This dissertation examines a university faculty (n = 41) and diverse students (n = 93) including students with disability (n = 44), students without disability (n = 21), and international students (n = 28) regarding their attitudes toward and actions associated with inclusive instruction based on the universal design for learning (UDL) principles and practices. Two online surveys, the Inclusive Teaching Strategies Inventory (ITSI) and the Inclusive Teaching Strategies Inventory-Student (ITSI-S), were administered at a large, public Southwest university (N = 134). The ITSI and ITSI-S contain seven subscales representing the following constructs: (a) accommodations, (b) accessible course materials, (c) course modifications, (d) inclusive lecture strategies, (e) inclusive classroom, (f) inclusive assessment, and (g) disability laws and concepts. A series of multivariate analyses of variances (MANOVAs) measured the overall of attitude subscales and overall action subscales, and an independent-samples test (t-test) compared mean scores on the seven Attitude subscales and seven Action subscales to identify predictors of these attitudes and actions among faculty and students. The main findings were (a) significant differences among diverse students, where students with disability responded negatively on the Action subscales and (b) significant differences between faculty and diverse students where international students had a positive attitude on the Attitude subscales, whereas students with disability had a negative attitude on the Action subscales toward the actual practices of their faculty. Results of the current study respond to the gap in the literature by examining the inclusive instruction environment based on UDL in a university environment. The implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Teachers frequently meet high-performing students in classrooms. These students can be challenged in different ways. However, this study focuses on how challenge can take place through the teaching methods individualization and differentiation. Teachers' attitudes toward the teaching methods are also examined. Research shows that differentiated teaching captures the different levels of knowledge of the whole group of children, and generates shared learning but at different levels. The attitude among teachers toward this form of teaching is negative, according to previous research. Research also shows that individualized teaching is less suitable for students, as students tend to search for a togetherness that individualization does not provide. Teachers are generally positive toward the individualized teaching method.   The theoretical starting point of the study is the cognitive perspective, where the student's individual abstract thinking is affirmed, while the cognitive conflict is an important part of the students' learning. Another important aspect is what the research says about teachers' use of speech to achieve meaningful learning. The study was conducted using the methods focus group interview and questionnaire. The participating respondents are active teachers in preschool class up to year 3.   The results of the study show that both methods of teaching can be used to reach high-performing students. It appears that teachers' attitudes are more positive towards differentiated teaching than towards individual teaching. An important result is that teachers should not get stuck in only one form of teaching, because then students are disadvantaged. / Lärare möter frekvent högpresterande elever i klassrummen. Dessa elever kan utmanas på olika sätt, dock riktar denna studie in sig på hur utmaning kan ske genom undervisningsformerna individualisering och differentiering. Även lärares attityder till undervisningsformerna undersöks. Forskning visar att den differentierade undervisningen fångar hela barngruppens olika kunskapsnivåer, och generera ett gemensamt lärande men på olika nivåer. Attityden bland lärare till undervisningsformen är negativ enligt tidigare forskning. Forskningen visar även att den individualiserade undervisningen lämpar sig sämre för elever då eleverna tenderar att söka en gemenskap som individualisering inte ger. Lärare är generellt positiva till den individualiserade undervisningsmetoden.    Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt det kognitiva perspektivet, där bejakas elevens individuella abstrakta tänkande, samtidigt som den kognitiva konflikten är en viktig del för elevernas lärande. En annan viktig del är vad forskningen säger om lärares användning av talet för att åstadkomma ett meningsfullt lärande. Studien är genomförd med metoderna fokusgruppsintervju och enkät. De medverkande respondenterna är verksamma lärare i förskoleklass – årskurs 3.     Studiens resultat visar att båda undervisningsformerna kan användas för att nå högpresterande elever. Det framkommer att lärares attityder är mer positiva till den differentierade undervisningen, än till den individuella undervisningen. Ett viktigt resultat är att lärare inte ska låsa fast sig vid endast en undervisningsform, för då missgynnas elever.

