This thesis calls attention to a previously unexplored phenomenon: leadership programmes for educators in support of education reforms. Such programmes, appearing nowadays in different parts of the world, are designed to enable educators to carry out certain activities, and to change their perceptions about newly introduced policies. This study analyzes such a programme for university leaders, initiated and supervised by Russian Ministry of education and science. Theoretically the study builds on a concept of New Public Management (NPM), arguing that this concept is relevant to both Russian education reforms and the programme contents. NPM refers to a complex phenomenon of introducing private sector mechanisms into the public sphere. This thesis shows how Russian higher education reforms since early 1990s are going along the lines of NPM, but at the same time paradoxically combine it with planned economy approaches and tight state control. Apart from internal contradictions, the reforms implementation in Russia is also impeded by public resistance and lack of leadership in universities. The study suggests that the programme in focus served as a means of NPM reform implementation, and provided a concentrated version of the local higher education narrative. Research aims were formulated as follows: 1) to uncover the specifics of NPM narrative in Russian context; 2) to discuss the programme as an instrument of facilitating higher education reform in Russia. Methodologically this research is a qualitative case study. Transcripts of the programme lectures served as the primary data for analysis, complemented by interviews and field notes. The data was processed through a theory-guided qualitative content analysis procedure. The results of analysis show that 80 per cent of the contents were in line with the NPM narrative, which was justified primarily through international competitiveness argumentation. The study reveals the ambiguous role of the state, which was positioned as the main controller or customer, but was also addressed as a barrier for development. It shows how student-centeredness lacked from the narrative, while industries and regions were pictured as important stakeholders. The study also uncovers contradictions within the narrative that can explain difficulties in reform implementation: the call for cooperation contradicts enhanced competition; the orientation to the global market contradicts local functions of universities; and suggested NPM means contradict humanitarian missions of higher education. Basing on a single case with the corresponding limitations to generalization, this thesis contributes to the body of research on NPM, studying it in the previously uninvestigated context of Russian higher education.

Nonformal education (NFE) and training is quite widespread in Europe nowadays, and is considered a tool for empowerment for youth and other individuals. Nonformal education was founded in the late 1960s as a response to the failure and limitations of formal systems, and was supposed to replace the bureaucracies practiced by such institutions within those. One of NFE’s aims is to empower learners through achieving un-met learning needs, and programmes should be tailored to meet their own interests. Thus throughout the years, the values related to NFE have developed into a different dimension and its educational programmes have been employed to serve political agendas. It has also been attributed to economic and neoliberal discourses. Having said that, this study examines how NFE and the concept of empowerment evolved through critically analyzing discourses in the Europe 2020 Strategy. Since the EU’s major objective is to become the most competitive knowledge-based economy of the world, the study will attempt to critically examine what influence does this objective have on youth empowerment, and whether NFE is being exploited to transfer the knowledge favored by the Strategy, thus contributing towards hegemonic ways of thinking and acting. The focus of this study is to reveal the power of language in policies and its influence on shaping empowerment, utilizing Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis as the methodology to help in analyzing the significant discourses in the Europe 2020 Strategy. Accordingly, two narratives were identified and analyzed: a Transformation narrative that bisects into two sub-narratives of ‘Information Society’ and knowledge transformation towards a ‘Knowledge-Based Economy’. The second is an Adapting Skills narrative that has transformed the competencies of individuals to contribute to the former narratives. This has helped in exposing how ideologies and power through the language conveyed in the Strategy govern social change and youth’s interest towards a collective educational pathway. This study argues that the policy lacks a critical approach, as it focuses its attention on building an information society that requires lifelong learners to be educated and empowered within certain domains. It could be noticed that it mobilizes educational programmes to promote determined objectives that marginalize other knowledge and competencies, also contributing to building ‘class’ and privileges among learners. Using Critical Theory and empowerment theory as the theoretical framework, suggests that transforming the society should result in improving the human condition, allowing not only for empowerment according to political interests, but most importantly for emancipation.

