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This dissertation is an autoethnographic study recounting my experience of working in an urban primary school between 2008 and 2010. Over a two year period, during which time I was acting headteacher and then principal teacher, I recorded my experiences in a daily journal. My focus was on children, especially children living in areas of challenging socio-economic conditions. Starting with a concern that their school experiences and interactions with adults are undemocratic and unsatisfactory, my focus in this study was to question how democratic schools are for children. From the numerous themes available, I chose to focus on the experience of children through the interactions and relationships in school structures. I consider pressures on staff and the effects of policy on the profession and the impact of these on developing democracy for children. Over eight chapters, a number of themes permeate the dissertation, including relationships and an assessment of how children are viewed in school and in society generally. Children’s treatment in the school environment has barely changed over many decades. This is in direct contrast with freedoms they enjoy outside of school from, for example, their use of information communication technology. The dissertation looks to highlight the challenges that face the teaching profession and the ways in which the pressures associated with education currently conspire against developing democracy for children. I conclude by anticipating possible changes to the status quo that could, if implemented, increase democratic opportunities in schools. Prospects for change include a reassessment of leadership roles, further engagement with Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and the adoption of a more radical educational approach.

No description available.

This investigation emerges from the awareness of the marginalisation environmental education faces and the need for the development of an effective policy for the implementation of environmental education in Cyprus. The purpose of the research study is to present. as an end product, information that would be useful in the formation of a National Programme for the implementation of environmental education in Primary Education in Cyprus. The thesis describes the current situation of environmental education and examines current practices. Out of a limited variety of environmental education programmes that currently run in Cyprus Primary Education, the Eco-School project is taken as an example. This research study, firstly, aims to measure the success of the Eco-School project, by testing children's environmental cognition, awareness and action and comparing them to the environmental cognition and action of children in other schools outside the programme. It also attempts to reveal the factors that contribute to successful implementation of the project as well as practices that could be improved or avoided. The teachers' opinions are analysed both at organisational and personal levels. Since they are closely involved in any school innovative project, they should be given the opportunity to express their opinion and experience about the organisation of the policy, their expectations and the problems they foresee. Briefly, the general research aims are to: 1. describe the current situation of environmental education in Cyprus; 2. obtain interested parties' opinions about the development of a National Programme for the implementation of environmental education in Cyprus Primary Education; 3. verify and evaluate the impact of the Eco-School project 4. distinguish the factors that contribute to the successful implementation of an environmental education programme. Finally the information obtained is the basis of a proposal model, which might facilitate environmental education implementation.

This thesis investigates the implementation of the science curriculum in Malaysian primary schools. The study is concerned primarily with teachers' pedagogical content knowledge as a crucial determinant of teaching performance in implementing the new curriculum. The research involved the administration of a questionnaire to seven states in Malaysia to seek information regarding the implementation of the primary science curriculum. The main body of research data consists of case studies of 14 teachers. Teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and its influence of the implementation of the primary science curriculum were analysed on the basis of interviews and classroom observations. The lack of science pedagogical content knowledge is indeed a problem for teachers in implementing the curriculum. That knowledge is limited and constrained by other contributing factors - science instructional needs, especially the constructivist view of science teaching; knowledge of the ways in which children learn science; and the lack of resources and support. Teachers' belief in the subject and its teaching also affect the implementation. In the light of these constraints, it would be more appropriate to identify the necessary science pedagogical content knowledge, within the primary science curriculum, that teachers need to acquire in order to implement the curriculum as the developers intended. The key question, in the Malaysian primary school context, is how science pedagogical content knowledge is to be generated and disseminated. In-service teacher education is essential if there is to be an impact in the shorter term. Another question is the kind of initial training that will be fruitful and effective and worth investing in. Conceptual understanding and science pedagogical knowledge and skills are two promising areas of teachers' understanding of the curriculum that could be developed when planning in-service provision for Malaysian primary science education. An explicit examination to teachers' beliefs about science and the teaching and learning of science is also required in pre-service and in-service courses.

No description available.

