published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

No description available.

This qualitative study investigated four monolingual, English-only speaking Caucasian elementary music teachers and their reflections regarding instruction of English language learners (ELL). The purpose of this multiple case study was to investigate the teaching practice and curricular decisions of elementary music teachers who instruct Hispanic ELL students. The investigation was conducted during a nine-week period, and data collection included classroom observations, phenomenological interviewing, and teacher audio journals. None of the teachers had prior education or pre-service preparation in teaching music to ELL students. The major theoretical base from which the study was developed was the reflective teaching theory of Donald Schön (1983). The main research question was: "What are the participating teachers' reflections about their curricular and pedagogical decisions when teaching ELL students?" Following a description of the elementary music teachers' reflections on practice with ELL students, the study revealed that the majority of elementary music teachers had a lack of preparation and ELL music curriculum, and negative perceptions of the placement program for ESL students. Despite these factors, the teachers made attempts to include ELL students in all music activities. This study showed that while one teacher accommodated specifically for the ELL students' learning, three out of four teachers did not. This study also suggests that music is a subject by which strong interactions between peers, opportunity for language expansion, and other factors occur which have positive correspondence to recommended ELL instructional strategies. A cross-case analysis revealed that the life history and experience of the elementary music teachers had an influence on the teachers' awareness of ELL students. The analysis suggests a relationship between teacher awareness and accommodation. The study also recognized the need for further inquiry regarding ELL students and issues related to their school placement. This study has implications for music education research including suggestions for music teacher preparation in working with ELL students, ELL music resources and curriculum, and pre-service and in-service ELL music preparation.

The problems of this study, using secondary teachers in selected schools in Region X, Texas, was to determine (a) How teachers perceived the climate in their school using the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ); (b) how teachers perceived factors of motivation to work using the Educational Work Components Study questionnaire (EWCS); (c) whether or not teachers who perceived the climate similarly had different perceptions concerning factors of motivation to work. A sample of 600 secondary teachers in Service Center Region X, Texas, was selected to participate, of which 422 completed and returned the two questionnaires (Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire and Educational Work Components Study).

This study investigated the effectiveness of three in—service training models in humanizing teachers' attitudes toward children. Each model was analyzed separately and then compared with each of the others. The purposes of this study were to determine whether teachers, after participating in one of three in-service models, would experience positive changes in attitudes toward children and would maintain these changes for at least three months. The findings of this study support the conclusion that none of the three in-service programs, as conducted in this study, were effective in changing teachers' attitudes. Possibly the in-service programs lacked cohesiveness and continuity owing to the time intervals between the four sessions. Another possible explanation for the ineffectiveness of the programs is found in the relatively short duration of the programs.

published_or_final_version / Applied Statistics / Master / Master of Social Sciences

In November 1998, the Hong Kong Government published the policy document entitled "Information Technology for Learning in a New Era Five-Year Strategy 1998/99 to 2002/03" and defined the goals and the scope of the development of Information Technology in education in Hong Kong. One of the goals is to encourage using Information Technology (I.T.) in education and to promote students' ability in handling information. As the role of I.T. is becoming more and more important in education, schools themselves have also implemented I.T. to various extents. The main purpose of this study is to explore the impacts of the external environment on the development of I.T. in Hong Kong primary schools and examine also the relationship between the use of I.T. in education and teaching effectiveness in Hong Kong primary schools. / Recommendations have been made for school administrators' consideration in the development of I.T. systems in primary schools and ways of improving teaching effectiveness. Further areas of investigation into the relationship between the development of I.T. in education and teaching effectiveness in primary schools are also recommended. / The results of the research indicate that: (1) the "Policy" factor and "Funding" factor had a high, significant correlation with the different aspects of I.T. development of Hong Kong primary schools; (2) a school with well-developed I.T. had a positive significant correlation with "Teaching Effectiveness". / The School Environment Constraint Instrument developed by Lam (1989) was adopted to meet the context of Hong Kong primary schools and modified for this study. Two new factors "New Arrivals" and "Language Policy" are used to replace the original factors of 'Ethnicity' and 'Second Language'. The other two research instruments which measured "Information Technology Development" and "Teaching Effectiveness" were developed by the Researcher. / This study uses a quantitative approach to achieve the above purposes. Questionnaires were sent to 823 teachers from 25 Hong Kong primary schools to solicit their views on the impact of I.T. in school education, the use of I.T. education and their perceptions of teaching effectiveness. / 關李榮. / Adviser: Sun Keung Nicholas Pang. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0454. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 228-246). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Guan Lirong.