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The primary objective of this study was to describe and analyze visions of 21st century education articulated by prominent individuals involved with current school reform and restructuring efforts. A second objective was to describe and analyze those images of the most likely educational scenario in the 21st century and the perceived barriers that would prevent realization of those idealized visions.

The purpose of this multi-case study was to identify the influence of professional development experiences on the changing reading practices of third-grade teachers in low-performing schools. Schools were chosen to participate based upon a steady increase in reading achievement scores despite failing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and being placed within the Corrective Action Phase of No Child Left Behind. Six teachers from 4 schools were chosen as participants based on the changing reading practices they reported on an initial survey of 13 teachers. Interviews, observations, focus groups, and collection of archival data was completed over the course of 5 months in order to determine the influence of professional development on their reading practices. It was determined that teacher change following professional development is heavily influenced by the domain of power the directive or development is coming from. A continuum was developed to illustrate the relationship between these varying domains of power and their influence on changes made within reading practice. The changes were categorized as tending toward self-propelled or compelled changes. Teachers within this study reported higher levels of change when they were personally vested in professional development experiences and when those experiences met the immediate needs of their own personal growth or the growth of the students in their classroom. / by Michelle Vaughan. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Finally, case studies of the thesis revealed that teachers constructed their professional identity around the focus, main contradictions and human relations in their work. In the context of reform for Quality Education, the construction of teacher professional identity referred to different levels of relationships and expectations as well as to personal factors. Such construction embodied the complex interactions and competitions among the state, the market, the school, as well as personal factors. The tensions between structure and agency were illustrated by characteristics that marked different stages, dynamics and varieties in the construction process of teacher professional identity. / First, in the macro-context of policy, teachers realized their key role in implementing Quality Education and took on an "adaptive" attitude toward reform. With regard to responsibility and commitment, teachers felt that rigidity in their work decreased. However, they found it difficult to put new ideas into practice, mainly due to their concern over high-stake examination results. Accordingly, there were two opposing trends of change in teacher professional identity. The first trend involved changes from "Sparta coach", "parts maker" to "normal teacher". The second trend was attributed to the pressure of examinations which compelled teachers to follow their requirements. Consequently, teachers changed from "angel" to "birdman" and "teaching craftsman". Limitations notwithstanding, some teachers tried to remain persons who "influence and enhance" education. / Identity is a valuable concept for guiding the analysis of theoretical and practical issues in education. Professional identity is closely related to teachers' professional practice. Therefore, from the perspective of teacher professional identity, this study aims to explore teachers' professional lives and their development in the context of reform for Quality Education. Its central concern is how teachers construct or reconstruct their professional identity in response to reform. Based on in-depth interviews with 29 teachers in 5 schools, the main observations and findings are explicated in the following paragraphs. / In concert with the global wave of educational reform, basic education in the Chinese Mainland has undergone comprehensive changes in paradigms and practices since 1985. The emphasis of reform has been on Quality Education. Teachers played a key role in the reform endeavors, and teacher professional development became an important topic in policy discourse and theoretical research. In educational transformation, what are the conditions in the life of front-line teachers? What are their personal experiences and feelings? / In the context of reform for Quality Education, tensions between educational quality and examination results penetrated every aspect of teachers' work. They also effected changes in their work and professional roles. Although teachers demonstrated different aspects of professional identity, academic subject identity stood out as the most significant identity. The status and characteristics of academic subjects affected teachers' understanding of and their reaction to Quality Education. They also affected the ways teachers dealt with their students and viewed their place in school. Academic subject identity, therefore, has affected teachers' individual autonomy as well as the extent to which they conformed to external systems. / Key words: Chinese Mainland; Quality Education; educational reform; identity; teacher professional identity; teacher professional development / Second, in the meso-context of school, teachers generally understood the structural influence of schooling, including its intrinsic norms and values on their work and sense of self. The promotion rates to schools on a higher level, and a school's tradition and management style determined how teachers viewed and responded to the reform for Quality Education. Tensions between the external system world and the internal life-world of a school emerged. How these tensions were played out depended on the school's autonomy relative to external evaluation by the authorities and the public. This in tum brought different meanings to teachers' work, which caused teacher professional identity and its construction to be perceived either positively or negatively. / Student influence teachers' internal experience (sense of satisfaction and failure) by means of discipline and examination results, recognition and evaluation (love and contempt), which further caused changes in teachers' attitudes toward work and their behavior, i.e., their commitment to work. Several teacher identities emerged in their meeting student expectations and dealing with student behavior and attitudes: "learner"; "responsible person"; "friend" and "educator". / Third, the context of teachers' core work, which was critical to the construction of teacher professional identity, was composed of academic subjects and students. In the context of academic subjects, the reform for Quality Education had various kinds of impact on academic subjects which possessed different status and characteristics. Teachers' perception of and response to reform were grounded in the subjects that they taught. Status and characteristics of academic subjects determined the change that took place in teacher behavior, their professional understanding and experience. In general, teachers positioned themselves as "subject teachers". Moreover, subject department was the organizational form of subjects within schools. Cooperation or competition among teachers depended on the importance that the schools attached to examination results. As a major form of collegial interaction and learning, collective lesson preparation was perceived as a useful way of meeting the needs of classroom teaching and the improvement of teaching efficiency in order to obtain better examination results. In this, teacher professional identity was based on a practical rationality. Collective lesson preparation embodied a series of tensions, such as individualism and cooperation, voluntariness and compulsion, and requirements from the top and the teachers' own professional autonomy. / 王夫艳. / Adviser: Nai-kwai Leslie Lo. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 293-310). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Wang Fuyan.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2002. / Dao shi: Huang Xianhua jiao shou. 880-03 Includes bibliographical references.

