Schools maintain a steady rate of violent crimes nationally with more than 1.6 million violent acts occurring towards teachers over a four year period (NCES, 2007). Nearly 35 percent of teachers report that school violence affects their teaching (NCES, 2009). Concurrently, teacher attrition rates are steady across school districts nationwide at nearly twenty percent and cost taxpayers billions of dollars per year. This study explored teacher's perceptions of school violence and its influence on their teaching performance and attitudes towards others. In addition, it investigated whether teacher's perceptions of school violence had an effect on teacher's intentions on attrition. A representative sample of teachers from Southeastern Pennsylvania was selected at random to participate in an on-line self reported survey. Five teachers were then randomly selected for unstructured individual interviews. Results indicated that there is a relationship between perceptions of school violence with teacher's performance, attitudes and thoughts on moving or leaving the profession. Both interpersonal non-physical violence (INPV) and group crime violence (GCV) were positively associated with negative teacher performance as well as negative teacher attitudes. Additionally, interpersonal non-physical violence (INPV) was positively associated with intended teacher attrition as more than half the teachers reported that they might transfer schools due to school violence. / Educational Psychology

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are spending greater amounts of time in inclusive classroom settings. The perceptions of teachers regarding the educational placement of children with ASD are a critical topic of study, since teachers are primarily responsible for the implementation of inclusion (Soodak, Podell, & Lehman, 1998). While there is a substantial research base that has examined the attitudes of teachers about inclusion, less research has focused on ASD that compared the attitudes of general and special education teachers. As reported in the literature, there are multiple barriers that prevent successful inclusion, particularly in high-poverty, urban districts. Since teachers are key stakeholders in decision-making processes for students' educational placement, their attitudes are important to assess as they may act as either barriers or facilitators of inclusion. These high-stakes decisions inevitably alter students' trajectories in terms of developmental outcomes, and therefore warrant further examination. Identifying teachers' specific resource needs is also crucial in determining how to make inclusion more successful for this population of students. Two similar surveys were developed and administered to 27 Autism Support (AS) and 28 general education (GE) teachers who presently had students with ASD in their classrooms. The surveys included quantitative items presented through a Likert-type scale, as well as open-ended items. They were designed to gather information on teacher demographics, students' current and recommended placement, teachers' perceptions of child and context-related variables found in the literature to impact inclusion, and resource needs. Overall, both AS and GE teachers felt their current students' placement was appropriate, though AS teachers' ratings of appropriateness were significantly lower. AS teachers reported they were likely to recommend more time in the general education setting for a majority (70%) of their students with ASD. While GE teachers believed a majority of their students (86%) should be included for most or all of the school day, they recommended less time in general education for 27% of students. GE teachers also expressed more concerns about the functioning of their students with ASD than they did about their own ability to teach those students or aspects related to the classroom context. AS teachers, on the other hand, felt less confident in the supportiveness and prior experience of the general education teachers at their school, whereas they felt their students were prepared to meet general education classroom demands. For both groups of teachers, their beliefs about child-related factors were associated with their recommendations for more time in an inclusive classroom. Identified barriers at the classroom and school-wide levels differed significantly for AS and GE teachers, with AS teachers focused more on skill development among general educators, and GE teachers indicating a greater need for external supports (e.g., classroom assistants, paraprofessionals). AS teachers also indicated a need for a more inclusive climate and greater acceptance than did GE teachers. Findings provide insight into the unique perspectives of AS and GE teachers, in terms of their perceptions of inclusion and their identified resource needs. Results indicate that the survey measures had good internal consistency α = 0.86) and a factor structure that clustered roughly as intended, despite the small sample size. Thus, this measure may be a valuable tool for use in future research on this topic. / School Psychology

Forestry education in high schools can be an effective method for introducing students to forest management. To study its use and purpose, we conducted a web-based survey of high school science teachers in the Southern Piedmont region of the United States investigating their forestry education attitudes and teaching practices. A total of 1024 surveys were delivered and 324 returned for an adjusted response rate of 32%. Results indicate that most teachers (82%) agree forestry should be taught in high schools and do so most frequently by presenting forestry concepts in the context of ecosystem services, followed by physical and physiological characteristics of trees. Concepts related to products, uses, and management are taught least frequently. Variables that predict teaching frequencies for each of these three concept groups include classes taught in the last 5 years, environmental education program training, and childhood location in addition to attitudes toward and knowledge of forest management. Also, it was found that over half (57%) of the teachers surveyed do not take field trips to forests and less than 25% do so multiple times per year. Variables that predict whether or not teachers take field trips to forests include confidence in teaching forestry concepts, involvement in school natural resources related extra-curricular activities such as 4-H and Envirothon, and the presence of a forest within walking distance of the school. The most widely reported constraints to teaching forestry concepts and taking field trips to forests are mandated standards or curriculum (60%), money (40%), time (32%), mandated testing (19%), and training, interest, and infrastructure (19%). / Master of Science

