Many environmental educators insist that environmental education (EE) should be started from a young age. The Korean Ministry of Education (1999) has also emphasized the importance of environmental education in early childhood by including content and objectives regarding EE in the 1999 National Curriculum of Kindergarten. However, many Korean kindergarten teachers do not sufficiently implement environmental education in their teaching practice. To address this issue, this study aimed at investigating and overcoming barriers to fully implement EE in the Korean kindergarten context. Four experienced Korean kindergarten teachers were involved in a fourteeniv week critical action research project that included weekly group meetings. At these group meetings, teachers reflected on the barriers preventing the full implementation of EE in their classrooms and discussed possible environmental education actions to be attempted in the following week. These actions, individually implemented in teachers’classrooms, were reviewed at subsequent group meetings. Data from group meetings and teacher lessons were used to analyze the effectiveness of this critical action research project for developing environmental education. At the beginning stages of this study, Korean kindergarten teachers felt strongly uncomfortable participating in group communication. However, through the continuous encouragement of the researcher and with the involvement of participants who have similar educational backgrounds, age, and working experiences, participants came to actively engage in group communication. Participants in this study identified the following barriers to fully implement EE in kindergartens: insufficient understandings and awareness of EE, reluctant attitudes towards the environment, lack of educational support and resources, low parental involvement, and discomfort about going on a field trip to environments. Teachers came to understand the importance, objectives, potential topics, and teaching methods of early childhood environmental education. While implementing environmental education in their classrooms, teachers recognized possibilities for environmental education through connections with children’s daily lives and previous activities conducted in their classrooms. Teachers also identified that critical action research through group communication provided practical and useful knowledge of their educational practices. Teachers’ improved pedagogical knowledge and awareness about EE increased their confidence to teach environmental education. To lessen the burden of going on a field trip to environments, teachers provided children direct experiences in the environment surrounding schools and during school picnics. Teachers also actively participated in environmental activities with children. These direct experiences of the environment helped teachers and children appreciate the beauty of the environment and change their reluctant attitudes towards the environment. By providing parents children’s products produced during EE, teachers were also able to help parents develop an interest in environmental education. While most educational research in Korean kindergartens is conducted by university-based researchers, this research inquiry revealed that action research by the effective partnership with a university-based researcher can encourage the confidence and passion of Korean kindergarten teachers to reflect and resolve issues arising from their experiences and to change educational practices.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Bremen. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 485-542) and index.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 288-310.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 95-96).

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-87). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-96). Also available in print.

This diploma thesis focuses on teaching German language to preschool children in Czech nursery schools. The theoretical section defines the conditions of early foreign language learning and opinions on it, and presents arguments for early German as a second language learning. Suitable methods for education of preschool children are discussed as well. The aim of this thesis is to determine and compare how early foreign language learning is realized in particular preschool institutions, based on the information from videos made within the project "Intercultural education of children, students and teachers". E.g. whether the children understand instructions given in foreign language and the teacher's speech, the extent to which the communication takes place in German within the group, which activities are most often used, the ways or forms of implementation of these activities and whether they meet the conditions of early foreign language learning. The diploma thesis summarizes the education methods of individual preschool institutions and identifies potential mistakes made, and it suggests more effective ways of teaching.

This diploma thesis deals with kindergartens with a health promotion program. It describes the care of children in these kindergartens, what is the difference from kindergartens that do not have a health promotion program, and why the parents choose it. The theoretical part contains chapters dealing with the general definitions of health and its support as well as the origin and development of kindergartens in our country and in the world. The practical part describes the methods of qualitative research used and presented the results. There are also described individual kindergartens with a program supporting health.

xiii, 122 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation study explored the dimensions of fidelity to aid both researchers and practitioners in their measurement of the construct and use of the data. Understanding the dimensions of fidelity is important for three reasons: (a) limited agreement on a definition, (b) variability in measurement, and (c) inconsistent relations demonstrated between fidelity and outcomes. Leaders in the fields of program evaluation, behavioral health, psychology, and education have begun to promote an expanded definition of fidelity that looks beyond whether surface level components of interventions were delivered to include examination of whether interventions are delivered with quality and whether students are engaged. With this issue in mind, an expanded definition of fidelity was used to explore surface/content dimensions of fidelity or total fidelity, quality/process dimensions of fidelity, and student engagement. Specifically, this study examined how these dimensions relate to each other and how each dimension relates to student literacy outcomes. Multi-process multi-level models were used to study the interrelations among the dimensions of fidelity and the interrelations among the group level fidelity measures and multiple measures of student literacy development. The results of this study indicated that the construct of fidelity is multidimensional and potentially more complicated than has been discussed in the literature to date. When examining the relations among the dimensions of fidelity, total fidelity and quality were highly related, quality and engagement may be related, and total fidelity and engagement were not related. The relation between total fidelity and student outcomes was in the opposite direction of what was hypothesized--lower total fidelity was related to higher student outcomes. The relation between student engagement and student outcomes was in the hypothesized direction--higher engagement was related to higher student outcomes. The relation between quality of delivery and student outcomes was also in the hypothesized direction with higher quality related to higher student outcomes. The results highlight several issues related to fidelity that need to be considered by both researchers (measuring multiple components, repeated assessment, data analytic methods) and practitioners (how and what to measure, general variability in implementation, use of the data) in the field of education. / Committee at large: Elizabeth Ham, Co-Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Kenneth Merrell, Co-Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; David Chard, Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Yvonne Braun, Outside Member, Sociology