Professional growth is a complex process that requires thoughtful planning, persistence in execution, collaboration, and a common goal if it is to be successful. Classroom teachers have many opportunities to participate in professional development, but experiences vary and it is important to determine which have the greatest effect. The purpose of this comparative study was to examine the strengths and differences of three models of professional learning communities involved in a three-year project to improve writing instruction in kindergarten to Grade 3 classrooms. Based on the work of Routman (2008a), professional staffs at treatment schools were involved in a multi-year, inter-divisional, professional learning community. Teachers and principals in the project participated in one of three experiences of varying intensity. Results are compared to a control group of schools. The study design takes a pragmatic worldview and utilizes mixed methodology to conduct an ex post facto, quasi-experimental analysis. Artifacts collected from 2009 to 2012 include questionnaires, written self-evaluations, and samples of student writing, that were examined to determine the degree and nature of change in principals’ increased perceptiveness of the school literacy team, teachers’ increased sense of efficacy in writing instruction, and significant changes in student writing. These are compared to samples from a control group of schools that were not involved in the experience. Several aspects of this multi-year project bring to light three critical observations. First, real-time, live experiences with an expert facilitator have a dramatic effect on teacher learning. Second, students in the first four years at school are capable of much more sophistication in writing than is generally expected. Third, principals’ involvement as educational leaders is critical to enduring teacher change and ongoing student improvement. / February 2017

This thesis presents an investigation into the pedagogical content knowing (PCKg) of Dutch experienced specialist preschool music teachers with regard to teaching and learning rhythm skills viewed from an embodied cognition perspective. An embodied cognition perspective stresses the intimate relationship between body, mind and environment. In a multiple case study the research methods - stimulated recall interviews, gesture analysis tasks, physical action analysis tasks, notebooks and semi-structured interviews - were used to elicit the PCKg of six specialist preschool music teachers regarding rhythm skills. The data of these different methods were inductively analysed but sensitising concepts derived from the literature review on PCKg were also used in the analysis. Furthermore, the data were triangulated to gain a comprehensive understanding of the participants' PCKg. As for the nature of the specialist preschool music teachers' PCKg regarding rhythm skills the findings illustrated that PCKg is distributed over language, sound, gestures, body positioning and physical actions. Respecting the content of PCKg a new form of (non-verbal) knowledge was explored: 'musical communication and musical interaction' that facilitates the learning of rhythm skills of preschoolers. The study is first of all significant for offering a new perspective on the nature of the specialist preschool music teachers' PCKg: a multimodal and dynamic way of knowing that emerges from the interrelated role between the social, cultural and physical classroom environment, the teaching task and the teacher's body. Beyond the classroom, these teachers' bodies form a source for recalling, re-enacting and eliciting classroom experiences to develop and communicate their PCKg. Secondly, it offers a new perspective on the content of the specialist preschool music teachers' PCKg: these teachers' bodies take on different roles to mediate the preschoolers' learning process regarding rhythm skills. These findings have implications for further research, teacher education, practice and policy.

This diploma thesis focuses on the role of social network Facebook in the process of English teaching and learning at the second level at Czech primary schools. The theoretical part concentrates on the methodology typically used in TEFL during 20th and 21st century, online teaching and learning as well as communication, describes the history and development of Facebook and deals with the question of online safety. The practical part firstly informs the reader about the development of the research procedure, states the aims and describes the research background. Secondly it deals with the data collection, assessment and evaluation and presents the results acquired from the research. The research was designed to reveal the possible benefits of the use of Facebook in the TEFL process; it consisted of a questionnaire and two types of observation performed by the author of this thesis.

