This dissertation presents a critical examination of men's and women's discourse practices in directive-response speech sequences (DRSS), on the basis of data obtained from teacher-student interactions during groupwork in two secondary schools in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Following West (1990), the broad purpose of this study is to explore the similarities and the differences in the DRSS between educators of different gender and their students. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, particularly the work of Fairclough (1989,1992,1995), this study then critically examines the social relations of power implicit in these instances of discourse. The findings of this study indicate that both similarities and differences exist in male and female educators' linguistic choices for issuing directives. There is some evidence that female educators made more attempts than male educators to reduce asymmetrical relations of power in their directive choices. However, the critical discourse analysis revealed that the linguistic choices of all educators in my study were mostly informed by the language functions they wished to perform at a particular stage of their lesson. I conclude that it is crucial that educators, both male and female, make more effort to employ discourse practices (especially during groupwork) that are more democratic rather than those that emphasise asymmetrical relations. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between pedagogy and teacher-student relationships. Researchers have hypothesized that these relationships can promote better student achievement, particularly among low-income students, and that instruction primarily shapes these relationships. Yet not enough is known about these relationships or their connection to student performance to move forward with school or teaching reforms. This study addresses this lack of knowledge. As such, it contributes to a stream of research that attempts to understand factors that contribute to student learning. The study setting is High Tech Middle North County (HTMNC), a charter school in San Marcos, CA. This case was chosen because of its unique and highly touted teaching practices based on relational and project-based pedagogies. Studying the implementation of these pedagogies and their meaning for the teachers and students at HTMNC will help researchers and educators better understand the role pedagogy plays in fostering teacher-student relationships. Through collegial relationships established by a project-based pedagogy, HTMNC teachers were able to develop positive relationships with students, allowing them to use these relationships to personalize curriculum and differentiate instruction, resulting in increased student motivation and engagement.

Teachers' decision making is a crucial element in the quality of delivery of teaching and learning and, therefore, of educational outcomes in the form of student performance. There is, however, a dearth of relevant studies in this area, especially in the F. E. sector. This study sets out to investigate the practice of teachers' decision making in the substantive context of the Further Education sector in Scotland. The investigation adopted two main approaches: firstly, an interpretive approach,in which qualitative and quantitative methods were combined to collect and analyse data by the protocols of individual interviews, case studies and questionnaires: secondly, a developmental approach involved the application throughout of constant comparative analysis,in the tradition of "grounded theory". The population of the study, the source of both qualitative and quantitative data, was made up of 145 practitioner- subjects, drawn from a range of subject specialisms and approximately evenly split in terms of gender. The qualitative data,when statistically analysed permitted comparisons of the responses of the subjects to be made in terms of major subject specialisms in their teaching,and also in terms of gender. The major conceptual and theoretical outcome is a descriptive model of the practice of teachers' decision making, developed on the basis of subsidiary outcomes: a new, operational definition of decision. an innovative typology of decisions; an original way of categorising decisions by their content or substance. The developed versions of these outcomes constitute the major findings of the research. Recommendations include: potential applications of the outcomes of the study; possible research routes to further development of the conceptual findings presented. The boundaries and limitations of the study are also described and discussed.

No description available.

This study was conducted to develop a statistical model of the influence of course characteristics on student ratings of instruction. Unique to this study was the inclusion of the student participation rate as a variable. Other course characteristics studied were: expected grade, attendance, grade point average, sex of students, reason for taking the course, academic field, student level, course level, major, and class size. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was employed using two measures of global ratings of instruction as criterion variables: 1) a single item rating the overall "favorable impression" the instructor had on the students (global), and 2) the average of twelve items rating the instructor's effectiveness (overall). Course averages or proportions were calculated for each variable. A model was developed using 1989 Fall Term data (952 courses), and tested using 1990 Fall Term data (1,052 courses) from Oregon State University. Results of the regression analysis showed that approximately 20% of the variance found in the equations could be explained by five variables: expected grade, participation rate, attendance, sex, and grade point average. Expected grade was by far the best predictor accounting for 13% to 14% of the variance (at least r=.36 with criterion variables). Participation rate accounted for as much as 3% of the variance (roughly r=.2) and contributed significantly to all four equations. A correlation of -.42 was found for participation rate and class size. Results suggest participation rate has a relationship with student ratings of instruction and further study is warranted. Reason and academic field also explained small significant amounts of the variance in at least one equation each. The results were determined to be reproducible; equations generated with the 1990 test data were very similar to the 1989 data. Very high correlations were found between the global and overall criterion variables (r> .95); the single item variable produced the same results as the average of twelve items. A significant correlation of more than .5 was found between academic field and sex of student. The 80% unexplained variance is discussed. / Graduation date: 1993

Typescript. / Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-118) / Microfiche. / xiii, 118 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

I conducted the research reported in this portfolio at the large western suburbs primary school of which I am the principal. My interest in the sense children make of their everyday school experiences results from having spent most of my life in schools, initially as a student, then as a primary school teacher and now as a school principal. My long term involvement in primary schools has led to my awareness that adults do not ask children about their perceptions of their schools. My observations have been confirmed by researchers who have shown that students' perspectives, especially those of primary school age children, have been under-researched. / In my research I focus on children's perspectives by inviting them to represent through artwork and photography the school places they like and those they want to talk about. I further explore children's understandings of the relationship between the physical places of their school and their positioning within that school by asking them to interpret their photographs. I then enable children to identify the places in their school they want to change and to action those changes. / Thesis (PhDEducation)--University of South Australia, 2007.

Thesis (MEd) -- University of South Australia, 1994

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Tara Goldstein.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 184-194).