Visando a compreender o debate sobre qualidade da educação no Brasil, a pesquisa dedica-se ao seguinte problema de investigação: o que está em jogo nas noções de qualidade da educação para alguns dos principais atores sociais do campo educacional? Como hipótese, considerou-se que estaria em jogo uma redução da noção de qualidade da educação a um viés estritamente instrumental, que identifica o desempenho de estudantes nas provas em larga escala como o resultado e o foco da educação escolar. Nessa hipótese, duas grandes orientações estariam presentes: a primeira, marcada por uma lógica advinda da economia, conceberia a qualidade da educação como a capacidade cognitiva de estudantes, expressa pelos resultados dos testes padronizados, com os demais aspectos educativos sendo analisados em termos de fatores associados a esses resultados. A segunda conceberia a qualidade da educação na perspectiva dos direitos; mais do que \"melhorar\" a qualidade da educação, a prioridade incidiria na construção de uma \"nova\" qualidade, subjacente aos desafios derivados da expansão da escolarização básica. A investigação se deu com base no exame das contribuições da literatura especializada sobre o tema da qualidade da educação e na delineação de uma arena, composta por atores sociais situados no Estado, na sociedade civil e em organismos multilaterais. Na sociedade civil, incluíram-se organizações correspondentes a grupos sociais distintos: dirigentes educacionais (municipais e estaduais), magistério, estudantes, especialistas/pesquisadores, as chamadas organizações não governamentais e o empresariado. Reconstituída a arena de atores, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com seus representantes. A conclusão foi que a hipótese formulada confirmou-se parcialmente. Há uma tendência de alguns atores reduzirem a noção de qualidade da educação a um aspecto instrumental, que identifica o desempenho dos estudantes nas provas em larga escala como o resultado e o foco da educação escolar, assim como foi possível identificar o enunciado de duas grandes perspectivas nas noções de qualidade da educação. Entretanto, as distinções entre elas não são exatamente nos mesmos termos propostos pela hipótese. Para ambas, o que está em jogo nas noções de qualidade da educação é a redução das desigualdades educacionais, vista por dois prismas distintos: 1) a elevação do desempenho dos estudantes nas provas de larga escala e 2) a garantia de condições de ensino que conduzam a uma formação ampla dos estudantes, abrangendo não só os conteúdos curriculares convencionais como também a cidadania e capacidades éticas. Concluiu-se ainda que haveria três principais pontos de divergência entre os atores: a concepção de qualidade da educação, o lugar das provas em larga escala e as prioridades para as políticas quanto ao magistério. / This research project originated from the attempt to understand the debate about quality of education in Brazil. This work aims at understanding what is at stake in the notions of quality of education for some of the main social actors in the educational field. As a hypothesis, what was considered to be at stake was the concept of quality of education reduced to a strictly instrumental bias, which identifies students\' performance on large-scale as the outcome and focus of education. Two main perspectives were present, which can be broadly defined as: the first one, characterized by an economic logic, conceives quality of education as the cognitive ability of students, shown by the results of standardized tests. The other educational aspects were analyzed in terms of factors associated with these results. The second perspective conceives the quality of education within a rights framework; more than \"improving\" the quality of education, the priority would be to create a \"new\" quality, which underlies the challenges arising from the expansion of basic schooling. The investigation was conducted based on a review of specific literature on the topic of quality of education and the delineation of an arena, consisting of social actors within the State, civil society and multilateral organizations. In civil society, there was the intention to include organizations representing different social groups, such as educational leaders/administrators (city and state), teachers, students, experts and researchers, the so-called non-governmental organizations and also business representatives. Once the arena of actors was reconstituted, a strategy of semistructured interviews was adopted with its representatives. The findings led to the conclusion that the hypothesis is only partially correct. There is a tendency for some actors to reduce the notion of quality of education to a strictly instrumental bias, which identifies students\' performance in tests on a large scale as the outcome and focus of education. It was also possible to identify two main concepts of quality of education. However, the distinctions between them are not exactly on the same terms as proposed by the hypothesis. In both perspectives, what is at stake in the notions of quality of education seems to be the decrease of inequalities in education, seen from two different angles: 1) the increase of student performances on large-scale tests and 2) ensuring a variety of teaching conditions, that would provide students with a broad education, including not only the curriculum content as well as citizenship and ethical capacities. In conclusion, three main differences were found among the actors: the concept of quality of education, the role of large-scale examinations and priorities for policies on teaching.