Zugl.: Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 2008

Diss. phil.-hist. Bern. / Titel und Beschreibung vom Lieferanten (07.09.2005). Literaturverz.

Univ., Diss., 2006--Kassel. / Auch im Shaker-Verlag, Aachen (http://www.shaker.de), erschienen.

Bachelor-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2008.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin, School of Nursing. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Giessen. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 261-277).

Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Marburg.

Zugl.: Göttingen, Universiẗat, Diss., 2006.

This essay aims to study how preschool teachers with big groups of small children believe they are working to give every individual child stimulation and challenges in its language and communication development in accordance with the curriculum. The method I chose to use consists of quantitative interviews with preschool teachers. I based my studies on a sociocultural aspect and Lev Vygotskij’s theories on language, learning and the teacher’s role. The results from the interviews and analyses around these theories were presented based on the definition of the terms ’stimulate’ and ’challenge’, the preschool teachers’ working method, challenges in the work itself and the influence from the organization. Based on previous research, I then went on to discuss the different aspects that became evident through my analysis. The discussion involved the preschool teachers’ perceived working methods, the importance of the teacher’s attitude, the importance of the organization and the body language of the child. My conclusion was that when it comes to giving every child an opportunity to be stimulated and challenged in their language and communication development, the teacher’s attitude is the most important factor. I could also establish that what prevents preschool teachers from having an attitude encouraging language development is that small children demand a lot of communication time with the teachers, something that is not always possible with a group containing many children. Finally, I made a recommendation based on my opinion that a separate curriculum for small preschool children should be implemented, where the body language of the children have a central role in stimulating and challenging every child’s individual language and communication development.

With increasing emphasis being placed on the selection of highly qualified teachers as mandated by the No Child Left Behind legislation (NCLB) of 2001, growing numbers of student populations, and the decreasing numbers of teachers entering the profession, it is evident that the teacher selection process must assume a more scientific path. In order to improve the selection process it is necessary to look at many aspects of this procedure. Specifically, what characteristics do teacher candidates possess that would qualify them for a particular position and, to what degree do the school identifiers play in this process? This is a study of the affects various school characteristics have on the selection process of elementary school teachers in one Virginia school district. Through a literature review conducted on the teacher selection process, a common group of thirty teacher characteristics grouped into four domains have been identified that if associated with teachers, have positive effects on instruction. The four domains that have been identified are Instruction, Personality, Orientation to Students, and Qualifications. A survey was utilized to determine the degree to which school administrators and teachers involved in the interview process place on the identified teacher characteristics and domains. Descriptive factors that reflect the differences in the schools for this study have been identified and an impact challenge index has been developed for each school. Descriptive factors utilized to determine the impact challenge index included minority and special population percentages of students, mobility indexes, and free and reduced price lunch percentages. In addition, data distinctive to each school's accreditation status and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) have been determined. ANOVAs were performed to determine if there were significance between variables presented in this study of challenge impact levels, AYP performance, and position. Results of this study are mixed and revealed only a few significant differences and/or substantive meaningful results between variables. / Ed. D.