Choosing the most effective method of teaching literacy acquisition that will improve student achievement is a challenge for many early childhood educators. The problem is the target school district where this study took place did not have a curriculum for preschool teachers to use that provided reading instruction. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to explore the relationship between Concepts About Print (CAP) scores of preschool students who received direct CAP instruction and those who received indirect instruction through indirect reading and writing activities. Guided by Marie Clay's theory, which concludes that reading difficulties among beginning readers stem from a lack of attention to print concepts, this study examined students' knowledge of print conventions. A comparative research design compared pre- and post-test scores on the CAP assessment. An analysis of covariance with the pretest as the covariate was also performed in this study. Results revealed that students who were taught print concepts directly scored higher on the CAP assessment than did the students who were taught indirectly. Research findings from this study could aid administrators in the target school district with developing a technique to teach reading for preschool teachers on the local level, which will lead to social change by providing each preschool student with the strong literacy foundation needed to ensure later school success. Lifelong readers can begin in preschool.

This qualitative study focuses on the motivations and decision-making processes of parents who choose to send their children to new German immersion schools. Immersion programs have been identified as the vanguard of effective K-12 foreign language teaching. Despite their proven effectiveness and benefits they remain relatively unknown to the larger public. Yet the recent national momentum toward developing a language-competent society has brought with it an opportunity to both improve and learn from these programs. Parents, as primary stakeholders in their children's education, are a key feature in making a school program effective and successful. Attitudes and beliefs have been recognized to influence parents' decisions to become involved in their child's education. In their research, Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1995, 1997) found motivational beliefs to be a foundational part of parents' involvement process. Their construct of parents' motivational beliefs formed the conceptual framework for this study. Based on this construct, semi-structured interview questions were developed to examine how parents' educational goals, language beliefs, program perceptions and expectations impact the educational decisions they make. As a second aspect, this study investigated the kinds of roles parents have constructed for themselves by asking parents about their own school experience, and perceived roles and responsibilities in their children's education. Using content analysis, this study examined sixteen parent interviews. The study found that parents are of utmost importance to immersion programs. Participants enrolled their children in immersion programs because of reasons such as their family language background or a true passion for language learning. Parents appeared very reflective and knowledgeable of immersion education, child rearing, and their impact on their children's education. They had very high expectations but saw themselves as partners to schools in providing their children with the best education possible. Implications for immersion administrators, teachers, and parents are offered.

The focus of this study was threefold. First, the study sought to determine the validity and reliability of an instrument being used to measure teacher efficacy. After psychometric analysis, the Utah Teacher Efficacy Scale (UTES) was deemed as both a valid and reliable instrument for the purpose of measuring preservice and novice elementary school teacher efficacy. Second, this study analyzed teacher self-efficacy of preservice and novice elementary school teachers at two different points in a time - once at the end of their teacher preparation program, and again after they had taught for one academic year. The sample (N = 123) for this study was created from graduates of teacher preparation programs throughout the state of Utah. A two-factor repeated measures ANOVA design was used to measure one between-subjects factor (Factor A) and one within-subjects factor (Factor B). Factor A involved a comparison between two independent groups of prospective teachers based on the type of student teaching assignment, number of student teaching placements, and the number of literacy methods courses completed. The two levels of Factor B consisted of two different UTES measurement occasions. Results of this analysis indicated that preservice teachers in this study reported high teacher efficacy. As these individuals became teachers, their teacher efficacy fell, indicating there is room for improvement in presenting the realities of teaching. Additionally, teacher preparation program characteristics such as the type of student teaching experience (student teaching or internship), and the number of student teaching placements (one or two) do not seem to provide statistically significant advantages over time. The number of literacy methods courses, however, does seem to provide statistically significant advantages in securing and maintaining high teacher efficacy over time in the areas of global and reading teacher efficacy. Third, the study also analyzed how school context variables affect teacher efficacy. Novice teachers (N = 136) were asked to rate the usefulness of professional development and the helpfulness of the mentoring support they received. Results of this analysis showed that professional development and mentoring support, if perceived as useful and helpful, had a positive and statistically significant correlation with teacher efficacy.

