The purpose of this investigation was to describe the behavior of effective teachers working within the context of an effective school. The study focused on both the content and techniques of instruction utilized by the teachers. In addition, the research examined teacher behaviors that were external to the classroom setting, including teacher-to-teacher relationships, teacher-to-parent relationships, and teacher-to-principal relationships. A qualitative research design was selected for this study. The site was an inner city elementary campus. Data were collected from eleven K-3 teachers using participant observation and interviews over a seven-month period. Documents were also used as a source of data. The analysis of data was ongoing and cyclical based on the constant comparative method. The final analysis of data resulted in nine themes based on recurring patterns of teacher behavior. The findings suggest that a caring school culture plays an important role in a school's success and the effectiveness of its teachers. Furthermore, there does not appear to be a universal description that fits all effective teachers. Instead, effective teachers in an effective school function as autonomous decision makers in their classrooms, choosing the curriculum and techniques that work best for them and their students. They tend to focus on basic skills, especially reading and mathematics, using explicit direct instruction methods. However, these teachers frequently digress from their planned lessons to teach life skills and test-taking strategies. Findings for this study also support the creation of structured school and classroom environments for low-income inner city students. Student self-esteem and parental support are not negatively impacted when firm discipline is administered fairly in a caring, supportive school climate. The conclusions of this investigation have implications for teacher staff development and campus administrator training. The findings also suggest further research in the areas of school culture, direct instruction, student discipline, and classroom management.

