Although the need for and importance of self-directed learning are well documented, studies reporting on the influence of teaching–learning strategies, fostering self-directed learning skills, are limited. The aim of this investigation was to determine and understand the impact of the implementation of cooperative base groups on the self-directed learning readiness of first-year Life Sciences students. In order to achieve the research aim, a mixed method approach was followed. During the quantitative phase, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, a cooperative base group perception questionnaire, a checklist for social skills, and the academic achievement of first-year Life Sciences students at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University were analysed. In the qualitative phase of the investigation, semi-structured interviews were conducted with randomly selected first-year Life Sciences students of the experimental group. The questions in the interviews were aimed at determining the students‟ perception of cooperative base groups, how this perception contributed to their self-directed learning competencies, as well as the role that active involvement, the cooperative base group folder and personal support play in the development of self-directed learning competencies. The results of the investigation contribute to the body of knowledge on cooperative learning as it provides insight into how students experience cooperative base groups. The implementation of cooperative base groups contributes to the development of the following characteristics and skills, which are vital for becoming self-directed in one‟s learning: viewing peers as resources; being able to give and receive help; developing good social skills; being motivated to learn; and taking initiative and responsibility for learning. / MEd (Natural Sciences Education), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The well-being of first-year students in higher education institutions needs particular attention as their level form the foundation for future graduates, and subsequent employees. It is an important focus area for research and intervention. First-year higher education institutions’ student drop-out rate in South Africa is said to be alarmingly high and therefore a cause for concern. An overload of tasks and related time pressure associated with studies is often a reality for first-year students. The problem is compounded when such students are academically and socially unprepared to participate in higher education. The attraction to higher education institutions is that graduates enjoy a higher status in our society as they are seen to play a particularly important role in managing the knowledge-driven economy. The significance of this status relates to the extent of the application of knowledge to the economy, a status which provides competitiveness among nations. Students need to be physically healthy, psychologically well, engaged and satisfied with their lives for their well-being, and subsequently achieve their academic goals. If appropriate and timely, support and resources provided by higher education institutions can play a positive role in the first-year student transition into higher education and thereby minimise the possibilities of student burnout and ill health, whilst increasing the experience of engagement and satisfaction with life. The study aimed to assess the relationship between demands, resources, burnout, engagement, health and satisfaction with life for first-year students at higher education institutions in South Africa and to test a model of well-being for these students. A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather data regarding the burnout, engagement, ill health, and life satisfaction experienced by students. A convenience sample (N = 936) of first-year students at three campuses of two higher education institutions participated in the study. The measuring instruments used were the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, a biographical questionnaire (including questions about available resources), Study Demands-Resources Questionnaire, Health Questionnaire, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. The results of study 1 showed that the students obtained somewhat higher mean scores on engagement compared to burnout. Significant effects on burnout and engagement were made by influences that included whom the student lived with, the distance between home and university campus during studies, frequency of visits to home, employment status of parents, frequency of library use, and gender. No relationship was established for place of residence with burnout and engagement. Study 2 showed that a measure of study demands and resources for students was sufficiently reliable and valid to be used for assessment. Results showed a statistically significant relationship between each observed variable and its respective construct. A positive relationship between study resources and satisfaction with life, as well as a negative relationship between study demands and satisfaction with life were found, which provides additional evidence for the construct validity of a measure of study demands and resources. Age was significantly related to study resources and satisfaction with life. The results of study 3 showed that study demands and a lack of study resources (including the intrinsic nature of study tasks, relationships with lecturers and social support of peers) were positively associated with burnout. The availability of study resources was positively associated with psychological well-being and engagement. Burnout predicted psychological unwell-being symptoms, while engagement predicted satisfaction with life. Burnout partially mediated the relationship