Using elements of design experiment research and autoethnography, this action research project investigated how viewing learning as complex participation in a community of practice characterized by mathematical inquiry impacted my teaching practice in a grade 10 Applied Mathematics class in a rural Manitoba high school. This report of the research project describes and analyzes both my attempts to change my teaching practice by drawing on theories of learning mathematics as complex participation in a community of practice and the changes that resulted from these attempts. The analysis focuses on the characteristics of a community of practice characterized by mathematical inquiry, how I attempted to foster such a community, what challenges I faced when I changed my teaching practice in this way, and how insights from this practitioner research project can inform the teaching of mathematics as well as theorizing about the learning of mathematics.

Using elements of design experiment research and autoethnography, this action research project investigated how viewing learning as complex participation in a community of practice characterized by mathematical inquiry impacted my teaching practice in a grade 10 Applied Mathematics class in a rural Manitoba high school. This report of the research project describes and analyzes both my attempts to change my teaching practice by drawing on theories of learning mathematics as complex participation in a community of practice and the changes that resulted from these attempts. The analysis focuses on the characteristics of a community of practice characterized by mathematical inquiry, how I attempted to foster such a community, what challenges I faced when I changed my teaching practice in this way, and how insights from this practitioner research project can inform the teaching of mathematics as well as theorizing about the learning of mathematics.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-02-04T14:17:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 flavioalvespereira.pdf: 1081014 bytes, checksum: e55e6cce3324443518eae0e6d0e511d2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-02-05T11:48:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 flavioalvespereira.pdf: 1081014 bytes, checksum: e55e6cce3324443518eae0e6d0e511d2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-05T11:48:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 flavioalvespereira.pdf: 1081014 bytes, checksum: e55e6cce3324443518eae0e6d0e511d2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-30 / O presente trabalho, desenvolvido como um estudo de caso, tem como objetivo analisar a correlação entre a política de responsabilização implementada pelo estado do Ceará e os resultados alcançados pelos municípios, a partir da experiência da Escola Maria Nair Martins, no município de Ipu (CE). Embora no Brasil políticas educacionais com foco nos resultados e na prestação de contas da aprendizagem dos estudantes à comunidade venham sendo implementadas desde o início da década de 1990, no Ceará, esse movimento ganha força a partir dos anos 2000, com a implementação de várias ações governamentais dessa natureza, dentre elas a criação do Programa Alfabetização na Idade Certa (CEARÁ, 2007) e do Prêmio Escola Nota 10 (CEARÁ, 2009). Como metodologia, foram utilizados a pesquisa bibliográfica, análise de documentos, entrevistas semiestruturadas e questionários com professores, gestores e pais de alunos. Este trabalho se justifica pela escassez de estudos e produções acadêmicas que tratem da incidência das políticas de responsabilização desenvolvidas no estado do Ceará nas ações educacionais dos municípios cearenses. Organizada em três capítulos, esta dissertação não tem a pretensão de esgotar a temática, no entanto pretende contribuir para a reflexão entre gestores e docentes sobre a relação existente entre os resultados alcançados pelos municípios e escolas e as concepções subjacentes às políticas de responsabilização que embasam e norteiam as políticas educacionais vigentes. O Capítulo I descreve as políticas de alfabetização da Secretaria Estadual de Educação do Ceará e o Sistema Permanente de Avaliação da Educação Básica do Ceará (SPAECE). O Capítulo II analisa, à luz da contribuição teórica dos autores da área, as políticas de responsabilização implementadas pelo estado do Ceará e sua incidência nas ações desenvolvidas pelos municípios. Com base nas contribuições de Brooke (2008; 2006), discute-se o conceito de accountability, a partir do qual se contextualiza a responsabilização no estado do Ceará; em Andrade (2008), analisam-se algumas experiências de accountability no Brasil, como em Minas Gerais e São Paulo, por exemplo, com o intuito de trazer do cenário nacional elementos que enriqueçam a discussão no contexto analisado, no caso, o Ceará; a partir de Castro(2009), busca-se uma análise dos sistemas de avaliação no Brasil, uma vez que um dos eixos de sustentação das políticas de accountability é a avaliação; a partir de Bauer (2010), procura-se analisar como os resultados das avaliações em larga escala são utilizadas e qual a sua relação com a accountability. O Capítulo III, de natureza propositiva, consta de um Plano de Ação Educacional – PAE –, cujo eixo norteador das ações é a disseminação das ideias e práticas desenvolvidas pelo município e pela escola em estudo para toda a rede municipal de ensino. A partir das informações colhidas neste caso, foi elaborado um Plano