Submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, 2008. / The present study examiners principals' knowledge about and attitudes towards inclusive education. The first aim of the study was to ascertain the extent to which principals know about inclusive education and a child with special educational needs. The second aim was to determine whether principals' biographical factors (gender, teaching experience and phase of the school) have any influence on their knowledge about inclusive education and a child with a special educational needs. The third aim was to ascertain the nature of principals' attitudes towards inclusive education. The fourth aim was to determine whether principals' biographical factors (gender, teaching experience and phase of the school) have any influence on their attitudes towards inclusive education. The last aim was to determine whether there is any relationship between principals' knowledge and attitudes regarding inclusive education. To this end, a questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample of two hundred and twelve principals. The findings reveal that principals differ in the extent to which they know about inclusive education and a child with special educational needs. A high percentage (65.1%) of principals report a high level of knowledge about inclusive education and a child with special educational needs. The findings also show that teaching experience has an influence of principals' knowledge about inclusive education and a child with special educational needs. The findings also indicate that a high percentage (60.8%) of principals hold a positive attitude towards inclusive education. The findings further reveal that gender, teaching experience and phase of the school have no influence on principals' attitudes towards inclusive education. The last findings show that there is a positive relationship between principals' knowledge about an attitudes towards inclusive education. On the basis of the findings of this study, recommendations to the Department of Education as well as for directing future research were made.

The following question was investigated for each of several biographical variables: Are there significant differences in the work values, as measured by the Ohio Work Values Inventory (OWVI), and personal values (terminal and instrumental), as measured by the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), of instructors in Oregon community colleges? Comparisons were made by job status (part-time/full-time), teaching assignment, sex, number of years teaching, age, degree held, other employment of instructor, geographic location of college, and vocational certificate held. A multivariate ANOVA (followed by univariate ANOVAs and Modified LSDs as needed) was performed separately on the OWVI scales, the RVS Terminal Values, and the RVS Instrumental Values. The initial sample included 984 Oregon community college instructors, partitioned by teaching status, teaching assignment, and geographic location. The responding sample included 212 full-time and 288 part-time faculty. The rank order of the OWVI means for instructors was: Task Satisfaction; Self Realization; Ideas/Data; Altruism; Independence; Security; Money; Control; Object Orientation; Prestige and Solitude. The rank order for RVS Terminal Values for instructors was: Health, Self Respect, Family Security; Freedom; Inner Harmony; A Sense of Accomplishment; Wisdom, Mature Love; True Friendship; A World at Peace, An Exciting Life; Equality; A World of Beauty; A Comfortable Life; Salvation; Pleasure; National Security and Social Recognition. The rank order for RVS Instrumental Values for instructors was: Honest, Responsible; Loving; Capable; Independent; Intellectual; Helpful; Broadminded; Courageous; Forgiving; Loyal (tied with Forgiving); Logical; Ambitious; Self Controlled; Polite; Clean and Obedient. When sex, teaching experience, age, highest degree held, other employment/no other employment, and college location were used as independent variables, statistically significant differences were found in each set of dependent variables, with the exception of instrumental values for teaching experience and college location, and terminal values for college location. Of 396 correlations between the OWVI scales and the RVS values, 162 were significant at the .05 level (41%). The signs of the correlations indicated a logical relation between the two instruments.

The two research questions of the study were: (1) Is the job satisfaction of school district administrators related to the personal factors of group membership and sex? (2) What are the sources of overall job satisfaction? Do they confirm findings from previous studies in which autonomy, responsibility, the work itself, growth, recognition, feedback, achievement, and interpersonal relationships were found to be major contributors to job satisfaction? Utilizing the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) developed by Hackman and Oldham and free response questions, ratings of job satisfaction were obtained to determine if sex and group membership (elementary principal, secondary principal and vice principal, or central office administrator) made a difference in the level of job satisfaction. The findings from the two research questions were: (1) Group membership and sex do not significantly relate to job satisfaction. (2) Approximately 22% of job satisfaction for administrators was attributed to autonomy and feedback from the work itself. Data gathered from the free response questions did reveal some differences in the sources of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction according to group membership. The main sources of satisfaction--regardless of group membership--involved the work itself, achievement, and interpersonal relationships. Recognition was also seen as a source of satisfaction at the central office and secondary level. Student performance and interaction was seen as a primary source of satisfaction at the elementary and secondary level. Autonomy was a main source of satisfaction at both the elementary and central office level. The main sources of dissatisfaction--regardless of group membership--involved amount of work, lack of feedback, constraints, and administrative policies. While interpersonal relationships were seen as sources of satisfaction by 25% of those responding administrators in central office positions, 60% of the responding administrators identified them as sources of dissatisfaction. The findings of this study imply that boards of education and upper-echelon administrators should be aware of the motivational potential in the two factors of autonomy and feedback and in the identified areas of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Opportunities which allow for greater administrator autonomy and feedback should be expanded in order to increase job satisfaction.

