Early adolescent girls in a private school setting are in a vulnerable state on account of their gender, transitional developmental phase and a combined array of modern-day expectations and challenges. With many private schools expecting a 100% pass rate from their students, issues of competitiveness and achievement pressure may become prevalent. Research has shown that early adolescent girls are more susceptible to psychosocial problems than boys as well as girls of other ages, putting them more at risk of the effects of performance pressure, academic stress, depression and anxiety. Early adolescent girls’ vulnerability due to the impact that puberty has on their self-esteem as well as the fact that they are easily influenced by the opinions of others, causing them to be highly sensitive to the approval of others, may be compounded by pressures of the private school. The purpose and aim of this study was therefore to explore and describe the lived experiences of early adolescent girls in a private school setting so as to gain a deeper understanding of such experiences. In following this it was hoped that the study would offer the girls a ‘voice’ as well as create awareness of how they can be better supported in terms of their psychosocial development and well-being. The study was not viewed from one specific theoretical perspective but rather took into consideration various theories of development while undertaking the literature review, in order to gain a broader orientation of the subject at hand. The current literature with regard to the key concepts of the study formed part of the overview of the study. A qualitative approach was followed so as to understand the unique, true meaning of the girls’ experiences. A case study design allowed for a holistic, in-depth study of the social phenomenon at hand. The participants were ten early adolescent girls in Grade 7 in a private school in Northern Johannesburg who volunteered to take part in the study with the informed consent of their parents. The data obtained were viewed in line with an interpretive descriptive paradigm, which allowed the phenomenon to be studied through a ‘subjective lens’ while allowing for the formation of various realities. A deeper understanding of such realities in terms of the girls’ interpretations of their lived experiences was obtained through the data collection methods of semi-structured in-depth interviews, collages, confidential letters, journal Psychosocial experiences of early adolescent girls in a private school setting entries, field notes and researcher reflective notes. In combination with the researcher’s interpretation, this led to a richer, co-constructed, description of the girls’ experiences. The interpretive description allowed for the emergence of thematic patterns which revealed the findings of the study. The findings confirm that the girls are experiencing pressure to attain and maintain the high standard of the school. The findings further confirm that such pressures are increased by the early adolescent girls’ vulnerable developmental phase which places them in need of greater positive support from teachers, peers and parents to maintain healthy psychosocial development. The findings show that perceived rejection from peers and teachers has a negative effect on the girls’ self-concept. The findings further reveal that in considering the girls’ well-being they should be given a voice and be respected in their authentic uniqueness. Recommendations were made for the school to investigate the establishment of ‘mindfulness workshops’ to be run at the school, with the outcome that parents, teachers and students further develop skills in ways of supporting the girls’ healthy psychosocial development. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

RETENTION OF ACCOMPLISHED VETERAN SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS by Russell Brett Hardin Almost 30 percent of new teachers flee the profession after just three years, and more than 40 percent leave after 5 years (Allen, 2005). Studies conducted by Borman and Dowling (2008), Guarino et al. (2006) and Ingersoll and Smith (2003) indicate that teacher attrition rates are also high in the later years of teaching careers. While these rates of attrition reflect both public and private school teachers, numerous studies have found that private schools see higher attrition rates, potentially damaging an independent school’s ability to fulfill its stated mission (Ingersoll, 2002; O’Keefe, 2001; Provasnik & Dorfman, 2005). While research exists about teacher attrition and retention issues in the early years (Borman & Dowling, 2008), limited research exists about the factors that impact retention of veteran teachers. The purpose of this study is to examine a specific school context in which many successful, veteran, social studies teachers have remained in the same school setting while teaching the same age groups and to determine why those teachers have returned to their classrooms each year. The focus of this study is: What are the factors that keep veteran social studies teachers engaged and excited about teaching and learning? To examine why veteran teachers have stayed in a specific school context teaching the same age groups, I used interviews, informal conversations, and document analysis to build narratives that reflect on the career paths of six teachers. Each of the six teachers who participated in this study taught at the same institution for over 15 years and has at least 20 years as a full-time instructor in the classroom. The qualitative research methodology of grounded theory provided the most appropriate guidelines and tools to examine this group of veteran teachers. The results of this study indicate that to retain veteran teachers, schools may want to consider providing teachers with substantial autonomy over curricula and actively support teachers in discerning and pursuing their own goals for professional development. Schools that are able to build a learning rich environment for their veteran teachers may be more likely to retain an engaged and successful faculty.

Esta tese de doutorado apresenta os resultados da investigação realizada com jovens estudantes do ensino médio em uma escola particular localizada no distrito do Jabaquara, no município de São Paulo. Seu foco foi especialmente direcionado para as disposições de gênero acionadas por jovens alunas em diferentes episódios que envolviam violências, tanto nos relatos sobre sua socialização na família quanto na escola em questão. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de caráter exploratório, de natureza qualitativa que procura articular as contribuições de Pierre Bourdieu, no que se refere à teoria de habitus, com os estudos de gênero para a análise das violências vividas e produzidas na instituição escolar. A investigação empírica realizada na instituição escolar utilizou como técnicas para a coleta de dados observações e entrevistas individuais com alunas, alunos e representantes da gestão escolar. Foram consideradas, tanto nas observações quanto nos relatos, as distintas estratégias de sociabilidade utilizadas por garotas e garotos em relação às diversas expressões da violência, com destaque para a estreita relação entre as socializações e as disposições de gênero. Os resultados obtidos evidenciam que as socializações na família e na escola (dentre outras agências socializadoras), são responsáveis pela incorporação das disposições de gênero utilizadas pelas/os jovens, tendo na traição um episódio típico tanto de reprodução de padrões tradicionais de gênero quanto de superação dos mesmos. No caso específico da escola particular pesquisada, os dados revelam que estas socializações encontram-se imbricadas ao modo pelo qual a gestão escolar intervém sobre a indisciplina e sobre os conflitos oriundos das relações escolares ou outros conflitos externos que nelas teriam influência. Como resultado, por fim, conclui-se que a combinação entre incorporação das disposições de gênero, estratégias para lidar com as violências e a prática propositiva e dialogada da gestão escolar, configura disposições de cultura que contribuem para a baixa frequência de conflitos físicos na escola. Mas estes recursos não são suficientes para superar a existência de outras expressões de violências no ambiente escolar ou da reprodução de padrões tradicionais de gênero, como as manifestadas no caso de traição analisado. / This doctoral dissertation presents the results of a research with young high school students in a private school located in Jabaquara district, in the city of São Paulo. It focuses specifically on gender dispositions enlisted by young female students in different situations involving violences, according to their accounts about their family and school socialization. This is an exploratory qualitative research that seeks to articulate Pierre Bourdieus theory ofhabitus with gender studies to analyze violences experienced in school and also the ones created by the school institution itself. As method for data collection, the empirical investigation carried out in a private school employed observations and individual interviews with male and female students, as well as members of the school administration. In both observations and interviews, different sociability strategies used by girls and boys regarding the numerous expressions of violence were considered, with focus on the close relationship between socializations and gender dispositions. The results show that family and school (among other socialization agents), are responsible for the incorporation of the gender dispositions utilized by young people. The cheating incident is a typical episode which reveals simultaneously the reproduction and the superation of traditional gender patterns. In the specific case of the investigated school, data show that these socialization processes are intertwined with the way the school administration intervenes on indiscipline and conflicts that emerge from school relations or other outside conflicts that might influence them. The conclusion is that the combination of incorporation of gender dispositions, strategies for dealing with violences and schools proactive dialogic practices has set up cultural dispositions that contribute to the low occurrence of physical conflicts in school. However, these resources are not efficient enough to inhibit other expressions of violences in the school environment or the reproduction of traditional gender norms, as expressed in the cheating case analyzed in this dissertation.

