Code-switching is a phenomenon that exists in bilingual societies where people have the opportunity to use two or more languages to communicate. Being able to speak more than one language, bilinguals can code-switch and use their languages as resources to find better ways to convey meaning. Code-switching occurs in English classrooms in upper secondary school every day. Therefore, the aim for this paper was to investigate when and why teachers in upper secondary school code-switch when teaching L2 English. It has also looked into what language the students preferred in different classroom situations. Five teachers were interviewed and 96 students taking English 5 and 6 responded to a questionnaire. The results showed that the teachers generally tried to code-switch as little as possible but that they did code-switch in some of those situations where the students preferred either a combination of Swedish and English or only Swedish. Two of these situations were grammar instructions, where a majority of the students preferred a combination of English and Swedish, and one-to-one situations, where a majority of the students preferred Swedish. A clear majority of the students (87%) wanted their teacher to make them speak more English.

This study examines the role played by violence in poor academic achievement. Violence perpetrated by the stakeholders, i.e. teachers, pupils, the community, is the main focus of this study. The matric results of the school, over the last six years, are looked into. The observation reveals a constant decline in matric passes. Observations, questionnaires and interviews were the research tools used in this study. Pupils experience a lot of violence at school, perpetrated by teachers and fellow students. Outside the school premises most of the violence is perpetrated by gangs. Boys are more frequently the victims of violence. Girls experience most violence in the home. Pupils believe that violence does not affect their academic work. This unexpected finding can be explained by referring to widespread violence in the area and to violence being common in the recent past. Respondents have experienced violence so much that, to them, it has become a norm. This is why they do not attribute their poor academic performance to violence. Some of the respondents have been exposed to gruesome violence in most cases culminating in maiming and loss of life. Acts of violence, like slapping, sexual harassment and threatening, are not considered to be violence at all. Levels of school violence are escalating, and academic results are declining. This research project suggests that there may be a relationship between these two trends. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

The South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 and the report of the Task Team on Education Management Development (Department of Education, 1996), proposed greater involvement of major stakeholders, in particular the educators, in decision-making processes in educational institutions. This opened a new chapter of a major transformational shift from an authoritarian and bureaucratic style of management to a democratic and participative management style. The purpose of this research was to investigate, largely through the perceptions of staff, the extent to which the management of Gcewu Secondary School may be characterised as "collegial" and, as necessary, to make practical recommendations as to how the management arrangements of the school may be modified or enhanced to promote collegiality. The questionnaires and interviews were sued as the research instruments for this study. This study was conducted at Gcewu Secondary School at Umbumbulu District, Durban South Region. The main findings that emerged from the study were as follows: * The educators regard the decision made about the management of the school as directly affecting them. * Educators were not adequately involved in decision-making. * Educators were keen in participating in decision-making but the principal was not willing to share power with them (post level 1 educators). / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Visuotinė globalizacija, technologijų internacionalizacija bei jų diegimo sparta, visuomenės senėjimas ir didėjanti migracija – tai pagrindiniai veiksniai lemiantys iššūkius pasaulio visuomenei. Darbo rinkos tampa vis atviresnės ir įtraukiančios vis daugiau žmonių bei verčiančios gerinti prisitaikymo gebėjimus. Europos Sąjungai ir Lietuvai tenka ieškoti kelių kaip išlikti konkurencingomis, vykdyti ekonominę plėtrą, tikslingai naudoti žmogiškuosius išteklius ir ugdyti kvalifikuotą darbo jėgą. Todėl bendroje ES erdvėje išskirtinę reikšmę įgauna sąveikos tarp veiklos ir švietimo sistemų visavertiškumas ir darna, perėjimo iš švietimo sistemos į darbo rinką palengvinimas ir bendri įgytų žinių, veiklos patirties ir kompetencijų vertinimo principai. Be to, tampa aktualus tautinės savimonės bei identiteto klausimas, siekis išsaugoti nacionalinį unikalumą globalaus pasaulio fone. Atsižvelgiant į tai, tampa reikalingi aukštos kvalifikacijos specialistai, kurie turi reikiamų žinių ir įgūdžių, mokosi visą gyvenimą, sugeba įtakoti mokyklų kaitos procesus. Strateginis planavimas yra visos mokyklos bendruomenės nuomonės bei lūkesčių visuma skatinanti kurti sau ir savo vaikams tobulesnę ateitį. Tuo remiantis buvo iškelta tyrimo problema bandant nustatyti ar strateginis planavimas yra sąlygojamas teigiamų pokyčių ir ar pats sąlygoja pokyčius bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose. Tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti strateginio planavimo ypatumus bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose, numatyti jo tobulinimo galimybes... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Universal globalization, internationalization and technology deployment rate, an aging population and growing migration are the main factors determining the challenges of global society. More and more people are incorporated into labour markets and compelling to improve the adaptability while they are becoming more open. European Union and Lithuania have to find ways to remain competitive for economic development, to use human resources in appropriate way and to develop a skilled workforce. Therefore, the common EU space takes on a unique significance of the interaction between business and education systems, usefulness and sustainability, the transition from education to labour market facilitation and evaluation of the knowledge, operational experience and competency principles. In addition, an important part of national consciousness and identity is desired the preservation of the national uniqueness in the global world is needed. In this context, there is a need for highly skilled professionals who possess the necessary knowledge and skills for lifelong learning and are able to influence the change process in schools. Strategic planning is the opinion and expectations of the whole school community which promotes the development of better future for themselves and their children. According to that, this study raised the problem of trying to determine if strategic planning is influenced by positive changes and if it leads to changes in the secondary schools. The aim of the... [to full text]