Not available / text

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:35:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 518.pdf: 978276 bytes, checksum: 9e1a8df18215a93bf9d6e3e907bd8678 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-02-25 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / The comprehension of the formative processes lived by teachers and the definition of the professional knowledge that forms the base of their performance appear as central themes in studies on teacher education, especially since the 80 s. Teachers are seen, in these studies, as professionals that make decisions in face of school events, solve dilemmatic situations in their classrooms, harbor beliefs that influence their professional activity, and build professional knowledge complex, dynamic and multifaceted when facing and reflecting on diverse situations that occur in the classrooms they teach and the school institutions they belong to. There has been wide investigation on the ways these things happen, as well as the way the processes of professional development of teachers are promoted. Different formative and investigative strategies of such processes have been proposed and analyzed. In this context, teaching cases have been pointed out as tools of great formative and investigative value, whenever the processes of learning and professional development of teachers are concerned (HAMMERNESS; DARLINGHAMMOND; SHULMAN, L., 2002; MARCELO GARCIA; MAYOR RUIZ; SÁNCHEZ MORENO 2002; MERSETH, 1996; MIZUKAMI, 2000; SHULMAN, J., 2002). In this study, we discuss data of qualitative nature referring to a research-intervention, that had as its objective the investigation of the feasibility of the use of teaching cases as instruments capable to bring to surface the professional knowledge of beginning teachers of the early Childhood Education and Elementary School, as well as provide grounds for the promotion of said knowledge. The data sources were narratives written by the teachers in different contexts. Studies have evidenced the importance the first years of the teaching career in the formative processes (ABARCA, 1999; TARDIF; RAYMOND, 2000; TARDIF, 2002). It is a period of survival and discovery, in which teachers seek to adjust their expectations and ideals regarding their profession to the real conditions of work that they end up facing, dealing with a series of limitations that act directly on their performance, while trying to remain in the profession and balancing contradictory feelings. In this inquiry, during the years of 2003/2004, four beginning teachers analyzed teaching cases that contemplated school situations faced by other teachers, and constructed a teaching case from experiences lived during the initial years of their teaching career. It can be said that the strategies of analysis and writing of the teaching cases allowed knowledge regarding the way they teach mathematical and Portuguese written language contents to be brought to surface. The teachers exposed doubts, certainties, mistakes and contradictions that guided and characterized their professional practice. Processes of reflective inquiry related to their pedagogical practices were made evident. It can also be said that the teaching cases allowed the teachers to describe and analyze their own professional trajectories. Teachers pointed out that the peculiarities that characterized their first years of teaching showed that each of them experienced that period in a deeply personal manner, because of a series of elements that varied widely from teacher to teacher: the conceptions that she possesses regarding her profession; the relations that she establishes with peers, parents of pupils and pupils themselves; her first days of work; the way she deals with the subject matters that she must teach; theoretical quarrels that emerge as the children learn; the way she conceives the possibilities to continue learning despite the constraints of the profession. The use of teaching cases made it possible for teachers to become aware of the complexities that characterize their learning to teach processes, and to develop important strategies to promote and to investigate such processes. / O entendimento dos processos formativos vividos por professores e a definição dos conhecimentos profissionais que estão na base de sua atuação aparecem como temas centrais em estudos sobre formação docente, especialmente a partir da década de 1980. Os professores são vistos, nesses estudos como profissionais que tomam decisões diante de eventos escolares, resolvem situações incertas em sala de aula, possuem crenças que influenciam sua atividade profissional, constroem conhecimentos profissionais complexos, dinâmicos e multifacetados ao enfrentar e refletir sobre diversas situações que ocorrem nas instituições escolares e nas classes em que lecionam. Os modos como ocorrem e como podem ser promovidos processos de desenvolvimento profissional docente têm sido amplamente investigados. Diferentes estratégias formativas e investigativas de tais processos vêm sendo propostas e analisadas. Nesse contexto, casos de ensino têm sido apontados como ferramentas de grande valor formativo e investigativo de processos de desenvolvimento profissional docente (HAMMERNESS; DARLINGHAMMOND; SHULMAN, L., 2002; MARCELO GARCIA; MAYOR RUIZ; SÁNCHEZ MORENO, 2002; MERSETH, 1996; MIZUKAMI, 2000; SHULMAN, J., 2002). Neste estudo, discutimos dados referentes a uma pesquisa-intervenção, de natureza qualitativa, que teve como objetivo investigar possibilidades dos casos de ensino enquanto instrumentos capazes de evidenciar e interferir nos conhecimentos profissionais de professoras iniciantes da Educação Infantil e das séries iniciais do Ensino Fundamental. Estudos têm evidenciado a importância que os anos de início na carreira docente possuem nos processos de formação (ABARCA, 1999; TARDIF; RAYMOND, 2000; TARDIF, 2002). Trata-se de um período de sobrevivência e descoberta em que as professoras procuram ajustar suas expectativas e ideais sobre a profissão às condições reais de trabalho que encontram, procurando lidar com uma série de limitações que atuam diretamente sobre sua atuação, tentando permanecer na profissão e manter um certo equilíbrio diante dos sentimentos contraditórios que marcam a entrada na carreira. Nesta investigação, no período 2003/2004, quatro professoras iniciantes analisaram casos de ensino que contemplavam situações escolares enfrentadas por diferentes professoras e elaboraram um caso de ensino a partir de experiências vividas nos anos iniciais da carreira docente. De modo geral, as estratégias de análise e elaboração de casos de ensino permitiram que conhecimentos referentes ao modo como ensinam conteúdos matemáticos e de linguagem escrita fossem explicitados pelas iniciantes. Evidenciaram dúvidas, certezas, equívocos e contradições que orientam e caracterizam suas práticas profissionais. Explicitaram processos de reflexão envolvidos no ensino das professoras e estimularam sua postura reflexiva diante das situações escolares. Possibilitaram descrições e análises de suas trajetórias profissionais. Apontaram que, apesar das peculiaridades que caracterizam a entrada na carreira, cada professora vivencia esse momento de forma particular, a partir de conhecimentos que possui sobre a profissão, das relações que estabelece com colegas de trabalho, pais de alunos e alunos, da maneira como ingressa na primeira escola, como lida com conteúdos que deve ensinar, com discussões teóricas sobre como as crianças aprendem, com as possibilidades de continuar aprendendo apesar das adversidades da profissão. Evidenciaram a complexidade que caracteriza os processos de aprendizagem da docência, revelando-se importantes estratégias para promovê-los e investigá-los.