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-03-29T13:07:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 eliamarciacortes.pdf: 691862 bytes, checksum: 06f636fec7bebd5c2fdb0cb2bd316c33 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-04-24T02:46:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 eliamarciacortes.pdf: 691862 bytes, checksum: 06f636fec7bebd5c2fdb0cb2bd316c33 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-24T02:46:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 eliamarciacortes.pdf: 691862 bytes, checksum: 06f636fec7bebd5c2fdb0cb2bd316c33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-15 / O presente trabalho se propõe a investigar o impacto da Avaliação diagnóstica bimestral Saerjinho na rotina de uma escola estadual da região Noroeste do estado do Rio de Janeiro, verificando se há influências desse processo avaliativo na concepção de avaliação externa e interna dos atores escolares e se essas influências são positivas. O Saerjinho foi implantado em 2011, como parte do Sistema de Avaliação da Secretaria Estadual de Educação, com o objetivo de ser um instrumento para identificação das dificuldades dos alunos, possibilitando intervenções dos gestores e professores, antes da avaliação anual, o SAERJ. Desde que foi implantado, o Saerjinho parece ter influenciado a concepção de gestores, professores e alunos, da escola em análise, sobre a avaliação, provocando uma mudança de mentalidade e de postura em relação à mesma e, especialmente, em relação às avaliações sistêmicas. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, são utilizados dois procedimentos: a entrevista com alguns representantes da comunidade escolar, direta ou indiretamente envolvidos no processo de avaliação diagnóstica bimestral, e a observação participante, pela qual se verifica o ambiente escolar e o envolvimento da comunidade com a referida avaliação. Neste trabalho, discutem-se, ainda, as contribuições desta avaliação diagnóstica para os desafios da qualidade da educação, na escola, enquanto microcosmo, uma vez que a qualidade é o grande desafio da gestão educacional no estado do Rio de Janeiro. / This study proposes to investigate the impact of bimonthly diagnostic evaluation Saerjinho at the state school routine in northwest region in the state of Rio de Janeiro, demonstrating whether there are influences by this process of assessment in the school agents conception of internal and external evaluation and whether these influences are positive. Saerjinho was first applied in 2011 as part of Assessment System of the Education Department State aiming to be an instrument to identify students’ difficulties and enabling interventions of principals and teachers before SAERJ, the annual assessment. Since it was implemented Saerjinho seems to have influenced managers, teachers and students conceptions over the school in question about evaluation causing mentality and attitude changing toward it and especially regarding systemic assessments. In order to develop this research two techniques are applied: the interview with some school community representatives, either directly or indirectly involved in the process of bimonthly diagnostic evaluation and active observation in which we observe school environment and its involvement with that assessment. In this dissertation we also discuss the contributions of this diagnostic evaluation to the challenges of education quality at school as microcosm, since quality is the greatest challenge of education administration in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-07-11T20:32:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 helaineaparecidadasilva.pdf: 1627931 bytes, checksum: 2b5f46aa5e2d3f43df0c57dbd20b58d8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-07-13T16:46:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 helaineaparecidadasilva.pdf: 1627931 bytes, checksum: 2b5f46aa5e2d3f43df0c57dbd20b58d8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-07-13T16:46:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 helaineaparecidadasilva.pdf: 1627931 bytes, checksum: 2b5f46aa5e2d3f43df0c57dbd20b58d8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-13T16:46:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 