Orientador: José Milton Lima / Banca: Luiza Cristina Godim Domingues Dias / Banca: Maria Leticia Barros Pedroso Nascimento / Resumo: Ao avaliarmos o cenário da infância contemporânea, do ponto de vista da saúde, é possível observar índices de sobrepeso e obesidade em escalas alarmantes. Os crescentes números colocam em pauta as medidas educativas utilizadas no desenvolvimento dos hábitos alimentares dessa população, uma vez que tais ações têm um impacto relevante no que tange ao desenvolvimento de práticas alimentares que permanecerão ao longo da vida. Embora a temática seja reconhecidamente essencial para a formação e manutenção de bons hábitos a longo prazo, poucas ações surtem o efeito esperado junto à população infantil pelo fato de muitas serem elaboradas fora do contexto no qual as crianças estão inseridas, ou seja, fora do contexto das culturas da infância. Dessa maneira, para que as intervenções contribuam na transformação da alimentação infantil, é preciso que elas sejam capazes de permitir às crianças significar a temática a partir de suas próprias perspectivas possibilitando, então, o desenvolvimento de uma autonomia nas suas escolhas alimentares. Assim, é por meio das culturas da infância que a criança cria sua identidade pessoal. Partindo deste princípio, a presente pesquisa tem como objetivo promover e avaliar a educação alimentar e nutricional na escola por meio de práticas pedagógicas apoiadas nas culturas da infância para favorecimento do processo de ensino-aprendizagem acerca da alimentação. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida com crianças de 4 a 4 anos e 11 meses matriculadas e frequentando uma ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: When evaluating contemporary childhood from a health viewpoint, obesity and overweight indexes are alarmingly high. Growing numbers put on the agenda educative measures used in developing this population's eating habits, since these actions are relevant in developing eating habits which will last a lifetime. Although this theme is recognized as essential for creating and maintaining long-term good habits, few of these practices are effective with children given that they are elaborated outside the context in which these children exist, outside childhood cultures. In this manner, for interventions to contribute in changing children's eating habits, they must be able to allow the child to give meaning to the theme from their own perspectives, thus allowing for the development of an autonomy in their eating choices. Therefore, it is through childhood cultures that the child creates their personal identity. With that in mind, this research aimed to promote and evaluate eating and nutritional education in a school through pedagogical practices supported by childhood cultures to favor the teaching-learning process focused on eating. This research was developed with children between 4 years and 4 years and 11 months at a Municipal Institution for children's education in the Northeast of the state of São Paulo. As a methodology, it used research-action and as data collection procedures, a semi-structured interview, participant observation, and field diary. Results show how actions ba... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

This mixed-methods study combined pragmatism, sociocultural perspectives, and systems thinking concepts to investigate students' engagement, thinking, and learning in science in an urban, K-8 arts, science, and technology magnet school. A grant-funded school-university partnership supported the implementation of an inquiry-based science curriculum, contextualized in the local environment through field experiences. The researcher worked as co-teacher of 3 sixth-grade science classes and was deeply involved in the daily routines of the school.The purposes of the study were to build a deeper understanding of the complex interactions that take place in an urban science classroom, including challenges related to implementing culturally-relevant instruction; and to offer insight into the role educational systems play in supporting teaching and learning. The central hypothesis was that connecting learning to meaningful experiences in the local environment can provide culturally accessible points of engagement from which to build science learning.Descriptive measures provided an assessment of students' engagement in science activities, as well as their levels of thinking and learning throughout the school year. Combined with analyses of students' work files and focus group responses, these findings provided strong evidence of engagement attributable to the inquiry-based curriculum. In some instances, degree of engagement was found to be affected by student "reluctance" and "resistance," terms defined but needing further examination. A confounding result showed marked increases in thinking levels coupled with stasis or decrease in learning. Congruent with past studies, data indicated the presence of tension between the diverse cultures of students and the mainstream cultures of school and science.Findings were synthesized with existing literature to generate the study's principal product, a grounded theory model representing the complex, interacting factors involved in teaching and learning. The model shows that to support learning and to overcome cultural tensions, there must be alignment among three main forces or "causal factors": students, teaching, and school climate. Conclusions emphasize system-level changes to support science learning, including individualized support for students in the form of differentiated instruction; focus on excellence in teaching, particularly through career-spanning professional support for teachers; and attention to identifying key leverage points for implementing effective change.

Although humane education, promoting children's kindness toward animals, has been evaluated as a factor influencing children's kindness toward humans later in their life, the effect of a classroom pet hasn't been well studied. The current study investigated the influence of intensified daily interactions with living animals in the classroom on the development of empathy among Japanese children. Specifically, the study examined (a) the effect of introducing animals into the classroom on children's empathic behaviors and attitudes, and (b) the generalization of this animal-directed empathy to humans.

