The effects of the public sector reform impacted on all aspects of public services including the performance of the economy. Central to this argument was the re-organization of the operations of the public service from the traditional administration system to the new public management (NPM). Education, a critical service in any economy was not spared. Literatures around the application of NPM (a derivative of market principles and practices) to education (which was value based) suggested that NPM was dangerous for education and could deplete the value system of education and replace that with a focus on accounting for money by individuals who were self-interested and who would seek to maximize their benefit with guile. Arguments against NPM suggested that the human factor was neglected and that education had led to chaos among professionals, stakeholders and students. However, those who argued for the introduction of NPM suggested that it had made the provision of education more efficient, effective and relevant to the needs to the clients. It held those working in the education sector accountable for the resources used and made the system more responsive to the needs of the clients of education. Education in the Cook Islands experienced many changes since western type education was introduced by the Missionaries in the late 1800s. Cook Islands people have always regarded education as a right and also believed their participation in education would improve their lives as well as positively contribute to economic growth. As the public sector reform was a global phenomenon, the currents of NPM also converged on the Cook Islands and affected the delivery of education. Those changes revolutionalized education in ways that was not commonplace in the Cook Islands. However, professionals and stakeholders within education made the most of the system and diverged some of the practices to suit the need, the environment and the culture of the Cook Islands people. Change also refocused education from teachers teaching to student learning reinforcing the dedication of many teachers and education administrators to ensure NPM served the best interest of their clients; the students, despite the workload placed on them. The challenge in this thesis was to understand how the NPM system affected education and how the Cook Islands education professionals worked within the system in their favour. The stories of teachers and Ministry of Education professionals demonstrated that there was no resistance to the application of NPM system in the Cook Islands. In fact, the system was embraced by the education sector suggesting it was a positive change from their previous system of traditional administration. Much of their system was inherited from New Zealand where the environment, layers of bureaucracy and economic status of the country was different. Instead, it appeared the Cook Islands took much of what others deemed as dangerous for education and turned it into a positive opportunity for the Cook Islands education. This thesis presents the story of the revolution in the Cook Island education system.

Project Thesis (D. Min.)--Denver Seminary, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-277).

The effects of the public sector reform impacted on all aspects of public services including the performance of the economy. Central to this argument was the re-organization of the operations of the public service from the traditional administration system to the new public management (NPM). Education, a critical service in any economy was not spared. Literatures around the application of NPM (a derivative of market principles and practices) to education (which was value based) suggested that NPM was dangerous for education and could deplete the value system of education and replace that with a focus on accounting for money by individuals who were self-interested and who would seek to maximize their benefit with guile. Arguments against NPM suggested that the human factor was neglected and that education had led to chaos among professionals, stakeholders and students. However, those who argued for the introduction of NPM suggested that it had made the provision of education more efficient, effective and relevant to the needs to the clients. It held those working in the education sector accountable for the resources used and made the system more responsive to the needs of the clients of education. Education in the Cook Islands experienced many changes since western type education was introduced by the Missionaries in the late 1800s. Cook Islands people have always regarded education as a right and also believed their participation in education would improve their lives as well as positively contribute to economic growth. As the public sector reform was a global phenomenon, the currents of NPM also converged on the Cook Islands and affected the delivery of education. Those changes revolutionalized education in ways that was not commonplace in the Cook Islands. However, professionals and stakeholders within education made the most of the system and diverged some of the practices to suit the need, the environment and the culture of the Cook Islands people. Change also refocused education from teachers teaching to student learning reinforcing the dedication of many teachers and education administrators to ensure NPM served the best interest of their clients; the students, despite the workload placed on them. The challenge in this thesis was to understand how the NPM system affected education and how the Cook Islands education professionals worked within the system in their favour. The stories of teachers and Ministry of Education professionals demonstrated that there was no resistance to the application of NPM system in the Cook Islands. In fact, the system was embraced by the education sector suggesting it was a positive change from their previous system of traditional administration. Much of their system was inherited from New Zealand where the environment, layers of bureaucracy and economic status of the country was different. Instead, it appeared the Cook Islands took much of what others deemed as dangerous for education and turned it into a positive opportunity for the Cook Islands education. This thesis presents the story of the revolution in the Cook Island education system.

Project Thesis (D. Min.)--Denver Seminary, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-277).

