The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an Banduraian-based group social skills training in the prevention of stress, depression, and social anxiety of Taiwanese graduate students in the U.S.;The subjects of this study were 60 Taiwanese students recruited at four seminars sponsored by the Taiwan Ministry of Education, which aimed to prepare students for future overseas study. Thirty subjects were randomly assigned to the experimental condition and were trained with social skills before they left for U.S. The other thirty subjects were assigned to the control group without any treatment.;It was hypothesized that: (1) There would be a significant difference at the.05 level in subjects receiving pre-arrival social skills training as contrast with subjects receiving no treatment in their level of stress, depression, and social anxiety at the posttest (1 week after treatment); (2) There would be a significant difference at the.05 level in subjects receiving pre-arrival social skills training as contrast with subjects receiving no treatment in their level of stress, depression, and social anxiety at the follow-up (1 to 2 month after subjects' arrival in U.S.).;The results indicated that participation in an Banduraian-based group skills training course for Taiwanese graduate students did not have short term effects on their perceived stress, depression, and social anxiety. However, results demonstrated a general trend toward more positive outcomes. Although there was also no evidence for the effectiveness of social skills training in the prevention of future perceived depression and social anxiety, the analysis of followup data revealed that the effects of social skills training on prevention of perceived stress for Taiwanese graduate students was supported.

The purpose of this study was to examine theories of organizational culture typically applied to the university level of organization and their applicability to the academic department. Chaffee and Tierney's (1988) theory of organizational culture, dimensions of culture, and leadership strategies became the basis for a qualitative case study of a Department of Biological Sciences in a metropolitan university.;Interviews of current faculty members, current and former deans, and other administrators were conducted. Observations were made of faculty meetings and retreats and of departmental governance committee meetings. Extensive review of documents and correspondence covering more that twenty years provided additional data.;Interview and observation transcripts and documents were analyzed in terms of Chaffee and Tierney's (1988) concepts of the structural, environmental, and values dimensions of the department. Linear, adaptive, and interpretive strategies of faculty members and the department chair were identified.;The department was found to have what Clark (1972) refers to as strong organizational saga, or a sense of unique accomplishment which serves to maintain and perpetuate the integrity of the culture. Central to the value system of the Department of Biological Sciences is the shared sense that the department is unique in the degree to which faculty members work together cooperatively for the good of the department. These strong values were rooted in an earlier era when the department was experiencing growth and development of its research programs under adverse circumstances.;The primary usefulness of the results of this study go far beyond the particular findings for this individual academic department. Most important is the demonstration of the value of using this method of organizational analysis to understand the role of culture in shaping and perpetuating the organization. Administrators, department chairs, and faculty members can enhance their understanding of the departmental organization by applying concepts of organizational culture.;Further study and analysis are needed to evaluate disciplinary and institutional similarities and differences in departmental culture and to expand the existing theory to accommodate the variety of academic departments in colleges and universities.

American social culture had a long-prevailing ideology that minorities were inferior to their Caucasian counterparts. Clearly, though, integration reflected an acknowledgement that racial equity and equality could and should be achieved in the composition of schools. In the last 40 years, as a profession and individually, educators have shifted from concerns about removing legal constraints or policy barriers based on race or gender to issues of equity and access to opportunity for advancement to the site-based leadership position called the principal.;This study use Marshall's typologies of the (1992) plateaued assistant principal, shafted assistant principal, and the assistant principal who considers leaving to determine if there are significant differences in the barriers to upward mobility between aspiring minorities and their Caucasian counterparts. Additionally, the strategies employed by currently practicing principals were assessed to determine if the strategies assistant principals intend to employ are the same as the successful ones employed by practicing principals.;The findings of this research indicate that some assistant principals still meet barriers to their ascendancy. Promisingly, this study indicated that barriers based solely on race are minimal. Lack of mentors, lack of sponsors, and exclusion from the ole' boys/girls' network were critical barriers to advancement. Some assistant principals, though, found that their climb has been free from barriers. A holistic approach to career development emerged as the most effective way to overcome the ole' boys/girls' network and get a job as principal.

