The purpose of this project was to develop a series of three lesson plans based on children's environmental literature and journaling to be used in an outdoor environment and correlated to California State Science and English Language Arts Standards for the sixth grade.

Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An apology in Tshivenda is offered when an individual has violated a social norm or want to restore any form of a complainable. When it is given, it serves as a remedial work, designed to smooth over any social disruption that was caused. Sometimes a person who is suppose to apologize may find reasons to minimize the degree of the offence. If the offence in question is big, a verbal apology may be insufficient to restore the damaged relationship. Male and female learners commit a lot of offences towards each other at school and they are obliged to apologize for such offences. In the process of apologizing, they are faced with a wide choice of strategies to choose from. In most cases, male learners have a tendency of giving an explanation to their offences. They do not always seek for a direct apology. Inthe acceptance of their offences, they opt for longer strategies to apologize. Males seem to be either proud or shy to ask for an apology from females. Female learners on the other hand, do not want to use longer strategies to apologize, but they ask for forgiveness immediately. It is not all the males who do not want to apologize directly to females, but there are others who apologize directly. They are the ones who take females as their equals and they also want to maintain a good relationship with them. The same applies with females, a minimal number of them use longer strategies to apologize. They do not use direct strategies. There are other strategies also useful in Tshivenda male and female learners, but their use is not so popular. Strategies like explicit acceptance of the blame and expression of self-deficiency are considered the least of other ones. An apology is usually influenced by the way the complainant shows his or her dissatisfaction. Male and female learners also differ with the way they complain. They use complaint strategies differently. Both male and female learners use direct accusation and indirect accusation extensively. But the difference comes by the fact that females are longer with their complaints than males. Females show their annoyance by involving more complaint strategies. Males do not take long to complain, they involve only a few strategies. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Verskoning in Tshivenda word aangebied in geval waar 'n individu 'n sosiale reeloortree het. Wanneer dit aangebied word, dien dit as 'n remedie ontwerp om die sosiale onderbreking wat ontstaan het reg te siel. Soms sal die persoon wat veronderstel is om 'n verskoning aan te bied redes vind om die graad van die sosiale oortreding te probeer verminder. ln geval waar die oortreding as baie groot beskou word waar' n mondelingse verskoning nie genoegsaam wees om die verhouding weer te herstel nie. Manne en vrou skoliere behaan heelwat sosiale oortreding teenoor mekaar by die skool en is oorplig om verskoning aan te bied vir sulke oortredings. Tydens die proses van verskoning aanbied word die skoliere gekonfronteer met verskeie opsies om van te kies. Manlike skoliere het die manier om verkonings en verduidelikings te gee vir hulle oortredings. Hulle sal nie 'n direkte apologie aanbied nie. lndien hulle aanvaar dat hulle verkeerd was, sal hul die opsie om hulle verduidelikings te gee as strategie gebruik. Manspersone bly te trots en skaam te wees om 'n apologie te vra van dames. Dames weer vra makliker en direk om verskoning. Hierdie beginstel van om verskoning vra geld nie ten opsigte van alle skoliere nie. Sommiges sal direk apologie aanbied. Ander aanvaar vroulike skoliere as hul gelykes en probeer om 'n gesonde verhouding te handhaf Dieselfde beginsel geld tot vroulike skoliere van hulle sal lang verduidelikings aanbied as 'n strategie deur om verskoning te vra: Hulle vra nie direk om verskoning nie. Daar is ook ander strategiee in gebruiklike in Tshivenda deur manlik sowel as vroulike skoliere, maar is nie populer in gebruik nie. Strategiee soos die duidelike aanvaarding van skuld en die uitdrukking van selfbeskulding word beskou as die minste gebruiklike opsie. 'n Verskoning word beinvloed deur die manier waarop die klaer sy ofhaar misnoe wys of uitspreek. Manlike sowel as vroulike leerders versoek ook in metodiek hoe hulle kla. Hulle maak gebruik van 'n kla strategie wat verskillend is van mekaar. Beide geslagte maak gebruik van direk sowel as indirek beskuldigings. Die verskil egter is by vroulik klaers aangesien hul klagte langer duur as hul manlike ewe nie. Vroulike klaers wys hul woede of ongelukkigheid deur meer klagte strategie te betree. Mans daarom teen neem nie lang om te kla nie en behels net a paar strategiee.

