Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been called for playing a crucial role in integrating principles,values, and practices accorded with sustainable development. Holistic approach, ethical values, norm transitionand behavior changes are required to achieve the aim of ESD. However, while both external and internal impactsof the Swedish education system have affected its fundamental values and aims, core elements of ESD inSwedish curriculum were also influenced. This paper analyzes, in particular, the changes that PISA reportsbrought in the Swedish curriculum at the discourse level, and its potential effects on ESD. Discourse analysiswas mainly used for comparing two curricula and two syllabi. With the help of situational contexts of PISA andthe curriculum of 2011, a transition observed from text analysis was interpreted and the final discussion wasanchored with social contexts from educational discourses. The result indicated that influences from PISA in thenew curriculum and syllabus were observed in corresponded aims and goals. Situational and social contexts alsopointed to the same direction of transition due to the previous goals-oriented curriculum that made a wide rangeof teaching. Thus, fundamental values, aims and goals were changed into providing clearer guidelines forteaching scope and gradings as well as into focusing literacy skills and knowledge of concepts. In the process ofthe transition, holistic approach, ethical and democratical values, as well as focus on cultural aspects and pupils’ attributes were removed or shrunken, which implied negative impacts on ESD. On the other hand, emphasis onliteracy skills of students in the new curriculum was expected to bring positive achievement for ESD.Furthermore, in order to achieve the norm transition toward sustainable development, those lost immeasurable values are suggested to be addressed in future Swedish education.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of single-sex and coeducational physical education classes on secondary school students' self-confidence levels. A dependent sample of Grade 10 students completed Vealey's State Sport-Confidence Inventory at the completion of their single-sex class and then again at the completion of their coeducational class. They also completed a sport specific self-confidence measure, in order to factor out their confidence in basketball and volleyball from their overall State Sport-Confidence. Some students also participated in focus group interviews at the completion of each class type. Vealey's State Sport-Confidence Inventory showed no significant differences between classes or between genders. However, qualitative results contradicted these findings as females indicated obvious differences between the two class types that would in turn affect their self-confidence levels. The results indicate that more research is needed into how class type affects the self-confidence of students in single-sex and coeducational physical education classes.

<p>The number of children with disabilities under the age of 18 years around the world varies from 120 to 150 million. In many countries, throughout the world, the majority of children with disabilities either do not receive any form of education or, if they receive any, it is often inappropriate. UNESCO estimates that more than 90% of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend schools. Rwanda has recently started inclusive education in a number of schools around the country for ensuring that children with disabilities have access to education. Despite this, in Rwanda, many children with disabilities do not attend school and this number is not known. This study aimed to identify the barriers to school attendance by children with disabilities in Rwanda.</p>

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Durban-Westville, 1982.

The effects of a gymnastic unit on stereotypic, on-task, and off task behaviors of two children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and two children with Down syndrome were examined using structured teaching, based on adaptations by the TEACCH model. Structured teaching consisted of individual pictorial activity schedules and work systems. The stereotypic, on-task, and off task behaviors were observed during three phases: baseline, treatment, and post-treatment. / Inter-rater reliability of stereotypic, on-task, and off task behaviors was 82.2%. The results indicated reductions on the levels of stereotypic behaviors of both participants with ASD, while no significant changes were observed in the levels of on-task behaviors for these participants. This was probably due to the fact that the gymnastic unit was fairly structured even before the implementation of the treatment. No effects were found on the levels of on-task behaviors of both participants with Down syndrome.

Assessment is a key aspect within teaching and learning processes in higher education (Torrance, 2007). Formative assessment may be viewed simply as constructive feedback to support learning or more holistically as ongoing assessment based on sustained engagement in learning activities within a supportive social context that expand teachable moments to scaffold learning. Online education now pervades higher education worldwide but effective ways to incorporate formative assessment within online settings is not well understood. Previous research in online postgraduate courses designed for teachers as professional learners illustrate that engagement with authentic learning activities promotes meaningful learning and transferability to their communities of practice (COP) (e.g. Mackey, 2011). However, there appears to be paucity of literature with a focus on assessment in professional learning. This thesis explores formative assessment within online postgraduate courses designed for teachers as professional learners who aim to develop capacity to incorporate information communication technologies (ICT) in their own practice. Case studies are presented to richly illustrate the design, implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of two courses; and then further re-examined to elucidate strategies and key characteristics that can foster (or hinder) online formative assessment. Authentic and developmental learning perspectives underpinned by situated cognition theory framed the design and interpretation within a multiple-case methodology. Evidence of experiences and perceptions of the teachers and their professional students included online observation, analysis of the discourse, and semi-structured interviews. An authentic learning environment that sustained productive engagement is illustrated in both case studies along with many techniques that the teachers designed to underpin formative assessment. A key characteristic in both courses was the design of authentic assessment activities that are relevant and meaningful in real-life contexts. Techniques identified included appropriate learner autonomy, and opportunities to negotiate shared understanding of learning goals and expected outcomes including the sharing of student-created artefacts. The online reification of the artefacts and other learning community support was enabled by the ongoing documentation through creative use of online discussion forums as a feature within the learning management system (LMS). These techniques enriched the processes of ongoing monitoring, assessment of evidence of learning and interactive formative feedback. Both teachers’ beliefs about self and peer feedback also enabled both teachers to design for productive synergies between formative and summative assessment that promoted engagement and deep learning. Additional synergies of discourse among peers related to immediacy, interactivity, and mutuality in which the students recognized themselves and valued their peers as source of constructive feedback. The students also demonstrated meaningful reflectivity that manifested reflexivity within the context of their professional practices. Online formative assessment is illustrated in both courses as a form of collaborative engagement in authentic learning, including assessment activities with opportunities for ongoing interactions and formative feedback. The open-ended authentic assessment activities supported professional learners to connect the online discourse to their own classroom practices, as well as keenly engage with authentic projects that are situated in their schools. Learner autonomy stimulated self-regulated learning in which students went beyond achievement of the expected learning outcomes for summative assessment to engaging with tasks and processes that matched their own learning goals, interests and contextual needs. Learners’ involvement within formative assessment processes enhanced opportunities to negotiate meanings which fostered shared authenticity.The inherent authenticity in the course design also stimulated application of prior knowledge and experiences in ways that promoted meaningful learning. Engagement in asynchronous dialogue as a community of learners with shared goals and practice elicited alterative perspectives and disorienting dilemmas. This stimulated learners to think in new ways and more critically and to develop relevant professional competencies in ICT. These in turn supported teachers as professional learners to confidently apply their developing pedagogical practices with ICT in their own classrooms; and to share those with school colleagues. This study illustrates ways that online formative assessment can be designed to support learners to develop relevant knowledge and professional skills that increase professional competencies. Incorporating authentic formative assessment in the course design also impacted teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD), and thus their schools. A key finding from this research is conceptualization of formative assessment as a collaborative pedagogical strategy in which both the teacher and students are active players. This research provides evidence that innovative integration of formative assessment in online settings can support committed professional learners to develop competencies that are transferable into their own practice. This suggests that ongoing formative assessment is an important strategy to increase the quality of online professional development in many fields, in addition to that of education.