between a lack of study resources and psychological unwell-being, while engagement partially mediated the relationship between the availability of study resources and satisfaction with life. / PhD (Industrial Psychology)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The setting for this study was the University of the Western Cape, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, first year undergraduate students. All students who participated in the compulsory interprofessional programme were from the following disciplines: Occupational Therapy; Physiotherapy; Psychology; Social Work; Natural Medicine; Dietetics; Human Ecology; Sports Sciences and Nursing. The objectives of this study were to measure the attitudes and perceptions of first year students who participated in an undergraduate interprofessional programme. The attitudes and perceptions were further measured in relation to the specific lecturers involved, the age of the students, their gender, race, background as well their specific discipline. This was primarily a quantitative study incorporating two qualitative questions in which 657 students were issued with a questionnaire designed to determine their attitudes and perceptions towards interprofessional education. A sample size of 264 students resulted in 95% confidence intervals with a maximum precision of 5%. The questionnaire was adapted, with permission, from Cameron; Rennie; DiProspero; Langlois & Wagner (2009). MS Excel was used to capture the data and STATISTICA version 9 (StatSoft Inc. (2009) STATISTICA (data analysis software system), www.statsoft.com.) was used to analyze the data from the questionnaires. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the main features of the sample of this study and summary statistics was further used to summarize the findings of this study in order to communicate the bulk of the information as simple as possible. Two open-ended questions were included at the end of the questionnaire and this was used to triangulate the data. The Kruskal-Wallace test was used to measure the results, whereby a p-value of <0.05 indicated statistical significance. Of all the factors used to measure the attitudes and perceptions of students, the following three were significant: Gender; Race and Discipline. No other factors impact on the attitudes and perceptions of students towards interprofessional education. Student attitudes and perceptions towards interprofessional education were found to be very positive. The findings revealed that the most significant factor in the study was the lack of understanding of various disciplines participating in the programme and their understanding of the relevance of the teaching approach (interprofessional) as well as their specific role in the health care team. This clearly illustrated the need to recommend to the co-ordinating unit of the programme that this be defined more clearly for the students and specifically the Sports Sciences students. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie het plaasgevind by die Universiteit van die Wes-Kaap, in die Fakulteit van Gemeenskap en Gesondheidswetenskappe, met eerste jaar voorgraadse studente wat die verpligte interprofessionele program doen. Studente sluit in die volgende dissiplines: Arbeidsterapie; Fisioterapie, Sielkunde, Maatskaplike Werk, Natuurlike Medisyne, Dieetkunde, Menslike Ekologie, Sport en Verpleegkunde. Die doelwitte van hierdie studie was om die houdings en persepsies van die eerste jaar studente wat deelgeneem het in 'n voorgraadse interprofessionele program te meet. Houdings en persepsies was gemeet met betrekking tot die ouderdom geslag, ras,agtergrond sowel dissipline van spesifieke studente. Daar was ook gekyk of die betrokke dosente ń invloed het op studente se houdings en persepsies teenoor die program. Die studie was hoofsaaklik kwantitatiewe met n kwalitatiewe komponent. Vraelyse was uitgereik aan 657 studente om hul houdings en persepsies teenoor interprofessionele onderwys te bepaal. 'n Steekproefgrootte van 264 studente het in 95% vertrouensintervalle met 'n maksimum akkuraatheid van 5%. Die vraelys is aangepas, met toestemming, van Cameron, Rennie; DiProspero Langlois & Wagner (2009). MS Excel was gebruik om die data op te vang en Statistica weergawe 9 [StatSoft Inc (2009) STATISTICA (data-analise sagteware stelsel), www.statsoft.com] is gebruik om die data van die vraelyste te analiseer. Beskrywende statistiek is gebruik om te beskryf die belangrikste kenmerke van die steekproef van hierdie studie. Opsommingstatistiek is verder gebruik om op te som die bevindinge van hierdie studie met die doel om die grootste deel van die inligting so eenvoudig as moontlik te kommunikeer. Twee oop vrae is ingesluit aan die einde van die vraelys en dit is gebruik om die data te trianguleer. Die Kruskal-Wallace-toets is gebruik om die resultate, waar 'n p-waarde van <0,05 aangedui word statistiese betekenisvolheid te meet. Van al die faktore wat gebruik was om die houdings en persepsies van studente te meet, was die volgende drie beduidende: geslag, ras en dissipline. Geen ander faktore impakteer op die houdings en persepsies van studente in interprofessionele onderwys. Studente se houdings en persepsies teenoor interprofessionele onderwys was beduidend positief. Die studie het bevind dat daar ń algemene gebrek aan begrip is vir die relevansie van die program. Dit sluit in hoekom die verskillende dissiplines aan die program deelneem as ook wat hulle spesifieke rolle in die gesondheidsorg span is. Die aanbeveling is dus dat die koördinerings eenheid van die program die kursus meer duidelik sal moet definieer om so doende die studente se kennis in terme van relevansie van die interprofessionele program uit te brei met spesifiek verwysing na die Sport studente.

Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This dissertation is an interpretive analysis of the professional experiences of six beginning Home Economics teachers in Malawi. The specific aim of the study was to explore the opportunities, challenges and problems of the teachers in their first year of teaching. The data for the study were developed using a triangulation of five research methods, including a questionnaire, face-to-face interviews, classroom observations, teachers’ reflective diaries and focus group discussions. Grounded theory was used as the methodology and analytical framework of the study. Research in teacher education acknowledges that learning to teach is a complex process (Calderhead & Shorrock, 1997; Flores, 2001; Flores & Day, 2006; Solmon, Worthy & Carter, 1993) and that the first year of teaching has a very important impact on the future careers of beginning teachers (Stokking, Leender, De Jong and Van Tarwijk, 2003; Solmon et al., 1993). The transition from the teacher training institution to the secondary school classroom is characterised by a type of reality shock in which the ideals that were formed during teacher training are replaced by the reality of school life (Lortie, 1975). The results in this study point at the school context as the ‘reality definer’ in the professional experiences of the teachers. The findings also support previous studies of beginning teachers which have emphasised the vulnerability of beginning teachers and show the first year of teaching as a ‘sink or swim experience’. However, the results show a unique relationship between the school context and school expectations. In this dissertation I contend that it is this relationship that was fundamental to the professional experiences of the six beginning Home Economics teachers. In the dissertation I present a three-stage substantive-level theory of the beginning teachers’ experiences and argue for the redefinition of the perception of teacher learning in Malawi: from a definition of pre-service teacher education as teacher learning, to teacher learning as a ‘triadic process’ comprised of teacher education, school induction and continued professional development.

Thesis (PhD (Education )--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / 352 leaves, preliminary pages xxiii and numbered pages 1-329. Includes bibliography and a list of figures. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African school system is increasingly producing students who do not make the grade in higher education. Universities are concerned about the quality of the students who register as first-years at higher education institutions. The findings of various studies have clearly shown that more and more students are inadequately prepared and therefore not ready for higher education. In South Africa the problems resulting from the gap between school and university have been exacerbated by the inequalities that exist in the secondary school system, and which are still part of the legacy of apartheid. Within the context of learners’increasing unpreparedness for university studies, their difficult transition from school to university and the concomitant high drop-out figures in higher education, this study investigated the extent to which universities – with Stellenbosch University as a case in point – can contribute towards preparing students for university studies from as early as school level, and thus facilitate their transition from school to university. Taking this research question into account, the researcher investigated the extent to which specific variables played a part both in the pre-university phase and after admission. In addition, the study also focused on the extent to which students’ school background (previously disadvantaged privileged school) influences students’ preparedness, and to what extent academic standards (amongst others final examination results)are related to success in the first year at university. The research design was a case study of black newcomer first-year students who participated in a Stellenbosch University bursary project (the Merit Bursary project) in their Grade 12 year. The data generation consisted of two phases, namely a quantitative approach