Relationships between underachievement, individual type and attributional motivation were investigated among 37 underachieving senior science students from a boys' college, a girls' college and a coeducational college in New Zealand. An adaptation of the Myers-Briggs type inventory was used to identify individual type, and attributional motivation was determined by using two questionnaires, based upon attributional constructs established by Weiner (1979). Students in the sample were also interviewed. Results show a significant difference, too great to be attributed to a sampling fluctuation, between the observed number of students and the greater than expected number of students, particularly for the ESFJ (Extrovert-Sensing- Feeling-Judging) and ISFJ (Introvert-Sensing-Feeling-Judging) individual 'types' within the sample of underachieving students. A difference also was found between the observed number of Function Pairs, derived from the Myers-Briggs descriptions, and the expected number of Pairs within the sample. These differences were also too great to be attributed to a sampling fluctuation.A general lack of motivation was found among the students, with 'lack of effort' being attributed as a major cause of underachievement. Differences in attribution trends were found between different 'types'. Most of the students indicated that they were passive learners and generally were unaware of how to use metacognitive strategies to improve their learning and motivation.Implications from this research suggest that intervention approaches should be made by educators to improve accountability and reduce underachievement by students. Recommendations for various approaches used by the author, and by others described in the thesis to reduce or overcome underachievement are suggested. These might be used for individual types who are prone to underachieve, and for ++ / underachievers generally.

Bullying is one of the most pervasive challenges in schools across the world. This investigation is an evaluation of a school’s attempt to address the large number of incidents of bullying. Materials from the Bully Free Classroom (BFC) by Allan Beane (2009) served as the intervention curriculum for 21, fifth grade students and six teachers. A 14-week (with the exception of school breaks), six lesson intervention was implemented with three groups of students: two groups identified as perpetrators and one group of victims. Teachers received training on bullying knowledge and how to appropriately report bullying-related incidents. Pre and post measures of bullying knowledge, frequency ratings of bullying and prosocial behaviors observed, and discipline referrals for bullying served as the dependent measures for the student participants. Results support the use of the intervention as the mean number of discipline referrals for participants of bully status significantly decreased, student ratings for negative behaviors significantly decreased, student knowledge of bullying significantly increased, and teacher’s ratings of the frequency of bullying decreased while school climate ratings became more positive. Moderate to large effect sizes are interpreted to provide strong support for a recommendation for school-wide adoption of the program. The scope and nature of the intervention plan is discussed in relation to recommended features of bully prevention and intervention programs and recommendations are made for implementation of this intervention.

Submitted by RITA CASSIA PEREIRA BUENO null (ritabueno@bol.com.br) on 2018-03-12T20:58:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Rita Bueno.pdf: 6931222 bytes, checksum: b3b42cef761e8d3e6223e7fdf98f81eb (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Maria Rodrigues null (milena@fclar.unesp.br) on 2018-03-13T13:00:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 bueno_rcp_me_arafcl.pdf: 6931222 bytes, checksum: b3b42cef761e8d3e6223e7fdf98f81eb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-13T13:00:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 bueno_rcp_me_arafcl.pdf: 6931222 bytes, checksum: b3b42cef761e8d3e6223e7fdf98f81eb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-01-15 / Ultrapassar os muros escolares, driblar o preconceito existente entre os integrantes da equipe pedagógica, pontuar a importância e necessidade de discussão da temática para colocar a educação sexual em pauta nas escolas não tem sido tarefa fácil para educadores sexuais e profissionais envolvidos com intervenções no campo da sexualidade. A tramitação da exclusão do Eixo norteador Orientação Sexual dos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais (PCN) e a visão discriminatória que limita a ação de professores na discussão de sexualidade, gênero e homofobia na escola, contribuíram para que avanços conquistados a partir do ano 2000 passassem a ser vistos como equivocados, ameaçadores à integridade moral e psicológica dos alunos e alunas e prejudiciais ao desenvolvimento sadio de crianças e adolescentes. No entanto, navegando contra a corrente conservadora intensificada a partir de 2015, uma escola privada de uma cidade de porte médio do interior paulista criou, com apoio da direção, o Projeto Papo Jovem. A inserção do Papo Jovem no Projeto político pedagógico da escola e as conquistas e dificuldades de se manter o Projeto no colégio foram apresentadas no presente trabalho e, através de uma sequência cronológica, desde a fundação do Projeto até o presente momento, são demonstrados os principais eventos e atividades que contribuíram para a ascensão do Projeto. O Papo Jovem oferece semanalmente aos alunos um espaço de aprendizado e discussão que aborda as diversas dimensões da sexualidade humana dentro de um contexto lúdico, pedagógico e emancipatório. O Projeto é voltado para alunos e alunas desde o quinto ano do Ensino Fundamental I até a terceira série do Ensino Médio. Puberdade, Amor, Relacionamentos, Violência Sexual, Gênero, Diversidade Sexual, Gravidez e Aborto são alguns dos temas desenvolvidos no Projeto. Considerando a postura e a atitude dos adolescentes em meio a situações desafiadoras, observou-se que o projeto contribuiu para o empoderamento sexual entre os adolescentes, permitindo que se sentissem mais seguros sobre suas atitudes, decisões e questionamentos perante visões contrárias aos direitos das mulheres e adolescentes e violência. As reflexões sobre sexualidade, provindas de fonte segura, com profissionais preparados, contribui para que adolescentes, como os participantes do Projeto Papo Jovem, transitem pelo período da Adolescência com mais segurança, tranquilidade e serenidade. / To overcome the school walls, to defeat the preconception among members of the pedagogical team, to emphasize the importance and the necessity of discussing the theme in order to put sex education on the agenda in the schools in Brazil has not been an easy task for educators and professionals involved with interventions in the field of sexuality. The process of exclusion of the Sexual Orientation Guiding Axis of the Brazilian National Curricular Parameters (NCPs) and the discriminatory view that limits the action of teachers in the discussion of sexuality, gender and homophobia inside the schools made since the 2000´s, are now been seen as a mistake, a threat to the moral values and the psychological integrity of the students and a kind of harm to the healthy development of children and adolescents. However, swimming against the tide of the intensified conservative roles that began in 2015, a medium-sized private school in the country side of São Paulo state has created, with the support of the school board, the “Papo Jovem Project” - translated as “Young Talk Project”. The present study shows the implementation of the “Papo Jovem” on the pedagogical political project of the school, the achievements and the challenges of maintaining the project alive through a chronological sequence, from its creation until the present time, presenting the main events and the activities that contributed to the rise of the project. The “Papo Jovem” program offered a weekly learning and discussion space to students, addressing different dimensions of human sexuality within a playful, pedagogical and emancipatory context. The project was aimed to students from the fifth year of elementary school through the third year of high school. Themes like Puberty, Love, Relationships, Sexual Violence, Gender, Sexual Diversity, Pregnancy and Abortion among others were discussed with the students. By analysing the gesture and attitudes of the adolescents in the midst of challenging situations, was possible to observe that the project contributed to the sexual empowerment among the students, allowing them to feel more confident about their own attitudes and decisions, questioning some arbitrary visions of the women´s and adolescents rights and violence. The study of sexuality, coming from a trustable source and done by trained professionals can contribute to make a save passage through the adolescence period with more security, tranquility and serenity to the adolescents, as was observed with “Papo Jovem” project participants.

Educational Psychologists (EPs) are often asked to see children that may have difficulties with attention or children with impairments in executive function. Research suggests that there is a link between attention and executive function. There is research evidence linking Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with executive function difficulties. It is proposed that there will be a link between primary school children’s attention and executive function skills as measured by standardised assessment. The present study involved assessing 31 participants on subtests of the Test of Everyday Attention in Children (TEA-Ch) (to gain a measure of attention) and the Neuropsychological Assessment (Second Edition) (NEPSY-II) (to gain a measure of executive function).Participants were aged between 6;01 and 10;08 (mean 8;06) when they were assessed at the pre-intervention stage. Participants were all from one primary school in the North West of England. Significant correlations between participants’ performance on the TEA-Ch and NEPSY-II were found. There is some research evidence that executive function interventions can improve children’s executive functions, but this is at the individual case level. There were no studies identified that looked at whole school executive function interventions. Executive function staff training was developed and delivered to teachers and teaching assistants in the primary school. A supporting pack of written materials was produced to help staff. Evaluation questionnaires and staff interviews identified useful aspects of the training. It is proposed that the consultation model of training delivery was particularly important. Staff interviews indicated that interventions had been carried out at the whole school and class level. Participants were reassessed at the post-intervention stage using the TEA-Ch and the NEPSY-II. Results indicated significant improvements in both attention and executive function skills for participants overall. Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests identified that there were significant increases in participants’ mean TEA-Ch and mean NEPSY scores following the whole school intervention. The results suggest the intervention may have been most successful in improving children’s selective attention, response inhibition, flexibility and task initiation skills.

Background: In this paper, we examine the role of parents and teachers in inclusive education intervention programmes.  Developing countries mostly have inclusive education policies in place, but implementation in many of such nations remain a serious challenge. This implies that inclusive schools often require interventions   Aim: The aim of this study is to describe the role of teachers and parents in intervention programs targeted at improving developmental activities of children in need of support in inclusive schools in some low- and middle income countries of the southern part of Africa.   Method: A systematic review of literature was adopted. Four online databases were searched for relevant articles, using a number of pre-defined criteria. Useful data, related to the research questions were subsequently extracted from the studies   Results: Community-based rehabilitation, universal design learning, and professional development are some of the intervention types in use in the Southern part of Africa. Furthermore, teachers were observed to play the roles of education and clinical psychologists, while striving to develop relevant on-the-job skills. Parents, On the other hand, were mostly found to contribute financially to smooth running of poorly-equipped inclusive schools. Although child development was not outrightly described in the reviewed articles, it mostly served as the basis for intervention   Conclusion: This study observed that the role of teachers and parents in intervention programs will be more effective, when child developmental facilitators e.g. linking intervention to UN children convention, are boosted in schools within the Southern region of Africa. / <p>The defense of the thesis took place via zoom. My examiner sent the link for all the students in the group due for the presentation on the 19th of March, 2020 via ping pong </p>

No description available.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Education, 1999.

