This is a study of the curriculum identity of Icelandic craft teachers. The study is based on life history interviews with 42 teachers born between 1913 and 1960. The interviews traced a life long relationship with the subject they chose to teach. Particular attention was paid to how the teachers define their subject and how they identify with it. The information gathered was analyzed with reference to the development of crafts as school subjects in Iceland. The study describes in context the relationship that teachers have with their subjects and attempts to explain it in terms of gender and class. The curriculum identity of the teacher of these subjects is crucial as the subjects are not defined by external means such as a prescriptive formal curriculum or centralized assessment. Each teacher is therefore able to construct a personal curriculum. The curriculum identity of craft teachers is defined by gender and class. The Icelandic school system includes two craft subjects; textiles formerly know as girls' craft, and wood and metalwork, formerly known as boys' craft. In the late seventies the gender segregation was abolished by a policy of equal access to education. Still the subjects retain a gendered definition. This study details the strength of gendered traditions and the complex effects of gender equity policies. Class refers here to the hierarchy of academic and vocational, or intellectual/manual pursuits. Western school systems operate on a dichotomy between mind and matter, where association with matter and the manual is less prestigious. The life histories of craft teachers manifest the effects, as the teachers perceive themselves as a low status group within the school system. The composite life histories of this group of craft teachers outline the history of the school subjects in Iceland, a history that has not been documented. The main contribution of the study is to the definition of curriculum identity, the way in which teachers define themselves and are defined by the subjects they teach. The evidence given by these teachers suggests that teachers tend to see their curriculum identity as deeply rooted in their personal history, even in their family history. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The study's goal was to understand what contributes to the formation of teachers' perspectives regarding the education of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Its focus was to portray through teachers' stories the experiences in their lives that may have contributed to constructing who they are as people and as educators. Four teachers from one rural district participated. Using qualitative methods, the study explores and describes incidents in teachers' lives, looking at the way their life experiences are reflected in their relationships with students. In considering ways in which those experiences may have helped shape teaching philosophies and practices, the study also considers the teachers' reported statements about their classroom teaching methods to see how what they may have learned from early life experiences are incorporated. Despite each teacher's individual uniqueness, similarities emerged during data analysis. Examining these similarities contributed to an understanding of these teachers and what processes and attitudes made them good teachers of ELLs. The study reports three broad findings: (a) that the teachers possess a risk- and challenge-taking nature; (b) they are life-long learners; and (c) that the teachers had two different kinds of cultural experience during their lives, one that the researcher labeled "Regular" cultural experiences and a second kind which she labeled "Otherness" cultural experiences. The teachers were judged to share a willingness to make choices involving challenges, many of which proved to be learning opportunities, and they tried to instill in their students the same resiliency and willingness to take risks. All the teachers personally had both "regular" and "otherness" cultural experiences. "Regular" cultural experiences helped them understand new or unknown cultural values and practices by observation and participation. Through "Otherness" cultural experiences, each experienced the emotion of "being different" and "being marginalized" via the personal, lived experience of being an "Other." This was judged to have contributed to shaping each teacher's ability to better understand the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse students, enabling greater compassion for them and teaching them more effectively.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

"This study undertakes to determine the relation existing between a group of factors and the professional tenure of graduates of the North Texas State Teachers College during a period of years extending from 1919 to 1931."--1.

This study investigated the impact of the years of teaching experience of classroom teachers on the achievement of third-grade students in inner-city Title I Schools; on the achievement of those third-grade students who were defined as high achievers, average achievers, and low achievers; and on the achievement of boys and girls in the third grade of inner-city Title I schools. An analysis and interpretation of the data revealed that there were no significant differences in reading and mathematics achievement of the third-grade students when the number of years of experience of the teacher was examined. Reading achievement of third-grade boys and third-grade girls did show significant differences. The more-experienced teacher appeared to have the greater increase in reading scores of the students. In addition to data concerning the hypotheses, information about other teacher variables was collected through a teacher self-report questionnaire. One hundred per cent of the teachers in the participating schools responded to the questionnaire. Data were tabulated by frequency of response in groups according to years of teacher experience. Variables included years of teaching experience in Title I schools, classroom size, and demographic data. Analysis of the data indicated that teachers having more years of experience in Title I schools appeared to have a greater increase in the reading and mathematics scores of students. Students in larger classes appeared to show greater gains than students in smaller classes in reading and mathematics. The majority of the teachers indicated that they felt the teacher, parent involvement, and class size had the most impact on achievement of students and staff development had the least impact.