in the pre-university phase and a qualitative approach, after admission, in the transitional phase. The research findings have revealed that the inequalities in the South African schooling system influence the transition from school to university. The classification of schools (previously disadvantaged or privileged school) plays a crucial role in students’ preparedness and how they handle the transition from school to university. There are various academic, social, emotional, cultural and financial factors that impact on this transition. However, the factors are interdependent – no one factor can be regarded as being more important than another. Universities must adopt a holistic approach to the transition that newcomer students are required to make. It was concluded in the study that universities have a responsibility to ensure that the diminishing pool of potential students in higher education be expanded. Universities should also ontribute towards preparing prospective students more effectively so that the transition process will be less challenging. It is believed that this will also improve the throughput rate. In this regard the study proposes a theoretical framework for a pre university intervention. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Suid-Afrikaanse skoolstelsel lewer toenemend studente wat nie die mas in hoër onderwys opkom nie en universiteite is bekommerd oor die kwaliteit van die studente wat as eerstejaars aan hoëronderwysinstellings registreer. Uit die bevindinge van verskeie studies het dit geblyk dat studente toenemend nie voldoende voorbereid en gereed is vir hoër onderwys nie. In die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks word die gaping tussen skool en universiteit vergroot deur ongelykhede in die sekondêre skoolstelsel as gevolg van die land se apartheidsgeskiedenis. In die konteks van leerders se toenemende onvoorbereidheid vir universiteitstudie, die moeilike oorgang van skool na universiteit en die gepaardgaande hoe uitvalsyfers in hoër onderwys, het hierdie studie ondersoek ingestel na die mate waarin universiteite - met die Universiteit Stellenbosch as spesifieke geval - reeds op skoolvlak ’n rol kan speel om voornemende studente beter vir universiteitstudie voor te berei en sodoende die oorgang van skool na universiteit te vergemaklik. Met die navorsingsingsvraag in ag genome, het die navorser die mate waarin spesifieke veranderlikes ’n rol speel in die pre-universitêre fase asook die fase na toetrede tot universiteit, ondersoek. In samehang hiermee, het die studie ook gefokus op die invloed van skoolagtergrond (voorheen benadeelde of bevoorregte skole) op die voorbereidheid van studente en die mate waarin akademiese maatstawwe op skool (onder meer eindeksamenresultate) verband hou met sukses in die eerste universiteitsjaar. Die navorsingsontwerp was ’n gevallestudie van swart nuwelingeerstejaarstudente wat in hulle graad 12-jaar aan ’n beursprojek (die Verdienstelikheidsbeursprojek) van die Universiteit Stellenbosch deelgeneem het. Die data-generering het uit twee fases bestaan, naamlik ’n kwantitatiewe benadering in die pre-universitêre fase en ’n kwalitatiewe benadering na toetrede in die oorgangsfase. Die ondersoek het gevind dat die ongelykhede in die Suid-Afrikaanse skoolstelsel die oorgang van skool na universiteit beinvloed. Skoolklassifikasie (voorheen benadeelde of bevoorregte skole) speel ’n bepalende rol in die voorbereidheid van studente en ook in die wyse waarop studente die oorgang hanteer. Daar is ’n verskeidenheid akademiese, sosiale, emosionele, kulturele en finansiële faktore wat ’n rol speel in die oorgang van skool na universiteit. Die faktore is egter interafhanklik van aard – geen een kan uitgesonder word as belangriker as die ander nie. Universiteite moet die oorgang van nuwelingstudente holisties benader. Hierdie ondersoek kom verder tot die slotsom dat dit ook die verantwoordelikheid van universiteite is om te sorg dat die krimpende poel potensiele studente vir hoër onderwys vergroot en beter voorbereide studente toegelaat word om sodoende die oorgangsproses te vergemaklik en deurvloeikoerse te verhoog. In die lig hiervan stel die studie ’n teoretiese raamwerk vir ’n pre-universitêre intervensie voor.