The interest in consumer education by international organizations as well as the German government has dramatically increased throughout the last ten years. At the same time the critical voices regarding the negative implications of consumption as a dominant cultural practice are getting louder. Here, the current economic consumption discourse as well as consumer education is argued to be colored by the neo-liberal ideology that contributes to social and environmental exploitation. As such critical research suggests that there is a need to engage more critically with the current promotion of consumer education that is predominantly educating students to function within the neo-liberal system instead of challenging it for the sake of collective well-being. Specifically for the German context different NGOs (foodwatch, LobbyControl) have pointed out to how the current promotion of consumer education in Germany is colored by economic argumentation. The objective of this qualitative study was to question and challenge the hegemonic ways of thinking about consumption and consumer education and to contribute to a more critical discussion of consumer education and its implications for the society. As social transformations are increasingly manifested through and visible in discourse in the ‘new times’ this study, therefore, analysed a policy for consumer education as a product of the ‘new times’ that was published in 2013 in Germany. The goal was to investigate which discourses the policy is drawing from, how they are worked together in the policy and whether the text is doing ideological work in terms of sustaining the current economization of society. The two main research questions were: 1. What discourses are included into the policy for consumer education and how are they ordered? 2. Does the text do ideological work in terms of working towards the stabilization and spread of neo-liberalism and consumerism? The study was conducted using Fairclough’s approach to Critical Discourse Analysis that draws from postmodern, poststructuralist as well as neo-marxist theories. It combines critical social science with sociolinguisticcs and as such offered a suitable framework for critically studying the policy text. By applying this methodological framework it was possible to combine the analysis of language, discourse and the social environment which are considered to be dialogically related to each other. This research showed that the education policy text draws on the neo-liberal, social-democrat and critical consumption discourse where it could be determined that the neo-liberal discourse is dominant and marginalizes the other discourses. Furthermore, it could be shown how the policy text fosters ideological transformation by partially promoting an education that works towards the spread of neo-liberal ideology. This ideological work is majorly achieved through fostering a lack of imagination and acceptance of current changes instead of offering view-points that also challenge the current transformations in society. As a result the policy fosters a consumer education that educates students to function within the system instead of drawing from the critical pedagogy discourse that calls for emancipation and empowerment for the sake of collective well-being. However, the policy is not entirely dedicated to the neo-liberal project and together with the insights from this research gives space for a more critical interpretation and implementation.

<p> This dissertation examined the emotional and relational aspects of co-design, and how the co-design process for creating caring classrooms supported teacher learning. I drew on key elements of improvement science, as a type of design-based implementation research, to understand teachers as learners and as experts. I elaborated two layers of theory to guide this study. First, I conceptualized caring in the context of intentional relationship building with students, described characteristics of caring classrooms, and identified dilemmas that arise from caring. Then, I explored expansive learning and deliberative agency as concepts for understanding teacher learning. With a small group of teachers, we planned, implemented, studied, and revised the routine designed for improving relationships with students. We created a student survey to learn about students&rsquo; experiences and used data to guide revisions. Through qualitative data collection and analysis, I tested, revised, and refined my high-level conjecture that the co-design process supported teacher learning. The findings suggest teachers had opportunities to demonstrate deliberative agency, learn, and grow professionally. I described the evolution of the design and examined the ways the design team grappled with dilemmas. Teachers engaged in learning as they broke away from old routines to design and implement a new routine in their classrooms. I also examined teachers&rsquo; talk when looking at data and found that in analyzing student data together, talk turned both towards and away from deeper investigations of pedagogical practice and the practical measure. Teachers considered students&rsquo; experiences and feelings within their classrooms, which made the data more salient and contributed to the emotional dimensions of design work. In a case study of one teacher, I found that she grappled with dilemmas connected to the co-design process and caring for students, and she used the design team space to reflect on dilemmas and explore emotions related to the dilemmas. Through this study I show how improving teacher-student relationships requires risk-taking, creating classrooms can be complex, and the design team space can become a site of care.