Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Doctor in Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies in the Faculty of education at the University of Zululand, 2018. / In an effort to understand why there is a general outcry about the poor quality of teachers who are produced by many institutions of higher learning, despite the practice teaching which is highly emphasised and offered to all pre-service teachers who intend to become teachers; this study sought to evaluate the pre-service teachers’ readiness to teach. The expectation in education is that pre-service teachers should complete their studies having been adequately prepared to teach. On the contrary, most of them exit the programme underequipped to teach. Within the qualitative methodology, a case study of a South African University was used. Sixteen third year B.Ed. pre-service teachers who were placed in uMkhanyakude and King Cetshwayo districts were purposively selected and observed during their practice teaching period. They were also interviewed and documents which consisted of their files as well as university supervisors’ reports were analysed after practice teaching. Furthermore, sixteen subject mentors were interviewed because they spend adequate time with the pre-service teachers in schools during practice teaching session. The findings revealed, among others, that although the pre-service teachers displayed appropriate professionalism in schools, most of them lacked content knowledge as well as pedagogical skills. However, subject mentors portrayed them as being outstanding in content and pedagogy. Another finding was that the pre-service teachers did not have adequate competence on lesson presentation and development. They also lacked confidence in maintaining order in their classrooms. Because of the above mentioned findings, this study therefore suggests, among other things, the need for the institution of higher learning to revisit the curriculum of pre-service teachers and involve the partner schools during the redesigning of pre-service teachers’ curriculum to strengthen the confidence of both pre-service teachers and subject mentors. It also posits that pre-service teachers should be provided with sufficient teaching practice session in order to be well equipped with all activities that are rendered in schools from the beginning to the end of the school period.

This semi-structured interview study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of Filipino pre-service teachers’ perceptions of sexuality education. It also aimed to study how the pre-service teachers’ perceptions related to international recommendations on sexuality education and the theoretical perspectives of gender and power and Freiran theory that these draw on. Main findings included that the pre-service teachers critically reflected on own experiences of sexuality education and did not intend to repeat the education they received to future students. Furthermore, they expressed problem-focused perceptions of sexuality education content but positive approaches to the subject in general, and were hopeful of positive sexual health outcomes in the Philippines. Objections from the Catholic Church and parents to future students were perceived as the biggest challenges to the implementation of sexuality education. More information to, and collaboration with, parents regarding sexuality education were suggested as means to face resistance in the Philippine society. The pre-service teachers’ perceptions agreed with international recommendations on sexuality education to some extent, but results showed contradicting opinions regarding gender equality and sexual diversity. This point to a conclusion that the pre-service teachers need extended and improved teacher training on sexuality education, that develop their knowledge and allow them to critically reflect on norms in their society.

The objective of this thesis was to investigate pre-service teachers and student misconceptions of the equal sign, and then offer suggestions to pre-service teachers, teachers, university programs, and schools to prevent common misconceptions from occurring in classrooms. Some students do not realize the equal sign can have two different functions, operational and relational. There are several different reasons for this misconception, beginning with the lack of defining what the equal sign is and what it means in the classroom. In the first study, eighteen participants were interviewed to explain their responses when evaluating student work to gain an in-depth knowledge of pre-service teachers' perceptions of the equal sign and their ability to evaluate a students' response to a specific math task. Results showed that pre-service teachers have a better understanding of the equal sign and may be ready to teach the equal sign as a relationship between numbers. Furthermore, pre-service teachers would benefit greatly from evaluating students' work and looking for common misperceptions that students may have. In the second study, six fifth grade classes were studied to determine if there was a positive relationship for teaching atypical type equivalence statements to students and performing better on equivalence questions. Three classes from Spring 2011, were administered a test; two of the test items were used to analyze their understanding of the equal sign. In Fall 2011, another three fifth grade classes participated in lessons, which required students to analyze atypical type equivalence statements, and then they were given the same two test items. Results from this study supported the use of atypical type equivalence statements because more students in the experimental group correctly responded to the two items and were also able to justify their responses with work that exemplified good understanding of the equal sign as being a relationship. Both of these studies support increasing student and pre-service teachers understanding of the equal sign and the misconceptions students have regarding the equal sign. University programs and schools should utilize these results to require preservice teachers and teachers to evaluate student work to identify common misconceptions and teach the equal sign as a relationship between both sides and not as an operation.