It was the quest for answers to such questions which prompted this study. It is an effort to discover what young people in an out of school think about their training for family living. It is an effort to compare their opinions with those of adults and to evaluate them in terms of feasibility, goals, and sound learning experiences. It was expected that the material provided by this study would give direction to the development of a program of family life education in a community.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences exist between characteristics and attitudes of graduates and those of non-graduates of doctoral programs in education. The subjects were the 256 students who had successfully completed the qualifying examinations in the College of Education at North Texas State University during the years of 1978 through 1980. Although the data findings from this study are too numerous to list within the restrictions of this abstract, the most notable findings include that (1) 74.2 per cent had graduated; (2) graduates were more likely to have selected the dissertation topic before the qualifying examinations; (3) graduates rated personal motivation higher than did non-graduates; and (4) there were no significant differences in Graduate Record Examination scores (verbal, quantitative, or total) between graduates and non-graduates. Among the conclusions drawn from this study are that (1) the process of going through a doctoral program discourages the less serious students before they reach the qualifying examinations and (2) graduates have high personal motivation and receive high support for dissertation efforts from many segments of life (spouse, family, friends, major professor, and doctoral committee). The recommendations drawn from this study are for (1) further research into the personal motivation of the candidate, (2) further research as to the effect of the candidate's attitudes toward and grades for courses in research and statistics, (3) universities to maintain records that allow for determination of completion rates of doctoral students and to consider these rates in the evaluation of doctoral programs, and (4) graduate faculty to encourage doctoral students to give serious consideration to possible dissertation topics early in their graduate programs.

The purpose of this study was to describe graduate courses and programs of professional education at selected institutions which emphasized the preparation of educators to work with Blacks, Indians, and Spanish American (EISA). Information from a survey of college and university graduate catalogs and the review of literature was used to select three institutions for an in-depth study. The institutions selected for study were East Texas State University (ETSU) at Commerce, the University of Texas at Austin (UT/Austin), and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Although only three institutions were selected for in-depth study, there seems to be evidence to support the following conclusions: (1) there seem to be more courses and programs with emphases on preparing educators to work with BISAs when outside funding is available, (2) continuation of courses and programs to prepare educators to work with BISAs seems to be directly influenced by the interest and involvement of individual instructors, (3) the instructors who were the most interested in preparing educators to work with multicultural groups seem to have larger classes, (4) the ethnic background of the instructor also seems to influence the effectiveness of a course, (5) a nonthreatening learning atmosphere seems to influence open discussions of serious cultural issues, and (6) informal interaction of Anglo, Black, and Mexican American educators seems to be an effective and satisfying type of cultural exchange and develooment of a cultural awareness.

No description available.

In recent years special education administrators have frequently found themselves in conflict with parents of handicapped children regarding such issues as: (1) private school placement of handicapped children; (2) transportation of handicapped children; (3) the provision of related services for handicapped children; and (4) due process hearings requested regarding the evaluation and placement of handicapped children. The problem this study investigated is whether the power base used by the special education administrator to influence conflicts with parents is affected by the socioeconomic status of the parents, the race of the child and the parents, and/or the handicapping condition of the child. In order to examine how special education administrators use social power to influence conflicts with parents seven bases of social power were studied. The original five power bases developed by French and Raven (1959)--expert, referent, legitimate, reward, and coerci ve--were used, plus two additional bases--information power developed by Raven and Kruglanski (1970) and connection power developed by Hersey, Blanchard and Natemeyer (1979). In addition three variables (the socio-economic status of the parents, the race of the parents and the child, and the handicapping condition of the child) were examined through the use of scenario questions. The scenario questions were developed by the researcher and were tested to establish their reliability and validity. The study examined five primary research questions, secondary research questions, and a research hypothesis. While no definite pattern of responses emerged, it was found that (1) administrator's decision making appeared to be sensitive to the context in which it was made; (2) administrators relied on reward power to influence conflicts; and (3) administrators used information power to resolve conflicts with white, high SES parents. / Ed. D.

Curriculum innovations, such as Tech Prep, provide practitioners an avenue to change expectations, attitudes, teaching styles, and organizational structure. However, the benefits of educational innovations are not fully realized until those practitioners, such as administrators, academic teachers, vocational teachers, and guidance counselors, adopt and implement change in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to determine the concerns of Tech Prep practitioners at the secondary level in the state of Virginia as measured by the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM). The population for this study was 322 individuals consisting of administrators, academic teachers, vocational teachers and guidance counselors involved in implementation of Tech Prep programs for two years or longer. Based on the findings of this study the following conclusions are presented. Based on the theory of the CBAM and the mean scores of the Stages of Concern, indications are these practitioners are becoming experienced users of the Tech Prep concept. The two highest SoC mean scores for the four groups were either Collaboration or Consequence Stage. It was concluded that staff development should relate to strategies necessary to increase student outcomes and cooperation and coordination of others. Practitioners involved with Tech Prep have passed the self-concerns (Awareness, Informational, and Personal Stages) and task-concerns (Management). The Stages of Concern for all groups evolved around impact-concerns (Consequence, Collaboration, and Refocusing Stages). It was concluded that the level of involvement by administrators, academic teachers, and vocational teachers during implementation of Tech Prep is related to the Stages of Concern. There was not a significant relationship between the Stages of Concern and level of involvement for counselors. Selected recommendations drawn from the findings and conclusions are: • Attention should continue to focus on concerns, attitudes and expectations of practitioners as they proceed with the continuation of Tech Prep in Virginia. • This study should be replicated with larger sample sizes and questionnaires submitted at the beginning of the innovation adoption and at designated periods after the implementation process. Such longitudinal studies may determine linkage between time, staff development activities, integration of vocational and academic studies, and the SoC of practitioners. • Focus by teacher educators, the Virginia Department of Education staff, vocational-technical and academic personnel, should concentrate on collaborative techniques and student competencies. It is recommended that policy be developed to include extensive professional development and increased dialogue among practitioners as they implement Tech Prep programs. / Ed. D.

Ed. D.