Att tänka på medarbetarnas arbetstillfredsställelse har inte alltid varit något självklart, det var vid 1950-talet som intresset för medarbetarna började bli något etablerat i samhället. Tidigare forskning inom detta ämne har haft olika synvinklar om vad som är viktigt för att medarbetaren ska känna arbetstillfredsställelse. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur två begrepp, arbetstillfredsställelse och stöd från chefen förhåller sig till varandra, och till lärarnas hälsa. En enkätundersökning (N=152, var av 32.8% män) utformades i syfte att undersöka gymnasielärares egen uppfattning om detta. Ett frågeformulär konstruerades av författarna med hjälp av QPSNordic och Frågeformulär om psykosocial arbetsmiljö för att undersöka de underliggande variabler om arbetstillfredsställelse. Slutsatsen som kan dras från denna studie visar att möjlighet till inflytande och stöd från chefen har starkast samband med arbetstillfredsställelsen. När det gäller hälsa har stimulans, stöd från kamraterna och möjlighet att få feedback starkast samband.

This interdisciplinary dissertation is the result of action research to better understand the academic, social, and emotional needs of youth who arrive in Canada with experiences of interrupted education and forced migration. In the province of Saskatchewan, where there has been a dramatic rise in immigration since 2009, the infrastructure to meet the needs of newcomer youth with high emotional and academic needs remains undeveloped. By taking a youth perspective and employing anti-oppressive methodologies, this study serves to address the gap in research regarding the challenges that create barriers to successful integration into Canadian society as well as the factors that assist youth in living well despite tremendous obstacles. In an effort to employ a methodology that was compatible with an English as an additional language (EAL) classroom setting, narratives were collected in various ways. Eight students in a sheltered (EAL student only) Language Arts class wrote journal entries, reflective essays, illustrated children’s books, and photo essays. Students also engaged in peer interviews, in-class storytelling as well as personal interviews with the researcher. Three additional EAL students from various classes in the same school submitted personal stories and journal entries. Three teachers were interviewed regarding their use of storytelling as part of the academic program and to build rapport with students. The findings of this study highlight the factors of risk and resilience identified by the student and teacher participants. Factors of risk include pre-migration poverty, experiences of trauma, persecution, large gaps in first language education, and forced migration. Post-migration factors such as the need for appropriate educational programs, loneliness and lack of friends, as well as economic struggles were identified as significant barriers to wellbeing and integration. The youth also showed great insight into the factors that increased their wellbeing and identified the people, places, activities, and values that comforted them in times of overwhelming despair. Through their stories, the youth demonstrated the personal qualities that enhanced their resilience and shared words of wisdom for Canadian-born teachers and youth new to Canada. A secondary role of this inquiry was to explore the use of narratives in a classroom setting as way of opening conversations between teachers and students. EAL teachers often take on the role of counsellor and advisor despite having little training for such emotionally demanding tasks. Therefore, there is a great need to introduce teachers to methods of healing in culturally sensitive and familiar spaces. Regular classroom teachers are often unaware of EAL students’ challenging life stories, strength of character, and rich experiential learning. Narrative activities can work to mitigate cultural misunderstandings and build social capital. Storytelling is a viable strategy to encourage language learning, build community, and address emotionally difficult issues while serving as a research methodology to inform education theory and practice.

Early school leaving continues to be an issue that garners much attention from administrators, educators, and academics. In this study I review the existing literature on risk factors relating to early school leaving while examining the role of social context on educational aspirations and expectations. Research findings (Alberta Learning, 2001; Ferguson, Tilleczek, Boydell, & Rummens, 2005; Satchwell, 2004) show that early school leaving is a long process of disengagement that arises from multiple factors associated with experiences both inside and outside of school. In this study I carry out a qualitative analysis of both school and non-school related risk factors deemed to be significant to the early leaving of four young Portuguese-Canadian men. Their stories attest to the complexity of the phenomenon as they affirm the impact of both school and non-school related factors on early school leaving such as irrelevant curriculum, learning community, socio-economic status, and social context. In recounting their stories, and analyzing them through Bourdieu and Passeron’s (1979) understanding of “cultural capital” and “habitus,” I provide insights in this study into how administrators, educators and policymakers, alike may make learning more meaningful and authentic in order to curb early school leaving. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-05-29 09:54:48.856

