Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

abstract: The high rate of teacher turnover in the United States has prompted a number of studies into why teachers leave as well as why they stay. The present study aims to add to that knowledge specifically regarding why teachers choose to stay at urban schools. Several reasons teachers in general choose to stay have been identified in previous studies including faith in their students, continuing hope and sense of responsibility, and love among others. The importance of such a study is the possibility of designing programs that reinforce teacher success through understanding the personal and professional reasons teachers choose to stay. Getting teachers to stay is important to the nation's goal of providing equity in science education to all children. Important to this research is an understanding of motivational theories. Already a challenge in the over-busy modern world, the ability to self-motivate and motivate others is of particular importance to teachers in urban schools as well as teachers struggling against restrictive budgets. Studies have shown teachers extrinsically motivated will need external rewards to encourage them while teachers who are intrinsically motivated will have their own internal reasons such as satisfaction in contributing to the future, self-actualization, or the joy of accomplishment. Some studies have suggested that teachers who decide to remain teaching tend to be intrinsic motivators. Unfortunately, the environment in most Western country educational systems presents a challenge to achieving these intrinsic goals. As a result, self-determination theory should play a significant role in shaping educational programs. The following study examined the perspectives of secondary school science teachers, specifically regarding why they opted to remain within the classroom in urban districts. It was conducted utilizing interviews and surveys of teachers working within urban school districts in Arizona and California. The sample consisted of 94 science teachers. More than half of the participants were White females and 36 percent of them had been teaching for more than 15 years. Participation in the study was based on self-selected volunteerism. Survey questions were based on self-determination theory and used Likert scale responses. Follow-up audiotaped interview requested information regarding identity and their social interaction within the urban settings. The survey responses were analyzed using SPSS for descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and linear regression. The results of this study provide insight on what works to motivate science teachers to continue teaching in less than ideal school settings and with such high bureaucratic impediments as standardized testing and school rating systems. It demonstrates that science teachers do seem to be intrinsically motivated and suggests some areas in which this motivation can be fostered. Such results could help in the development of teacher support groups, professional development programs, or other programs designed to assist teachers struggling to deal with the specific problems and needs of inner city school students. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2012

After the introduction of Learner Centred Education in Namibia, a number of studies were conducted on how teachers either perceived learner centred education or implemented it. However, very few studies investigated the teachers' understanding of both subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge; primarily, how they understand and develop key concepts. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Grade 5 teachers' understand and develop key concepts in Social Studies in selected schools in Namibia. The study focused on three teachers in three primary schools in the Caprivi educational region of Namibia. These teachers were purposefully selected as graduates of the teacher education programme instituted at the time of the Namibian education reform process. As a teacher educator, my main motive of conducting this study was to gain a better understanding of some of the issues that have been raised about these graduates' lack of content knowledge. The study adopts a qualitative approach and seeks to investigate (a) how the three teachers in this study understand key concepts and (b) the strategies they use to develop such concepts. Three data collection instruments were employed: interviews, document analysis and class observations. The findings indicate that despite the training that all three teachers in this study received, their understanding of the concepts they taught is problematic. Furthermore, some of the strategies that the teachers used did not bring about learning with understanding. The results of the study revealed how these teachers' problems with concepts and the development of conceptual understanding are related to specific issues and can be attributed to a number of factors. Because of this, the study has provided valuable insights into aspects of teacher education that need to be addressed both in terms of in-service and pre-service programmes to support teachers in teaching for understanding, a key idea underpinning the reform process.

