (4) preferred ways to learn to teach writing, and (5) novice special education teachers' beliefs about the learning and instruction of writing. The novice special education teachers' need for professional development induction support networks pertaining to the acquisition of pedagogical content knowledge for writing was another emergent category that was addressed in the findings for research question two. The findings were presented and discussed to illuminate the novice teachers' perspectives, beliefs, practices, and needs concerning teacher education, induction, and professional development in constructing exemplary writing instruction. Implications for teacher education, induction, professional development and further research were also discussed.

In this doctoral study I conceptualise shared values in order to explore a management problem from my work place environment. I observe that business-to-business (B2B) relationships between project managers and self-employed consulting engineers terminate; project managers switching to other vendors and self-employed consulting engineers losing their contract. The findings from the doctoral study show major influence of the shared values in managing project based professional relationships. Specifically, the elements of B2B professional relationships “commitment” and “trust” embedded in relationship performance show managerial implications. Furthermore, the literature review revealed a lack of qualitative knowledge in the research domain of B2B relationships. Hence, the findings from the doctoral study fill this gap and contribute to the academic knowledge by providing practise based qualitative evidence. This doctoral study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, building on previous research articles, six elements of B2B professional relationships were refined and tested through qualitative interviews in order to explore their relevance in the B2B professional relationship between the project managers and self-employed consulting engineers. As a result from the first phase, a conceptual model of shared values was developed. In the second phase, the conceptual model of the shared values developed from the first phase was explored and validated through the experience of the project managers and self-employed consulting engineers.

Research in novice teachers has been wide and rich because they are experiencing a special period in their career life after spending their childhood in school and freshly graduating from teacher education. At the workplace, novice teachers might be specially treated because they are the newcomers, but they may want to realize some professional ideals. Research in novice teacher’s professional agency and professional identity needs to be enriched. Professional agency can be understood as initiatives taken at the workplace, and professional identity can be a “self” as a professional. Both professional agency and professional identity are complex when socio-cultural contexts and subjective factors are intertwined. However, they are related and interdependent—professional agency externalizes and negotiates professional identity, whereas professional identity internalizes and influences professional agency. By comparing ten novice teachers from China and Finland, the overall aim of this thesis is to investigate the degree of professional agency as well as professional identity from a developmental perspective so that the socio-cultural contexts, especially the education systems in Finland and China, and subjective factors can be understood. In this thesis, five novice teachers from China and five novice teachers from Finland were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. By adopting thematic analysis, the author has found that how those novice teachers’ voices on professional agency and professional identity are similar or different. The result shows that Finnish novice teachers enjoy a relatively higher degree of professional agency at the workplace, and they seem to be more well-prepared by according to the testimonies in the interviews. Early-childhood teachers’ wellbeing in Finland and China need to be considered in the future educational reforms and development.

Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-02T13:45:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Bomfim.pdf: 752160 bytes, checksum: 6173232611380076a656bd7adf59a865 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-04-09T16:12:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Bomfim.pdf: 752160 bytes, checksum: 6173232611380076a656bd7adf59a865 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-04-09T16:12:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bomfim.pdf: 752160 bytes, checksum: 6173232611380076a656bd7adf59a865 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-10 / Este é um estudo exploratório, descritivo, com abordagem quali tativa, que objetiva analisar as atividades de capacitação desenvolvidas pelos enfermeiros quanto a sua articulação e contribuição para a melhoria da prática dos profissionais de um hospital geral da cidade de Salvador no ano de 2009. Foi utilizada a técnica da entrevista semi-estruturada para a coleta de dados, tendo dezoito enfermeiros como sujeitos desse estudo, dentre eles enfermeiros assistenciais e coordenadoras de enfermagem. Para análise dos dados foi utilizado o método de Análise de Conteúdo de Bardin foram identificadas três categorias: A prática profissional definindo as atividades de capacitação; Os ditames da sociedade contemporânea como fatores limitantes à capacitação dos enfermeiros; A capacitação como elemento transformador da prática de enfermeiros. Os resultados evidenciaram que a prática profissional e a motivação pessoal têm ditado o caminho a ser seguido pelos enfermeiros em busca de suas atividades de capacitação. A partir daí, a interface entre o conhecimento adquirido nas capacitações e a prática profissional fica facilitado, resultando numa simbiose importante entre teoria e prática, respaldando ainda os conceitos da Educação Permanente em Saúde que visa transformar o cotidiano em oportunidade de aprendizado. As dificuldades encontrad as pelos enfermeiros são relativas à falta de tempo, geralmente devido a uma extensa carga horária de trabalho ou pela multiplicidade de vínculos empregatícios, além de questões financeiras e falta de comunicação eficaz. Apontaram ainda para a importância da organização hospitalar como força propulsora para que esses profissionais se qualifiquem continuamente, seja a partir de treinamentos interno, seja na facilitação para a capacitação fora do ambiente de trabalho.