helaineaparecidadasilva.pdf: 1627931 bytes, checksum: 2b5f46aa5e2d3f43df0c57dbd20b58d8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-27 / O objetivo deste trabalho é elucidar e discutir os nexos das ações desenvolvidas pelas escolas públicas municipais, mais especificamente as das séries inicias do Ensino Fundamental de Juiz de Fora (MG), que se configuraram nos bons resultados do IDEB. Para tanto, o procedimento metodológico consistiu na análise dos dados observados de 56 escolas nos anos de 2007 e 2009, obtidos a partir de um levantamento realizado no sítio do INEP. Com base nessas informações, realizamos o cálculo da variação percentual do IDEB (ΔIDEB (%)) e, assim, selecionamos oito escolas que apresentaram maior variação do índice, sendo uma escola de cada região geográfica. Posteriormente, a análise qualitativa consistiu na aplicação de um questionário e entrevista semiestruturada. Nesse contexto, é importante registrar que a, partir de 2007, a Educação Básica no Brasil começou a ser monitorada pelo IDEB (Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica), um indicador estatístico que expressa os resultados de rendimento escolar (aprovação) e desempenho dos alunos (Prova Brasil). A divulgação dos resultados ganhou centralidade nas discussões sobre a qualidade da educação oferecida em todo país. Assim sendo, os resultados da pesquisa apontam a correlação entre as ações executadas pelas escolas e a considerável evolução no IDEB. Por fim, acreditamos que a contribuição deste estudo para a área da pesquisa em educação seja o enfoque no ponto de vista do educador, tendo em vista que uma das melhores maneiras de se pesquisar a consolidação de uma política educacional, como avaliação externa e seus resultados, é dando voz àqueles que de fato vivenciam o processo. / The aim of this study is to elucidate and discuss the nexus of actions developed by the municipal public schools, more specifically the initial series of elementary school in Juiz de Fora, which is configured in the good results of the IDEB. For both, the methodological procedure consisted in the analysis of observed data of 56 schools in the years of 2007 and 2009, obtained from a survey conducted on the site of INEP. Based on this information, we calculate the percentage change of IDEB (ΔIDEB (%)) and so we have selected 8 schools that showed greater variation of the index, being a school from each geographical region. Subsequently, the qualitative analysis consisted in the application of a questionnaire and semi-structured interview. In this context, it is important to register that from 2007, basic education in Brazil began to be monitored by IDEB (basic education development index), a statistical indicator that expresses the results of school performance (approval) and student performance (Brazil). The dissemination of the results gained centrality in discussions about the quality of education offered throughout the country. Thus, the search results will point out the correlation between the actions taken by the schools and the considerable evolution in the IDEB. Finally, we believe that the contribution of this study to the area of research in education is the focus on the educator's point of view, considering that one of the best ways to search the consolidation of an educational policy, as the external evaluation and its results, is giving voice to those who actually experience the process.

Distance education (DE) in Brazilian higher education level has been growing since the early 2000. This educational method has been becoming more popular, due to its geographic and space flexibility as well as for its potential to take education to remote areas; that is, to people who would not be able to access a traditional face-to-face institution. Additionally, this growth leads to an increase in competition, which enhances the need to assess results. For this purpose there are models in the educational field that help the evaluation of programs, as well as models in the business field which use a marketing perspective and are rarely applied in educational services. Thus, this dissertation aims to evaluate DE considering students\', instructors\' and institutional (coordinators\' points of view) perceptions under a services marketing perspective. A case study was conducted considering Open University of Brazil Public Management undergraduate course. Study followed three phases. In the first phase a survey was conducted in order to acquire students\' perceptions of course quality, image, satisfaction and loyalty. In the second phase, a survey was conducted considering professors and tutors in order to acquire their attitudes toward technology and DE. Finally, in the third phase coordinators were interviewed in order to understand course\'s characteristics and their view of problems and potential