No description available.

This thesis examines technological framings for communication and identity issues, with a particular focus on Swedish mainstream schools where children with cochlear implants are pupils. Based on a sociocultural perspective on learning, the thesis focuses on how pupils and teachers interact with (and thus learn from) each other in classroom settings. The study comprises a) a sociohistorical analysis of three Swedish non-governmental organizations’ periodicals from 1891 to 2010, and b) an ethnographic study including micro-analyses of interaction in two mainstream classrooms where there are children with cochlear implants. The sociohistorical analysis illustrates how different technologies, in a range of ways, have shaped (i) how people with hearing loss communicate and interact with others and (ii) their identity positions. The analysis also demonstrates the presence of language ideologies in settings where children with hearing loss are taught. Here the main preference is for spoken communication, even though different types of visual communication emerge during the 1980s and 1990s. In addition, the issue of integration has been a matter of debate since the 1970s and provides a backdrop for the current situation, where an increasing number of children with cochlear implants receive their schooling in mainstream public rather than segregated regional deaf schools. Against this background, micro-analyses have been carried out of classroom interaction and recurring patterns and activities have been identified. The results illustrate that audiologically-oriented and communicative-link technologies play major roles in the classrooms and these both facilitate and limit the pupils’ participation. Based on postcolonial theory, the results can be understood in terms of participation and non-participation of the pupil with cochlear implants, who acquire peripheral identity positions in these classroom settings. The analysis also illuminates unequal power relations regarding technologies in use, and expressions of language ideologies in the classrooms, where spoken communication is preferred. Overall, the everyday life of children with cochlear implants in mainstream schools appears to be complex, and it is technologies in use that frame the conditions for their participation in interaction and communication.

Education reform initiatives continue to push schools to improve methods of measuring accountability intended to improve student achievement in the United States. Federal programs like the Teacher Incentive Find (TIF) provide school districts with funds to develop and implement school accountability and leadership programs. Teacher leadership is one of the concepts being formally developed amongst these initiatives. My applied thesis project focused on work I conducted with a team of researchers at American Institutes for Research, where we evaluated a teacher leadership program in its third year of implementation. Teacher leadership is facilitated through distributive leadership. School leaders distribute responsibilities that provide teachers with opportunities to extend their expertise outside of their own classrooms. My thesis explores teacher leadership roles and investigates implementation across the client school district. It also discusses how particular anthropological theories about communities of practice, learning, and identity can provide a foundation for conceptualizing teacher leadership implementation and the social interactions between program actors.

This study presents the outcomes of an exploration of the ways in which instrumental music teachers (IMTs) engaged to teach in UK university departments experience their work and interpret their role. It provides the basis for realistic steps for enriching their contribution to and relationship with the department in which they are situated. The area of activity was examined through a qualitative research approach within a single case study design that highlights the particularities and complexities of the case and of its context. It progressed through semi-structured interviews, document review, job-shadowing and a research diary that engaged participants in an iterative process aimed at generating rich descriptions of the situation and increasing the veracity of its subsequent interpretation. The findings echo the isolated location found in earlier studies of IMTs in HE (Burwell, 2005; Haddon, 2009; Purser, 2005, Young et al, 2003) but note that they did not display the secretive or isolationist tendencies previously espoused. Instead there was a narrative of neglect and exclusion by the employer that contributed to a low sense of entitlement from these employees who occupy a peripheral and static position at the margins of departmental operations. It concludes that IMTs do not form a convenient organisational sub-unit (Weick and Orton, 1990) or a community of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991) that would respond in a uniform fashion. Instead, they experience their engagement with the university in an individual manner framed by their personal and professional environment or umwelt (Uexküll, 1985) and interpreted according to their particular interests, needs and priorities. Finally it suggests that the employing department must recognise this diversity and facilitate greater participation of its IMTs through the creation of permeable boundaries that permit but do not require involvement in curriculum design and assessment, teaching innovations and research into instrumental pedagogy.

The purpose of this case study was to explore how a group of principals from diverse backgrounds and different locations create and perpetuate a virtual community of practice. This investigation is a case study of Connected Principals, a group that has come together to create a regular blog on significant issues within education and the principalship. In addition, this group regularly disseminates pertinent information on Twitter via a hash tag. The study includes a content analysis of the blogs posted by Connected Principals as well as social network analysis of the group’s Twitter network and of the key players within the Twitter network. In addition, the investigation includes interviews with six of the key blog and Twitter contributors in order to triangulate the information gleaned from the other analyses. The results of the study provide a thorough description of Connected Principals. While the study set out with the framework of a community of practice, the findings led to the idea that what was actually created by this group is an affinity space. In addition, the results give indication that the members of the group generate social capital within their field. Overall, the study contributes to the literature by providing an in-depth look at a relatively new field in education.

