Specific to the recommendation of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1980) to identify and analyze problem solving strategies and the settings in which the development of these strategies could be optimized, this study is a compilation of three case studies which describe what elementary school children say and do when solving verbal mathematics problems in small groups. Persuant to this goal, three four-member groups were selected and asked to reach a consensus within each group on the solution to a variety of routine and non-routine problems. In this relatively unstructured setting, transcriptions of verbal interactions, written records of all computations, and observer notes were compiled for each group. The resulting identification and description of the problem solving behaviors which occurred were analyzed in terms of two broad interactive functions by which children seek to understand verbal problems: the construction of mental representations or physical displays of the problems and the evaluations of these constructions. Representations, in this perspective, are constructed at two levels: a contextual level at which the problem situation is linguistically interpreted and a structural level at which a statement of a problem underlying mathematical structure is defined. Evaluations also occur which allow group members to monitor their understanding and direct the course of the problem solving effort. The findings indicate that intermediate aged children when solving problems in small groups display general patterns of behavior. These patterns of behavior include: the manner in which the groups approach and effectively isolate the contextual elements of a verbal problem, the propensity of groups to change the mode in which a problem is represented by utilizing manipulatives, diagrams, tables and other physical displays, and the manner in which groups monitor the course of problem solving and reach consensuses on solution proposals. Within this general pattern, however, specific subject and task variables characterize individual groups, affecting both the group interaction and the incidence of specific problem solving behaviors. These findings suggest practical classroom applications for group problem solving formats in the elementary school classroom. Additional research, however, must provide the link between group problem solving and individual performance.

This thesis argued that Physical Education is marginalised in the South African primary school education sector. Through this marginalisation, Physical Education has been reduced from having full subject status, to being only one of the components of one of the primary school learning areas, namely, Life Orientation. Simultaneously, Physical Education finds itself in a situation in which it is generally being taught by a class teacher and no longer by a specialist Physical Education teacher. Possible reasons for this marginalisation are expressed, however, the argument that Physical Education is an imperative in the holistic development of the child, is also espoused. This thesis critically examined the route that South African primary school education is taking and focused on the issues of holistic education and development, Outcomes-based Education and Life Orientation.

The critical role of children’s play in the development of peer relationships, social and communicative skills is reviewed and discussed. The difficulties experienced by a pre-school learner in engaging in peer relationships, communicating successfully in a classroom situation and constructively using play materials was explained. This was done through the use of anecdotal records, checklists, questionnaires, photographic evidence and a semi-structured interview with the learner’s parent. A pre-school play programme, using blocks, dough and puppets (BDP Programme) was devised and used to assess its influence on the acquisition of social and communicative skills by a non-social and non-communicative learner. The study found the BDP Programme to be very successful in assisting this learner to develop peer relationships and communicative skills in the peer group and thus played a critical role in the social development of this learner. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree: Master in Education Faculty of Education Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012 / The change in focus of the curriculum policy statements since 1996 have caused many teachers to feel abandoned and helpless in their pursuit of the objectives of the new curriculum. One of the issues that leads to this feeling of abandonment is that of critical thinking. A stated objective of the new curriculum is that learners must be able to engage critically with their environment. However, leading learners to be able to do this seems to be lacking. Classroom practice currently, does not address this adequately and in many cases, the ability and capacity to nurture a critical thinking classroom environment is absent. The teachers who participated in this study recognised that in order for them to be more successful in terms of the curriculum objectives, critical thinking as a core competency had to be developed as a strategic imperative. They also recognised that viewing the child in their class in isolation from their environment is fatally flawed. The child after all is a product of his/her environment. It is for this reason, that this study used the Productive Pedagogies as a basis for the research. This approach was selected because of its comprehensive quality in terms of viewing the development of the child holistically. The ability of the child to connect to his environment is dependent on the capacity of the school as a forum to draw all of the threads together and then to make meaning. The teachers on their own would not be able to do this without the help of their institutions. The development of critical thinking must be recognised at the level of management as a key classroom strategy that must be managed and supported. This would imply that important curriculum discussions and decisions must be based on how the teaching of these skills will be affected. The significance of critical thinking and the weak systemic evaluation results prompted this study to investigate whether the teaching of critical thinking skills is part of everyday classroom practice. The instrument of the Productive Pedagogies for classroom observations was used to obtain quantitative information. Interviews with the educators were also conducted to add to the qualitative data.

