Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Children in the UK today live in an increasingly mediatised world. With rapid evolution in mobile technologies they are faced from an increasingly young age with a plurality of choices at the level of device, mode and platform. Research argues that this landscape can offer exciting and empowering ways for children to learn, socialise and create, but that it also poses challenges in terms of wellbeing and relationships with information. Understanding how to support children to engage with devices healthily, critically and constructively has therefore attracted research attention across a number of disciplines from media education and online safety through information behaviour to new literacies. In some respects this has led to a proliferation and fragmentation of ‘literacies’ that can be overwhelming to navigate. However, bringing them into dialogue it is possible to find some common ground around what reflective engagement might look like. There is also agreement across these disciplines that in order to develop responsive ways of encouraging and supporting reflective engagement more research attention needs to be paid to the messy realities of children’s situated practices. Bringing this bottom-up research into dialogue with a tentative definition of reflective engagement based on existing models and ideas from the literature was the aim of the present study. The study was initially informed by learning ecology perspectives that situate children’s practices within a set of different contexts. Using this as a heuristic framing device the study explored the shaping of children’s engagement through a number of different lenses: material, socio-emotional, pedagogical and cultural. Using a case study approach I spent time with seven children, their families and their peers across home and school settings. In so doing I sought to generate rich qualitative data about practices, the aspects of context shaping them and the emergent understanding and reflection arising around them from both children’s and adults’ perspectives. Thematic analysis of this data brought insights that built on the tentative characterisation of reflective engagement I began with. However, the findings also revealed some challenges and ‘entry points’ in terms of reflective engagement that hadn’t been anticipated. Synthesising these entry points under the notions of practices, spaces, resources and roles I shifted gear from exploratory to pragmatic and adopted the over-arching concept of ‘sponsors’ of reflective engagement as way of moving forward. The thesis concludes with the suggestion that identifying or creating ‘sponsors of reflective engagement’ could be a dynamic and constructive way of mobilising the assets and addressing the needs of a primary school community.

This dissertation analyzes public-intellectual work that deploys crisis tropes in its treatment of literacy, arguing that such work provides insight into the influence that intellectual engagement might exert on discourse in the public sphere. From A.S. Hill’s lament that freshman entering Harvard in 1874 could barely construct a legible sentence to Stanley Fish’s charge that millions of college graduates earning degrees in 2005 did so without learning what a sentence was, the relationship between literacy and the communicative skills required of productive citizens has been a constant source of concern. Between these two historical moments, this relationship has been an undertheorized feature of debates surrounding racial uplift, feminist protest, and America’s role as a world power. When interlocutors in such debates minimize the significance of literacy practices, they encourage rhetorical action driven by a coercive conception of social crisis that limits critical engagement on the part of the public. I argue that the public intellectual’s capacity to facilitate rhetorically literate discursive exchange at the level of the mass public can transform the paralysis of crisis into possibility. I reframe well-known debates between W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, and Mortimer Adler and Glenn T. Seaborg in terms of the rhetorical models they offer for responsible public-intellectual work.

