Background: Teacher job satisfaction is considered an important topic in the education field. Many variables impact teacher job satisfaction. This study examined teacher participation in decision-making and its relation to teacher job satisfaction in ten public middle schools in the north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It also sought to determine the impacts of gender and teaching experience on job satisfaction and participation in decision-making. Methods: A quantitative method with descriptive and inferential statistics was used, as well as a correlational analysis of the data. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between teachers' participation in decision making and their job satisfaction. Ten public middle schools (located in north of Riyadh) were randomly chosen for this study. Of these, five were chosen for the male sample, totaling 62 teachers. Another five middle schools were chosen for the female sample, totaling 72 teachers. Accordingly, a total of 134 teachers of both genders participated in the study. Instrument: Two valid and reliable surveys were developed by (Aldeeka and Khasawneh, 2021). The participants were given two surveys to complete. The first survey for job satisfaction included four domains. The second survey for participation in decision-making also included four domains. The surveys had a total of 54 questions. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. Job satisfaction was shown as a dependent variable, whereas decision-making participation was the independent variable. Gender and teaching experiences were as controlling variables. Findings: The major finding of the study were as follows: 1) There was a positive correlation between job satisfaction and participation in decision-making (r (134) = .468, p <.001); 2) There was no difference in job satisfaction between males and females; 3) There was no difference in participation in decision-making between males and females; 4) There was a difference for teaching experience in relation to job satisfaction; 5) There was no difference between participation in decision-making in relation to teaching experiences; and 6) The level of job satisfaction and participation in decision making for the total sample considered within average level. The findings aim to support educational policymakers in the education field. Additionally, various recommendations were put forward to boost teachers' job satisfaction. / Doctor of Philosophy / This study sought to highlight the importance of participation in decision-making and its relation to teacher job satisfaction. Moreover, the study also identified the impacts of gender, and teaching experience on job satisfaction and participation in decision-making. The study sample included 134 male and female teachers. 10 public middle schools, located in the north of Riyadh, were randomly selected. Two survey instruments, considered valid and reliable, were developed by (Aldeeka and Khasawneh, 2021) and used in the study. The results suggest there is a positive correlation between participation in decision-making and job satisfaction. Furthermore, there was no difference in job satisfaction and participation in decision-making between genders. In addition, the study found that there was a difference between the extent of teaching experience in relation to job satisfaction. However, no difference was found between the extent of teaching experience and participation in decision-making. Finally, the level of job satisfaction and participation in decision making for the total sample was considered average according to the scale which developed by Aldeeka and Khasawneh (2021).

Each year a group of university students from English speaking countries go to Chile and work as volunteers under the National Volunteer Centre Program. The purpose of this case study is to examine how a group of novice volunteer teachers describe their experiences in a foreign country and how these experiences shape their understanding of teaching. Participants went through the process of open-ended questionnaires and one-on-one interviews of their experience. This study was sustained in the literature by the domains of volunteerism, English Language Teaching, and volunteerism and ELT, and a socio constructivist and experiential lens was adopted. Even though volunteer teaching abroad is an increasing worldwide trend, there are few studies that combine these areas, showing that the existing blend of volunteerism and English language teaching needs to be further examined. The analysis of the data showed that novice volunteer teachers experience five types of experiences when teaching English: language teaching experiences, language learning experiences, challenges, general experiences, and volunteering experiences. Novice teachers recalled their expectations before teaching and those were maintained, modified, or unfulfilled. Volunteers stated what teaching means to them after working in public schools, they were able to describe diverse language teaching experiences, and make recommendations to future volunteers.