The study focused on the challenges pre-service teachers face while learning to teach Accounting in the context of mentoring at a University of Technology. The major purpose was to investigate the kinds of challenges pre-service teachers face in teaching Accounting and how their respective school-based mentors respond to these challenges. It is vital to understand these challenges while learning to teach Accounting before a mentor can respond to them. This study was located within an interpretivist paradigm. The interpretivist researcher is keen to address social issues in and through their research. To position this study within the context of learning while teaching within a context of mentoring, I utilized case study research methodology. The main purpose of utilizing case study methodology was to develop a deep understanding of the challenges pre-service teachers face while learning to teach Accounting and the nature of mentoring. The voices and experiences of the respondents were used to explore and understand the reality embedded in the mentoring of pre-service teachers during teaching practice. The research sites included six schools located in the Cape Metropole, Western Cape, South Africa. I used purposive sampling to select the participants for my study. I focused on Accounting as a ‘vehicle’ to guide my choice of sampling to explore how pre-service teachers learn while teaching Accounting. The sample of this study consisted of six pre-service teachers learning to teach Accounting in the fourth year B Ed:FET programme and their respective school-based Accounting mentors. The main reason for using the fourth year preservice teachers was that in their final year of study they spend six months at a school to work alongside a school-based mentor. This time period gave the researcher sufficient time to explore challenges and how the school-based mentors respond to them. The research methods used in this study were reflection journals, unstructured interviews, focus group interviews and fieldnotes. Reflective journals can provide the teacher educator with a valuable tool showing how pre-service teachers perceive and experience teaching practice while learning to teach (Mills, 2007:69). The pre-service teachers were requested to complete entries in a reflection journal on a weekly basis, to write on their experiences while learning to teach Accounting and to describe the nature of their school-based mentors’ support. The purpose of the unstructured interview with the pre-service teachers was to gain a better understanding of their challenges while learning to teach Accounting and their interaction with their mentors, if the information in their reflection journals were unclear. Unstructured interviews were conducted with the Accounting school-based mentors to ascertain the preservice teachers’ performance while learning to teach Accounting, and to gain perspective of the Accounting mentor’s role as mentor. Two focus group interviews were conducted with the pre-service teachers to corroborate the challenges the pre-service teachers experience while learning to teach Accounting. A total of 96 reflection journal entries were collected from the pre-service teachers, 18 unstructured interviews were conducted with the pre-service teachers, 12 unstructured interviews were conducted with the school-based mentors and 2 focus group interviews were conducted. Data revealed that despite mentoring having the potential to enhance the preparation of preservice teachers, it does not always yield positive results. It also became clear in the data that the nature of the Accounting discipline requires a different type of mentoring as opposed to other disciplines. Hence a ‘one size fits all’ mentoring institutional policy does not yield the desired results of mentoring pre-service teachers in the B Ed:FET programme. Findings from this study suggest that the university must play a greater role in developing mentorship programmes to support pre-service teachers learning to teach during teaching practice, especially for Accounting pre-service teachers.

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study involves a group of pre-service teachers who are specialising in Science and Mathematics education at a university in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The aim of the study was to investigate perceptions about the earth in space held by the pre-service natural science teachers. A related aim was to create awareness among the prospective teachers about various views that people hold about the earth as against the scientifically valid view (Govender, 2009, Plummer & Zahm, 2010, Schneps & Sadler, 1989). To determine and improve the prospective teachers’ perceptions and awareness about the significance of the earth in space the study adopted the dialogical argumentation model (DAIM) and spatial modelling as a theoretical framework (Ogunniyi, 2013). Further, the study used pre- and post-test data based on the responses of the pre-service teachers to questionnaires, focus group interviews and reflective diaries. The data set was analysed using a mixed methods approach (qualitative and quantitative). Results from the study show that most the pre-service teachers involved in the study hold both scientific and alternative conceptions about the earth in space. However, they seem to suppress the latter because they believe them to be unscientific. In addition they believe that their role is to impart scientific knowledge to learners. As has been revealed in a number of studies, some of the prospective teachers did not have much background in geography.

