Thesis (MEd)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Teacher support teams were established in South Africa as part of the strategy for handling the changing educational environment. These teams, without proper skills training, were established in various parts of South Africa. In the early phases of the research process, the need for the training of these newly established teams arose. Team members needed skills to execute the tasks expected of a Teacher Support Team effectively. There was no guide of which skills were in the greatest need of training, nor any guidelines concerning the most effective methods of training. The purpose of the present research is thus to compile a set of guidelines for the content of a skills training manual. A small section will be devoted to preferred methods of training. It must be emphasized that this research only provides guidelines for the compilation of such a training manual. The emphasis on guidelines is the result of different school, social and physical contexts, which influenced the needs of the Teacher Support Teams. As each team's needs concerning training content and method will differ according to their circumstances, so will their training manual. It is therefore not feasible to compile a set, skills training manual to suit everyone. Broad guidelines will thus be given in order for each team to compile their own training manual to suit their own training needs. The co-ordinator of the newly established Teacher Support Team may facilitate the compilation of such a training manual. A list of possible skills to increase the effectivity of the team was compiled from the available literature study. A detailed discussion of the respective skills has been done in the literature study. This discussion may be used for the compilation of action steps in the training of the skills. From the literature, a short discussion of the most effective training methods has also been done. Training methods, not the content of the skills to be trained, is the focus of this study. This is the reason for the very simplistic discussion oftraining methods. The research group consists of six different groups of Teacher Support Teams. The first group, a large group of 50 schools, did not react positively to the questionnaires sent to them. The second group consisted of spontaneously formed Support Teams while the third, fourth, and fifth groups were Teacher Support Teams, which were facilitated by a co-ordinator. The sixth group was a school management team of supportive nature. Skills in need of training and preferred training methods formed the focus of this current study. A list of needs to be trained was compared to the list of needs derived from the literature study. The skills which overlapped in the literature study and the research process, were indicated in the discussion of results. Most of the skills found in the literature study were also present in the needs analysis of the research group. Data from the literature study and from four of the five groups, which responded in the data collection process, preferred practical training methods to theoretical methods. In the empirical study the different groups forming the research group also preferred small group training to mass training. Training and implementation of Teacher Support Teams should be done on a personalized and individualized base, as the context and needs of each school or community differ. In conclusion it should be again stressed that this study only provides broad guidelines for the compilation of a training manual. This is not a training manual to be used without any adaptations. It only provides the rational of skills to be trained and some ideas on the possible skills to be trained, the content of this training and preferred training methods. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Onderwyser Ondersteunings Spanne is in Suid Afrika bekendgestel as deel van 'n strategie om die veranderende onderwys siseem te hanteer. Hierdie spanne is in verskeie dele van Suid Afrika geïmplimenteer, sonder enige vaardigheidsopleiding. 'n Behoefte aan die opleiding van hierdie spanne het reeds vroeg in die navorsingsproses geblyk. Spanlede het vaardighede benodig om hul taak effektief te verrig. Daar is geen riglyne oor watter vaardighede benodig word, die inhoud daarvan en die wyse waarvolgens opleiding moet geskied, beskikbaar nie. Die doel van die huidige navorsing is dus die samestelling van 'n stel riglyne vir die inhoud van 'n vaardighede opleidings handleiding. Daar salook 'n klein gedeelte afgestaan word aan metodes van opleiding. Dit moet beklemtoon word dat hierdie navorsing slegs riglyne verskaf vir die samestelling van 'n opleidingshandleiding. Die klem op slegs riglyne is die gevolg van die invloed wat verskillende kontekste en sosiale- en fisiese omgewings op die aard en behoeftes van die Onderwyser Ondersteunings Span het. Elke span se verskillende opleidings behoeftes lei tot 'n verskil in hulopleidings handleiding. Dit is daarom nie aangewese om 'n vaste handleiding vir almal se gebruik saam te stel nie. Breë riglyne word dus daar gestel sodat elke Onderwyser Ondersteunings Span sy eie handleiding kan saamstel. Die saamstelling van so 'n handleiding kan deur die koordineerder van die span gefasiliteer word. 'n Lys van moontlike vaardighede om in 'n handleiding te vervat, is saamgestel uit die literatuur. Elke vaardigheid is in detail bespreek. Hierdie besprekings kan gebruik word in die samestelling van aksiestappe in vaardigheids opleiding. Uit die literatuur is a kort bespreking van die mees gevraagde opleidingsmetodes ook saamgestel. Opleidings metodes is egter nie die fokus van hierdie studie nie. Dit is die rede vir die baie simplistiese bespreking van opleidingsmetodes. Die navorsmgsgroep bestaan uit ses verskillende groepe Onderwyser Ondersteunings Spanne. Die eerste groep het bestaan uit 50 skole wat nie positief op die vraelyste gereageer het nie. Die tweede groep is spontaan gevormde Ondersteunings Spanne. Die derde, vierde, en vyfde groepe is Onderwyser Ondersteunings Spanne wat deur 'n fasiliteerder gekoordineer word. Die sesde groep is 'n skool bestuurspan met 'n ondersteunende karakter. Die noodsaak van vaardigheidsopleiding en die vaardighede wat opgelei moet word is die fokus van die huidige studie. 'n Lys van behoeftes vir opleiding is vergelyk met behoeftes uit die literatuur studie. Die vaardighede wat tussen die literatuurstudie en die navorsingsproses oorvleuel, is aangedui in die uiteensetting van die bevindinge. Die meeste van die vaardighede uit die literatuurstudie oorvleuel met dié uit empiriese navorsmg. Inligting uit die literatuurstudie en die navorsingsproses het gewys op die voorkeur van praktiese opleidingsmetodes bo teoretiese opleiding. Die navorsingsproses het ook 'n voorkeur vir kleingroep opleiding bo massa opleiding aangedui. Opleiding en implementering van Onderwyser Ondersteunings Spanne moet op 'n persoonlike en geïndividualiseerde basis geskied aangesien skole en sosiale kontekste verskil. Ter afsluiting moet dit weer eens beklemtoon word dat hierdie slegs breë riglyne is vir die samestelling van 'n opleidingshandleiding. Hierdie is dus nie per sy 'n opleidingshandleiding wat sonder enige aanpassings gebruik kan word nie. Dit verskaf slegs die rasionaal van vaardighede wat opgelei moet word. Dit verskaf ook idees aangaande die vaardighede wat opgelei moet word, die inhoud van hierdie opleiding en die gewildste opleidingsmetodes.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Arts in Education

