Given the findings, The implication of this study include: first, government should provide professional development on the PE curriculum innovation to pre-service teachers and TGfU training program to shool PE teachers; second, the major content and instructional strategies of the TGfU professional development program should be adjusted in universities, and third, the school environment context should be developed. / The first study (Chapter 3) examined pre-service teachers' perception of TGfU and factors influencing their perception of TGfU. Piaget's (1970) cognitive constructivism and Vygotsky's (1978) social constructivism provided a theoretical framework to steer the research purposes and design. By adopting a qualitative approach, 20 pre-service PE teachers (F=8, M=12) were recruited for individual semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using content analysis (Patton, 2002). Findings indicated TGfU is beneficial for students due to its propensity to make students feel fun, stimulate their thinking, and to be wholly inclusive. However, difficulties in understanding the nature of TGfU and implementing TGfU were encountered. Most of the pre-service teachers reported they would use TGfU in the future while some of them preferred to implement the skill-based approach during the teaching practicum due to the limited perceived support from cooperative teachers towards TGfU and short time of teaching practicum. Finally, individual factors including game knowledge, teacher beliefs, prior teaching and learning experience and social factors such as government policy, school context, and support from peers, teacher educators, and cooperative teachers were identified to influence pre-service teacher perception of TGfU. / The second study (Chapter 4) investigated pre-service PE teachers' teaching behavior towards TGfU and the factors determining their teaching behavior towards TGfU. Theory of Planned Behavior by Ajzen (1991) was applied to guide the formulation of research purpose and design. The case study design (Merriam, 1998) was conducted with six pre-service teachers. Data collection consisted of documentation, systematic observation and semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. Findings from the case studies indicate that pre-service teachers cannot implement the TGfU model effectively. Three groups of factors including attitude (pre-service teachers' attitude towards TGfU), subjective norm (the support from cooperating teachers, university supervisors, other school PE teachers, and students), and perceived behavior control (space, class time, equipments, game knowledge, TGfU conceptual understanding, students skill level, and classroom discipline) were identified to determine intention of pre-service teachers to adopt TGfU and subsequent TGfU teaching behavior. Among these factors, perceived behavior control was important because most of the pre-service teachers could not implement TGfU effectively mainly due to the constraints of resources and TGfU conceptual understanding. / The third study (Chapter 5) focuses on three groups of teachers including pre-service teachers, cooperating teachers and university supervisors. The purpose of this study is to examine the awareness, attitude, and understanding of the three groups of teachers regarding TGfU, as well as to investigate the mutual interactions among them during mentoring in TGfU teaching. The theoretical framework of this study was based on situated learning theory (Wenger, 1998). Ten pre-service teachers, nine cooperating teachers, and three university supervisors were invited as participants. The written artifacts and semi-structured interviews (Patton, 2002) were conducted for data collection. Qualitative data were analyzed using data analysis (Patton, 2002). Findings indicate that there is a mutual interaction between pre-service teachers and their mentors. Mentoring provided by university supervisors has positive impact on the understanding and implementation of TGfU by pre-service teachers. Meanwhile, cooperating teachers and university supervisors also obtained benefits from mentoring in the TGfU teaching. However, the impact of mentoring provided by cooperating teachers on the implementation of pre-service teachers of TGfU is limited. The mutual interaction may be attributed to the following differences of the three groups in terms of awareness, attitude, and understanding towards TGfU including: first, pre-service teachers and university supervisors are more aware of TGfU compared with cooperating teachers due to relevant pedagogical courses and practical teaching experience; second, although the three groups of teachers all have positive attitudes towards TGfU, the reasons associated with such attitudes differ; and third, the three groups of teachers all hold constructivist views on TGfU but cooperating teachers seemed to be confused with the concept of TGfU. / This work has three objectives: to examine the perceptions of pre-service Physical Education (PE) teachers on Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), including the factors influencing their perceptions; to investigate the teaching behaviors of pre-service teachers towards TGfU, including the determinants predicting such behaviors; and to explore the mutual interactions among pre-service teachers, cooperating teachers, and university supervisors during mentoring in TGfU teaching. / Wang, Lijuan. / Adviser: Sau Ching Amy Ha. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 230-261). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendixes B, E, H, and J in Chinese.

