published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

Η λειτουργία των Διδασκαλείων, ως θεσμού μετεκπαίδευσης, αποτελεί εκπαιδευτική πολιτική που αποσκοπεί στην άνοδο του επιπέδου των σπουδών και στη βελτίωση των προσόντων των εκπαιδευτικών της πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης. Η ένταξή του θεσμού της μετεκπαίδευσης στα Παιδαγωγικά Τμήματα των Πανεπιστημίων αποτελεί πολιτική αποκέντρωσης. Στη διατριβή μας, παρουσιάζουμε τα αποτελέσματα της εμπειρικής μας έρευνας που αναφέρεται στη διερεύνηση των απόψεων 133 δασκάλων που αποφοίτησαν από το Διδασκαλείο Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης Γενικής Αγωγής Πατρών «Ευάγγελος Παπανούτσος». Το κεντρικό ερώτημα της μελέτης μας είναι κατά πόσο οι εκπαιδευτικοί που αποφοίτησαν από το συγκεκριμένο Διδασκαλείο πιστεύουν ότι η ακαδημαϊκή γνώση που τους προσφέρθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια της φοίτησής τους σ’ αυτό είναι επαρκής και κατάλληλη στο να αντιμετωπίσουν τις αυξημένες απαιτήσεις της καθημερινής τους διδασκαλίας και του παιδαγωγικού τους έργου. Η διατριβή αποσκοπεί στο να αποδείξει ότι οι έννοιες του Bachelard «επιστημολογικό εμπόδιο» (είναι οι βαθιά ριζωμένοι τρόποι σκέψης, παλιές, εννοιολογικές και μεθοδολογικές δομές που εμποδίζουν την πρόοδο της επιστημονικής γνώσης) και επιστημολογική τομή (είναι οι τρόποι με τους οποίους η επιστημονική γνώση αντικρούει τις ιδέες ή τις πεποιθήσεις που προέρχονται πρωτίστως από την άμεση γνώση, τη διαίσθηση και τον κοινό νου) θα μπορούσαν να εφαρμοστούν και στη μετεκπαίδευση των εκπαιδευτικών. / The preservation of the Teacher Training College or Didaskaleio as an institution of in-service training is an educational policy which is intended to assist in a real raising of the level of studies and an improvement in the quality of the educational qualifications of primary school teachers. Its integration into the Pedagogical Schools of the Universities constitute a policy of decentralization. In this thesis, we present the results of our empirical research, that concerning the assessments gathered from 133 teachers who graduated from Evangelos Papanoutsos Training College (Didaskaleio) in the Primary Education Department of the University of Patras, in Greece. One key question lies at the heart of our study: whether the teachers who graduated from Didaskaleio believe that the academic knowledge they are offered is adequate and appropriate to meet the increasing demands of their everyday teaching and pedagogical work. This thesis aims to show that Bachelard’s concepts of “epistemological obstacles” (they are ingrained ways of thinking, old structures, both conceptual and methodological, impeding the progress of scientific knowledge) and “epistemological break” (in general terms, they are the ways in which scientific knowledge contradicts the ideas or beliefs that come from foremost primary knowledege, intuitive and common sense) could be applied to in-service education and training of teachers.