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine school personnel&rsquo;s perceptions of safety in their school building as well as determine their confidence in their abilities to respond to an active intruder incident. The participants of this study were school personnel from a suburban, Southwestern Illinois PreK-12 school district. The study captured perceptions of safety and school procedures within the district&rsquo;s nine buildings. The sample of participants were obtained through purposeful and convenience sampling. The participants were then assigned into five categories of participants, purposely identified: Administration, Teachers/Faculty, Support Staff (e.g., paraprofessional, aides, secretaries), Other Staff (e.g., custodians, caf&eacute; workers, bus drivers, monitors), and Substitutes (for all positions). In addition, the school&rsquo;s current documented policy on school safety and active intruder response procedures was reviewed. The qualitative design of this study included interviews and document analysis. The study was a phenomenological study with triangulation that included research questions addressing school personnel perceptions of safety and their preparedness in the event of an active intruder situation, comparing these responses among the identified categories, and identifying the type of active intruder training provided to school personnel. The seven themes that emerged from the interviews were limited safeguards, sense of safety, training, response issues, supplies and equipment, handbook awareness, and improvements. Additional research is needed to determine if other schools in Illinois require improvements in their active intruder response plans, procedures, and provided training.</p><p>

<p> Job-embedded professional development is fairly new to education. Various forms of job-embedded professional development have become popular in the last ten years. One form of job-embedded professional development is instructional coaching. Instructional coaching is rather new to education, but has become a popular form of professional development in school districts. The current study reviewed various forms of job-embedded professional development, defined job-embedded professional development and instructional coaching, and then concentrated on teacher perspectives of instructional coaching as a form of professional development, the impact of instructional coaching on classroom instruction, and the impact of instructional coaching on implementing district initiatives. In this qualitative study, 12 teachers in their first year of teaching, who completed a yearlong partnership with an instructional coach, were interviewed. The data from the interviews was collected and then analyzed to identify themes and patterns using NVivo 11 Pro, a software program for analyzing qualitative data. The researcher analyzed and coded the data as trends and patterns were revealed in the teachers&rsquo; perspectives on instructional coaching as a form of professional development, on the impact of instructional coaching on their instructional practices, and on the impact of instructional coaching on their implementation of district expectations. The data indicated that the participants considered instructional coaching to be personalized professional development that supported the ability to implement instructional practices in the classroom as well as implement district expectations.</p>

<p> The purpose of this research was to investigate whether new teacher and new teacher mentor perceptions of the effectiveness of the Missouri State Beginning Teachers&rsquo; Assistance Program (BTAP) were positive and whether the new teacher perceptions led to the new teacher remaining in the teaching profession at least five years. At the time of this writing, in the state of Missouri, new teachers must work through a six step process to upgrade their initial teacher certification to a continual (99 year) certification (Appendix A). This paper describes research on the second step of Missouri&rsquo;s process, which involved the new teacher working with a mentor for the first two years of their careers, to become accustomed to the expectations of a teaching career. </p><p> The method used in collecting data for this was study was three-fold. First, the education department at a local university conducted a new teacher panel discussion. The researcher attended this discussion and noted the results within this paper. Second, secondary data were collected from a conference presentation discussing the perceptions of new teachers and their administrators. New teachers gave their responses, as to how they thought they were performing in their classrooms and their administrators gave their responses, as to how they thought their new teachers were performing. Thirdly, data was collected