This qualitative study investigates the interaction among teachers' beliefs, their practices, and the practical argument staff development process in two schools and suggests how school culture may affect that interaction. The subjects for this study were the intermediate teachers from two of the schools participating in the OERI Study, A Study Teachers' Research-Based Instruction of Reading Comprehension (RIS). This study was designed to investigate the proposal in staff development/teacher change literature that conscious examination of beliefs facilitates teacher change. Furthermore, this study explores the importance of school culture to the success of a staff development program. Social interactivity may affect the change process. Data was gathered in a participant-observation process extending over an eight-month period. During that time, there were classroom and staff development process observations, formal and informal interviews with teachers and administrators, examination of audio/videotapes of events, dialogues with the research team, and documentation of each event with field notes. The findings are introduced through a description and interpretation of events in each of the two schools. They are established upon an understanding of how the participating teachers responded to change and to the staff development process, and how school culture affected those teachers and the process. The findings also incorporate the most recent research on teachers' beliefs, staff development, and school culture. They address the theory/practice dichotomy and its relation to change; teachers' beliefs about reading and teaching and their relationship to the teachers' involvement in the staff development program; the culture of each school; the practical argument staff development program, its organization, and presentation; and the relationship between the teachers' willingness to change and the school culture, teachers' beliefs, and the staff development process. This is a set of case studies about teachers in two schools with varied beliefs and backgrounds. Generalizations from this study, applied to other schools and/or staff development programs, may focus on an understanding of the influence of teachers' beliefs and school culture on a staff development program and the process of teacher change.