Orientador: Odete Pacubi Baierl Teixeira / Banca: Maria Eunice Ribeiro Marcondes / Banca: Terezinha Valim Oliver Gonçalves / Banca: Sérgio Carmargo / Banca: Silvia Regina Quijadas Aro Zuliani / Resumo: No contexto de carências de práticas investigativas, da necessidade de atenção ao processo de formação inicial e continuada de professores de ciências, e considerando a orientação didático-pedagógica em que a investigação é uma perspectiva que tem sido recomendada para a melhoria do ensino de ciências, este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar sob que discurso argumentativo se constrói o processo de formação de professores ao experimentarem práticas investigativas na ocasião de reuniões para sua discussão e planejamento, estas ocorridas em um grupo de professores-estagiários, pertencentes ao Clube de Ciências da Universidade do Pará com a participação da pesquisadora, e de suas aulas com uma turma de estudantes do sexto e sétimo anos, oriundos de escolas públicas de Belém, ocorridas com a presença da pesquisadora, no sentido de procurar indicar diferentes aspectos de seu desenvolvimento e condução em um contexto de ensino e de formação. Para isto, propusemos um modelo para análise de práticas investigativas, construído face às diferentes propostas de investigação existentes. Os resultados mostraram que as práticas investigativas não são somente uma atitude a ser desenvolvida no estudante. Essas trazem evidências de novos domínios para a formação do professor que articulam o contexto teórico, metodológico e epistemológico. Antes e simultaneamente a investigação é uma condição de formação e trabalho do professor, mediado por práticas cuja finalidade esteja imbuída do espírito de busca / Abstract: In the context of lack of investigatve practices, the necessity of attention to the process of initial and continued formation of science teachers, and considering the didactic-pedagogical orientation in which the investigation is a perspective that has been recommended for the improvement of the teaching of sciences, this work aims at analyzing the argumentative discourse in which is based on the process of teachers formation, in particular, when they experience the investigate practices during meetings organized for discussion and planning. The meeting were constituted by the professor research, a group of teachers in conditions of trainees from the Federal University of Para Science Club. The trainees applied the procedures discussed during the meetings in classes of students in the sixth and seventh grade, from public schools in Belém city, which ocurred under the supervision of the professor researcher, in seeking to indicate different aspects of their development and conduct in a real context of education and formation. In this work was proposed a model for analysis of investigate practices built in face of various existing proposals. The results demonstrated that the investigative practices are not only an attitude to be developed in the students; they bring evidence of new areas for teacher education that articulates the theoretical, methodological and epistemological framework / Doutor

The study has a twofold purpose. The first is to compare the priority order of the seven fundamental areas of skill among the three sample groups, The second is to compare the differences between actual and ideal teacher performance in the seven fundamental skill areas. The conclusions are generalizable only to the population of Texas teacher educators, members of the Texas Science Supervisors Association and members of the Science Teachers Association of Texas, All of the groups had basic agreement as to the priority order of the science teacher competencies being demonstrated by teachers, The profession's success in educating teachers in the content areas is reflected by the priority of the rankings. The position of the science supervisors' ratings of teacher performance between teachers and teacher educators indicated that supervisors have the most accurate view of teacher performance, The least discrepancy among groups occurred in the ideal rating of teacher performance, indicating general agreement as to the level at which teachers should be demonstrating skills, The greatest discrepancy occurred in the identification of actual level of teacher performance.

O estudo da argumentação e da construção de argumentos vem ganhando cada vez mais espaço na área de pesquisa de Ensino de Ciências. A mudança no foco de estudo do sujeito epistêmico, de uma perspectiva individual para a ideia de uma comunidade de conhecedores, nos permite analisar como se dá o processo de produção, comunicação e avaliação do conhecimento científico escolar por meio das interações discursivas. O presente trabalho se insere no contexto da necessidade de produzir conhecimentos acerca dos aspectos epistêmicos no processo de construção de argumentos tendo como foco professores e formador. Objetivamos investigar a mobilização de Práticas Epistêmicas dos professores para a construção de argumentos e suas relações com o Movimento Epistêmico do formador, analisando como as ações do formador favorecem a adoção de tais práticas e promove a construção de argumentos durante a aplicação de uma Sequência Didática em Ecologia em uma oficina de formação continuada de professores de ciências. Mediante a relação entre os Movimentos Epistêmicos do formador e a mobilização de Práticas Epistêmicas pelos professores, analisamos os aspectos epistêmicos na construção de argumentos, tendo como base os argumentos de referência que a Sequência Didática traz em seu escopo. Nossos resultados apontam dois aspectos relevantes desse processo: o direcionamento e a avaliação. O aspecto de direcionamento do formador se constitui na interação entre os objetivos da Sequência Didática e a comunidade de aprendizes. O aspecto de avaliação para a construção de argumentos se caracterizou nos momentos em que o direcionamento se relacionava com as crenças, valores e saberes dessa comunidade. Ressaltamos a importância de desenvolvimento de maiores estudos que se aprofundem sobre os aspectos relacionados ao que conta como conhecimento relevante e os meios para adquiri-lo no contexto de formação de professores. / The study of argumentation and the construction of arguments has been more discussed in the field of research in science teaching. Changing the focus of study of the epistemic subject, from an individual perspective to an idea of a community of experts, allow us to analyze hoe the process of knowledge production, process of communication and process of evaluation of the scientific knowledge through epistemic aspect in the argument-construction process focusing on teacher and trainers. It aims to investigate the mobilization of teacher\'s Epistemic Practices when constructing arguments and its relation to the educator\'s Epistemic Moves, analyzing how the educator\'s actions favor the adoption of such practices and promotes the construction of arguments when using a didactic sequence application in Ecology in a continuing education workshop for science teachers. Through the relationship between the educator\'s Epistemic Moves and the mobilization of teacher\'s Epistemic Practices, it was possible to analyze the epistemic aspects in the construction arguments, based on the reference arguments that are within the scope of Didactic Sequence. Our results show two relevant aspects of this process: targeting and evaluation. The trainer\'s targeting aspect is based on the interaction between the goals of the Didactic Sequence and the community of learners. The evaluation aspect focusing on the construction of arguments, based on situations in which the orientation was related to the beliefs, values and knowledge in the present community. We highlighted the importance of developing more efforts to go deeper on the aspects related to relevant knowledge and the ways to acquire in the context of teacher training.