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This dissertation examines parents’ perspectives on their children’s development of social and emotional skills, both at home and at school. It explores how parents view the school’s role and their own role; how they conceptualize and value social and emotional skills, both on their own and in relation to academic skills; what they do to nurture their children’s skill development; and how demographic and other external factors such as policy pressure, resources, and support may impact their perspectives and experiences. Its theoretical framework is guided by a pragmatic and constructivist philosophy and influenced by theories of skill formation and social and cultural capital. Prior research on skill formation has shown that social and emotional skills are important to children’s life outcomes, can potentially reduce inequality, and are most efficacious when developed in early childhood. Yet social and emotional skill development has been underemphasized in educational policymaking and in schools. Research on the roles of social capital and cultural capital in education and family life has demonstrated the significance of familial capital on children’s educational experiences and life outcomes. The different forms of capital that parents possess, along with their beliefs and actions, influence their children’s social and emotional skill formation, yet in schools and the policymaking process, parental perspectives are frequently marginalized. Changes can be made to education policy and practice at all levels to better support children’s social and emotional skill development. The relative neglect of social and emotional skills in schools is significant beyond their contribution to individual learning and life outcomes, impacting both inequality and the economy at a global level. This research contributes to the literature on skill formation and social and cultural capital theory by investigating how parents perceive and experience their children’s development of social and emotional skills. Data come from in-depth interviews with 16 parents of children attending two diverse elementary schools. Field notes, audio-recordings of the interviews, and interview transcripts were analyzed, looking for emergent themes and areas of commonality or difference. Findings reveal that education policy pressure has a nuanced impact on children’s social and emotional skill development at home and school, based upon the circumstances of the school environment and the individual child. Parents’ levels of social and cultural capital appear to shape their expectations of their children’s school regarding its role in social and emotional skill development, with parents possessing higher levels of capital also having higher expectations for the school and identifying fewer barriers to the school fulfilling those expectations. Capital also seems to influence the home-school relationship in terms of how parents view their role, whether as volunteers or in their relationships with teachers and other parents, and how their role is perceived by others. Furthermore, evidence emerged that parental capital may play a role children’s technology use in ways that could impact their development of social and emotional skills. However, despite possessing different degrees and varieties of capital, parents shared similar perspectives on the nature of social and emotional skills, the skills they value, and how they perceive their roles, actions, and confidence in helping their children develop social, emotional, and academic skills. Perceived similarity between parent and child emerges as a possible influence on how parents relate to their child’s skill development. Parents frequently compared their child’s skills with their own perceived skills and reported more confidence in their ability to help their children develop social and emotional skills when their child’s personality reminded them of their own. Stress and the role of their child’s other parent also appear to impact parents’ perspectives and experiences regarding their children’s social and emotional skill development by affecting them personally, their parenting practices, and the amount of resources and support they have available. This study’s findings reinforce several tenets of skill formation theory. Parents discussed the malleable and interrelated nature of skills, alluding to the concepts of self- productivity and dynamic complementarity. Findings also suggest a potential way of understanding the “rhetoric/reality gap” based upon how parents perceive the nature of skill development and the interaction between different types of skills. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2017. / May 12, 2017. / Economics, Education Policy, Inequality, Parenting, Social and Emotional Skills, Technology / Includes bibliographical references. / Marytza Gawlik, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Reynolds, University Representative; Robert Schwartz, Committee Member; Patrice Iatarola, Committee Member.