by Li Yuk-keung, Daniel. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Bibliography: leaves 110-116. / Chapter CHAPTER 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1) --- AIMS OF THE STUDY --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2) --- REVIEW OF LITERATURE --- p.5 / On Comparative Approach and Methodology in Education and Physical Education --- p.5 / "On Curriculum, Teacher Education Curriculum, and PETE (PE Teacher Education) Curriculum" --- p.9 / On PETE Curriculum in a Comparative Perspective --- p.16 / Chapter 1.3) --- DEFINITIONS --- p.24 / Curriculum --- p.24 / Physical Education --- p.25 / Chapter 1.4) --- JUSTIFICATIONS ON THE COMPARABILITY OF HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE --- p.27 / Chapter 1.5) --- SCOPE OF THE STUDY --- p.29 / Chapter 1.6) --- METHOD OF STUDY --- p.30 / Framework of the Study --- p.30 / Framework for Analysis and Interpretation --- p.32 / Elaboration on Curriculum Purpose --- p.35 / Elaboration on Curriculum Content --- p.37 / Elaboration on Curriculum Organization --- p.38 / Elaboration on Curriculum Evaluation --- p.40 / Procedure --- p.44 / Chapter CHAPTER 2. --- HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE PETE CURRICULA: A DESCRIPTION --- p.45 / Chapter 2.1) --- HONG KONG PETE SYSTEM AND THE RESPECTIVE PETE CURRICULA --- p.45 / Purpose --- p.49 / Content and Organization --- p.51 / Evaluation --- p.54 / Chapter 2.2) --- SINGAPORE PETE SYSTEM AND THE RESPECTIVE PETE CURRICULA --- p.54 / Purpose --- p.55 / Content and Organization --- p.56 / Evaluation --- p.58 / Chapter CHAPTER 3. --- HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE PETE CURRICULA: AN INTERPRETATION --- p.61 / Chapter 3.1) --- AN INTERPRETATION OF THE HONG KONG PETE CURRICULA --- p.61 / Purpose --- p.61 / Content --- p.67 / Organization --- p.71 / Evaluation --- p.74 / Chapter 3.2) --- AN INTERPRETATION OF THE SINGAPORE PETE CURRICULA --- p.76 / Purpose --- p.76 / Content --- p.80 / Organization --- p.81 / Evaluation --- p.83 / Chapter CHAPTER 4. --- HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE PETE CURRICULA: A JUXTAPOSITION --- p.87 / Purpose --- p.88 / Content --- p.89 / Organization --- p.90 / Evaluation --- p.91 / Chapter CHAPTER 5. --- HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE PETE CURRICULA: A COMPARISON --- p.92 / Chapter 5.1) --- A COMPARISON OF THE PURPOSES OF CURRICULA --- p.92 / Chapter 5.2) --- A COMPARISON OF THE CONTENTS OF CURRICULA --- p.93 / Substantive Contents --- p.96 / Chapter 5.3) --- A COMPARISON OF THE ORGANIZATION OF CURRICULA --- p.98 / Scope --- p.98 / Sequence --- p.100 / Chapter 5.4) --- A COMPARISON OF THE EVALUATION OF CURRICULA --- p.101 / Chapter 5.5) --- A COMPARISON OF THE STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES OF CURRICULA --- p.103 / Chapter CHAPTER 6. --- RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUDING REMARKS --- p.106 / Purpose --- p.106 / Content --- p.107 / Organization --- p.107 / Evaluation --- p.108 / Concluding Remarks --- p.108 / REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.110 / APPENDIX (Assessment of Students for Internal Promotion and Requirements Leading to the Awards of a Teacher's Certificate in Hong Kong) --- p.117

This case study explores the relationship between teachers' language knowledge and their grammar teaching practices within the context of a bilingual school for the deaf in Sweden, a country that has demonstrated success in educating deaf children bilingually in written Swedish and Sweden's signed language. The study's participants were two Swedish language teachers and their 17 elementary school students; both participants were identified as high quality teachers and models of the school's approach to the bilingual education of deaf children. Teacher Language Awareness was selected as the theoretical construct through which to explore the relationship between teacher knowledge and practice because of its focus on knowledge-in-action, or the sites where knowledge intersects with practice. The study's main data sources were classroom observation and stimulated recall interviews. Data were analyzed sequentially using a start list of codes derived from a review of the relevant literature. Two portraits of the teachers' grammatical Teacher Language Awareness emerged from my analysis of the data. Suggested pedagogical applications for these portraits in teacher education programs are presented.