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Die wereldwye neiging in die onderwys wat bekend staan as lnsluiting is teweeggebring deur die reg van elke individu op onderrig, soos vasgele in die Universele Verklaring van Menseregte van 1948, tesame met die hernieude onderneming van die wereldgemeenskap' op die Wereldkonferensie oor Opvoeding vir Almal van 1990 om daardie reg, ten spyte van individuele • verskille, te verskans. Aile aanduidings is dat Suid-Afrika ook die beleid van lnsluiting sal aanvaar in die regering se pogings om die onderwys te hervorm. Hierdie beleid van lnsluiting hou groot implikasies in vir die onderwyser in, die gewone skole, aangesien hulle beida die voorwerp en die . agent is van sodanige hervorming. Daar word aanvaar dat die onderwyser se houding teenoor leerders in die algemeen 'n belangrike rol speel met betrekking tot die sukses van die onderrig- en leergebeure in die klaskamer. Hierdie houding word dikwels bepaal deur die · onderwyser se kennis van leerders in die klaskamer en sy vaardighede met betrekking tot hul onderrig. In die lig van die literatuurstudie, wat daarop dui dat onderwysers nie voldoende opleiding ontvang om aan die behoeftes van leerders met spesiale onderwysbehoeftes te voldoen nie, word in hierdie navorsing die houding van die onderwyser in die gewone skool teenoor die leerders met spesiale onderwysbehoeftes soos dit in die praktyk openbaar word bepaal. / The right of every individual to education, as enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the renewing of the pledge made by the world community at the 1990 World Conference on Education for All to ensure that right, regardless of individual differences, gave rise to the worldwide trend in education known as Inclusion. All indications are that South Africa will also adopt the policy of Inclusion as part of the government's efforts to reform education. The policy of Inclusion has major implications for the teachers in the ordinary school, as they are both the subjects and the agents of reform. It is generally believed that teachers' attitudes towards learners plays a major role ·in the success of the teaching-learning events in the classroom. These attitudes are often influenced by .. the teachers' knowledge of the learners in their classrooms and their skill in teaching them. In view of literature that suggests that teachers are not adequately trained to meet the needs of learners, with special Educational needs, this study undertakes to investigate the attitude of teachers in the ordinary school towards learners with special educational needs, as it manifests in practice. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Ortopedagogiek)

published_or_final_version / Applied Statistics / Master / Master of Social Sciences

In 2002, the United Nations designates 2005-2014 as the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. In China, Education for Sustainable Development [ESD] has been recognized as an important component in the new educational reform. However, there is an implementation gap between government policy and classroom practice. Teachers play a pivotal role in curriculum implementation. Therefore, knowing what teachers' think about ESD is the first step towards understanding the implementation of ESD. / Key words. sustainable development; education for sustainable development; teacher's belief; geography teacher; instrument development; values; teaching belief; China / Quantitative research methods supported by interview are used in this research. After analyzing relevant literature on ESD and interviewing 16 Beijing geography teachers, it is found that the ESD beliefs comprised two components: sustainability values [VESD] and teaching beliefs of ESD [TESD]. Based on ESD principles and some environmental beliefs instruments, a first draft of VESD instrument was developed and piloted among Yinchuan and Beijing geography teachers. A second draft was then developed and tested with over 300 Guangzhou and Changchun geography teachers. The final VESD instrument with four dimensions has been found with a stable structure and acceptable reliability and validity. These four dimensions are respect and care for the community of life; ecological integrity; social and economic justice; democracy, nonviolence and peace. / The aim of this research is to develop an effective and easy-to-use ESD instrument to reveal teacher's beliefs about ESD. In the process of developing the instrument, it is essential to study: What are teachers' ESD beliefs? Are ESD beliefs made up environmental values and teaching beliefs? What are the structure and content of the values and teaching beliefs of ESD? / The TESD instrument is found to have three factors with good reliability and validity. These three factors are namely: relevance to daily life, student's need in the future, and integrated teaching. / With these two instruments which can be used to tap teacher's ESD beliefs in China, researchers interested in ESD implementation can conduct future researches on teachers' beliefs about ESD and the potential implementation problems. / 楊光. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(p. 256-274). / Adviser: Chi Chung Lam. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-03, Section: A, page: 0867. / 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, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xiang gang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (p. 256-274). / Yang Guang.

