Art teachers have inherited unreconciled attitudes toward the teaching of drawing, which stem from an unresolved conflict between interventionists and non-interventionists. The resulting fragmentation of teaching practises is further confounded by consideration of the "crisis in confidence" period of drawing development that surfaces in grade four. In an effort to provide a clearer definition of the teacher's role in the drawing class, this study examined the practises of four exemplary art specialists^ Descriptive research techniques were employed in the observation of 27 drawing lessons, nine each at the grade two, four and six levels. Recorded dialogue was analyzed using Kakas' Peer Interaction Typology and Clements' Questioning Typology, and it was found that peers at all grades spoke most often about their own drawing experiences or artwork, and that teachers used mostly indirect questioning strategies when interacting with students. Data collected regarding initiators of interactions revealed that with increasing age came decreasing amounts of student initiated interaction, together with increasing amounts of teacher initiated interaction. It was also found that there was a paucity of peer interaction at the grade four level, and that in-process viewing of peers' artwork was an important component of the drawing lesson. Within a supportive environment, interaction generally ranged from neutral to positive.

The purpose of this study is to explore and document the nature of children's participation in elementary school science in British Columbia, Canada. Using an ethnographic approach, extensive fieldnotes provide the foundation addressing the question "What is the activity of science in an elementary school?" Although current science curriculum documents continue to cast science at school as a possible mirror of science in the 'real' world, this is a thesis about elementary school science and a community of inquiry that evolves at school. Instead of separating process and content, this thesis emphasizes their co-emergence. Drawing upon sociocultural and enactivist perspectives, the focus is on learning and context, learner and content as they co-evolve. This study was conducted in one elementary class at the intermediate level (Grade 6/7) across one school year. The teacher and I collaborated to plan and teach science with a focus on creating opportunities for children to participate. Children embarked on three extensive science adventures with their teacher, working in teams of four or five and learning as a community of inquiry. Using audio taped records of children's and the teacher's comments, children's creations, as well as my fieldnotes, I construct a narrative of one year of school science. Researcher, children, and teacher describe what it means to participate in a diversity of ways and, if we wish to understand how children learn science it is important to listen. Data analysis reveals the importance of contexts for participation in elementary school science. In particular, I identify "spaces of inquiry" that afforded students diverse opportunities to participate with science content in a community of inquiry. They are generative spaces, rehearsal spaces, and performative spaces. Spaces of inquiry are important because they provide an alternative way to think about learning and teaching science, they provide opportunities for designing collaborative group work, and they challenge educators to consider children's contributions to their science learning. Overall, this ethnographic study illustrates a dynamic interdependence of learners and their environment in this open-ended, creative adventure in and through school science.

English as a foreign language (EFL) is quite different from English as a second language (ESL) in many respects. Few EFL studies, however, have been conducted with consideration given to the unique EFL environment. This case study of South Korean elementary EFL was designed to evaluate the previous (1997--2000) and new (2001-- ) curricula and materials based on the researcher's experience and a review of the literature. / This study first suggests communicative language teaching (CLT) criteria appropriate for elementary school pupils who are beginning to learn EFL in Korea, and then evaluates the two CLT-based curricula for the 4th grade based on the suggested criteria. Second, this study aims to examine the two different material sets for the two curricula focusing on spoken language communicative activities. For the material comparison, the Sisayoungasa Co. material set, one of 16 sets based on the previous curriculum, is compared to the new material set based on the 7th curriculum. / Perceptions of the curriculum and material change were considered from three perspectives: three teachers, a policy maker and a researcher. It was revealed that opinions from the three perspectives vary considerably. The study also found that despite the recent attempt to implement CLT-based elementary EFL, there are still deficiencies in the Korean elementary EFL curriculum and materials.

This dissertation describes the personal problem-solving language used by grade five students as they solve mathematical problems. Student classroom interactions were audio-taped and filmed during the course of the 199711998 school year. Ethnographic methods and a qualitative research approach were used for gathering, analyzing and interpreting the data. The questions that guided the study were: (1) how children solve problems and (2) what tools and symbols systems do they use. The purpose was to understand the problem-solving process better. The underlying assumptions were that: (1) most students can generate their own strategies and problem-solving theories; (2) many students can solve complex mathematical problems. The findings revealed that students generate problem-solving strategies and symbol systems that resemble the tools that they chose to use and their individual learning styles. Most students needed to talk about their proceedings and often used a personalized language form and nomenclatures that were uniquely creative as place holders for the more exact terminology, which replaced the invented language. The data also captured highly creative moments when the students experienced a heightened sense of awareness and sensibility while they explored their problem spaces. It was also evident that there is a transfer from the child's personal problem-solving style, choice of tools and creative symbol systems into his unique representation of the problem's solution. This transfer supports Vygotskian notions that language mediates thought and that social interaction mediates language.

This thesis presents a description of a five-month project involving the educational unit of a large urban museum and its interaction with a group of elementary-aged students from a disadvantaged community. The description is framed within a philosophic premise that puts emphasis on aesthetic experience. Within this framework, I argue that aesthetic experience can be a valuable component in the development of a range of human faculties---intellectual, affective and imaginative. Moreover, borrowing from Aristotle's conception of rationality, I maintain that only when an individual cultivates and employs all his or her faculties can he or she be considered a rational individual. With this perspective in mind, in the final section, I argue that non-traditional educational projects emphasizing aesthetic experiences, such as the one examined in this study, can enhance an educational system that makes knowledge acquisition its priority.

No description available.

The original aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a teaching approach based on the Means of Assisting Performance (MAP) by Tharp and Gallimore (1988) in the teaching of science to Grade 5 (Standard three) level. The basic method was to compare performance of three Grade 5 classes using pretest and post-test. One class (Grade SA) was taught for three weeks using an intervention programme which was based on the MAP teaching approach. A second class (Grade 58), received a teaching approach which was based on a "traditional teaching" technique. 80th classes were taught by the researcher. A 3rd class (Grade Se) was not taught by the researcher and this class was included in order to measure test effect. The information obtained from these tests was supplemented by qualitative observation of the pupils at work, interviews with teachers and pupils at the school. A general science topic (soil) was chosen with a focus on proportional reasoning skills. Because of the difficulties which arose, the study concentrated on investigating the skill level which learners demonstrated when answering questions on proportional relationships in Grade 5 at Khwezi Primary, and looking at strategies that learners at this level of development use in solving proportional problems. The results obtained in this study suggest the following. (i) Learners tested in this study showed a low-level use of the intuitive skills which are needed in laying the necessary foundation for the development of advanced proportional reasoning abilities. (ii) The strategies which were used by the learners tested were those referred to as incomplete, qualitative, and additive strategies as well as guessing. (iii) Strategies used by the learners tested in this study were similar to the strategies used by similar learners tested by other researchers in other parts of the world. The intervention was short, and no substantial gains in the skill of proportional relationships were observed. The teaching methodology based on MAP brought about changes to the learning styles of the learners. Learners were not just recipients of information but were active role players in the learning process. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

The investigation conducted for this thesis endeavoured to determine to what extent a relationship exists between pre-service elementary school teacher enjoyment of participating in science laboratory activities in a university-level background science course and their understanding of the science involved in those activities. A student enjoyment score for two science laboratory activities was generated from survey data. A student understanding score was generated from responses to relevant questions on the final exam of the course. A step-wise logistic regression was then conducted on the student enjoyment and understanding scores. Within the scope of the investigation described in this thesis, the findings lead to the conclusion that enjoyment appears to be unrelated to understanding.

In a multicultural society educators face the problem of identifying and promoting values that help people to interact in a peaceful and just manner. Instead of imposing values through indoctrination educators can promote multicultural values by designing and enacting curricula that help children to self-generate and choose these values. / I have developed a curriculum that uses international folktales to promote multicultural values without imposing them. This thesis is a holistic rendering of theory and practice in respect to the curriculum developed. The theory emphasizes multiculturalism and folktales as children's literature with a brief discussion of values education, qualitative research, anthropology, and curriculum design. The research comprises the procedures, results, and conclusions of a pilot study exploring children's value responses to international folktales and a principal study of teaching the curriculum to a sixth grade class. Through the synthesis of theory and practice a better understanding of multiculturalism emerges along with a researched curriculum.

This project involves two major components: research on the importance of heritage education and a five-lesson unit prepared to introduce fourth-grade students in Muncie to the history and architectural heritage of the area. The research revealed the fact that there are many concepts of heritage education ranging from ideas that involve only architecture to schemes that involve all aspects of culture. This thesis argues that the built environment, along with its cultural history, needs to be taught in the schools so that children at an early age may learn to appreciate their historic legacy. The unit of five lessons on heritage education was presented to two Muncie fourth-grade classes. The unit provided a guide for the students to examine the history and architecture of Muncie, Indiana. At the end of the unit, the students were tested to see what they had retained. / Department of Architecture