Dissertation (Ed.D)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Apr. 13, 2010). Directed by Randy Schmitz; submitted to the Dept.of Exercise and Sport Science. Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-100).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2005. / Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 96 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Bibliography: leaves 83-87.

Thesis (M.A.T.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, Wheaton, IL, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-61).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Alberta, 1997. / In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education. Department of Elementary Education. Also available online.

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 1995. / Title from title page screen, viewed April 19, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Maurice Scharton (chair), Janice Neuleib, Ray Lewis White. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-172) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: John M. Keller, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 9, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Developing critical thinking in early childhood is vital especially in Western culture since it improves an individual’s skills in creative thinking and enhances a person’s sense of responsibility. This is the fundamental contention of this thesis. These skills assist in developing and implementing a state of mind of not accepting negative situations and instead directs the individual towards trying to resolve and improve it. These issues have not yet been fully explored in Arab-Palestinian society in Israel. The development and application of notions of personal responsibility, critical thinking, and kindergarten-age children’s involvement in learning has yet to emerge as a reality in this community. This is needed because existing theory and practice involving these aspects of learning within the Palestinian system is problematic. Moreover, the development of a new approach to teaching and parenting of kindergarten-age children that fosters critical thinking and personal responsibility may not be a reality that is immediately achievable, but it is a possibility. This study aims to investigate how educational leaders can help kindergarten children aged 3-5 years to develop critical thinking and personal responsibility skills. The research focuses on Arab (Palestinian) children in Israel as these skills are not traditionally taught in the home or in educational settings in this culture. The literature shows that there is a marked disparity between the educational achievements of Arab and Jewish children in Israel, making the implications of this study salient not only to practitioners, but also to policymakers and educational institutions. In order to examine these goals, a case study involving qualitative research approaches of a kindergarten classroom has been conducted. The context of this study is an important and complex set of factors determining and shaping the content and form of the thesis and of the research that is embodied in the text. This study has been conducted in a kindergarten belonging to an Arab Municipality located in Northern Israel that was established in 2010 and is situated in a rural area in the north of the country. Lesson plans following the National Curriculum for Kindergarten Education were infused with teaching activities designed to facilitate the acquisition of critical thinking skills. The findings of the project showed that the presence of a strong educational leader had a positive impact on facilitating kindergarten children’s development of personal responsibility and critical thinking skills. This was especially the case if the leader played an active role in facilitating a learning environment at home and in school in which children were acknowledged and given greater autonomy and access to opportunities in which they could engage openly with parents and peers. This study calls attention to the need to further explore educational leadership in the context of early childhood education, as its implications for childhood development, particularly regarding critical thinking and personal responsibility, have not been sufficiently examined. This study claims to open possibilities for doing this in at least the Palestinian Kindergarten communities in Israel and perhaps beyond.