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Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-03-30Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:22:16Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 cerdas_l_dr_arafcl.pdf: 2043578 bytes, checksum: 3a3c1161ef4764fa001d70f3d3c2ceb6 (MD5) / O objetivo desta tese consiste na organização, análise e síntese dos conhecimentos produzidos pelas pesquisas em relação às práticas e aos saberes dos professores alfabetizadores, na perspectiva de que a experiência na docência representa uma das fontes de constituição dessas práticas e saberes, ao lado das trajetórias pessoais de vida e de formação para a profissão, e são, portanto, capazes de gerar subsídios para uma reflexão acerca da alfabetização. Esta tese busca, desse modo, responder aos seguintes questionamentos: a partir das pesquisas é possível conhecer quais as práticas e os saberes que fazem parte da cultura alfabetizadora dos professores? As pesquisas revelam elementos que influenciam a constituição dessas práticas e saberes? A partir das pesquisas é possível identificar aspectos de reprodução e inovação nas práticas e saberes dos alfabetizadores? As pesquisas evidenciam o papel das práticas pedagógicas no processo de consolidação dos saberes docentes? Verifica-se a existência de uma produção constante de pesquisas sobre as práticas e os saberes na alfabetização, cujo conhecimento produzido merece ser organizado, identificando-se não só as tendências teóricas e metodológicas dessas pesquisas na área da educação, mas também ressaltando suas contribuições para as reflexões sobre a alfabetização das crianças nos anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental. Realiza-se uma pesquisa bibliográfica, na qual são analisadas teses e dissertações produzidas entre 2005 a 2009 nos programas de Pós-Graduação em Educação do Estado de São Paulo com foco nas práticas e saberes de professores alfabetizadores. A análise das pesquisas foi feita a partir de autores que tratam das práticas e saberes docentes, entre eles destacam-se Gimeno Sacristán, Jackson, Charthier... / The aim of this thesis is to organize, synthesize and analyze some results of academic researches concerning to both literacy teacher’s practices and knowledge. The experience in teaching constitutes a source of practices and knowledge, beside teacher’s individual way of life and profissional education, therefore, those are elements that can together provide important clues to thinking about literacy. Seeking this objective, the study presents a survey in what are under analysis MS Theses and PhD Dissertations focusing literacy teacher’s practices and knowledge produced from 2005 to 2009 in Education Graduate Programs of Sao Paulo state. After the reading of those works, the thesis seeks to answer the following questions: is it possible to recognize what practices and knowledge belong to the teacher’s literacy culture? Do the researches contain elements that are able to influence the establishing of those practices and knowledge? Do the researches show the role of educational practices in the consolidating process of teaching knowledge? In the period from 2005 to 2009 there is a very large academic production about literacy practices and knowledge, whose acknowledge might be organized, looking for both to identify theoretical and methodological tendencies and to stand out their contribution to the thought about children literacy in the early years of Elementary School,. The analysis of researches was done by the thought of some authors who approach teacher’s practices and knowledge, such as Gimeno Sacristán, Jackson, Charthier, Mercado, Tardif, Borges, Gauthier, et al, among others. The acquired results, that wereanalyzed and organized in frames, tables and illustrations, confirm the hypothesis that have led this thesis according to the literacy teacher’s practices and knowledge, already identified by the... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Orientador: Francisco José Carvalho Mazzeu / Banca: Eliza Maria Barbosa / Banca: Francisco de Paiva Lima Neto / Resumo: Este trabalho versa sobre a alfabetização na perspectiva pedagógica histórico-crítica. Nossa problemática de pesquisa reside na necessidade de propostas pedagógicas aliadas à uma concepção crítica e dialética de alfabetização e, simultaneamente, na ausência de estudos que enfoquem o ensino inicial da leitura e da escrita por esse viés analítico. No percurso de delineamento de uma concepção histórica e crítica de alfabetização, dialogamos com as concepções atuais de alfabetização e letramento, proposta por Magda Soares, bem como a influente concepção construtivista e a, ainda resistente, perspectiva tradicional. O objetivo do diálogo foi o de estabelecer os postulados de cada vertente pedagógica em relação à alfabetização de modo a esclarecer as divergências de suas concepções à de uma proposta histórico-crítica de alfabetização. Como objeto de estudo, tomamos a linguagem escrita nas formulações psicológicas da Escola de Vigotski e as proposições metodológicas da Pedagogia Histórico-Crítica, refletindo como a segunda estabelece em princípios pedagógicos aquilo que a primeira postula como percurso do desenvolvimento cultural dos indivíduos em fase de escolarização. Partindo da hipótese de que a palavra é o instrumento-guia do ensino-aprendizagem dos conteúdos da alfabetização e, ademais, de que as propostas pedagógicas para a alfabetização de crianças existentes reforçam a cisão entre conteúdo e forma da palavra, priorizando sua face fonética em detrimento de sua face semântica, constatamos que, apenas uma alfabetização que unifique tais faces fonética e semântica dará conta de ensinar a linguagem escrita aliada às dimensões simbólica, abstrata e conceitual que lhe é própria. A título de conclusão e contribuição do trabalho desenvolvido, esboçamos ideias gerais sobre a alfabetização