Syftet med detta arbete är att ta reda på lärares attityder till användandet av sånger och ramsor i engelskundervisning för elevers språkutveckling. Förhoppningarna är att bidra till en mer effektiv engelskundervisning för elever i årskurs 1–3 samt uppmuntra lärare att använda sånger och ramsor som ett pedagogiskt verktyg i undervisningen. Utifrån en fenomenografisk metodansats utfördes lärarintervjuer med fem lärare. Utfallsrummet efter den fenomenografiska analysen visade att samtliga lärare var överens om sånger och ramsors pedagogiska värde, men att deras användning av sånger och ramsor berodde på deras personliga preferenser och inställningar, samt deras tidigare erfarenheter. En annan orsak var i vilken mån lärarna arbetade ämnesöverskridande, där sådant arbete inkluderade användandet av sånger och ramsor också utanför engelskundervisningen. / The purpose with this study is to find out teachers' attitudes towards the use of songs and rhymes in English teaching for students' language development. The hopes are to contribute to more effective English teaching for students in grades 1–3 and to encourage teachers to use songs and rhymes as a pedagogical tool in teaching. Based on a phenomenographic methodological approach, teacher interviews were conducted with five teachers. The outcome room after the phenomenographic analysis showed that all teachers agreed on the pedagogical value of songs and rhymes, but that their use of songs and rhymes depended on their personal preferences and attitudes, as well as their previous experiences. Another reason was the extent to which the teachers worked across subjects, where such work included the use of songs and rhymes also outside of English teaching.

International assessments indicate that Swedish students achieve high results in reading, writing and understanding English. However, this does not mean that the students display oral proficiency, despite an emphasis on functional and communicative language skills in the current English Syllabus. While a previous literature study by this researcher has shown that authentic texts are a way to increase these skills, most of the results shown are from an international viewpoint. Thus an empirical study was conducted within Sweden with the aim to examine the use of authentic texts in the Swedish EFL upper elementary classroom. Twelve teachers have answered a questionnaire on how they use authentic texts in their language teaching, as well as their opinions about these as a teaching tool. Additionally, 37 students have answered a questionnaire on their attitudes about authentic texts. Results indicate that all of the teachers surveyed see authentic texts as an effective way to increase students’ communicative competence and English language skills; however, only a few use them with any frequency in language teaching. Furthermore, this seems to affect the students’ attitudes, since many say that they read authentic texts in their free time, but prefer to learn English out of a textbook at school. These findings are based on a small area of Sweden. Therefore, further research is needed to learn if these opinions hold true for the entire country or vary dependent upon region or other factors not taken into consideration in this study.

Public school teachers must meet the unique needs of English language learners (ELLs) in the general education classroom. There is a need to understand teacher attitudes toward ELLs because attitudes can explain and influence teacher behavior and professional practice. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationships between attitudes and behavior with years of experience as well as professional development among teachers working with ELLs. Sociocultural, situational learning, and second language acquisition theories provided the theoretical foundation for the study. Data were collected from 286 teachers using the Teacher Attitudes Toward English-as-a-Second-Language Survey. Analyses included descriptive statistics, correlational analysis, independent sample t tests, and Mann-Whitney U test. Results indicated a significant, direct correlation between teachers' years of experience and their attitudes regarding coursework modifications. The independent sample t tests indicated significant differences in a subscale of the variable teaching behavior between participants who had and had not received adequate training. In addition, significant differences in teachers' attitudes existed among those teachers between participants who had and had not received professional development. The study can effect social change at the local site by fostering an increased understanding of how experience and professional development influences teachers' attitudes toward inclusion and behaviors toward ELLs, thereby highlighting the importance of professional development and experience for meeting the needs of ELL students.