The applied dissertation was designed to investigate the three models of grade span configurations of sixth grade and the effects grade span configuration has on results of the standardized achievement scores of sixth grade students in private, Florida schools. Studies that have been conducted on sixth grade students and grade span configuration have provided mixed results on the impact of standardized scores. Exploration of the topic that supports the connection is outdated and current research has yet to examine the impact on students who are in private, parochial schools in Florida. The use of data from the TerraNova, Third Edition on grade span configuration has not been evaluated. The correlation between grade span configuration and the results on the sixth grade student standardized achievement scores examines the following three models: kindergarten to sixth grade model (K6), kindergarten to eighth grade model (K8), and the sixth to eighth grade model (6-8, MS). The researcher will use one standardized collection instrument to obtain data in the study and will collect data from Florida schools that administer the TerraNova, Third Edition to sixth grade students in the spring of 2015. Three grade span configuration models will be evaluated by the mean score of sixth grade student performance on the test. Mean scores will be requested by the researcher from the school administrators of private schools in Florida.

The aim of this study is to examine the political debate regarding the private school reform and school segregation and distinguish any eventual associations with criminality by conducting a policy analysis. The background and previous research of the study exhibited an increasing trend in criminality in Sweden concentrated in the socially vulnerable areas which are characterized by a high number of migrants. The private school reform has led to school segregation in which students with similar ethnic backgrounds are aggregated in the same schools causing homogenous groups of students in the schools. State-owned schools are affected poorly by this as the private-owned schools can choose their students and tend to choose the cost-effective students with good grades leaving the other students to the state-owned schools. The theoretical frameworks for the study were: social constructionism, discourse theory, stigmatisation, moral panic, and othering. The study was conducted with Carol Bacchi’s “What’s the problem represented to be?” discourse method which was used on eight parliamentary procedures each authored by the eight political parties in the Swedish parliament. The results of the study showed two main discourses that could be distinguished in the empiricism: safety and equality thus the problem being unsafety and inequality. All the political parties used these concepts with different implications although commonly as an ambition for the school system. Unsafety in the school system was connected to crime, socially vulnerable areas and the students linked to the areas. All the documents, with exception of one, mentioned school segregation as a problem. Many parties argued that criminality was a result of the school system and segregation. The consequences of the results include stigmatisation and othering of the students associated with the socially vulnerable areas and thus causing moral panic amongst the readers.

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O presente trabalho As Estratégias de Escolarização Primária na cidade de Rio Claro São Paulo (1889-1920), busca mapear as organizações escolares na primeira república, procurando analisa-las nas suas múltiplas estratégias de escolarização primária. A partir da lei da obrigatoriedade do ensino (1874), procuramos entender como as cidades do interior paulista se organizaram para atender a esta imposição legal. O recorte temporal (1889 1920) foi escolhido por tratar-se de uma fase de efervescência na república, principalmente na difusão da escola primária, em 1920, a Reforma Sampaio Dória é indicada como marco delimitador para observar como estas estratégias foram sendo forjadas, por se constituir em um projeto que vai redefinir a estrutura educacional paulista do período, diminuindo o tempo de escolarização oficial ampliando o número de alunos atendidos. Ao utilizarmos o recurso da micro-história e observar com uma lente de aumento as particularidades dessa cidade interiorana, foi possível identificar a criação dos grupos escolares, a expansão das escolas isoladas, as iniciativas particulares implementadas e os sujeitos que circularam nesses espaços. Desta forma, ficou evidente que a escolarização primária nas cidades do interior não estava centrada nos grupos escolares. Os municípios tiveram um papel importante no processo de escolarização e a as escolas isoladas, sejam estas municipais ou estaduais, assim como a iniciativa particular foram fundamentais para atender a população que estava nos locais mais distantes do centro urbano. Reconhecer o papel das organizações civis imigrantes, negros, operários etc e suas reivindicações educacionais, possibilitou discutir a escolarização em sentido mais amplo. Assim, foi possível encontrar uma multiplicidade de estratégias de escolarização primária em Rio Claro, abrindo novas perspectivas de estudos. / This paper \"Strategies for Primary Schooling in the city of Rio Claro - São Paulo (1889-1920)\", seeks to map the school organizations in the first republic, looking analyzes them in its multiple strategies for primary schooling. After of the law of compulsory education (1874), we seek to understand how the cities inside state of São Paulo organized to meet this statutory requirement. The time frame (1889 - 1920) was chosen because it is a phase of effervescence in the republic, mainly in the difusion of primary school in 1920, the reform of Sampaio Dória is indicated as the delimiter sign for observe how these strategies were being forged, for to be a project that will redefine the educational of São Paulo structure in the period, shortening the time of schooling and increasing the number of students served. By using the feature of the micro-history and observing with a magnifying glass the particularities of this town of inside, was possible to identify creation the school groups, the expansion of individual schools, private initiatives implemented and the subjects that circulated in these spaces. Thus, it became evident that the primary education in the inner cities was not centered in the group schooler. Municipalities had an important role in the schooling process and individual schools, of the state, local or the private initiatives, were essential to meet the people that were most distant from the urban center. Recognize the role of civil organizations - immigrants, blacks, workers etc. - and their educational demands, allowed discuss the schooling with the broadest sense. Thus, it was possible to find a multitude of strategies primary enrollment in Rio Claro, opening new studies perspectives.