In November 1998, the Hong Kong Government published the policy document entitled "Information Technology for Learning in a New Era Five-Year Strategy 1998/99 to 2002/03" and defined the goals and the scope of the development of Information Technology in education in Hong Kong. One of the goals is to encourage using Information Technology (I.T.) in education and to promote students' ability in handling information. As the role of I.T. is becoming more and more important in education, schools themselves have also implemented I.T. to various extents. The main purpose of this study is to explore the impacts of the external environment on the development of I.T. in Hong Kong primary schools and examine also the relationship between the use of I.T. in education and teaching effectiveness in Hong Kong primary schools. / Recommendations have been made for school administrators' consideration in the development of I.T. systems in primary schools and ways of improving teaching effectiveness. Further areas of investigation into the relationship between the development of I.T. in education and teaching effectiveness in primary schools are also recommended. / The results of the research indicate that: (1) the "Policy" factor and "Funding" factor had a high, significant correlation with the different aspects of I.T. development of Hong Kong primary schools; (2) a school with well-developed I.T. had a positive significant correlation with "Teaching Effectiveness". / The School Environment Constraint Instrument developed by Lam (1989) was adopted to meet the context of Hong Kong primary schools and modified for this study. Two new factors "New Arrivals" and "Language Policy" are used to replace the original factors of 'Ethnicity' and 'Second Language'. The other two research instruments which measured "Information Technology Development" and "Teaching Effectiveness" were developed by the Researcher. / This study uses a quantitative approach to achieve the above purposes. Questionnaires were sent to 823 teachers from 25 Hong Kong primary schools to solicit their views on the impact of I.T. in school education, the use of I.T. education and their perceptions of teaching effectiveness. / 關李榮. / Adviser: Sun Keung Nicholas Pang. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0454. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 228-246). / 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, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Guan Lirong.

This phenomenon might show that every teacher has some underlying beliefs, which could be made clear by narration. Lack of "traditional" art making experience, Helen thought the "Visual Learning" in art education could help students "unwrap packaging" and get to understand the hidden truth. On the other hand, other three teachers who love drawing from their very young age, focused more on different media of art making. To some extent, reflecting an "art for art sake" attitude, which shows quite a distance from the orientation of recent curriculum changes. / This study is an exploratory narrative research, focusing on the beliefs and their formation process of those teachers who regard themselves as art teachers. Hong Kong society seems ignore the importance of art education. Most teachers teach in primary school can have a share on having a few Art & Craft lessons, including those who even don't understand what is art. In this context, there are still some teachers who regard themselves as art teachers. Why? What beliefs do they hold towards art or art education? How are these belief constructed? Are these teachers conscious of their own beliefs? Are these beliefs related to their teaching experience and seniority? / Through "synthesis text" interview, teachers are provided with the opportunity to reflect their beliefs and discover the unaware "existential presumptions". It was a good chance for them to clarify their blurred perspectives, even to make change of them. / Through four interviewees' sharing of their "life stories" towards art or art education as well as "how" and "why" they transmitted such teaching activities, the researcher found that regardless their teaching seniority, they all showed that art teachers should possess drawing ability. Interactive interviews and self-evaluation of their own "synthesis text" were delivered. The researcher found that during their late phase of teaching life, Wangyi and Zhongliang were aware that they haven't thought seriously about the relationship between art and art education. Hyde, during her early phase of teaching life, thinks that the one who love drawing can be an art teacher. Helen, in her middle phase of teaching life, did not seem to be very clear of what she believed towards art education. Only through several interviews could let her rethink and reconstruct some clues of belief. / 第1冊. 一項敘述性研究 A narrative study -- 第2冊. 四個「全貌的」故事 Four life stories. / Di 1 ce. Yi xiang xu shu xing yan jiu A narrative study -- di 2 ce. Si ge "quan mao de" gu shi Four life stories. / 黃素蘭. / 呈交日期: 2005年12月. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(p. 249-266, v.1). / Cheng jiao ri qi: 2005 nian 12 yue. / Adviser: Chi Chung Lam. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4070. / 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, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (p. 249-266, v.1). / Huang Sulan.