This thesis is concerned with the nature of the peer group experience and friendship patterns amongst a sample of 3rd, 4th and 5th year secondary school pupils. The thesis has four parts and a General Introduction in which the need for more sociological research in the area of the peer group and friendship is asserted. Certain themes are developed in relation to the peer group and friendship, and arguments for the research established. In the final part of the General Introduction consideration is given to the nature of the sociology of youth in relation to social class and age grading in society. Part One has three Chapters. The first deals with recent research into the peer group, most of which is American in origin with the exception of certain ethnographic studies which have been published in this country over the last few years. In Chapter Two research into friendship is considered with Chapter Three providing a critical evaluation of the research presented. A general schema is provided, drawing on the literature review which provides the basis for the development of research methods and the subsequent research programme. Part Two establishes the basis for the thesis research and has one chapter. Four objectives are explored. The first concerns the importance of friendship to young people, the second with levels of friendship, the third with deriving definitions of friendship. The final objective examines the effects of age and sex on friendship and is compared with the findings from four significant studies undertaken in this area. Sociometry is considered in relation to "mapping" a group, a self esteem inventory is developed and the Higher Schools Personality Questionnaire evaluated with a view to measuring a number of personality traits. In Chapter Five of Part Three a research design for quantitative and qualitative research is presented. The data are presented in Chapters Six and Seven. 371 young people completed a questionnaire into their friendship and peer relations and two peer groups were intensively involved in group discussion in an endeavour to provide more detailed information on friendship and peer activities. The final part, Chapter Eight, is devoted to a detailed consideration of the findings from the research in the light of the established objectives. An appraisal is undertaken of the extent to which new knowledge has been provided in the social sciences regarding the peer group and friendship.

This survey is a case study with the purpose to find out the teacher´s perceptions about students´ motivation to mathematics. Further this study aims for the teacher´s vision on how they consider students´ motivation in mathematics in secondary school. To collect research data I have used semi structured interviews with four secondary school teachers. The result constructs according to categories that depict the purpose of the study. These categories define students’ motivation like achieving different goals, students’ basic knowledge, abilities and perceptions of mathematics and external factors that affect students’ motivation. Further the result was constructed according to categories that depict the teachers’ consideration to students’ motivation in mathematical teaching. These categories are the teacher´s attitudes, way of teaching and invidualizing work assignments.

This research suggests that positive parent involvement and partnership with schools is a prerequisite of effective schooling and that co-operation between home and school can raise educational achievement The purpose of this study was to determine by means of review of literature and empirical investigation, the nature of parent involvement in education, methods available to involve parents in the education of children, and the reasons for non-involvement of parents in education of children, The empirical study was aimed at determining the degree of parent involvement and reasons of non-involvement of parents in the education of children in the North West Province in the district of Potchefstroom, as well as the attitudes of educators towards parent involvement in the education system. Chapter 1 deals with the statement of the problem, aims of the research and the methods employed in achieving the purpose of the study, This includes a discussion of the population and sample used for the empirical research and an outline of the chapters, Chapter 2 highlights the nature and scope of parent involvement In education, fundamental and educational grounds for parent involvement were discussed; models of parent involvement were identified and discussed, advantages and disadvantages of parent involvement were mentioned, ways in which parents become involved in education of their children and reasons for non-involvement of parents in education were discussed. In Chapter 3, the focus was on the context of parent involvement in South Africa. Parent involvement in the pre-democratic era and democratic era was discussed. The empirical research design, administrative procedures, population and the random sampling as well as statistical techniques were discussed in Chapter 4. The duly completed questionnaires returned by educators and parents of the children of the selected schools as respondents were empirically analysed in Chapter 5. The last chapter, Chapter 6, throws light on the summary of all the chapters; research findings and recommendations based on the research findings derived from the previous chapters, as well as final remarks. This implies that all relevant issues raised in all chapters are summarised and recommendations are also made. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