Submitted by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2016-07-07T22:02:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Bezerra, Agnes Oliveira.pdf: 4380811 bytes, checksum: 08527069316e3b7523d5cae48da0ed97 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2016-07-08T18:27:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Bezerra, Agnes Oliveira.pdf: 4380811 bytes, checksum: 08527069316e3b7523d5cae48da0ed97 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-08T18:27:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bezerra, Agnes Oliveira.pdf: 4380811 bytes, checksum: 08527069316e3b7523d5cae48da0ed97 (MD5) / Entender o cenário da educação contemporânea e os impactos que a incorporação do uso das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação em processos de ensino-aprendizagem tem causado para ampliação dos espaços de aprendizagem é um desafio, tornando-se cada vez mais necessário refletir sobre quais metodologias e/ou tecnologias são essenciais à formação de professores que atuarão em plataformas digitais (e-learning, b-learning). Essa pesquisa, que tem por objetivo propor a construção de itinerários formativos docentes para usos das TIC que contribuam no processo de convergência entre modalidades presenciais e a distância em Programas de Gestão Social, foi estruturada através das etapas que integram o processo de concepção e elaboração de um Caso de Ensino. Optamos por esse caminho por entendermos que, através da utilização do Caso de Ensino, poderemos fomentar reflexões sobre habilidades e competências que os docentes precisam aprimorar e/ou desenvolver para o uso qualificado das TIC em suas práticas pedagógicas. O Caso de Ensino, produto desse trabalho, direciona-se a professores, estudantes e equipes multidisciplinares interessadas na construção e promoção de programas de formação continuada e, especialmente, na implementação de tecnologias digitais no ensino presencial, modalidades híbridas ou totalmente a distância. / Understanding the scenario of contemporary education and the impact that incorporating the usage of Information and Communication Technology in the teaching-learning process has caused to increase opportunities for learning has been a challenge, becoming increasingly necessary to reflect on methodologies which and / or technologies are essential to train teachers who will work in digital environment (e-learning, b-learning) .This research, which aims to propose the construction of training routes for the use of ICT, contributing to the convergence between in-class and distance modalities in the Social Management Program, which was structured through the steps that comprise the process of the design and development of a teaching case. We chose this path because we believe that through the use of teaching cases we can support the reflections on skills and competencies that teachers need to improve and / or develop for qualified usage of ICT in their teaching practices. The teaching case, the product of this work, is designed to teachers, students and multidisciplinary teams interested in building and promoting continuing education programs, and especially the implementation of digital technologies in the classroom learning, hybrid or fully distance modalities.

Reports and consultative documents published at national level since about 1980 have indicated that British Industry must look to modern technology and also educate and train its workers on a 'broad base', with an 'integrated' approach. Traditionally, and still very much the mode of operation, teaching has been confined within subject boundaries. A research group was established by Professor Bajpai consisting of the author, Mr Rod Bond (Burleigh Community College, Loughborough) and a few others working overseas to investigate a teaching strategy based on an interrelated approach to teaching mathematics. Measurement was chosen as the first topic of investigation using this approach which then formed the basis for further research undertaken by the two research workers of the group whose work is reported in the form of two theses. This thesis aims to show that mathematics is naturally related to science and technology in industrial practice and that when taught in an interrelated way it would be more interesting and have more relevance to real applications in technology-based employment at craft and technician levels. To help establish the case experiments carried out by the author are referred to; these include a few case studies, a questionnaire survey and results analysed from more than five hundred basic mathematics tests. The various kinds of mathematics taught in further education are described and compared with mathematics in a practical context as seen from a case study within an engineering training school. Next a survey of mathematics at work shows that, like the training school, there is a task associated with the mathematics which is also related to science or technology or both. Another case study in the pharmaceutical industry lends further support to the way mathematics is used in industry. Much of the mathematics also seems to be basic and used in association with measurement and a particular task. It was decided by the research group that a tape/slide programme on measurement for students and educators should be developed by the author and tested in different situations. Teaching modules on relevant mathematical topics based on the interrelated approach were constructed for students with strong support from industry in the form of materials and advice. Testing of these modules, in their original and revised forms after feedback, is described. These trials were also carried out in other establishments. Modules based upon the interrelated approach developed by the author formed a basis for promoting the underlying philosophy behind this approach. These were presented to educators in in-service training and staff development programmes in the north western region of the UK with success. Observations and conclusions drawn clearly indicate that this type of method makes mathematics more interesting and relevant for students of different abilities and backgrounds. Finally pointers are given in the thesis as to the wider use and promotion of this approach for teaching mathematics in further education.

