This study explored how the discursive practices of government education systemic discipline policy shape the behaviour of Aboriginal primary school students in an urban education district in Western Australia. First, this study conducted a Foucauldian genealogical discourse analysis of the historical and contemporary discursive forces that shaped systemic discipline policy in Western Australian government schools between 1983 and 1998 to uncover changing discursive practices within the institution. This period represented a most turbulent era of systemic discipline policy development within the institution. The analysis of the historical and contemporary discursive forces that shaped policy during this period revealed nine major and consistent discursive practices. Secondly, the study conducted a Foucauldian genealogical discourse analysis into the perspectives of key interest groups of students, parents and Education Department employees in an urban Aboriginal community on discipline policy in Education Department primary schools during the period from 2000 to 2001; and the influence of these policies on the behaviour of Aboriginal students in primary schools. The analysis was accomplished using Foucault's method of genealogy through a tactical use of subjugated knowledges. A cross section of the Aboriginal community was interviewed to examine issues of consultation, suspension and exclusion, institutional organisation and discourse. The study revealed that there are minimal consistent conceptual underpinnings to the development of Education Department discipline policy between 1983 and 1998. What is clear through the nine discursive practices that emerged during the first part of the study is a strengthened recentralising pattern of regulation, in response to the influence of a neo-liberal doctrine that commodifies students in a network of accountability mechanisms driven by the market-state economy. Evidence from both genealogical analyses in this study confirms that the increasing psychologisation of the classroom is contributing towards the pathologisation of Aboriginal student behaviour. It is apparent from the findings in this study that Aboriginal students regularly display Aboriginality-as-resistance type behaviours in response to school discipline regimes. The daily tension for these students at school is the maintenance of their Aboriginality in the face of school policy that disregards many of their regular cultural and behavioural practices, or regimes of truth, that are socially acceptable at home and in their community but threaten the 'good order' of the institution when brought to school. This study found that teachers and principals are ensnared in a web of governmentality with their ability to manoeuvre within the constraints of systemic discipline policy extremely limited. The consequence of this web of governmentality is that those doing the governing in the school are simultaneously the prisoner and the gaoler, and in effect the principle of their own subjection. Also revealed were the obscure and dividing discursive practices of discipline regimes that contribute to the epistemic violence enacted upon Noongar students in primary schools through technologies of power.

This case study was located in the qualitative research approach under interpretive paradigm. The study explored school cultures associated with good academic performance in two selected primary schools in Lesotho, which perform well academically. It aimed to find out the types of school cultures of those schools and how they sustain their cultures. These schools are located in the Leribe district around Maputsoe area. The study was conducted by means of semi-structured interviews. Eighteen teachers were interviewed. The intention was to interview ten teachers in each school, but two teachers in Maliba School declined. Observation and document analysis methods were used for data production and verification. The findings of the study revealed several aspects involved in striving for good academic performance. There were lots of similarities in the findings in both schools. They were categorized into themes namely, time management, rituals and ceremonies, relationships within the school, teaching and learning processes; and school improvement and development. The findings revealed that subject teaching is the most appropriate technique and teachers choose subjects according to their expertise, so that every teacher imparts knowledge to learners satisfactorily. This practice also allows the adoption of various methods. Teachers manage to attempt several lessons in a day successfully. The findings revealed that openness among the colleagues is important because they disclose their problems and get assisted. The conducive environment allows dedication and commitment to work. A support from the principal and colleagues which results from good relationships empowers teachers in their work. This study recommends that the government should allow subject specialization for primary teachers and they should be trained for that. Good time management should be part of school culture as well as commitment. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2009.

The aim of this research is to understand the views of teachers regarding professionalism and leadership. As a researcher, I also wanted to investigate whether teachers were given opportunities to lead within a professional capacity in their schools and to examine the factors that promote the development of these teacher leaders as professionals as well as those factors that hinder such development. In view of the recent public servants strike in 2007 and 2010, teachers have been brought under the spotlight in a very negative manner. The teaching profession has been viewed with scrutiny ever since and most if not all teachers were being painted with the same brush of, lack of integrity and respect. The purpose of the study was to examine how teacher leaders performed leadership roles and also to establish whether such roles were within professional parameters or not. There was a need to understand how teacher leaders understood the term professionalism as well as to ascertain what factors promoted and hindered the development of teacher leaders as professionals. The study was conducted within a qualitative, interpretive paradigm and took the form of a case study of five educators, who were two Heads of Department and three post level one teachers’ in an urban primary school in KwaZulu-Natal. Data collection techniques included semi – structured individual interviews, a focus group interview, questionnaires and observation. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that although teachers were actively engaging in leadership roles, very little was done to develop these teachers as professionals. This study acknowledges that management members of schools play a crucial role in the development of teacher leaders as professionals by creating opportunities for this professional development. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This study explores Foundation Phase (FP) teachers’ experiences of the implementation of the Foundations for Learning (FFL) (South Africa Government Gazette, No 30990 2008) in the Literacy Learning Programme (LLP) (2008). FFL is the new curriculum policy for FP that consists of Numeracy and Literacy Learning programmes. This policy was introduced to address the challenges teachers had with the previous curriculum policy, Outcome-Based Education (OBE) and the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). The aim of this study is to find out how FP teachers experience the implementation of the FFL. This is a qualitative study located within the interpretive paradigm. Informants were purposively selected from two primary schools located in a rural and a township area in KwaZulu-Natal. Eight FP teachers teaching grades R-3 participated in two focus group interviews. To generate data from these informants, semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary analyses were used as instruments. Findings reveal that teachers had to make changes to their teaching approach as a result of the implementation of the FFL and they experienced feelings of being swamped by all the changes that seemed to be too much to understand. Teachers reported difficulties in understanding and accepting new processes, procedures and expectations associated with educational changes. It is clear that it is impossible to successfully implement change in an education system if serious investments are not made in the professional development of teachers (Hargreaves, 2003). Without sufficient, training, guidance and mentoring in the implementation of the FFL in the LLP, teachers feel de-motivated and anxious as they do not understand the FFL document and thus feel threatened by the way they taught in the past. Teachers fail to understand the requirements set out in the FFL document because the prescriptions are too vague. The study recommends a closer relationship with the Department of Education (DoE) for guidance, regular monitoring, mentoring, workshops and training to be conducted by the DoE. In addition, experienced and perhaps competent FP educators, lecturers and non-governmental organizations, e.g. Read Educational Trust could assist in the implementing strategies to ensure effective implementation of the FFL campaign in the LLP. The implications of the findings from this research should be useful to educators, curriculum development specialists, textbook writers and teacher trainers to gain a better understanding of the needs, understandings, challenges and opportunities teachers experience in the implementation of the FFL in the LLP. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

The diploma thesis attends to the primary school teachers' work with textbooks dedicated to the educational field Človek a jeho svět (̔Human and his world̕). In the theoretical part I deal with a clarification of basic terminology, which is crucial for the thesis' theme. I define here terms teacher and educational staff not only how it is understood by the specialized literature, but also by the laws in force of the Czech Republic. In the next chapter, a textbook is defined and its functions and the most cited classifications of textbooks' functions. are introduced. I mention its structural components and introduce further didactic tools that we encounter in practice. In the most extensive chapter of the theoretical part of the thesis I present existing theoretical findings and results of researches, which were in the field of textbooks' usage realized up to now, both in the Czech Republic and the world. The last chapter acquaints with the educational field Človek a jeho svět in terms of how it is circumscribed in the curricular document which is called: The framework educational plan for elementary schools. The research part of the thesis introduces a qualitative survey of a textbooks' usage in the educational field Člověk a jeho svět by six primary school teachers, which was realized at one of...

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-02-15T14:14:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 marciocarlosvital.pdf: 134486108 bytes, checksum: a0def55062777a93cb0ca95c6525e502 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-02-26T12:24:32Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 marciocarlosvital.pdf: 134486108 bytes, checksum: a0def55062777a93cb0ca95c6525e502 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-26T12:24:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 marciocarlosvital.pdf: 134486108 bytes, checksum: a0def55062777a93cb0ca95c6525e502 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-04 / A presente pesquisa propõe investigar a produção de tarefas sobre inflação de preços para utilização em salas de aula do 8º ano do ensino fundamental e a produção de significados dos estudantes para essas tarefas. A pesquisa se caracteriza por uma abordagem qualitativa de investigação. A leitura da produção de significados dos sujeitos de pesquisa e a produção das tarefas são referenciadas teoricamente pelo Modelo dos Campos Semânticos proposto por Romulo Campos Lins. A pesquisa de campo desenvolvida evidenciou a potencialidade das tarefas para o entendimento do tema inflação de preços. O conjunto de tarefas apresentada faz parte de uma proposta de currículo para o ensino de Educação Financeira na escola que pretende ser inserida na atual estrutura curricular da matemática no ensino fundamental. / The present work is aimed at investigating the elaboration of classroom tasks on price inflation for use in late primary school years as well as analyzing the meaning produced by the students for these tasks. The study has a qualitative approach of investigation and the interpretation of meaning production, together with task production by the participants, is theoretically supported by the Model of Semantic Fields as proposed by Romulo Campos Lins. Fieldwork has shown the potential for classroom tasks to stimulate the understanding of price inflation. The set of tasks presented is part of a curriculum proposal for Financial Education Teaching within schools which aims to include it in the current Maths curriculum for primary schools.

This master thesis deals with the subject of the first-grade primary school teaching assistants. It seeks the answers on following questions: what the social and cultural background of teaching assistants is; what their key motivation for is applying for this role; what their expectations before were entering the profession; what their motivation for continuing the profession is. In this master thesis, I place the emphasis on uncovering the previous job and life experiences of teaching assistants as well as how these past experiences affect their current job position. The answers for these questions are provided by qualitative and quantitative research which is based mostly on semi-structured interviews with teaching assistants from the elementary school in Prague, district 10. From the outcome of these interviews, the questionnaire was made, which was subsequently sent to assistant teachers from various parts of Czech Republic. Questionnaires were used mostly for confirmation and completion of information acquired from semi-structured interviews. This master thesis confirms that assistant teachers get involved in their profession for various reasons and have diverse previous work and life experiences. Education of assistant teachers is diverse, which in turn leads to rather vague expectations...

1 online resource (xii, 171 leaves) : illustrations (chiefly color), color graphs / ADHD negatively impacts academic performance, and the traditional classroom setting conflicts with the symptoms of ADHD. This research examined the potential of teaching through play and peer-teaching as alternative teaching methods to improve the mathematical performance of Grade 1 children with symptoms of ADHD; by answering, would adapting teaching methods to include teaching through play and/or peer-teaching, in the South African classroom, improve the mathematical performance of children with symptoms of ADHD? A pre-test-post-test control group design was employed in this comparative experimental study. Participants were purposively selected then randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups. An eight-week intervention was implemented as teaching through play or peer-teaching. Pre-test and post-test scores were analysed using a dependent t-test, a Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, and a Kruskal Wallis test. Teaching through play and peer-teaching have the potential to improve the mathematical performance of Grade 1 children with symptoms of ADHD. Special precautions were taken in the process of minor research participants, adhering to the ethical principles of beneficence and non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy. / Psychology / M. Sc. (Psychology (Research Consultation))

Multiple Intelligences (MI) is a theory that has radically challenged the conventional perception of human intelligence. Individuals have different combinations of intelligences (strengths and weaknesses). Teachers who want to achieve success in facilitating the learning of all learners in their classes need to understand and respect the varied learning styles and differences in each individual. In formulating this study, I was interested in how MI is utilised in the classroom, enabling learners to solve problems individually and in society. The aims of the study are to describe and understand the experiences of the Heads of Departments at their schools, in terms of whether teachers facilitate MI practices in their classrooms and how this impacts both on teachers and learners. In this study I followed a qualitative approach and I employed a case study design. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews that were conducted with four Heads of Department (HODs), in different local school settings in an urban environment. I also used a research diary, observations and visual data collection techniques. It was found that leadership plays a crucial role in how teachers understand and facilitate MI in their schools. There is a basis from which the HODs could be empowered to change the conditions where they manage, teach or facilitate. Teachers can be empowered to meet the challenges of implementing MI in their own planning, preparation and classroom practice. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

Rural primary schools have got an immense role to play regarding the educational foundation for the subsequent phases of schooling. In ensuring that an extremely solid foundation is laid. the creation and maintenance of a positive culture of teaching and learning becomes extremely very important in this category of schools. It is the primary task of the primary school principal to ensure that quality teaching and learning is taking place in her/his school. I Iowever, in ensuring that a positive culture of teaching and learning becomes a reality in their schools, principals cannot work in isolation but, in collaboration with other potential stakeholders. A variety of factors like good management on the part of principals to good commitment and involvement on the part of other stakeholders like educators, learners, parents. community, business people and the government. lead to teaching and learning of a very high and acceptable standard. The purpose of this research project was to investigate how principals of rural primary schools create and maintain a culture of teaching and learning. The outcomes of this investigation could assist rural primary school principals in their attempts towards ensuring a positive culture of teaching and learning. The outcomes could also assist other stakeholders as to how best can they assist rural primary school principals in making schools centers for a positive culture of teaching and learning. The methodology of research for this investigation is quantitative. The questionnaire was used as a tool for empirical data collection. This research project has revealed several mechanisms that arc utilized by rural primary school principals in creating and maintain a culture ofteaching and learning. It also emerged from thi s study that in creating and maintaining COLT in schools, rural primary school principals encounter some problems that need the undivided attention of every education stakeholder. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)