Bullying is a pervasive and disruptive issue in the schools (Stockdale, Hanguduambo, Duys, Larson, & Sarvela, 2002). It has been shown to have serious negative consequences for students who are frequently targeted, including lower academic achievement, lower self-esteem, and more interpersonal problems in adulthood compared to their non-targeted peers (Eisenberg & Aalsma, 2005; Olweus & Limber, 1999; Rigby, 2003; Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005; Yoneyama & Rigby, 2006). However, when parents are engaged as active members of the school community, significant benefits accrue for children, educators, and parents. Such benefits include improved grades and test scores for students, greater job satisfaction among teachers, and decreased likelihood that children will be involved in bullying behaviors (Christenson, 1996; Spriggs, Iannotti, Nansel, & Haynie, 2007). Despite the important role parents play in their child's success in school, there is little research concerning parents' perceptions of bullying behaviors in schools. This research project surveyed parents in order to understand their perspectives regarding bullying prevalence, type, and intervention efforts taking place in schools. This was done through a survey administered at a statewide Parent Teacher Association Conference in Provo, Utah, in May 2008. Because attendees at the conference were assumed to be fairly involved in the local schools, the results of this study were expected to represent the perceptions of parents who are involved in the school community. The findings indicated that almost half (42.9–48.1%) of these parents are hearing their child report about verbal and relational bullying at least once a week. Parents noted that they are personally intervening in bullying situations approximately once each school year. Parents responded that they believe students are most at-risk for being bullied between classes, during break periods, and after school, as well as on the playground, on the school bus, and in the hallways, bathrooms, and school cafeteria. Overall, parents rated the most frequently used interventions as somewhat effective in combating bullying in their child's school. Such interventions included counseling or talking with the bully, suspension, and time-out for the bully following an incident.

Early childhood is a time to build the foundational skills that are needed to be a successful learner in primary school. Preschool students in Singapore are expected to be able to write their name and the letters of the alphabet with appropriate speed by the end of kindergarten. However, there is a gap in common standards and handwriting instruction practices among early childhood educators. Teaching handwriting explicitly improves handwriting legibility and fluency, and direct handwriting instruction is especially important for children who are at-risk of challenges in writing and reading. A student’s handwriting fluency and legibility is predicted by teacher competence in providing handwriting instruction. Evidence shows that teachers feel they are insufficiently prepared in teaching handwriting to their students, are not equipped to identify fine-motor delay in children and lack the knowledge to help the children in their class who are struggling to learn to write. The proposed professional development program entitled Handwriting Success for School is a professional development program by occupational therapists for early childhood educators. The program aims to increase the knowledge, confidence and competence of early childhood educators in Singapore to teach handwriting and support children who show difficulties mastering handwriting skills. The content and design of the program is developed following a thorough literature review on effective professional development for teachers. Principles of Adult Learning Theory and Collaborative Consultation model guide the development of the design of the program. When teachers collaborate with occupational therapists in addressing handwriting acquisition and intervention for their preschool students, teachers feel supported to help struggling students. Occupational therapists, with their knowledge and expertise in neurodevelopment and sensory-motor development makes them key professionals in training teachers to teach handwriting. By increasing early childhood educators' understanding of the importance to practice the evidence-based principles of handwriting instruction, it will lead to better student outcomes in their handwriting development at the preschool level.

Despite the recent advances in the field of cognitive neuroscience and the role of interoception in promoting behavioral regulation, few occupational therapy intervention practices have adopted the concept into their approach. This paper explores the impact of school-based occupational therapy intervention based on mindfulness and interoceptive awareness in promoting behavioral regulation among 3rd–5th-grade children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). The intervention program, titled Mind-Body Integration program (MBI), is delivered to a special education classroom via weekly 30-minute sessions for 26 weeks during the school year. The author completed a pilot study of the program in two elementary school special education classrooms. Twenty-three students with NDDs participated in the study and 17 completed the data collection. Data was collected on emotional and behavioral regulation as well as interoceptive bodily awareness. Assessment measures included Behavior Rating of Executive Functions, 2nd edition (BRIEF-2); Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness- youth (MAIA); and a teacher survey. The results demonstrate significant positive changes in student reported attentional regulation, emotional awareness, body listening, and self-regulation. There were no significant negative changes reported on the parent-reported BRIEF-2. However, the teacher survey indicated significant negative changes in behavioral regulation. Overall, the pilot study was found to be feasible to implement and cost-effective. These findings suggest that the MBI program holds promise as an effective intervention for enhancing behavioral regulation in children with NDDs and highlights the importance of incorporating mindfulness and interoceptive awareness in occupational therapy practice within school settings. Further research and modifications to the program are warranted to optimize its effectiveness and address potential challenges.