Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1976. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [134]-144).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed June 8, 2007). PDF text: ix, 275 p. : ill. ; 1.17Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3239363. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Although the need for staff development in adult literacy is no longer questioned, there is still an open debate regarding how to design effective approaches, how to coordinate the relationship between research and practice, and how to define the knowledge base that constitutes adult literacy education. This study examines these issues from the perspective of community-based literacy programs where literacy is defined by functions and uses in the social context of actual communities rather than in terms of discrete reading and writing skills. The vehicle for collecting information was a study circle support group comprised of practitioners from a community-based literacy program in Massachusetts. The purpose of this study is to identify guiding principles for designing staff development for community-based literacy programs through analyzing how practitioners identify important issues and articulate theory within their own descriptions and analysis of daily practice. Staff development principles were identified through analyzing the study circle process in terms of how the group defined its task, used different forms of talk, approached the use of expert texts and dealt with changing constraints of time. Findings reveal that practitioners need a forum to define their own staff development task and discuss how to blend theory and strategies with expectations, input and abilities of students inside a changing learning environment. When practitioners discuss their practice, they combine many forms of talk including story telling, hypothesis forming, self-observation, problem solving, strategy analysis, meaning making and topic discussion. This multi-faceted way of talking results in a rich, contextualized analysis of real-life problems that is different from the generalized theories and skills of traditional staff development. The following guidelines resulted from this study. Staff development should (1) build theory from practice, (2) focus on problem posing and solving, (3) be based on authentic experience, (4) be embedded in the social context of actual programs, (5) be on-going and flexible to incorporate emerging issues, (6) have program development as its goal, (7) be connected to a larger system that is working for structural change.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes special report study entitled: The computer workstation as the determinant in learning space. Added title page title: HKU Space Branch Building-a Lifelong Learning Centre in Central. Includes bibliographical references.

<p> This dissertation explored a type of qualitative case study based on the experiences of 11 graduates from Leadership Collier, a Naples, Florida-based leadership program, who had run for public office after completing the program. The researcher assessed the program goals, participant experiences and motivation with regard to community involvement and running for elected office. It was the belief of the researcher that there was a need for more qualified and effective leaders to run for public office at the local, state, and national levels of government. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation study was to understand what leadership experiences gained through participating in a leadership training program could empower and motivate a person to run for public office. </p><p> Information provided in this dissertation includes an introduction, the study&rsquo;s purpose and research questions, methodology, critical terms, an examination of the literature review, study findings, researcher reflections, and recommendations for future studies. Data analysis codes in this study include sense of community, social capital, program design, confidentiality, diversity, bonding, empowerment, and motivation. Research findings showed that Leadership Collier has motivated and empowered select citizens to run for public office by providing experiences that have enabled individuals to develop leadership skills, become aware of community issues, develop confidence and a sense of community, expand social capital, and increase engagement in the community.</p><p> <i>Keywords: leadership, public office, empowerment, motivation. </i></p>

Thesis (MAppSc (Project Management)) --University of South Australia, 1994

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes special report study entitled : The computer workstation as the determinant in learning space. Added title page title : HKU Space Branch Building - a Lifelong Learning Centre in Central. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Many claims have been made about the potential of Lifelong Education, when implemented as a social policy, to bring about a more just society. However, the assumptions underlying these and similar claims have seldom been critically scrutinized. For this reason, there is in the literature a concern that the concept of the "learning society" simply means lifelong schooling and is the rhetoric of social control. In this view, the potential of Lifelong Education as a transformative force for the development of a participator}' democracy and a more equitable distribution of resources remains a Utopian vision. In this work, an analysis of the assumptions, it was expected, would bring to light the ideological position embedded in Lifelong Education as a social policy tool. This research therefore, offers a systematic critical analysis of the expected outcomes of Lifelong Education policies. This required the development of a theoretical framework which built upon: 1.) Paulston's model of social change; 2.) Rawls' and others' concepts of justice and equality; and 3.) perspectives on the role of education in society outlined by Aronowitz and Giroux. This framework was employed to analyze 1.) selected publications of UNESCO on Lifelong Education, 2.) Canadian Association for Adult Education and Canadian Commission for UNESCO documents, and 3.) contemporary Canadian federal and provincial education policies. The findings of this analysis were compared with various models of social policy. Five principle findings emerged from the study. First, the literature, for the most part, reflects a view of society characterized by homogeneit3' and consensus. The model of social change is evolutional, and avoids the structural conflict perspectives. Second, a number of assumptions are made concerning some elements of a theory of justice, but no unified comprehensive theory of justice supports the literature's claims. Third, adopted in the literature is an ideal view of the role of Lifelong Education as a means of producing change in society. The absence of a critical perspective leaves Lifelong Education in the role of reproducing inequalities in society, vulnerable to application as a mechanism of manipulation rather than emancipation. Fourth, the social policy models implied by the literature are not models which are significantly redistributive in their aims. Finally, projected normative outcomes such as "the good society", "improved quality of life", and "a more just society" lack precise definition thereby leaving unexpressed the ideological position on which they are premised. This deprives the field the means of evaluating these policies. It is argued that if the role of educators in the development of democratic active participation of citizens in the collective formation of public policy is to be taken seriously, the ideological position of Lifelong Education must be more carefully defined and developed so that citizens can reflect on its principles, compare them with alternate ideological positions, and make their choices from this more informed position. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