strengths. Ten universities member of the Open University participated of the study, which totalizes 593 students, 120 instructors and nine coordinators. Students\' sample presented favorable perceptions of course quality, satisfaction, image, loyalty and institutional support. There is significant relationship between perceived quality and student satisfaction, as well as satisfaction and quality, directly and indirectly, influence student loyalty. Finally, image regarding the Open University influences course perceived quality. In addition, in this case there are similar proportion of men and women and male students showed slightly higher satisfaction and loyalty to the course. Instructors\' sample did not show relationship among attitudes and participation in DE nor among perceptions of technology and DE use. However, in general, instructors\' attitudes are favorable on considered dimensions. Coordinators reported within the main reasons for DE adoption the opportunity to disseminate education to unprivileged areas. In addition; some difficulties found relate to infrastructure. Gap analysis showed coordinators have higher perception scores on quality dimensions than students. In general, results for the three stakeholders were positive; considered constructs showed satisfactory results, reinforcing importance of the study of DE under business perspective in order to identify weaknesses and strengths and to conduct modifications on course strategies and policies. / A educação a distância (EAD) no nível superior no Brasil tem observado grande expansão desde o início dos anos 2000. Esse método de ensino tem se popularizado, por sua flexibilidade geográfica e espacial e pela possibilidade de levar a educação a áreas remotas e, por conseguinte, a indivíduos que não teriam acesso a uma instituição tradicional. Adicionalmente, esse fenômeno de alto crescimento, implica aumento da competição no mercado educacional e, traz consigo, a necessidade de se avaliarem os resultados dessas iniciativas. Para tanto, há modelos na área de educação que subsidiam as avaliações de programa, bem como modelos da área de negócio, que aplicam uma perspectiva de marketing a essas avaliações, esses últimos pouco explorados na área educacional. Assim, esta tese tem como objetivo avaliar a educação a distância sob as perspectivas dos alunos, dos instrutores e da instituição (por meio de sua coordenação) sob uma perspectiva de marketing de serviços. Realizou-se um estudo de caso no curso de bacharelado em Administração Pública da Universidade Aberta do Brasil (UAB), incluindo três fases. A primeira fase consistiu de um survey realizado com alunos do curso de Administração Pública da UAB, a fim de aferir sua percepção de qualidade, imagem da instituição, satisfação com o curso e lealdade ao mesmo. A segunda fase consistiu de um survey com os instrutores, professores e tutores do curso, a fim de avaliar suas atitudes em relação à tecnologia e à EAD. Finalmente, a terceira fase consistiu da realização de entrevistas com os coordenadores de curso com vistas a compreender as características do curso e sua visão a respeito dos problemas e potenciais do curso a distância. Participaram do estudo dez universidades membros do sistema UAB, totalizando uma amostra de 593 alunos, 120 instrutores e nove coordenadores. A amostra de alunos apresentou percepções favoráveis acerca da qualidade do curso, satisfação, imagem, lealdade e apoio institucional. Observou-se relação significante entre a qualidade percebida e a satisfação do aluno, assim como influência da satisfação e da qualidade, de forma direta e indireta, sobre a lealdade do estudante. Finalmente, a imagem sobre o sistema UAB influencia a percepção de qualidade sobre o curso. Adicionalmente, no caso estudado há proporções parecidas de homens e mulheres e os homens mostraram satisfação e lealdade ligeiramente maiores que suas colegas do gênero feminino. Na amostra de instrutores não se identificou relação entre attitudes e participação na EAD nem entre a percepção sobre o uso da tecnologia e da EAD. Entretanto, observou-se que, em geral, as atitudes dos instrutores é favorável nas dimensões avaliadas. Os coordenadores reportaram que dentre as principais razões para a adoção da EAD nas instituições está a oportunidade de disseminar a educação em áreas desprivilegiadas. Ademais, algumas dificuldades encontradas são relacionadas à infraestrutura. A análise de gaps de qualidade revelou que os coordenadores possuem percepção mais favorável sobre a qualidade do curso do que os alunos. De forma geral, os resultados obtidos para os três stakeholders considerados foram positivos; os construtos avaliados mostraram resultados satisfatórios, o que reforça a possibilidade de se estudar a EAD sob a perspectiva de negócios, para que se identifiquem forças e fraquezas e que possam ser realizadas alterações nas estratégias e políticas do curso.