The new South African national curriculum for the twenty first century adopted an outcomes-based education approach. The new curriculum represents a crucial shift in emphasis from learners concentrating on formal and procedural mathematics (with an absence of meaning) to learners making meaning of mathematics and becoming flexible mathematical thinkers, with problem solving and mathematics investigations as central focus. This study reports on an action research collaboration between two teachers and myself, a university mathematics educator. It was conducted over a period of three years. The main purpose of our collaboration, and this thesis, was to explore mathematics teacher learning in the context of the OBE-based reforms. The data were gathered through questioning, journal keeping by the two teachers and my participant observations. Using the two teachers’ reflective writings and field notes I analysed the data in two stages - narrative analysis and analysis of narratives. What emerged from the study were several issues clustered around three characteristics of teacher learning - teacher learning as situated, teacher learning as social and teacher learning as distributed. These three overlapping characteristics of teacher learning were used as heuristic devices or convenient organisers for the description, analysis and discussion of the issues that emerged. This study revealed several overarching propositions that may have applicability beyond its boundaries. The first proposition is that teachers reflect on and revise their personal practical knowledge if exposed to learning experiences that encourage them to attach meaning to and make sense of the underlying concepts of new curriculum reforms. The second proposition is that interactions with literature improve the quality of teacher learning. / The third proposition is that teachers are motivated to experiment with new ideas if they observe these ideas being modelled in practice. The fourth proposition is that teachers develop positive perceptions about learning if the expectations of multiple stakeholders (both in their classrooms and beyond the classrooms) are not contradictory. The fifth proposition is that teachers’ listening to learners’ thinking opens opportunities for explorations. The sixth proposition is that I teachers respond to learners’ learning by being more curious about classroom discussions. The seventh proposition is that teachers who play an active role in collaborative working relationships are more likely to revise their pedagogy. The eighth proposition is that true collaborative relationships take time. The last proposition is teachers who are supported are more likely to distribute their knowledge and learning. Some implications of this study are also highlighted in the last chapter.

This thesis reports research which employed quantitative data collection methods to investigate pre-service teacher perceptions of extended practicum learning environments of pre-service teachers at a Catholic university and their self-efficacy for future teaching. By drawing on learning environment research, practicum in teacher education literature, student teacher practicum evaluation data and stakeholder perceptions of dimensions of the ACU extended practicum learning environment, an instrument, a 72-item questionnaire, the Extended Practicum Learning Environment Inventory (EPLEI) was developed and validated. To establish relationships between student teacher perceptions of the extended practicum learning environment and their self-efficacy for future teaching, a Student Teacher Efficacy Instrument (STEI) was also developed. Data were collected from student teachers using the EPLEI and the STEI. In 2001, the total sample consisted of 64 students. Recognising that there are a number of dimensions to the learning environments of the extended practicum and to assess differences in student teacher and supervising teacher perceptions of the same extended practicum learning environment, supervising teachers responded to an analogous form of the EPLEI. In 2002, the sample consisted of 57 student teachers and their supervising teachers. Statistical analyses were performed on the quantitative data and revealed some statistically significant differences in the way student teachers and supervising teachers perceive the same environment. Statistical analyses also revealed significant differences in student teachers perceptions of extended practicum environments in relation to school type. Student teachers who participated in the extended practicum in Catholic schools perceived the learning environments more positively than student teachers in State and Other Christian schools. The analyses revealed significant associations between student teacher perceptions of the extended practicum learning environments and their self-efficacy for future teaching. This research clearly demonstrates that extended practicum experiences of student teachers at a Catholic university are affected by features at both classroom and school levels

Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in 1975. However, as a developing nation, PNG has continued to depend on external assistance for its development programs. Extensive foreign aid has been expended primarily to enhance the quality of education. To explore the issue of foreign aid and its impact on PNG as a postcolonial society, the dependency and postcolonial theories were adopted to guide the discussion. The theorist Beeby argues that in order to improve the quality of education, the level of general education and training of teachers in developing countries must be raised. This has occurred in PNG but it has not significantly enhanced the quality of education. Consequently, the issue explored concerns the type of educational change occurring in PNG primary teachers’ colleges (PTCs) and its leadership. Globalization processes were adopted to guide the exploration of the education reform and its impact on the quality of education in primary teacher education in PNG. The following questions focused the content of the study:1. What is the quality of education being experienced in the Catholic Primary Teachers’ Colleges? 2. What are the lecturers’, students’, and recent graduates’ perceptions of the recent Primary and Secondary Teacher Education Project innovations occurring in the teachers’ colleges? 3. How is the curriculum in the teachers’ colleges perceived by the lecturers, students and recent graduates? 4. How is leadership demonstrated in the three Catholic Primary Teachers’ Colleges? The epistemological framework of the research was constructionism adopting an interpretivist approach. The specific interpretivist perspective employed was symbolic interactionism because symbolic interactionism places emphasis on the importance of understanding, interpretation and meaning. A case study approach was adopted as the methodology for this research because of the nature of the research purpose. This study involved a total of 166 participants consisting of staff and students from the three Catholic primary teachers’ colleges, representatives from the Catholic Church, National Department of Education (NDOE), Primary and Secondary Teacher Education Project (PASTEP) and other education officers. The data was gathered through a variety of methods including in-depth interviews, participant observation, focus groups, and documentary analysis. The major conclusions that emerged from this study revealed that educational change in primary teacher education has been implemented. However, the study concluded that the quality of leadership demonstrated to lead the educational change was disappointing. Inadequate leadership at the administration and curriculum levels had a negative influence on the quality of education. Achieving quality education was also hampered by inadequate funding, scarcity of resources and inappropriate infrastructure in all the institutions. The two-year trimester program has improved access and quantity but at the expense of quality. To assist primary teacher education implement the reform agenda, foreign aid was required. PASTEP was introduced and the contribution made by PASTEP was substantial. However, the study concluded that some of the strategies adopted by PASTEP to conduct its programs were questionable because there was evidence of hegemonic and colonial practices found among some of its workforce. In accepting foreign aid projects, PNG needs to establish strategies to ensure equitable partnerships with all stakeholders for sustainable development in education. In this respect, the findings of this study may serve as a guide for future decisions about educational leadership, curriculum innovation, donor funding agencies and policy generation.

This study focuses on the way four student-teachers engage with critical social discourses in a year-long physical education unit. The student-teachers were encouraged to examine and (re)construct their pedagogy through their interactions with critical discourses. Drawing on their personal theories and actions, the study examines the extent to which critical intellectual resources can provide pedagogical frames of reference that are 'practical and non-ideal'. Using a critical ethnographic methodology the students' interactions with critical social discourses are diagnosed across three levels. The first level is the case study presentations of each student's engagement with the critical intellectual resources and the extent to which they were able to understand and implement them. The second level involves an interpretation of the individual cases that is informed by Brian Fay's (1987) metatheoretical reconstruction of the critical social sciences. In the third stage of diagnosis the study focuses on retheorising critical aspirations for praxis pedagogy in physical education. Critical scholars within the physical education arena argue that critical praxis represents a pedagogy based on a 'world view' of the potential for agents to engage in a rational reordering of their qualitative existence. The essence of their claim is that critical discourses have the potential to facilitate a mode of praxis through which physical education teachers might better recognise, understand, critique and transform their values and practices. However, there is broad recognition that the translation of social-critical discourses into a pedagogic context is highly problematic. Interpretation of the study is provided by Fay's (1987) 'limits to change' thesis which recognises that critical aspirations must ultimately be adopted and implemented by real people in real settings. As a diagnostic frame of reference, Fay insists that a 'complete' critical theory [of physical education] be simultaneously scientific, critical, practical and non-ideal. In seeking to temper the &quote over-rationalistic&quote tendency of the critical project he recognises the historical, embedded, embodied and traditional nature of human existence Criticisms of critical theories of education traverse a number of philosophic perspectives. Recent post-structural criticisms of truth regimes, knowledge-power differentials, rationality and agency have seriously destabilised modernist justifications of the critical agenda. Critical theories of physical education have not been absolved of such criticism. A prominent element of this study is its promotion of a dialectical relationship between agency and structure to extend critical conceptualisations of physical education pedagogy. Through the mediation of structural determinism and self-determination this research proffers a means of practically advancing a critical praxis in physical education. The conclusion of this thesis outlines some broad recommendations pertaining to the introduction of social critical discourses in physical education teacher education.

