This paper examines how remedial teachers and subject teachers in two secondary schools talk about pupils with special education needs (SEN) both in general, and more specifically about boys and girls who need special education. The study is based on 6 interviews with teachers in two secondary schools in the Stockholm area. In the analysis of the interviews, two different theories have been used. Firstly, the teachers´ speech has been analyzed based on three perspectives; a compensatory-, a critical- and a dilemma perspective (see Nilholm, 2007). Secondly, discourse analysis has been used to examine how the teachers in the study talk about boys and girls in the special education. The two categories "boys" and "girls" have been analyzed regarding which qualities and actions they are associated with. The result shows that there are two different discourses about pupils with SEN that are used by teachers today, a medical-psychological discourse which fits into the compensatory perspective, and a socio-political that goes along the critical perspective, and focuses on environmental reasons for problems that occur in school, rather than laboring the individual as the problem. Also the dilemma perspective is found explicitly in one informant´s speech. All teachers but one can immediately name differences between boys and girls with SEN. The differences that are mentioned are for example that boys mature slower, need more practical support in remembering to sit still and bringing the correct material to class, and more often than girls, boys show their difficulties by being noisy in the classroom. Girls are described as the opposite. They mature more quickly, are able to focus in school, are more motivated and able to sit still and work effectively. One teacher feels uncomfortable in speaking about gender differences in behavior, and most teachers think that these differences are cultural and social, not biological. Even so, all teachers seem to have thought about gender differences and can name many. Generally the teachers seem quite aware of the order of the discourse that is what is okay to say about gender differences and pupils with SEN and what is not.

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2002.

The current study is the first of its kind in Australia. It is breaking new ground therefore and is exploratory in nature. Attention is focused on the variables influencing the vocational decision-making of highly-able adolescent girls in Victoria, Australia. / This is a complex study and the design incorporates both quantitative and qualitative data collection spanning a six year period. The importance of this study lies in the of research strategy of identifying and examining different educational settings and application of the findings from the first two studies (n=112) to a very specific educational setting in Study Three (n=14). / The external socializers of family, friends and the media as well as the internal dimensions of self-esteem, aspirations and interest have been investigated systematically through three interrelated but independent studies. A combination of methodologies has been employed to identify those variables that might, over time, influence the vocational decisions of these young women. / It is an accumulation of the young women’s perceptions and self-report using questionnaires, formal inventories and interviews. The data collection was progressive and the information gathering procedures included inventories of self-esteem and vocational preference, questionnaires completed by the subjects, interviews as well as anecdotal comments made by the students. Overall the analysis in this study depended on an interpretation of aggregated data employing simple frequency counts, cross tabulations and t-tests which described observations, explored relationships and identified differences between the two groups, high-ability and control, on the variables selected. A matrix enabled a triangulation of the data, both quantitative and qualitative. The data were coded to determine constant themes and to identify important influences and trends across a time frame. Different cases were compared and patterns which emerged were then analysed. / In Study One the high-ability cohort differentiated from the controls in three major areas. These were in their aspirations, self-esteem and the relative influences of parents, especially father. Although the high-ability girls in Study Two had made vocational choices commensurate with their interests identified in the VPI these choices were by no means stable over the six-year period. Both the home and school environment were found to have impacted on these collective factors as they modified and developed vocational interest. In Study Three the findings of the earlier studies were applied to a very specific cohort with important differences identified in the areas of self-esteem and subject choice. The environmental contexts of home and school again proved to be salient. The dissimilar contextual experiences of the high-ability cohort were found to impact on their vocational choices and their subsequent career trajectories in a different way to that of the non-gifted schoolgirl. / Based on this study, a model of vocational choice informed by the findings has been proposed.

This biographical study explores the life and career of a woman, Doris McRae, who, although virtually unknown today, played a significant role in a number of areas of public life. She taught in government schools for over thirty years ending her career as headmistress of Flemington Girls’ School. She was an active unionist and at one time was vice president of the Victorian Teachers’ Union. She was a social and peace activist. She was a passionate advocate of equal pay and cared deeply about the welfare of the children she worked with, her fellow teachers and society in general. She travelled in England and Russia and in 1937 represented Australian women teacher unionists at the Pan Pacific Women’s Conference in Vancouver. She joined the Communist Party in 1938, teaching for them at Marx House in Melbourne and writing articles in their publication the Guardian. At the peak of her career, her activities were monitored by conservative politicians and the Catholic Church. She first came under the notice of the Commonwealth Investigation Service (later ASIO) in 1939 and was the subject of heated debate in the Victorian Parliament in 1946. Forced out of teaching as a result of a Royal Commission into Communism in 1950, Doris McRae then put all her energies into the activities of the Union of Australian Women, her active involvement lasting until the 1980s. In 1952 she travelled as an Australian delegate to the Defence of Children Conference in Vienna. Her last trip overseas was in 1960 when she spent most of the year in Europe. When Doris McRae died in 1988 aged 95, a memorial service was held for her at Coburg High School. Joan Kirner, then Minister of Education, gave the eulogy.

This qualitative study explores the experiences of female adolescents in relation to physical activity. The study investigates the experience of being adolescent and the meaning of a female adolescent’s experience of physical activity. A qualitative description with a phenomenological hue was the methodology used. Their perceptions of their lived experiences in relation to physical activity were revealed through stories. The participants were six adolescent females. The study data was gathered through open-ended questions and in-depth conversations, to seek meaning of the adolescent’s experience of physical activity. The interviews were transcribed and stories extracted from the data. Results from the findings of the study indicate that physical activity needs to be enjoyable for the female adolescent for her to be motivated to participate. What specifically constitutes enjoyment for the adolescent differs for each individual. The data also suggested that other persons of influence or the female adolescent’s environment may also have an impact on their participation. Peers, parents, their gender, body issues, competition, running, and certain restrictions were revealed as making a difference. For the female adolescent participating in physical activity, it would be advantageous to find an approach that allows a girl to experience physical activity in the way that works for her. Some participants, already good at sports, are likely to be very competitive, want to train hard, and will build friendships among their like-minded peers. These female adolescents are not so problematic. They already love physical activity and participate in it. The challenge is to target those female adolescents who do not participate on a regular basis, and to design successful interventions which promote and encourage them into physical activity. This change may prevent a further decline in the levels of physical activity for the adolescent who is at a stage when physical activity may be so advantageous.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Adelaide, 1981. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-207).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Aparna Bagdi, Dept. of Individual & Family Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- The Institute for Clinical Social Work, 2004. / A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.