操太聖. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2003. / 參考文獻 (p. 233-247). / 中英文摘要. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Cao Taisheng. / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2003. / Can kao wen xian (p. 233-247).

The aim of the study was to investigate the current management of educational change in Tanzania, with specific reference to the Primary Educational Development Plan (PEDP) and relate it to the roles of different stakeholders in education reform in order to determine factors that underlie its success or failure. The problem was investigated by means of a literature survey and an empirical inquiry. The literature survey revealed that educational change management is a social phenomenon whose process is considered overlapping. Implementation of educational change requires knowledge and understanding of the change objectives and the roles necessary to sustain the change. This process requires a shared vision among the educational stakeholders. A qualitative inquiry using in-depth individual and focus group interviews was conducted to explore the experiences of people affected by the implementation of the PEDP in Tanzania. The sample was purposefully chosen and reflected a number of stakeholders on various levels. The empirical study revealed factors outside the country that influence the management of educational change. These include a change in global focus and donors’ influence. The implementation of educational change in Tanzania has also depended largely on an understanding of directives and guidelines provided by the headquarters. The achievements that have been made are mainly quantitative and unlikely to be sustained. A lack of motivation among teachers has resulted in their passive participation in the reform. The top-down management of the reform has also adversely affected the sustainability of the reform. The PEDP was intended to have grassroots participation with broad involvement of stakeholders in outcomes. However, PEDP has been top-down, removed from local context. The study concluded that the implementation of reform was done without clear direction and scope. Thus, the sustainability of the reform is uncertain. Following the findings, the study recommends a constant dialogue using interpersonal communication with stakeholders on the purposes, strategies and practical working environment of the reform. The study also recommends change agents operating at district and school levels and the provision of clear roles and functions to specific stakeholders. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Educational Management)

Growing out of the college retention research of Alexander Astin (1993) and Vincent Tinto (1975), this study examined differences in academic achievement and persistence of first-semester college freshmen who participated in Freshman Learning Communities (FLC), including a Living-Learning Community (LLC), and students who did not participate in a university-sponsored learning community. This study also explored variables that may moderate the relationship of learning community participation with academic achievement and persistence. Variables explored included: entry-level readiness for self-directed learning, gender, ethnicity, high school GPA, and SAT or equivalent ACT scores. Data was collected from 544 students at XYZ University using a pre/post university-developed instrument, the College Assessment of Readiness for Entering Students Intended (CARES-I), College Assessment of Readiness for Entering Students- Actual (CARES-A) and the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale/Learning Preference Assessment. Demographic and academic data were collected through the institution's Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis. There was a statistically significant difference in academic achievement for students enrolled in either a Freshman Learning Community or a Living Learning Community (df = 424, t = 2.32, p < .05) as compared to students not part of a freshman learning community. The learning community students had higher end-of-semester grades. Multiple regression analysis was used to explore the moderating variables that may influence the learning community effect on academic achievement. Only the pre-academic characteristic of students' entering high school GPA moderated the relationship of learning community participation and academic achievement (p < .05). / Chi-square analysis showed there was no relationship between participation in a learning community and enrollment in the second semester (p > .05).Logistic regression of variable relations determined that the variables of high school GPA and ethnicity were significant. In addition, there was an association between the variables of SDLRS scores, high school GPA, and end-of-semester GPA for students not part of a learning community. Finally, results from a paired samples t-test determined that there was a difference in the intended and actual social involvement for students enrolled in a learning community. / by Jodie Jae Koerner. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2008. Mode of access: World Wide Web.