Les réserves de biosphère (RB) sont des espaces protégés particuliers, reconnus par l’UNESCO. Elles visent à concilier les préoccupations environnementales et les activités humaines, en associant des espaces protégés et non protégés, tout en tentant de promouvoir un développement territorial durable, au sein d’un réseau mondial de plus de 650 sites. Les RB se basent sur plusieurs principes dont la participation, le dialogue, la collaboration, l’apprentissage social de multiples acteurs. Mais loin d’être un modèle uniforme, l’étude de trois RB en Argentine (RBYungas), au Brésil (RB de la Mata Atlântica) et en France (RB Luberon-Lure) souligne des réalités de terrain différentes et une diversité des modes d’organisation et de mise en œuvre au niveau territorial. Notre étude est fondée sur une forte expérience de terrain, des entretiens menés auprès d’acteurs institutionnels et d’habitants et sur l’analyse de documents officiels et techniques. Les trois cas de RB étudiées témoignent de contributions variées en faveur de la conservation de la nature mais inégales en ce qui concerne le développement territorial avec une implication assez limitée des populations locales. Plus que des instances exécutives avec des actions tangibles, les RB apparaissent comme des espaces de dialogue où la coordination d’acteurs variés permet d’impulser des actions collectives qui participent à la construction des territoires. Notre étude révèle des apports, des bonnes pratiques et des limites dans la mise en œuvre des RB. Au-delà de leur rôle pour la conservation de la nature, les contributions des RB à un développement durable territorialisé mériteraient d’être étoffées et renforcées. / Biosphere Reserves (BRs) are specifically protected areas. Those areas are defined by the UNESCO. BRs aim at reconciling environmental concern with human activities, while promoting a sustainable territorial development. They associate protected and non-protected places. The BR model also spread in more than 120 countries. The BRs are focused on a couple of principles, including participation, dialogue, collaboration and social apprenticeship of varied public and private players. But BRs are not uniform models. Studying three BRs from Argentina (Yungas), Brazil (Mata Atlântica) and France (Luberon-Lure) revealed field differences and also varied ways of organization and action at a local scale. Our study is based on in-depth field experience, interviews with local authorities, corporate people as well as local people, and analyze of technical and official documentation. The three examples of BRs show how diverse actions can be implemented to preserve nature. But the involvement of local population proved to be quite irregular. BRs don’t really prove to be clearly defined executive authorities leading tangible actions. Instead BRs mostly reveal as often ill-formalized places of dialogue. But the coordination of varied players, including some being external to the BR, makes it possible to drive collective actions. Those actions help to develop the territory. Our study highlights contributions, good practice, but also limits about the implementation of BR. Beyond their mission of nature protection, the contribution of the BRs to a sustainable territorial development policy would deserve to be expanded and reinforced.

In 1998 the current reform of the General Education System (GES) started in Oman. Redefining the existing or finding a suitable new school leadership model has become important to enable Omani primary headteachers to redefine and transform the existing practice of school leadership and to implement and integrate the new educational and leadership tasks which were introduced by the current reform. Studies indicate that educational reforms generally require a powerful mechanism to get things done. Thus, Omani educators (policy makers and headteachers) face a challenge in redefining the present model or choosing a suitable new one. One of the two is, however, urgently required to reform the practice of school leadership in Omani primary schools. Therefore, this research focuses on both redefining and transforming the existing practice and implementing the new tasks (in possibly a new form) of school leadership. This research focuses mainly on three major themes, as follows: (1) The historical background which underlies primary school leadership in Oman. (2) The current practice of primary school leadership. (3) Redefining the existing school leadership model or choosing a new one to develop more effective primary school leadership and ensure the success of the current development of the GES in Oman. Therefore, this research project concentrates on an examination and evaluation of the current practice of primary school management and leadership in the country’s primary schools. Furthermore, this research evaluates the practice of leadership in schools by collecting the necessary data (in a subjective approach) and by using a specially constructed scale (in an objective approach) based on transactional and transformational theories of school leadership. This provides a way of assessing to what extent the current practice of primary school leadership is effective or not in terms of these theories. Overall, this research seeks to ensure the successful and effective implementation of the current reform of the GES.