online from new teachers and new teacher mentors on their perceptions of the Missouri new teacher mentoring program. </p><p> Results from the data in all three collection methods indicated that, while all surveyed districts were using a mentoring process for new teachers, each district implemented their program with varying degrees of effectiveness. Best practices seemed to indicate that a good new teacher and new teacher mentor personal connection was key to helping new teachers succeed in their new profession. The process for how these pairings were created varied from district to district. </p><p> Because of this research, the researcher recommends that individual districts make every effort to find a &ldquo;good&rdquo; personal fit between their new teachers and their mentors and that finding this ideal fit is bets performed by the administrator who will be supervising the new teacher and the mentor. </p><p>

<p> This mixed methods research investigated the relationship between student and teacher perceptions of five motivational components of instruction&mdash;appeal, challenge, choice, meaningfulness, and academic self-efficacy&mdash;and how teachers&rsquo; knowledge of their students&rsquo; perceptions informed their reflection on the quality of instruction. The <i>Student Perceptions of Classroom Quality</i> (SPOCQ; Gentry &amp; Owen, 2004) and <i> Teacher Perceptions of Classroom Quality</i> (T-POCQ; Seward, 2016) survey results of students with gifts and talents (<i>n</i> = 306 for a total of 518 administrations of the SPOCQ) and teachers (<i>n</i> = 23 for a total of 39 administrations of the T-POCQ) who participated in a summer academic enrichment program were analyzed. Significant negative but weak correlations existed between these two groups in appeal and meaningfulness, and their perceptions did not significantly correlate on challenge, academic self-efficacy, and choice. The strengths of all five correlations are weak. Ten teachers who represented various demographic groups participated in guided reflection interviews during which teacher and student survey results were compared. Teachers who did not hold degrees in education and/or lacked previous teaching experience felt a tension between content and motivation, viewing teaching as delivering content efficiently, not necessarily motivationally. All teachers perceived that they provided choice but were surprised when their students&rsquo; perceptions suggested otherwise, causing them to reevaluate their actual use of choice in instruction. Overall, teachers valued the addition of the student perspective during their reflections, indicating that it shifted their focus away from the content and learning activities toward the social-emotional aspects of learning. In addition, teachers valued guided reflection with a supportive peer as it kept them focused, helped them &ldquo;think through&rdquo; the data, and provided a sounding board for potential instructional improvement. Implications for instructional practices and professional development in other K-12 settings are discussed in the summary.</p><p>

<p> The primary purpose of teacher evaluation is to improve teaching practice, which results in increased student achievement. In practice, however, evaluation systems have been generally used as sorting mechanisms for identifying the lowest performing teachers for selective termination. The school system in this study, like others, aspires to have all of its teachers consistently performing at a highly effective level. The problem of practice faced by the school system is the inability of a large number of teachers rated &ldquo;effective&rdquo; to summarily improve their practice over time and move to the &ldquo;highly effective&rdquo; rating. In essence, how does a teacher evaluation metric maximize the chances that those who remain in the profession become accomplished practitioners? This research triangulates teacher evaluation, self-reflection and their roles in improving teacher quality. The prevailing thought is that teachers who willingly engage in more formalized self-reflection and self-assessment yield higher degrees of teacher effectiveness as measured on a local teacher evaluation. The central focus of this study will investigate tenured teachers&rsquo; perceptions of the effect of their teacher evaluation tool on teacher quality and other factors that contribute to a teacher&rsquo;s improvement of instructional performance over time. The researcher would also like to investigate the extent to which teacher cohorts&mdash;differentiated by demographic data&mdash;engage in formalized practices of self-reflection about their own teaching practice. Lastly, the researcher would like to determine whether or not tenured teachers who are evaluated with the local teacher evaluation tool actually improve their teacher effectiveness over time. </p><p> This study was conducted in a public, K-12 school system with 1420 teachers employed&mdash;39 of which are National Board Certified. This schools system is located in a rural/suburban school system and has utilized its current teacher evaluation system since 2000. </p><p> The findings of this study indicated that the majority of teachers&mdash;disaggregated by demographic teacher