Η διδασκαλία της τέχνης στο σχολείο συμβάλλει στην ολόπλευρη ανάπτυξη του παιδιού, καλλιεργώντας τη δημιουργικότητά του και ενθαρρύνοντας την κοινωνικοποίησή του. Με την αλλαγή του αναλυτικού προγράμματος και την εισαγωγή του ΔΕΠΠΣ στην εκπαίδευση, εισήχθησαν και τα βιβλία των εικαστικών στα σχολεία. Ωστόσο, στο Δημοτικό Σχολείο το μάθημα των εικαστικών δεν διδάσκεται όπως ορίζεται από το αναλυτικό πρόγραμμα και οι εκπαιδευτικοί αποφεύγουν τη διδασκαλία του μαθήματος. Στην παρούσα μελέτη προσπαθούμε να διερευνήσουμε τους λόγους και τα αίτια που οδηγούν τους δασκάλους στην αποφυγή ή την τροποποίηση της διδασκαλίας του μαθήματος των εικαστικών και να προσδιορίσουμε κατά πόσο το βιβλίο των εικαστικών αποτελεί ή όχι χρηστικό εργαλείο για το δάσκαλο και τι στήριξη χρειάζεται για να νιώσει ικανός να συμπεριλάβει δράσεις εικαστικών στο πρόγραμμά του. Στόχος μας είναι, αξιοποιώντας την έρευνα δράσης ως ερευνητικό εργαλείο, να εντοπίσουμε ποια είναι η σύγχρονη σχολική πραγματικότητα, εάν υπάρχει ανταπόκριση από τους μαθητές στο μάθημα των εικαστικών και τι έχουν να προτείνουν οι εικαστικοί εκπαιδευτικοί για το θέμα. Από την έρευνα προέκυψε ότι αν και το βιβλίο των εικαστικών είναι ένα χρήσιμο εργαλείο δουλειάς για τα δάσκαλο, εντούτοις αισθάνεται αβεβαιότητα και ανασφάλεια να διδάξει το μάθημα αποφεύγοντας να το χρησιμοποιήσει. Προτείνεται η επιμόρφωση των δασκάλων στη διδακτική των εικαστικών, η αξιοποίηση των εικαστικών εκπαιδευτικών στα σχολεία και η βελτίωση της υλικοτεχνικής υποδομής των σχολείων με τη δημιουργία εξοπλισμένων εικαστικών εργαστηρίων. / The teaching of art in schools contributes to the multifaceted development of the child, cultivating his/her creativity and encouraging his/her socialization. With the change in the curriculum and the introduction of the cross-thematic curriculum framework in education, art books were introduced in schools. However, in primary schools, art is not taught as specified by the curriculum and teachers avoid teaching it. In the present study, we are trying to investigate the reasons teachers are led to avoid or modify the teaching of art and to determine whether or not the art book is a useful tool as well as what kind of support teachers need to feel competent to include art activities in their program. Using action research as a research tool, our aim is to trace the current reality in schools, to determine students’ responses towards art as well as teachers’ feedback on this issue. The present research shows that although the art book is a useful tool for the teacher, he/she feels unsure and lacks self-efficacy to teach this lesson and thus avoids using it. Consequently, we recommend that teachers be trained in the teaching of art, that art teachers be utilized in schools and finally that well-equipped art labs be created.

The purpose of this research was to investigate strategies employed by primary teachers to support the non-isiXhosa speaking learners of Mthatha Education District. This was the researcher’s observation and concern emanating from the difficulties displayed by her non-isiXhosa speaking learners, as the medium of instruction in these schools is not their mother tongue. The language of learning and teaching (LOLT) is isiXhosa in the school where the research was conducted. The school is composed of non-isiXhosa speaking and isiXhosa speaking learners. The research sought to address the following questions: 1 What strategies are employed by Mthatha district teachers to support non- isiXhosa speaking learners? 2 What challenges do Mthatha teachers face in supporting the non-isiXhosa speaking learners? 3 How do Mthatha teachers overcome the challenges they face in supporting the non-isiXhosa speaking learners? The qualitative design approach was used in this study. The study was a case study of one Mthatha primary school. Face-to-face interviews were used to collect the data from the six female teachers who teach from Grade 1 to Grade 6 and one male teacher who is the principal of the selected school, and who teaches English and Life Orientation from Grade 7 to Grade 9. The interviews were tape-recorded. The data collection process began after all the ethical consideration requirements were fulfilled and approved by the relevant stakeholders of the research. The thematic approach was adopted as data analysis of the study was guided by the responses given to the questions asked of interviewed teachers. The research showed the following results which surfaced from the data provided by the respondents: (i) Teachers employed few teaching strategies to support the non-isiXhosa speaking learners in their multilingual classroom. The interviewed teachers expressed their challenges as stemming from the large numbers of learners in their classrooms; (ii) IsiXhosa as a language of learning and teaching was a challenge for the non-isiXhosa speaking learners. (iii) Absenteeism and indiscipline by non-isiXhosa speaking learners (iv) Limited or non-involvement of parents in the education of children The data also showed that there was limited support to empower teachers to deal with multilingual classrooms. The study made the following and other recommendations based on the results: teachers should use many teaching strategies in linguistically diverse classrooms. The school management teams (SMTs) should admit learners in relation to the number of teachers available in a school. It is also recommended that schools implement the language policy as it relates to the learners in each classroom. The DoE should increase parental involvement in the education of their children and also provide professional support to teachers.