This study aims to articulate a theory of teaching that accounts for both the cognitive development of the learner and the social context in which learning occurs. It contributes to discussions about a socially constructed theory of pedagogy that can inform classroom practice. It explores firstly the role of the teacher in supporting students' conceptual understanding and secondly the importance of dialogue as a means of apprenticing students into the discourse of a subject discipline. The sociocultural notion of 'scaffolding' and the way in which various 'scaffolding' strategies support students' learning are examined through the classroom data. This thesis also explores the classroom as a site of activity in which educational practice is enacted. The significance of language as a 'tool' for learning is central to this study, as is the notion of learning as a social process. Language is a mediating tool that enables a dialogic engagement that supports the development of thinking that is consistent with the goals of the teacher. Also investigated is the use of various semiotic modalities, in addition to language, to support the active co-construction of knowledge. The research is conducted in a Year 7 History class (the first year of high school) in an independent, secondary boys' high school using a case study approach. It uses observation in naturalistic settings, interviews and written documentation. A significant outcome of this research has been the identification of discourse strategies and other semiotic systems such as visual, gestural and actional cues, and examination of the ways in which they function in the discourse to support student learning in the local and immediate context. The importance of all aspects that constitute the context in which the students are learning is also affirmed in this study. Context is not merely a 'backdrop' or background to language, it is integral to the creation of meaning and field knowledge. Another major conclusion that can be drawn from this research is the distinction between scaffolding at a macro level, consisting of a planned, 'designed-in' approach to a unit of work in a subject discipline and the lessons that constitute it, and contingent scaffolding that operates at a micro level or 'at the point of need'. By applying a variety of linguistic tools drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistic theory, it has been possible to articulate the kinds of discourse and multimodal strategies that constitute the nature of scaffolding. A further finding in this research is the value of using detailed analysis of the data with different analytical tools to identify emerging patterns in the discourse and also to 'view' the same data through different 'lenses'. An additional finding is the significance of an Induction genre that provides foundational understandings about the study of History for apprentice historians. This is supported by two post-foundational lessons that form a Macrogenre. This macrogenre reinforces the application of focus questions that are fundamental to historical study and an approach to answering these questions that is consistent with the methodology of the subject. Another finding relates to the role the teacher adopts in the classroom. The classroom in this research is strongly teacher guided in terms of the development of content and ways of controlling the development of discourse. This research shows that this does not preclude the classroom from being dialogic. Even though there is a knowledge and status differential between the teacher as expert and the student as novice, the teacher provides opportunities for discussion and development of ideas about the topic. Finally, this study confirms the value of drawing on a broad range of theories to inform the research. These multiple perspectives draw from sociocultural approaches to a socially oriented theory of learning; Activity Theory, and the notion of language as a social semiotic. This range of perspectives allows for 'rich' descriptions from which to draw conclusions about effective teaching and learning practices. / This study aims to articulate a theory of teaching that accounts for both the cognitive development of the learner and the social context in which learning occurs. It contributes to discussions about a socially constructed theory of pedagogy that can inform classroom practice. It explores firstly the role of the teacher in supporting students' conceptual understanding and secondly the importance of dialogue as a means of apprenticing students into the discourse of a subject discipline. The sociocultural notion of 'scaffolding' and the way in which various 'scaffolding' strategies support students' learning are examined through the classroom data. This thesis also explores the classroom as a site of activity in which educational practice is enacted. The significance of language as a 'tool' for learning is central to this study, as is the notion of learning as a social process. Language is a mediating tool that enables a dialogic engagement that supports the development of thinking that is consistent with the goals of the teacher. Also investigated is the use of various semiotic modalities, in addition to language, to support the active co-construction of knowledge. The research is conducted in a Year 7 History class (the first year of high school) in an independent, secondary boys' high school using a case study approach. It uses observation in naturalistic settings, interviews and written documentation. A significant outcome of this research has been the identification of discourse strategies and other semiotic systems such as visual, gestural and actional cues, and examination of the ways in which they function in the discourse to support student learning in the local and immediate context. The importance of all aspects that constitute the context in which the students are learning is also affirmed in this study. Context is not merely a 'backdrop' or background to language, it is integral to the creation of meaning and field knowledge. Another major conclusion that can be drawn from this research is the distinction between scaffolding at a macro level, consisting of a planned, 'designed-in' approach to a unit of work in a subject discipline and the lessons that constitute it, and contingent scaffolding that operates at a micro level or 'at the point of need'. By applying a variety of linguistic tools drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistic theory, it has been possible to articulate the kinds of discourse and multimodal strategies that constitute the nature of scaffolding. A further finding in this research is the value of using detailed analysis of the data with different analytical tools to identify emerging patterns in the discourse and also to 'view' the same data through different 'lenses'. An additional finding is the significance of an Induction genre that provides foundational understandings about the study of History for apprentice historians. This is supported by two post-foundational lessons that form a Macrogenre. This macrogenre reinforces the application of focus questions that are fundamental to historical study and an approach to answering these questions that is consistent with the methodology of the subject. Another finding relates to the role the teacher adopts in the classroom. The classroom in this research is strongly teacher guided in terms of the development of content and ways of controlling the development of discourse. This research shows that this does not preclude the classroom from being dialogic. Even though there is a knowledge and status differential between the teacher as expert and the student as novice, the teacher provides opportunities for discussion and development of ideas about the topic. Finally, this study confirms the value of drawing on a broad range of theories to inform the research. These multiple perspectives draw from sociocultural approaches to a socially oriented theory of learning; Activity Theory, and the notion of language as a social semiotic. This range of perspectives allows for 'rich' descriptions from which to draw conclusions about effective teaching and learning practices.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 354-367).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Syracuse University, 2009. / "Publication number: AAT 3385850."

Thesis--University of Michigan. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, leaves 476-496).