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / Research on stress has indicated that people in the helping professions dealing with people, especially those in the teaching profession, are particularly prone to emotional distress. However, information regarding the stress-related emotions specifically experienced by academic lecturers at institutions of Further Education and Training is not abundant. University teaching has traditionally been conceived of as a relatively stress-free occupation, or at least has been seen in this way by outsiders. Nevertheless, there is overwhelming evidence attesting to the fact that academia is a highly stressful occupation.The contemporary academic context in South Africa is characterised by changes such as the incorporation of colleges and the merging of universities and technikons, now referred to as universities of technology. Consequences such as financial predicaments, insecurity of employees, short-term contract positions, fewer fringe benefits, increasing emotional disturbance and stress, are unavoidable. Although they are not highly paid in comparison to professionals in the commercial sector, academics have been envied for their tenure, light workloads, flexibility and freedom to pursue their own research.Concerns about academic stress have been articulated over the past three decades. Research conducted in the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), Australia and New Zealand has identified several key stressors commonly associated with stress among academic staff. These include work overload, time constraints, lack of promotion opportunities, inadequate recognition, inadequate salary, changing job role, inadequate management and/or participation in management, inadequate resources and funding and student interactions. Other sources of stress, such as high self-expectations, poor interactions with colleagues, inequality in the system and lack of regular performance feedback have been highlighted in a few studies. Although some studies found high levels of stress relating to work relationships, control, resources and communication and job insecurity, excessive overload and work-life imbalance are among the most frequently reported stressors by academics. Since academics do not represent an homogeneous group of professionals, it is considered inappropriate to examine academic stress without taking all their professional and personal characteristics into account. Research has shown that workload, inadequate salaries and a lack of public recognition were perceived as more significant sources of pressure by men than by women, whilst job insecurity, isolation from colleagues, a lack of institutional recognition of worth and work politics were more salient for women. Since academia is still largely a male dominated occupation, female academics may experience more stressors and strains than their male counterparts due to a lack of role models, less socialisation from women from their own rank, gender stereotypes and increased role conflict as they endeavour to balance roles at work and at home. Researchers have also noted the importance of age-based differences, and conventionally believe that stress universally declines with chronological age.Data was collected through a biographical questionnaire and the Experience of Work and Life Circumstances Questionnaire (WLQ). A convenience sample of lecturers in an FET College (n=150) completed the questionnaires, which were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20. Statistical procedures for data analysis include: T-Test, Multiple Regression Analysis and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).The results in the current research reveal that there are statistically significant differences in stress levels of academic staff at the FET college based on gender, age, race, marital status and tenure. Based on the responses obtained, 35.33% of the variance in total stress could be explained by Organisational functioning, Task aspects, Salary, benefits and personnel policies, Extra-organisational factors and Career aspects, and suggest that other unexplored variables could explain the variance in stress levels experienced by academics at the FET college.

Orientador: Newton Duarte / Banca: Dermeval Saviani / Banca: Ana Maria Lombardi Daibem / Banca: Juliana Campregher Pasqualini / Banca: Lígia Márcia Martins / Banca: Nadia Mara Edit / Resumo: O Estado de São Paulo é o principal centro mercantil, corporativo e financeiro brasileiro. A Secretaria de Estado da Educação de São Paulo (SEE) administra mais de 200 mil professores, quatro milhões de alunos e cinco mil escolas. Diante desses números, verifica-se a importância de se desvelar a política educacional na rede estadual de ensino de São Paulo. Nossa tese central é que o construtivismo, implantado pela Secretaria de Estado da Educação de São Paulo em 1983, é elemento estratégico de sua política educacional e tem implicações decisivas para a baixa qualidade da educação destinada aos estudantes da rede de ensino paulista. O objeto da pesquisa é, portanto, a concepção pedagógica construtivista e sua tradução nos documentos oficiais da Secretaria de Estado da Educação de São Paulo. O objetivo deste trabalho é examinar, à luz da pedagogia histórico-crítica, a relação entre o construtivismo como referencial pedagógico e a política educacional do Estado de São Paulo dos governos de André Franco Montoro, Orestes Quércia, Luiz Antônio Fleury Filho, Mário Covas Júnior, Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho e José Serra, situando o contexto de produção e implantação dos programas e documentos da SEE, em especial aqueles publicados pela Coordenadoria de Estudos e Normas Pedagógicas (CENP) e Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da Educação (FDE), relativos ao Ciclo I do ensino fundamental no período de 1983 a 2008. O método de coleta e análise dos dados desse trabalho é o método materialista histórico-dialético, que se fundamenta nos pilares da contraditoriedade, totalidade e historicidade. Nossas conclusões remetem à constatação de que o construtivismo, como filiado ao neoliberalismo e ao pós-modernismo, tem sido adotado hegemonicamente por se adequar aos interesses da classe dominante em ofuscar uma verdadeira formação... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The state of São Paulo is the main trading, corporate and financial center of Brazil. The Ministry of Education of São Paulo (SEE) manages more than 200 000 teachers, four million students and five thousand schools. Given these numbers, it appears to reveal the importance of political education in state schools of São Paulo. Our central thesis is that constructivism, implemented by the Ministry of Education of São Paulo in 1983, is a strategical element of its educational policy and has decisive implications for the low quality of education for students of São Paulo. The object of this research is therefore the constructivist pedagogical concept and its conversion in the official documents of the Ministry of Education of São Paulo. The aim of this work is to examine, in the light of historical-critical pedagogy, the relation between constructivism as a pedagogical framework and the educational policy of the state governments of Sao Paulo namely André Franco Montoro, Orestes Quercia, Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho, Mário Covas Júnior Geraldo Jose Rodrigues Alckmin Filho and Jose Serra, setting in the context of production and implementation of programs and documents from the SEE, especially those published by the Department of Studies and Pedagogical Standards (CENP) and Foundation for the Development of Education (FDE) for the first cycle of basic education in the period 1983 to 2008. The method of data collection and analysis of this work is the historical dialectical materialism method, which relies on the concepts of contradiction, totality and historicity. Our conclusions refer to the fact that constructivism as affiliated to neoliberalism and postmodernism has been adopted for the adjustment to the hegemonic interests of the dominant class obscuring true emancipator education by highlighting assumptions which undermine the possibilities of schooling as an actual contributor to overcome the capitalist society / Doutor