Today's students are incessantly "plugged in" to media such as film, television, and the Internet. Despite media's starring role, youth in the U.S. are not necessarily experts in critically viewing media nor is media literacy a standard part of the curriculum. Some advocates propose extending the definition of "literacy" beyond simply reading and writing (see Eisner, 1991; Friere & Macedo, 1987; Hobbs, 1997; Messaris, 1997; Reinking, 1998). However, the current lack of U.S. recognition of "media literacy" in education opens the possibility that pre-service teachers graduate from teacher preparation programs without the competencies or disposition to integrate media into the classroom. The purpose of this study was to describe and to understand more fully the rationale that a secondary pre-service teacher uses to plan and implement "media" during his/her student teaching experience. To better understand this, I studied how pre-service teachers define and conceptualize media, as well as the reasons that influence their teaching decisions regarding inclusion or exclusion of media in support of their teaching. Two pre-service teachers at the same high school, in different content areas (one in English; one in social studies), from the same university teacher preparation program, were the participants. This case study drew from and contributes to the literature in three areas: (a) "media education," (b) "pre-service teachers" and (c) "secondary teacher education" literature. Data collection consisted of 6 structured interviews, 13 observations, and extensive document review. Data were then processed through constant comparative analysis. Findings describe more fully this particular case, investigating the pre-service teachers' past experiences with media and present media utilization in the classroom. Two threads of discussion were provided. First, the participants' definitions of media and selection of media were largely based on media preferences and usage in their personal lives. Second, media, itself, was primarily described as a means to entertain and to engage students, not necessarily as a way to effectively reach the content learning objectives or for purposes of media literacy. Media was perceived as a useful tool by the pre-service teachers as they continued to develop pedagogical content knowledge as beginning teachers. Finally, personal and professional recommendations were drawn from the findings. / Ph. D.

Thesis advisor: Curt Dudley-Marling / Federal legislation now requires that all children participate in large-scale, statewide assessments in English in an effort to increase accountability and bolster student achievement (Abedi, Hofstetter, & Lord, 2004; Hass, 2002). Students labeled as "English language learners" (ELLs) consistently score dramatically lower on English language and literacy assessments than their native speaking peers (Au & Raphael, 2000; National Center for Educational Statistics, 2011). Additionally, most mainstream teachers are not adequately prepared to meet the linguistic challenges that ELLs face in classroom settings (Lucas & Villegas, 2011). Reading aloud to bilingual students, specifically using components of a shared reading model (Holdaway, 1979), potentially provides an avenue for meaningful language and literacy development. While a corpus of research exists about reading aloud with English-speaking students, there has been limited research on its use with bilingual students in classroom settings. Drawing on a sociocultural theoretical framework (Gee, 1996; Vygotsky, 1978), the Output Hypothesis of second language acquisition (Swain, 1985), ethnographic perspectives (Heath & Street, 2008), action research (Stringer, 1999) and discourse analysis (Bloome et al., 2008), this qualitative study examined the practice of four pre-service elementary teachers reading aloud English texts (fiction, expository, and poetry) to small groups of bilingual students across four grade levels. The research was conducted to study pre-service teachers' language and literacy teaching practices and pre-service teacher-bilingual student interaction patterns in read aloud contexts to better understand their potential for bilingual student language and literacy learning. Additionally, the study provided beginning teachers with professional development geared towards helping pre-service teachers to meet the unique language and literacy needs of bilingual students. It was found that pre-service teachers consistently strived to develop students' word knowledge and support text comprehension. In doing so, teachers utilized a variety of teaching practices and linguistic patterns of interaction during read alouds which varied across teachers. The argument is made that these various teacher moves and discourse patterns led to qualitatively different types of interactions and affordances for bilingual student learning. Implications for mainstream classroom teachers and teacher education programs are provided. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The purpose of this study was to explore and represent students leadership understandings that emerged from discussions of their past and current leadership experiences in everyday life, their school experiences, and their college level contexts.<p>In this study I used a multiple method (QUAL + QUAL) research design and the data were analyzed within principles of grounded theory drawn from Strauss and Corbins (1998) grounded theory approach. Individual and focus group interviews were the main data collection methods used in this study: individual interviews with fifteen undergraduate education students and six focus group sessions (held in succession) generated the data. <p>As the leadership understandings held by the students unfolded, four broad themes became prominent. The first theme, the ubiquity of relationships, emerged from the students discussions of collaboration, context, power, and vision. Highlighted in these conversations was their perspective that, with respect to leadership, relationships are everything. The second theme included the students understanding that self-esteem and self-actualization were important aspects of effective and energizing leadership. Third, and perhaps more informative, was the manner in which the students articulated their leadership understandings. One of the biggest findings to come out of the study was the students tendency to speak in dualities in order to process, conceptualize, and articulate their leadership understandings. Additionally, the students sensemaking reflected the important role language and framing played in articulating their leadership understandings. Their perspective that small things (positive and negative) had momentum and led to ramifications emerged as the fourth broad theme. In my quest to understand this phenomenon, I developed the concept of leadership throw as the metaphor that conveyed the students understanding of small things having big ramifications. <p>Implications for theory, research, and policy arose from the students beliefs that leadership was collaborative, interactive, and featured the harnessing of individuals skills for the betterment of communities. In view of what was learned about the students use of language, framing, and leadership throw, their leadership synthesis has implications for an enhanced pre-service teacher preparation program suggesting greater congruence with the lived realities of K-12 schools.<p>In conclusion, it became apparent that the students leadership understandings were part content, part process, and part articulation. Remarkably, I came into this research looking for the students denotative leadership understandings and came away from the study with a clearer understanding of language and framing, leadership throw, and the implications of these concepts powerful argument this makes for nurturing student voice and the capability for expression and framing at all levels of leadership, organizational life, and community relations.