This study is a qualitative case study which aims to investigate teachers’ conceptions of Liberal Studies teaching in a case study school after Liberal Studies became compulsory in the Senior Secondary curriculum. A list of aspects of teaching were compiled based on previous research studies and were used to identify teachers’ conceptions. Data were collected from three participating teachers with two research tools, namely, lesson observations and semi-structured interviews. The teachers came from different educational backgrounds but they taught students at the same secondary level. The findings reveal that participating teachers possess multiple conceptions and there are discrepancies between what they think Liberal Studies teaching should be and their real classroom practices. They also do not have complete understanding of what an issue-enquiry approach is. The reasons participating Liberal Studies teachers gave in response to the formation of their conceptions are found to be related to their major subject taught or major subject completed at a degree level. It is also found that when they attended Liberal Studies related training courses, they tended to use their educational background to selectively pick up teaching strategies introduced in the courses. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This thesis is a qualitative ethnographic inquiry that explores how to apprentice senior secondary school students into critical awareness of gender issues within the Hong Kong New Senior Secondary Liberal Studies (hereafter NSSLS) curriculum context. The project attempts to engage students in thinking about gender issues from different levels of criticality or critical thinking. It was guided by the following research questions: (a) What Discourses of gender are co-constructed, negotiated or/and resisted by the NSSLS curriculum and teachers and students? (b) What Discourses about critical thinking are co-constructed by the NSSLS curriculum and teachers and students? (c) Is it possible to enhance these students’ critical thinking regarding gender issues in the NSSLS subject? To this end, an intervention unit on gender stereotyping designed with genre-based pedagogy was taught and co-taught by the researcher in one traditionally Chinese as the medium-of-instruction (TCMI) and one traditionally English as the medium-of-instruction (TEMI) secondary schools. The study had three stages and adopted multiple research methods, triangulating ethnographic data from interviews, classroom observation, and students’ writing assignments. In the first stage, the pre-intervention stage, the intervention unit was designed by the researcher and the LS teachers in the two schools. Interviews were conducted with focal students to gain insights of their perceptions of gender stereotypes. Pre-measure writing assignments were also given to the students to investigate their cognitive academic language proficiency and gender identities. In the second stage, the intervention unit was respectively taught and co-taught by the researcher and lessons were video- and audio-taped in both schools. In the third stage, the post-measure writing assignments were given to the same groups of students to interpret the potential effectiveness of the unit. Additionally the focal student informants from both schools were interviewed again. Data analysis drew upon theoretical perspectives from poststructuralism, social constructivism and critical theories. Specifically Reisigl and Wodak (2009)’s discourse-historical (DHA) approach to CDA, positioning theory, and other discourse analysis tools were used to examine the Discourses of gender and criticality embedded in the teaching and learning of NSSLS in the two schools. It is found that the Discourses of gender equity, essentializing gender differences, resistance and submission to traditional gender norms, together with the Discourses of criticality such as multiple perspective thinking and writing logical and substantiated arguments are constructed and re-constructed across different fields of action of the NSSLS subject. It is also revealed that some students embody higher critical gender awareness after the intervention unit. Taken as a whole, the study shows that it is a difficult and yet still possible task to raise students’ critical gender awareness in the NSSLS subject. It is hoped that the study will serve as a springboard for future research on critical literacy/pedagogy in NSSLS and longitudinal studies on the itinerary of transformation of secondary school students’ gender identity in a time of change for the Asian societies. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