Orientador: Maria Lúcia de Oliveira / Banca: Paulo Sérgio Emerique / Banca: Walter José Martins Migliorini / Banca: Cássia Regina Rodrigues Varga / Banca: Olga Ceciliato Mattioli / Resumo: Desde a criação das instituições para educação da primeira infância no Brasil, atualmente conhecidas como instituições de educação infantil, o debate sobre educação e cuidado se apresenta. A história desta instituição mostra que o assistencialismo marcou o atendimento à infância pobre, prioritariamente nas creches, em oposição às práticas educativas que sustentaram o trabalho em jardins-de-infância. Buscando superar esta fragmentação na atualidade, a literatura e as pesquisas acadêmicas se posicionam pela necessária integração entre educação e cuidado na educação infantil. Embora represente um avanço o reconhecimento da educação infantil como uma etapa educativa e um direito, compreende-se que as políticas educacionais cada vez mais estão-se fundamentando em vertentes prescritivas, caracterizando assim, propostas diretivas. Somado a isso, há na educação infantil uma concepção de educação sustentada na eficácia científica e na racionalidade, desconsiderando, com isto, a operatividade do inconsciente nas relações humanas e no processo educativo. Como pressuposto, considera-se que a educação e o cuidado são processos complexos que não se fazem descolados da operatividade da vida psíquica. Parte-se também do valor do cuidado no processo de constituição do sujeito. Tomando o percurso histórico e político de institucionalização da educação infantil brasileira, questiona-se o modo como os atuais documentos do governo federal, para a área da educação infantil, contemplam a educação e o cuidado. Esta pesquisa fundamenta-se no seguinte questionamento: De que modo a educação e o cuidado são abordados e concebidos nos atuais documentos do Ministério da Educação para a área de educação infantil? Tem-se como objetivo investigar o modo como a educação e o cuidado são abordados e concebidos nos principais e atuais... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Since the creation of institutions for early childhood education in Brazil, currently known as early childhood education institutions, the debate on education and care is presented. The history of this institution shows that the assistance marked the service to poor children, primarily in the nursery, as opposed to educational practices that supported the work in day-care children. In order to overcome this fragmentation in the news, literature and academic research pose themselves for the necessary integration of education with care in early childhood education. Although it represents an advance, the recognition of early childhood education as a stage of education and a law, it is understood that education policies are increasingly basing it on prescriptive aspects, characterizing proposed policies. Added to this, early childhood education is a vision of education supported the efficacy and scientific rationality, ignoring, thus, the operability of the unconscious in human relations and the educational process. As assumption, it is considered that the education and care are complex processes that are not taken off the operability of psychic. Part of it is also the value of care in the process of subjectivity. Taking the historical background and political institutionalization of early childhood education in Brazil, wonders how the current federal government documents, to the area of early childhood education, include the education and care. This research is based on the following question: How do the education and care are discussed and designed in the current documents of the Ministry of Education for the area of early childhood education? It has been investigated how the education and care are discussed and designed in the main current and documents published by the Ministry of Education for children's education. An inquiry was held on the concepts of education and care... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Abstract In New Zealand's compulsory education sector quality assurance is undertaken by the Education Review Office (ERO). When a school is found to be less effective than is acceptable through the triennial review process, ERO may return to review that school within six or twelve months. This Supplementary Review is identified to the Ministry of Education (MOE) which has several levels of intervention at its disposal which can be employed singularly or in concert to improve the school. Despite the support and interventions funded and/or managed by MOE, some schools have consecutive Supplementary Reviews and some remain under Statutory Intervention for several years. Commonalities among these schools that repeatedly or consistently present as 'at risk' may indicate a need for greater or different support or intervention. Self managing schools, while effective for many schools, may not be a workable and sustainable proposition for others. This may well be particularly true for those schools identified as 'at risk'. This paper considers ERO's process to identify schools 'at risk' and subsequent interventions employed by MOE to support the Principal and Board of Trustees in addressing improvements required within the school. Statistics and document analysis were used to extract data from documents with findings presented as a series of tables. It seeks a match between what is identified by ERO and the Statutory Intervention engaged by MOE. It explores the commonalities of schools under Statutory Intervention and on Supplementary Review. Practice in other countries is also considered in an effort to understand and contextualise the ideas and beliefs that support these approaches. While there is evidence ERO identifies teacher and Principal performance as major areas of concern, lead issues for Statutory Interventions in the same schools focus on the performance of the Board of Trustees as those with the responsibility of governing the school. The focus on governance to improve school performance is not working for some schools, more or different support may be necessary to effect positive change. The balance between capacity building, incentives and accountability for all involved in schools with Statutory Interventions, appears necessary for those with the capacity to improve.