Au collège, en France, l’apprentissage des usages de l’ordinateur désormais piloté par la certification du B2i (Brevet Informatique et Internet) mais sans formation clairement identifiée, est en filigrane d’usages scolaires multiples souvent distincts des usages non scolaires. Chaque collégien est alors au centre d’une tension entre entre les univers d’usage apparemment inconciliables de la sphère scolaire et de sa sphère privée. Sans guidage ni étayage, il se livre à une sorte de butinage numérique, sans pouvoir transférer les acquisitions qu’il réalise dans chacune des sphères. Le problème didactique que cette recherche cherche à résoudre consiste à identifier et à caractériser des éléments et structures propices à l’émergence d’une cohérence à la globalité des rencontres avec les ordinateurs ou systèmes informatisées et des activités numériques du jeune. dans cette perspective, une première analyse propose une possible organisation scolaire qui tiendrait compte de toutes les activités du collégien, sans exception. Une seconde analyse consiste à objectiver ses rencontres numériques pour qu’elles constituent un objet d’étude pertinent. Enfin, sont examinés des éléments structurants communs, porteur de cohérence. Cette triple investigation permet de proposer un cadre d’interprétation et d’analyse comme outil d’intelligibilité du référent empirique constitué par toutes les rencontres. Cet outil pour l’enseignement est organisé par les tâches, leur technicité… Pour mettre à l’épreuve cette suggestion, une série d’enquêtes a été menée auprès de 203 élèves d’un même établissement. Les usages des outils informatisés ont été repérés ainsi que les conditions de l’opérationalisation de la proposition de cette recherche. Les résultats révèlent qu’il est possible d’adapter l’outil conceptuel d’interprétation des rencontres afin d’aider l’élève à construire, à l’échelle d’un curriculum, son propre itinéraire balisé par des étapes structurantes collectives. / In France, at middle school level, teaching for the uses of computer is now driven by the B2i certification (Brevet Informatique et Internet). Meanwhile, it doesn’t exist clearly identified training. So, each pupil stand in the center of tension between two worlds of uses from scholar sphere and the private sphere, that do not seem to go together. Without guidance or support they engage in a sort of digital gathering, without being able to transfer what they acquire in each sphere. The didactic issue that this research aims at solving is to identify and characterise components and structures ideal for the emergence of a consistency in all the digital practices of the pupils. To do that, a first study is conducted on a possible school organisation that would take into account all the activities of the pupils, without any exception. A second one is to objectivise their digital encounters so that they form a relevant object of study. Finally these two studies are challenged in order to reveal common, coherent structural elements. This threefold investigation enables to offer a framework for interpretation and analysis as a tool for the understandability of the empirical referent comprising every encounter. In order to test this study a series of surveys was conducted among 215 pupils attending the same school. Uses of pupils were identified, as well as the terms of the operationalisation of what this research suggests. Results show that the conceptual tool of the interpretation of the encounters can be adapted in order to help pupils build – at curriculum scale – their own path controlled by structuring and collective steps.

L'enseignement-apprentissage du lire-écrire demeure une question chaude du point de vue de sa pertinence sociale, comme du point de vue scientifique et pédagogique. Les débats sur la lecture et son apprentissage constituent encore aujourd'hui un sujet d'actualité, aussi bien pour l'opinion publique que pour l'institution et la recherche scientifique d'autant que malgré les avancées conceptuelles dans le domaine de la littératie, 10 à 15% d'élèves sont toujours en difficultés de lecture à l'entrée au collège. Si l'on connaît mieux les démarches d'apprentissage, on en sait peu sur les pratiques professionnelles des enseignants, notamment avec des élèves en difficulté. La compréhension des pratiques professionnelles de professeurs des écoles en situation d'enseignement/apprentissage initial du lire-écrire constitue l'objet de notre recherche. Elle s'inscrit dans le cadre et les questions théoriques développés dans le courant de la didactique professionnelle dont l'objectif principal est d'analyser le travail en vue de la formation et articule les questions théoriques de ce courant avec les concepts de la didactique disciplinaire autour de la notion centrale de situation (professionnelle et didactique), le processus de secondarisation des savoirs étant au cœur de la réflexion. Pour concrétiser cette intention d'intelligibilité des pratiques, nous avons fait le choix d'une méthodologie basée sur l'observation directe et indirecte de situations d'enseignement-apprentissage menées par des