The study attempted to determine the current expenditures for secondary school guidance programs in Utah. In addition, the study attempted to evaluate the adequacy of selected guidance programs and to determine if a relationship existed between guidance expenditures and adequacy of guidance programs. Fiscal data were collected, tabulated, and analyzed using financial reports from the Utah Office of Education. Further, response forms were administered to students, school administrators, counselors , and teachers in an attempt to elicit responses from these persons relative to their perceptions of guidance program adequacy in their respective schools. Results indicated that Utah districts, as a group, spend 1.6 percent of their instructional budgets for guidance purposes. This figure is considerably below the three percent usually recommended in the current literature as being necessary for a "minimum" guidance program. Significant differences were observed in the per pupil expenditures between National Defense Education Act, Title V participants and non- participants with the participants allocating the greater amount .Metropolitan districts were observed to be making significantly greater per pupil expenditures than districts with smaller populations. No significant differences were found in the number of "yes," or positive responses, of students or teachers from "minimum" and "maximum" spending effort schools. A general conclusion was reached that Utah districts do not presently allocate percentages of instructional budgets that will allow them to develop or maintain sound guidance programs. Either larger budgetary consideration should be provided or else it should be clearly recognized by educators and the lay public that guidance programs that appear to be inadequate may be the result, in part, of unrealistic financing. A general recommendation that encompasses several others presented in the study is that a total re-evaluation of fiscal policies, practices, allocation procedures, and record keeping for guidance programs is in order. Improvement of budgetary practices and guidance programs are such that changes cannot be expected without increased awareness and commitment by counselor educators, administrators, parents, State Office of Education officials, and counselors. Without such an awareness and commitment; we cannot expect to observe a change from undesirable budgetary practices and relatively unsound guidance programs now found in Utah.

This study of the supervisory activities of the Utah high school principals vas originally planned by the Utah State Department of Public Instruction and the Utah Secondary School Principals' Association, to be a part of a questionnaire study on the status of the Utah high school principal. As it was later not included in the status study, the supervision study became a study by itself.

This thesis examines peer influences on the development of masculinities for a group of boys attending a secondary school. A small male peer group in a selected school setting was studied over a three - year period, with an emphasis on extensive observation and interview. The study suggests that students actively engage in resistance as a way to claim power and prove masculinities, and thus identities, in the school setting, often resulting in poor educational outcomes for individual boys. The thesis proposes that discourses of masculinities are central to the creation of identities for young adolescent males, and shape the way they present as learners in the school environment. These discourses are informed and governed by peers and the need for individuals to find belonging within the peer milieu. Central to such discourses is the theme of power. Focused on gender as being socially constructed, and humans perceived to be self determining and moulded through interactions with others, this study is strongly influenced by the ideas of John Dewey (1910, 1966), Charles Taylor (1989, 1994) and Michael Foucault (1971,1977,1978,1981). It uses a framework based on three central themes - identity, power, and peer relationships, to shape and provide focus to the inquiry. In so doing, it seeks to find a "third space", a place where meanings become "fused" and "new horizons" emerge. The presentation is divided into four sections. The first section outlines the nature, research design and setting of the study. The second uses dialogue of the varying voices I brought to the research to explore the central themes of the framework. The third section draws the three themes together to examine the subjects' understanding of masculinities and how this influences their identities as learners, as well as how they perceive possible futures. / The final section summarises the major findings and examines emerging possibilities that focus on hope for change, suggesting that by allowing students agency and voice there are opportunities for rich, open and authentic dialogue between educators and students. Through ongoing critical inquiry and analysis of gender and gender relations there is the possibility of new ways of being (Davies, 1997) resulting in improved learning outcomes for both boys and girls.

