published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study is a qualitative interpretative study of conflict management in a multicultural Namibian institution. The focus of the study is to understand how individual people in a particular organization perceive conflict, the possible sources of conflict as well as to explore the possible strategies of managing conflict. This is followed by an analysis of the general educational cultural and social characteristics of Namibia, which relate to the sources of conflict. I also make an attempt to have a deeper understanding of people from different cultural and educational backgrounds in viewing conflict and how these differences might be seen as major sources of conflict and how they deal with it - by using a case study approach. I interviewed 5 participants from different cultural backgrounds. The major research methodology I used in this study is in-depth interviews that allowed me to explore people's understanding of, attitudes to and views on conflict. I supplemented the interviews with participant observation, which allowed me to get first-hand information on how people interact socially and in meetings in order to explore possible sources and existence of conflict in meetings and how the staff dealt with it. Furthermore, I tried as much as possible to observe daily activities as an observer. People interviewed have different perceptions about conflict. Some use conflict to their advantage to arouse discussion and stimulate creative thinking. Some people find conflict to be a burden, something to be minimized. This avoidance leads to poor decisions and poor use of teams as a way to improve both decision making and acceptance of the decisions that are made. Cultural differences among staff and the process of reform emerge as the major sources of conflict. Whether a conflict will result in negative or positive consequences, or both, will depend to a large part on the strategy taken to resolve the conflict.

This study focuses on parental choice for student placement in Two-Way Immersion classes as optional bilingual education. Parents who have their children enrolled in a TWI program in Banning, California responded to a questionnaire and were interviewed about their decision. The analysis of the data indicates that parents value cultural diversity and second language acquisition.

With the new goal of K-12 education being to prepare students to be college and career ready at the end of high school, education needs to start changing at the elementary school level. The literature suggests that teachers need reflective professional development (PD) to effectively teach to the new standards and to demonstrate change to their current instructional practices. This mixed-method multiple-case study investigated the impacts of a reflective professional development (PD) in changing elementary school teachers' instructional practices. Teachers Instructional Portfolios (TIPs) were scored with a TIP rubric based on best practices in teaching mathematics problem-solving and science inquiry. The TIPs were also analyzed with a qualitative coding scheme. Case descriptions were written and all the collected data were used to explain the impacts of the reflective PD on changes in teachers' instructional practices. While we found no predictive patterns in relation to teachers changing their classroom practices based on the reflective PD, we claim that teachers' desire to change might contribute to improvements in instruction. We also observed that teachers' self-assessment scores tend to be higher than the actual TIP scores corroborating with the literature on the usage of self-assessment to evaluate teachers' instructional practices.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Teve como objetivo analisar, através da percepção de alunos ingressantes e concluintes, as motivações e razões que justificam ou explicam as suas escolhas por cursos de educação profissional técnica de nível médio na forma subsequente, buscando entender o papel do ensino profissionalizante em suas vidas. Através da identificação do perfil dos discentes manifesto pelas suas vivências escolares e experiências profissionais, contextualizou a sua trajetória familiar e escolar e seus projetos de vida face às exigências do mundo do trabalho e a necessidade de atualização e formação continuada. Sustentando-se teoricamente na relação entre a escola, a educação, o trabalho e seus impactos junto à classe trabalhadora, assim como nas transformações ocorridas no mundo do trabalho, tomou como referência autores como Antunes, Ciavatta, Cunha, Enguita, Frigotto, Ferretti, Friedmann, Naville, Kuenzer, Ramos, Hirata e Saviani. A pesquisa de campo desenvolveu-se através de uma investigação de caráter qualitativo da qual participaram, respondendo questionários e concedendo entrevistas, alunos ingressantes e concluintes dos cursos técnicos de nível médio de Administração e de Eventos do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Paraná, campus Curitiba. Os resultados foram norteados pelo estabelecimento de categorias que privilegiaram a compreensão da realidade vivenciada pelos participantes ao longo de suas trajetórias escolares e profissionais, das motivações e expectativas em relação ao futuro educacional e profissional principalmente de alunos que, teoricamente, já poderiam pleitear uma vaga em cursos de graduação mas optaram por esta modalidade de ensino. / The study aimed to analyze, through the perception of entering and graduating students, the motivations and reasons that justify or explain their choices for subsequent mid-level technical professional education courses, seeking to understand the role of vocational education in their lives. Through the identification of students’ profile, which is manifested by their academic experiences and professional experiences, the study contextualized their family and school life and their life projects in view of the demands of the working world and the need for updating and continuing education. The research is theoretically based on the relationship between school, education, work and their impact in the working class, as well as on changes in the working world, it took as reference authors as Antunes, Ciavatta, Cunha, Enguita, Frigotto, Ferretti, Friedmann, Naville, Kuenzer, Ramos, Hirata and Saviani. The field research was developed through a qualitative survey, entering and graduating students from middle-level technical courses in Management and Events of Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia in Paraná, Curitiba campus, had participated answering questionnaires and giving interviews. The results were guided by the establishment of categories that favored the understanding of the reality experienced by the participants throughout their academic and professional careers, motivations and expectations of the educational and professional future mainly of students who theoretically could have applied for a job in graduate courses but opted for this type of education.