[pt] Esta pesquisa situa-se no centro das indagações sobre os objetivos da educação institucionalizada e sobre o cumprimento, por parte da escola, daquilo que oficialmente ela promete – a democratização do conhecimento escolar. Foram investigadas as condições de produção do ensino considerado de qualidade em nosso sistema escolar público, através do estudo de caso da Unidade Humaitá II, que integra a rede de 13 Unidades Escolares do Colégio Pedro II, instituição considerada um marco na educação brasileira porque sua história se origina na própria história social, política e cultural do país, sendo uma escola percebida como lócus de produção de elites escolares na perspectiva do imaginário social. Para investigar a identidade institucional dessa escola pública de prestígio, assumiu-se a hipótese de que o rendimento dos alunos é diretamente influenciado pelo clima do estabelecimento, recorrendo-se a aspectos atribuídos ao clima escolar e que foram destacados como fatores que outorgam diferenciação de qualidade às escolas. A noção de clima se mostra como um fator primordial para o estudo da identidade dos estabelecimentos de ensino. Concebidas como organizações sociais, as escolas distinguem-se entre si, com seus modos próprios de funcionamento e seus sistemas sociais de relações. O trabalho de campo foi realizado ao longo de 2007 e 2008 e os dados foram coletados através dos seguintes procedimentos: observação nos espaços coletivos, observação em salas de aula, entrevistas semi-estruturadas (formais e informais) com professores, alunos e funcionários e pesquisa em documentos. Para operacionalização do conceito de clima escolar e análise das investigações, foram tomados como referência teórico metodológica os autores Antonio Nóvoa, Leila Mafra, Luc Brunet, Olivier Cousin, Pascal Bressoux , Teixeira Lopes e Manuel Jacinto Sarmento. A partir da análise do material empírico foi possível identificar, no contexto institucional da escola investigada, a configuração singular do conjunto de características que constituem sua imagem de excelência. O sentimento de pertencimento e a identificação dos integrantes da escola com o universo identitário do Colégio Pedro II, a diversidade na origem social dos estudantes, bem como a formação e o comprometimento dos docentes são as singularidades institucionais que distinguem a Unidade Escolar Humaitá II, possibilitando à maior escola pública brasileira fornecer um bom atendimento de Ensinos Fundamental e Médio e ser detentora de desfechos escolares socialmente valorizados. / [en] This study is inserted in current investigations about the goals of formal education and about the fulfillment of the promise schools make: social rise to all students. Focusing on our public school system, we investigated the conditions under which quality teaching is produced. This investigation consisted of a case study referring to Humaitá II, one of the thirteen branches of Colégio Pedro II, a teaching institution which is considered a landmark in Brazilian education, as the history of this school is closely related to the very history of the country, in social, political and cultural terms. Also, this school is seen by Brazilian population as a producer of social elites. We started with the hypothesis that students` proficiency is directly influenced by the atmosphere surrounding the school they attend. We focused on some of the aspects related to this atmosphere – the ones that were highlighted as capable of making a difference in terms of quality teaching. The notion of school atmosphere appears as a crucial factor to the study of school identity. As a social organization, each school has its own way of operating and its own social relation system. The field work was conducted in the years of 2007 and 2008 and data was collected in the following ways: observation of classrooms and other collective spaces, documental research and semi-structured interviews, both formal and informal, with teachers, students and other school workers. In order to use the concept of school atmosphere properly and analyze the data, we took the works of Antonio Nóvoa, Leila Mafra, Luc Brunet, Olivier Cousin, Pascal Bressoux, Teixeira Lopes and Manuel Jacinto Sarmento our theoretical and methodological reference. Through the analysis of the empirical data it was possible to identify the singular configuration that the Humaitá branch has, that is, the set of characteristics that account for its public image of excellence. These characteristics are: the identification of the members of the school with the identitary universe of Colégio Pedro II, the feeling of belonging to this universe, the variety of social origins of its students and the qualification and commitment of its teachers. All of these constitute the institutional singularity of the Humaitá branch and make it possible for Colégio Pedro II, the biggest Brazilian public school of elementary and secondary levels, to provide quality teaching and socially valued school results.