de Ação Educacional para disseminação das ideias e práticas desenvolvidas pela escola e pelo município em estudo para as demais escolas da rede municipal, bem como foram apresentadas outras ações que possam contribuir com os gestores e docentes na discussão sobre a relação entre as políticas de responsabilização do estado do Ceará e os resultados do município, no sentido da melhoria da aprendizagem dos alunos. Como exemplos dessas ações, pode-se citar o fortalecimento da gestão democrática por meio da implementação do Conselho Municipal de Educação; a criação de mecanismos de gestão que garantam a autonomia administrativa da escola, como o Fundo de Manutenção da Escola; a continuidade do projeto de reforço escolar no contratuno; a criação de um sistema de avaliação da educação municipal, entre outras. / The current work was developed as a case study, aims to analyze the correlation between the accountability policy implemented by the State of Ceará in the Northeast region and the results achieved by the municipalities, from the experience of the Maria Nair Martins school, in the municipality of Ipu which is a city in the Ceará state. Although in Brazil educational policies that focus on results and the students learning accountability to the community have been implement since the beginning of the 1990s, in Ceará state this movement began to increase in the years 2000. However, the implementation of several governmental actions of this nature, including the creation of the Literacy Program at the right age (PAICE, 2007) and the school award grade 10 (2009). As a methodology, bibliographical researches has been use, analysis of documents, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires, with teachers, administrators and students’ parents. This work is justified by the shortage of studies and academic productions dealing with incidence of the accountability policy developed in the State of Ceará in the educational actions of the municipalities of Ceará state. Organized in three chapters, this dissertation does not claim to exhaust the subject, however, aims to contribute to the reflection among managers and teachers about the relationship among the results achieved by municipalities and schools and the conceptions that underlie policies for accountability that supports and guide the existing educational policies. Chapter I describes the policies of the State Secretariat for Literacy Education of Ceará and the permanent evaluation system of basic education of Ceará (SPAECE). Chapter II examines in the light of the theoretical author contribution in this area, accountability policies implemented by the State of Ceará and its incidence in the actions implemented by the municipalities. Based on Booke’s contributions (2008, 2006), in which are discussed the concepts of accountability from which is contextualize the accountability in the State of Ceará; on Andrade (2008),it analyze some accountability experiences in Brazil, in states like Minas Gerais and São Paulo, for example, in order to bring the national scenario elements that increase the discussion in context analyzed, in this case the Ceará state; And in Castro (2009), there is attempt reviewing the rating systems in Brazil, once that one of the axes that supports accountability policies is the evaluation; from Bauer (2010), it tries to analyze how the results of evaluations on a wide scale and are used the relations with the accountability. Chapter III, purposeful nature, consists of an Educational Action Plan-PAE- in which the actions and ideas begin to spread with practices developed by the municipality, the schools that are being studied and to all teaching network. Based on the information collected in this case, an action plan has being prepared for dissemination of Educational ideas and practices developed by the school and the municipality under study, as well as to perform other actions that may contribute to the managers and teachers in the discussion on the relations between the accountability policies in the State of Ceará and its Northeast region. The results of the municipality in the sense of improving the students’ learning, such as strengthening the democratic management through the implementation of the Municipal Council of education, the establishment and management of mechanisms that guarantee the school administrative autonomy, as the school Maintenance Fund; the continuity of project school reinforcement in others shifts; the creation of an evaluation system to the municipal education, among others.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The basic premise of this study was that when a learner is confronted with two contradictory explanations of the same phenomenon, there is cognitive dissonance in the learner as the learner tries to determine which of the two explanations is correct. An argumentation-based instructional intervention programme (ABIIP) was created for and used on and by the Grade 10 learners in order to attempt to ameliorate this cognitive conflict. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative impact of that intervention programme on Grade 10 learners’ conceptions of lightning and thunder. The programme was designed to help learners to develop argumentative skills and use the acquired skills to negotiate and harmonise divergent and conflicting explanations of the nature of lightning and thunder that are propounded by different worldviews (Science and indigenous knowledge).