Approximately 20% of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) are sent to an alternative campus for their lack of social competence. Social skills training (SST) is an evidence-based intervention to help increase social competence for students with E/BD, but there is limited research that addresses SST for students with E/BD at alternative campuses. A mixed-methods design was utilized to examine SST at an alternative campus for students with E/BD. Pre-intervention data were collected for students' attendance, grades, office disciplinary referrals, and behavioral rating scales, after which, the Why Try SST program was implemented. Following the intervention, the same type of data were collected. Nonparametric statistics guided the quantitative analysis, because of the small population being studied. Differences from pre- to post-intervention were examined. Triangulation methods drove the qualitative data collection and analysis through observations, student interviews, and teacher interviews. Students exhibited significant differences from pre- to post-intervention in the number of office disciplinary referrals and several areas on the behavioral rating scales. Important insight into motivation and perceptions was gained through the observations and interviews.

The purpose of a rhythm activity program in the Thomas A. Edison School is to achieve the following: 1. The building within each child a better coordination of mind and body. 2. The satisfying of each child with a knowledge that he has the ability of achievement. 3. A healthful, happy, and social relationship between the sexes. 4. For the pupil the realization of the pure joy and exhilaration of living. 5. Poise and self confidence within the child. 6. The carrying over of this program into other closely related classes such as, playground, art, auditorium, and music. 7. An ambition within each pupil to make his community life more desirable.

Students' classroom engagement is a strong predictor of positive educational outcomes including academic achievement, GPA, and standardized test scores. Most existing research has focused on the role of quality parenting and teaching in the development of student engagement. However, some research has shown small, yet significant effects of influences from students' peer groups on the development of their engagement. The goal of this study was to explore whether some children are more susceptible to the effects of their peer groups, and to examine a series of possible factors that might amplify the influence of a target students peer group on the development of that students' own engagement over the course of an academic year. In a re-analysis of an existing data set (Kindermann, 2007), peer group profiles of student engagement were examined as predictors of changes in individual engagement from fall to spring. It was expected that peer groups' levels of engagement would vary in their predictive power for changes in students' own engagement over the school year, depending upon individual levels of peer relatedness, the number of peers with whom the student affiliates with, student perceptions of parental involvement, as well as person-to-group differences in engagement. Gender differences were expected to be non-significant. As expected, results from two sets of analysis indicate no significant gender differences in susceptibility to peer influence. Furthermore, results suggest that susceptibility to peer influence on school engagement may depend upon the number of peers with whom a student affiliates with, parental involvement, as well as person-to-group differences in engagement. However, contrary to expectations, results suggest that a student's susceptibility to peer influence may not depend upon self-reported peer relatedness. Details of the analyses, results, strengths, limitations, and implications for future research are discussed.

This study was conducted in order to assess the effects of creative stimulation in early childhood. The quantitative quasi-experimental study was set out to test a target group of 8 children in grade R, ranging in age from five to six years, to determine the importance of stimulation and intervention of creativity from a young age. A pre-test, evaluated the initial level of each child’s creative skills in fluency, flexibility and originality. This was followed by selecting one class as the experimental group and another class, from the same demographical location, as the control group. The experimental group underwent a six-week intervention programme which focused on the primary concepts in each area of fluency, flexibility and originality. Both groups continued with their normal school learning programmes. The results indicate that the impact of stimulation on young children was significant and that there was a great difference in the abilities and understanding of concepts in those children whohad been stimulated. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Leadership development is a life-long process, but support for this process should be started at an early stage. All learners have the gift for leadership, but most do not realise this gift. Adolescence is a time when the leadership potential of individuals must be awakened – it provides an opportunity to help adolescents to became the leaders they already are. The main aim of this study was to devise strategies – through structured survey studies – that could be used by schools and individuals to enhance youth leadership development. The aims that emerged were to determine and describe the current state of affairs regarding youth leadership development in certain schools. Obstacles in the way of effective leadership development were identified and strategies for effective leadership development were formulated. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, undertaken from a structured survey study perspective within an interpretivistic research paradigm, was used. The problem that was researched was the absence of purposeful youth leadership development and how this shortcoming could be addressed in the context of a high school environment, with the support of the necessary development strategies. This study attempted to identify new knowledge that can be used to address the challenges related to youth leadership. The research confirmed the research question that deficient purposeful leadership development strategies exist at school level. This formed the basis for the implementation of a dynamic and flexible leadership development model that includes aspects of both the Quality Leadership and Stage model of youth leadership development. The proposed youth leadership strategies can be applied effectively to address youth leadership development within the current South African context.

<p>The aim of this study was to investigate the use of the &quot / Stories for thinking&quot / learning materials in one intermediate phase classroom in the Western Cape. The &quot / Stories for thinking&quot / project resulted from the Western Cape Education Department project, Cognition in Curriculum 2005. This project explored the potential role the cognitive education movement could play in accomplishing the goals of the Curriculum, especially the critical outcomes. The aim of the project was to investigate a range of strategies primary school educators could use to develop cognitive abilities.</p>