O presente trabalho As Estratégias de Escolarização Primária na cidade de Rio Claro São Paulo (1889-1920), busca mapear as organizações escolares na primeira república, procurando analisa-las nas suas múltiplas estratégias de escolarização primária. A partir da lei da obrigatoriedade do ensino (1874), procuramos entender como as cidades do interior paulista se organizaram para atender a esta imposição legal. O recorte temporal (1889 1920) foi escolhido por tratar-se de uma fase de efervescência na república, principalmente na difusão da escola primária, em 1920, a Reforma Sampaio Dória é indicada como marco delimitador para observar como estas estratégias foram sendo forjadas, por se constituir em um projeto que vai redefinir a estrutura educacional paulista do período, diminuindo o tempo de escolarização oficial ampliando o número de alunos atendidos. Ao utilizarmos o recurso da micro-história e observar com uma lente de aumento as particularidades dessa cidade interiorana, foi possível identificar a criação dos grupos escolares, a expansão das escolas isoladas, as iniciativas particulares implementadas e os sujeitos que circularam nesses espaços. Desta forma, ficou evidente que a escolarização primária nas cidades do interior não estava centrada nos grupos escolares. Os municípios tiveram um papel importante no processo de escolarização e a as escolas isoladas, sejam estas municipais ou estaduais, assim como a iniciativa particular foram fundamentais para atender a população que estava nos locais mais distantes do centro urbano. Reconhecer o papel das organizações civis imigrantes, negros, operários etc e suas reivindicações educacionais, possibilitou discutir a escolarização em sentido mais amplo. Assim, foi possível encontrar uma multiplicidade de estratégias de escolarização primária em Rio Claro, abrindo novas perspectivas de estudos. / This paper \"Strategies for Primary Schooling in the city of Rio Claro - São Paulo (1889-1920)\", seeks to map the school organizations in the first republic, looking analyzes them in its multiple strategies for primary schooling. After of the law of compulsory education (1874), we seek to understand how the cities inside state of São Paulo organized to meet this statutory requirement. The time frame (1889 - 1920) was chosen because it is a phase of effervescence in the republic, mainly in the difusion of primary school in 1920, the reform of Sampaio Dória is indicated as the delimiter sign for observe how these strategies were being forged, for to be a project that will redefine the educational of São Paulo structure in the period, shortening the time of schooling and increasing the number of students served. By using the feature of the micro-history and observing with a magnifying glass the particularities of this town of inside, was possible to identify creation the school groups, the expansion of individual schools, private initiatives implemented and the subjects that circulated in these spaces. Thus, it became evident that the primary education in the inner cities was not centered in the group schooler. Municipalities had an important role in the schooling process and individual schools, of the state, local or the private initiatives, were essential to meet the people that were most distant from the urban center. Recognize the role of civil organizations - immigrants, blacks, workers etc. - and their educational demands, allowed discuss the schooling with the broadest sense. Thus, it was possible to find a multitude of strategies primary enrollment in Rio Claro, opening new studies perspectives.