The purpose of this study was to address the under-researched theme of achievement among students in a post 1992 university in the UK. The findings are based on a case study of a cohort of first year (FY) undergraduates in a science department in a post 1992 university. Three key research approaches were deployed within this case study, namely, grounded theory, phenomenography and survey research. These three distinctive approaches have been framed within a broad interpretivist perspective in which subjectivity is managed through researcher positionality and the triangulation of data where appropriate. The research findings demonstrate that the point of registration at higher education (HE) institutions does not constitute a successful student because such a constitution is a process of becoming, involving complex meaning-making processes over time. These processes are characterised by a movement from 'outsider and potential achiever' to 'insider and reflexive achiever'. Important phases within this movement are those of: attending; being engaged and solving self-identified difficulties. In the light of the evidence gathered and the review of the existing scholarship, a detailed exploration and theorisation of these phases is offered. The preoccupation with students who fail in some way has led to a lack of research into those who succeed. This research has sought to overcome this lack by exploring the active meaning-making processes that lead undergraduates to achieve. A dynamic is identified between students' reflexive management of their FY experience and aspirations to achieve and the institutional context. This dynamic is also held to undermine the notion of students as customers awaiting satisfaction, suggesting instead that students be regarded as reflexive actors in the shaping of undergraduate achievement. This study presents a novel alternative to the prevalent deficit model in the relevant research which tends to treat students as passive bearers of diverse levels of readiness for undergraduate study. It also offers an alternative to the prevailing research on why students fail to progress or stay at university.

Students’ argumentative writing is substandard in the sense that the necessary relations, amongst other things, are not indicated in their texts. These texts also often lack an author’s voice. In a module such as academic literacy, it is important to pay attention to the means in which these particular problems can be solved. Part of the aims of a course in academic literacy is to equip students with the necessary academic literacy abilities (which include reading and writing ability) and in doing so, teach them to function properly in a tertiary discourse community. In this study, only the written component of academic literacy will be considered. Following the above mentioned problems, the focus will be specifically on items of metadiscourse, which may form part of a possible solution to improve students’ writing. Hyland (2004) distinguishes between two main categories of metadiscourse, namely the interactive and the interactional categories (which each consists of five subcategories). The aim of these categories is to guide the reader through the text in a specific way, and also to actively involve the reader with the textual content and the reading process. If these aspects of metadiscourse are applied effectively, the text may be more cohesive and coherent and a stronger reader-writer-relationship may be established. A corpus-linguistic approach has been followed in the investigation of the frequency of the occurrence of the subcategories of metadiscourse, as well as the functional suitability thereof. The data analysis is based on Hyland’s (2004) analytical framework of metadiscourse categories, which has been adapted according to the data that has been processed with WordSmith Tools (version 6.0). In this study, the focus group is Afrikaans L1 first-year students at the North-West University’s Vaal Triangle Campus in the year 2010. All 109 participants in the study were registered for AGLA111 (Introduction to Academic Literacy) and AGLA121 (Academic Literacy). The texts that were gathered from AGLA111 are represented in corpus 1 whereas the texts gathered from AGLA121 are represented in corpus 2. The data that was provided by these two corpora was measured against an honours corpus (consisting of 39 texts), which served as the norm for this study. The data interpretation can be divided into four categories, namely phenomena that show a statistically significant change in the correct direction, phenomena that were correct from the start and did not show any change between corpus 1 and corpus 2, phenomena that did not show any change between corpus 1 and corpus 2 but that differed from the honours corpus, as well as phenomena that show incorrect development. Recommendations, which have been based on the literature review and text analysis, are made with regard to specific aspects relating to metadiscourse and the teaching of academic literacy modules (on which this study is founded). These recommendations primarily focus on how students’ attention can be focused on the requirements proposed for writing an argumentative text. / MA (Afrikaans en Nederlands), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