Esta pesquisa teve como finalidade conhecer o trabalho docente dos professores de formação técnica que atuam na educação profissional e tecnológica (EPT) oferecida nos Institutos Federais de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia sob a perspectiva do conceito de atividade oriundo da Psicologia Histórico-cultural, da Teoria da Atividade e da Clínica da Atividade. O objetivo geral é analisar a atividade do professor de formação técnica em Informática que atua na educação profissional e tecnológica. Os objetivos específicos são: conhecer as trajetórias profissionais e formativas dos docentes de formação técnica em Informática que atuam na educação profissional e tecnológica e que serão os interlocutores da pesquisa; compreender quais articulações estes professores fazem entre as experiências que vivenciaram como profissionais de suas áreas de formação inicial e as demandas da docência na educação profissional e tecnológica; identificar quais as prescrições e a presença delas na atividade destes professores; e explorar o significado e o sentido pessoal do trabalho docente para os interlocutores da pesquisa. A Clínica da Atividade foi utilizada como aporte teórico e como método e as informações foram produzidas através de instrução ao sósia, autoconfrontações simples e cruzadas, observação participante e entrevistas intensivas. Participaram da pesquisa dois docentes da área de Informática que atuam em câmpus de dois institutos federais do Rio Grande do Sul. Depois da realização de todas as etapas que constituíram a pesquisa, a tese construída é que os docentes pesquisados realizam uma atividade de ensino voltada para a orientação e preparação profissional que visa que os alunos se apropriem do acúmulo de cultura de área de Informática e possam exercer essa profissão. Os docentes agem através dos gêneros profissionais da docência e do campo de atuação em Informática e há indícios que demonstram que estes docentes produzem um novo gênero profissional ao qual imprimem os seus estilos. Esse novo gênero não é a negação de nenhum dos gêneros profissionais nos quais os docentes se movimentam, mas, sim, a confluência deles na criação de uma nova atividade real que assume as prescrições de ambas, encadeando-as, cruzando-as e equilibrando-as. Nessa atividade, os docentes esbarram em duas grandes questões que compõem o real da atividade: a dificuldade de adaptar o ensino de uma profissão aos tempos escolares e o desconhecimento de outras formas de ensinar pautadas mais na promoção de atividades de estudo aos alunos e menos em tarefas de reprodução do fazer do professor. Conhecer a atividade dos professores a partir da Clínica da Atividade pode colaborar com a construção de formações iniciais e continuadas que respeitem as especificidades da docência na educação profissional e promovam o aumento do poder de agir dos docentes diante de seu próprio trabalho. / This research aimed to know the work of the technical training of teachers who work in professional and technological educational (PTE) offered in the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology under the perspective of the concept of activity originating from the Cultural-historical Psychology of Activity Theory and Activity Clinic. The general objective is to analyze the activity of the teacher that has technical training engaged in professional and technological education. The specific objectives are: to know the professionals and formative trajectories of the technical teachers training in Information Technology that work in professional and technological education and who will be the interlocutors of the research; to understand what interligations these teachers make between the experiences that lived as professionals in their areas of initial training and the demands of teaching in professional and technological educational; to identify the prescriptions and their presence in the activity of these teachers; and explore the meaning and personal sense of the teaching work to the interlocutors of the research. The Activity Clinic was used as a theoretical and methodological contribution and the information was produced through instruction to the look-alike, simple and crossed self-confrontations, participant observation and intensive interviews. Participated in the research two teachers of Information Technology area that work on campus of two federal institutes of Rio Grande do Sul. After the completion of all the steps that constitute the research, the built thesis is that the researched teachers perform a focused education activity for orientation and professional training that aims to students to take as of the culture of Computer Science area and to exercise this profession.The teachers act through the professional genres of teaching and of the field of action in Informatics and there are indications that show that these teachers produce a new professional type to which they imprint their styles. This new genre is not the denial of any of the professional genres in which teachers move, but rather the confluence of them in the creation of a new real activity that assumes the prescriptions of both, chaining them, crossing them and balancing them. In this activity, the teachers have two issues constitute the real activity: the difficulty of adapting teaching a profession to school organization and the lack of knowledge of other forms of teaching focused on the promotion the studying activities and less on the reproductions of the teacher’s act. Know the teachers activity from the Activity Clinic can collaborates with building of the initial and continued education that respect the characteristics of teaching in professional and technological educational and increase the teachers’ power to act in their own work space.

This thesis is concerned with the impact of professional background on role fulfilment. In the United Kingdom current policy in health and social care in mental health is underpinned by integration; the idea that responsibilities can be accomplished irrespective of profession. Approved mental health practice is one example of a psychiatric statutory role and function, until recently carried out by the profession of social work, which is now extended to other, non-medical, mental health professions. This thesis aims to explore the role and experiences of current practitioners in order to understand the impact, if any, of professional background on the fulfilment of approved mental health practice and the way in which it is experienced. Qualitative data are generated through semi-structured individual interviews with twelve approved mental health practitioners: five nurses, two occupational therapists and five social workers and the use of rich pictures to supplement the interview discussions. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was applied to the verbatim transcripts. Key findings were that approved mental health practice can be accomplished irrespective of professional background. Its practitioners require particular shared attributes, specifically a cognitive and affective capacity to deal with and use discord and to manage the disparate emotions that occur. Conceptualised in this thesis as "pull," this finding constitutes a different understanding of the use of emotion in the workplace and provides evidence of a new emotional dimension; the active use of dissonance. Professional identity is also found to be influenced by approved mental health practice thereby turning on its head the original hypothesis of this thesis. Last, personhood is found to be an additional aspect of the moral framework for approved mental health practice and is being practiced in a different circumstance than previously considered. The implications of this work are that it challenges the perception that approved mental health practice is synonymous with the profession of social work. It also revives the theory that its normative moral framework is inherently contradictory. The present study appears to be the first to associate personhood with approved mental health practice and shows role fulfilment as sophisticated emotion management, primarily the active use of dissonance. Both provide new insights into the enactment of approved mental health practice and are important issues for the future training and development of practitioners. The influence on role of professional identity may also help policy makers better understand the impact that new ways of working in mental health might have on traditional professional roles and boundaries in integrated services.

Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-07T15:55:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) 47.pdf: 1155723 bytes, checksum: e5268ead17b823efb0a18b248974ace0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004 / Identifica e analisa as visões e reações de representantes corporativos de médicos, enfermeiros e psicólogos a respeito da regulamentação do ato médico. Utiliza documentação primária, bibliografia secundária, dando ênfase ao uso da História Oral. Visa o rastreamento dos conflitos e interesses em jogo, presentes nas relações entre estes profissionais de saúde.