cohort&mdash;viewed their local teacher evaluation system somewhere along the continuum of neutral to satisfactory as a tool for building a teacher&rsquo;s effectiveness over time. The overwhelming majority of teachers embraced the post-conference as the most impactful part of the entire evaluation process in building teacher quality; the least impactful was the pre-conference. Additionally, teacher respondents&mdash;agnostic of demographic&mdash;opined that while the local teacher evaluation system was perceived to be a both quality control and a compliance factor for teachers, less than half of all respondents believe that the system, assists teachers <i> formatively</i> as a tool for professional development. Per the respondents, it should be noted that the teacher evaluation system elicited the strongest reactions&mdash;both positive and negative&mdash;in teachers having experienced more than 20 formal observations. The research also conveyed that most teachers reported that there was much more embedded self-reflection in the evaluation system than hypothesized; most prominently, teachers cited that <i>audio-taping, reviewing student performance data, completing a self-reflective checklist, and engaging in unstructured self-reflection</i> were a few of the assorted self-reflective activities were facilitated by the evaluation system. Moreover, the data clearly demonstrated that all teachers engage in high degrees of reflection regardless of demographic cohort and a majority of teachers claim to already know how to &ldquo;self-reflect.&rdquo; In other words, the highest self-reported degree of reflection were those teachers already rated as &ldquo;highly effective&rdquo; in the local evaluation system. A prevalent trend in the data was that degrees of self-reflection matter and build more pronounced levels of teacher effectiveness over time. In essence, the fact that teachers participate in reflection does not seem to impact teacher quality; rather, the degree and amount to which one reflects is actually what matters in building instructional capacity in teachers. Other noticeable trends in the data were as follows: more years of teaching experience was inversely related to the degree to which a teacher self-reflects; over 30% of teachers with more than 20 years of experience reported that they do no self-reflect at all; the non-NBCT teacher cohort out reflects the NBCT cohort; NBCT teachers had the highest average evaluation rating out of every teacher cohort; and, teaching experience seems to mute any lack of reflection in a teacher&rsquo;s evaluation rating; The other noticeable trend was that more formal observations for teachers did not translate into higher evaluation ratings over time. Overall, the two most impactful professional development activities cited by teachers were the following: participation in professional learning communities and peer coaching and mentoring, respectively.</p><p>

<p> As the method, instrument, and reliability of teacher and principal evaluations has come under extreme scrutiny since the Education Reform Act of 2010, school systems across the nation have examined and refined the evaluation process for teachers and principals. Studies have shown the integration of peer evaluation as a model of teacher evaluations can have a positive impact on the teachers and their performance that participate in peer evaluation as well as the potential for an increase in the academic achievement of students. The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers&rsquo; overall perceptions of peer evaluation and of how the use of peer evaluation could improve their teaching practice. The goals of this study were to determine the level of sharing of instructional practices among their peers currently, and whether or not they perceived an increase in the amount of time spent sharing of best practices would occur as a result of incorporating peer evaluation into the current model of a formative evaluation. Further, teachers were asked to identify potential benefits as well as any potential challenges they see as a result of implementing peer evaluations. This study used an online survey to gather data from participants. </p><p> This study was conducted in a suburban school district in Maryland. A total of 34 teachers participated in the survey questionnaire. One elementary, one middle, and one high school were selected to participate in the survey. Data were collected through an online survey conducted in September 2017. </p><p> This study provides some evidence that teachers do welcome the possible integration of peer evaluation and perceive that peer evaluation may result in an increase in the amount of time spent sharing instructional strategies among other teachers. The findings also reported potential benefits such as increased sharing of best practices of instructional strategies, more timely and relevant feedback, and reduced feelings of isolation could potentially occur as a result of incorporating peer evaluation in the current model of formative evaluations. This study further identified potential challenges such as lack of time to complete peer evaluations, personal bias, and a perceived feeling of needing to add yet another task to the busy professional day of a teacher.</p><p>