This mixed-methods study examined the interactions and learning outcomes of science teachers in an online graduate-level course on evolutionary biology intended to improve their content knowledge and science lesson planning. Discussion posts made by the teachers in this seven-week course were analyzed for cognitive presence using the Community of Inquiry framework. Compared to other studies examining cognitive presence, high levels of Integration level cognitive activity were observed (47% of total posts). This was most likely due to the design of the discussion prompts and expectations used to frame student participation. The questions were open-ended, and students were expected to use reference materials to construct their responses. During the course, 395 student posts contained statements that could be coded for scientific accuracy. Of these, 85% were coded as scientifically accurate. This reinforces reports from previous literature that the online environment is conducive to reflective and careful contributions by participants.As the course progressed, the number of faculty posts per discussion declined, while the number of student posts remained relatively constant. Student-to-student posts increased in frequency as faculty participation dropped. The number of student posts increased towards the end of each two-week discussion period, however the frequencies of posts with scientifically accurate statements and Integration level cognitive activity remained relatively constant over this same period. The increase in total posts was due to the increase in other types of communication in the discussions. Case study analysis was used to examine patterns of online behavior in three participants who achieved different course grades. A low-performing student had a pattern of intermittent activity, made low numbers of posts in each discussion, and had low percentages of posts that contained scientific statements or indicators of Integration level cognitive activity compared to classmates. A medium-performing learner posted infrequently but was efficient in making scientifically accurate posts that demonstrated Integration. Both the medium and low performer made most of their posts near the end of each two-week discussion period and had limited interaction with other learners. The high-performing learner demonstrated high levels of engagement with the course material. She posted frequently, introduced new resources to the other learners, and had high numbers of scientifically accurate and Integration level posts. An examination of teachers' views of the Nature of Science (NOS) using a pre- and post course Views of Nature of Science - C survey indicated that this group of teachers began the course with relatively informed views of many of the nature of science aspects. An exception was views about the nature of scientific theories and laws. At the start of the course 10 of 18 participants had naive views, five had partially informed views, and three had informed views. While scientific definitions of theories and laws were addressed in the course, there was no task that asked teachers to apply their understanding of this topic. When the course finished, six participants still had naive views, six held partially informed views, and six had informed views. Participants used course content to create teaching unit plans that indicated how they might use the course outcomes in their practice. Most of the learning objectives stated in the unit plans were grade-level appropriate when referenced to the Benchmarks for Science Literacy. The exception was the inclusion by some middle school teachers of detailed analyses of evolutionary relationships using genetic data. Although there was alignment of stated objectives to content from the online course and lesson activities, some of the teachers did not fully align assessments with their objectives.Based on these findings, it is suggested that designers of online instruction be mindful in the framing of learning tasks and use open-ended discussion prompts that require the use of reference materials if Integration level cognitive activity is the goal. The teachers in this course were generally able to utilize content from the course to create teaching applications, but more support for pedagogical applications could be an important addition for teachers who struggled with this task. This study reinforces previous research that indicates that online asynchronous discussions encourage reflection by learners. However, analysis of individuals who struggled in the course indicates that the online format may not suit all learners since consistent effort and the ability to communicate effectively in writing are important for success.

This study explores how one secondary social studies teacher education program prepares prospective teachers for inclusive education. Drawing on theories of democratic citizenship education and Disability Studies in Education, inclusive social studies envisions a socially democratic educational setting that fosters the development of a community of learners, attempts to balance the unity and diversity of democratic citizenship, and adopts a curriculum that is flexible, participatory, and accessible to learners of all abilities. Addressing the dearth of research on the intersection of social studies and inclusive education, as well as the limits of what we know about how prospective social studies teachers are prepared for inclusive schooling, this study answers the research question, How does a preservice social studies teacher education program help prepare prospective teachers for inclusive social studies? In addition, I explore preservice teachers' prior knowledge of and beliefs about disability, inclusion, and democratic citizenship, as well as the teaching and learning that take place within a social studies teacher education program. Over the course of one semester, I employed an instrumental case study design using an introductory questionnaire, multiple interviews and observations, and documents to explore preparation for inclusive social studies in a teacher education program at a New York college. Participants in the study included nine preservice teachers (four undergraduate students and five graduate students), the social studies program director and methods course instructor, and two special education instructors. Major findings indicate that normative structures of contemporary schooling, especially in the current era of standards-based educational reform, have hindered preparation for inclusive social studies, as they run counter to its constituent elements of democratic citizenship education and inclusive education. Although undergraduate and graduate social studies methods courses emphasized knowing and implementing democratic citizenship education, fostering a classroom community of diverse learners, and creating a flexible curriculum for students of all abilities, students in these programs frequently clung to narrow conceptions of democratic citizenship and inclusion. The intransigence of their prior knowledge and initial beliefs was influenced in part by their own experiences in social studies classrooms, both before and during their time in the program, as well as the persistence of ableism and the stigmatizing effects of disability in education. Theoretical and pedagogical incongruence throughout the program, coupled with a lack of critical reflective space, also resulted in students feeling unprepared to teach inclusive social studies. Obstacles to inclusive social studies included students' apprenticeships of observation, the persistence of the traditional special education paradigm, the limits of diversity education in addressing disability, and the lack of space for critical reflection. Opportunities for inclusive social studies, or areas in which there was some consistency and consensus across the disparate components of the program, focused on fostering classroom communities of learners and creating flexible, differentiated curricula. This study has implications for research, practice, and policy in the areas of inclusive education, teacher education, and democratic citizenship education.

While there is a wealth of research about literary history, literary genres, and the nature of the literary text, research on approaches to teaching literature that shape the interpretation and reception of the text is insufficient. My overarching aim in this study is to conceptualize literature pedagogy across the historical evolution of the field of literature in English. Underlying literature pedagogy are beliefs about the good of teaching literature. Consequently, the teaching of literature is a form of values education. In the late eighteenth century, the teaching of literature was used to propagate ideological values of the nation-state when the discipline of English literature was institutionalized in public education. From the early twentieth century onwards, various global-political and disciplinary movements led to a shift towards a post nation-state model of values education emphasizing education for world, global, and cosmopolitan values. One way to understand the different values underlying literature pedagogy is to examine beliefs about the good of teaching literature as these are manifested in concepts that demonstrate various orientations to teaching literature. Given that the formal institutionalization of English literature and its subsequent re-configurations, in the form of literature in English, were conditioned by the phenomenon of globalization, the study explores how approaches to teaching literature have responded to four waves of globalization from the late eighteenth to the twenty-first century. Rather than focus on events, I employ a historical-paradigmatic analysis to analyze conceptual turns or moments in a historical period when particular concepts gain dominance. The advantage of this analysis is two-fold. First, it avoids examining history in terms of events so that more attention is paid to the history of ideas and second, paradigms disrupt the notion of a linear history which then allows for historical overlaps. In order to locate concepts that gain dominance, three domains are analyzed within each historical period - global waves, disciplinary movements, and philosophical contributions. The objectives of the study are driven by two research questions: (1) How do global waves, disciplinary movements, and philosophical contributions, from the late eighteenth century to the present, contribute to characterizing various beliefs about the good of teaching literature? (2) How do these beliefs orient approaches to teaching literature? The study argues that various global waves across history have facilitated the interrelation and dominance of key concepts that provide insights into beliefs about the good of teaching literature. From these concepts, four orientations emerge - nationalist-oriented, world-oriented, global-oriented, and cosmopolitan-oriented approaches to teaching literature. These approaches serve to recognize a key role for the teaching literature in educating for values beyond the ideologies of the nation-state. The study has implications for literature teachers in the hopes that it would broaden their consciousness and repertoire of pedagogical approaches as well as equip them to be more purposeful in their applications of these to the classroom. More importantly, an understanding of these orientations would serve to develop a greater sense of ethical agency in teachers as they work towards cultivating a hospitable imagination in their students.

