Having ratified and signed many international conventions and declarations on mainstreaming gender issues, Lesotho was compelled to review some of its policies and laws to ensure equitable distribution of resources to both female and male citizens in the name of democracy and development. This study sought to establish whether progress has been made in the field of education in promoting gender sensitivity and removing gender bias and stereotypes, which among other things, manifest themselves in textbooks through textual messages and images. Taken as one of the agents of socialisation in Lesotho, it is believed that textbooks can foster either gender sensitivity or negative gender discrimination; hence this study examines primary language textbooks to ascertain their role in this regard. Seven language textbooks, two written in Sesotho and five in English, were analysed in terms of gender. Gender was understood as a social phenomenon, and this made it imperative for the study to draw on theories and perspectives from different social disciplines. In the main, however, the analysis was informed by feminist theories, notably feminist stylistics as postulated by Mills (1995c). Psychoanalytical perspectives were employed in an attempt to explain the impact of under-representation, stereotypical, and sexist language, on the identities of the affected pupils. The study has established that the examined prescribed primary school language textbooks are not gender-sensitive and it has therefore recommended guidelines for use by textbooks evaluators, selectors, editors, publishers, authors, and other stakeholders in textbook production and procurement processes. Both quantitative and qualitative analytical methods were used in order to cater for quantifiable data and discourse-type data.

Bibliography: leaves 111-117. / The aim of the study was to determine the effects of alternative assessment practices on the writings of seven learners in a Grade 11 English second language class. Conventional assessment practices are inadequate when set against new knowledge of the role played by assessment in supporting learning and teaching. Presently writing and assessment are based on viewing writing as product which is assessed as a single mark of achievement. I set out to develop and implement an alternative writing and assessment programme in the context of typical classroom demands. Alternative practices see writing as process and assessment as embedded in that process. Though alternative assessment practices use a multiplicity of methods, they prefer a criterion based analyses that reflects the developmental aspect of learning to write. Since alternative assessment reflects the developmental aspect of writing, it eschews negative feedback to learners about their writing. The writings of seven learners were analysed to determine if alternative practices had any effect. In addition three reflection questionnaires were administered to gauge the attitude of learners to the alternative programme. My reflections and observations also provided the data for gauging the impact of the programme. Based on the data, the findings and implications of the programme suggest that though there is no conclusive evidence to argue that learners' writing changed as a result of implementing alternative practices, it appeared that learners‘ attitude to writing became more positive; learners became more confident as a result of having more of an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of their writing; and the classroom climate for learning to write improved. At the same time alternative assessment practices gave the teacher valuable information and an opportunity to reflect critically on improvements for setting criteria; on communicating assessment to learners; on assessment design and strategies and defining the assessment method suited to modes of writing discourse.

<p>Past research has shown that learner-centered environments can improve students' self-esteem and increase their academic skills. The purpose of this study was to determine whether teaching the core curriculum within a caring classroom environment increases students ability to communicate effectively and perform at higher achievement levels in writing. The study addressed the experiences of teachers in implementing a new writing program with a strong emphasis on social skill development as a precursor to good writing. Guided by the social learning theories of Dewey, Rogers, and Vygotsky, who contended that social interaction is vital to the development of cognition, a qualitative case study was undertaken consisting of individual interviews with 15 teachers at 6 elementary schools in southwestern Connecticut. Data were collected to address the extent to which a caring community of students can foster positive academic outcomes. Data were analyzed and coded to discover common themes. Results showed that teachers perceived that the social skills taught through the program did increase students writing skills. In addition, students had better listening skills and were more comfortable taking academic risks. This finding supports past social learning theories. Based on these findings, 3 days of professional learning workshops were created with the goals of building student-teacher relationships, creating learner-centered environments, and curtailing bullying. Equipping teachers with this resource will help to create social change by helping students become better communicators in a diverse society, increasing their graduation rates, and preparing them to enter the global workforce of the 21st century. </p>

<p> Writing conferences are a writing process tool to aid students with writing development. Conferences are underutilized due to time constraints and lack of direction. This qualitative study examines whole class writing conferences, a conference method that includes all members of the class participating in weekly discussion of written drafts. Fourteen first-year undergraduate composition students and their teacher at a United States New England university meet in twenty-two class periods where they learn about and then participate in whole class writing conferences. Field notes from class observations and from writing conference discussions, written feedback from each student on drafts reviewed during whole class writing conferences, original drafts and revisions of writing, student interview data, and student survey data are analyzed. Students are active participants in this method, showing independence in writing decisions and appropriate evaluative response to writing. Evidence from the data reveals that students revised essays, improving introductions, transitions, topic sentences, and supporting paragraphs. All revisions include the addition of details. Use of this method created a supportive community in this classroom, and students communicated positive experiences with participation in whole class writing conferences. Whole class writing conferences provide an opportunity for students to learn about writing in a way that is consistent with how undergraduate students develop, practice, and write ideas.</p>