Education literature is replete with articles on critical thinking in secondary and post secondary education. However, the bulk of this literature focuses on the process from the educators perspective of student performance and understanding of critical thinking. Very little research seems to have been done to uncover what the students themselves may think. <p>This thesis attempts to address this lack of enquiry into student perceptions by illuminating how a group of pre-service teachers (and one long service master teacher) have experienced critical thinking in their education, and how they define and understand it. The thesis consists of a literature review that briefly examines the history of critical thinking in education, and how student understandings of critical thinking are perceived by professors and others at the post secondary level.<p>Then, through a series of semi-structured interviews, the thesis examines the perspectives of eleven participants in comparison to those commonly held by writers and educators in the field. The data indicate that most of the participants did not acknowledge encountering critical thinking methodologies or structures during their K-12 education in any significant way, and that K-12 did not prepare them for critical thinking at the University level- and in fact often did not meet the criteria laid out in Saskatchewan Curricula. This finding is in general agreement with the literature. However, in addition, most of the students asserted that their experience indicated that high level critical thinking was not actually required for success at the undergraduate level.<p>The data from this thesis suggest that further study may be useful in understanding how critical thinking may be better taught and encouraged at all levels of education.

The purpose of this study was to explore and represent students leadership understandings that emerged from discussions of their past and current leadership experiences in everyday life, their school experiences, and their college level contexts.<p>In this study I used a multiple method (QUAL + QUAL) research design and the data were analyzed within principles of grounded theory drawn from Strauss and Corbins (1998) grounded theory approach. Individual and focus group interviews were the main data collection methods used in this study: individual interviews with fifteen undergraduate education students and six focus group sessions (held in succession) generated the data. <p>As the leadership understandings held by the students unfolded, four broad themes became prominent. The first theme, the ubiquity of relationships, emerged from the students discussions of collaboration, context, power, and vision. Highlighted in these conversations was their perspective that, with respect to leadership, relationships are everything. The second theme included the students understanding that self-esteem and self-actualization were important aspects of effective and energizing leadership. Third, and perhaps more informative, was the manner in which the students articulated their leadership understandings. One of the biggest findings to come out of the study was the students tendency to speak in dualities in order to process, conceptualize, and articulate their leadership understandings. Additionally, the students sensemaking reflected the important role language and framing played in articulating their leadership understandings. Their perspective that small things (positive and negative) had momentum and led to ramifications emerged as the fourth broad theme. In my quest to understand this phenomenon, I developed the concept of leadership throw as the metaphor that conveyed the students understanding of small things having big ramifications. <p>Implications for theory, research, and policy arose from the students beliefs that leadership was collaborative, interactive, and featured the harnessing of individuals skills for the betterment of communities. In view of what was learned about the students use of language, framing, and leadership throw, their leadership synthesis has implications for an enhanced pre-service teacher preparation program suggesting greater congruence with the lived realities of K-12 schools.<p>In conclusion, it became apparent that the students leadership understandings were part content, part process, and part articulation. Remarkably, I came into this research looking for the students denotative leadership understandings and came away from the study with a clearer understanding of language and framing, leadership throw, and the implications of these concepts powerful argument this makes for nurturing student voice and the capability for expression and framing at all levels of leadership, organizational life, and community relations.