Magistriniame darbe nagrinėjama uždavinių su algebros elementais sistema ir sunkumai I – VI klasėse. Analizuojant pedagoginę ir psichologinę literatūrą išsiaiškinta, kad užduočių su algebros elementais sampratos formavimuisi svarbiausi vaikų vaizduotės ypatumai yra: ryšių tarp įvairų dalykų suvokimas, informacijos siejimas, kadangi samprotavimų eiga nėra aiški, t.y., praleidžiami tarpiniai samprotavimo etapai; informacijos atkūrimas ir operavimas vaizdiniais nes mokiniams sunku suvokti abstrakčius samprotavimus, todėl būtina pasitelkti vaizdines priemones, kurios aktyvina vaizduotės veiklą. Svarbiausi vaikų mąstymo ypatumai yra objektų pastovumo supratimas, pajėgumas taikyti logines operacijas. Svarbiausias vaikų kalbos ypatumas yra žodžių reikšmės ir jų ryšio su daiktais bei reiškiniais suvokimas. Svarbiausi vaikiškos grafinės raiškos ypatumai yra, tai jog įžvelgiamos ir vaizduojamos atskiros objektų ypatybės ir detalės. Remiantis Lietuvos Bendrosiomis programomis ir išsilavinimo standartais bei vadovėliais sukonstruotas algebrinio ugdymo I – VI klasėse hipotetinis modelis apima: reiškinių reikšmių radimą, situacijų aprašymą reiškiniais, tapačius reiškinių pertvarkymus, lygčių sprendimą, nelygybių sprendimą, algebrinių sąvokų sampratą. Šio modelio pagrindu sudaryti klausimynai I – VI klasėms ir išsiaiškinti mokinių patiriami sunkumai sprendžiant užduotis su algebros elementais. / Master thesis analyzes the system of tasks that includes algebra elements and its difficulties in I-IV classes. The analysis of educational and psychological literature shows that the most important features of children's imagination that helps in formation the concept of the tasks with algebra elements are: perception of relationship between different things, information linking, since the reasoning process is not clear, i.e. the intermediate steps of reasoning are missing; recovery of information and imagination, because it is difficult for pupils to understand the abstract reasoning, thus it is necessary to use visual tools to stimulate the wok of imagination. The main features of children's thinking are the understanding of object permanence and capacity to apply the logical operations. The most important feature of children's language is to understand the meaning of words and their connection with objects and occurrences. The main features of children's graphic expression are that individual properties of objects and details represented. According to the Lithuanian general programs, education standards and schoolbooks, the hypothetical model of algebra training in I–VI classes have been designed. This model includes: discovery the meanings of occurrences, description of situation by occurrences, identical transformations of occurrences, equation solving, inequalities solving, the understanding of algebra concept. The model based questionnaire for I–VI classes has been... [to full text]

Tyrimo tikslas: atskleisti strateginio planavimo bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose ypatumus ir efektyvaus taikymo galimybes. Strateginis planas vis dar lieka daugiau formalus dokumentas, mažai naudojamas metų eigoje. Vertėtų išsamiai paanalizuoti, kaip siekiama ar pasiekta užsibrėžtų tikslų t. y. vykdyti strateginio plano įgyvendinimo monitoringą. / The strategic plan is a way of making efforts to improve a school and take a better care of children who attend it, as a result, the community members will understand each other better while they develop a strategy, thechaos will be reduced, more effort will be put in to work and the common resul twill be transparent.

This case study was based on a programme that followed the Nurture Group concept in a Secondary School in New Zealand. The Success at School (SAS) programme was based within the school complex and consisted of a home classroom where students were provided with both an academic and social/ life skills programme. The nine selected students were all failing academically and socially within the Year 9 cohort. Academically, all students made some small gains in their literacy and numeracy skills and also on task behaviour. Socially, small gains were made by most students in their positive interactions with others and in decreasing their absences, suspensions, referrals from class and lateness to school. Eight of the nine students indicated an attachment/ trust relationship with their teacher and/ or teacher aide. However it is not clear if the small gains that were made by most of the students can be directly attributed to the Nurture Group concept. The small group size, 1:1 teaching, individualised learning programmes and the introduction of a social skills programme may also have contributed to the small academic and social gains the students made. This case study provides an insight into the adaptation of a United Kingdom (UK) primary school Nurture Group model to a New Zealand secondary school setting.

Syftet var att undersöka attityder till skolans arbete mot kränkande behandling utifrån skolans likabehandlingsplan och om dessa skiljer sig åt, beroende på om man är elev eller personal, på en högstadieskola i en kommun i Värmland. Genom en enkätundersökning med oberoende mätning genomfördes studien med 101 deltagare, varav 54,5 % (n=55) var elever och 45,5 % (n=46) skolpersonal.      Den aktuella studien kunde påvisa en signifikant skillnad mellan elever och skolpersonal i majoriteten av frågorna angående skolans arbete mot kränkande behandling. Resultatet tyder på att det finns skillnader i hur elever och skolpersonal uppfattar situationer där någon blir kränkt och därför även agerar olika. Studien påvisar att personalen i högre grad påstår att de tar itu med de frågor som rör mobbaren än offret, medan eleverna ligger relativt jämnt på de frågorna. Dock var både elever och skolpersonal överens i frågan om att det är viktigt att ha en kompis i skolan.      Vidare visade studien att eleverna i högre grad skulle försöka höja den utsattas självförtroende i mobbningssituationer jämfört med vad lärarna skulle. Personalen skulle istället arbeta för att jämna ut maktobalansen mellan de två genom att sänka mobbarens makt snarare än att höja den utsattas. Det framkom även att personalen uppgav att de i högre grad hade läst, förstått och varit delaktiga i utformandet av skolans likabehandlingsplan än eleverna.                       Med andra ord framkom att det finns skillnader i attityden till skolans förebyggande arbete mot kränkande behandling mellan personal och elever. Dessutom framkom att skolpersonalen i högre grad fokuserade på mobbaren än offret i situationer där någon blir utsatt för kränkande behandling, samt att personalen i högre grad angav att de läst, förstått och varit involverad i skolans likabehandlingsplan än eleverna. / The aim was to investigate attitudes to the school’s work against offensive behaviour based on the school’s treatment plan and if they differ depending on whether you are a student or school staff at a secondary school in a municipality in Värmland. Through a questionnaire with independent measurement, a study with 101 participants, of which 54.5 % (n = 55) were students and 45.5 % (n = 46) were school staff, was executed.      The current study shows a significant difference between students and school staff in a majority of the questions regarding the school’s work against offensive behaviour.      The results suggest that there are differences in how students and school staff perceive situations where someone gets offended and therefore also act differently. The study shows that the school staff claim that they address the issues related to the bully to a greater extent than the victim, while the students answered relatively even on the questions. However, both students and school staff agree on that it is important to have a friend at school.      Furthermore, the study shows that students would try to raise the self-confidence of the victim in bullying situations to a greater extent compared to the teachers. Instead, the school staff would work to even out the imbalance of power between the two by lowering the bully’s power rather than increasing the victim’s power. It also shows that the school staff said that they have read, understood, and been involved in designing the school's treatment plan to a greater extent than the students.                       In other words, it appeared as if there are differences in the attitude to the school’s work against offensive treatment between staff and students. Furthermore, it appeared as if the school staff to a higher extent focused on the bully than the victim in situations where someone is exposed to offensive treatment, and that the staff to a higher extent said that they had read, understood and been involved in the school’s treatment plan than the students.