The purpose of the research documented in this thesis is to investigate how one particular approach to groupings in one primary school, commonly referred to as multi-age, enables and constrains the practices and actions of its individual teachers. This study is located in a literature that examines the potential that beliefs and belief systems offer for understanding how teachers make sense of, and respond to particular educational contexts. It will be of particular interest to the community of scholars who are investigating the uptake of curriculum innovations in the classrooms of individual practitioners. The philosophical framework underpinning multi-age schooling is significantly different from that operating within the traditional lock-step system. The conventional school organisation has the child move through a predetermined curriculum at a fixed pace, whereas multi-age classes require that teachers focus on needs-based teaching, thus adapting the curriculum to suit the individual student. As a result of this shift in emphasis, it has been common for teachers in multi-age schools to experience dilemmas caused by the dissonance between their own and the school’s assumptions about teaching, learning, knowledge and social relations. However, this clash of individuals’ beliefs and mandated practices is an under-researched area of scholarship particularly within multi-age settings, and is thus the focus of the present research. A framework based on the construct of beliefs and belief systems was used for understanding the personal and idiosyncratic nature of a teacher’s practice. Such a framework proposes that beliefs can be classified in terms of personal assumptions about self, relationships, knowledge, change and teaching and learning. These classifications, rather than being discrete dimensions acting in isolation, tend to be organised into a coherent and interdependent belief system or orientation. The notion of orientation was found to be a suitable framework within which to investigate the interplay between beliefs and practices over a two year period in one school context that is likely to provide challenges and opportunities for professional growth and development. Because the study focused upon the beliefs and practices of six teachers in a multi-age setting, elements of a qualitative approach to research were employed. The research design adopted for this study is grounded in an interpretative approach which looks for culturally derived and historically situated interpretations of the social world. Within this framework a case-study approach to research was used so as to reveal the interplay between the teachers’ beliefs and practices. The study found that the concept of orientations provides a suitable framework for understanding the personal and idiosyncratic nature of a teacher’s beliefs and practices. It was evident that beliefs about self, relationships, knowledge and change were highly significant in shaping the essential nature of teachers’ orientations. It was found that a summary label, based on these four beliefs, could be used to define the thematic nature of each teacher’s orientation. These recognisably different labels demonstrated that each teacher’s four beliefs were not just a pattern, but also a thematically defined pattern. It was also found that whilst some beliefs are thematically central other beliefs are not inherently thematic but are influenced in thematically derived ways. It was the configuration of these core/secondary beliefs that highlighted the importance of investigating belief combinations rather than discrete belief dimensions when attempting to understand the teacher as a person. It was also concluded that the teachers’ orientations in this study structured their practice in a way that was personal and internally consistent, indicating the dynamic coupling of beliefs and practices. It was clear that individual orientations, shaped by core beliefs, framed the challenges and possibilities that the multi-age ethos offered in varied and personal ways. In addition, the study found that the patterns of, and reasons for, change were complex and therefore it is unlikely that professional in-service will succeed if based on only one of the models of change proposed in the literature. The teachers in this study did not experience dilemmas as dichotomous situations but rather as complex and interrelated challenges to their whole belief system. Not all the teachers in this study approached the challenge of change in the same way. It was evident that individuals had constructed their own narrative for the need to change, and that this orientation tended to dominate the self-improvement agenda. Finally, this study demonstrated that not only the educational consequences of an innovation need to be taken into account, but also how well it is implemented in each classroom, and how compatible each teacher’s orientation is with the ethos underpinning the innovation.

Since the advent of distance learning, interaction has played a crucial role in learner satisfaction and more recently the quality of learning online. Even though the crucial nature of incorporating interactive learning environments is not lost on the education community, it has been at troubling odds with meeting the expectations of learners and establishing why some proposed “interactive” activities fail. Because technology has changed, offering varying levels of interaction between learner-learner, learner-instructor, and learner-content some argue that re-conceptualizing interactive can provide unique learning advantages. This literature review explores the most vital aspects of interactivity, the variables that determine its appropriateness and significant findings as they pertain to meeting the expectations of e-learning.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the effectiveness of computer literacy training workshop efforts in modifying teacher attitudes toward computers. The experimental design includes four computer literacy work shops that were conducted at a major university in Texas. This study has a twofold purpose. The first is to determine if an increase in computer literacy among teachers is associated with changes in their attitudes toward computers. The second is to determine the kinds of computer literacy experiences among teachers that are associated with the greatest degree of attitudinal change.

Previous research has shown multiple benefits and challenges with the incorporation of children’s literature in the English as a Second language (ESL) classroom. In addition, the use of children’s literature in the lower elementary English classroom is recommended by the Swedish National Agency for Education. Consequently, the current study explores how teachers in Swedish elementary school teach ESL through children’s literature. This empirical study involves English teachers from seven schools in a small municipality in Sweden. The data has been collected through an Internet survey. The study also connects the results to previous international research, comparing Swedish and international research. The results suggest that even though there are many benefits of using children’s literature in the ESL classroom, the respondents seldom use these authentic texts, due to limited time and a narrow supply of literature, among other factors. However, despite these challenges, all of the teachers claim to use children’s literature by reading aloud in the classroom. Based on the results, further research exploring pupils’ thoughts in contrast to teachers would be beneficial. In addition, the majority of the participants expressed that they wanted more information on how to use children’s literature. Therefore, additional research relating to beneficial methods of teaching English through children’s literature, especially in Sweden, is recommended.