Over the past decade, the lament that 'we need more male primary school teachers' has flourished in media and populist discourse, within education systems and in government inquiries in both Australia and the rest of the Western world. Whilst this discourse commonly assumes that more male primary teachers will benefit both boys in schools and society in general, other important considerations are silenced and overlooked and attention is seldom paid to the experience of male primary school teachers. This study explores the experience of male primary school teachers and the prevailing societal discourses about them. It focuses on their experience of crossing over into a career that is commonly regarded by society as 'women's work', and charts the advantages and disadvantages they face as a result of their maleness. The understandings that are found within this study are informed by relevant literature and by data emanating from media discourse analysis, statistical analysis and life history interviews. As a result of examining the relevant literature and data, this study has found that the experience of male primary teachers is likely to be complex, contradictory and problematic. Whilst some of their experiences are similar to those of female primary teachers, this study only focuses on the part of their experience that differs from female teachers and is the direct result of their maleness. Their choice to cross-over into women's work such as primary teaching appears to yield a unique and complex mixture of experiences that are poorly understood by both themselves and others. In particular, it is apparent that they experience a vexing combination of advantages and disadvantages as a result of being a male in women's work. This study has identified eight categories of disadvantage and four categories of advantage that the males experience. The various sources of literature and data have differing constructions as to whether the males are advantaged and / or disadvantaged. Most commonly, the sources privilege either the disadvantages or the advantages and silence the other. More rarely, they acknowledge and accommodate both. On the whole, the disadvantages are better articulated, understood and documented than the advantages, which are often silenced and ignored. In order to fully explore the experience of male primary teachers, this study has also sought to identify the prevailing societal discourses and debates about them and to examine whether they are affecting the experience of the males. Information about societal discourses was found in the literature, media and life history interviews, with media discourse providing the most significant and comprehensive data. After examining these prevailing discourses about male primary teachers, this study has found that they have an enormous impact on the experience of male primary school teachers. However, in contrast, the study has shown that the experience of male primary school teachers is not contributing to, informing or shaping either societal or media discourses. As a result, these discourses can be seen to be largely inaccurate, unreflective and unproductive because they do not reflect the experience of male primary teachers. This examination into the experience of male primary teachers makes an important contribution to knowledge because there are so few Australian studies of males who cross over into women's work or on the sexual division of labour in contemporary Australian society. Whilst the study produces many more questions than it supplies answers, it nevertheless results in extremely important understandings about the experience of male primary school teachers and crossing-over into non-traditional work. In particular, the study reveals the problematic nature of their experience and the complex experiences, advantages and disadvantages that they face as a result of their maleness. It also charts the unhelpful ways that prevailing societal debates and discourses about them have been constructed. It points to the need for new and more sophisticated societal debates and discourses about male primary teachers that will accommodate the complexity of their experience. It is therefore anticipated that these findings will make an important contribution to understandings about the experience of male primary teachers and to the development of more informed societal discourses about them. Most importantly, the study will provide a language and framework to enable the issues that have been identified about the experience of male primary teachers to be adequately addressed within education policy, teaching practice and teacher education strategies.

This thesis, then, is about belonging to Australia and to the world. It is about imperialism, nationalism and the quality of goodness told through the lens of primary school students in 1930’s and 1950’s Victoria. I begin by exploring in Chapter One how the joint change in psychology and politics forced profound change to the basic framework of primary school curriculum. Children’s relationship to information was reconceived, and so too were the curricular structures necessary for this new epistemology. Spatial and temporal relations between Australia, Britain and the world were thus destabilized. But we need a much finer lens, and a more subtle understanding of the mechanisms of imaginative national belonging, if we are to describe this changing relationship. I take up this question in Chapter Two by looking at the reading resources given to children, from which they learnt complex lessons about aspects of being Australian. In Chapter Three I examine the impact of nationalism – Imperial and nation-state – in defining the child’s responsibilities. I argue that the project of nation-state nationalism that I describe, forced a change from moral to civic duty, a profound change to expectations about how and for whom children should act.

As a consequence of interrogating pupil progress data, the primary school in this study identified apparent inequalities in the rates of progress in Reading and Mathematics made by male and female pupils in Key Stage Two cohorts. To address this school improvement issue, the Key Stage Two pupils and the staff who worked with them, were surveyed in order to establish a starting point for action. The surveys indicated that low-achieving female pupils in the school perceived themselves, and were perceived by staff as having low levels of self-esteem and confidence, which were impacting upon their ability to access the learning and impeding their educational progress. A search of the literature on barriers to learning and the range of approaches and initiatives which have been employed to address these, alongside a consultation process with female pupils though a focus group, resulted in identification of the need for the provision of an intervention which would address the issue. Outcomes from an internally–provided school intervention pilot programme resulted in the adoption of a participatory action-research model which allowed the pupils to contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of a single-sex therapeutic intervention, facilitated by a drama practitioner. Through the use of drama and mask techniques the practitioner provided a safe, non-judgemental environment which enabled participants to feel accepted, to express their feelings, to lead activities, to take risks and to develop a wider friendship circle. The intervention was widely commended, with staff and parents/carers reporting a perceived increase in levels of confidence, expanded friendship circles and stronger peer relationships and improved active engagement in learning in the mixed-gender classroom environment. Qualitative data, in the form of individual video evaluations of the intervention indicated the learning which had resulted from participation, most strongly evidenced by the positive comments elicited from the participants both in terms of the techniques employed in the intervention and the outcomes achieved: “…At first you’re the one underneath the mask… Then the mask becomes you… The masks helped me feel more confident …When we did the mask it was like a confidence builder – made you speak your mind and gave you the words to express your feelings better – like if your excited or happy you had the words to say that…this project helped all our group…’cos we’ve learned to be more confident in ourselves and I just feel a lot better…”

Q-methodology was used alongside semi-structured interviews with primary school teachers to explore their positions on two key areas of education ideology: inclusive schools and standards in education. The study explored in depth the views of 26 teachers in 6 schools, selected through purposive sampling to give a range of individual and institutional demographics. Key statements were compiled from the literature that offered a wide spectrum of personal and professional positions on the two issues of standards and inclusion in education. These statements were produced as sets of cards for participants to arrange in order of strength of agreement or disagreement. The results were factor-analysed via Q-method software to render visible factors of items that had statistical significance for the participants (Brown 1997). These factors were then interpreted in the light of subsequent semi-structured interviews and returned to the participants for discussion. The study found that teachers developed their own ‘practical’ notion of inclusion, in which specialist systems, such as p-scales, are needed for the inclusion of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN). These teachers held contrasting views on whether they felt constraints or experienced flexibility when implementing the strict standards objectives. Crucially, in considering the agendas simultaneously, these teachers suggested that the practical implementation of the inclusion and standards agendas is as disparate as their objectives. The agendas are seen as separate entities, with standards assuming an apparent dominance, ensuring that the inclusion agenda is implemented within a standards driven system.

Mokykliniai vadovėliai yra svarbi ugdymo turinio dalis, todėl yra keliamas probleminis klausimas – ar pasaulio pažinimui skirtų vadovėlių turinys suteikia galimybes pradinių klasių mokiniams mokomąją medžiagą įsisavinti skirtingais mokymosi būdais, atitinkančiais individualų mokymosi stilių. Eilės mokslininkų teigimu, būtent pasaulio pažinimo pamokų metu gali būti sėkmingai taikomi labai įvairūs mokymo(si) metodai, teikiantys galimybes mokiniams pasirinkti skirtingus mokymosi būdus (Vilkonienė, Leparskienė, 2003; Vilkonis, 2003; Lamanauskas, 2004; Мельник, Корожнева, Вилконис, 2004; Vilkonienė, 2005). Šiuo tyrimu siekiama įvertinti pasaulio pažinimo vadovėlių turinį pritaikymo įvairiems mokymosi stiliams aspektu. Remiantis moksline ir metodine literatūra siekiama apibrėžti pradinėje mokykloje vyraujančius mokymosi stilius bei išskirti ir apibrėžti vadovėlių turinio vertinimo kriterijus. Siekiama atlikti lyginamąją pasaulio pažinimo vadovėlių turinio analizę pagal išskirtus vadovėlių vertinimo kriterijus pritaikymo įvairiems mokymosi stiliams aspektu. Tyrimo metu taikyti mokslinės ir metodinės literatūros analizės, ekspertų apklausos, klasikinės ir kokybinės vadovėlių turinio analizės, aprašomosios statistikos, lyginamosios analizės metodai. Tyrimo metu išanalizuota 21 knyga. Ekspertinės apklausos metu apklausti 6 ekspertai – pradinio ugdymo specialistai. Pradiniam mokykliniam amžiui yra būdingi klausymo (audialinis) mokymosi stilius, kuris reiškiasi pomėgiu uždavinėti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Schoolbooks are very important part of education and that is why the problematic question is as follows: does the content of world cognition textbooks provides a possibility to learn the material in different ways of studying respectively to individual needs. According to various scientists, different learning methods can be successfully adapted especially in world cognition lessons (Vilkonienė, Leparskienė, 2003; Vilkonis, 2003; Lamanauskas, 2004; Мельник, Корожнева, Вилконис, 2004; Vilkonienė, 2005). The aim of this study is to asses the world cognition textbooks in aspect of content adaptation to different styles of learning. On a basis of scientific and methodical literature the learning styles in primary schools and assessment criteria of textbooks are defined in this study. My aim was to make a comparative analysis of world cognition textbooks using defined criteria of assessing textbooks in aspect of content adaptation to different styles of learning. There were scientific and methodical literature analysis applied, expert surveys, classical and qualitative textbooks‘content analysis, descriptive statistics and methods of comparative analysis used in this research. Analysis was made on 21 textbook. Six experts (specialists of primary education) were quizzed during expertise survey. The primary school learning style characterizes itself with aural (acoustic) learning style, with specific features like giving questions and listening to people talking or audio-video... [to full text]

The thesis investigated the notion of ego depletion in children, on classroom-based, 'academic' type tasks. Two major studies conducted with primary school students, aged between 10 and 14 years explored how an act of effortful self-control can impact adversely on performance and volition on a second, seemingly unrelated task. A third study investigated teacher perceptions of ego depletion effects.