The purpose of the study was to determine whether a test-wiseness training program would improve the academic achievement scores of sixth and seventh grade middle school students. Student achievement was measured in the areas of reading, language, mathematics, and work study skills. The assessment instrument utilized was the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). Comparisons were made between students who received the test-wiseness training program in the areas of reading, language, mathematics, and work study skills and those who did not. Ethnic group comparisons were established for Anglo, African-American, Hispanic, and Asian students for each of the academic areas tested. Additionally, student comparisons were made with gender as a variable. The test-wiseness training program lasted 24 weeks and consisted of 36 lessons, including practice tests. The sample consisted of 223 sixth and seventh grade students, 104 who received the training and 119 who did not. The findings of the study indicated that there was a significant difference in three of the four subject-area variables which were examined. In each of the variables which were examined, there was a difference in means, leading to the conclusion that test-wiseness training may produce higher academic achievement scores (levels).

The focus of this study is teachers' receptivity to new teaching models. Traditionally, research has been conducted to assess teachers' implementation of innovations. The stage prior to learning and implementing the model generally has been generally ignored. In this study, the researcher assumed that the level of teachers' receptivity could influence upon whether and to what extent the new teaching model is implemented. This study was designed to identify personal characteristics and environmental variables that affect the degree of teacher receptivity to a teaching model. Four teacher-participants were selected according to their level of receptivity to one of the models included in the study, Madeline Hunter's Essential Elements of Instruction or Hilda Taba's Teaching Strategies. The data collected through interviews were analyzed in two directions. First, participants' beliefs, experiences, and workplace conditions were identified using qualitative case study methodology. Second, participants' perceptions of the teaching models were analyzed using Rogers' (1962) framework for determining characteristics of an innovation. Several themes related to participants' receptivity to new teaching models, and their beliefs, experiences, and workplace conditions were revealed. These comprise differences in teachers' pedagogical orientations and in their perceptions of teaching models' characteristics, including the way the model was introduced, changes in levels receptivity, teaching models in relation to the student population served, satisfaction with workplace conditions, level of familiarity with the new teaching model, teachers' independence, and behavioral changes required by the teaching model. The study may be of particular interest to staff developers and educators of students teachers because of the importance of considering teachers' individual needs and characteristics when introducing new teaching models.

This study focuses on individual teacher's beliefs, values, and practices in mathematics, and the conditions of change in an alternative staff development program. I explored three elementary school teachers' ideas and practices through group and individual reflective dialogue. The data revealed distinct teaching personalities based on the individual's beliefs and background in the domains of knowledge and sense of mathematics as a field and as a school subject, major beliefs concerning the teaching and learning of mathematics, perceptions of the teacher and student roles, views on student assessment in mathematics, and other perceived influences on the teaching and learning of mathematics particular to the individual teacher. Findings revealed teachers who are generally under tension from various segments of the population and are torn between trying to satisfy all holding to their own values and beliefs in regard to mathematics teaching and learning. Changes that occurred, self-reported and observed, were most often particular to the teacher and flowed from a relation to a previously-held belief, rather than a change in the form of a complete turn-around. The study may be helpful as evidence for the need to construct support systems for teachers of mathematics. Time for teachers, not only to reflect on their beliefs, but also to dialogue and be exposed to alternatives, is necessary if current goals in mathematics education are to be personally achievable.