This study is concerned with the representation of women in leadership positions in Solomon Islands. In particular, it explores the educational leadership experiences of women working in Solomon Islands' secondary schools. While much research to date has been carried out in the developed and developing countries, very little has been undertaken in Melanesian countries. As such, we know very little about women's experiences in educational leadership in Melanesia. Research data was gathered using qualitative methods. Specifically, interviews were conducted with eight women, five were deputy principals and three were Heads of Departments. All the participants were teaching in schools in an urban centre. Data gathered were analyzed using the thematic analysis approach. The data gathering was conducted in the Solomon Islands in October 2007. The key findings revealed a number of issues that impacted on the women's leadership in their respective schools. Findings include lack of self confidence, difficulties in balancing work and family, discriminatory attitudes and the influence of the cultural patriarchal norms on the attitudes towards women in leadership positions. Other key findings related to the nature of the organization, in this case, the school. This included a lack of initial preparatory and on - going professional development programmes and a lack of consultation in the decision making process. This study also found that while the women embraced the collaborative approach to leadership, the structural barriers through the hierarchical organization of the schools meant they could not lead the way they would like to.

Learning is enabled in an environment that promotes connectedness. This belief led me to an exploration of connectedness and the discovery that connectedness has more than one connotation in the literature. For some it means making connections within curriculum areas, which is closely associated with the understanding that connectedness means teaching and learning within a community of learners. Another body of literature understands connectedness as a person’s sense of belonging within the family, school and wider community. Embedded in all these understandings of the term is either implicit or explicit reference to empowerment.An exploration of learning necessarily involves an exploration of students and teachers perceptions of effective learning. The exploration of learning focuses on: teacher and students understanding of learning, student expectations and achievements within the classroom, the opportunities for participation and contribution. The various understandings of connectedness, empowerment and learning are linked in the exploration of the following themes within the classroom: Building caring relationships, Setting high and achievable expectations and Providing opportunities for participation and contribution (Bernard, 1991; 1997; MindMatters, 2000). The context is the middle years of schooling as the last 10 years has produced research that delivers findings asking teachers in the middle years to negotiate a curriculum that is based on people. Effective teaching and learning is essential if students are to achieve their potential, should be cooperative and be fostered within a reflective community atmosphere. Relationships are to the fore in all concepts of effective middle schooling and this case study explores relationship as they exist at Garden College in year seven. It is these relationships that promote a sense of belonging to and empowerment within the learning community, thus enabling learning. If schools are to “expedite the development of effective middle schooling” (Schools Council, National Board of Employment, Education and Training, 1993, p. 65), by addressing the issues highlighted above, I believe the concepts of connectedness, empowerment and learning must be fully explored by the community of learners in each school.