dirigida pelos termos da... / Abstract: This research deals with literacy process on the critical historical pedagogy perspective. Our research problem is established by the necessity of pedagogical proposals related to a dialectic and critical conception of literacy and, simultaneously, to the absence of studies focused on the teaching of writing and reading process through this point of view. By defining a critical and historical conception of literacy, we dialogued with current conception of writing and reading process, proposed by Magda Soares, as well as the influent constructivist conception and, the so resistant, traditional perspective. That dialogue aimed at establishing the postulates of each pedagogical fields related to literacy in order to clarify divergences between these conception and a critical and historical literacy proposal. As object of study it was taken up the concept of written language from the Vigotskian School and the pedagogical approaches of critical historical pedagogy as we reflected on how both theories deal with the concept of written language. Assuming that the word is the leading-instrument for the learning and teaching of reading and writing and, besides that, the pedagogical proposals for children literacy rupture both phonetic and semantic faces of the word, we found that the teaching of writing and reading must unify both sides phonetic and semantic in order to address the abstractive, symbolic and conceptual dimension of the written language. In conclusion, we sketched out some general ideas for the educator who wishes to teach according to a critical perspective and oriented towards human beings humanization / Mestre

M.Com. (Financial Management) / Economically active individuals are frequently faced with the responsibility of making financial decisions which may dramatically impact their financial wellbeing. In today’s world of complex financial products and individuals increasingly being responsible for their own financial wellbeing, higher levels of financial literacy are of the utmost importance. The main aim of this study will be to determine whether students who study towards a diploma in a finance-related field have higher financial literacy levels than those studying towards a diploma in field of study that is not finance-related. A quantitative research methodology will be employed to the study in the form of a survey. The population includes all the diplomas presented on the University of Johannesburg (UJ), Bunting Road campus, and the sample consists of one finance-related diploma and two non-finance-related diplomas. Although the results of the study, in line with previous research, indicated that the finance group performed better than the non-finance group, the margin was smaller than expected and the average financial literacy score of both groups was low. Students performed the worst in the savings and borrowings and the best in the basic concepts content area. Many of the demographic and background characteristics identified by previous research to influence financial literacy could not be analysed as there was not enough variation or adequate representation within the total sample. In contrast to previous research many of the remaining demographic and background characteristics that could be analysed did not influence financial literacy. Only language (Sotho) and funding (NSFAS and my parents and/or family paid) were found to influence financial literacy levels. As this study indicates that the financial literacy levels of final year diploma students in South Africa are low, higher education might have to consider introducing a financial curriculum to increase financial literacy.

M.Ed. / This study investigated the perceptions of the teaching community, consisting of teachers and therapists, with regards to the implementation of the Teaching Handwriting, Reading and Spelling Skills (THRASS) programme in a special needs school. THRASS is a literacy program which promotes the learning of literacy skills within a whole school paradigm. The implementation of this program requires teachers and therapists to learn how the program approaches the teaching of literacy, which is a different methodology to what has previously been taught in the classroom. It is both the positive and negative aspects of this implementation process that has been researched for this study. This study was placed within the interpretivist paradigm. A case study design was used as one special needs school was identified as the focus of the research, which outlined the boundaries for the case. A qualitative approach was used, making use of semi structured interviews as the method of data collection. Interviews were then coded, analyzed and themes identified. The findings were explored in themes, which were used to inform recommendations. These themes included the perceptions of the initial THRASS training which included the financial implications of training and the inclusion of parent participation. Secondly, perceptions about teaching THRASS were explored. This included both positive and negative aspects on the implementation of the new programme. Thirdly, perceptions regarding the collaborative process that THRASS encourages. It was found that collaboration led to empowerment within the teaching community. Finally perceptions regarding learner performance and the view that learner confidence increased with the implementation of this programme. This study provides an opportunity to view and explore teachers’ and therapists perceptions about the implementation of THRASS which is being introduced with iii special needs learners. It outlines both positive and negative experiences that have been identified through this implementation process. These perceptions enable other schools to learn from these experiences and allows further understanding in the implementation of THRASS, within a special needs environment.