Magister Scientiae - MSc / This study was based on the Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems Project (SIKSP) at the School of Science and Mathematics Education, University of the Western Cape. The project seeks to enhance educators' understanding of and ability to implement a Science-IKS curriculum (Ogunniyi, 2007) through using the theoretical framework of argumentation (Toulmin Argument Pattern) to the extent that learners would value the significance of both worldviews. This study sought to find the effects of an Argumentation-Based Instruction on grade 10 learners' understanding of the causes of pollution at a river site. Since the integration of Science and IKS are envisaged by Curriculum 2005 (C2005), two theoretical argumentation constructs have been used namely, Toulmin's (1958) Argumentation Pattern (TAP) and Ogunniyi's (1995) Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT). / South Africa

<p>The study catered for empirical and metaphysical dimensions of science and IKS. The study employed a quasi-experimental design as well as a qualitative research design. Two cohorts of students from a fictitiously named &ldquo / Culture Secondary School&rdquo / have been used in this study. The list of instruments for data collection were as follows: Conceptions of Fermentation (COF) questionnaire which was used to elicit learners&rsquo / pre- and post-test conceptions of fermentation with special reference to traditional beer or &ldquo / Umqombothi&rdquo / , an Attitudes to Science (ATS) questionnaire which was used to find out the learners&rsquo / worldviews, a Science Achievement Test (SAT) which was used to assess the learners&rsquo / generalised knowledge of fermentation, a classroom observation schedule as well as a focus group interview schedule to gather additional qualitative data. All the instruments were in English with all technical and difficult terms in both English and isiXhosa (the learners&rsquo / home language). Both groups were exposed to Science/IKS-based lessons. The only difference between the two groups was that, the experimental group (E group) was exposed to a Dialogical Argumentation Teaching Model (DAIM) and the comparison group (C group) to a traditional teaching approach. The data gatherred were both analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative descriptions.</p>

This study was based on the Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems Project (SIKSP) at the School of Science and Mathematics Education, University of the Western Cape. The project seeks to enhance educators’ understanding of and ability to implement a Science-IKS curriculum (Ogunniyi, 2007) through using the theoretical framework of argumentation (Toulmin Argument Pattern) to the extent that learners would value the significance of both worldviews. This study sought to find the effects of an Argumentation-Based Instruction on grade 10 learners’ understanding of the causes of pollution at a river site. Since the integration of Science and IKS are envisaged by Curriculum 2005 (C2005), two theoretical argumentation constructs have been used namely, Toulmin’s (1958) Argumentation Pattern (TAP) and Ogunniyi’s (1995) Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT).

<p>The study catered for empirical and metaphysical dimensions of science and IKS. The study employed a quasi-experimental design as well as a qualitative research design. Two cohorts of students from a fictitiously named &ldquo / Culture Secondary School&rdquo / have been used in this study. The list of instruments for data collection were as follows: Conceptions of Fermentation (COF) questionnaire which was used to elicit learners&rsquo / pre- and post-test conceptions of fermentation with special reference to traditional beer or &ldquo / Umqombothi&rdquo / , an Attitudes to Science (ATS) questionnaire which was used to find out the learners&rsquo / worldviews, a Science Achievement Test (SAT) which was used to assess the learners&rsquo / generalised knowledge of fermentation, a classroom observation schedule as well as a focus group interview schedule to gather additional qualitative data. All the instruments were in English with all technical and difficult terms in both English and isiXhosa (the learners&rsquo / home language). Both groups were exposed to Science/IKS-based lessons. The only difference between the two groups was that, the experimental group (E group) was exposed to a Dialogical Argumentation Teaching Model (DAIM) and the comparison group (C group) to a traditional teaching approach. The data gatherred were both analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative descriptions.</p>

This study was based on the Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems Project (SIKSP) at the School of Science and Mathematics Education, University of the Western Cape. The project seeks to enhance educators’ understanding of and ability to implement a Science-IKS curriculum (Ogunniyi, 2007) through using the theoretical framework of argumentation (Toulmin Argument Pattern) to the extent that learners would value the significance of both worldviews. This study sought to find the effects of an Argumentation-Based Instruction on grade 10 learners’ understanding of the causes of pollution at a river site. Since the integration of Science and IKS are envisaged by Curriculum 2005 (C2005), two theoretical argumentation constructs have been used namely, Toulmin’s (1958) Argumentation Pattern (TAP) and Ogunniyi’s (1995) Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT).

Magister Educationis - MEd (Mathematics and Science Education) / The study catered for empirical and metaphysical dimensions of science and IKS. The study employed a quasi-experimental design as well as a qualitative research design. Two cohorts of students from a fictitiously named Culture Secondary School have been used in this study. The list of instruments for data collection were as follows: Conceptions of Fermentation (COF) questionnaire which was used to elicit learnerss pre- and post-test conceptions of fermentation with special reference to traditional beer or Umqombothi an Attitudes to Science (ATS) questionnaire which was used to find out the learners' worldviews, a Science Achievement Test (SAT) which was used to assess the learners' generalised knowledge of fermentation, a classroom observation schedule as well as a focus group interview schedule to gather additional qualitative data. All the instruments were in English with all technical and difficult terms in both English and isiXhosa (the learners&rsquo; home language). Both groups were exposed to Science/IKS-based lessons. The only difference between the two groups was that, the experimental group (E group) was exposed to a Dialogical Argumentation Teaching Model (DAIM) and the comparison group (C group) to a traditional teaching approach. The data gathered were both analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative descriptions. / South Africa