Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 134-141).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-141). Also available in print.

Thesis (PhD)--Universiteit van Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Key words: Organisational knowledge, pluralistic epistemology, action learning, systems theory, structuration theory, organisational learning, knowledge management. In today's competitive environment the value and importance of knowledge as an organisational resource is considered to be a key element and source of power. Knowledge is regarded as the single most important source of core competence to ensure competitiveness and long term sustainability. The value of most products and services now depends on knowledge-based intangibles and many organisational theorists argue that strategy formulations should be built on a resource-based theory. The challenge for many organisations is therefore how to enable organisational knowledge and how to increase their organisational learning capacity and performance. Following a multi-disciplinary approach, this study critically evaluates and interprets existing theories on action and systems thinking. The traditional positivist paradigm no longer answers to the needs of a post-modem paradigm and corporate epistemologists and practitioners alike are in search of a new paradigm on how to construct organisational knowledge. Drawing on Habermasian theory of communicative action, as well as Parsons' general theory of action and Giddens' structuration theory, I argue that the construction of knowledge happens in a pluralistic manner, in contrast with traditional approaches which support a paradigm informed by a singular epistemology. A pluralistic approach to the development of knowledge, in relation to a Habermasian theory of communicative action which emphasises the importance of communication and which integrates action and systems theory, is therefore proposed. Constitutive features of organisational knowledge, such as deliberation, knowledge leadership, organisational culture and technology, are identified and analysed. Action learning has been adopted by a number of leading international comparues as a learning methodology. However, action learning has seemingly not been grounded in a defensible epistemological framework. In redescribing action learning, this study explores epistemological foundations of action learning in an attempt to provide corporate epistemologists with a defensible epistemological framework which promotes pluralism and constitutive features of organisational knowledge. A framework for organisational learning and knowledge construction, the Pluralistic Action Learning Systems theory (pALS), is suggested as an improved model of organisational learning suitable for implementation in a post-modem era. This framework incorporates the primary "technical" elements of the learning process, namely problem identification, collection of information, analysis and interpretation, application/use and reflection, as well as organisational enablers inherent in collaborative learning. Organisational knowledge is therefore seen as the outcome of a learning process which occurs at the individual, social and organisational system levels. Organisational knowledge is also constituted by features such as communication, knowledge leadership and trust which are essential in a collaborative learning environment. Knowledge is therefore not constructed through a single paradigm, but socially constructed through a pluralistic epistemology. Organisational knowledge is the outcome of organisational learning and such an organisational learning process is enabled by an action learning approach. An empirical study is conducted which is based on a forty-point questionnaire. The sample size is 120 part-time MBA students who are enrolled for an action learning management development programme and who have all been theoretically and practically exposed to an action learning programme. The findings of the empirical study conclude that the construction of knowledge happens in a pluralistic manner and that an organisational epistemology should be shaped by a pluralistic framework if it were to be successful in a post-modem business environment. It proposes that action learning, which is shaped by a pluralistic epistemology grounded in the Habermasian theory of communicative action, provides a defensible framework to enhance organisational knowledge through a collaborative learning approach fostering values such as deliberation, trust and openness. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sleutel woorde: Organisasiekennis, pluralistiese epistemologie, aksieleer, stelseldenke, strukturasie teorie, organisasieleer, kennisbestuur. Die waarde en belangrikheid van kennis in vandag se vinnige veranderende wêreld word beskou as van kritiese waarde en as die enkele mees belangrike element van kompetisie om lang termyn volhoubaarheid te bewerkstellig. In die hedendaagse korporatiewe omgewing word die waarde van die meeste produkte en dienste gebaseer op ontasbare elemente soos onder andere kennis. Korporatiewe strategeë argumenteer derhalwe dat korporatiewe strategie gevolglik op 'n vermoëns-strategie gebaseer moet word. Vir baie maatskappye is die uitdaging dus hoe kennis konstrueer moet word en hoe maatskappye hulle vermoëns moet verbeter om kennisorganisasies te word. Hierdie studie volg 'n multi-disiplinêre benadering wat bestaande aksie- en stelseldenke teorieë krities evalueer en interpreteer. Die tradisionele positivistiese raamwerk beantwoord nie aan die vereistes van 'n post-moderne paradigma nie en beide korporatiewe epistemoloeë en praktisyns is op soek na nuwe wyses hoe om organisasiekennis te konstrueer. Deur gebruik te maak van Parsons se algemene aksie teorie, en in besonder Habermas se teorie van kommunikatiewe aksie en Giddens se strukturasieteorie, argumenteer ek dat die konstruksie van kennis op 'n veeldoelige wyse plaasvind, in teenstelling met die tradisionele benadering wat 'n raamwerk aanbeveel wat op 'n enkelvoudige teorie van kennis gebaseer is. 'n Pluralistiese benadering met betrekking tot die ontwikkeling van kennis, in ooreenstemming met Habermas se teorie van kommunikatiewe aksie en gesteun deur aksie- en stelsels teorie, word derhalwe aanbeveel. Kenmerkende eienskappe van organisasie kennis soos, uitgebreide dialoog, kennisleierskap, organisasiekultuur en tegnologie word ook geidentifiseer en ontleed. Aksieleer is deur verskeie toonaangewende internasionale maatskappye aanvaar as 'n leer metodologie. Dit wil egter voorkom asof aksieleer nie in 'n epistemologiese raamwerk gegrond is nie. Deur aksieleer te herbeskryf ondersoek hierdie studie epistemologiese gronde van aksieleer in 'n poging om korporatiewe epistemoloeë met 'n verdigbare teoretiese kennisraamwerk toe te rus. 