According to the five functions of academic advising as outlined by Morris (1973), this study investigates the specific academic advising needs of elementary education majors as perceived by elementary education students and faculty advisors at The University of Arizona. In addition, the unique advising needs of elementary education majors, those advising needs which are currently being met, and those advising needs which are not being met, are identified. Lastly, suggestions for improving the quality of academic advising for elementary education majors are examined. Twenty-five elementary education majors of senior standing admitted to the College of Education and twelve elementary education faculty advisors are individually administered an oral semi-structured questionnaire. Interview responses are categorized according to the five functions of academic advising, the unique advising needs of elementary education majors, advising needs which are currently being met, advising needs which are not being met, and suggestions for improving the quality of academic advising. The findings indicate that those advising needs which are specific to elementary education majors are contained within the functions of providing accurate information and long-range program planning. The advising needs identified within the functions of discerning the purpose of the institution, short-term course selection, and facilitating student development are generic in nature with no specific referent to teacher education. The unique advising needs of elementary education majors are identified as: (1) helping students to determine their suitability to the profession, (2) developing interpersonal skills, (3) developing communicative competence, (4) making decisions concerning program options, and (5) facilitating professional development. Advising needs which are being met are those related to program planning. Advising needs which are not being met are those related to determining suitability to the profession and facilitating professional development. Suggestions for improving the quality of academic advising for elementary education majors include the recognition of advising as a faculty priority and facilitating students' professional development needs. . . . (Author's abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of author.) UMI

The purpose of this study was to identify the standards and criteria of graduate programs and credential requirements for special education administrators; ascertain practicing administrators' representative functions and performance requirements; and determine if interrelationships exist among these variables. Data were ordered in a format that should contribute to planning at the national, state and university levels. Data were gathered from universities, state education agencies and special education administrators. Universities, states and practicing administrators agreed that coursework/competency requirements emphasizing training and experience in both general and special education is appropriate. Fifty-six percent of the universities reported offering the necessary coursework in both areas, but only thirty-eight percent of the states had such requirements. In general, universities had more specific requirements than states. However, the coursework emphases and state requirements were found to be inconsistent with administrators' perceptions of knowledge and skills important to their jobs. Currently, forty states require certification for special education administrators: 13 as Directors of Special Education, 7 as Special Education Supervisors, 8 as General Administrators with Special Education Endorsement, 12 as General Administrators. Additionally, four states offer but do not require administrative credentials and two states require teaching credentials only. It was concluded that graduate programs often do not prepare special education administrators for the roles they actually perform. University and state requirements should parallel one another and both should reflect basic skills and competencies required on the job. Graduate program requirements need to place more emphasis in the areas of law and legal issues, public relations, fiscal procedures, personnel management, supervision and evaluation--both as basic administrative competencies and skills and as they relate to special education in particular. Appropriate internship experiences should be required by states as well as universities to provide expertise in such areas as report writing and public relations.

<p>This study investigates six Eritrean primary school teacher's perceptions of their pre-service education. Six primary school teachers from three different schools in two different regions of Eritrea were interviewed. The researcher investigated whether primary school teachers found the knowledge and/or skill acquired from their pre-service courses in the Asmara Teachers' Training Institute helpful to make and use effective lesson plans, prepare and use relevant teaching aids, assess their students' performance, prepare lesson content, manage the classroom effectively, and select and use relevant teaching methods.</p>

D.Ed. / The general objective of this study is to illuminate the challenges experienced by educators in the provision of Environmental Education at schools in Curriculum 2005. In order to realize this general aim, the following serve as specific aims: Firstly, to provide a theoretical base for Environmental Education with a view to increasing the understanding of this relatively new discipline. Secondly, to examine and analyse the factors hindering the successful implementation of Environmental Education in schools. Thirdly, to identify and discuss potential solutions. An extensive literature review was undertaken to examine core areas impeding effective teaching of Environmental Education and its emphasis on Curriculum 2005. The investigation included data collection from experienced educators who have been incorporating Environmental Education in their subject teaching. The qualitative research design was utilized. The data collection methods the researcher applied include observation where personal visits were made to schools promoting Environmental Education. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with different individual educators; in schools with more than four environmental educators, focus group interviews were preferred. The data of this research were collected in schools in Gauteng Province through qualitative data collection techniques. The data collected was also analysed, coded, clustered and categorized. The empirical findings of the study were confirmed by using different methods and sources. The main findings indicated that where Environmental Education is well coordinated and all educators are involved, it is carried out in a more effective way compared to schools where Environmental Education is left to one educator and poorly coordinated. The study recommends that Environmental Education should not be left to one committed environmental educator, but that all educators need to be trained to incorporate Environmental Education into their school curriculum.

Can home and family life education incorporate sociological findings, psychological procedures, and frames of reference typical of lower and middle classes into educational techniques and content which will assist adolescents to achieve certain developmental tasks more satisfactorily?