experts, des maîtres-formateurs, et par des novices confrontés à la gestion de l'hétérogénéité des élèves et des niveaux scolaires. Nos résultats viennent renforcer les connaissances d'une grammaire générique des pratiques didactiques de l'entrée dans l'écrit par l'identification de structures conceptuelles de situations et de modèles opératifs. Ils permettent aussi de mieux saisir les conflits de métier, les dilemmes, de pointer des éléments d'une professionnalité potentiellement explicatifs des différences d'efficacité/équité tout en questionnant les discours centrés sur la différenciation pédagogique et l'individualisation. Loin de formuler des « bonnes pratiques », ce travail contribue à enrichir la palette des gestes professionnels utiles à un développement professionnel des enseignants et invite à repenser la formation professionnelle des enseignants à partir d'une compréhension des situations intégrant les savoirs nécessaires pour agir et les savoirs nécessaires à l'analyse de l'activité. / Teaching and learning how to read and write remains a burning question from the point of view of its social relevance as from the scientific and educational point of view. Debates on reading and its apprenticeship constitute even today a topical issue for the public opinion as well as for the institution and the scientific research. In spite of conceptual development in the field of literacy, 10 to 15% of pupils still have difficulties in reading when entering secondary school. If we are more informed about procedures of apprenticeship we know little about professional practices, especially with children in difficulties. Therefore the object of our research deals with the understanding of professional practices of initial schoolteachers regarding how to teach to read and write. It is set in the frame and field of professional didactics which develop theoretical issues about the analysis of teacher training and it is combined with the concepts of disciplinary didactics in order to define the key notion of professional and didactic situation, the process of “secondarization” of knowledge being at the core of our thought. To make this intention of intelligibility of practices concrete we opted for a methodology based on direct and indirect observation of teaching/learning situations led by experts, mentors and initial teacher trainees faced to the managing of students' heterogeneity and various levels. Our results add up to the knowledge of a generic grammar of didactic practices in the field of beginning literacy through the identification of conceptual structures of situations and operative patterns. They also allow to better understand conflicts and dilemmas in the profession, to point out the potentially explicit elements of a professional expertise as far as differences of efficiency/equity are concerned while questioning discourse focused on pedagogical differentiation and individualization. Far from suggesting “good practices”, this work contributes to enrich the range of professional gestures which could be useful to the professional development of schoolteachers and to rethink teacher training and teacher competence from an understanding of situations which integrate the knowledge required for action along with the one necessary to analyze activity.

On the assumption that leadership involves individuals with distinct qualities who take much ingenuity, energy and skills to trigger greater capacity in the organization for moving people towards organizational vision and goal achievement, the aim of this study is to identify and describe the leadership shown by managers and lecturers for the successful implementation of academic programme change at National University of Rwanda. That includes investigating the improvement of academic practice in the higher education institution while implementing change, i.e. introduction of the Module-Based Teaching and Learning (MBTL) methodology which is a new approach to schooling, as well as defining an appropriate leadership style needed for the management of this implementation. The research was carried out at National University of Rwanda as a case study and supported by the aid of interviews with faculty managers and lecturers as they are the main developers and users of teaching and learning programmes. Next, data collected were complemented by means of textual analysis. The findings revealed that the MBTL introduced at NUR as an innovation in academic practice was a top-down decision made by the policy makers without consultation with academic staffs and implemented without adequate preparation whereas they are the main actors in the implementation. Coupled with the change in the language of instruction from French to English and the lack of educational material required by the MBTL approach, the situation had an unenthusiastic impact on the engagement of NUR academics for accurate successful implementation. The overall conclusion is that inadequate management of the introduction of an educational change programme leads to misadoption and reluctance at best and resistance by the implementers at worst.