An ethnographic study of the Pima County Adult Education Family Literacy Program in Tucson, Arizona, reveals ideological and pedagogical tensions and contradictions within it. Some elements of the Program are "accommodationist," aimed at helping students fit into an unjust status quo as they find it. Other elements are "liberatory," aimed at empowering students to transform the status quo. Recommendations are made aimed at steering the Program in more liberatory directions without sacrificing its crucial role in preparing students for further education and work. The Program during 1994-95 was a collaboration among Pima County Adult Education, Head Start, Sunnyside and Tucson Unified School Districts, and the National Center for Family Literacy. It involved nearly a hundred families, mostly young mothers with preschool children, at five elementary school sites. Students were predominantly Hispanic, many recent immigrants from Mexico, with low income and minimal levels of education. Adult students received ESL and/or GED education while their children were enrolled in Head Start at the same sites. Other features of the Program included parenting skills education, vocational education, and volunteer work by the adult students at school sites. A review of literature places the Program in the complex environment of adult literacy education generally and, more specifically, the national family literacy movement in the United States. Competing definitions of literacy (nominal, functional, cultural, critical) are examined, as well as two prevailing philosophies in family literacy programs: a "deficit model" of language use by disadvantaged people, and a "transmission model" of school literacy from parent to child. All theoretical principles are related to the PCAE Family Literacy Program. The research methodology is reflexive ethnography, in which the researcher tries to account for his personal interaction with the phenomena studied and incorporates it into every aspect of the ethnography, from collection to presentation to interpretation of data. The last chapter is a personal essay in the form of a literacy narrative that attempts to relate the autobiography of the ethnographer to the lives of the ethnographic subjects.

Since the South African government decided in 1997 to replace traditional education with outcomes-based education, curriculum transformation has as yet for various reasons not realised in the Physical Sciences classroom, thus resulting in poor marks in Physical Sciences. This study was prompted by the above realities and the fact that education reform in South Africa cannot occur in isolation from globalisation and the demands of 21st-century teaching-and-learning. The overarching aim of the study thus was to propose guidelines for an ICT-integrated approach to teaching and for a learning environment that can lead to the successful implementation of the Physical Sciences curriculum in the classroom. In order to achieve this aim, the research had, on the one hand, to focus on those aspects against which successful curriculum implementation can be measured and, on the other, be directed at the contribution which the use of digital technology could make in curriculum implementation. The above led to a comprehensive literature study during which Physical Sciences curriculum documents and other teaching-and-learning literature were investigated within the context of UGO, constructivism as well as effective principles of learning. Ultimately eleven so-called âimplementation principlesâ were identified (see 2.7.1). Thereafter it was established how different ICT usages can be practically and feasibly used in order to contribute to the realisation of the implementation principles in the Physical Sciences classroom. Due to the fact that todayâs learners belong to the Y generation, with their unique needs, as well as the fact that over 80% of all South African learners are taught Science in a language that is not their home language (see 1.2.2.2), much attention was paid to these aspects in this study. A quantitative research design was used and data were collected by means of a questionnaire, as measuring instrument. Although multi-choice and binary-type questions were also used, the questionnaire mainly consisted of five-point Likert-type questions (see 4.10). The questions in the various sections of the questionnaire dealt with âdaily ICT applicationsâ, learnersâ home environment, language of teaching-andlearning, the availability and use of ICT in the school environment, learnersâ experience of the ICT Laboratory (see 1.2.3) as learning environment as well as their experience of ICT applications in the Laboratory. The test sample consisted of 110 Physical Sciences learners who visited the ICT Laboratory regularly. The Statistical Processing unit of the ICT services at the University of the Free State processed the questionnaires by means of the SPSS computer package. The information gleaned from the literature study as well as the empirical research enabled the researcher, from a didactical perspective, to propose guidelines for an e- Education-based approach to the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement for Physical Sciences (see 6.4). The study emphasises the essential role of the teacher in identifying suitable ICT applications that can be used to the benefit of teaching-and-learning within a 21stcentury learning environment and in service of the implementation of a Physical Sciences curriculum.