This diploma thesis deals with cooperation between family and school at the beginning of school attendance. Position of that subject in Czech education system is clarified in the theoretical part, as well as some educational programs and initiatives focusing on this domain of a teacher's work. The practical part presents action research, which is focused on the reflection of my own work experience. It explores possibilities of specific methods and forms of cooperation of class teacher with parents according to an analysis of effectiveness of cooperation between family and school evaluation tool of "Competent Educators of the 21st Century: ISSA's Definition of Quality Pedagogy". This research confirmed that the parents welcome any offer to closer involment in school education and choose the kind of cooperation that best suits their needs and abilities. KEYWORDS: school, parents, communication, standards, Step By Step.

Taiwan is located in a highly seismic zone and the historical “Dieh-Dou” timber buildings, constructed without following any code or standard, are prone to collapse under earthquake. These buildings are unique and represent the culture, heritage and art of Taiwan, therefore need to be preserved while minimizing unnecessary intervention that could damage their authenticity. <br /> This research comprises a thorough investigation on the parameters influencing the seismic vulnerability of the Dieh-Dou timber frames in Taiwan, and propose a methodology of assessment and a strategy for strengthening validated through experimental testing and numerical analysis. <br /> After review existing literature and post-earthquake surveys, the failure modes of the buildings are identified, showing that the dislocation of the elements of the frame from the joints is the primary source of damage. An experimental investigation is carried out comprising both rotational and translational tests on full scale joint specimens which, together with a parametric study undertaken with an appropriate FE simulation, demonstrates how both the rotational and translational stiffness of the joints play a key role in defining the behaviour of these structures. <br /> Lateral force, response spectrum, and step-by-step pushover analyses are performed and compared with the post-earthquake survey of two Dieh-Dou buildings seriously affected by the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake. The results show that the proposed FE modelling can successfully be employed to assess the vulnerability of the frames. <br /> Based on a damage level approach, an assessment methodology is suggested that would allow to optimisation of the strengthening strategy, permitting protection these precious structures from future earthquakes while avoiding unnecessary interventions.

Structured data has been a major component of web resources since the very beginning of the web. Metadata that was originally mostly meant for display purposes gradually expanded to incorporate the semantic content of a page. Until now semantic data on the web has mostly focused on factual knowledge, namely trying to capture “what humans know”. This thesis instead focuses on procedural knowledge, or in other words, “how humans do things”, and in particular on step-by-step instructions. I will present a semantic framework to capture the meaning of sets of instructions with respect to their potential execution. This framework is based on a logical model which I evaluated in terms of its expressiveness and it compatibility with existing languages. I will show how this type of procedural knowledge can be automatically acquired from human-generated instructions on the web, while at the same time bridging the semantic gap, from unstructured to structured, by mapping these resources into a formal process description language. I will demonstrate how procedural and factual data on the web can be integrated automatically using Linked Data, and how this integration results in an overall richer semantic representation. To validate these claims I have conducted large scale knowledge acquisition and integration experiments on two prominent instructional websites and evaluated the results against a human benchmark. Finally, I will demonstrate how existing web technologies allow for this data to seamlessly enrich existing web resources and to be used on the web without the need for centralisation. I have explored the potential uses of formalised instructions by the implementation and testing of concrete prototypes which enable human users to explore know-how and collaborate with machines in novel ways.

This dissertation focuses on the mobility trajectories of highly skilled and relatively affluent migrants who move between highly developed countries of the “global North”. While these “migrants by choice” are often seen as “desired immigrants” who hold the privilege to move internationally relatively unrestricted, little is known about their actual migration decision-making behaviour and their lived experiences in their place(s) of destination. To address this research gap, I explore the migration trajectories of German migrants by choice moving to and from Canada as a case study. Drawing on 48 narrative life story interviews with Germans at different stages of their migration trajectories (i.e., the pre-movement phase, the phase of settling down and living in Canada and the phase of return and/or onward movement) I specifically analyse a) their lived experiences in their day-to-day life (including experiences of settlement and integration as well as the place attachments they form during their mobility trajectories to b) understand how these experiences impact their decisions of leaving, staying, returning, or moving onward, i.e., to be internationally mobile. The results demonstrate that emotional or ideational reasons as well as chance were the main drivers behind my interviewees’ movements to Canada. Moreover, the findings underline that migration decisions are often formed in ongoing processes that change and evolve over time and are closely tied to my interviewees’ lived experiences at their local places of destination as well as significant life course events, such as the birth of a child or relationship break-up. Drawing on these findings, I ultimately propose a new and comprehensive model explaining the migration decision-making processes of migrants by choice. In doing so, this dissertation makes five important contributions to the field of migration and mobility studies, namely 1) it challenges the sedentary bias in migration studies; 2) it underlines the importance of moving away from strictly national or transnational perspectives on migration movements; 3) it highlights the importance of considering the lived experiences as well as the challenges and hidden frictions of highly skilled migration movements; 4) it challenges a purely economic or political understanding of migration processes; and 5) it highlights the importance of exploring the dissonance between policy intentions and the actual behaviour of migrants.

The main purpose of this study was to compare how the Step-by-Step™ (S-b-S) and the newly developed How Was School Today (HWST) prototype can support participation in narrative activities for a 10-year-old boy with complex communication needs (CCN) when he interacts with two typically developed peers. The researchers wanted to find out how the use of the different communication aids affected interaction. The S-b-S is a low technology communication device with a voice recording function. The HWST prototype is a simulation of the HWST system, which is a high technology system that automatically collects information and creates stories about what the user has done in school. The researchers focused on different aspects of gaze and questions as vital communicative practices for the boy‟s involvement in the interaction, and hence, thestory telling activity. The data was analysed mainly qualitatively with conversation analysis (CA). A descriptive quantitative analysis was also developed. The results indicate that the HWST prototype provides a framework for establishment of joint orientation towards the prototype and questions about it. The S-b-S on the other hand creates a context in which it is easier to establish eye contact. There is an uneven distribution of questions with a much higher frequency in the session where the HWST prototype was used. There are not many studies on narrative ability in children with CCN together with peers. Future research on shared stories in natural environments is suggested. / Denna studies huvudsyfte var att jämföra hur kommunikationshjälpmedlen Step-by-Step™ (S-b-S) och den nyligen utvecklade How Was School Today-prototypen (HWST) kan stödja deltagandet i berättandeaktiviteter för en 10-årig pojke med komplexa kommunikativa behov när han interagerar med två typiskt utvecklade kamrater. Forskarna ville ta reda på hur användandet av de olika kommunikationshjälpmedlen påverkade interaktionen. S-b-S är ett lågteknologiskt kommunikationshjälpmedel med röstinspelningsfunktion. HWST-prototypen är en simulering av HWST-systemet, som är ett högteknologiskt system som automatisk samlar in information och skapar berättelser om vad användaren har gjort i skolan. Forskarnas fokuserade på olika aspekter av blickriktning och frågor, som centrala kommunikativa praktiker för pojkens involvering i interaktionen, och därmed i berättandet. Data analyserades främst kvalitativt med metoden samtalsanalys. Det utvecklades även en deskriptiv kvantitativ analys. Resultaten visar att HWSTprototypen förser samtalet med ett ramverk som underlättar etablerandet av gemensam orientering till prototypen och frågor som rör den. S-b-S skapar å andra sidan en kontext i vilken det är lättare att utveckla ögonkontakt. Det är en ojämn fördelning av frågor, med en mycket högre frekvens i sessionen där HWST-prototypen användes. Det finns inte många studier om narrativ förmåga hos barn med CCN i samtal med kamrater. Framtida studier av berättande i naturliga miljöer föreslås. / "How was School today…?" in the Wild

The dissertation deals with the forms of cooperation between family and kindergarten. The theoretical part characterizes the preschool child. It discribes each area of preschool children′s evolution? It maps the possibilities of cooperation between schools and kindergartens in the curriculum documents and others educational documents. Also it characterizes forms of cooperation in the education program Step by Step. It defines the concepts of proffesional and personal this findding on the Franework educational program for preschool education. The research examines the fulfillment of theindicators set out in the document named Competent Educator of the 21 st Century: ISSA s Definition of Quality Pedagogy, i tis inclusion in preschool education in program Step by Step, Kindergarten Kadaň. It describes the aktivity based on research, which was held in collaboration with the family in Preschool Šafaříkova louny. The Author of this dissertation worked in this kindergarten for several years.

The diploma thesis titled Individualized Czech language teaching methods by MGML represents MultiGradeMultiLevel didactic system, which was developed based on the training needs of poor rural people in Rishi Valley, in India. It is a highly structured system, which uses the heterogeneity of students in class. It is realized in perfectly prepared learning environment and with activities based on the principles of constructivism. The main principles correspond to the theory of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky called Zone of proximal development. The aim of the study is to realize and reflect the teaching of Czech language using the MGML-Methodology and thus use action research to verify the possibility of applying the method in the Czech school environment. The teaching took place in the program Step by Step, because its principles are closest with the MGML-Methodology approach. We conclude that the method can be used as an enriching element in teaching at Czech primary school.

This diploma thesis deals with the forms of cooperation between parents and school in the school programme Step by Step. The theoretical part looks into the family and school as educational institutions, their definitions and history as well as modern trends in this field. The forms of cooperation in the programme Step by Step and the standards are specified. The empiric part presents an action research on the self-evaluation of the cooperation of the parents and the author of the thesis. The self- evaluation is based on the standards of Step by Step. The author documents the indicators of the quality of the teacher's work in this field on examples from her personal experience which is reflected on the basis of feedback from other teachers and questionnaires filled in by the parents.

The theses deals with partnership and client-based approach to family and schooll collaboration. The theoretical part focuces on family and school as an institucion, thein definition, fiction and curricular documents. Further it deals with relations between a family and school, evolution of views on cooperation, mutal expectations of resulting cooperation, educational and social partenrship, the parents influence on the education of children, forms of cooperation, as well as with the limitations and risks that can be involved in the communication and collaboration. Criteria of effective cooperation between s family and school given by two different authors are characterized and compared. The work also maps the criteria of effective cooperation and forms of collaboration within in programme Step by Step. The empirical part presents observations, action research and interviews, to detect cooperation between school and families in a class following the programme Step by Step. The research methods include observations focused on consultations of a teacher - parents - children, an action research, which took place during creative workshops designed for parents, as well as group interview, carried out with the parents, the teacher and the children. KEYWORDS: Family, school, communication, cooperation,...

This diploma thesis deals with cooperation between family and school. The aim of the theoretical part is to analyse the primary foreign sources of the programme Step by Step in the domain of the cooperation between family and school, especially the programme HEAD START. Next aim is to compare the methods and forms of cooperation in the United States of America and the Czech Republic, especially in one elementary school. The practical part presents action research which is focused on the reflection of my own work experience. It describes and evaluates the cooperation between family and the school where the author of this diploma thesis works - the evaluation is based on the tool "Competent Educators of the 21st Century: ISSA's Definition of Quality Pedagogy". KEY WORDS: school, parents, family, cooperation, communication, standards, Step by Step, HEAD START.