Many studies show that teacher beliefs strongly influence their instructional decisions, which in turn affect classroom practice and curriculum implementation. Studies also reveal many curriculum reforms in the past failed because teacher beliefs had been neglected in the design and implementation process. / The new secondary Chinese language curriculum implemented in 2002 in Hong Kong is of student-centred basis, and thus teachers are required to change their beliefs. This qualitative study aims at investigating teaching beliefs of Chinese language teachers and their influence on curriculum implementation. By examining teaching beliefs of teachers, light can be shed on the problems and prospect of curriculum implementation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and observations. Twelve teachers were selected purposefully from three different types of secondary schools, namely band 1, 2 and 3; which represent different range of students' academic competency. In each type of school, two expert teachers and two novice teachers with a variety of educational backgrounds and rankings at school were selected. / The results of this study indicate that teaching beliefs of teachers and their teaching behaviours are interrelated. It also highlights that the existing beliefs of transmission-oriented teachers are incongruent with the underlying philosophy of the new curriculum. This may hinder the implementation of the intended curriculum. But most of the beliefs held by the heuristics-oriented teachers are in line with the intended curriculum, which is likely to facilitate its successful implementation. The findings also have important implications for curriculum developers and teacher educators: curriculum implementation must be accompanied by continuous teacher development which fosters changes of beliefs and practices. / This study finds out that there are underlying commonalities in beliefs among the twelve teachers. In their opinion, the conception of Chinese language is "wen dao he yi", that means the subject does not only aim at developing students' communication skills but also providing positive values. Nevertheless, teachers' beliefs on teaching could be divided into two main orientations, namely transmission and heuristics. Transmission-oriented teachers believe that they transmit knowledge and act as directors and disciplinarians; while students are recipient of knowledge. Their major concerns of teaching are reading and writing but listening and oral practices are of secondary importance; these four areas of language are unlikely integrated in teaching. On the contrary, the heuristics-oriented teachers favour two-way and interactive teaching approaches. They regularly arrange group activities for students in diversification, and let peers learn from each other. Therefore students can be active learners while teachers are facilitators. In their view, integrating reading, writing, listening and speaking in teaching can facilitate students' learning. / 譚彩鳳. / 呈交日期: 2005年12月. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(p. 240-261). / Cheng jiao ri qi: 2005 nian 12 yue. / Advisers: Lam Chi Chung; Yu Nae Wing. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4087. / 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, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (p. 240-261). / Tan Caifeng.

For the domain of compensation structure, the three factors extracted from the alternative bases for paying teachers including differential pay, competencies pay and teach load pay are significant predictors of their retention tendency. / For the domain of working conditions for teachers, the results show that the classroom teaching conditions and the school support are two extracted factors that have predictive effects on the retention tendency of English subject teachers in Hong Kong. / Teachers and teacher salaries are the two major scarce resources in the provision of education. Teacher shortage problems are common and have been a concern in nearly all countries. High teacher attritions other than retirement have called public and government attention in enhancing retention of teachers as a way to solve teacher shortage problems. The shortage of teachers varies with subjects and levels. In Hong Kong, the shortage of quality English teachers has long been a social concern because of the importance for its citizen to attain high English proficiency levels to maintain the competitiveness as an international city. / The predictors in the personal variables domain are: Major in English, professionally trained and taking professional development programmes. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) / The purpose of this study is to investigate the predictors affecting the retention tendency of inservice English teachers in Hong Kong secondary schools from the labour economics perspective with a quantitative survey. Through a more thorough understanding of the predictors affecting their retention tendency, policies can be formulated with a view to enhancing the retention of English subject teachers. The survey was carried out in September, 2002. Questionnaires were sent to 111 publicly funded secondary schools in Hong Kong. A total of 490 completed questionnaires have been collected from an estimated sample size of 1332 English subject teachers in Hong Kong secondary schools. The response rate is 36.8%. / The results show that three domains of predictors: compensation structure, working conditions and personal variables affect the retention tendency of English teachers to continue teaching English. The variance explained by the whole model is 0.211. / Ko Kwok-wai. / "July 2003." / Adviser: Yue Ping Chung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 64-07, Section: A, page: 2391. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 294-313). / Available also through the Internet via Current research @ Chinese University of Hong Kong under title: The effects of compensation structure and working conditions on the retention tendency of English subject teachers in Hong Kong secondary schools (China) / 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 dissertations and theses, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education