This diploma thesis deals with the quality of education and possibilities of its measuring. Primarily it is focused on the assessment Programme for International Student Assessment. The aim of this diploma thesis is to find out whether significant regional disparities could be identified and to reveal potential factors influencing the causes of these disparities. Education is generally considered to be important factor of regional development and the way how to improve economic and social situation of the region. Theoretical part of the diploma thesis describes definitions of the basic concepts, the role of education in theories of the regional development, issue of education quality and background of PISA project. Practical part introduces the education system in the Czech Republic and the role of our regions as partly autonomous units. Especially the attention is paid to PISA results. The last results 2012 of Czech regions are the object of further analysis.

O segmento do Ensino Superior passa por uma consolidação e profissionalização. A maior parte das Instituições particulares iniciou suas atividades como empresas familiares e isoladas, sem a devida profissionalização na gestão. Era muito frequente a Instituição ter, em suas diretorias, profissionais que vinham do setor público ou sem o devido preparo empresarial. Ao longo dos anos de 1990 várias Instituições Particulares surgiram, por autorização do Ministério da Educação, para cobrir uma lacuna não atendida pelas Instituições do Sistema Federal de Ensino. Atualmente o mercado apresenta uma acirrada concorrência, o que exige que o segmento passe por uma transformação: a profissionalização da gestão. No início dos anos 2000 o MEC passou a avaliar as Instituições de Ensino por meio de índices de qualidade. Este estudo de caso, desenvolvido a partir de pesquisa exploratória e descritiva, analisou as contribuições de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior Sustentável para o desenvolvimento local. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida com os alunos egressos, verificando a sua contribuição para o mercado de trabalho em termos de empregabilidade, inovação, e ações de responsabilidade social. Ao final da pesquisa pôde-se concluir que a Instituição de Ensino Superior (IES) pode ser considerada sustentável, na medida em que atende, com satisfação, seus principais stakeholders: clientes, mercado de trabalho e sociedade. / The segment of higher education is going through a consolidation and professionalization. Most private higher education institutions started as family businesses and isolated, and without proper professionalism in management. It was very frequent in this segment that the directors who came from the public sector without proper preparation. Throughout the Nineties, many private institutions have arisen by permission of the Ministry of Education to cover a gap not met by the institutions of the federal system of education. Currently, it is recognized that the market is a fierce competition, which requires that the segment passes through a transformation, the professionalization of management. In early 2000, Ministry of Education began to measure educational institutions through quality indices. This study case, classified as an exploratory and descriptive research examined an sustainable institution of higher educations contributions for local development from its graduates, and thus its contribution to the labor market in terms of employability, innovation and social responsibility. At the end of the survey, the conclusion is that the higher education institution can be considered sustainable in that itmeets their satisfaction with key stakeholders (customers, labor market and society).

There are growing concerns about quality of education in schools in many countries, and education systems implement mechanisms like school inspection, an external education quality assurance measure, to evaluate their education. Realising that effective improvement of education quality may be achieved from within rather than from outside, many education systems are adopting School Self-Evaluation (SSE), an internal evaluation process, to evaluate quality of education. This study attempted to identify the characteristics of effective SSE frameworks in order to develop one for Zimbabwean primary schools. The study utilised exemplary frameworks as facilitators for introducing SSE practices in Zimbabwe and was guided by the following question: What are the characteristics of an effective SSE framework for improving classroom quality in Zimbabwean primary schools? The study espoused design research approach which aims to provide solutions to various education problems. The study comprised three phases, the preliminary phase which included a literature review and a needs analysis with the former aimed to gain insight into the efficacy of SSE in evaluating quality of education. The needs analysis sought to establish how education is evaluated in Zimbabwean primary schools. The second, the prototyping phase, involved developing and formatively evaluating various prototypes. The last phase, a semi-summative evaluation, involved field-testing and appraisal of the intervention. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data. Six design principles were generated with the main ones being to engage stakeholders in developing SSE frameworks, to agree on the need for SSE initiative and to define the quality indicators in context. The main characteristics of the SSE framework were that it should have a clear purpose, be context specific, and should focus on what is essential for education. The main conclusion of the study is that there are no clear policy guidelines for Zimbabwean primary schools, coupled with lack of SSE instruments, to engage in self-evaluation of quality of education and therefore, no meaningful SSE takes place. An SSE framework with procedural guidelines developed in this research appears to be relevant, feasible and is expected to be effective for use in Zimbabwean primary schools. Some recommendations were made in order to improve Zimbabwe‟s quality of education. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Centre for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA) / University of Pretoria / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / PhD / Unrestricted

Doctor Educationis / The language of instruction plays a determining role in students’ academic performance. This suggests that students should be taught in a language they are familiar with in order to enhance understanding of the content subjects. In Rwanda, almost all Rwandans communicate and interact in Kinyarwanda, their mother tongue. It is, thus, expected that Rwandan children should be instructed in this home language. However, the status of English as a global language has also found echo in Rwanda, and this foreign language was adopted as medium of instruction from Primary 4 onwards. This thesis, therefore, aims to determine what role English as a medium plays in delivering quality education in Rwanda. To respond to the above question, the researcher investigated three secondary Third Form schools in the rural Gisagara District of the Southern Province. She wanted to explore the teaching and learning strategies deployed in the English language classrooms and the learning materials and infrastructure available at the schools. The focus was on English language classes as these were the spaces in which Rwandan children were explicitly exposed to English and where their proficiency in the language was developed. However, the researcher also needed to find out the effect that English had on the students’ academic performance, the correlation between their results in English and their results in content subjects, and the students’ and teachers’ perceptions of English as language of instruction. It is in this vein that a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches was used and various data collection techniques employed to obtain enriched data. Classroom observations and interviews with students and their English teachers were conducted. A questionnaire was also distributed to the students and their results in English and in content subjects were analysed to supplement the data generated by other methods. This study was guided by sociocultural theories of second language learning according to which language is a mediating tool that helps to adjust relationships between people that live in the same community. Language is, hence, a necessary artifact that is worth acquiring. For language learning to take place, learners need to interact with more knowledgeable people. In the classroom, it is the teacher who has to mediate this learning, assuming that he/she is more knowledgeable than the students. Classroom peer interactions in the target language also provide room wherein brighter students may assist their struggling classmates. Language across the curriculum approach and content-based instruction also inspired this study. These approaches suggest that language should be taught in context and especially through the content related to the students’ fields of study. The research findings indicate that the students were not proficient in English, the language of instruction, which hindered their school achievement. In addition, no correlation could be established between the students’ results in English and their results in content subjects. Indeed, despite the students’ poor performance in English they did better in this language than in the content subjects. Furthermore, not all students who fared well in English succeeded in the content subjects, and some students scored good marks in the content subjects whilst they failed in English. The findings also show that the teaching and learning strategies used in the language classrooms, as well as the learning materials and infrastructure at the schools, did not promote English acquisition. Ironically, despite English being a hindrance to the learning of other subjects, both the students and their teachers affirmed that they preferred that this language remain as medium of instruction. They believed that being competent in English could offer them more life opportunities than any other language.

Die beständige Adaption von Lehr-Lern-Szenarien gehört zu den obligatorischen Aufgaben im Lehrbetrieb. Dies umfasst auch die Integration moderner Lehr-Lern -Methoden insbesondere aus dem Bereich der neuen Medien, welche viele weitere Aspekte ans Tageslicht bringt, die bei Planung, Durchführung, Evaluierung und Überarbeitung von Lehr-Lern-Szenarien Berücksichtigung finden müssen. Um diesen Anforderungen gerecht zu werden, identifizieren wir Erfolgsfaktoren moderner Lehr-Lern-Szenarien und geben Handlungsempfehlungen, die an die agilen Vorgehensweisen im Software-Projektmanagement angelehnt sind. So soll der Aufwand für ein umfassendes Qualitätsmanagement in Grenzen gehalten und dennoch eine qualitativ hochwertige Lehre in zeitgemäßen Lehr-Lern-Szenarien ermöglicht werden.