M.Ed. (Educational Linguistics) / The construct of this study consists of the perceptions and experiences of the teachers and students of initial reading at Sizwile School for the Deaf in urban South Africa. This investigation focuses on a Sub B class, in which Sign Language is the means of communication. The research design is exploratory and descriptive as it aims to explore, describe and clarify the children's apprehension of reading. This could yield new knowledge which is rooted in a specific and complex context. The process is conducted by means of a case study (monographic study) design which includes mostly qualitative methods for data collection. The rationale for this study is that respondents' personal (ernic) views, obtained from a "bottom-up" research mode could bring more light to the body of knowledge of deaf education in South Africa. Insufficient rigorous research, the lack of educational policy, lack of more input in South African curriculum for the deaf and limited cohesive instructional theory in South African deaf education motivated the researcher to initiate this investigation. The rationale of this stidy thus circulated from the theoretical and physical context of deaf education in South Africa, as well as the researcher's personal experiential knowledge as a teacher in the only school for the deaf around Soweto (a Black Township). The research question in this inquiry has been conceptualised in a maze of conflicting opinions and practices regarding the education of the deaf and the teaching of initial reading. The experiences, activities and perceptions of a single class within a school for the deaf was explored and described argumentatively in the light of contemporary theories on language, learning, reading and deaf education. Perspectives on learning to read are discussed in order to contextualise the individual's learning to read. Also included are theories of language and of learning, presented to provide a backdrop against which the practices in deaf education will be discussed. Language is subsequently discussed as medium of communication in the education process, with a closer focus on instruction in the first language (Sign Language) of the deaf child. The other part of the conceptual framework covers reading across the curriculum. The theoretical framework is presented as support structure for the research construct and also to problematise the research question (problem) from complementary angles.

This qualitative study was conducted in a large north Texas school district. The subjects were four elementary teachers who had previously attended a summer aerospace education workshop. The researcher observed in each classroom during science instruction and other areas where aerospace concepts might be taught to determine material usage, practices, and perceptions associated with teaching aerospace. The teachers' lesson planbooks, textbooks, and supplementary materials were also examined by the researcher. Interviews were conducted with each teacher's principal and the district science coordinator to determine their effects on the practices and perceptions of the subjects.

The expectation of graduating nurses today is to be knowledgeable and responsive to rapidly changing technology in the health care environment. Although federal mandates, Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations, and nursing program accreditation initiatives are pushing an "informatics" healthcare agenda by promoting the implementation of electronic health record (EHR) systems by 2014 in all healthcare facilities, very few US nursing schools provide students with access and training in, EHR systems. In addition, nursing faculty may not have a clear understanding of healthcare informatics; the use of information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision-making. Nursing education must address faculty issues related to this innovative paradigm in order to keep pace and participate as co-creators of relevant informatics technology curriculum that prepares graduates for real life workforce. Understanding the challenges, concerns, and successes in implementing informatics may help nurse educators as they develop curriculum and teach in this environment. This case study explores and describes, with nursing faculty of a small liberal arts college, faculty knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) as they participate in an action research framed curriculum development program for informatics academic EHR (AEHR) integration. The research question:What is the experience of nursing educators and nursing faculty members involved in the integration of an AEHR project framed in the Learning by Developing model at a small liberal arts college school of nursing? Significant insights as participants in the study influenced nurse educators' ideas regarding collaborative curricular design, meaningful assignments, and the importance of feedback.

The purpose of this research was to test a strategy which uses music-related concepts to teach math. A quasi-experimental study of two high school remedial geometry sections was conducted during a review lesson of ratio, proportion, and cross multiplication. A pretest was given to both groups. Then, Group A received normal textbook instruction while Group B received the treatment, Get the Math in Music, which is an online activity involving proportional reasoning in a music-related context. Afterwards, a posttest was given to both groups. Pretest and posttest scores were used to compare gains in subject knowledge between the groups. Then a second evaluation of the treatment was conducted. Group A received the treatment and took a post-posttest. Score gains for Group A before and after receiving the treatment were compared. After these tests, all participants took a survey to determine if their appreciation of math grew as a result of the treatment. Finally, interviews were conducted to provide better understanding of the results. The research questions of this study were: to what extent does the integration of Get the Math in Music improve students' academic performance in a remedial geometry review of ratio, proportion, and cross multiplication, and to what extent does participation in the Get the Math activity improve students' attitudes towards math? My hypotheses were that students would perform significantly better on a subject knowledge test after receiving the treatment, and that all students would have a more positive attitude towards math after receiving the treatment. Quantitative results did not triangulate to support or refute these hypotheses. Greater improvement from pretest to posttest was statistically correlated with Group B, which was the group first receiving the treatment. But later, between posttest and post-posttest Group A did not show statistically significant greater gains after receiving the treatment. Surveys results showed that students did not necessarily like math any more after the treatment. Interviews revealed that several of these students were apathetic to geometry in particular, if not to math in general. The case of one student's improvement suggested that positive teacher-student relationships are more effective than any particular method to increase academic performance and student engagement. Survey results were consistent with earlier psychological studies claiming teenagers care about music. Additional studies in the future on the merits of using music to teach high school math would be useful. Claims that proportional reasoning is challenging were supported. It would be beneficial to evaluate the treatment in an Algebra or Pre-Algebra setting when students first study proportions.