Although public education in the United States has had remarkable growth and improvement since its beginning, significant inadequacies concerning racial equity continue to cast a shadow on the system. Despite desegregation efforts and specific attention to providing integrated school settings there has been little progress in establishing educational justice. The purpose of this case study was to uncover perceptions about racial inequity within Asheville City Schools as well as potential facilitators of equity. A qualitative case study using 10 guiding research questions was conducted to evaluate the perceptions of parents as well as educators at Asheville City Schools Preschool regarding racial inequities and potential facilitators of equity. Transcripts from a Racial Equity Photovoice Project were used to identify perceptions of the presence and the impact of racial inequity as well as assets of, barriers to, and potential facilitators of equity. Findings indicate parents and educators agree that barriers of racial equity include elements of negative societal influences, antiquated educational policies and procedures, inapt curricula and instruction, external systems that perpetuate biases, meager funding structures and poor home-school connections. Further, findings indicate parents and educators agree that diverse student bodies and faculties, culturally and social-emotionally relevant curricula and instruction, positive relationships between educators and children, and authentic 2-way communication are potential facilitators of racial equity. Overarching themes incorporate concerns related to resources, mandates, personal narratives, and relationships. This research adds to the literature related to racial equity and has implications for practice as well as future research.

Children born to teen mothers tend to score lower on language development assessments and to have school readiness delays. To support teen mothers and their children in improving language development, educators need information about mothers' daily interactions with their children and how they contribute to their children's language development. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to understand mothers'perceptions of how they influenced their children's language development through play, routines, and other informal interactions. Flavell, Vygotsky, and Bruner's views on how learners' construct knowledge informed the study. Research questions were focused on the mothers' perceptions regarding interactions during routines and during play and on the mothers' beliefs about how influential they were developing their children's language skills. Data were gathered through semistructured interviews, journals, and follow-up questions addressed in narratives or additional interviews. A combination of a priori and open coding was used to support inductive analysis. Participants believed that they influenced their children's development and wanted to increase what they know about overall development and specifically language development. They indicated that they did not have enough time for reading, that they used songs and chants frequently, and that participation in the study made them think more about the importance of conversations shared within activities. The results of this study may help teen mothers, their families, and those who provide education and support to teen mothers in mentoring groups, faith-based support groups, and alternative high schools. Social change will occur when young parents are supported in enhancing the lives of their children.

Children begin to develop their understanding of gender in preschool, yet there is a dearth of research focused on understanding how preschool teachers affect the gender identity development of young children. Guided by Rokeach's belief systems theory, this qualitative case study explored the pedagogical strategies and perceptions of 4 Sacramento County, California preschool educators related to the gender identity development of young children. Interview data were collected and coded to derive 12 participant-specific themes and 3 common intersecting themes, which showed that teachers' perspectives on gender identity development were influenced by social rules, biases, and a lack of pedagogical knowledge related to more expansive definitions of gender. As a result of the lack of pedagogical knowledge, there was only 1 gender-related instructional strategy concerning gender roles, and this strategy was used by only 1 of the 4 respondents. Although they may have shown confusion relating to aspects of gender, these preschool teachers demonstrated a genuine interest in learning how to create safe spaces for gender exploration in the preschool classroom. These findings have led to the creation of a professional development series designed to educate preschool teachers about gender identity development, provide them with opportunities to develop curricula, and allow them to reflect upon their cisgender-related biases. Educators, administrators, and policymakers may find it useful to apply the results of this study and resultant project when creating educational programs and college-level curricula and policies. The results could also help educators create affirmative educational environments for all children, regardless of their biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression.