The major purposes of this Field Study are twofold: firstly, to examine, briefly, the major issues in the transition of Australian secondary students from school to the world of work, and secondly, to examine one school-based and school-developed program which has been produced in response to perceived student needs in one particular school within one particular community. Whilst the emergence of school to work transition has only recently been recognized as being of major importance, it is now, as an educational issue, receiving widespread attention both in Australian and overseas. Transition programs are now also receiving considerable funding from Commonwealth Government Sources. The opening two chapters of this Field Study focus on the process of this raising of consciousness, both from the point of view of the initiating forces in Australian Society, as well as from some of the policy proposals and recommendations emerging from a national examination of the problem of transition. In addition some attempt is made to establish a particular philosophical stance - a stance which embodies those characteristics of a program considered, by this writer at least, to be essential components of any attempt by schools to come to grips with the needs of their students who are facing the process of transition. The middle section of this Field Study examines the approach that one particular school has adopted in the development of such a program - an examination which highlights such areas as the process of curriculum change, the clarification of expressed student needs, development of philosophical bases, sources and significance of Commonwealth funding and the political ramifications of program adoption. The final section of this Field Study commences an evaluation of this particular school's transition program based loosely upon evaluation guidelines developed by Robert Stake. Whilst this can only be a part evaluation (both because of the on-going nature of the program and the writer's involvement in the program as its director. )it is hoped that such an evaluation will produce a set of useful recommendations - useful both for the effective continuation of the program and useful for the implementation of possible future programs designed to assist Australian youth facing this major, and often traumatic, transition form school to the "real life world" outside school. The reader's attention is drawn to the range of possible future audiences of this report - audiences ranging from the academic examination of the project as part of a masters' degree to the clients of the actual program reported. Given this range of audience, it has been the intention of the writer to produce as "readable" a document as possible. It is the hope that in so doing all audiences will be served.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Social constructivism, known as Vygotskian theory, has been implicated in improving spoken language skills of upper-secondary school students. This qualitative study aims to investigate the perspectives of students regarding the teachers’ use of humour in ESL lessons both in Italy and Sweden. A secondary aspect of the study was to assess the use of humour in second language acquisition related to language learning and communicative competence based on dialogism and interaction. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants (5 males and 5 females from each of the respective countries). After analysis using phenomenography, results indicate that humorous dialogic instruction and interaction, as well as non-verbal forms of humour such as gesticulation and facial expression, have the possibility to dramatically increase the focus and interest in lesson content which facilitates better communicative understanding of English. Immediacy is perceived to improve feelings of well-being and harmony within the classroom. Humour and openness are considered important and necessary factors in improving motivation and self-belief during oral tasks as facilitated an effective, communicative learning climate. The study also proposes that there are four factors (teacher, student, subject and task) which affect learning processes, and moderation of humour, the fifth factor, acts as a scaffold to assist in stretching students’ knowledge within the ZPD.

Mathematical manipulative materials (manipulatives) invite students to explore and represent abstract mathematical concepts in varied, concrete, tactile, and visually rich ways. Considering the prominence of the use of mathematical manipulatives in current K-12 curricula, pedagogical resources and professional development, research studies show that few secondary school teachers use them. While these studies do not examine this issue from the teachers’ perspective, they posit that some teachers lack the mathematical knowledge connected to manipulatives, are uncomfortable with or uncertain how to use them, or do not believe that manipulatives have value in the teaching of secondary school mathematics. As a result there is a great need for research that provides further detail as to why and how secondary school mathematics teachers use manipulatives in their classrooms. This study, guided by the research questions: ‘How do secondary school teachers view the use of manipulatives in teaching mathematics?’ and ‘How do secondary school teachers describe their use of manipulatives in teaching mathematics?’, sought to examine these issues through semi-structured interviews with six secondary school mathematics teachers. This study supports the notion that the use of manipulatives in secondary school mathematics classrooms is influenced by teachers' views and experience with manipulatives. It highlights some of the challenges that teachers face, and supports from which they gain confidence and competence in their efforts to integrate the use of mathematical manipulatives into their teaching practice.

Mathematical manipulative materials (manipulatives) invite students to explore and represent abstract mathematical concepts in varied, concrete, tactile, and visually rich ways. Considering the prominence of the use of mathematical manipulatives in current K-12 curricula, pedagogical resources and professional development, research studies show that few secondary school teachers use them. While these studies do not examine this issue from the teachers’ perspective, they posit that some teachers lack the mathematical knowledge connected to manipulatives, are uncomfortable with or uncertain how to use them, or do not believe that manipulatives have value in the teaching of secondary school mathematics. As a result there is a great need for research that provides further detail as to why and how secondary school mathematics teachers use manipulatives in their classrooms. This study, guided by the research questions: ‘How do secondary school teachers view the use of manipulatives in teaching mathematics?’ and ‘How do secondary school teachers describe their use of manipulatives in teaching mathematics?’, sought to examine these issues through semi-structured interviews with six secondary school mathematics teachers. This study supports the notion that the use of manipulatives in secondary school mathematics classrooms is influenced by teachers' views and experience with manipulatives. It highlights some of the challenges that teachers face, and supports from which they gain confidence and competence in their efforts to integrate the use of mathematical manipulatives into their teaching practice.