This study investigates the influence of teaching assistants (TAs) on the peer relationships of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools. Peer relationships are central to development. Whilst there is an increasing body of research into TAs’ contribution to academic outcomes, there are comparatively few studies into their social impact. The majority of studies investigating the impact of TAs on the peer relationships of pupils with SEND highlight concerns that TAs deployed in a one-to-one role inadvertently hinder pupil relationships. This study sought to explore and explain the strategies used by TAs and the underlying contextual factors which facilitate or constrain the development of positive peer relationships for pupils with SEND. The purpose of the research was to identify, from the perspective of TAs, ‘what works, for whom, in what contexts and with what outcomes’. Qualitative data from interviews with six TAs working in primary schools was analysed using a critical realist position and grounded theory methodology (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). The results propose that TAs use ‘manager’ and ‘coach’ strategies to influence pupil peer relationships, via the core category of ‘social agency’. The ‘manager’ enabled short-term reductions in pupils’ level of social ‘risk’, problems and isolation, but constrained the development of social skills and increased dependency in the longer-term. The ‘coach’ encouraged pupils to take controlled, short-term risks, but facilitated their reflective thinking, social skills and independence. Three causal factors influenced TAs’ use these strategies; the level of social need of pupils, TAs’ values, knowledge, skills and integrated experience and the school context. The concept of ‘social agency’, applied to both TAs and pupils, explains the properties of, and relationships between the above components. The theory has implications for the practice of TAs and educational professionals and provides a basis for future research.

A presente Tese tem por finalidade identificar quais são os principais atributos afetivos necessários à docência em graduações que atuem em educação a distância no âmbito das universidades do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. A fim de organizar uma análise daquele conjunto de atributos são utilizados alguns constructos teóricos da Psicologia relativos ao desenvolvimento humano, suas relações sociais e respectivas dinâmicas nos grupos, que acontecem em ambientes virtuais. Visando uma aproximação dos temas psicológicos, são apresentadas contribuições a partir das experiências em psicoterapia de grupos desenvolvidas por Irving Yalom para compreender melhor o que ocorre nas situações de ensino-aprendizagem, desenvolvendo as discussões num âmbito interdisciplinar. Foi realizada uma pesquisa com docentes de instituições públicas e privadas de ensino superior, que atuaram em graduação de Educação a Distância a partir de 2010. A pesquisa teve uma abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa, com cunho exploratório, a partir do estudo de casos múltiplos, utilizando entrevistas semi-estruturadas. Os questionamentos aplicados buscaram a classificação e a identificação dos principais atributos afetivos necessários aos docentes, como organização, comunicabilidade e dedicação, visando sistematizar uma formação afetiva dos professores. Os resultados obtidos mostram que há uma convergência na percepção individual dos participantes da amostra sobre dois grupos de atributos que, por suas classificações similares nas diferentes estratificações consideradas, oferecem a possibilidade do desenvolvimento de estratégias relacionais e instrumentos didáticos na formação e acompanhamento dos docentes naquela modalidade de ensino. / This thesis aims to identify which are the main affective attributes needed to teaching degrees who work in distance education universities in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. In order to organize an analysis of those set of attributes, it is used some theoretical constructs of psychology relating to human development, social relationships and their group dynamics, occurring in virtual environments for teaching and learning. Seeking an approximation of the psychological issues, it is presented possible therapeutic contributions originated from psychotherapy group experiences developed by Irving Yalom to make a better understanding of what happens in teaching and learning situations, highlighting the discussion within an interdisciplinary context. It was performed a survey with 67 teachers from public and private institutions, who worked in undergraduate classes of Distance Education from 2010, in person and remotely. The study has a quantitative and qualitative approaches, with an exploratory bias from the multiple case studies using semi-structured interviews. The applied questions sought to apply the classification and identification of the major teacher affective features, as organization, communicability ans dedication, to systematize their affective training. The results show that there is a convergence in the perception of individual participants in the sample about two groups of attributes that, by their similar classifications in the different considered stratifications, offer the possibility of developing relational, didactic training and mentoring strategies for teachers in that modality of education.

Although research studies are plentiful regarding the cognitive aspects of children’s and young people’s reading difficulties, surprisingly few consider the emotional or relational impact of those difficulties. Those which do rarely invite young people to share their experiences of struggling to master this fundamental life skill. This exploratory, qualitative study used a psychosocial methodology to explore the reading experiences of young people who find reading difficult. A psychosocial ontology and epistemology gave equal consideration to the meaning constructed through participants’ social interactions and the unconscious psychological processes at work for participant and researcher, and facilitated an understanding of the emotional experience of each participant. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two 12-year-old boys (UK school year 8) with persistent reading difficulties, using Free Association Narrative Interview (FANI) techniques. Each boy was interviewed twice, creating his own narrative in response to initial questions or prompts. The boys were also observed twice in a typical English lesson, using principles of infant observation. A reflective research diary was used to record the researcher’s personal responses to all aspects of the research. Interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Reflective process notes from each observation provided an additional perspective on each boy’s experiences. Psychosocial research supervision enabled a reflexive stance to be maintained, holding in mind the ‘whole’ person, acknowledging the researcher as psychologically defended, and considering the relevance and appropriateness of themes as they emerged. Semantic and latent themes specific to each participant were identified. Although the aim was not to generalise between the boys’ experiences, similarities were found within the following areas: ‘(un)helpful helping’, ‘believed and understood?’, ‘lazy, dumb and stupid’, and ‘smarter sisters’. The findings provide a rich account of participants’ experiences as ‘struggling readers’. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed, together with implications for teaching and Educational Psychology practice.

