Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Central Florida, 2008. / Adviser: Lisa Dieker. Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-110).

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This investigation was inspired by Carkhuff's postulated that the principles which underlie effective counseling are equally pertinent to everyday human relationships – such as one may observe in the family. Carkhuff has not articulated this postulate in any detail and the present investigation both develops the notion of family problem solving strategies and tests it out in a practical situation. The development of this notion of family problem solving strategies begins with an integration of Carkhuff's model of the counseling process with similar models put forward by other authors. This is followed by a detailed analysis of family problem solving strategies as reported in the literature, and collation of data from both sources into a so-called Family Transaction Model (FTM). This Model consists of a series of distinctive though related parameters of family problem solving which include inner feelings, listening, self-expression, conflict management, the determination and execution of action plans, and the roles adopted by family members. Each parameter is defined in terms of specific behaviours or skills, postulated as necessary for effective problem solving. This FTM is then subjected to empirical validation in a comprehensive field study using 75 members of 18 complete nuclear families. A factor analysis of data derived from videotaped family discussions shows up two distinctive factors, "supportive involvement" and "distracting involvement"; these cover the parameters postulated above albeit in modified format. The main measurement variables involved have satisfactory inter-examiner and test-retest reliability. The FTM plus ancillary measures is shown to be highly effective in discriminating between parents and children; the former virtually embody the characteristics of supportive involvement while the latter show its obverse or distracting involvement. The Model also differentiates between male and female parents and, to a lesser extent, between male and female children. But it does not differentiate between family groups defined as troubled or untroubled on the basis of their referral to some helping agency or their mutual ratings of problem solving effectiveness. The format used for this assessment phase of the investigation also demonstrates the viability of using questionnaire ratings to ascertain family problem solving strategies, the value of family group discussion of real issues as a means to gather diagnostic data, and the inhibiting effects of videotape recording on the interview behaviour of participants. Finally the FTM is used as basis for a short-term treatment programme of 4 further sessions, such as might be undertaken by community resource personnel who have limited time and skill. This programme proves ineffective in changing observed interview behaviour, though participants report beneficial changes in attitude, mutual understanding and family relationships outside the interview situation. The results further suggest that the FTM is a viable basis for a treatment programme but that it is too comprehensive for success to be achieved in so few sessions, that therapists require extensive prior experience and training, that family members need to be flexibly involved in treatment, and that the entire programme needs to be carefully planned with a high degree of structure in the initial stages. The results of the present study as a whole provide a basis for further investigation including the validation of the FTM with a wide range of family groups, the development of more comprehensive rating scales, modifications in the assessment interview’s format, the development of a more effective treatment programme, and the development of an appropriate training programme for community resource personnel.

The aim of this one year descriptive longitudinal study was to investigate the efficient strategies some competent novice readers used while learning to read in an existing reading programme for which text reading was the main instructional task. The prior teaching of sounds or of words in isolation or in lists was not emphasized in this programme. The authors of the texts tried to use the language of New Zealand Children. These texts provide the support for the Auckland child who comes to the new task of reading with a set of responses learnt from his past experience with oral language. Other important questions of the study related to whether children in such a programme could read not only unseen classroom texts, but also texts from a programme with a decoding emphasis. Fifty-two competent readers were chosen by a stratified random sampling method from 242 six-year-old children attending 20 randomly selected schools in Auckland. Strategy usage in oral reading was related to 3 factors: learning opportunities over time, (at 6:0, 6:6 and 7:0); reader proficiency, (Average, High Average, Good and Excellent); and text difficulty, (Easy, Moderately Difficult, Difficult and Phonically Regular). The children’s performances on oral reading and an oral sentence repetition test at 6:0 and 7:0 were compared. The data comprising errors and self corrections were analyzed at three linguistic levels (graphemic/phonemic, syntactic and semantic), to infer strategies. The Friedman two-way analysis of variance test for related samples was used for most comparisons. Th level of significance was set at p<0.05. The findings suggest that the Auckland child used the facilitating effects of meaning and structure in both reading and sentence repetition tasks. The control which children gained from 6:0 to 7:0 over texts with the decoding emphasis was achieved by attention to both graphemic cues and cues from structure and meaning. The competent novice reader also showed flexibility in selecting different strategies to deal with easy, familiar texts and difficult or novel texts. Such strategies are a necessary part of a model of mature reading which dies not see reading as exclusively the use of anticipatory mechanisms nor solely the use of sequential letter-by-letter processing. The competent novice reader was apparently learning to use either, or combinations, of these processes. The results of the study highlight the complex nature of learning to read and suggest that while some teaching programmes that emphasize a particular learning strategy may be successful, they may not take full advantage of other equally valid strategies which children can develop. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

