This qualitative inquiry into Critical Friends Groups (CFGs) at Lower Canada College (LCC), a coeducational, bilingual, K-12, private, day school in suburban Montreal, focusses on the impact of CFGs on teachers' professional growth and classroom practices. Using interviews, focus groups, participant observations and a questionnaire, I examined the recursive cycle of professional growth and transformation, and rooted the inquiry within the theoretical frameworks of reflective practice, the dialogic imagination, social constructivist learning and critical theory. I conceptualize teachers' professional growth as the transformation of professional practices through the deepening knowledge and expertise that arises out of collaborative inquiry and collegial dialogue. The major assumption supported by this study is that teachers learn from one another through engaging in ongoing and site-based critical dialogue focussed on classroom practices. This inquiry has implications for professional development programmes, school leadership and teacher empowerment.

Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to document the three-year journey of 16 effective teachers in an elementary science, inservice project in order to gain understanding of factors which influence the development of investigative science teaching skills and commitment. The need for this study arises from the paucity of elementary teachers able to teach science in a fashion advocated by national science groups, and from the difficulty of bringing about lasting, widespread changes in science teaching. A triangulation was accomplished by examining Stages of Concern statements, teacher portfolios, and Levels of Use of the Innovation interviews.The findings underline the length of time and the intensity of involvement associated with full acceptance of investigative science teaching by this sample of teachers. There was a progression in Stages of Concern from self, to management of the science setting, to student effects, to helping other teachers.Analysis of "best selection" portfolios by trained raters, using analytic/holistic rubrics, showed that by the end of the second year the teachers were proficient in their ability to: guide students in the use of process skills to investigate concepts; conduct student assessments; design age-appropriate lessons; allow time for concept understanding; and, uncover, rather than "cover," topics. In spite of this proficiency, the teachers continued to have concerns about management and student achievement with each new unit.By the end of year two, teachers were still teaching some units exactly as presented in the workshop, but many teachers were also starting to make modifications which, for some, led to integration across disciplines. It was not until the end of the second year that 56 percent of the teachers expressed the need to share their expertise. And, it was not until the end of the third year that 43 percent of the teachers were most concerned about sharing with other teachers. Coincidentally, the Levels of Use of the Innovation interview at this time revealed that teachers were involved in a variety of strategies for helping colleagues improve their science teaching. The interviews also identified the solidification of social/professional relationships that evolved during the project. / Department of Biology

The purpose of the study was to determine if the language of the negotiated agreements of Indiana School Corporations was reflected in professional growth and staff development activities. Collective bargaining agreements during 1982-1983 and 1988-1989 from 289 Indiana School Corporations were compared to identify the existence, if any, of (a) a trend in the acknowledgement of professional growth and staff development-related statements found in the contracts, and (b) policy statements delineating how staff development activities and curriculum-related activities were to be conducted in schools. Contract language in which comparisons appeared to be significant were subjected to the Friedman Two-way Analysis of Variance (Friedman ANOVA) to determine whether or not comparisons were statistically significant at the .05 level. Such statistically significant comparisons also helped to determine whether or not school corporations incorporated contract language, which gave instructional staff a legal position in decisions which affected teacher professional growth and participation in curriculum-related matters.Conclusions1. Compared to small enrollment Indiana School Corporations (3,000 students or less), large enrollment Indiana School Corporations (3,001 or more students) were more likely than statistically expected to provide salary compensation for higher levels of teacher education training and sabbatical leave compensation at statistically significant levels of .05 or less, based upon use of the chi-square statistic.2. The research findings failed to support movement toward greater Indiana School Corporation contract language in 1982-1983 and 1988-1989 in most of the specified staff development factors under investigation in the research. Therefore, contrary to the literature which claimed that collective bargaining would be used as a vehicle for staff development change, collective bargaining has not provided structural support for such change among Indiana School Corporations. / Department of Educational Leadership

This study investigated the relationship of the elements of professional development and the attitudes of teachers and principals toward inclusion. Participants in the study were the teachers and principals in Indiana schools designated as "Inclusion Schools" by the Indiana State Legislature in the summer of 1992. Thirty-one schools of the 50 designated schools were approved for data collection. Three hundred ninety teachers and 31 principals responded to the survey instrument.The dependent variables were the attitudes of the participants toward the inclusion process and the concept of inclusion. The independent variables were six characteristics of professional development: design, presenters, location, attendance requirement, when professional development occurred, and how much professional development was received. Additional independent variables were demographic information such as: age, experience, level of education, and if special education classes had been taken at the university.The conclusions of this study for teachers found positive relationships with the dependent variables for inclusion professional development characteristics: design by building based decision making, presentations by special education administrators and staff, the location in the home school, voluntary attendance, and the more professional development the more positive the teachers' attitudes. A negative relationship was found when professional development occurred before inclusion began. The age and experience of the teachers had a negative relationship to positive attitudes toward inclusion.The only positive relationship between the principals' attitudes toward inclusion and professional development found that attitudes were more positive when more professional development was attended. They were positive when the professional development took place before inclusion began. Other findings reflected negative relationships with inclusion professional development characteristics for: location, design, presenters, and attendance requirement. The more inclusion aide support the principals had, the more positive were their attitudes toward inclusion.The teacher findings in this study were supported by literature and prior research findings by the NASBE Study (1992), Miller & Lieberman (1988), Brehm's Reactance Theory (1983-84), and Pearman et. al. (1992).The principal findings were not conclusive and further study should be made to find how inclusion professional development can develop positive principals' attitudes toward inclusion. / Department of Educational Administration and Supervision

This research extended and refined an in-service assessment model used in Project Genethics resulting in an evaluation of Project Genethics and a test of the model's utility. The model guided analyses of the correlational relationships between (a) teacher competency measured by a written 50-item validated posttest (Teacher 50), (b) the number of teaching strategies reported by the participant teachers (Strategy 20), and (c) student competency measured by a written 25-item validated posttest (Student 25) using a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient Lr). A multiple R statistic and stepwise linear regression with an F ratio were used to determine the association of Teacher 50 and Strategy 20 with the criterion, Student 25.The model is hierarchical. Subsets of test items and teaching strategies related to core genetics concepts (Mendelian genetics, mitosis and meiosis, pedigrees and probability, polygenic inheritance, and chromosome aberrations) were analyzed in teacher posttests, student posttests, and reported teaching strategies. Stepwise linear regression was used to determine the relative impact of the predictors on the criterion, Student 25.The research population consisted of 78 secondary biology teachers and 4,920 of their students. The teachers attend one of six Project Genethics workshops conducted in the summer of 1991, . funded by the National Science Foundation, and implemented by staff of the Human Genetics and Bioethics Education Laboratory (HGABEL).The researcher employed an ex g facto design. A summative data form was designed and used with project data for testing eight null hypotheses. A significant positive linear correlation was found between teacher competency and student competency and the number of strategies used in both full and subset analyses. No significant correlation was found between the number of strategies used and student performance in both full and subset analyses. The number of strategies used did not add significantly to the predictability of student competency after teacher competency was considered.The conceptual understanding of secondary students should be the ultimate criterion by which the effectiveness of in-service programs is measured provided the assessment items are congruent with the student conceptual level of understanding. Teacher knowledge was the most highly associated predictor of student concept attainment. / Department of Biology

Typescript. / Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1982. / Bibliography: leaves [201]-215. / Photocopy. / xi, 215 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-104). / Microfiche. / xii, 104 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Includes bibliography (p. 841-843). / ix, 843 p. : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Investigates the educational phenomenon of pupil teachers, used in South Australia from 1874-1965, through accounts in contemporary official documents, the comments of those who managed the system, and observers of the system and its effects. The findings have implications for current debates on the relative balance between theory and practice in the preparation of teachers. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1999

Includes bibliography (p. 841-843). / ix, 843 p. : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Investigates the educational phenomenon of pupil teachers, used in South Australia from 1874-1965, through accounts in contemporary official documents, the comments of those who managed the system, and observers of the system and its effects. The findings have implications for current debates on the relative balance between theory and practice in the preparation of teachers. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1999

Text in Afrikaans / Die konsepdokument van die National Curriculum Statement (2003) van die Onderwysdepartement in Suid-Afrika staan 'n inklusiewe benadering voor met verwysing na gehalte-onderwys vir alle leerders, en maak sodoende voorsiening vir die diversiteit van leerders. Die National Curriculum Statement stel dit (vir die eerste keer in Suid-Afrika) onomwonde dat die nuwe Nasionale Kurrikulum voorsiening sal maak vir alle leerders met struikelblokke tot leer (StL) in teenstelling met hulle uitsluiting in die verlede van gewone onderwys of hoofstroming by verstek. Beperkte navorsing het aan die lig gebring dat onderwysers opleiding benodig om die verskeidenheid struikelblokke te hanteer wat leerders moontlik kan he. Die navorser het die weg gebaan vir die opleiding van onderwysers en leerders om StL te akkommodeerdeurditas deel van die leerondersteuningsmateriaal in te sluit. Die vertrekpunt van die opleidingsprogram is dat elke mens in 'n sekere mate struikelblokke het om te oorkom en dat die opvoedkundige gemeenskap elkeen van daardie gemeenskap kan insluit en versorg. / The draft document of the National Curriculum Statement (2003) of the Department of Education in South Africa promotes an inclusive approach regarding the quality education of all learners, thus including provision for diversities of learners. The National Curriculum Statement states explicitly (for the first time in South Africa) that the new National Curriculum will provide for all learners with barriers to learning (BtL) as opposed to their previous exclusion from ordinary education or mainstreaming by default. Limited research - has shown that teachers need training to deal with the variety of barriers that learners may exhibit. The researcher pioneered the concept of including the training of teachers and learners to accommodate BtL as part of the learning support material. The training programme's point of departure is the view that, to some extent, every person has certain barriers to overcome, and that the educational community can include and care for each and every member of that community. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Inclusive Education)