Orientador: Elisabeth Barolli / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-26T01:43:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nascimento_WilsonElmer_M.pdf: 1308313 bytes, checksum: e0130fdb06091147cfe8197b6a0adb6f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Este estudo, de cunho qualitativo, teve como objetivo compreender e caracterizar a influência de subprojetos do Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência (PIBID) da área de Ciências na rotina profissional dos professores supervisores, bem como o efeito dessa participação no PIBID para o desenvolvimento profissional. O presente estudo configura-se como Estudo de Caso e envolve quatro supervisores do PIBID de subprojetos vinculados a diferentes Instituições de Ensino Superior do Estado de São Paulo. Para o levantamento dos dados optamos pelo uso de entrevistas semiestruturadas, que apresenta um esquema por nós elaborado que sintetiza as características mais importantes do desenvolvimento profissional de professores de acordo com a literatura. Ao percebermos que os dados nos permitiam reconstruir as histórias dos supervisores no PIBID em uma perspectiva diacrônica durante o projeto, lançamos mão de uma análise narrativa procurando, nesse primeiro momento, apontar para as práticas realizadas no programa e os principais impactos nas rotinas dos professores. Para a compreensão dos modos como os supervisores interagiram com seus subprojetos, recorremos ao ferramental teórico em torno do conceito de disposições conforme proposto pelo sociólogo Bernard Lahire. O segundo patamar de análise nos permitiu apreender algumas disposições dos supervisores interpretadas como motores de suas ações nos subprojetos e, ao mesmo tempo, relacionadas com possibilidades de desenvolvimento profissional. Diante de uma perspectiva teórica multireferencial para o desenvolvimento profissional dos professores, em que tem subjacente uma dinâmica muito dependente do sujeito e do contexto, as principais disposições inferidas na análise nos revelaram seus efeitos diante do desenvolvimento do professor. A compreensão daquilo que os impulsionam a agir em contextos específicos e o porquê de acionarem determinadas práticas e mecanismos, se tornou muito importante para o nosso estudo, à medida que nos possibilitou encontrar indicadores de desenvolvimento profissional. Como resultados, identificamos disposições que, atualizadas durante a participação no PIBID, mobilizaram ações que nos indicaram processos de desenvolvimento profissional em alguns dos supervisores sujeitos da pesquisa. Dos indicadores de desenvolvimento profissional destacamos: (i) os professores como agentes de mudanças, comprometimento e satisfação pessoal; (ii) práticas de reflexão e de investigação; (iii) práticas colaborativas e de trabalho em equipe; e (iv) atualização contínua de repertórios pedagógicos e científicos. Nossos resultados sinalizaram, ainda, para a importância do modo como os subprojetos PIBID são conduzidos e a maneira como o próprio supervisor encara o programa para que processos de desenvolvimento profissional se desencadeiem / Abstract: This research, qualitative nature, aimed to comprise and characterize the influence of subprojects of "Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência" in the field of Science in the daily tasks of the supervisors teaching practicers, as well as the effect of participation in referred program for professional their growth. For this research was used as objetct a case studying involving four PIBID supervisors which work on subprojects team into different Institutions of Higher Education of the State of São Paulo. For mapping the information necessary for this research was chosen as main method semi-structured interviews, which presents a scheme developed by the authors of this article which summarizes the most important features of teacher¿s professional development in accordance with literature. To conclude that the obtained information allowed us to reconstruct the histories of supervisors in PIBID in a diachronic perspective during the project, was used a narrative analysis, which looked at at first moment point out the practices at in the program and the main impacts on the routines of teachers. To understand the ways in which supervisors interacted with their subprojects, we resorted to the theoretical tooling around the concept of dispositions as proposed by sociologist Bernard Lahire. The second level of analysis allowed us to apprehend certain provisions of supervisors interpreted as motor of their actions in the subprojects and, at the same time, related to the opportunities for professional development. Considering the mentioned multi-referential theoretical perspective for the teachers¿ professional development, based on a dependent dynamics of subject and context, the main provisions revealed the effects on the teachers¿ development. Reaching what timulates them to act in specific contexts and why they adopt certain practices and mechanisms was a important issue for this study, as well as contributed to find professional development indicators. As a result, were identified dispositions that, updated during participation in PIBID, mobilized actions indicated in the process of professional development in some of supervisors which had participated of this research. According author¿s oppinion, the main developments are: (i) teachers as change agents, commitment and personal satisfaction; (ii) reflection and research practices; (iii) collaborative and teamwork practices; and (iv) continuous updating of scientific and pedagogical repertoires. The results also shows the importance of how PIBID subprojects are conducted and the way supervisors face the PIBID for their professional development process / Mestrado / Ensino de Ciencias e Matematica / Mestre em Multiunidades em Ensino de Ciências e Matemática

M.Ed. (Subject Didactics) / The awareness of the necessity to protect our natural environment is increasing, which is indeed promising. Despite this encouraging fact, it is tragically evident that mere awareness is not sufficient, as our world is going from bad to worse. It is therefore imperative to try and save our world: environmental education is one of the most efficient ways being used to save our earth. 'Die Witskrif vir Omgewingsopvoeding in Suid-Afrika' was published in 1989 by the South African government stating their acceptance of Environmental Education as essential for South Africa. Thus, Environmental Education needs to be implemented successfully into the formal, educational system of government schools in South Africa. Before the succesful implementation of Environmental Education, the teacher has to be thoroughly trained and prepared for this challenging task. This research takes a look at the level of knowledge and attitudes towards the natural, biophysical environment. This study is directed at three acute environmental problems namely: population explosion, the greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone layer. The sample tested comprised of fifty-eight students from three Afrikaans universities in Transvaal, preparing themselves to teach Biology in the near future.

The problem of this study was to determine the effect of a micro-teaching laboratory experience on the attitudes of pre-service elementary school teachers toward the teaching of elementary school science and to determine the effect of a micro-teaching laboratory experience on the indirect verbal behavior of pre-service elementary school teachers.

M.Ed. / The aim and purpose of the study is to explore the Natural Science (NS) teachers' perceptions of their teaching competence in Senior Phase township schools in Soweto. An in-depth literature review on theoretical perspective in Natural Science teachers' perceptions of their teaching competence in Senior Phase indicated that these partially addressed the key questions of the study, namely: what are the perceptions ofNatural Science teachers' about their teaching competence in Senior Phase township schools? What competences are perceived to enhance and contribute to Natural Science teaching in Senior Phase schools m Soweto? This study identifies a number of motivational competences that have been derived from current theories. The theory developed from the literature on NS teachers' competences review, facilitated the development of an empirical research. Qualitative research was conducted to explore NS teachers' perceptions of their teaching competence in Senior Phase schools in Soweto. This was with a view to facilitating the improvement thereof wherever necessary. Seven NS teachers from three Diepkloof Senior Phase schools were sampled. It also emerged from the findings of the research that there are, teachers who are not qualified to teach NS subject at the Senior Phase level. There also seems to be a lack of competent N.S. teachers in Senior Phase schools in Soweto. The high numbers of learners in NS classes create challenges for NS teachers to provide individual attention to learners. NS laboratories are poorly equipped and that the district officials do not provide sufficient support to NS teachers so that they can be more effective in their teaching. The study gave the researcher the opportunity to explore the teaching competence ofNS teachers in three Senior Phase township schools in Soweto, where the competence gap had already been expressed. There were many challenges identified by the findings. A comprehensive picture of the many inter-dependant aspects affecting the NS teaching competencies was acquired. The research conducted gave the researcher the motivational framework to establish both the current level ofNS teaching competence and the ideal levels of competences to which the three schools and other schools nationwide could aspire.