This study sought to investigate the impact of pre-service primary school English language teachers’ training on their post-training practice. A constructive research paradigm and qualitative method were used in the study. The participants were selected purposively, and final year pre-service primary school English trainee teachers were used to collect the research data. The data were collected in the year 2016. To collect the data, an interview schedule, an observation guide and document analyses were used. The interviews and the observations were recorded and later transcribed. The transcribed data were coded, categorized according to their similarity, and then these categories were further collapsed into themes. The findings showed that the primary school ELT trainee teachers did not have sufficient understanding of the ELT methods offered during their training which led to poor practice, as revealed in their independent teaching. Some of the reasons for the trainees’ poor understanding and practice mentioned were that the training system was not supported by the reflective teaching method, and the support of ICT. In addition, there was a significant waste of time budgeted for the course time for the completion of the training program. In relation to time, the practicum time the students stayed in the primary school during independent teaching was not sufficient to give them hands-on practice. Moreover, they did not get the required support from the school mentors and the training college supervisors. Due to these constraints, almost all the participant trainee teachers demonstrated poor performances during the lesson delivery, which indicated that they did not understand the principles of the ELT methods / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)

The urgency of research in the field of child sexual abuse has inspired most efforts to be concentrated on treatment and counselling. An important objective of this study was to show that equal importance should be directed towards the identification, causes, effects and prevention of child sexual abuse. It became evident from the literature study that the catastrophe of child sexual abuse can be reduced if teachers, especially primary school teachers,. are professionally trained to identify, protect, prevent, report, support and guide the sexually abused child or possible victims of child sexual abuse. An empirical study to determine the importance of the role of the primary school teacher in dealing with child sexual abuse has been conducted. The results and the educational implications of the findings are discussed and finally guidelines are given to assist primary school teachers in their task of giving support and guidance to the sexually abused child. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The purpose of the study was to explore teachers’ views on using mobile laboratories when teaching Integrated Science during science practical lessons; to assess the teachers’ competencies in using the mobile laboratories and the challenges they face in this practice. The research used a survey as a research design. The target population was all teachers teaching Integrated Science. The sample comprised of forty-five (45) respondents from Northern and Eastern provinces of Zambia. Purposive sampling was used to pick the participants of the study. In collecting data, questionnaires, interview schedules and observation checklist were used to collect data needed for this study. The instruments were piloted before they were used in the study. The findings from the study revealed that the quality of material in these laboratories are quite good but their numbers are not in line with the size of the classes, which negatively affects the teaching and learning process of practical lessons in science. Additionally, the teachers’ qualification, was found to be associated with their competence in the use of mobile laboratories; that is, the higher the qualification, the more the competence in the use of mobile laboratories apparatus. Furthermore, the study established the following challenges on the use of the mobile laboratories: inadequate materials in the mobile laboratories, schools are not financially strong to replenish them after they are used up, some teachers find it timeconsuming to prepare and set up the apparatus for experiments and orientation is needed for some teachers on how to use these laboratories. In view of the findings, it is recommended that the government should provide more laboratory materials and monitor the level of usage of these materials. Additionally, short courses should be organised aiming at improving science teachers’ knowledge and skills of the use of mobile laboratory facilities. Moreover, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) must be enhanced in schools with an emphasis on the orientation of mobile laboratories usage by all science teachers. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Sciences)