The purpose of this study was to document the literacy practices of three 5-7 year old boys who were in the formative stage of formal schooling. The study took place in the British Virgin Islands, a group of 60 or so islands, cays, and islets located in the Caribbean. I examined these boys’ literacy practices in three contexts — home, community and school. Through observations, interviews and samplings of conversations at home, I found that school literacy dominated all three contexts and was used similarly in all three contexts. Additionally, parents were consciously reinforcing school literacy in the home. The three boys were reading, writing, speaking and listening at their expected grade level and appeared to be steadily progressing. Religion appeared to play an important role in supporting the children’s literacy development, consistent with the country’s Christian heritage. As previous research in other contexts (e.g., Marsh, 2003) has shown, home and community literacy practices remain largely unrecognized and untapped at school. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

1990 was International Literacy Year. A decade later, both our essential understandings of what 'literacy' means and our approaches to literacy have developed immensely. We now know that literacy is situated and multiple, complex and ideological; it is no singular, autonomous entity but an intricate mosaic of practices. It is part of the rich and varied social tapestry that is fashioned through the playing out of lives. This text explores some of the social practices of literacy in rural communities of Usulutan, El Salvador. It aims to form part of the New Literacies body of work, by taking an ethnographic / ideological approach to the study of literacy. Its main substantive foci are firstly, the uses of 'local' literacies as they relate to the socio-political and cultural environment of rural Usulutan, and secondly, the ways in which existing and imported discourses are taken up and used by people in Usulutan according to their own determined agendas, conceptualisations and visions. The study seeks to reveal the diversity and dissonance within local ideologies and literacy practices that seem often to lie hidden in research. It takes as its theoretical framework Bakhtin's noticon of discourse, to explore the meanings which are created when dominant and subordincated discursive streams meet and challenge one another. Experience in Usulutan has revealed that 'literacy' here is a totemic creation of discourses, an invention of ideology, actualised through its continuing iteration by dominant voices. This discourse of power is critiqued by the voices of adults in the rural communities of Usulutan, who engage with literacy as part of their creative strategies in negotiating struggles for resources and positioning within relationships. It forms a dynamic part of the imaginative and ingenious management of lives. This study has found that labels such as 'literate' and 'illiterate' cannot capture the extensive range of practices which are ongoing as people act out their own cultural texts within the complex and ever-changing social world of Usulutan. It contests autonomous notions of literacy as a site of deficit or deprivation, and challenges oversimplified views of literacy as 'empowerment'. Instead, it constructs a vision of local literacies in Usulutan as performances, as part of an original and inventive process of reshaping the social fabric and challenging subordination. Literacies form in this arena a site for the recreation of history and the construction of identity; they are not only reflective of social process but a powerful force for 'marching onwards'. The experiences in whcih this text is grounded have revealed that the struggle for voice int his corner of the world is no polarized conflict of 'oppression', no binary battle of wills, but rather a reflection of the fluid and shifting boundaries of language. Dominant and subordinated streams of discourse meet, reshape and co-construct each other ont he vast, uncertain plain of dialogue; Bakhtin's 'living and unrepeatable' play of language and light. It is here, at the moment of discursive encounter, and in the surrounding intricacies of social practices, that hte most powerful and meaningful of Geertz's webs of human significance are spun.