This basic qualitative research study focused on the internal constructions of ten early childhood education teachers who take new information acquired from workshops, coursework, or other educational venues and quickly incorporate it into their teaching. The participants were all women who work in a variety of classroom settings with two-through-six-year-olds in San Antonio, Texas. They were identified as teachers who are in the forefront in adopting new ideas in comparison to other early childhood teachers (Rogers, 2003). A wide range of experience and education levels were represented. Using the interpretive paradigm as well as the ideological framework of constructivism, a grounded theory was established in response to the research question. Of special interest were factors that can be addressed in pre-service and in-service instructional opportunities for early childhood students and professionals. There were three major findings. First, the participants expressed core moral values in relation to their jobs as early childhood teachers: they look upon their work as a moral endeavor; they have a spiritual connection to their work; and they care deeply about others. Second, they shared the character traits of a positive attitude, persistence, and flexibility. Third, they held two learning dispositions in common: they perceive and practice learning as a continual, on-going process; and they are highly reflective. Viewed together, these three findings form a continuous internal loop that impacts the external cycle of gaining new information and adopting it into classroom practice. The findings in this study parallel previous teacher knowledge research done with K-12 grade teachers in the United States and in other countries. It supports models of change that consider one's frame of reference in terms of individual belief systems and how this impacts the change process. The implication is that focusing on technical knowledge is not enough. Early childhood teacher educators must consistently employ specific strategies with their students that help illuminate and strengthen the tacit traits identified in this study.

Reforms in education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines have been particularly critical for the economic competitiveness of Turkey. STEM education includes the set of knowledge, skills, and beliefs which are collaboratively constructed by students and teachers at the intersection of more than one STEM subject area. The overall purpose for all three studies comprising this dissertation was to investigate whether prospective Turkish mathematics and science teachers were ready to implement STEM education in terms of their integrated teaching knowledge (ITK), teaching self-efficacy beliefs, and attitudes toward mathematics and science integration. The dissertation employed a quantitative research methodology to investigate ITK and attitudes whereas teaching self-efficacy beliefs were investigated with an explanatory mixed methods study. Results from the first study suggested that the pre-service mathematics and science teachers, who were educated in an integrated teaching education program, outperformed peers in the departmentalized teacher education program in terms of their ITK. There was evidence in the second study that practical teaching experiences helped pre-service mathematics and science teachers develop high self-efficacy beliefs for mathematics and science integration. The findings of the third study indicated that the integrated teacher education program provided noteworthy benefits for pre-service attitudes toward mathematics and science integration when compared to pre-service mathematics teachers in the departmentalized program. The unique attributes of integrated mathematics and science teacher education programs, such as balanced coursework of content, pedagogy, and pedagogical content knowledge, integrated teaching courses, and the increased peer stimulation in classrooms were discussed as possible factors that explain the results. Overall, the three studies demonstrated that the pre-service mathematics and science teachers in the integrated teacher education program were ready to implement STEM education aligned with the reforms enacted by the K-12 policy-making organization while the departmentalized teacher education program, which was recommended by the higher education policy making organization, was preparing pre-service teachers as content experts of individual STEM subjects. Policy coordination in K-12 and higher education emerged as a critical factor for the success of Turkish education reforms.

The extensive educational reforms currently being implemented in Jamaica, in addition to my personal curiosity as a teacher educator, provide the rationale for this research. A better awareness and understanding of who enrols to learn to teach may be critical to the viability and success of the current reforms taking place in the Jamaican education system, and teacher education in particular. This study explores why Jamaican student teachers, who were not aspiring to learn to be teachers or teach, entered and completed a three-year teacher education programme. The study was guided by two essential research questions: (i) What accounts for Jamaican students, who indicate that teacher education and teaching are not their educational or occupational aspirations, entering and completing teacher education? (ii) What do these Jamaican students experience within the teacher education program that contributes to their belief that such a program is of benefit to their educational and occupational aspirations? Postcolonial theory (Ashcroft, Griffith & Tiffen, 1989) and theory of occupational choice (Ginzberg, 1963, 1972) serve as analytical frameworks to assist in better understanding the Jamaican student teacher experience. Qualitative methodology provided the means to including the essential “voices” of eight Jamaican student teachers; and, grounded theory the means to collecting and analysing what they had to say about entering and completing teacher education. The findings raise the notion of “youthfulness”, and how this may influence aspirations and decisions in an economic and academic environment of limited options and opportunities. They suggest that teacher education may serve as a “stepping-stone” to more desirable educational or occupational goals. The findings also reveal what these student teachers believed were significant aspects of the teacher education experience, and how this experience may contribute to their future educational or occupational plans and aspirations. Finally, this study supports the movement to reform teacher education in Jamaica; however, not at the expense of reducing the opportunities for higher education within the wider Jamaican populace. Suggestions are presented regarding possible reforms to secondary and post-secondary education in general; therefore, reforms which may support or enhance existing teacher education programmes.