This research report describes the learning histories of computer assistants and expert assessment practice. This takes place in a workplace where computer training, specifically the fixing of hardware (CPU) occurs. It is hoped that the evidence collected might contribute towards the recognition and understanding of tacit assessment on the National Qualifications Framework, (NQF). In uncovering these learning histories and expert assessment practices, a component of ethnography which involves case history interviews and discussions was used. The theoretical framework used was situated learning theory and the legitimate peripheral participation of the computer assistants. This framework is itself embedded in the theory of constructivism. Case histories used as a component of ethnography is part of a bigger ethnographic project developed by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). This particular study will contribute along with other projects in the University of Witwatersrand research group, to make up a full ethnographic account of learning and assessment in the workplace.

This study explores MBA students’ experiences of academic writing, and endeavours to determine the difficulties experienced by MBA students during the writing of their dissertations especially in terms of academic literacy. Case study research design and mixed methods were used to generate both quantitative and qualitative data in this qualitative study. A constant comparative method of analysis was used to identify categories and themes within the data. The results of this research showed that the majority of MBA students, while at Business School X, viewed their identities primarily as business professionals as opposed to students of business in an academic setting. Findings of the study showed that MBA students’ identities as readers and writers are strongly framed by the business genres they encounter in their professional capacities. The study also revealed that MBA students writing their dissertations desire to produce a professionally relevant research document as much as one that meets the requirements of academic rigour. It is within this arena of academic research writing that a dilemma exists for MBA students with reference to the purpose, format and value of the dissertation as a vehicle for reporting research findings. Recommendations are that academic literacies and genre pedagogy are mainstreamed into the course design of the MBA programme at Business School X and that the repurposing of the dissertation as a genre be evaluated in terms of business relevance.

The development of the next generation of researchers is a priority if South Africa is to make a significant contribution to the international knowledge economy and establish itself as a force to be reckoned with in international research circles. In the context of this knowledge economy, researchers are increasingly being recognised as agents of economic growth. In order to be competitive, therefore, an extensive pool of active researchers needs to be cultivated. One way of doing this is to promote and develop doctoral capacity at the country’s universities. This entails, among other things, a move away from the traditional focus on what the supervisor does, to a more student-centred understanding of how the doctoral candidate experiences the process, and by implication, how this impacts on their research contribution. In this qualitative study, thirty doctoral candidates from the Faculties of Science and Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, were interviewed in order to establish firstly, how they had experienced their supervision at this level, and secondly, whether or not these experiences had influenced the successful completion of their doctorates. One of the principal findings of the research was that the role of the supervisor was not central to the achievement of their degree; rather, many of the doctoral candidates asserted a significant level of agency in both identifying and making contact with experts beyond their university-appointed supervisors in order to supplement their access to relevant knowledge. In the majority of cases, this was encouraged by the supervisors. Such enterprises represent a marked departure from the traditional models of supervision in the Science and Humanities faculties. In the case of the former, the customary co-supervision arrangement is increasingly being augmented by student-initiated collaboration with authorities located outside the formal boundaries of the institution. The traditional Humanities model of supervision is also transforming from a one-on-one relationship to a style characterised by multiple supervisors, each from separate but cognate disciplines. The research suggested that these emergent models are eclipsing their predecessors as doctoral candidates increasingly recognise the value of extending the breadth of their disciplinary exposure beyond the confines of the university.

Student Number : 7262070 - M Ed research report - School of Education - Faculty of Humanities / This research report investigates the development of undergraduate history students’ knowledgeability and identity as historians. Drawing on a sociological paradigm, it examines the classification of the discipline or practice of history that informs undergraduate history teaching at a sample of three South African universities. It suggests that most undergraduate courses focus on and aim to apprentice students into a partial experience of the practice of history – the adjudicative task of the historian. The report then presents findings from an analysis of student feedback on their participation in an extended local history assignment. The analysis of student work draws upon socio-cultural notions of situated learning and the community of practice. This analysis suggests that as an instance of situated learning, the local history engagement enhances students’ understanding of the interpretative task of the historian and their own identity as constructors of history. The findings also suggest that there are implications for curriculum development in undergraduate history programmes.

This study has investigated the take-up, at a range of South African tertiary institutions, of Open Educational Resources (OER) designed for mathematics teacher education. Although numerous studies (e.g. Darling-Hammond, 2006; Jonassen & Rohrer-Murphy, 1999; Loughran, 2006) have identified criteria for the development of quality materials for teacher education, and have investigated ways in which these have been and should be used, little attention has been paid to the implications of these findings for the use of OER in teacher education. In 2006 the South African Institute of Distance Education (SAIDE) initiated the ACEMaths project to pilot a collaborative materials design and adaptation process in response to a Department of Education call for large scale teacher upgrading programmes leading to an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) in priority areas. Nine South African tertiary institutions formed the collaborative group for the development of Mathematics teacher education materials. Six of these institutions committed to using the pilot materials in their teacher education programmes in 2007. Methodologically, the research is a case study of cases (Adler & Reed, 2002), in which the varying uses of the materials in these six institutional sites constituted the individual cases. At each site data were gathered from session observations, questionnaires and interviews. Artefacts, such as examples of customised materials, were also collected. Cross case analysis revealed that institutions used the ACEMaths materials in both similar and different ways and in a range of programmes. Findings from this analysis and their implications for both initial inter-institutional designing and subsequent intra-institutional re-designing and re-use of OER are discussed.