This study researches the topic creating customer value in an educational environment. Two objectives are set, namely to measure the student service levels of the selected secondary schools, and then to determine if any differences exist between student perceptions and student expectations. The literature review covers two models of service quality, namely the Kano model and the SERVQUAL model. Both the Kano model and the SERVQUAL model are client service models that presently exist in practice. The Kano model gives insights into the dynamics of customer choices and their needs, which ensures the delivery of successful products and services. The SERVQUAL method is a technique that is used in performing a gap analysis of an organisation's service quality performance against customer service quality needs. This model is an indispensible model and a familiar methodology too amongst services organizations whose purpose is to improve their service quality, therefore SERVQUAL is the research methodology of choice. The empirical research was done by collecting primary data from a selected group, using the SERVQUAL questionnaire to measure students' expectations and perceptions. The sample size was 120 respondents, and they all responded by completing the structured SERVQUAL questionnaires. A seven-point Likert scale was used in the Service Quality Questionnaire (Appendix A). A "1" was labelled as "completely dissatisfied" while a "7" was labelled as "completely satisfied". The reliability of the data was confirmed by means of Cronbach's alpha, and a-values of 0.57 (students' perceptions) and 0.85 (students' expectations) revealed satisfactory reliability. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to calculate the mean values of the criteria while principal factor analysis was employed to extract factors from both groups of data. The factors of the perceived service have been identified as Teachers' Mind-Set (explaining the variance of (33.3%), Excellent Service (15.5%) and Display (12.5%). Regarding the factor analysis of the expected levels of service, the factors identified are: Teachers' Mind-set (38.7%), Service Reputation (28.7%) and Contact session (7.5%). From the research it was clear that the three major recommendations to managers of secondary schools who intend to have sustainable competitive service quality, have managerial actions focused at: 1. Internal training. 2. Induction programmes 3. Surveys (further research and monitoring). / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

This study researches the topic creating customer value in an educational environment. Two objectives are set, namely to measure the student service levels of the selected secondary schools, and then to determine if any differences exist between student perceptions and student expectations. The literature review covers two models of service quality, namely the Kano model and the SERVQUAL model. Both the Kano model and the SERVQUAL model are client service models that presently exist in practice. The Kano model gives insights into the dynamics of customer choices and their needs, which ensures the delivery of successful products and services. The SERVQUAL method is a technique that is used in performing a gap analysis of an organisation's service quality performance against customer service quality needs. This model is an indispensible model and a familiar methodology too amongst services organizations whose purpose is to improve their service quality, therefore SERVQUAL is the research methodology of choice. The empirical research was done by collecting primary data from a selected group, using the SERVQUAL questionnaire to measure students' expectations and perceptions. The sample size was 120 respondents, and they all responded by completing the structured SERVQUAL questionnaires. A seven-point Likert scale was used in the Service Quality Questionnaire (Appendix A). A "1" was labelled as "completely dissatisfied" while a "7" was labelled as "completely satisfied". The reliability of the data was confirmed by means of Cronbach's alpha, and a-values of 0.57 (students' perceptions) and 0.85 (students' expectations) revealed satisfactory reliability. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to calculate the mean values of the criteria while principal factor analysis was employed to extract factors from both groups of data. The factors of the perceived service have been identified as Teachers' Mind-Set (explaining the variance of (33.3%), Excellent Service (15.5%) and Display (12.5%). Regarding the factor analysis of the expected levels of service, the factors identified are: Teachers' Mind-set (38.7%), Service Reputation (28.7%) and Contact session (7.5%). From the research it was clear that the three major recommendations to managers of secondary schools who intend to have sustainable competitive service quality, have managerial actions focused at: 1. Internal training. 2. Induction programmes 3. Surveys (further research and monitoring). / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

This thesis presents the comparison of role played by economic freedom and education in making population growth beneficial for economy. In order to assess this relationship, four groups of countries have been selected based on EFW index. Cross-section regression has been performed including 92 countries for years 2005 and 2010. Comparisons have also been presented in graphical analysis. Moreover, correlations among variables have also been studied. It has been concluded that education matters the most in turning population growth to an asset.

The purpose of this essay is to describe what difficulties and challenges are for teachers of religious education at upper secondary school. The essay is written from a teacher's perspective, where the focus is on the teacher's perceptions of the difficulties and challenges of teaching religious education. The methodology for the collection of information was done through qualitative interviews. Previous research shows that one of the challenges in the teaching profession is the interpretation of the curriculum, and then which of those is correct. The essay shows that the biggest challenges that teachers experience in the subject of religious education is the students' prejudice against different religious groups, and also the difficulty of getting students to understand the purpose of what is being taught. I have examined how teachers handle these difficulties and challenges as well as the didactic choices that are at the forefront of the teachers' strategies.