This study explores the effectiveness of the out-country training programs, undertaken by the Ministry of Education personnel in Bhutan, between the period 1999 and 2003. The particular emphasis is on the Transfer of Learning. The transfer literature shows that there are several factors affecting the transfer process (Baldwin & Ford, 1988; Cheng & Ho, 2001). They range from trainees� personal characteristics through training design to organisational support. The transfer process is also said to differ according to the types of organisations, types of training, and duration of training (Holton et al., 2003). While some factors can be influenced by the organisation, some may be beyond the control of the organisation. Therefore, transfer evaluation should focus on those parts of the transfer system that the organisation can influence (Noe, 2000). Baldwin and Ford�s (1988) theoretical framework was adapted to help answer the research questions. This framework is based on the concept that the transfer of learning is governed by several pre-conditions viz. pre-training motivation, training design and work environment factors. These three pre-conditions consist of several factors, and have been placed under three stages of the training process: pre-training, training and post-training. Through the perspectives of trainees and their supervisors, this research can look back into all the three stages of the transfer system and identify what parts of the transfer system need intervention (Holton et al., 2003). Both quantitative data and qualitative data have been used. Quantitative data were collected using a trainee survey questionnaire, and the qualitative data were gathered using trainee in-depth personal interview and supervisor structured interview. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive normative figures, means, percentages, tables and graphs. The Software Product for Social Studies (SPSS) has been used to generate the descriptive figures, means and percentages. On the other hand, dominant themes of the qualitative data have been extracted and grouped in rank order. The training process was split into three main stages, pre-training, training and post-training, in order to assess the effectiveness of the whole training process through self-reported data. The questions were geared towards ascertaining the trainees� motivational level prior to training, quality of training and work environment factors that have affected the process of transfer. Overall, the trainees participated in their training with a good level of pre-training motivation. However, trainees� attitude towards their training changed once they experienced the training. For example, the level of perceived ability to transfer learning to workplaces by the trainees in the academic category reduced after they experienced the training. Perceived utility of the training differed between job utility and career utility. While trainees in all the categories foresaw job utility of their training to be positive, a few trainees in the technical category did not foresee career utility of their training. There are several direct and indirect factors that affected the transfer process. The direct factors include excessive workload, inadequate requisite materials and mismatch of jobs and skills after training. On the other hand, the indirect factors range from lack of clearly laid training objectives to lack of monitoring and evaluation after training. The lack of these main elements in HR system limited opportunities for trainees and their supervisors to ensure transfer of learning acquired from training. On the whole, the out-country training programs were effective. However, there is a great scope for optimising the benefits of out-country training programs and enhancing the rate of transfer. The Ministry of Education needs to streamline and strengthen its HRD system, particularly in terms of clearly identifying training objectives and pursuing monitoring and evaluation after the training.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-152).