Die Tätigkeit des Singens ist für den Menschen von kultureller, anthropologischer, sozialer und ontogenetischer Bedeutung. Aktuelle Entwicklungen, die sich seit rund einem Jahrzehnt innerhalb der vokalpädagogischen Praxis mit Kindern im Bereich von Kindertagesstätten, von Grundschulen, Musikhochschulen und weiteren Ausbildungsinstitutionen vollziehen, zeigen, dass dem Singen mit Kindern ebenfalls eine große didaktische Relevanz zukommt. Der Bedarf an vokalpädagogischen Angeboten nimmt stetig zu, doch war bislang ungeklärt, was gute vokalpädagogische Praxis angesichts höchst heterogener Angebote ausmacht. Daher wurde in der vorliegenden Dissertation zum einen der Frage nachgegangen, wie sich der Qualitätsbegriff für die vokalpädagogische Praxis bestimmen lässt. Zum anderen wurden Merkmale eruiert, welche gute vokalpädagogische Praxis charakterisieren. Ausgehend von diesen Leitfragen wurde zunächst der Qualitätsbegriff für die vokalpädagogische Praxis mit Kindern auf theoretisch-systematische Weise bestimmt. Dabei konnten durch Anwendung und Übertragung empirisch belegter, fachunspezifischer Qualitätsmerkmale Ziele und leitende Prinzipien für die vokalpädagogische Praxis systematisch ermittelt werden, die den Besonderheiten musikalischen, vokalen und ästhetischen Lernens Rechnung tragen. Anschließend wurden diese Ziele und Prinzipien in einem mehrebenenanalytischen Modell zur Qualität in der vokalpädagogischen Praxis mit Kindern aufeinander bezogen; dabei wurden die Zielsetzungen zum Singen mit Kindern sowohl auf Prozessebene als auch auf Produktebene formuliert und begründet. Das Modell stellt das zentrale Ergebnis der Arbeit dar. Schließlich wurden für die konkrete Anwendung und Nutzung in der vokalpädagogischen Praxis acht Merkmale guter vokalpädagogischer Praxis aus dem Modell expliziert, welche zugleich die wesentlichen Aspekte des vorgestellten Modells zusammenfassen. Zudem konnten auf Basis des Modells Maßnahmen für die Qualitätsentwicklung vokalpädagogischer Praxis entwickelt werden, was als weiteres praxisorientiertes Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit zu verstehen ist. / The activity of singing is of cultural, anthropological, social and ontogenetic relevance for the human being. Current developments that have taken place within the practice of vocal education with children in daycare centers, primary schools, music colleges and other educational establishments for about a decade, show that singing with children is also of major didactic importance. The need for offers in vocal education is continuously growing. However, what constitutes good practice in vocal education in view of extremely heterogeneous offers has so far remained unresolved. That is why this dissertation, on the one hand, pursues (explores) the question how the concept of quality can be defined for the practice of vocal education. On the other hand, it determines features that characterize a good practice of vocal education. On the basis of these key questions, first, the concept of quality for the practice of vocal education with children was defined in a theoretico-systematic way. In doing so the application and transfer of empirically proven, unspecific quality features made it possible to systematically identify (determine), for the practice of vocal education, objectives and guiding principles that take account of the specific features of musical, vocal and aesthetic learning. These objectives and principles were then set in relation to a multi-level (analytical) model of quality in the practice of vocal education with children. Thus the objectives for singing with children were defined and substantiated both at the process level and the product level. The model represents the central (main) result of this study. Finally, eight characteristics of a good practice of vocal education were expatiated on the basis of the model, which, at the same time, summarize the essential aspects of the model presented. In addition, it was possible to develop measures for improving the quality of the practice of vocal education, which represents another practice-oriented objective of this study.

L'aprenentatge de l'escriptura per part del conjunt de la població continua essent un repte en tant que molts alumnes, en finalitzar l'escolaritat obligatòria, no arriben als llindars que les comunitats actuals exigeixen per tal que les persones s'hi integren socialment i laboralment. Aquest fet es troba en l'origen de la nostra investigació. A més, intuíem i observàvem que, a les aules d'Educació Infantil, l'abordatge de la llengua escrita, entesa en un sentit ampli, en general no rep l'atenció que en la nostra opinió el tema mereix. És una apreciació que naixia, d'altra banda, del contrast amb les possibilitats oferides per les aportacions teòriques. El conjunt dels treballs que s'inclouen en la línia de l'interaccionisme social ens ha proporcionat el marc general en què hem ubicat el nostre treball. Ens interessava aprofundir en una perspectiva que subratlla l'origen historicocultural del llenguatge, la necessitat que aquest siga adquirit a través dels intercanvis socials i la importància de la mediació dels membres de la societat per a fer partícips dels sabers els infants que han d'accedir-hi: en la institució escolar i des d'aquesta perspectiva, el paper de l'ensenyant emergeix com a mediador entre els sabers culturals i l'aprenentatge dels alumnes. En aquesta mateixa línia, en què la comunicació esdevé central per a explicar els aprenentatges lingüístics, sobreïx el concepte de gèneres discursius per a referir-se a les formes d'ús de la llengua oral i escrita creades i utilitzades per les comunitats socials i que, en conseqüència, han d'esdevenir el punt de partida per a l'ensenyament de la llengua.Essent conscients del fet que, en la bibliografia sobre l'ensenyament de la producció de textos amb alumnes d'Educació Infantil, s'hi troben propostes intuïdes o derivades de la pràctica i que, en canvi, s'ha dut a terme molt poca investigació sobre el tema, l'objectiu de la investigació se centra en les possibilitats de la producció de gèneres textuals escrits amb alumnes del final de l'Educació Infantil, i açò especialment des de la perspectiva de l'ensenyament, de la intervenció del mestre. Amb vuit mestres elegides a l'atzar, hem indagat (1) la pràctica habitual a l'aula en relació a l'ús de textos i a les representacions de les mestres sobre el tema i (2) les possibilitats d'una sessió pràctica duta a terme a partir d'una proposta nostra. Tot, amb l'objectiu de contrastar ambdós aspectes i d'observar els canvis que s'hi podien produir en disposar d'unes propostes determinades. En aquest sentit, (1) hem dut a terme entrevistes amb les mestres mitjançant un qüestionari semiobert i (2) hem gravat sessions portades a terme per les mestres en què els alumnes havien d'inventar i produir un text (a elegir entre tres gèneres textuals distints), a partir d'un conjunt de propostes entre les quals destaquem el dictat a l'adult.Hem optat per una metodologia de tipus qualitatiu, tot utilitzant un procediment de microanàlisi recolzat en tres elements per a l'obtenció i l'anàlisi de les dades: a) les gravacions en àudio i/o en vídeo; b) la transcripció de les gravacions; c) la recerca detallada, rastrejant en el discurs, d'allò que poguera ser indici del que preteníem comprendre.L'anàlisi dels resultats ha posat de manifest, entre altres, les possibilitats de la invenció de textos amplis independentment del coneixement que els infants tinguen del sistema d'escriptura i, igualment, que els habitus de les mestres sobre l'ensenyament inicial de la llengua escrita poden canviar quan aquestes disposen de les propostes i de la informació oportunes. El fet de partir d'una necessitat comunicativa i d'un projecte, i el paper de tutela de l'ensenyant, permeten que els infants s'introduïsquen en la complexitat de l'escriptura. / The aim of this research is to explore the production of textual genres written between children and teacher at the end of the nursery education. Our starting point is the existence of many intuitive or practice-derived proposals but little research on the topic in the available bibliography.Our work is located within the general framework of the contributions of the social interaction field. The historical and cultural origins of language, social exchanges, mediation between cultural knowledge and children's learning, the teacher's role, communication and discursive genres are keywords in our work.Through eight teachers chosen at random we investigated (1) the usual practices inside the classroom with regard to text usage and the teachers' representation of the topic and (2) the possibilities in a practical session developed from a proposal of ours, from which we would like to highlight the "dictation to an adult". Our objective was to contrast both aspects and observe the changes occurred when applying different proposals. We chose a qualitative methodology, following a microanalysis supported on three elements to obtain and examine the data: a) audio and video recordings; b) transcripts of the recordings; c) a detailed search for any sign of what we were trying to find in the discourse.Through the analysis of the results we found proof of the possibility, among others, of creating wide texts, whatever the children's knowledge of the writing system. It was also shown how the teachers' usual way of early teaching of written language can change when they have appropriate proposals and information at their disposal. Children are easily introduced to the complexity of writing on the basis of a communicative need and a project, and the tutelary role of the teacher.