'n Raamwerk vir organisasie leer en die konstruksie van kennis, die Pluralistiese Aksieleer Stelsels (pALS) raamwerk, word derhalwe aanbeveel as 'n verdedigbare model wat aan die eise van 'n postmoderne samelewing beantwoord. Hierdie raamwerk sluit die primêre tegniese elemente van die leerproses in, te wete: probleem identifisering, die inwin van informasie, analisering en interpretasie van informasie, aanwending en gebruik van informasie en refleksie. Hierdie proses word verder ondersteun deur aspekte wat organisasieleer vergemaklik binne spanverband. Organisasieleer word dus beskou as die uitkoms van 'n leerproses wat bogenoemde elemente bevat en wat gebaseer is op 'n leeromgewing wat samewerking bevorder. Organisasiekennis word derhalwe gesien as die uitkoms van 'n leerproses wat op die individuele, sosiale en organisasie vlakke geskied. So 'n leerproses word bevorder en vergemaklik deur 'n aksieleer proses. Organisiekennis word ook gekenmerk deur eienskappe soos kommunikasie en kennisleierskap wat binne 'n saamwerk leeromgewing as noodsaaklik geag word. Kennis word dus nie deur 'n enkelvoudige raamwerk konstrueer nie, maar word ondersteun deur 'n veelvoudige epistemologie. Die empiriese studie is gebaseer op 'n veertigpunt vraelys. Die ondersoekgroep is 120 :MBA studente wat vir 'n aksieleer bestuursontwikkelingsprogam ingeskryf is en wat beide teoreties en prakties aan aksieleer blootgestel is. Die bevindings van die studie dui daarop dat kennis nie op 'n enkelvoudige wyse geskep word nie, maar wel deur van verskeie teorieë van kennis gebruik te maak. Die bevindings van die studie beveel aan dat aksieleer, as 'n pluralistiese teorie van kennis gegrond in die denke van Habermas, 'n verdedigbare raamwerk verskaf wat organisasieleer en die konstruksie van kennis bevorder deur 'n leeromgewing waarin waardes soos vertroue, openlikheid en kommunikasie bevorder word.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

This qualitative research study explored the influence of collaborative analysis of student work (CASW) as professional development on teacher practice, specifically during lessons and on written teacher feedback on student work. Additionally, teachers' perceptions about the influence of CASW sessions and three 2-week instructional cycles on student writing, including the professional development sessions, lessons, and teacher written feedback, were investigated. Qualitative data were collected including teacher interviews, CASW observations, classroom observations, and document analysis. Findings indicated that teachers felt that CASW influenced their increased awareness of teaching and student learning, and implications for future teaching for the whole group as well as ideas for next steps for individual students emerged. Teachers supported CASW being job-embedded and practical to daily work; they voiced concerns over the time and scheduling facilitating the professional development required. Teachers responded that they felt that CASW helped them question their assessment of student writing, consistency within and across grade levels and subjects, and the appropriate level of difficulty of their curriculum. Teachers expressed their desire to be able to meet with students more regularly to go over their teacher written feedback and felt that CASW may possibly influence student work over time. Two teachers felt that the CASW professional development could have influenced their written feedback; four teachers felt that it did not. Implications for professional development, public policy, and further research are given. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The current qualitative study focused on understanding the process of learning to teach. Using interviews of teacher educators, the study explored the importance of a set of teaching activities developed as part of the Teacher Self Efficacy Survey (Tschannen- Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) as well as the inclusion of instructional and assessment strategies for the teaching activities and the quality of beginning teacher performance of the activities. Data were collected from interviews of 15 teacher educators. A process of open, axial, and substantive coding was applied to the data to inductively identify and categorize data relevant to the purpose of the study and to allow comparisons among and between categories. Findings suggested that teaching activities are critically important to and a comprehensive description of effective teaching, and that beginning teachers struggle with differentiation and applying their learning to their practice. Further, findings suggested that the source of beginning teacher struggles was found within the teacher education program, within school contexts, and between the two institutions. In addition, findings suggested that beginning teachers perform the student engagement activities and those related to instructional strategies more proficiently than classroom management activities, and that all three teaching activity categories were included in the curriculum, but to different degrees and not all as part of curriculum design. A variety of pedagogies were used to prepare preservice teachers; however, there was no reported knowledge of assessment instruments used to measure preservice teachers’ readiness for teaching and to obtain data on the performance of their graduates. Lastly, this study revealed that teacher education program leaders were reluctant to participate in a study that sought to draw direct connections between the skills taught in the program and how well beginning teachers perform them. Based on the findings, the researcher recommends further studies to determine the viability of the teaching activities as a comprehensive and accurate definition of effective teaching. Further the researcher recommends that teacher education programs and school districts adopt the teaching activities as a consistent framework for providing preservice education, for setting school district expectations, and for conducting teacher evaluations. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This study problematizes teacher education, and its accreditation guidelines as set forth by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. The analysis herein conceptualizes teacher education as contextually contingent on sociocultural metanarratives, as functioning paradigmatically through consensus and gatekeeping mechanisms, and as a structure existing within a matrix of discipline and surveillance that is designed to perpetuate status quo power dynamics. This conceptualization grounds dominant teacher education modalities within a specific meta-theory orientation. Through this analysis, the author also explores an alternative conceptualization of teacher education that appeals to the educative power of contextual awareness, ontological sensitivity, and democratically recursive pedagogical and relational processes. Such a conceptualization reflects an alternative meta-theory orientation. For the purposes of this analysis, the author employed textual analysis of sampled website literature from Teacher Education Programs in six geographic regions within the United States. This textual analysis was grounded in the aforementioned conceptualizations and was intended to reveal meta-theory orientations as expressed in a program’s official text. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This quantitative, non-experimental study was conducted to determine whether there is a link between the principal’s behavioral agility, the organization’s culture, and school performance as defined by the state’s Value Added Measure (VAM). Additionally, this study examined if there was a moderator influence of contextual factors to behavioral agility and school culture and school culture and school performance. Data collection was obtained through the use of two validated scales, the Strategic Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ) and the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI). Multiple regression was conducted to determine the extent each independent variable predicts school performance. Hayes’s (2012) PROCESS macro for SPSS was completed to determine if school culture mediated the relationship between behavioral agility and school performance and school culture and school performance. Significant correlations were found between and within the two instruments measured unidimensionally and multidimensionally. The OCAI findings included significant, high effect correlations with the four culture types, although market was not correlated with clan or adhocracy. All subscales of the SLQ had positive significant correlations within the instrument. School size was significantly negatively correlated with clan and adhocracy culture types. School performance was found to be significantly correlated with hierarchy culture type and school level. The contribution this study makes is both theoretical and practical. Theoretically, this study offers insights into school level and its moderation of culture and school performances as well as the influence culture types have on school performance. Practically, the study could identify a new culture type valuable to principals for improving school performance. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

In the United States, a staggering four thousand students drop out every school day. Moreover, in 2016, the graduation rate in Oregon was only 74.8%, one of the lowest in the nation. Research shows that a disproportionate number of youth leaving school are from historically marginalized communities. Many of these youth resiliently return to education at alternative schools. This research sought to explore the educational experiences of youth in alternative schools in their own voices and perspectives. From a theoretical framework based in sociocultural theory, cultural capital, and critical theory, this study underscored the importance of youth voice in changing the education system by incorporating qualitative methods and YPAR (Youth Participatory Action Research). Working alongside seven youth co-researchers who attended an alternative school in Oregon, we interviewed eight other students at the same school about their educational experiences and perceptions of the education system. The youth co-researchers and I co-constructed four themes collectively: "I felt invisible to the teachers"; "Teaching is a sacred act'; "Regular high school is like drowning, it's cruel"; and "Dropping out was [actually] a success." We also compiled counternarratives in the words of the eight student participants, which highlighted how the school system pushed them out despite their desire to learn. Finally, we spoke truth to power, in solidarity with the youth in this study, by presenting our recommendations for educational change to teachers, including how they can co-create spaces with students that foster care and empathy, value youth voice, and are culturally sustaining and identity affirming.

Limited research has been conducted concerning the actual practice of health education in Victorian schools. This study investigates the health education curriculum at a large primary school in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The investigation involves a critical analysis of current practices in health education in the upper school through the development of a ‘small’ action research group. Data were gathered through document collection, questionnaires, interviews, discussions, diary and reflective journal entries. The action research group, consisting of the teacher-researcher and upper school teachers, developed, implemented and reflected upon units of work piloted with upper school students. Alternative approaches to health education were explored. The aim was to accommodate critically informed discourse amongst colleagues to promote self-reflective enquiry and facilitate improvements to existing pedagogic practices. During the course of the investigation, factors limiting and facilitating action research and curriculum change in health education, became evident. These included personal, practical, curriculum and organisational constraints operating externally and internally on the school and classroom environments. Despite these constraints, it was demonstrated in this study, that action research can contribute to the improvement of pedagogic practices in health education. Small ‘authentic’ action research projects may provide alternative internal professional development structures for teachers and consequently improve learning opportunities for students.