The agricultural industry is changing every day, and new innovations are being developed faster than educational resources can be developed. Secondary agricultural education is faced with the challenges of keeping up with the changes in the industry. Determining how to bring cutting edge innovative content to the classroom is difficult and without a clear vision of what is relevant it is impossible. The purpose of this case study was to determine how modern agricultural education programs may be designed and developed to support innovative agricultural content. The researcher focused on the planning theory of (Cervero and Wilson, 2006), as well as the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (Rogers, 2003) for the theoretical framework of the research. The case study used a qualitative approach to examine the phenomenological views of stakeholders and artifacts collected to support the innovative program design. This qualitative study used interviews to describe and find the meanings to how modern agricultural education programs may be designed and developed to support innovative agricultural content. The findings of this study delivered a clear picture of this innovative agricultural education program. There were five categories and nine themes to emerge from the data collected, these categories and themes support the role the participants have played in the design and development of this innovative agricultural education program. The study showed that teachers were the key to a successful program. Teachers were then connected to professional development, program support, curriculum, and expectations of students at the end of their agricultural education program. / PHD / This case study looked at a modern rural high school agricultural education program in Southwest Virginia. The purpose of the study was to determine how this modern agricultural education program was designed and developed to support innovative agricultural content. The researcher focused on the data collected to describe the methods and resources used to establish the current program. There were twenty-one stakeholders interviewed to examine their views and lived experiences during the development of the program, also artifacts were collected to support the innovative program design. The findings of this study delivered a clear picture of this innovative agricultural education program. There were five categories and nine themes to emerge from the data collected, these categories and themes support the role the participants played in the design and development of this innovative agricultural education program. The study showed that teachers were the key to a successful program. Teachers were then connected to professional development, program support, curriculum, and expectations of students at the end of their agricultural education program.