A temática da ampliação do ensino fundamental de oito para nove anos, em obediência à legislação em vigor - Lei n. 11.114/ 2005 e Lei n. 11.274/2006 -, vem produzindo debates e posições antagônicas frente à obrigatoriedade da inserção da criança de seis anos no ensino fundamental. O presente estudo, de caráter qualitativo, defende a necessidade de se compreender, na concretude da implementação dessa proposta, quais as dificuldades enfrentadas, algumas soluções buscadas e aprendizados construídos pelos envolvidos nessa ampliação. A investigação toma como base a realidade de uma rede de ensino de um município em processo de implantação do ensino fundamental de nove anos. Utilizou-se como fonte principal de material empírico entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas com cada participante no início, no meio e no final do ano letivo. Os participantes são: a supervisora da secretaria municipal de educação; profissionais das três escolas do município - uma coordenadora e uma professora de primeiro ano de cada escola. O referencial teórico-metodológico do trabalho orienta-se pelos pressupostos da perspectiva da Rede de Significações. O processo de análise seguiu a redação orientada por sete eixos: 1-Condições oferecidas; 2- O sujeito do ensino fundamental de nove anos: a criança de seis anos; 3- Currículo; 4- Material didático adotado/centralidade na alfabetização; 5- Acompanhamento e formação; 6- Avaliação da ampliação/Adaptação?; 7- Aprendizados construídos. As falas das participantes são entendidas como um meio de se compreender os sentidos e significações que foram sendo construídos ao longo do ano no processo de implantação da nova política educacional. Encontramos nas falas das participantes o despreparo dos envolvidos - gestores, professores e funcionários - e a ausência de organização prévia para receber a criança de seis anos, o que gerou dificuldades de várias ordens: de infra-estrutura; na organização de tempos e espaços escolares; no processo de acompanhamento e avaliação do trabalho; na ação pedagógica das professoras. Essas dificuldades levaram o município estudado a adotar um material didático terceirizado, caracterizando para a rede e seus profissioanais uma novidade adicional. Apesar das dificuldades, são afirmadas importantes aprendizagens que foram sendo construídas nas relações vivenciadas com as crianças que trouxeram ritmos e demandas específicas. Essas especificidades impactaram concepções e sentidos das participantes entrevistadas. Os aprendizados construídos nesse processo podem ser apoio a novas experiências e contribuir para importantes reflexões envolvendo a extensão do ensino fundamental para nove anos e a consequente inserção da criança de seis anos nesse nível educacional, bem como pontos de discussão de outras reformas que, certamente, virão. / The theme of extending elementary school cycle from eight to nine years, thus obeying ruling Law 11.114/ 2005 and Law 11.274/2006, has been debated and had antagonistic positions due to the mandatory entrance of six-year-olds in elementary school. The present study, in a qualitative character, defends the need to understand, in the concreteness of implementing this proposal, some difficulties which are faced, some solutions which are searched and learnings built upon by those involved in this extension. The study has as its base the reality of a municipal school network in a town which is undergoing a process of implementation of the nine-year elementary school cycle. The use of semi-structured interviews with each participant at the beginning as main empiral material, in the middle and at the end of the school year were used. The participants are: the municipal Education secretary supervisor; professionals from three municipal schools - a coordinator and a first grade teacher from each school. This study\"s theoretical and methodological reference is based upon the documents of the Significance Network (Rede de Significações) perspective. The analysis process was oriented by seven pillars: 1 - Material conditions; 2 - The elementary school 9 subject: the six-year old child; 3 - syllabus; 4 - teaching material adopted / centrality in literacy; 5 - Observation and assessment; 6 - Expansion assessment / Adaptation?; 7 - Built learnings. The participants\" speech is understood as a means of understanding the meanings and significances which were being built throughout the process of implementing the new educational politics. We found, in the participants\" speech, the lack of preparation in those involved - principals, teachers and staff - and the lack of previous organization to welcome a six-year old child, which brought about difficulties of several types: infrastructure, time management and school spaces, in the process of follow-up and assessment of work and teachers\" teaching performance. These difficulties made the town which was studied to adopt an outsourced teaching material, thus bringing novelty to the network. In spite of difficulties, important learnings are affirmed, which have been shared with the children and brought specific rhythms and demands. These specificities clashed with conceptions and meanings from the participants who were interview. The learnings built in this process can be the support to new experiences and contribute to important considerations which involve the implementing of the nine-year elementary school cycle and the consequent entrance of a six-year old child in this educational level, as well as points of discussion of other restructures which will certainly come.