<p> In an age of standardization of learning and the learner, literacy is narrowly defined to view young people from a deficit rather than a strength perspective. Empowering learners to draw on knowledges and experiences that they have access to in their everyday lives broadens the view of literacy learning. Research on literacy as a sociocultural practice, rural literacies, and performance theory frame this inquiry that seeks to understand how students are positioned as capable users of multiple literacy practices. This work examines: How do students living in rural contexts bring personal stories and interests into classrooms to make sense of literacy learning? What pedagogical practices make visible students' personal stories and interests as resources for literacy? How do students negotiate lived and imagined experience in classroom literacy engagements?</p><p> Using ethnographic methodologies and a practice centered performance approach, this research foregrounds the complexities of literacy learning that are responsive to this midwestern rural school community. Over the course of one academic year, I observed and participated in the everyday literacy events in a sixth grade and a second grade classroom. This work focuses on how rurality is imagined and experienced in these focal classrooms and the pedagogical practices that establish an ethos of sharing personal stories and experiences. An analysis of student created multimedia videos demonstrates how these literacy events were a location to 1) enact cultural ways of knowing, 2) negotiate multiple discourses that were significant in students' worlds, and 3) create new possibilities for using literacies and participating in classrooms. In the midst of tensions that place students as objects of instructional and political policies, discourses of possibility are created when young people are positioned as capable subjects who contribute and create knowing.</p>

<p>Research on writing proficiency from elementary students through undergraduates is prevalent; however, few focused on students in graduate school. Few teacher education programs require specific coursework in writing for teacher certification. Yet, teacher educators express concern about teacher candidates' writing proficiencies. Writing may not be explicitly taught, such as in graduate school or doctoral coursework, because professors assume students already have these skills. Writing is something writers are always learning to do, yet scholarly writing is not included as a learning objective throughout the doctoral coursework at Sibley University, at the time of this study. Sibley University is the pseudonym used for the university referenced throughout the dissertation. The purpose of the exploratory research was to gain a deeper understanding of measurable and perceived changes throughout the dissertation writing process, and possibly uncover information that faculty could use to improve the doctoral students' writings. Data from the study will provide Sibley University's EdD program's structure comparative completion data for benchmarking purposes. </p><p> The study consisted of participants from Sibley University's May 2011 EdD graduates, five EdD students who defended their dissertation between May of 2011 and December of 2011, and four students who defended in spring of 2012, a convenient sample. Seventeen participants agreed to a 19-question, taped interview; one of the 17 failed to submit drafts of writings. An additional four participants submitted the required writings but, due to time constraints, were not interviewed. Seventeen participants were interviewed and 20 submitted writings for data analysis, with a gender breakdown of 85% female, and 15% male. </p><p> An ANOVA for the difference in the means was run on average characters per word, average words per paragraph, average sentences per paragraph, and percentage of passive sentences for each draft of the dissertation from the identified four data points. The steps used in analyzing the qualitative data gathered from the participants' retrospective interview transcripts included: highlighted chunks of significant information on each transcript, highlighted segment a two to three word description (code), and sorted all segments by meaning. The ANOVA analysis does not support a significant difference in average of variables analyzed when comparing documents, at the 95% confidence level. Yet, doctoral students perceived their writing had improved throughout the dissertation process. </p>

<p> This descriptive study looks at how social justice is being integrated into 11th grade language arts classes in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado. I observed four educators, noting how they addressed issues of social justice through classroom discussions and literature selection. This study will reflect upon on observations in classrooms and interviews with educators that inform ineffective and effective means of incorporating, or not incorporating, social justice into their classrooms.</p>

<p>Abstract This dissertation examines the ways in which the incorporation of a multimodal social semiotic curriculum into a university composition class provided non-traditional options for learning that brought about agentive and empowering identity shifts in students who were labeled as academically underprepared for college level work. Building on a body of research that challenges the dominant discourse of deficit through a view of literacy and of learners as a complex and context-related social practice, this qualitative study employs ethnographic methods to track and document the self-affirming transformations in student's identities as manifested in their written, multimodal, and discoursal performances. The data collected from this study indicates that students' perceptions of self and of potential for academic success within the University were influenced by prior institutional labels and were exacerbated by feelings of marginalization brought on by placement into a University support program. In order to counter the sense of deficiency that usually accompanies such labeling practices, a transformative pedagogical approach designed to invoke change was practiced with the aim to create a learning environment which countered the rigidity of an autonomous view of literacy and instead, embraced a view of literacy that was sociocultural and ideological in nature. To this end, curricular choices were made in an effort to offer students alternative, non-traditional methods of demonstrating their individualized ways of meaning making. The data indicated that a multimodal infused pedagogy and interactions with multimodality served to reveal, track, capture, and document the ways in which identities shifted and changed with the resultant finding of an increased sense of academic achievement and agency in students as identity transformation took place. In addition, significant instances of students' acquisition of agency through self-generated writing and consequent successful repositioning were documented. In light of these findings, I encourage and endorse the assimilation of non- traditional transformative and multimodal practices into the 21st Century college composition class.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-05, Section: A, page: 1853. Adviser: Larry Mikulecky. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 12, 2008)."

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-09, Section: A, page: 3770. Adviser: Mitzi Lewison. Title from dissertation home page (viewed May 8, 2008).