Orientador: Jair Lopes Junior / Banca: Kester Carrara / Banca: Sérgio Dias Cirino / Resumo: O modelo de mudança conceitual,de reconhecida difusão na área do Ensino de Ciências,foi alvo de diversas críticas e revisões ao longo dos mais de vinte anos desde sua proposição inicial. oder-se-ia afirmar,no entanto,que tanto os proponentes do modelo quanto seus críticos apresentam um enfoque restritivo no tratamento das medidas comportamentais correspondentes à ocorrência ou não de mudança conceitual. Admite-se,como hipótese deste trabalho,que o Behaviorismo Radical propicia ferramentas capazes de uma avaliação da pertinência das críticas dirigidas ao modelo e da própria proposta de avaliação dos resultados obtidos através de sua utilização,tal como apresentada por seus proponentes . Para tanto, o presente trabalho concentrou ênfase na tentativa de,considerando estudos que ilustram a difusão posterior do modelo em trabalhos empíricos,descrever as medidas comportamentais que parecem fundamentar inferências sobre a ocorrência ou não da mudança conceitual,analisando se e como o tratamento de tais medidas foi considerado em alguns dos artigos que expressam uma revisão crítica do modelo Argumenta-se que tais artigos falham em descrever semelhanças e diferenças dos instrumentos e das interações que definem a obtenção das medidas comportamentais de conhecimentos prévios e posteriores à intervenção,bem como as intervenções intencionalmente planejadas e as condições de avaliação que sucedem a tais intervenções. / Abstract: The conceptual change model, well-known spread in Science Teaching, has been reviewed and criticized, since its initial proposal, for over twenty years. It could be argued, however, that either authors or critics present a restrictive view concerning the behavioral measures related to the absence or occurrence of conceptual change. The hypothesis within this paper is that Radical Behaviorism provides tools that can assess the pertinence of criticisms toward the model as well as the result evaluation proposal obtained from their application, as referred to by their proponents. Thus, the emphasis of this paper, taking into account studies that illustrate the posterior spreading of the model in empirical applications, is the attempt to describe the behavioral measures that seem to support inferences about the occurrence or absence of conceptual change, analyzing whereas and how the treatment of such measures were considered in some articles expressing a critical revision of the model. We understand that such articles have failed to describe similarities and differences concerning the instruments and interactions that define the achievement of behavioral measures from the knowledge (and not about responses) before and after the intervention, as well as intentionally planned interventions and the assessment conditions subsequent to the interventions. / Mestre

Não há dúvidas de que os campos da Ecologia e da Educação Ambiental estão intimamente relacionados. No entanto, a epistemologia destes dois campos tem mostrado algumas imprecisões na forma e no entendimento de como a Ecologia vem sendo apropriada pela Educação Ambiental, tornando esta relação menos direta do que uma visão superficial possa sugerir. Este trabalho teve como objetivo central compreender as relações entre esses dois campos do conhecimento, por meio de uma análise das pesquisas - teses e dissertações - em EA no Brasil. A partir da questão central \"Em que medida e extensão as pesquisas em EA incorporam e se apropriam de aspectos e conhecimentos da Ecologia\", esta pesquisa propôs-se a: a) Identificar, por meio de uma perspectiva histórica da Ecologia, a evolução dos principais conceitos e questões deste campo científico; b) Analisar as teses e dissertações em EA relacionadas ao campo da Ecologia, tendo como referencial teórico a perspectiva histórica construída anteriormente e referenciais do campo da EA e c) Discutir as implicações pedagógicas dos aspectos da Ecologia presentes nestas teses e dissertações em EA, apontando possíveis contribuições da área da Ecologia para estas pesquisas. Este trabalho insere-se num projeto de pesquisa maior intitulado \"A Educação Ambiental no Brasil: análise da produção acadêmica (teses e dissertações)\", desenvolvido desde 2010, por um grupo de pesquisadores de diversas instituições de ensino superior do Estado de São Paulo (UFSCar, UNESP Rio Claro, UNICAMP e USPRP), que realiza um estudo do estado da arte da pesquisa em EA no Brasil, utilizando o Banco de Teses e Dissertações da CAPES. A análise do conteúdo das pesquisas em EA-Ecologia, que incluiu um universo amostral de 40 teses e dissertações, identificou uma relação ambígua entre esses dois campos, pois ao mesmo tempo em que foram encontradas centenas de menções ao campo da Ecologia, evidenciando assim, a existência