The challenge of school-based science curriculum change and educational reform is often presented to science teachers and departments who are not necessarily prepared for the complexity of considerations that change movements require. The development of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) focused on a science department's curriculum change efforts, may provide the necessary tools to foster sustainable school-based curriculum science changes. This research presents a case study of an evolving science department PLC consisting of 10 middle school science teachers from the same middle school and their efforts of school-based science curriculum change. A transformative mixed model case study with qualitative data and deepened by quantitative analysis, was chosen to guide the investigation. Collected data worked to document the essential developmental steps, the occurrence and frequency of the five essential dimensions of successful PLCs, and the influences the science department PLC had on the middle school science department's progression through school-based science curriculum change, and the barriers, struggles and inhibiting actions of the science department PLC. Findings indicated that a science department PLC was unique in that it allowed for a focal science departmental lens of science curriculum change to be applied to the structure and function of the PLC and therefore the process, proceedings, and results were directly aligned to and driven by the science department. The science PLC, while logically difficult to set-up and maintain, became a professional science forum where the middle school science teachers were exposed to new science teaching and learning knowledge, explored new science standards, discussed effects on student science learning, designed and critically analyzed science curriculum change application. Conclusions resulted in the science department PLC as an identified tool providing the ability for science departmental actions to lead to outcomes of science curriculum change improvements with the consideration but not the dictation of the larger school community and state agendas. Thus, the study's results work to fuse previously separated research on general PLCs and curriculum change efforts into a cohesive understanding of the unexplored potential of a science PLC and school-based science curriculum change.

This study is an examination of how two popular magazines, National Geographic and Life magazine, and one educational journal, Social Education, perform the work of representation in general, and representing China more specifically. Drawing on postcolonial theorists (Blaut, 1993; Said, 1978; Tchen, 1999; wa Thiong'o, 1986; Willinsky, 1998), the perspectives employed throughout this study explore how representations can work to fix meaning and extend difference through imperialist structures and an orientalist lens. In addition, theories of photographic representation work alongside postcolonial perspectives to draw out the constructed nature of representation, and how representation - through language and/or image - can work to capture and secure the meaning of difference and perpetuate division. National Geographic, Life, and Social Education are pedagogical in different ways, yet all three used language and image to bring China into view for the Western reader. Conceptualized as sources of cultural pedagogy, these journals employed specific pedagogical practices, which reinforced imperialist structures of Western dominance over the non-Western world. Notably, National Geographic's travelogue, Life's photo-essay, and Social Education's educational resources, worked to teach/instruct their readers, primarily middle class Americans, about China.

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The competence of mathematics teachers and how to prepare competent future mathematics teachers have been hotly debated in recent years; pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a critical indictor of that competency (e.g., Ball & Bass, 2000; Ferrini-Mundy & Findell, 2010). This explorative study examines PCK and PCK change and the factors contributing to both among a group of secondary school mathematics student teachers in Hangzhou (the capital of and largest city in Zhejiang Province, China). Changes in PCK are investigated across the final two years of a pre-service secondary mathematics teacher education program. This program is traditional in nature, mainly consisting of mathematics teaching methods courses, teaching practica and advanced mathematics courses. Student teachers’ performance in three aspects of PCK — the substance of PCK, approaches to PCK and the structure of PCK — were assessed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures employed at two distinct stages of the program. At each stage, student teachers’ PCK was examined by a PCK questionnaire, a follow-up interview and three video-based interviews. The factors influencing PCK change were investigated using multiple phases and approaches of data collections. Specifically, rating schemes for each aspect of PCK were developed to evaluate student teachers’ responses and track the changes in their PCK. Interviews were conducted with student teachers at various stages of their professional growth to determine what they considered to be important factors affecting their PCK and changes to their PCK. In addition, observations of student teachers’ teaching practice during their teaching practica, together with interviews involving course instructors, mentor teachers and university teachers were employed to collect supplementary evidence on the impact of those factors. A quantitative analysis of the PCK questionnaire indicated that the participating student teachers generally did not perform well in PCK items in either stage. The follow-up interviews suggest that the different logic applied by the student teachers when responding to those items, their lack of sensitivity to contextual information, and their misunderstanding of terminology and incorrect assumptions all affected their performance. An additional qualitative analysis, based on three video-based interviews, indicated that student teachers’ overall performances in the three aspects of PCK improved in the second stage. Insights were gained into the major types of changes in PCK through paired responses. These changes were found to be influenced by changes in the student teachers’ knowledge of curriculum, of good examples/tasks/exercises, of clear lesson and teaching goals and of some affiliated affective factors. Other factors, including individual and social contextual factors, prior learning and tutoring experience, practicum experience and preparations for examinations and teaching competitions, are also examined for their direct or indirect impact on PCK. This study may contribute to current literature on the characteristics of Chinese student teachers’ PCK and PCK changes during the final two years of their pre-service teacher education. It provides a tentative explanation of how institutional and social contextual factors affect PCK and PCK change in different ways. Methodological and practical implications are also discussed. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy