This study set out to understand what the views of a group of student teachers of the University of Pretoria on the role of the university are, and how and why these views emerged. A qualitative exploratory case study design was followed. The social philosophy of higher education of Ronald Barnett was chosen as a theoretical framework. Convenient sampling was applied and arts-informed methods such as drawings and photovoice, combined with in-depth semi-structured individual interviews and field-notes from observations, were research methods used for data construction. ATLAS.ti 8™ software was used and member reflections, reflections with my supervisor, denotation and connotation of drawings and photovoice techniques were used as general research methods for the data analysis. This study found that student teachers predominantly stand for an ontological role of the university that advocates the development of students as persons, their social skills, cultural and racial tolerance, compassion, empathy rather than a predominant role of the university that emphasises epistemological aspects such as teaching/learning, doing research or merely degree accreditation. It was affirmed that the intellectual communities of students and lecturers are a distinctive part of what it means to be a university. The student teachers argued for a more comprehensive concept of critical thinking that has a practical, experiential and relevant relationship with the world. While there has been extensive research on the traditional roles of the university, this study makes the claim that the university has a role to fill in the after-school educational gap that is a result of poor schooling in South Africa. The study makes the claim that the causes that explain the student views are constructed based on their family relationships and their life and educational experiences inside and outside schools or universities which at times surpassed the intellectual role of the university. The student teachers of this study, as part of a supercomplex world, recognize the university-knowledge relationship but stand for a new nature of this relationship. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.15022473.v1 / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

The aim of the study is to visualize and discuss how students perceive and make meaning in their transition from pre-school class to primary school. A special goal is to identify factors that facilitates and/or hinders students’ successful transition. In spring 2017, nine five-year-old children expressed their thoughts before starting in preschool class. The thoughts were documented in interviews and drawings that the students made. By going back to the students who were interviewed then and with their images as artifacts, this study wants to analyze how the students retrospectively describe their experiences of the transition and make the students' expectations and concerns visible to future transitions. In analyses, the study wants to understand what the important aspects to take into account at school transitions are. The study has a social constructionist framework. The children's experiences of transitions is constructed together with the researcher in the process of research (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 2017). A socio-cultural perspective is used and presumes that transitions are constructed in a social community. During transitions the students revise and re-identify their identities. The pupils´ experiences in the transition process becomes important aspects in the students' identity construction and meaning making (Newman & Paasi, 1998).The pupils were able to give their thoughts on things they saw as frightening but which turned out to be simple and other things that were really difficult. It is hoped that, based on the students' experiences, tools are found to use in the work with successful transitions.

In Los Angeles, the charter movement has gained incredible momentum as Charter Management Organizations take over troubled public schools in working class neighborhoods and communities of color. In Watts, a Latino and African American working class neighborhood, Locke High School had long stood as a troubled school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. After decades of low test scores, violence, and astronomical dropout rates, Green Dot Public Schools took over the campus and, in 2008, opened Locke as a public charter school under its management. This study examined the perceptions, experiences, and stories of five 12th-grade students at Locke whose high school was taken over. These students described the impact this charter takeover had on their social, academic, and personal lives. Using qualitative research methodology, this study utilized student-created photo essays, in-depth semistructured interviews, and a focus group. Though the media prematurely labeled the takeover a success, the students‘ views differed. They described how the takeover helped them academically, but failed to give them a rigorous college preparatory curriculum. The takeover also failed to meet their social needs. These students discussed how the takeover improved the Locke campus, but failed to make ongoing improvements throughout the school. Students offered their stories and counterstories to the mainstream media, which applauded the changed atmosphere. They reminisced about the past, mourned social loss, complained of uniforms and strict compliance to rules, and hoped for additional changes. These students added personal voices to the takeover of their high school.

It is important that physical educators, teacher educators, and researchers do all they can to understand and help promote positive attitudes among students, as attitudes toward physical education (PE) may influence students' physical activity intentions and behaviors. The purpose of this study was to identify children's perceptions of PE as it is delivered via a district-wide PE program. Specifically, the study examined the following: (a) student perceptions of enjoyment and usefulness of the PE program as it is systematically delivered in their district, (b) student likes and dislikes with respect to PE, and (c) student voice as expressed directly by the students. The study used a previously validated attitude questionnaire (N = 277) with fifth and sixth grade students (ages 10-13) and follow-up focus-group and individual interviews (n = 24) to identify student perceptions of PE. Results identified three main categories: (a) teacher engagement, (b) student engagement, and (c) the impact of PE on students. Findings show students in this study had positive attitudes toward PE. This was due to curriculum and teachers, both perceived as enjoyable and useful. The quality of the PE these students received was possible through the components of the district-wide PE program.

In an ever increasingly competitive global marketplace, a concern exists that American students are not being adequately prepared with the skills needed for the 21st century. As a remedy, improving quality of teacher instruction is a current national focus. Stakeholders are questioning current infrequent and inefficient methods of evaluating teacher performance. Many states are looking at using a 360 model of evaluating through multiple perspectives including the students themselves as key stakeholders. One method of accessing student voice and adding another perspective to teacher evaluations would be to include student evaluations in the rating of teacher performance, Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET). While using student evaluations of teacher performance is wide spread in higher education, the practice has been limited in public school settings until brought to light by the publication of the recent Gates Foundation MET (Measures of Effective Teaching) Project (2010). Currently, states across the nation are considering adding a student input component to teacher evaluations. With the validity and reliability of student evaluations in the university settings still under debate by professors, public school teachers also fear punitive measures and public judgment based on the verdicts of adolescents. This research examined the archival data from a program study of one high school's student evaluation implementation process, accessing teacher feedback from the initial evaluation process and then an adjusted implementation of student evaluations according to teacher feedback the following year. Based on mixed method design using both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze teacher questionnaires, focus group open-ended responses and statistical analysis of close-ended agree/disagree statements from teacher questionnaires, this study used triangulation to explore teacher reflections on their anxiety levels created by the student evaluation implementation process, the value they found in student evaluations, and the degree to which student evaluations facilitated change in their teaching instruction. Exploring possibilities through the eyes of teachers to reduce their anxiety and increase their value of student input, this study suggests ways to tap into the potential but underutilized resource in schools that could come from developing a mutually beneficial partnership between students and teachers to improve teacher instruction and increase student learning.

As rates of autism diagnosis continue to rise, more autistic students are graduating high school, and seeking to pursue postsecondary education options. Dual credit coursework has proven to be advantageous for college enrollment, success, and completion rates. Autistic students, however, are not equally represented in these college-level courses. The purpose of this qualitative study was to review dual credit recruitment practices and experiences, as told from the perspective of autistic students who completed one or more dual credit courses. Relying on student voice and a disability studies perspective, the intent of this study was to inform school leaders on how to facilitate the recruitment and participation of autistic students in dual credit courses, reducing the impact of institutional ableism. Traditional informational sessions proved ineffective as a recruitment tool. While parents influenced students' decisions to enroll in dual credit classes, parents' previous college experience factored into how much support students received. Teachers had the most meaningful influence due to their personal relationships with the students. Students with early-identified advanced academic ability received more encouragement to enroll, suggesting staff training and recruitment intentionality are key components for increasing autistic students' enrollment in dual credit programs. The intense bullying that students experienced in their traditional secondary classes versus the more accepting dual credit postsecondary learning environment also influenced their decisions to enroll and remain in dual credit classes. Implications for future practice and recommendations for future research are provided.

Music participation, specifically in an ensemble setting, is known to promote learning and social skills and to contribute to a well-rounded overall education. With this in mind, this qualitative, constructivist grounded theory study explored the impacts that participating in chorus, band, or orchestra has on students’ overall experience in middle school, with a focus on joy and identity development. The researcher interviewed fifteen students about their personal experiences and feelings about their lives as middle schoolers and musicians. The findings, shared in six theoretical concepts tied to the research question, reveal important facets of these students’ experiences that shed light on the value of music education and ensemble opportunities at the middle school level. The discourse shared by the participants communicates to educators and other stakeholders how critical music is to their individual and school lives, and how different the experience might be without it.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to employ a sociocultural, anti-deficit, and dialogic rural theoretical framework to examine the ways teachers seek to support the lived experiences of rural adolescent students in the secondary English language arts classroom as students make meaning with the content of the curriculum. This study worked with the social constructs of rurality (Azano, 2011; Azano and Biddle, 2019; Corbett, 2007; Gruenewald, 2008), critical literacy (Freire, 1990, 2018; Gee, 1990), and learning-centered pedagogy (Fecho et al., 2021) to develop insights into ways that teachers navigate opportunities and challenges in contemporary rural schools. The study focused on secondary English language arts teachers teaching in rural school districts. The participant selection criteria included being employed fulltime as an English language arts teacher at a secondary rural high school, having taught for at least three years, and identifying as teaching from a learning-centered pedagogical stance. All three participants taught at rural North Carolina high schools. The method used was adapted from the three-phase interview approach (Seidman, 1990), with an intake interview, a midpoint interview, and a final interview. The midpoint interview was adapted to consist of three separate post-classroom observation interviews. The post-classroom observation interviews were preceded each round by a co-planning lesson and a classroom observation. There were three stages of data generation, spanning from February 2021 to May 2021. To learn about participants' experiences supporting rural student voices, triangulation (Guba and Lincoln, 1981) was used through multiple data sources: teacher interviews, collaborative lesson planning, classroom observations, post-observation conferences, field notes, memos, and email correspondences. Thematic analysis (Maxwell, 2013) was used to analyze and code the data. From the data analysis, three understandings were generated about the ways in which rural English language arts teachers support students in the classroom. Participants were (1) supporting student voice through instructional design, (2) attending to biases and seeking to dialogue within the classroom, and (3) utilizing lived experiences and literacies. The implications of the study include that rural students can face stereotypes due to the deficit mindset of rurality (Azano et al., 2021a, 2021b, Azano and Biddle, 2019; Theobald and Wood, 2010) and that the utilization of bringing their lived experiences into the classroom can serve as a means to help them make meaning with the content of the classroom. The English language arts classroom can be a space for students to be supported through the use of a learning-centered stance that seeks to collapse traditional hierarchies in the classroom (Fecho et al., 2021). / Doctor of Philosophy / The purpose of this study was to use a sociocultural, anti-deficit, and dialogic rural theoretical framework to examine ways teachers can draw on the lived experiences of rural adolescent students in secondary English language arts classrooms as students make meaning with curriculum content. This study worked with the social constructs of rurality (Azano, 2011; Azano and Biddle, 2019; Corbett, 2007; Gruenewald, 2008), critical literacy (Freire, 1990, 2018; Gee, 1990), and learning-centered pedagogy (Fecho et al., 2021) to develop insights into ways that teachers navigate opportunities and challenges in contemporary rural schools. Participant criteria included being employed fulltime as an English language arts teacher at a rural secondary school, having taught for at least three years, and The study's three participants were rural North Carolina secondary English language arts teachers. Utilizing an adapted three-phase interview process, the study had three stages for each participant: (1) an intake interview, (2) three rounds per participant of co-planning, classroom observations, and post-observation conferences, and (3) a final interview. Thematic analysis (Maxwell, 2013) was used to analyze and code the data. Understandings were that participants, in their success and challenges of supporting rural student voices (1) supported student voice through instructional design, (2) attended to biases and seeking to dialogue within the classroom, and (3) utilized the lived experiences and literacies.

Reforms early in the 21st century purported to close the achievement gap between White students and students of color, to provide accountability and transparency to taxpayers, to implement meaningful consequences for low-performing schools, and to create the workforce for the century. In this study, I investigated the effects of school reform on the lived experiences of students who graduated from high school in 2014 by inquiring into six young people’s perceptions of their schooling. I sought to better understand whether participants were aware of the existence and intent of school reforms, and how or whether their aspirations for their futures had evolved over the course of their formal schooling in concert with the expressed goals of those reforms. The data set consisted of narratives from six recent low-income male and female high school graduates of color. Analysis revealed striking similarities between their experiences despite the variety in outcomes. The narratives indicated that school reforms have had little impact on students’ lives other than to graft the go-to-college imperative, onto the young people’s inherent aspirations. Young people remained alienated from their education, and outcomes continued to adhere to racist, classist, and gendered expectations.

This research concerns tensions between ‘personalisation’, a neo-liberal concept adapted by New Labour to empower and motivate students and ‘performativity’, an aspect of governance whereby institutional effectiveness is monitored by statistical outcomes. Their ambiguous reconciliation in Personalised Learning (DfES 2004a) continues to develop in schools and colleges. A research focus on Key Stage 3/4 wider curriculum choice, one of five key but under-researched elements in this policy, provides the opportunity to explore this paradox. Involving an investigation into the recent experience of 14-15 year olds in an inner city English comprehensive school, the degree of equity afforded students in decision-making, based on teacher perceptions of students as achievers and underachievers may reveal conflicting values in the management of this process. Taking an ethnographic approach to case study development, triangulation of method and source is used to test internal validity. Analysis of interview data from a range of pastoral staff provides outline images of the institutional management of student choice. A comparative statistical analysis using data from anonymous student questionnaires provides an independent account of the effects of this interpretation on the student stakeholder role. From the questionnaire sample, qualitative data from twenty student interviews offers further insight into the processing of decisions. Relying on respondent validation procedures throughout, for ethical reasons the identification of student interviewees as ‘achievers’ or ‘underachievers’ is retrospective. Demonstrating how student access to the KS4 optional curriculum operates, the research reveals power differences firstly between the student cohort and ‘gate-keeping’ pastoral staff and secondly between individual students. While some evidence of social control through self-surveillance, implied through Foucauldian criticism of neo-liberal strategies (Rose and Miller 1992) may exist, the extreme social and economic deprivation of the area is used to justify this institutional interpretation of the stakeholder role through the moral imperative of social inclusion.