Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 1998. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-280). Also available via the World Wide Web.

<p> The purpose of this study is to provide a descriptive analysis of high school choral teachers&rsquo; inclusion of popular music in current teaching practices by (a) determining the frequency of inclusion, (b) developing a profile of teachers, schools, and choral programs that include popular music in the curriculum, (c) determining which demographic characteristics affected the amount of popular music included, and (d) developing a profile of popular music implementation details. The <i>Popular Music Survey,</i> a researcher designed online survey, was developed to collect demographic data and information concerning the participants&rsquo; inclusion of popular music in their high school choral classrooms. Participants were high school choral teachers in the Commonwealth of Virginia (<i>n</i> = 104). Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Macintosh, Version 22.0. </p><p> Results of the study revealed that 100% of participants include popular music in the choral curriculum as performance literature and/or instructional materials. Descriptive statistics of demographic data of the teacher, school, choral program, and ensemble were used to develop a profile to describe the typical high school choral teacher who includes popular music. Descriptive statistics were also used to develop a profile to describe how high school choral teachers included popular music in the choral classroom. </p><p> The majority of participants (n = 91, 87.4%) responded that the percentage of popular music performed was 30% or less of their total performance literature. Pearson Chi-square and one-way analysis of variance were used to determine the extent to which popular music was included in the high school choral curriculum. The achievement of a master&rsquo;s degree was the only teacher characteristic that significantly affected the amount of popular music included in the high school choral curriculum (p = .028). Participants with a master&rsquo;s degree included more popular music than participants who did not have a master&rsquo;s degree. </p><p> Implications for music education were discussed in relation to the findings of the current study. Recommendations were made for future research regarding the inclusion of popular music in choral classrooms, as well as in other areas of music education.</p>

<p> This study explored with high school choral directors and singers, their experiences of musical expression in the choral classroom setting. A phenomenological approach to a collective case study was used to address the notions of &ldquo;what&rdquo;, &ldquo;why&rdquo;, and &ldquo;how&rdquo; in regard to the relationships and interactions between choral directors, singers, their personal experiences and musical texts as they pertain to musical expression. Four high school choral programs participated in this study. One choral director and a focus group of 4-7 students from each program participated in open-ended, semi-structured, interviews. Video recorded observations of choral rehearsals provided media for additional stimulated recall interviews that used both open-ended and framing techniques. These interviews served as the primary method of data collection to help examine how the participants conceptualized and practiced musical expression. </p><p> The high school choral directors and singers of this study described musical expression in broad terms but agreed that it can be understood as both a means of conveying and understanding meanings and emotions. The participants addressed considerations and conditions such as engagement, their emotional response to the repertoire, composer intent, the classroom environment and obstacles such as the difficulty of the score or external distractions. They described specific approaches such as collaborative meaning making of musical contexts, formal elements of a score, and text. Implications are addressed for the ways choral directors approach repertoire selection, classroom configuration, rehearsal strategies, building relationships, delivering content, helping students to develop vocal skills and techniques and the use of collaborative learning and dialog to encourage ensemble interpretations. Participants also described optimal experiences of musical expression in regard to enjoyment, release of tension and perceived time and space. This study helped to uncover some of the ways high school choral directors and singers attempt to acknowledge each member&rsquo;s individuality while working toward a unified ensemble expression. The data revealed that collectively, the four participating programs shared many common ideas and yet each ensemble had a unique and nuanced approach to musical expression that reflected the values, beliefs and experiences of the choir and its members.</p>

Research-based curriculum is a system of instruction which uses an authentic learning, problem-solving, cooperative learning, hands-on, and inquiry-discovery approach, guided by a constructivist philosophy. Its usefulness has been recognized for many decades but "research in the classroom" has not been adopted as a teaching method by many. This study centers on research done by students in science classrooms. The primary purpose of this study was to measure, both quantitatively and qualitatively; (1) students' understanding, by gender, of the nature of science and, (2) student attitude changes, by gender, toward the nature of science, scientists, and careers in science before and after the completion of research projects. The gender equity problem in science classes is explored and improvements in four process skills were measured for both treatment and control groups. Also, different models of research-based science education are described. The Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) and the Nature of Science Scale (NOSS) were given pre and post to both groups. Several qualitative instruments were given and student journals were analyzed by gender. The results of TOSRA showed gains in positive attitude for students after they experience a research-based curriculum for six of the seven TOSRA scales. However, the control group had similar gains so the mixed design analysis of variance showed no statistically significant differences between control vs. treatment or male vs. female interactions. Much of the qualitative analysis revealed that students' understanding of the nature of science changes considerably after they "do" scientific research. The journal analysis and the "Research is...." question analysis show that students also have a significant affective response to the research experience. Quantitatively, the total NOSS score improvement for the treatment group was substantial (11.4 to 13.8) and better than the control, although it was not a statistically significant difference. Generally, treatment students showed greater improvement on all NOSS scales. Treatment students also had greater gains on the four different process skills measured in this study. Research-based curriculum is an effective way to change students' attitudes towards science and a sound way to increase student understanding about the nature of the research process.

