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

This thesis delves into the question of whether accreditation can assure quality. To answer this, an accreditation scenario of a private international higher education institution is studied in depth. There are four principal objectives to the research question which are: 1. To investigate how quality is conceptualised by various stakeholders 2. To assess the effectiveness of accreditation standards 3. To examine whether the accreditation process is valid, reliable and relevant, and 4. To evaluate if the accreditation agency enacts what it purports to do. Based on current theories and approaches to quality and quality assurance, certain elements are highlighted in the research process such as the use of quality standards, issues of accountability and continuous improvement, and the culture and context surrounding an accreditation event. The methodology used is one of participant observation applied to a case study. The occasion of the decennial reaccreditation of a for-profit Swiss school by an American accreditation agency serves as the field of research. Data were collected firsthand from the various constituents engaged in this reaccreditation. Fundamentally, the process comprised of self-evaluation and an on-site peer review, so there is focused discussion on these two critical audit methods and their interrelationship. The field notes are supplemented by longitudinal data representing the last twelve years of involvement in accreditation of the case study school including two other quality assurance approaches, one Swiss and the other, ISO. After a review of the various school activities which come under the remit of the agency, the accreditation procedures are examined for validity, reliability and relevance. An analytic induction of the findings confirms that accreditation does indeed assure baseline quality, albeit its current orientation towards publicly funded establishments. Thus accreditation of for-profit schools represents an imminent domain of future research.

The problem of this study was to ascertain the relationship between secondary school principals' evaluation of professional behavior patterns of secondary teachers and these teachers' self-descriptions.

Thesis advisor: Karen Rosen / High achieving girls (i.e., super girls) are under the spotlight in popular psychology and recent media reports. While these reports suggest girls are doing well by objective standards of achievement, little is actually known about high achieving girls' social and emotional development. Understanding psychological aspects of high achievers is critical in determining whether girls pay a price along the road to success. In what follows, the literature on risk, including pressure/stress, coping, and problem behaviors will be reviewed. Salient developmental issues such as self-evaluation and intimacy will also be explored. The literature on these topics will be evaluated first among typical adolescents and then among high achievers. Next, a study that assessed the socioemotional functioning of high achieving girls and boys is described. Results indicated that high academic achievement for both boys and girls was related to higher academic self-concept, lower external and other problem behaviors, lower behavioral misconduct, lower romantic appeal, higher personal standards, and less positive thinking as a coping technique. However, participants' gender played a significant role. Girls revealed lower self-competence, more stress, and greater eating problems, regardless of achievement. Across achievement levels, boys had lower levels of intimacy as compared to girls. In one instance, achievement interacted with gender: low academic achievement was related to higher ratings of behavioral misconduct for boys only. Implications are discussed as they relate to both typical and high achieving students and the contexts in which they live. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology.

People are motivated to self evaluate and undertake this in their interactions with others. Interactions with others are increasingly taking place online, including via social networking websites, which can contain several differences to face to face interaction. This thesis examined how specific self-evaluation factors (self-esteem, social comparison tendency and self-concept clarity) affect various behaviours on and psychological outcomes of engaging with social media sites, including Facebook. Self-esteem predicted positive mood during Facebook use, whilst one’s relationship with the site (i.e. how emotionally connected to the site one is – or ‘Facebook intensity’) predicted engagement with activities interpreted as indicative of a ‘fear-of-missing-out’ (e.g. finding out what friends were up to). High scorers in performance and appearance self-esteem reported a positive mood shift after profile editing whilst low scoring counterparts reported the reverse. Those who compared to others frequently experienced a negative mood shift after viewing the Facebook newsfeed possibly reflecting the cognitive effort associated with social comparison. Self-esteem predicted use of positive emotions in status updates whilst number of Facebook friends was negatively predicted by self-concept clarity and positively by social comparison tendency. Participants textually described both their actual and ideal self enabling consideration of the implications for self-presentation attempts in certain online environments. Low self-esteem individuals decreased their use of anxious language when idealising the self whilst those with low self-concept clarity increased their use of positive emotions. The discrepant word count between actual and ideal selves suggested that the actual self appeared more easily articulated, most 4 pronounced amongst those who infrequently compared themselves to others. When others rated these self descriptions it appeared high scorers in self-esteem and self-concept clarity and those who compared frequently to others were generally most positively received. It appears that whilst those with unclear self-concepts and low self-esteem can present a more positive and less anxious idealised self than actual self, the overall thesis findings appear to support the rich-get-richer hypothesis (Valkenburg, Schouten, & Peter, 2005) with high scorers on these self-evaluation factors garnering the most benefits from social media. Whilst those who compare frequently may be adversely impacted by viewing the Facebook newsfeed, idealisation of self attributes appears to benefit these individuals in terms of positivity of impressions formed by others. Findings suggest that social media engagement may hold advantages and disadvantages for users dependent on the type of activity engaged with and the individual differences variables of the user.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / This dissertation investigated the the practice of self-reflection by primary school teachers in the Mankweng Circuit, Capricorn District. The aim of the research was to investigate the practice of self-reflection by primary school teachers, in order to suggest and encourage them to use reflective models that will help them improve their practice. The literature revealed that the use reflective models can help teachers to realize their mistakes and improve their practice. Furthermore, the literature revealed that if teachers are exposed to multiple reflective models, they will be able to choose the best model that is appropriate to their practice. The study also focused on the theory of Henderson‟s Ethical Model on Enquiry on Reflective Practice. The theory discusses what characterizes reflective practitioner. This theory explains that reflective teachers are experts who know their subject matter and are able to teach it well. This study was conducted in order to gain a greater insight and comprehensive understanding of the research problem, that is, Self-reflection is expected to all teachers but is seldom enforced. In policy documents, self-reflection is stipulated but there are no formalised templates that guide, monitor and evaluate how teachers reflect on their own practice. This may also result in teachers not reflecting on their work at all and not regarding self-reflection as part of the teaching process; and treat it as a separate issue. The methodology used in this study was qualitative approach. Phenomenological research design was adopted; and in terms of data collection tools, open-ended questionnaires and interviews were used. The findings of this study revealed that teachers in primary schools of Mankweng Circuit do not reflect on their practice because of the heavy work-load that they have. The study further revealed that teachers must be trained to use reflective models to improve their practice. Lastly, the study has recommended a new reflective model for a rural primary school context. The model is titled Big four reflective model: critical thinker; resource allocator, problem solver and practice developer. The model is recommended to be used in teaching in primary schools.

Thesis (M.A.)--East Carolina University, 2009. / Presented to the faculty of the Department of Psychology. Advisor: Mark C. Bowler. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed June 11, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1984.

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published_or_final_version / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy