published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study focused on a 1978 teacher strike in the Verde Unified School District, Verde, Arizona, and was designed to investigate the impact the strike had on these teachers' attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. These factors were examined in terms of: perceptions of the strike issues and causes; influences by significant others to strike or not to strike; personal relationships with significant others prior to, during, and after the strike; viewpoints or perceptions of the strike; personal attitudes concerning professionalism and what it meant to be a professional; and experienced feelings of stress. A questionnaire was developed and administered to forty junior high school teachers to investigate their attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors concerning the strike. The theoretical framework developed for this study, drawn from the literature of perceptual psychology, was used to examine and discuss the data regarding the teachers' attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. The theoretical framework consisted of the following five categories: The Development and Maintenance of an Adequate Self, The Perceptual Field as a Determinant of Behavior, The Concept of Resistance to Attacks on the Self, The Concept of Economic Welfare as Related to Politics and Human Dignity and the Concept of Self-Maintenance of an Organization or System. Teacher respondents reported the following perceptions regarding the strike and their participation in it: (1)Issues and Causes of the Strike: The most significant perceived issue of the strike, as reported by the junior high school teacher respondents, was "The loss of the established negotiating policy" and a "Challenge to personal dignity." The respondents felt that the strike resulted because of "The way the Board and the District's central administration handled the issues." (2)Influences by Others to Strike or Not to Strike: The respondents reported that they were significantly influenced to strike or not to strike by the teachers' association and by teachers in their respective schools. The respondents indicated that they communicated with teachers in other schools when they were unable to talk to fellow teachers in their own schools. (3)Personal Relationships with Significant Others Prior to, During, and After the Strike: Personal relationships figured as a significant influence in each teacher's decision to strike or not to strike. At the building level, principals were perceived by the respondents as administrative representatives and as such were viewed as threatening and lacking empathy. The striking teacher respondents reported that a special feeling of camaraderie developed among the strikers on the picket lines. The strikers, furthermore, reported supportive relationships existing between themselves, the parents, and the students. (4)Viewpoints or Perceptions of the Strike: From the striking respondents' point of view, the strike was perceived as a phenomenon which they had hoped would never occur. From the non-strikers' point of view, though, the strike was perceived as a battle between two major forces, the National Education Association and the National School Board Association. (5)Personal Attitudes Concerning Professionalism and What it Meant to be a Professional: Professionalism, the teacher respondents reported, meant being involved with and having input into such issues as curriculum development, classroom management, class size, and discipline procedures. The respondents indicated that they had been denied the opportunity to participate in these matters. (6)Experiences of Stress: Stress played a significant role in the strike process from beginning to end. The data indicated many stressful and agonizing moments spent reaching the decision to strike or not to strike. Strained personal relationships developed and appeared to have evoked much stress. For non-strikers especially, the entire stike process was reported to have been stressful.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate how preschool teachers reflect on the phenomenon of conflict, and to find out what children think about this in relation to Nanny method. I referred to the following questions: • How to reflect pre-school teachers on conflict management at the preschool? • What methods / approaches tell teachers that they use in conflict management? • How the children reflect on their experiences on conflict management at the preschool? In the background, Im trying to define the word conflict, and I also point to the methods and models that are already in conflict management. It is clear that a key ingredient in the conflict is communication, the question is how well we communicate with each other?I've done interviews with three active educators and four children to study this subject. The survey shows that the conversation is a very important factor in the conflict and both children and teachers agree on this.  The teachers' desire to get the children to talk to each other if they become enemies seem to produce results because even the kids themselves say it is what is most important in the event of disagreement, it is also important to ask for help when you feel that the situation becomes too difficult.The work highlights the educators and children's experiences in conflict management. Keywords: Conflicts, children, conflict management, pre-schools, teachers' attitudes, Nanny method / Sammanfattning Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur förskollärare reflekterar om fenomenet konflikthantering, och att ta reda på vad barnen tycker om detta i relation till Nannymetoden. Jag har utgått från följande frågor: Hur reflekterar förskollärarna om konflikthanteringen på förskolan? Vilka metoder/förhållningssätt säger pedagogerna att de använder sig av inom konflikthantering? Hur reflekterar barnen om sina upplevelser kring konflikthanteringen på förskolan?    I bakgrunden försöker jag att definiera ordet konflikt och jag pekar också på de metoder och modeller som redan finns inom konflikthantering. Det framgår att en viktig nyckel när det gäller konflikter är kommunikation, frågan är bara hur vi kommunicerar med varandra?   Jag har gjort kvalitativa intervjuer med tre verksamma pedagoger och fyra barn för att studera detta ämne. Undersökningen visar att samtalet är en mycket viktig faktor när det gäller konflikthantering och både barn och pedagoger är överens om detta. Pedagogernas strävan efter att få barnen att prata med varandra om de blir ovänner verkar ge resultat eftersom även barnen själva säger att det är det som är viktigast om det uppstår osämja. Det är också viktigt att kunna be om hjälp när man känner att situationen blir för svår. Arbetet lyfter fram verksamma pedagoger och barns erfarenheter kring konflikthantering.    Nyckelord: Konflikter, barn, konflikthantering, förskola, pedagogers förhållningssätt, Nannymetoden

A climate that stimulates creativity and encourages optimal performance is essential for enhancing the knowledge capacity of organisations. This encompasses the roles played by diverse aspects such as organisational support, freedom, work pressure, idea time/support, workplace challenges and trust/openness. This study is located in the field of Adult Education in general with a specific focus on Workplace Learning. A qualitative study was conducted to describe the perceptions of managers and non-managers in five campuses of Thekwini FET College as either potential enablers or disablers of a creative climate. The research explicates what and how these professionals learn in creative climates. This study examines four research questions: In what ways do employees perceive the climate for creativity in the workplace?; How is the climate for creativity nurtured or stifled in the workplace?; What is meant by a 'creative climate'?; What are the critical success factors for inducing and facilitating a creative climate at Thekwini FET College? Thirteen participants, who had working knowledge experience and were able to provide a rich description of their work climate, were selected. A comprehensive collection and analysis of data was yielded through: (a) semi-structured individual interviews; (b) looking at words, sentences and paragraphs of documents; and (c) informal observations. Data was analysed and interpreted by identifying the themes promulgated by Ekvall's Creative Climate Questionnaire and Amabile's KEYS survey. The findings led to the emergence of two new themes of coping mechanism and informal learning. The discussions inform and support the research from the perspective of employee experience and the theoretical model. The following recommendations were made in terms of: (a) Organisational Culture - devalue bureaucracy with greater interpersonal functioning of trust, freedom and support; (b) People - value and make people central in the workplace; and (c) Value Socialisation - organisational support for informal learning, playful about ideas, tolerant of spirited debates and challenges. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

This study was undertaken in an effort to determine the effects of piano instruction on attitudes and piano skills of elementary education majors enrolled in a music methods class. A class of nineteen elementary education majors at a private mid-western university served as subjects for the case study. They were given both written and oral pre and posttests, and extensive anecdotal data were recorded.As a result of the study, general conclusions and recommendations were as follows:1. Subjects' initial perceptions of their probable success in the piano laboratory were high. In addition, seventy-nine percent of the subjects accurately predicted their probable success (or failure) in the piano laboratory. It is recommended that instructors take time at the outset of the course to reassure and encouage the students in an effort to increase confidence and thereby the probability of success in the piano laboratory.2. Subjects' attitudes and skill development were negatively affected by perceived inadequacies when comparing themselves to other subjects in the class. As the more advanced students tested out of the piano laboratory, skills and attitudes of the slower subjects improved appreciably. This suggests that ability grouping in methods classes may improve students' perceptions and also performances in these lasses.3. Subjects' confidence in their ability to teach music increased, as indicated by pretest and posttest rankings. Since the sample size was adequately large, the Wilcoxin T value of 7.5 was standardized to a Z value = 2.66 (p <.01). Interpretation of a Z-value = 2.66 strongly suggests the posttest score has significantly increased over the pretest score.4. Subjects' perceptions of their ability to read and write music, their ability to sing songs with their students, and their piano playing ability significantly increased as shown by a series of paired comparisons t-test analyses on the pretest/ posttest data.It is recommended that additional case studies be conducted in the methods class in an effort to isolate and identify additional aspects of the class which influence the students' growth and/ or lack of growth in self confidence and musical skills. / School of Music

The main purpose of the study was to explore the relationships between self concepts of beginning teachers as measured before and after an internship year. The second purpose of the study was to examine whether there were significant differences between beginning elementary teachers' expectations/experiences, attitudes and views before and after a year of participation in the Beginning Teacher Internship Program. A comparison of differences in perceptions between the findings obtained from the beginning elementary teachers and their cooperating principals was also conducted.The populations for the study included 138 beginning elementary teachers and 120 cooperating principals.Nine research questions were developed and tested using the data from participants who responded to this research. The t test at the .05 level of significant difference was administered in this study.The following results were obtained:1. There were no significant differences in the self concepts of beginning teachers from before participation in comparison to those self concepts held after a year's participation in the Beginning Teacher Internship Program as measured by the Self-perception Inventory. Within the instrument, three items of 36 yielded significant differences.2. There were significant differences before the start of the internship year between the expectations (7 of 12 items), attitudes (6 of 10 items), and views (3 of 3 items) held by beginning teachers and those held by their cooperating principals. Beginning teachers held more positive expectations, attitudes and views than did their cooperating principals.3. There were significant differences in 11 of 12 items after a year's experience with BTIP between the reported experiences of beginning teachers and the observed experiences of beginning teachers as reported by their principals. Beginning teachers reported more positive experiences than their principals.4. There were significant differences between the expectations/experiences (11 of 13 items), and attitudes (6 of 10 items) held by beginning teachers before and after participation in the BTIP.The educational implications of these findings were presented. Recommendations for further research and replication were also presented. / Department of Educational Leadership