Made available in DSpace on 2009-03-12T13:52:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 72040100442.pdf: 1494804 bytes, checksum: 4a9b833ffad1f818e13aca42f08ee2d5 (MD5) Previous issue date: / Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:49:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 72040100442.pdf.jpg: 20702 bytes, checksum: 4009e9c2ff2d3579a99ae75e40dbbcf7 (MD5) 72040100442.pdf: 1494804 bytes, checksum: 4a9b833ffad1f818e13aca42f08ee2d5 (MD5) 72040100442.pdf.txt: 679104 bytes, checksum: c26116c2b0a7476bce0bc33c9c50392c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-10-28T10:38:48Z / O ponto de partida para este estudo foi o contraste entre a provável centralidade da decisão, defendida em boa parte da literatura administrativa, e a experiência de inclusão digital bem sucedida implantada na pequena cidade de Piraí-RJ. A originalidade deste programa e a sua maneira aparentemente caótica de encaminhamento foram inquietações que impulsionaram o retorno do pesquisador às teorias sobre o processo decisório e a formulação e implantação de políticas públicas. Neste trabalho busca-se contribuir com o debate sobre a decisão e o processo decisório a partir de duas questões de pesquisa: qual a centralidade dos processos decisórios para os resultados alcançados nas experiências consideradas inovadoras em municípios de pequeno porte populacional (abaixo de 30 mil habitantes)? E como caracterizar esses processos em relação à literatura acadêmica sobre a temática? O foco do trabalho é a área pública, na qual a temática da decisão tem forte intersecção com a temática da formulação e implementação das políticas públicas. Escolheu-se a análise dos fluxos de ações nas ações inovadoras ocorridas em municípios de pequeno porte populacional que correspondem a mais de 80% do total de municípios no Brasil. As limitações da pesquisa estão relacionadas à área pesquisada, ao tipo de município selecionado e aos projetos e programas analisados. As referências teóricas utilizadas neste trabalho são as seguintes: Escolha Racional, Racionalidade Limitada, Agenda de Políticas Públicas, Incrementalismo, Garbage Can, Sensemaking e, finalmente, Groping Along. Para efeitos da articulação entre essas teorias e os casos estudados, utilizou-se a lógica subjacente de cada teoria e a sua relação com o processo relatado pelos participantes das experiências selecionadas. O estudo foi desenvolvido em três fases. Na primeira, após as questões iniciais que emergiram da experiência de inclusão digital em Piraí, fez-se uma revisão bibliográfica da literatura relativa ao processo decisório. A partir disso, fez-se uma análise de documentos e relatos feitos por gestores e técnicos de 34 diferentes experiências inovadoras premiados pelo Programa Gestão Pública e Cidadania, entre 1996-2005, na qual se buscou captar os fluxos de ações que permearam os projetos e programas. Na terceira parte, procedeu-se uma pesquisa em profundidade em quatro estudos de caso nos estados da Bahia, Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo, utilizando-se técnicas da história oral e análise de documentos. Os casos estudados foram: Creche Noturna em Laranjal Paulista-SP, Desenvolvimento Local e Inclusão Digital em Piraí-RJ, Desenvolvimento Local Agroambiental em Almadina-BA e, finalmente, Manejo da Samambaia Silvestre em Ilha Comprida-SP. Os resultados obtidos contrastam com a literatura acadêmica cuja lógica subjacente é predominantemente linear e que defende a centralidade e a importância da decisão na obtenção de resultados maximizadores, e sugerem ainda que sejam as proposições dos processos decisórios menos lineares e os processos de formulação de políticas públicas que buscam captar as práticas cotidianas dos gestores permeada pelas imperfeições e deselegâncias do dia-a-dia - que melhor contribuem para sua compreensão. / The starting point for this study was the contrast between the likely centrality of the decision, held in much of the administrative literature, and the successful experience of digital inclusion implanted in the small town of Piraí-RJ. The originality of this program and its seemingly chaotic way for referral were concerns that propelled the return of the researcher to theories about the decision-making process and the formulation and implementation of public policies. This research focus on the contribution to the debate about the decision and the decision making process from the two questions of the research: what is the centrality of decision making processes for the results achieved in the experiments considered innovative in municipalities of small population (below 30 thousand inhabitants)? And how is it possible to characterize these processes in relation to the academic literature about the subject? The focus of this work is the public area in which the subject of the decision has strong intersection with the theme of the formulation and implementation of public policies. The analysis of the flows of innovative actions in the actions that occurred in municipalities of small population was chosen since it corresponds to more than 80% of all municipalities in Brazil. The limitations of the research are related to the searched area, the type of municipality selected and the projects and programs analyzed. The theoretical references used in this work are as follows: Rational Choice, Limited Rationality, Agenda for Public Policy, Incrementalism, Garbage Can, Sensemaking and, finally, Groping Along. For the linking purpose between these theories and case studies, it was used the logic of each theory and its relation to the process of the experiences reported by the selected participants. The study was conducted in three phases. At first, after the initial issues that emerged from the experience of digital inclusion in Piraí, a bibliographic review of the literature on the decision-making process was made. From this study, an analysis of documents and reports made by managers and technicians from 34 different innovative experiences which were awarded by the Programa Gestão Pública e Cidadania, between 1996 and 2005, which sought to capture the flow of actions that permeated the projects and programs. In the third part, it was taken an in-depth research in four case studies in the states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, using techniques of oral history and analysis of documents. The cases studied were: Creche Noturna in Laranjal Paulista-SP, Desenvolvimento Local and Inclusão Digital in Piraí-RJ, Desenvolvimento Local Agroambiental in Almadina-BA and finally Manejo da Samambaia Silvestre in Ilha Comprida-SP. The results contrast with the academic literature which logic is predominantly linear and argues that the centrality and importance of the decision in order to get maximum results, and suggest that the propositions of less linear decision making processes and the processes of formulation of public policies that seek to capture the everyday practice of managers – including daily diselegances and imperfections - that best contribute to your understanding.

This thesis deals with the forms of cooperation between parents and nursery school. The theoretical part focuses on family and school as educational institutions, their definition, historical development and the related current trends in cooperation between them. It defines the forms of cooperation in the core curriculum and is looking for inspiring elements of this strategy and cooperation in innovative educational programs, "Step by Step" and "Health Promoting Schools" The empiric part presents the research that focuses on development cooperation nursery schools and families. The research was conducted at the Prague kindergarten Šestajovická. Inform the process of improving cooperation based on innovative teaching programs, "Step by Step" and "Health Promoting Schools"

This thesis focuses on forms of cooperation between family and school at the beginning of school attendance. The theoretical part defines family and school as educational institutions and traces the development of cooperation between these institutions. It shows current trends in cooperation between family and school using the elements of a strategy of innovative educational program Step by Step and project Parents welcome. It refers to the elements that affect mutual relations. At the beginning of the empirical part is first described the methodology of qualitative research. The main techniques used were observation, questioning and interviews with teaching staff and the parents of pupils at two schools - at the average primary school and at the school using the program Start together, which received a certificate Parents welcome. Partner reality was analyzed on the basis of a document Competent teacher of the 21st century: An international professional quality framework ISSA. The research identified the actual situation in each school, its benefits and weaknesses. Keywords family, school, pupil, teacher, communications, family and school collaboration, experience, elementary school, innovative programs, a school providing the program Step by Step and Parents welcome