本研究旨在以回溯方式瞭解兒童過去的幼兒園經驗、家庭背景因素與兒童教育成就及其幼兒就學準備度之相關情形，並更進一步探討就學準備度對於目前學童在教育成就表現上的影響 本研究以問卷調查法進行研究，問卷調查樣本以立意取樣的方式選取臺北市文山區、萬華區與信義區之公立小學三年級兒童為研究對象，共387位，樣本回收162份，回收率為42%，可用樣本為133份，可用率為34%。研究工具主要分為三大部分，第一部分為瞭解兒童教育成就現況，分別使用兒童小三上學業成績與生活適應能力表現（自評問卷）做為替代指標；第二部份則以家長問卷的方式瞭解兒童個人與家庭背景現況；第三部份為蒐集兒童過去幼兒就學準備度的表現，使用兒童在小一上學期五個學習領域之成績做為替代指標。本研究所使用的統計方法包含描述性統計分析、交叉表（Crosstabs）與卡方檢定（Chi-square test）、皮爾森積差相關(Pearson’s product -moment correlation)、斯皮爾曼等級相關（Spearman's rank correlation）、t考驗（t- test）與多元階層迴歸分析(Multiple hierarchical regression analysis)方法進行分析。 根據分析結果歸納之結論如下： 一、過去就讀公私立幼兒園的兒童在教育成就表現上無顯著差異；二、就讀幼兒園年數與兒童教育成就無顯著相關；三、家庭社經地位與兒童學業成績有顯著正相關，與兒童生活適應能力則無顯著相關；四、小學時期家長參與與兒童教育無顯著相關情形，幼兒時期家長參與與兒童學業成績有顯著正相關，與兒童生活適應能力則無顯著相關；五、兒童教育成就與幼兒就學準備度有顯著正相關；六、「母親教育程度」、「幼兒就學準備度」與「生活適應能力」對兒童學業成績有顯著預測力，「學業成績」對兒童生活適應能力有顯著預測力；七、過去就讀公、私立幼兒園的兒童在幼兒就學準備度上無顯著差異；八、就讀幼兒園年數與幼兒就學準備度無顯著相關；九、家庭每月總收入與幼兒就學準備度有顯著正相關；十、幼兒時期家長參與與幼兒就學準備度有顯著正相關。 最後，本研究根據分析結果，俾供相關建議給家長、教育工作者、教育單位及未來欲從事相同主題之研究者。 / The main purpose of this study is to investigate children’s experience in kindergarten, their family’s background, educational achievements and school readiness by ex-post-factor research. This study tries to explore the relationship between children’s educational achievements and school readiness. By questionnaires investigation, researcher collects data from the third grade students in Wenshan, Wanhua, and Xinyi district in Taipei City. Out of 387 questionnaires handed out, 162 were returned, of which 29 were invalid or partially answered, resulting in a total of 133 effective surveys. There are three questionnaires in this study, including children’s educational achievements, parents’ socioeconomic background, and school readiness. Data were analyzed by descriptive analysis, Crosstabs, Chi-square test, Pearson’s product -moment correlation, Spearman's rank correlation, t- test, and multiple hierarchical regression analysis. Based on the statistics analysis of the questionnaire, the results of this study are as follow: A. There is no significant difference towards children’s educational achievements between public and private kindergarten. B. There is no significant correlation between children’s school year in kindergarten and children’s educational achievements. C. There is a significant and positive correlation between parent’s socioeconomic status and children’s academic achievement. D. There is a significant and positive correlation between parents’ participation in early childhood and children’s academic achievement. E. There is a significant and positive correlation between children’s educational achievements and school readiness. F. Mother’s education level, school readiness, and the ability of life adaptation are appropriate indicators in predicting children’s academic achievement. G. Children’s academic achievement is an appropriate indicator in predicting children’s ability of life adaptation. H. There is no significant difference towards school readiness between public and private kindergarten. I. There is no significant correlation between children’s school year in kindergarten and school readiness. J. There is a significant and positive correlation between family’s income and school readiness. K. There is a significant and positive correlation between parents’ participation in early childhood and school readiness.