This inquiry into teacher education explores the potential for using multicultural children's literature to broaden preservice teachers' orientation toward the value of multiculturalism. The setting for this collaborative exploration was a College of Education course on Children's Literature during the 1992 spring semester. Literacy experiences with multicultural literature were created to provide preservice teachers with an opportunity to critically reflect on their awareness and understanding of multiculturalism. Weekly small group literature discussions, roving dialogue journals among three students and the university teacher, and end-of-semester interviews with each student were the primary sources of data collected during the semester. Findings from the analysis of data indicate the need for multicultural children's literature that accurately and authentically presents unique, diverse, and universal characteristics of a specific culture. Of equal importance to the selection of multicultural literature is the multicultural experience with these books which creates a critical consciousness among children and teachers. Evidence of the generative nature of dialogic experiences was seen where a multiplicity of voices pushed preservice teachers' awareness, acceptance, and appreciation of multiculturalism. As students reflected on their perspectives on culture that extended far beyond ethnic or racial perspectives, understanding of their own and other cultures was broadened. The results of this inquiry indicate the need for teacher education that is multicultural. A teacher's critical consciousness of the value of multiculturalism can transform her/his work with children in classrooms. Teacher themselves need opportunities to expand their orientation toward learning and living in a pluralistic society in order to foster critical students/citizens who actively participate in the nation's democracy.

Present behaviors toward the natural world are in conflict with the ecological balance necessary to maintain the health and well being of the Earth. Emphasis in environmental education curriculum and instruction is considered an important aspect in the educational process. The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs and understandings of a selected number of educators as to the nature of the field of environmental education. The data from this study were drawn from interviews with fifteen educators who identified themselves as environmental educators. Interview techniques were guided by the framework established by Patton (1990). The results of this study have suggested that educators' beliefs and understandings about environmental education have strongly influenced curriculum and instructional decisions. These beliefs and understandings, were in part, the result of meaningful personal experiences associated with interests particular to the environment as well as from professional interactions with colleagues. The respondents were in agreement as to the inclusion of ecological principles as a basis for framing the content in environmental education. However, all of the respondents suggested that environmental education is an interdisciplinary enterprise and must include knowledge rooted in all of the subject areas. Therefore, environmental education should be perceived not as something to be added to the curriculum but rather a way of addressing the established curriculum within a meaningful context.

The primary objective of the study is to examine whether teachers view mentoring as an inherently contrived or collaborative enterprise. Drawing upon a micro-political framework, this study examines the relationships between contrived and collaborative collegial relationships (Hargreaves, 1991), utilizing data from a mentor teacher program in a large Southwestern district. Teacher collegiality has not been viewed within the context of shifting power relationships between teachers and administrators. Some researchers (Conley, Bas-Isaac, & Scull, in press; Hargreaves, 1991) have maintained that while some teacher collegiality mechanisms may be teacher-driven and reflect genuine teacher collaboration, others are contrived and aimed more toward promoting administrative efficiency and gaining greater control over teachers' work. The critical question is whether peer mentoring systems, such as a formalized mentoring component of a Career Ladder program, which are inherently contrived, are capable of generating teacher collaboration. The results suggest that collaborative and contrived collegiality may be complementary relationships, that is, teachers can meet their own needs and interests in what on the surface is a contrived setting.

The purpose of this study was to describe the views of peer evaluators within a career ladder system in one school district in the Southwestern United States. The methods and data analysis used 3 parts of a theoretical framework developed by Lortie (1975): goals sought in the workplace (perspectives on purpose), effective teaching (and the effects of endemic uncertainties of teaching to effectiveness), and preferences in job tasks (logic of sentiments). Eleven peer evaluators were interviewed. The data from the interviews were qualitatively analyzed and presented. Among the findings, peer evaluators' perspectives on purpose included goals to gain experience for leaving the classroom. Peer evaluators' endemic uncertainties included the assessment of teaching and the description of an effective teacher. Within peer evaluators' logic of sentiments, they preferred to observe students and work with teachers. Peer evaluators disliked determining the compensation of teachers. Within their logic of sentiments, peer evaluators viewed teachers as a well-qualified group willing to continue their own professional growth. Peer evaluators found their relationship with teachers constrained because of their roles of assisting teachers in their professional growth and summatively assessing teachers. Implications of this study include the need for further study to describe the views of teachers involved in differentiated staffing in career ladder programs. Additionally, further study is needed to determine the relationship of the views of teachers within a career ladder program to the success of the policies and activities of these programs.