The U.S. population is rapidly diversifying, with the expectation that culturally diverse groups---including students---will outnumber European Americans by the year 2050. In contrast, public school teachers are expected to remain largely middle class, female, and Caucasian. Most multicultural education research has focused on cultural diversity in urban education settings. However, a gap in the literature has existed regarding student diversity and teachers' culturally responsive teaching in predominantly rural areas. In this study, Appalachian elementary school teachers shared their perspectives and experiences on effective multicultural teaching. An important gap has been bridged by using a 3-part theoretical framework, based on critical reflection, scaffolding, and perspective taking, related to the main research questions regarding (a) the qualities and experiences that in-service public school teachers possess that allow them to effectively teach students from a variety of backgrounds, and (b) what in-service teachers suggest for improving teacher preparation to meet the challenges of cultural diversity in schools. A qualitative, phenomenological approach anchored in a constructivist paradigm was used to gather voice data via a digital voice recorder from 8 participants. Semi structured, open-ended interviews were conducted to collect the data, followed by transcription and analysis. Data analysis resulted in the discovery of 5 themes related to the research questions and revealed mapping onto the conceptual framework. Social change implications can result in improved teacher education programs in rural areas and can enhance collaboration with professional development schools to improve pre-service teacher preparation for teaching diverse students.

The effect of emotional intelligence (EI) among students in education settings could prove essential to determining the needs of student satisfaction leading to retention and graduation. However, lack of research has yet to determine whether EI is an important factor of student satisfaction. The purpose of this quantitative survey study was to determine whether a relationship exists between EI in graduate students and satisfaction with their overall academic experience at their online institution of higher education. Participants included graduate students enrolled in a masters' or doctoral program at an online institution of higher education. They were surveyed to measure their level of EI by Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test v. 2 and satisfaction of overall academic experience measured by the Priorities Survey for Online Learners. Research questions were focused on satisfaction of graduate students and elements of EI including overall EI and the 4 branches of the EI model. Statistical regression analyses revealed no significant relationships between EI, branches of EI, and overall satisfaction. Nevertheless, the results have implications for positive social change. No significant relationship demonstrated between EI and satisfaction may help accentuate other factors such as motivation and expectations that affect student satisfaction. These results can contribute to social change by supporting focus and improvement of the quality of factors that do affect overall satisfaction of students.

It is imperative that those who provide personal therapy to others be well-adjusted in their personal and professional lives and possess a keen and accurate perception of wellness. Yet, persons drawn to careers in counseling often have unresolved psychological issues. Counselor education programs should have a systematic way to evaluate and improve wellness in their students. Studies addressing the well-being of counselors-in-training, their perception of wellness, and their need for self-care are lacking in the professional literature. This study, therefore, examined the relationship between psychological well-being and perceived wellness in a sample (N = 97) of graduate students in a CACREP-accredited counseling program. Based on person-centered theory, the participants' psychological well-being was measured with the Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB), and their perception of wellness with the Perceived Wellness Survey (PWS). Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between psychological well-being and perceived wellness. Adding a self-assessment tool to counselor education and, thus, facilitating the students' best possible psychological functioning has positive social-change implications: Considering that 57.7 million individuals sought mental health services in 2006, at a cost of {dollar}68.1 billion, working toward greater well-being of counseling students will help them provide the best therapeutic care to their future clients.

<p> In order to explore recruitment methods for attracting undergraduate underrepresented minority (URM) students to the sciences, an applied intervention involving the manipulation of the construct of interest was implemented. Using Bridges to the Baccalaureate--a scientific research program available to community college URM students--as the context for the intervention, I redesigned the original recruitment brochure into two new brochures: one designed to catch interest and one designed to catch interest as well as hold it. Largely attributable to inherent limitations of applied research, no differences were found between the number of applications submitted the year the intervention was implemented compared to the previous baseline year, nor were any differences found between the number of applications submitted by students who received the interest brochure compared to those who received the utility value brochure. </p>

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Luzern, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 417-446).