本研究旨在探討團隊式、主從式、輪流式之合班教學類型其教師課堂經驗與幼兒課程經驗之內涵。本研究使用自編之「幼兒課程經驗記錄表」與「教師課堂經驗記錄表」進行結構式之觀察，觀察對象為台北市公立幼稚園「團隊式」、「主從式」、「輪流式」班級之教師及幼兒，各兩班；觀察時間從早上九點至下午四點，共18天，並於觀察結束後進行教師訪談。 分析結果發現，教師課堂經驗層面，(一)團隊式教師之合作方式以「共同主導」為主，工作內容以「教學相關內容」為主。而「共同討論」比例最高，深度亦是最深，「常規」管理之時間最少。(二)主從式教師合作方式以「一主一協」為主，除中午生活活動時段「獨自帶領」比例提升；工作內容以「教學相關內容」為主。(三)輪流式教師合作方式以「獨自帶領」為主，除中午生活活動時段以「共同主導」為主；工作內容以「照料幼兒」為主，由於獨自帶領比例高，因此「常規」比例最高。 幼兒課程經驗層面，(一)三種合班教學類型皆以「生活活動」比例最高，「學習活動」次之，「轉銜活動」最少。其中上午時段以「學習活動」為主，中午以「生活活動」為主。(二)「學習活動」以「團隊式」、「主從式」之比例最高；「生活活動」以「輪流式」比例最高；「轉銜活動」以「主從式」、「輪流式」比例最高。(三)下午時段，「團隊式」、「主從式」以「學習活動」為主，但主從式多為角落與各類遊戲活動；「輪流式」則以「生活活動」為主。(四)三種合班教學類型之共同參與者皆以「教師與同儕」為主；活動主導者皆以「教師主導」為主；目標明確度以「團隊式」最高。 本研究亦發現，(一)三種合班教學類型其個別指導比例皆偏低，其與研究者進班觀察時間有關。(二)「團隊式」、「主從式」教師間會交流資訊；影響教師參與專業成長活動因素為教師時間與體力、研習內容等。(三)教師兼任行政工作之影響為中斷教學、增加教師負擔、提升教師獨自帶領比例等。(四)公幼並非完全無注音教學，原因為幼小銜接、因應家長需求。(五)自然科學比例較低，美術活動多為繪畫，素材多為彩色筆、蠟筆，缺乏多元性。 最後根據以上之結論，研究者針對幼稚園教師、幼稚園所、教育行政機關及後續研究提出建議。 關鍵字：合作教學、教學類型、課堂經驗、課程經驗、幼稚園 / The main purpose of this study is to discuss teachers' experiences and young children's experienced curriculum in three co-teaching types of classrooms, including “team work type”, “teach- assist type”, and “ rotation type”. This study uses “children's experienced curriculum record” and “teachers' experiences in the classroom record” to do the structural observation. Researcher observed three co-teaching types of classrooms choosing from Taipei city public kindergartens, two classrooms for each co-teaching type, totally six classrooms, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., totally 18 days, and interviewed teachers after observation. Following are the results of this study: First, on the part of teachers' experiences, (A) The primary cooperation way of team work type is “leading together”, and the primary work of team work type is about teaching. Besides, the percentage of discussion is the most, and the classroom- rule management is the least. (B) The primary cooperation way of teach- assist type is “one teach and one assist”, but the percentage of “leading alone” is increased only in the period of noon, and the primary work is about teaching. (C) The primary cooperation way of rotation type is “leading alone”, the percentage of “leading together” is increased only at the time of daily routine in the period of noon, and the primary work is about taking care of children. Besides, the percentage of classroom- rule management is the most. Second , on the part of children's experienced curriculum, (A) In all three types of co-teaching, “daily routine ” has the highest percentage of the context of curriculum, the “learning time” has the second most percentage, and the “transition time” has the least. And the primary activity in the period of morning is “learning”, while the primary activity in the period of noon is “daily routine ”. (B) “Learning time” in the team work type and teach-assist type classrooms is the most, and the “ rotation type” classrooms have the most “daily routine ” time. The teach-assist type and “rotation type” classrooms have the most percentage of “transition time” (C) In the period of afternoon, the primary activity in the team work type and teach- assist type classrooms is “learning time”, but teach- assist type classrooms have more learning corner and play time. And the primary activity in the “rotation type” classrooms is “daily routine ”. (D) The co-participants in all three types of co-teaching classrooms are teachers and peers, and teachers are the main leaders in the activities. And the goal of team work type is most explicit. This study also found, (A) The reason that the percentage of “individual instruction” in the three types of co-teaching classrooms is low, is because of the researcher’s observation time. (B) Teachers belong to team work type and teach-assist type usually exchange information. The factors affect teachers on attending professional development activities are their time, energy, and training programs. (C) The effects that teachers participate in administrative works are interrupting teaching, increasing teachers’ burden, and the percentage of “leading alone”. (D) Owing to the demand of transition from kindergarten to primary school, and the expectations of parents, there still be Chinese phonetic symbol teaching in public kindergartens. (E) The percentage of science curriculum is low. The art activities are mainly drawing, and the materials of art are mostly crayons or color pens, which are lack of varieties. On the basis of the results, this study proposes some suggestions for kindergarten managers, administrations, teachers, and researchers. Key words: co-teaching, teaching type, teachers' experiences, young children's experienced curriculum, kindergarten