de uma relação direta entre eles, constatou-se que a maioria dos trabalhos estabelece relações superficiais com o campo da Ecologia e poucos estabelecem relações diretas e mais aprofundadas com este campo. A explicitação destas relações, bem como, uma análise e discussão das implicações pedagógicas destes resultados para as pesquisas em EA fecham o presente trabalho. / Even though the relation between Environmental Education (EE) and Ecology might seem commonsense, epistemological studies have revealed inaccuracies in the appropriation of ecological elements by EE researchers, making this relation less direct then a superficial analysis could suggest. The main objective of this study is to investigate the interface between EE and Ecology through the content analysis of theses and dissertations produced in the field of EE. From the main question \"To what extent has the research in EE appropriated from elements belonging the field of Ecology\" we attempted to: a- Identify, from a historical perspective, the evolution of the main concepts and questions which embody the field of Ecology; b- Analyze EE dissertations with references to the field of Ecology and characterize these references; c- Discuss the pedagogical implications of the ecological concepts identified in the dissertations, pointing out possible contributions to the research in EE. This study is part of a larger project entitled \"Environmental Education in Brazil: an analysis of the academic production (theses and dissertations)\" involving a group of researchers from different higher education institutions in the state of Sao Paulo (UFSCar, UNESP Rio Claro, UNICAMO and USPRP), working on \"state of the art\" studies based on the CAPES databank of theses and dissertations. The content analysis, based on a sample of forty dissertations, identified an ambiguous relationship between the fields of EE and Ecology. Although there were hundreds of references to ecology related terminologies, most of those represented superficial mentions, instead of a direct relation. The discussions of these relations, as well as their pedagogical implications, are discussed in the conclusion of this study.

Este trabalho discute a importância do Museu do Brinquedo na formação de educadores, bem como, o ensino da Arte nas escolas. O objetivo desta pesquisa é apresentar um processo de concepção e desenvolvimento de uma metodologia lúdica, tendo o Museu do Brinquedo como objeto principal para uma ação educativa durante o ensino e aprendizagem da arte. Para isso, adotou-se como metodologia a linha de Pesquisa-Ação, que permite um constante ir-e-vir na situação pesquisada, além de envolver a ação do pesquisador e de grupos interessados. Assim a pesquisa justifica-se por oferecer uma nova visão sobre a prática do ensino da Arte, discutindo as tendências atuais. O projeto mostra a criação do Museu do Brinquedo dentro da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras Carlos Queiroz na cidade de Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo (SP) e a participação dos alunos do Curso de Pedagogia na sua montagem, sendo que lá o educador pode observar e documentar o comportamento da criança de hoje perante o brinquedo de ontem, integrando o lúdico no ensino e aprendizagem da Arte, bem como, permitindo a criação de outros projetos por meio de ações educativas. / This research discusses the importance of the Toy Museum in formation of educators, as well as teaching of art the schools. The aim of this search is to present a process of conception and developing of a playful methodology, having the Toy Museum as main object for an educative action during the teaching and learning of art. For this, it was adopted as methodology the line of Research-Action, that allows a constant to go-and-to come in the researched situation, besides involving the action of the researcher and of the interested groups. So the search justifies itself by offering a new view about the practice of teaching art, discussing the presentday tendencies. The project shows the creation of the Toy Museum within the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters \"Carlos Queiroz in the city Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo (SP) and the participation of students of pedagogy in their assembly, and then the teacher can observe and document the behaviour of a child of today in the presence of yesterdays toy, integrating the playful to the teaching and learning of Art, as well as allowing the creation of other projects through educative actions.