Submitted by Edileide Reis (leyde-landy@hotmail.com) on 2013-04-29T13:22:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos, Jilvania.pdf: 4606314 bytes, checksum: 2d513c77a1e22ee7ce5c49af1d80218e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora Lopes(silopes@ufba.br) on 2013-06-10T18:57:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos, Jilvania.pdf: 4606314 bytes, checksum: 2d513c77a1e22ee7ce5c49af1d80218e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-10T18:57:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos, Jilvania.pdf: 4606314 bytes, checksum: 2d513c77a1e22ee7ce5c49af1d80218e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003 / Levando-se em consideração a especialidade do psicólogo Reuven Feuerstein, em trabalhar com indivíduos portadores de problemas cognitivos acentuados, esta pesquisa visa a analisar, criticamente, a sua proposta pedagógica para as primeiras séries do Ensino Médio das escolas públicas e gratuitas, na Bahia, intitulada programa de enriquecimento instrumental (PEI). Utiliza-se de uma abordagem qualitativa, buscando compreender como esse programa, que foi gestado e desenvolvido a partir da experiência de indivíduos, historicamente, marcados pelo horror da segunda guerra mundial e/ou por apresentar problemas cognitivos estruturais graves, pode favorecer e contribuir para a formação de seres humanos autônomos, solidários e criativos, que não passa(ra)m por tais experiências. Estabelece um diálogo crítico com as concepções socioconstrutivistas, analisa e interpreta a perspectiva da teoria da modificabilidade cognitiva estrutural, ou da experiência de aprendizagem mediada ( EAM), do autor acima mencionado, apresentando uma síntese crítico-interpretativa dos seus elementos praxiológicos de sustentação: critérios de mediação, instrumentos ou cadernos didáticos do PEI e o mapa cognitivo; também, descreve, em perspectivas, o primeiro curso de treinamento dos professores-aplicadores de PEI e o desencadeamento da sua aplicação em sala de aula. A presente dissertação configura um horizonte tensivo interpretativo dos ?novos? paradigmas científicos, filosóficos e educacionais, apontados por alguns princípios norteadores da educação do século XXI, na visão de dois educadores: Luiz Felippe Perret Serpa e Dante Augusto Galeffi. Pretendese, ainda, focalizar a situação didática do PEI, demarcar o seu campo contextual e refletir sobre as suas implicações socioculturais e psicopedagógicas no processo de formação de professores e estudantes (Ensino Médio) submetidos a essa proposta, com vistas a compreender o impacto dessa experiência na educação formal dos estudantes baianos. / Salvador

A presente Tese tem por finalidade identificar quais são os principais atributos afetivos necessários à docência em graduações que atuem em educação a distância no âmbito das universidades do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. A fim de organizar uma análise daquele conjunto de atributos são utilizados alguns constructos teóricos da Psicologia relativos ao desenvolvimento humano, suas relações sociais e respectivas dinâmicas nos grupos, que acontecem em ambientes virtuais. Visando uma aproximação dos temas psicológicos, são apresentadas contribuições a partir das experiências em psicoterapia de grupos desenvolvidas por Irving Yalom para compreender melhor o que ocorre nas situações de ensino-aprendizagem, desenvolvendo as discussões num âmbito interdisciplinar. Foi realizada uma pesquisa com docentes de instituições públicas e privadas de ensino superior, que atuaram em graduação de Educação a Distância a partir de 2010. A pesquisa teve uma abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa, com cunho exploratório, a partir do estudo de casos múltiplos, utilizando entrevistas semi-estruturadas. Os questionamentos aplicados buscaram a classificação e a identificação dos principais atributos afetivos necessários aos docentes, como organização, comunicabilidade e dedicação, visando sistematizar uma formação afetiva dos professores. Os resultados obtidos mostram que há uma convergência na percepção individual dos participantes da amostra sobre dois grupos de atributos que, por suas classificações similares nas diferentes estratificações consideradas, oferecem a possibilidade do desenvolvimento de estratégias relacionais e instrumentos didáticos na formação e acompanhamento dos docentes naquela modalidade de ensino. / This thesis aims to identify which are the main affective attributes needed to teaching degrees who work in distance education universities in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. In order to organize an analysis of those set of attributes, it is used some theoretical constructs of psychology relating to human development, social relationships and their group dynamics, occurring in virtual environments for teaching and learning. Seeking an approximation of the psychological issues, it is presented possible therapeutic contributions originated from psychotherapy group experiences developed by Irving Yalom to make a better understanding of what happens in teaching and learning situations, highlighting the discussion within an interdisciplinary context. It was performed a survey with 67 teachers from public and private institutions, who worked in undergraduate classes of Distance Education from 2010, in person and remotely. The study has a quantitative and qualitative approaches, with an exploratory bias from the multiple case studies using semi-structured interviews. The applied questions sought to apply the classification and identification of the major teacher affective features, as organization, communicability ans dedication, to systematize their affective training. The results show that there is a convergence in the perception of individual participants in the sample about two groups of attributes that, by their similar classifications in the different considered stratifications, offer the possibility of developing relational, didactic training and mentoring strategies for teachers in that modality of education.