Orientador: Oswaldo Francisco de Almeida Júnior / Banca: Lídia Eugênia Cavalcante / Banca: Sueli Bortolin / Resumo: Compreende-se que a mediação se mostra importante enquanto caminho para uma atuação mais comprometida socialmente em práticas de incentivo à leitura. Por meio dela, é possível criar formas de atuação que tenham como base abordagens significativas, por exemplo pautadas na apropriação da informação e construção do conhecimento. Nesse sentido, a leitura se apresenta como um importante fator, sendo o requisito básico para a apropriação da informação. No entanto, evidencia-se que há certa carência quanto aos estudos diretamente voltados a essa temática dentro da Ciência da Informação. Dessa maneira, busca-se analisar as relações existentes entre práticas de incentivo à leitura e mediação da informação, em especial os aspectos vinculados à interferência dos agentes, a apropriação da informação e a construção do conhecimento e do pensamento crítico. Para tanto, delimitou-se como foco de análise as práticas desenvolvidas na cidade de Londrina, no interior do estado do Paraná, especificamente no já premiado Projeto Bibliotecas Escolares: Palavras Andantes, desenvolvido pela Secretaria de Educação de Londrina desde o ano de 2002. Com uma abordagem qualitativa e de caráter exploratório, utiliza-se os métodos, mais especificamente as técnicas, Análise de Discurso (AD) e Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo (DSC) para analisar os dados obtidos em entrevista, documentos e observações. Constatou-se que o fortalecimento das bases do processo de mediação pode ser a "chave" para que tal processo tenha impactos mais delineados em projetos como o que constitui o universo de pesquisa deste trabalho. Ao final propõe-se uma reestruturação das bases dos projetos de incentivo à leitura para a otimização desses, com o intuito de promover amplamente a apropriação da informação, e a construção do conhecimento e do pensamento crítico. / Abstract: It is understood that mediation proves important as the way to a more committed socially performance in reading incentive practices. It is through that it is created forms of action that have the significant approaches based, for example, guided by the appropriation of information and knowledge construction. In this sense, the reading is presented as an important factor, with the basic requirement for the appropriation of information. However, it is cleared that there is a certain lack of the studies directly focused to the topic within the Information Science. In this way, it is seeked to analyze the relationships between practices to encourage reading and mediation of information, in particular the aspects related to the interference of agents, information appropriation and the construction of knowledge and critical thinking. Therefore, it delimited as focus of analysis the practices developed in the city of Londrina, within the state of Paraná, specifically in the award-winning Project Bibliotecas Escolares: Palavras Andantes, developed by Londrina Department of Education since 2002. It was used a qualitative approach and exploratory method by mean of Discourse Analysis (AD) technique and the Discourse of the Collective Subject (DCS) to analyze the data obtained in interviews, documents and notices. It was found that the strengthening of the mediation process bases may be the "key" to that review must have more impacts outlined in projects such as what constitutes the universe for this work. At the end, It is proposed a restructuring of the bases of reading incentive projects for the optimization of these, in order to widely promote the appropriation of information, and the construction of knowledge and critical thinking. / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2015-08-20T17:10:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-04-27. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-08-20T17:25:47Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000841885.pdf: 3275324 bytes, checksum: 76251c2114400d925253d7e056a5cf6a (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Compreende-se que a mediação se mostra importante enquanto caminho para uma atuação mais comprometida socialmente em práticas de incentivo à leitura. Por meio dela, é possível criar formas de atuação que tenham como base abordagens significativas, por exemplo pautadas na apropriação da informação e construção do conhecimento. Nesse sentido, a leitura se apresenta como um importante fator, sendo o requisito básico para a apropriação da informação. No entanto, evidencia-se que há certa carência quanto aos estudos diretamente voltados a essa temática dentro da Ciência da Informação. Dessa maneira, busca-se analisar as relações existentes entre práticas de incentivo à leitura e mediação da informação, em especial os aspectos vinculados à interferência dos agentes, a apropriação da informação e a construção do conhecimento e do pensamento crítico. Para tanto, delimitou-se como foco de análise as práticas desenvolvidas na cidade de Londrina, no interior do estado do Paraná, especificamente no já premiado Projeto Bibliotecas Escolares: Palavras Andantes, desenvolvido pela Secretaria de Educação de Londrina desde o ano de 2002. Com uma abordagem qualitativa e de caráter exploratório, utiliza-se os métodos, mais especificamente as técnicas, Análise de Discurso (AD) e Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo (DSC) para analisar os dados obtidos em entrevista, documentos e observações. Constatou-se que o fortalecimento das bases do processo de mediação pode ser a chave para que tal processo tenha impactos mais delineados em projetos como o que constitui o universo de pesquisa deste trabalho. Ao final propõe-se uma reestruturação das bases dos projetos de incentivo à leitura para a otimização desses, com o intuito de promover amplamente a apropriação da informação, e a construção do conhecimento e do pensamento crítico. / It is understood that mediation proves important as the way to a more committed socially performance in reading incentive practices. It is through that it is created forms of action that have the significant approaches based, for example, guided by the appropriation of information and knowledge construction. In this sense, the reading is presented as an important factor, with the basic requirement for the appropriation of information. However, it is cleared that there is a certain lack of the studies directly focused to the topic within the Information Science. In this way, it is seeked to analyze the relationships between practices to encourage reading and mediation of information, in particular the aspects related to the interference of agents, information appropriation and the construction of knowledge and critical thinking. Therefore, it delimited as focus of analysis the practices developed in the city of Londrina, within the state of Paraná, specifically in the award-winning Project Bibliotecas Escolares: Palavras Andantes, developed by Londrina Department of Education since 2002. It was used a qualitative approach and exploratory method by mean of Discourse Analysis (AD) technique and the Discourse of the Collective Subject (DCS) to analyze the data obtained in interviews, documents and notices. It was found that the strengthening of the mediation process bases may be the key to that review must have more impacts outlined in projects such as what constitutes the universe for this work. At the end, It is proposed a restructuring of the bases of reading incentive projects for the optimization of these, in order to widely promote the appropriation of information, and the construction of knowledge and critical thinking.