This master thesis deals with programming education on first grade of primary schools in application EasyLogo. The theoretical part consists of analysis of education of an original set of short programming exercises. Based on observation of teaching at schools and following interactions with teachers and students was the set modified and supplemented by new exercises. The new educational set includes 52 exercises divided into seven sections which keep the teaching process following the taught steps. The master thesis consists of descriptions and previews of new exercises, guidelines for teachers and as an attachment there is a complete list of exercises divided into sections.

154 f. / Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-30T14:05:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Ana Katia Santos.pdf: 1005877 bytes, checksum: 97804e9144d5506cebc290c54b2b4a59 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora Lopes(silopes@ufba.br) on 2013-06-11T19:21:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Ana Katia Santos.pdf: 1005877 bytes, checksum: 97804e9144d5506cebc290c54b2b4a59 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-11T19:21:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Ana Katia Santos.pdf: 1005877 bytes, checksum: 97804e9144d5506cebc290c54b2b4a59 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Este trabalho investiga questões relativas à Ciência da Educação que edifica o ensino fundamental no contexto baiano, repensando alguns dos seus pressupostos. Discute o principal fundamento do projeto epistemológico da modernidade, fazendo crítica à separação sujeito e objeto enquanto organizadora da epistemologia do educador na contemporaneidade, analisando ainda a supervalorização da cognição ou do sujeito ?super-racional? hierarquicamente colocado como superior. Nesse sentido, abre análise sobre a negação da experiência do sujeito afrodescendente no período da infância, no contexto do Estado da Bahia, visto que o conhecimento por ele produzido, na escola, é de natureza abstrata e organizado por uma visão moderno-colonialista, na qual a postura etnocêntrica, negadora da alteridade, continua fortalecida. Em contrapartida, possibilita reflexão sobre uma epistemologia crítica que considera o princípio da Reconciliação como tarefa significativa realizada pelos afrodescendentes deste território, articulado a alguns outros princípios validados por esses sujeitos, principalmente os que vivem a experiência das comunidades religiosas de tradição africana, bem como articula a essa leitura a crítica posta pela ontologia heideggeriana para um repensar dos princípios científicos dados em sua construção moderno-ocidental. A metodologia aponta que existem barreiras para a efetivação de uma epistemologia crítica no ensino fundamental: a separação sujeito/objeto como fundamento da Ciência da Educação gera o corte da criança afrodescendente com a sua experiência, bem como o olhar distraído dos educadores(as) sobre a realidade; a interpretação realizada pelos educadores(as) sobre a epistemologia genética (mais conhecida entre eles como construtivismo) impulsiona o olhar linear sobre os sujeitos. O biológico é mais importante que o cultural, o social, o político; a intolerância religiosa gera preconceito contra as crianças afrodescendentes na escola; a atual configuração da escola é perversa e dificulta a formação de uma epistemologia crítica, principalmente quando se considera o método, a didática, a partir das condições de formação possibilitadas aos educadores (as). Essas barreiras precisam ser ?encaradas? de frente para que possam ser minimizadas e, quem sabe, excluídas do cotidiano escolar. / Salvador

This diploma thesis deals with problems and diagnostics of selected preconcepts of technical education. The theoretical part concerns several thematic units which are connected with the problems of constructivism, pre-conceps and technical education at primary school. The practical part investigates current standard of integration of pre-concepts by means of a questionaire (which contains unfinished sentences and assessing scales) and cognitive maps. Pupils of 4th and 5th classes of primary schools in České Budějovice and Soběslav participated in the research. The acquired data of pre-concepts and its integration were processed from the qualitative as well as quantitative point of view in the sphere of technical education.

The topic of this diploma thesis is supervision which implementation is held at the primary schools in the Czech Republic. The main aim of this thesis is to determine the impacts of supervision of teachers who attend it. The initial part of this thesis is comprised of a theoretical introduction about phenomenon supervision residing in an explanatory of theoretical concepts and terms. They are essential for comprehension and appropriate interpretation of ascertained outcomes of the analysis. The analysis proceeds on the basis of qualitative research using open coding applied to semistructured interviews which were realized with the primary school teachers. The part with theoretical conceptions is followed by all the determined findings and particular codes. This diploma thesis detected the most substantial element of the supervision process which is the supervisor who should dispose of experience with using suitable techniques. The personality of the supervisor demonstrates a significant part of the whole process. All of these facets affect the behaviour of participants during the supervision. The research revealed that the deficiency of feeling safe and not using suitable methods during supervision lead to the inceptions of stress even though the supervision should be used as a prevention of them....