<p> This qualitative research compared and contrasted the experiences, expectations, hopes, and dreams held by three dyads of Heritage Language and Culture (HLC) parents in three different countries concerning education. Sociolinguistic and sociocultural methods of analysis of narrative were used to code and analyze 63 stories selected from six participant interview transcripts. The context of each research venue, including economic, racial, and social positioning of each participant was explored, as were the researcher&rsquo;s subjectivities, as elements impacting the analysis and interpretation of findings. Especially impactful on the findings and implications of this research was that each of the participant parents had experienced a <i>significant negative event</i> during their childhood schooling, and each participant had at least one child who had also experienced a significant negative event while attending a primary level public school.</p><p> Findings answered the five research questions and indicated that HLC parents valued education and identified it as a means of achieving success. Although the definition of success was found to vary by country of residence, all the participant parents believed academic and life success were dependent upon the acquisition of English language skills. Although parents in all three research venues recited multiple instances of physical abuse or threats or acts of violence or racism within the school setting, and were not surprised that it occurred, all valued the social aspects of attending school.</p><p> The implications for educational program planners and school personnel arising from these findings include the potential for misunderstanding between U.S. school personnel and HLC immigrant families concerning corporal punishment policies and violence, rejection of U.S. education program definitions of successful educational outcomes by HLC families, and reciprocity in education between schools and families. Three avenues for future research resulting from this current research are suggested.</p>

<p> Bullying prevention in schools has arguably met with limited success in the United States. Diversity negatively impacts the success of bullying prevention programs. Furthermore, researchers do not agree upon intervention timing and appropriate grade-level to implement bullying prevention and social-emotional learning and skill-building programs. Urban schools faced with high poverty have an increased need for bullying prevention programs to alleviate bullying and aggression. The purpose of this study was to test for significant differences between urban elementary schools after a treatment group participated in a targeted bullying prevention and social skill-building program and to test for grade-level differences from fall to spring using a quantitative causal-comparative design. The sample included four urban schools in Ohio with 24 grade-levels and six time points each. The data generated were analyzed retrospectively in a causal-comparative research design. A two-way mixed ANOVA BBW was conducted on the summary totals of the number of students disciplined for bullying and aggression using six time points with three for fall or before treatment and three for spring or after treatment comparing a treatment group to a control group. Significant differences were not found between control and treatment or between grade groups (<i>p</i> > .05). Bullying and aggression started the school year and ended the school year slightly higher in the 4-6^th grade group. Significant differences were found from fall to spring (<i>F</i> (5,16) = 7.704, <i>p</i> = .001). Overall the study findings indicate the targeted bullying prevention and social-skill building program did not result in reducing bullying and aggressive behavior in the sample population.</p><p>

<p> This study examined the process of team creativity in the workplace as it relates to experiential, cognitive, and social factors, including organizational and cultural structures, team social dynamics, and effects on individuals. Its purpose was to understand the quality of real-time social interactions and dynamics underlying the creative process in teams. The researcher employed a case study methodology, using observation and individual and focus group interviews of a highly creative team within an organization in a creative industry. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. </p><p> The study had seven major findings: (1) the team actively integrated elements of play during initial interactions; (2) the setting provided a &ldquo;play&rdquo; environment that encouraged team members to view things from different perspectives; (3) the play mood that was initiated in early meetings accelerated team bonding and trust and consequently facilitated the emergence of creativity in subsequent meetings; (4) through the active integration of available resources and tools over time, team members generated novel ways of interacting with the environment; (5) the introduction of externally induced stress caused an abrupt shift from playful to task-oriented behaviors; (6) the final solution emerged gradually through incremental integration of ideas proposed by individual team members over time; and (7) all team members took part in developing elements of the final work product based on their individual strengths and preferences. Conclusions include the following: (1) the creative process incorporates play as a behavioral orientation; (2) the creative process is enabled by a combination of autonomy and constraint; (3) the creative process combines significant aspects of experiential and social learning expressed through the reciprocal interaction of the environment, personal and cognitive factors, and behavior; and (4) team member alignment around shared values helps facilitate social dynamics and the creative process. This study sheds new insight on the transdisciplinary nature of the creativity phenomenon that integrates creativity, play, adult learning, and general systems theories. Recommendations for practice and research include, but are not limited to, integrating this study&rsquo;s findings into existing innovative team learning models (e.g., action learning) and developing an inquiry-based design to generating creativity in organizations.</p><p>

Includes bibliographies.

artistic workshop focused on enhancment and development of the central urban zone. Based on former urban idea of education as one of the basic activities to comunicate a presentate the cultural ideas.

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