Abstract The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative single case study was to explore the Full Service Community Schools model in one, urban elementary school. More specifically, the study sought to understand the impact this model had on students and teachers at one particular research site. This study was also intended to examine the impact the Full Service Community School model had on the role of school administrators. The research questions that guided this study were: (1) How does the Full Service Community School model impact students? (2) How does the Full Service Community School model impact teachers? (3) What impact does the Full Service Community School model have on the role of school administrators? The study found students who were struggling academically were assigned a volunteer that served as a tutor and provided individualized instruction to the students. These students were found to complete their classwork and homework when working with tutors while practicing academic skills they had not mastered. Findings also suggested students formed relationships with their tutors which prompted personal dialogues to occur. Students would talk to their tutors about problems they were facing at home and school. In addition, this study also found aggressive and defiant students were provided a volunteer who served as a mentor. These students would work on social, emotional and behavioral skills. Mentors would motivate the students to behave appropriately in school and reward them when this was accomplished. Lastly, the after school component of the Full Service Community Schools model was found to impact students because it gave students a safe and structured environment to attend when the regular school day had ended. The findings of the study found the Full Service Community Schools model impacted teachers in several ways. Volunteers serving as mentors and tutors worked with the most challenging students. This gave teachers more instructional time to work with other students. When volunteers listened to students’ problems, teachers were freed up to continue teaching. Also, teachers were able to relinquish responsibilities to the volunteers who worked with students. The volunteers gave teachers an extra set of hands in the classroom. Lastly, this study found the Full Service Community School model impacted the role of administrators the least. The model put extra responsibilities on principals due to having extra individuals in the building during and after the school day. Administrators also had to coordinate the schedules of these individuals. On a positive note, volunteers working with disruptive students did assist administrators because these students were less likely to visit the office.

本研究旨在探討幼兒家長對幼兒的學習期望與如何確認期望達成之歷程。因過去的相關文獻以量化調查研究為主，缺乏質性觀點；又過去多以消費者行為模式探討選擇幼兒園的決策行為，但不能深入了解家長選擇這些因素背後的想法。因此本研究以質性訪談的方式，探究家長對幼兒的教育期望、對幼兒園的課程期望與這些期望如何被達成或期望是否改變的歷程，試圖建構家長在選擇幼兒園與對幼兒期望之間的關係。 研究設計上，先就過去文獻之研究進行整理與分析，提出尚未被探究及可深入探究的議題，蒐集相關資料而擬定訪談大綱，針對台北市公私立幼兒園大班家長進行深入訪談，公私立幼兒園各兩所共計十四位家長。 本研究結論可歸納為下列五點： 一、教育期望:公私立家長對幼兒學習的教育期望主要皆為生活自理、人際互動、品格個性與認知學習等等；而在認知學習上公私立幼兒園家長看法不同。 二、課程期望:公私立家長對幼兒學習的課程期望都會先要求教學方式，再要求與教育期望相關的課程內容，其中，私立家長進而要求認知方面的課程；此外，公私立家長都會期望園所在音樂或工作等美感領域課程上進行多元化或才藝教學。 三、期望確認:公私立家長都會將選擇幼兒園前的期望與選擇後的經驗做確認，確認方式以觀察幼兒在學校或家庭中的行為表現為主，而參與園所活動也是家長了解課程的一種方式。四、滿意度:樣本家長對幼兒園滿意度高，滿意的項目集中在課程與師資上；而期望確認及其歸因推論影響滿意度。五、期望改變:公立幼兒園家長對幼兒的課程期望會因園所特色而改變，並隨著上小學的時間拉進，公私立家長皆會增加與銜接小學相關的新期望。 根據研究結論，本研究對幼兒園提出以下建議，做為增進幼兒園品質參考： 一、幼兒園需要了解家長的期望，跟著家長一起做確認，幫助教師與園所看見家長觀點進而反思與成長。二、建立園所教學特色並努力發展，成為有深度的課程。 三、教師應幫助家長用更多的方式來確認學習，以客觀的資料去補充主觀的觀察結果。四、教師應讓家長看見教學的多元化，用不同的方式讓家長了解音樂或美術等方面的課程是包含在原本的課程規劃中；教師也應加強美感領域課程的專業能力。 / The purpose of this study is to inquire parent's perspective of early children’s learning expectation and outcomes confirmation. There are many quantitative studies about this process, while few are conducted qualitatively. In the past few years, most research focus on how to make a decision to choose kindergartens by consumer’s decision behavior. But we can’t understand what the real reasons of the parents’ decision. This study explores the parents’ educational expectations on early children in a qualitative way, including curriculum expectations and how these expectations will be achieved or changed, attempt to construct the relationship between the choice of kindergartens and child learning expectations. In this research, we review prior studies and purpose issues that has not yet been explored and can be in-depth inquired, gathering relevant information and arranging the interview outline for the Taipei public and private kindergarten parents, a total of fourteen parents in two public and two private kindergartens. The conclusions of this study can be summarized as the following five points: First, educational expectations: public and private kindergarten parents have different views on the cognitive learning. Second, the curriculum expectations: In addition to the curriculum related to educational expectations, parents would expect the music or arts-type learning, they hope kindergarten provide the field of diversified curriculum or skills and talent teaching. Third, expectation confirmation: parents really do expect confirmation, confirm the performance of the main way to observe the behavior of children in school or at home, and participate in kindergarten activities also the way of parents to confirm the curriculum. Forth, satisfaction: parents kindergarten satisfaction is high, satisfactory project focused on curriculum and teacher; expect recognition and attributed inference affect satisfaction. Fifth, the expectations change: the curriculum expectations of public kindergarten parents will change with kindergarten’s features, and parents would increase the new expectations related to the convergence Primary.

Considering the context of large city schools, this study explores what variables in a kindergarten classroom may impact the process of children’s engagement with nature. In particular I examine the central role of children and teacher in co-constructing their own unique understanding, knowledge, and attitude towards the natural world. In this study, I examine nature-child’s connection considering the complexity of nature beyond a pre-packaged concept (Louv, 2007) and avoiding a linear identification of a cause and effect relationship between children’s learning experiences and nature, (Kellert, 2005). This qualitative case study is based on extensive classroom observations, in which 20 kindergarten children and their teacher participate. The children’s direct, indirect, and vicarious experiences with nature are documented using digital photography, video-audio recording, and collection of artifacts. I interview the classroom teacher two times and invite the parents to fill up a questionnaire about their children’s experiences with nature outside the school time. I use the techniques and procedure of the grounded theory to analyze the data. A comparative analysis of the five learning episodes demonstrates four major factors that when all woven together encourage and sustain the children’s engagement with nature. These factors are: investigating children’s meaningful and autotelic questions, encountering and experiencing nature in familiar contexts, developing emotional bonding, and having sufficient time. The findings show the crucial role of the classroom teacher in creating five main conditions to engage the children in the process of each inquiry. She offers the children many opportunities to use their prior skills and knowledge, take responsibility of their own learning, and experiment with learning as a process. She often responds positively to the children’s learning endeavours and communicates her high confidence and expectations for them. This study makes an important contribution to the field of early childhood education and environmental education by demonstrating the possibilities and challenges in actively and holistically engaging children with nature in school settings. The findings shed light on our understanding of children and teacher’s sense of ownership and motivation as two driving forces of learning.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

University of Macau / Faculty of Education