The cognitive models that research on conceptual change has generated have been the subject of criticism, suggesting that these reflect an unrealistic view of learning as an overly “cold” and isolated process. Accordingly, representatives of this criticism suggest that research on conceptual change should investigate to what extent the cold cognition relates to “warm” affective constructs. In the present thesis, the warmth is not considered as prior to conceptual change, but is inferred from the very process of conceptual change itself. The aim is to investigate and describe how this warmth – in terms of normativity – is expressed in conceptual change and how individuals, in these processes, emerge as subjects in their interchange with the environment. This is done by exploring what students do when they make meaning of gender and nation in interviews and exam papers. The results show that the students mainly relate to two different norm-systems, including six normative aspects of conceptual change. The first system includes the goal to challenge or emancipate, the means to problematize, and engagement in the interviews or exams. Furthermore, it includes critical theory as an ideal, social structures and power as values, and me as a social being and actions as part of a tradition as what to make meaning of. The second system includes the goal to preserve, the means to claim how it “is”, and engagement in the interviews or exams. Furthermore, it includes psychological/biological reductionism as an ideal, essences and a natural order as values, and me as an individual and actions as an outcome of intentions as what to make meaning of. By understanding what the students do as interfering with these normative aspects, it becomes possible to understand them as negotiating norms that are brought to the fore. With this, “coldness” appears to be a misleading epithet of conceptual change. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 2: Accepted. Paper 3: Submitted.</p>

Theatre has been a school subject in the Swedish upper secondary school's national arts program since 1992 and has its own syllabus and grading criteria. The National Curriculum in theatre emphasises the development of performative capability, which is the focus of this dissertation. This study aims to contribute to the improvement of teachers’ subject-specific language, and concerns certain aspects of student ways of knowing. Theatre encompasses tacit knowledge (Lagerström 2003) and as an art form belongs to a tradition of practical knowledge. Knowledge in theatre has traditionally been acquired within a master-apprentice tradition (Johansson 2012, Järleby 2003). When theatre as an art form becomes a school subject the conditions of the art form change through a didactic transposition (Chevallard 2005). The previous two curriculum reforms in Sweden have developed competency-based syllabuses. To meet the school's requirements for planning teaching activities with colleagues as well as assessing and giving feedback to students, theatre knowledge needs to be articulated. Research is therefore needed to develop a professional language among teachers within the subject of theatre. I have chosen to work with Learning study, which is a collaborative and iterative research approach which enables the articulation of teachers and students knowing. Data is analysed using foremost phenomenographic analyses. The results generated in this study could be useful for teachers in the process of planning lessons, giving feedback to students, for assessments and grades, for discussing the content of lessons with other teachers, and ultimately for us to begin to recognize different levels of knowing.