This experimental study grew out of the ideas gleaned from a review of literature which indicated that the attitudinal role of the classroom teacher serves as a model for students. A justification of the need to modify behaviors toward the hearing-impaired became apparent. The significance of effective workshop procedures could result in notable implications for school district planning and implementation of an in-service education plan. An experimental study was conducted to determine if teacher attitudes toward the hearing-impaired can be modified using two types of in-service workshops, passive versus active participation. Three groups of randomly selected regular classroom teachers at the elementary level from a West coast suburban school district were used for this investigation (Ṉ=86). One group served as a control, a second group participated in active involvement workshops regarding the hearing-impaired student, and the third group attended passive involvement workshops regarding the hearing impaired student. Immediately following the workshops, participants were administered two scales designed to measure attitudes toward the hearing-impaired. The research hypothesis for the study was that not all subpopulation means of the scores of teachers for both scales will be equal. (H₁: not all's are equal.) The statistical hypothesis stated that all subpopulation means of the scores of teachers for both scales will be equal. The results, after submitting the data to SPSS Subprogram, ONEWAY (Nie et al., 1975), with alpha set at .05 yielded no statistically significant differences among the groups. The statistical hypothesis was not rejected. The results of this study imply the need for school districts to pre-test teachers' attitudes in determining a need for specific in-service courses. School districts should consider requiring in-service courses for teachers whose pre-test scores indicate negative attitudes. Another implication to consider for effective in-service education is the duration of the workshop. The workshops designed for this study were one hour in length and did not result in effective modification of attitudes toward the hearing-impaired. This investigation suggests that research is needed to establish the relationship between effective in-service training and positive attitude development.

Social psychologists believe that attitudes occur both implicitly and explicitly suggesting that people can think, feel, and behave in ways that are counter to their outward views. Researchers within the field of instructional technology have proposed treatments for explicit attitude manipulation within an instructional situation but have yet to implement strategies that encompass implicit attitudes. Researchers from both fields concur that attitudes are malleable and can be manipulated with appropriate intervention strategies (Bertrand et al., 2005; Dasgupta & Greenwald, 2001; Dick & Carey, 1996; Gagné, Briggs, & Wager, 1988; Kamradt & Kamradt, 1999; Krathwohl, Bloom, & Masia, 1964). The purpose of this study was to investigate  the effectiveness of instructional design strategies intended to influence implicit and explicit attitudes in the direction of a  target attitude. The predominant strategies for attitude manipulation prescribed in the instructional design and technology literature were combined and adapted for online delivery. In addition, proven strategies from social psychology research were integrated into the existing instructional design strategies for implicit attitude manipulation. The independent variable for this experimental study consisted of the prescribed instructional strategies for influencing both implicit and explicit attitudes. For the purpose of this study, the attitude that the instruction was designed to address was the reduction of biased-based policing, thus, the dependent variables were implicit attitudes as measured by the Race Implicit Association Test (IAT), and explicit attitudes as measured by the Symbolic Racism Test 2000 (SR2K). Fifty volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two instructional modules. One module served as a control for 25 of the participants. The second module served as a treatment for the remaining 25 participants. The treatment was based on the incorporation of the recommended strategies for attitudinal instruction found in the literature. Implicit attitude assessment revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between the control and treatment groups as measured by the Race Implicit Association Test (Race IAT). Furthermore, explicit attitude assessment also revealed that that there was no statistically significant difference between the control and treatment groups as measured by the Symbolic Racism Test 2000 (SR2K). However, there were several limitations that may have affected the study. As a result, we still do not know for certain how the incorporation of attitudinal strategies within web-based instruction influence implicit and explicit attitudes. / Ph. D.

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Background - As a result of the latest advances in artificial intelligence (AI), the world ofbusiness is facing a major transformation where basic organizational principlesare redefined initiating a new era. It is predicted that AI in the coming decadeswill make a significant imprint and organizations aiming to stay at the forefrontcannot afford not to change. AI adoption can bring great benefits to organizationswhere a crucial factor is to establish AI readiness. However, as in any change,different perceptions are raised among employees which can either hinder orfoster organizational AI readiness, placing leaders in a crucial position. Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate how managers can foster organizationalAI readiness by understanding distinctive features of employee AI attitudes. Byidentifying how employees develop change attitudes towards AI, the opportunityto explore how managers should respond to these attitudes in order to achieve AIreadiness opens. Method - To gain a greater understanding of the phenomenon managing AI attitudes and tofulfil the purpose of the study, a mix of a qualitative and quantitative researchmethodology was used. The empirical data were abductively collected through asingle case study via a survey containing 80 respondents and through a focusgroup including six participants holding different roles affected by an AIimplementation. The empirical data were processed using thematic analysis andfurther analysed through systematic combining. Conclusions - The conclusions in this study confirm already existing theory. It also expands itas the phenomenon managing attitudes towards AI change was placed in a newcontext. The research results indicate that employees’ change attitudes towardsAI are affected by the organizational AI maturity, personal interest, and personaland organizational AI knowledge. They also indicate that employees develop theirchange attitudes towards AI depending on how managers handle or not handletheir attitudes. Finally, four dimensions along which leaders should manageemployee change attitudes to promote AI readiness were elaborated.