Tema aktuali, nes išanalizavus bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų savivaldos institucijų veiklą, bus parengtas Lietuvos bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų savivaldos institucijų vaidmens didinimo, gerinant ugdymo procesą, stiprinant bendravimą ir bendradarbiavimą, modelis. Tyrimo objektas: Savivaldos institucijų veikla Lietuvos bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose. Tyrimo problema: nepriklausomos Lietuvos mokyklos kūrimo pradžioje buvo sudarytos sąlygos iniciatyvioms, organizuotoms, kūrybingoms mokyklų bendruomenių savivaldos institucijoms atskleisti savo sugebėjimus ir veikti savo labui. Jau turėjome sukaupti nemažai patirties, o ar iš tikrųjų taip yra? Ar Lietuvos Respublikos bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose sėkmingai veikia savivaldos institucijos , kokios jų pagrindinės funkcijos bei įtaka mokyklos gyvenimo ir veiklos įvairovei? Sprendžiant šią problemą galima iškelti hipotezę: ugdomojo proceso kokybė didinama per savivaldą, būtent mokyklos savivalda gali padėti siekti geresnių ugdymo rezultatų, nuoširdesnio bendravimo ir bendradarbiavimo. Tyrimo tikslas: ištirti savivaldos institucijų veiklą bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose ir nustatyti jų organizavimo dėsningumus. Tyrimo metodai: pedagoginės, psichologinės literatūros ir švietimo dokumentų studijavimas, anketinė apklausa, veiklos vertinimo dokumentų analizė, statistinių duomenų analizė, kompiuterinių duomenų apdorojimas.schemų ir diagramų palyginimas. Tyrimo uždaviniai: išnagrinėti mokyklinę savivaldą kaip demokratinę ugdymo priemonę, nustatyti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The theme is topical because after analysing the work of self-government of comprehensive schools, the model will be created which will enlarge the role of self-government in comprehensive schools and will strengthen communication and intercorporation. The object of survey: the work of self-government of comprehensive schools. The problem of the survey: in the beggining of creating process of schools in Lithuania, the conditions for creative, well - organized, proactive self – governments to reveal their abilities were created. Are the self - governments in schools successfully functioning in the Republic of Lithuania, what are the main functions of them, what effect they have for school life and the variety of activities they carry out? While solving that problem, the hipothesis arrises: the quality of educational process is increased through self-government at schools. Self - government helps to search for better results, more sincere communication and intercorporation. The aim of the survey: to analyse the work of self - government of comprehensive schools and to find out the regularity of its organisation. The methods of the survey: the analysis of pedagogical, psichological literature and documents on education, a questionnaire, the analysis of work evaluation documents, the analysis of statistical data, processing of computer data, the comparison of schemes and diagrams. The goal of the survey: to analyse school‘s self - government as the means of democratical... [to full text]

In spite of increasing interests in the relationship between neighborhood environments and children's walking-to-school behaviors, few studies have examined the dynamic nature of school-community relationships from physical and social perspectives. Questions such as how centrally the school is located within the larger community, and how connected or accessible the school is to the surrounding communities, will have significant implications for children?s walking to school and physical activity behaviors and also for the community's social capital. The primary aims of this study are: (a) to assess the association between school-community relations and social capital among parents of school children; (b) to assess the relationship between school-community relations and walking-to-school behaviors among school children; and (c) to examine the mediating effects of social capital on the relationship of (b). This cross-sectional study focuses on children and parents from 19 elementary schools in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) in Austin, Texas, utilizing the parental Safe Routes to School (SRTS) survey and conducting a follow-up Parental Social Capital survey to gather additional in-depth data on social capital. Also objective measurements are performed to assess school-community relations and physical environments using the spatial centrality index and Geographical Information System (GIS) network analysis at/around schools and surrounding communities. Data analyses are conducted based at the school/community-level and the individual-level (large full data and small sub-group data) separately by using ANOVAs, bivariate statistical analysis and multivariate statistical models. Overall findings of this study show that: (a) neighborhood schools have more students walking to school and a higher centrality of the school than non-neighborhood schools; (b) differences in social capital between neighborhood schools and non-neighborhood schools are not significant or are only marginally significantly; (c) two social capital variables, "volunteerism" and "social cohesion" are correlated with children's walking-to-school behaviors but no significant mediating effect is found for social capital in the association between school-community relations and children's walking-to-school behaviors; and (d) "volunteerism" is shown to be positively correlated with "perceived centrality" but negatively associated with all objective centrality measures. The other social capital variable of "social cohesion" has a positive correlation with one of the objective centrality measures, "closeness centrality." Findings of this study may contribute to research exploring the dynamics of school-community relations with socio-spatial perspectives, and also bring attention to the policy makers for school siting in the large community context and evidence-based knowledge promoting healthy community design.

This qualitative exploratory case study focused on understanding how democracy and human rights education is carried out in a public elementary school in Turkey. A preliminary research was done in the USA in order to provide insight and experience into the study. An elementary school was chosen as a single case in Ankara. The study examined the perceptions of the school community (teachers, students, administrator and parents) related to democracy and human rights education through interviews. The participation to the study was completely based on voluntary action. Six teachers, 38 students, 16 parents and an administrator were interviewed. Observations and document analyses also enabled the researcher to find out the current instructional process concerning democracy and human rights education in different grade levels at elementary education. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. Research results revealed that democracy is not only a goal to be reached, and not just a form of government but also a concept experienced in all stages of schools. The major finding of the study was that there is a gap between what the school teaches as theory and the reality experienced in school and at home. All participants agreed that democracy and human rights education should start at early grades, preferably in kindergarten through establishing authentic learning environments where a variety of instructional methods, techniques, materials, textbooks and technology are employed. Besides, the school community indicated the importance of character education, school culture and values that are reflected through the hidden curriculum in schools for effective democracy and human rights education.

School connectedness, defined as the cohesiveness between diverse groups in the school community, including students, families, school staff and the wider community, is a well-documented protective factor for child and adolescent health. However, strategies for promoting school connectedness are less well known. The Western Gateway Health Promoting Schools Grant Scheme is a program that aims to increase school connectedness by using the health promoting school approach in disadvantaged communities in South-East Queensland, Australia. The scheme provides an opportunity for schools to apply for funding to implement strategies that increase students' sense of school connectedness, using a Health Promoting School approach. Evaluation of the Western Gateway Health Promoting School Grant Scheme provided an opportunity to investigate the influence of the health promoting school approach on school connectedness. The influence of the health promoting school approach on school connectedness was evaluated using a qualitative case study methodology. Three school communities were investigated as single, related case studies to examine the impact of the health promoting school approach on school connectedness. A conceptual framework, based on the theoretical understanding of how the health promoting school approach influences school connectedness, was developed and used as a guide to investigate the relationships within the case study schools. The health promoting school model, which is a 'settings' approach to health promotion, has the potential to promote school connectedness as it is based on the inclusive, participatory, and democratic principles shown to be necessary for the development of social connectedness at the broader community level. The model illustrates this potential through two mechanisms 1) processes that are characterised by the inclusion of a diverse range of members that make up a community; the active participation of community members and equal 'power' relationships, or equal partnerships among community members; and 2) structures such as school policies, school organisation and the school physical environment, that reflect the values of participation, democracy and inclusion andor that promote processes based on these values. These processes and structures, which are located both in the classroom and within the broader school environment, collectively hold the potential to promote connectedness in the school setting. Data on these relationships were collected using in-depth interviews with representatives of groups within the school community such as school staff, parents, students, health service and community agency workers. Additionally, student focus groups and documentary evidence, such as school program reports and observations of health promoting school activities were used in the collection of data. Data sources were triangulated to gain a complete understanding of the impact of the health promoting school approach on school connectedness. Data analysis was conducted by categorising the data into themes and categories based on, but not limited to, the conceptual framework that guided data collection. Data display matrices enabled theoretical relationships between the health promoting school approach and school connectedness to be drawn. The results of the in-depth qualitative evaluation of the program show that the health promoting school approach influences school connectedness through the mechanisms of a 'whole-school approach' that encourage interaction between members of the whole school community. Specific activities that promoted school connectedness were 'whole school' activities that celebrated the school community, for example, the launch of a school cafd and 'whole-class' activities where students and school staff work together towards a shared goal, such as the planning of a school breakfast tuckshop. Activities that encouraged links between classes and school staff in a school community, for example, shared curriculum planning in the co-ordination of a school breakfast tuckshop program also contributed to school connectedness by promoting interaction among school community members. Health promoting school structures and processes help to develop mutual reciprocal relationships characterised by school community members getting to know others better and developing care and support for each other, which in turn develops into other indicators of school connectedness, such as tolerance of diversity, perceptions of being valued, trust, perceptions of safety, and decreased absenteeism. A key element of health promoting school structures and processes that enables the formation of these relationships is the inclusive nature of the approach, which encourages school community members to participate in the school community. This encourages the formation of mutual reciprocal relationships. A number of elements of the health promoting school approach encourage participation in the community. For example, the formation of mutual, reciprocal relationships requires activities that are economically inclusive, and characterised by a social, positive, fun or celebratory element; that are informal and well-managed. Specifically, events characterised by eating food together; real-life activities; activities the school community 'owns' by having a say in them; and activities that involve school community members working together are important for the development of mutual reciprocal relationships. These elements occur at the level of the school and the broader school community interactions, as well as at the level of the class and interactions between classes within the school. In summary, this research provides evidence that the health promoting school approach is an effective model to influence school connectedness, which in effect promotes the health and well-being of children and adolescents.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Acadia University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. (leaves 290-299). Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Acadia University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. (leaves 290-299). Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Leadership and Policy Studies)--Vanderbilt University, Dec. 2005. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes special study report entitled : Transactional relationship between school and community. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Leadership, 2006. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-154).

Orientador: Yoshie Ussami Ferrari Leite / Banca: António Teodoro / Banca: Josefa Aparecida Gonçalves Grígoli / Este trabalho, de caráter qualitativo, investiga a questão da formação de professores a partir das demandas estabelecidas na atualidade por um novo conceito de sociedade e gestão democráticas, que aponta a necessária reorganização dos sistemas educacionais, na direção de uma maior participação da sociedade, como meio de construção de uma escola de qualidade para todos. A partir desse pressuposto, analisa-se a necessidade de as escolas buscarem o diálogo com a comunidade e as implicações desta tarefa para a organização da escola e para o trabalho dos professores, bem como a contribuição que a análise dos saberes constituídos e utilizados pelos educadores pode trazer para a reflexão em torno da formação de professores. Para realizar a investigação foram feitas observações, análises de documentos e entrevistas com gestores e professores, em uma escola da Rede Municipal de Ensino de Presidente Prudente, localizada em área de exclusão social, empenhada na tarefa de construir o diálogo escola-comunidade. O tratamento dos dados revelou uma escola que se reelabora a cada dia, num processo que constrói e reconstrói saberes, buscando edificar uma nova forma de ser e de se fazer educação coerente com uma sociedade democrática. Evidenciou-se que os educadores, na busca do diálogo com a comunidade, mobilizam diferentes saberes, destacando-se entre eles, aqueles ligados à compreensão das relações entre sociedade e educação, saberes que favorecem a construção de processos coletivos e participativos, e saberes que permitem relacionar diferentes formas de conhecimento. / This dissertation, of a qualitative nature, investigates the process of teachers qualification based on the current settled demands for a new conceit of democratic society and public management that indicates the necessary rearrangement of the educational systems in order to improve community partnership as a way of providing a high quality education for all. Starting with this postulation, we analyze how needful it is for the schools to establish a dialogue with the community as well as the consequences of this task into the school organization and the teachers' work. We also investigate in which way the analysis of the established knowledge used by the teachers can contribute to the debate about their qualification. To perform the investigation, we chose a municipal public elementary school located in a poor neighborhood in Presidente Prudente. There we found a group of professionals willing to improve the dialogue with the community. Their routine work was observed, school documents were analyzed, and interviews were fulfilled. The figures treatment revealed a school that is constantly trying to elaborate itself in a process of developing knowledge, looking for a new way of being and of making education coherent to a democratic society. It became evident that the school staff, trying to dialogue with the community, makes use of different kinds of knowledge, especially those related to the comprehension of how community and education are connected, that is, acquirements that favors the development of collective processes as well as the establishment of relations among the different kinds of knowledge. / Mestre