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo, investigar como se dá a prática pedagógica nos anos iniciais do ensino Fundamental I em relação a abordagem da Cartografia Escolar. Nossa investigação pretendeu compreender como os professores se apropriam e auxiliam seus alunos a se apropriarem da linguagem cartográfica a partir da utilização de um Atlas Municipal, produtos cartográficos e outros recursos, tais como mapas, maquetes, croquis, bússolas, GPS, etc., e se conseguiriam a partir deste uso trabalhar conteúdos da geografia e de outras áreas do currículo escolar. Entendendo não ser tarefa fácil ao professor formado em Pedagogia, desenvolver os conteúdos próprios da Geografia devido a lacunas em sua formação que não priorizam conteúdos próprios da Geografia e tampouco da Cartografia Escolar. Sendo assim pautada pela observação e posterior análise das dificuldades apresentadas pelos professores do município de Itapeva-SP que atuam do 1º ao 5º ano, ao transporem didaticamente os conhecimentos cartográficos em sala de aula, elaboramos um curso de formação continuada que teve como mote uma metodologia que auxiliasse a se apropriarem dos conceitos e habilidades relativos a linguagem cartográfica e articulassem às suas próprias realidades, podendo assim transpor esses conhecimentos aos alunos. Para este intento, formulamos um conjunto de sequências de atividades didáticas, com as quais pretendíamos investigar o processo de desenvolvimento do raciocínio espacial dos professores e dos alunos, tendo assim a intenção de contribuir com uma proposta metodológica de trabalho para a Cartografia Escolar, que entre outros produtos utilizou de um Atlas Municipal Escolar, para explorar a realidade próxima de seus alunos e professores. Utilizamos como aporte teórico autores como: Almeida (1994); Callai (2005); Castellar (Rufino, 1996, 2005, 2010); Martinelli (1997); Simielli (1995, 2007); Oliveira (1978) entre outros e para a compreensão acerca da formação docente nos fundamentamos em Tardif (2009, 2012) e Nóvoa (1992). Partindo de uma abordagem pautada pela pesquisa qualitativa interpretativa, concluímos que o encaminhamento da proposta metodológica do curso foi apropriada e profícua, na medida em que valorizamos a participação efetiva tanto dos professores como dos alunos, procurando proporcionar-lhe os procedimentos necessários para que possam trabalhar com autonomia e segurança ao tratar da linguagem cartográfica, o que certamente lhes proporcionará um aprendizado contínuo e consequentemente um ensino significativo a seus alunos à medida que entenderão com maior clareza seus papéis no espaço da sociedade e lugar onde vivem e atuam. / This assignment was aimed to investigate how pedagogical practice makes up in the early years of Elementary School I, related to Scholar Cartography approach. Our research meant to understand how teachers take ownership and help their students to do so, of the cartographic language, from the use of a Municipal School Atlas, cartographic products and other resources, such as maps, models, sketches, compasses, GPS, etc.. and if they would make it through this use, to work Geography and other areas contents from the school curriculum.Recognizing it, as a non easy task to the teacher graded in Pedagogy, developing their own Geography contents, due to the gaps in their training, which does not prioritize them, neither Scholar Cartography.Guided this way by observation and further analysis of the difficulties, faced by teachers working in the town of Itapeva-SP, from the 1st and 5th year, when didactically crossing cartographic knowledge in the classroom, we developed a continuing education course that had as its motto, a methodology which would help them to take over the concepts and skills related to cartographic language and articulate to their own realities, in order to transpose this knowledge into the classroom.For this purpose, we have formulated a set of sequences of learning activities with which we intended to investigate the teachers and students spatial reasoning development process, in order to contribute to a work methodology for Scholar Cartography, that among other products, made use from a Municipal Atlas, to explore the close reality of their students and teachers.As theoretical contribution we made use of the following authors: Almeida (1994); Callai (2005), Castellar (Rufino, 1996, 2010); Martinelli (1997); Simielli (1995, 2007); Oliveira (1978) among others and for the comprehension of teacher education, we were based upon Tardif (2009, 2012) and Nóvoa (1992).Heading from an approach guided by the interpretive qualitative research, we conclude that the course methodological proposal routing was appropriate and useful, as we value the effective participation, both from the teachers and the students, seeking to provide them with the necessary procedures so they can work with autonomy and security when dealing with cartographic language, which certainly will provide them with an ongoing learning pursuant to a significant teaching to their pupils as they will understand clearer their roles in society space so where they live and work.