As interações dos bebês e seus pares de idade, por muito tempo, não foram reconhecidas no campo da Psicologia do Desenvolvimento. No entanto, nas últimas três décadas, este panorama tem sofrido grandes alterações, particularmente pelos avanços no campo que têm reconhecido as capacidades e habilidades comunicativas dos bebês. Desse modo, ele vem sendo entendido como um ser ativo nas interações com outros sociais, comunicando-se por meio dos recursos disponíveis e específicos. Porém, interrogou-se se, nessas relações, a criança pequena e seu parceiro poderiam atribuir e/ ou construir / apreender / expressar significações às suas próprias ações, às dos outros e às situações? Desse modo, a partir de um estudo de caso múltiplo, objetivou-se investigar se ocorre o processo de significações ao longo do primeiro ano de vida, em relações de bebês com seus pares de idade. E, no caso de ocorrerem, investigar como se dá tal processo. Os registros utilizados foram gravações em DVD realizadas em uma creche de um município do interior do Estado de São Paulo. Quatro bebês pivôs foram aleatoriamente selecionados e são: Catarina (5 meses), Priscila (7 meses), Daiane (10 meses) e Marcos (11 meses). Do Banco de Imagens, foram selecionadas todas as cenas em que os sujeitos apareceram, compondo, assim, um bloco de imagens editadas seguindo o tempo cronológico dos acontecimentos. O corpus foi construído a partir da transcrição microgenética de três episódios interativos selecionados de cada sujeito. A análise das cenas realizada foi microgenética, tendo a Rede de Significações como base. A análise dos dados indicou a ocorrência de significações no primeiro ano de vida, mesmo em bebês pequenos (quatro meses), as quais se concretizam de maneira diversa, quando se considera a idade cronológica dos bebês e as características dos próprios bebês. Estas foram reconhecidas como singulares e possuindo uma curta, mas uma concreta história de vida, de relações estabelecidas com os vários outros e consigo mesmo, em diferentes contextos. Nos primeiros meses, a significação mostrou-se construída dentro da concretude das ações e situações (bater os pés atrai o parceiro), assim como das vivências sobre si e o meio (olhar o mundo através da garrafa plástica). Com o avançar dos meses, as significações passaram a ter um cunho já marcado por significados culturais do grupo, através dos gestos, das expressões, do tom dos balbucios, da antecipação da intencionalidade apreendida pelo olhar. Em tais processos, as significações de si, do outro e das situações foram sendo (re)(des)(co)construídas através de uma série de negociações, que colocava os bebês em papéis sociais diversos, o que permitia apreender novas significações constituídas no entorno.Ressalta-se o grande interesse do bebê por outro bebê, mobilizando, (re)agindo e experimentando novas e antigas ações com seu coetâneo. A pesquisa também ressalta que a linguagem pode ser entendida para além do sentido verbal, abrangendo a comunicação, a interação, o corpo, a expressividade e ações realizadas pelo bebê reconhecendo-o como ator, autor e sujeito nas relações com os outros parceiros sociais. / For a long time, interactions between babies and their peers were not acknowledged in the Developmental Psychology field. However, during the last three decades, this scenario has undergone major changes, particularly by the advances in the field that have recognized infants\' capabilities and communication skills. Thus, the baby has been understood as active in social interactions with others, communicating by means of their specific and available resources. However, it was interrogated whether, in these relations, the infant and his/her baby partner could assign and/ or build / apprehend / express meanings regarding their own actions, of the other and the situations. Thus, from a multiple case study it was aimed to investigate whether the process of meanings occurs during the first year of life, within babies\' relationships with their peers. Yet, if we positively identify its occurrence, the goal was to investigate how this meanings process happens. Empirical data was constructed through DVD recordings, related to a three months follow up of babies\' attendance at a daycare center in a municipality of the state of São Paulo. Four infants were randomly selected as pivots and they are: Catarina (5 months), Priscila (7 months), Daiane (10 months) and Marcos (11 months), the ages corresponding to the beginning of the recordings. From the Image Bank, every scene in which the subjects appeared was selected, making four blocks of edited images, preserving the chronological order of events. The corpus was built through the microgenetic transcription of three interactive episodes selected from each subjects. Analysis of the scenes was microgenetic, based on the Network of Meanings perspective. Data analysis indicates positively the occurrence of meanings during the first year of life, even in the very young babies (four months). Such occurrence, however, expressed though diferente ways when considering the chronological age of the babies and the babies\' own characteristics. These were regarding to the children\' life history (even though, beng short), established relationships with several others and himself / herself, in different contexts. During the first months, it was verified that meaning were present within concrete actions and situations (stomping attracts the partner attention), as well as the experiences of the babies\' self related to the environment (look at the world through the plastic bottle). In later months, meanings were already marked by cultural meanings of the social group, expressed / apprehended through gestures, expressions, tone of babbling, anticipation of intentionality apprehended by the eye. In such cases, the meanings of self, others and situations have been (re)(de)(co)constructed through a series of negotiations that put the babies in different social roles, which allowed them to grasp new meanings which were appropriated. It should be noted that there is a great interest of the baby for the another baby, mobilizing, (re)acting and experiencing new and old actions with peers. The survey also points out that language can be understood beyond the verbal sense, covering communication, interaction, body, expressivity and actions taken by the baby, recognizing him / her as an actor, author and subject in relations with other social partners.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T14:31:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Viviane Aparecida da Silva.pdf: 1731175 bytes, checksum: b2f3ad37cb635c6274b6035c8e84af84 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-30 / This research aimed to understand the extent to which happens the participation and expression of children's cultures in a class of the new first year of elementary school. The investigation was conducted in a public school in the East area of Curitiba and was theoretically supported by studies of the Sociology of Childhood that has contributed to the understanding of children, exploring concepts that point to a conception of the child agent, competent and culture producer. The theoretical basis was complemented by guidance documents from the Ministry of Education and the National Council of Education for the implementation of the new first year, as well as critics of the curriculum. The methodology was the qualitative approach, with procedures including systematic observation, semi structured interviews, document analysis, and listen to the children, seeking to understand how they give sense to school experience. The study showed that traditional and new school models coexist in a controversial manner in the same space, and it was observed that the focus on body control; the fragmentation of disciplines and time and space; and the content transmitted by repetition cause suffocation of the participation and expression of children's cultures. From the data analysis, it was concluded that there are efforts to change the adult-centered culture, but what prevails in the new first year is the reproduction of a curriculum centralized in the voice and in the decisions of the teacher, going against the studies on childhood that point to an active, participatory, creative and curious conception of child that is able to develop their autonomy. This study intends to contribute to reflections on the social function of school education in the subject formation and in the challenge of implementing a new curriculum for the new first year / A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo entender em que medida acontece a participação e a expressão das culturas infantis em uma turma do novo primeiro ano do ensino fundamental. A investigação foi realizada numa escola pública da zona leste de Curitiba e tomou como amparo teórico os estudos da Sociologia da Infância, que têm contribuído para o entendimento sobre as crianças, explorando conceitos que apontam para uma concepção de criança agente, competente e produtora de cultura. A fundamentação teórica foi complementada por documentos orientadores do Ministério da Educação e do Conselho Nacional de Educação para a implantação do novo primeiro ano, e de críticos do currículo. A metodologia teve abordagem qualitativa, com procedimentos que incluíram observação sistemática, entrevistas semiestruturadas, análise documental e escuta das crianças, para compreender como buscam dar sentido à experiência escolar. O estudo desvelou que modelos escolares tradicionais e novos convivem conflituosamente no mesmo espaço, e permitiu observar que o foco no controle corporal; na fragmentação de disciplinas e de tempos e espaços; e no conteúdo transmitido por meio da repetição ocasionam um sufocamento da participação e da expressão das culturas infantis. A partir da análise dos dados, concluiu-se que há esforços para se mudar a cultura adultocêntrica, porém o que prevalece no novo primeiro ano é a reprodução de um currículo centralizado na voz e nas decisões do professor, negando os estudos sobre a infância que apontam para uma concepção de criança ativa, participativa, curiosa e criativa, com competência para desenvolver sua autonomia. Este estudo pretende contribuir para reflexões acerca da função social da escola na formação do sujeito e do desafio de se implantar um novo currículo para o novo primeiro ano