<p> This qualitative study examined how teachers use instructional practices and family reinforcement interventions to support intrinsic motivation for special education students as a means to meet graduation requirements. Purposeful sampling of highly qualified special education teachers certified in language arts was used in this study. The data were collected through three teacher participant interviews, classroom observations, and a collection of documents and artifacts. </p><p> The findings are presented and discussed through the three main themes that emerged from data analysis and interpretation. Three main themes described instructional practices used to support intrinsic motivation for special education students as a means to meet requirements for graduation: collaboration, relevant/meaningful learning, and relationships. One main theme described how teachers use family support interventions to provide intrinsic motivation for special education students as a means to meet requirements for graduation: open/transparent communication. This study adds to the body of literature regarding instructional practices and family support interventions to support intrinsic motivation as a means of meeting graduation requirements.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative design study was to better understand the experiences of high school general education English teachers who have students with Asperger Syndrome in their classes. More specifically, this researcher wanted to better understand the teacher&rsquo;s perception of the IEP-denoted accommodations the general education teachers are responsible for implementing. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, journal entries and collection of artifacts. Findings of this study include: the IEP document and IEP process from the lens of the general education teacher do not provide adequate information when considering the unique needs of students with Asperger Syndrome; general education English teachers are committed not only to forming relationships with students with Asperger Syndrome, but often take it a step further, taking on the role of advocating for the student as well as encouraging the student to advocate for himself or herself; and general education English teachers are committed to doing what works for the student, regardless of what information can be found in the IEP document.</p>

<p> The books we care about are part of us (Sumara 1996, 2002). It is the story of this literary experience as told by three currently practicing English teachers that interests me when I ask, "How does a teacher's personal reading inform his or her understanding of curriculum?" Seeking the representation of this story, I employ qualitative methods that value unique perspectives, interpretations, and the presence of my subjectivity (van Manen, 1990; Seidman, 2006; Jardine, 2006). The combined use of autobiography&mdash;in the tradition of <i>currere</i> (Pinar, 1975)&mdash;and the hermeneutic method (Heidegger, 2008; Nakkula &amp; Ravitch, 1998) best matches this responsibility. By representing the profound impact of personal reading on my teaching of literature, I contribute my autobiographical voice and story to this study. </p><p> This dissertation is influenced by contemporary literary theory, Sumara's (1996, 2002) scholarship on reading and curriculum, and Rosenblatt's (1994, 1995) reader response theory. Data collection follows Seidman's (2006) discussion of semi-structured conversations, analysis is performed with attention to van Manen's (1990) qualitative human science design, and representation is carried out following Seidman's (2006) description of participant narrative profiles. I begin this analysis by exploring two super-ordinate themes: personal reading and curriculum understanding. Sub-themes in the area of personal reading are unique. Sub-themes representing curriculum understanding are consistent across participants. These sub-themes include a teacher's definition of curriculum, professional identity, and teaching of literature. Analysis reveals a recognizable relationship between each teacher's personal reading and curriculum understanding: each teacher's personal reading experience is reflected in his or her teaching of literature. </p><p> Through its exploration of the relationship between personal reading and curriculum understanding, this study provides a glimpse into the tangled intricacies of curriculum. Since many reading experiences described in this work were born outside of the classroom, this study confirms the perspective that curriculum includes all learning opportunities inside <i>and</i> outside the classroom. Beyond this confirmation, this study reaffirms several key components of teaching and learning: the fundamental function of literature to interrupt familiarity, the role of teacher as interrupter, and the respect for existential experience as a source of scholarship.</p>

The focus of this research is what constitutes school ethos for a purposive sample of seven final year students in a Scottish secondary school. A review of existing literature on the topic of school ethos highlighted the importance that policy makers and practitioners in Scotland afford to the notion of a positive school ethos. Yet knowledge of the topic remains limited with only a narrow range of approaches to researching school ethos evident within the literature reviewed. This study begins by considering the ideas of the early twentieth century philosophies of Martin Heidegger (1889 – 1976) and Edith Stein (1891 – 1942). In their ideas about the human person and human relationships the conceptual tools: thrownness; beingwith; care (acts of solicitude); mood; and temporality are identified to investigate school ethos from a different perspective. The hermeneutic phenomenological tradition particularly Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s (1908 – 1961) notion of embodiment and Hans George Gadamer’s (1900 – 2002) ideas of: conversation; fusion of horizons; and the hermeneutic circle provide both the methodology and method to investigate the phenomenon that presents itself as school ethos from the student perspective. Data on the students’ lived experience of secondary school were collected by conversational interview and are presented as participant stories with each story organised around the same five explicative themes. The analysis of the data found that there was little evidence of the school’s declared ethos entering the lifeworld of the participants, rather school ethos is experienced for them as moods which surface from acts of solicitude. Although the small-scale nature of the study precludes wider generalisations from the findings the study highlights issues that may be useful to policy makers and practitioners. In particular, it suggests there is a need to pay greater attention to understanding the lifeworlds of students, to the lived experience of school ethos and on seeking further clarification around what constitutes positive acts of solicitude within the context of school.

<p> Increasing the independence of individuals with severe disabilities is of increasing concern to schools and federal agencies. Improving quality of life for high needs individuals with disabilities is an objective of transition programs, which allow consumers to adapt from one aspect of life to the next. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between variables (a) vocational assessment and exploration; (b) workplace readiness training; (c) independent living skills; and (d) self-advocacy and self-care and the independence level of individuals with severe disabilities residing and receiving their education within an institutionalized setting. Finally, this study will examine the efficacy of the Functional Independent Skills Handbook curriculum and assessment in addressing the independent living skills needs of individuals with severe disabilities in-residence in a state institution. Participants include adolescents with severe disabilities receiving services from the Special Purpose School at the Parsons State Hospital. </p><p> The results obtained by this study may be of extreme use to educators, service providers, and policy makers in Kansas, as well as other states utilizing a similar institutionalization model for severely disabled individuals. The study yielded statistically significant results that a focused, leveled curriculum emphasizing (a) vocational assessment and exploration; (b) workplace readiness training; (c) independent living skills; and (d) self-advocacy and self-care can increase the independence level of individuals with severe disabilities.</p>