Thesis advisor: Michael G. Barnett / Elementary science instruction and teacher preparation need improvement for various reasons: 1) preservice teachers lack opportunities to experience (Windschitl, 2003) or observe (Smith, 1999) inquiry science, 2) pre-service teachers have even fewer opportunities to practice teaching science in a classroom settings (Hewson, Tabachnick, Zeichner, & Lemberger, 1999); and 3) methods courses and field experiences fail to provide proper scaffolding and support for science teaching (Crawford, 1999). One way to improve preservice teacher growth and understanding in teaching inquiry science is through supported field based teaching experiences (Eick, Ware, & Williams, 2003). However, research is necessary to examine how innovative field-based science methods courses compare to traditional, university-based science methods course. This mixed methods study compares the experiences of thirty-two preservice teachers with a specific focus on four preservice teachers involved in either a field-based science methods course or a university-based science methods course. It examines the impact of the two courses on preservice teachers' confidence in teaching science content and beliefs regarding the role of inquiry-based science instruction with culturally and linguistically diverse students. Data sources included a pre/post survey that was distributed to preservice teachers in both courses, with additional interviews and final unit reviews for each of the four preservice teacher case studies. Themes were identified and re-examined through an analysis of the data which informed the development of four case studies, two from each class, to investigate specific trends between the two methods courses. Findings indicate that both field- and university-based instruction have strengths and weaknesses. This research suggests that field-based methods have a stronger impact on improving preservice teachers' beliefs and skills in regard to designing inquiry-based instruction for diverse students, while university-based course promotes greater confidence in preservice teachers' ability to teach different science content areas. However, preservice teachers in both courses struggled to create inquiry-based science lessons where students used evidence to support claims or construct explanations. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

This thesis seeks to gain greater knowledge of the process of transition and development that beginning primary teachers undergo over their first year of teaching. The research focus is on investigating and understanding this process from the standpoint of the beginning teacher. Of particular interest is an examination of how the teacher preparation programme, contextual features of the school, and participants' own beliefs and biographies influence and impact on their transition to teaching and their professional and identity development as first year teachers. This longitudinal study takes an interpretive approach to investigate the first year teaching experiences of 12 beginning teachers in 11 primary schools. The qualitative methodology used in this thesis shares characteristics with a case study approach and utilizes procedures associated with grounded theory. Data were gathered systematically over a year by way of 48 semi-structured, individual interviews, two focus group interviews, and 48 questionnaires, supplemented by field notes. The collected data were analyzed, coded, and categorized, and explanations and theory that emerged from this process were grounded in the data. The findings of this study have three broad sets of implications for the education and induction of beginning teachers. Firstly, they question the role that practicum plays in the transition from student to teacher. The findings suggest that the practicum component of teacher preparation programmes should be re-conceptualized and redesigned to provide authentic opportunities for student teachers to be exposed to the full range of work demands and complexity that they will encounter as beginning teachers. Secondly, becoming a successful teacher appears to depend on the quality of the school's professional and social relationships, particularly in terms of the frequency and type of formal and informal interactions that ii beginning teachers have with colleagues. While the major source of satisfaction and self-esteem came from seeing the children whom they taught achieving socially and academically, the beginning teachers also had a strong need for affiliation, which was enabled through positive, structured interactions and relationships with colleagues. The study also indicates that employment status influences the way that the beginning teachers view their work and themselves as teachers, with those in relieving positions displaying greater variability in terms of emotional reactions and a sense of professional confidence than those employed in permanent positions. The third set of implications relate to beginning teacher induction. The study points to variability in the quality of induction experiences and challenges policy makers and principals to ensure that all beginning teachers are provided with sound and systematic advice and guidance programmes which are necessary for their learning and development. While the study confirms the critical role played by tutor teachers in beginning teacher induction, it suggests that the focus is on emotional and practical support rather than on educative mentoring to enhance new teachers' thinking and practice. This thesis provides a comprehensive and nuanced view of how beginning to teach is experienced and interpreted. It paints a complex picture of the relationship between biography, beliefs, preparation, and context in the process of learning to teach. The study contributes to the literature on the education of beginning teachers. It highlights the need for developing a shared understanding amongst policy makers, teacher educators, and schools regarding the multiplicity and complexity of factors that influence the transition and development of beginning teachers.

Each year a group of university students from English speaking countries go to Chile and work as volunteers under the National Volunteer Centre Program. The purpose of this case study is to examine how a group of novice volunteer teachers describe their experiences in a foreign country and how these experiences shape their understanding of teaching. Participants went through the process of open-ended questionnaires and one-on-one interviews of their experience. This study was sustained in the literature by the domains of volunteerism, English Language Teaching, and volunteerism and ELT, and a socio constructivist and experiential lens was adopted. Even though volunteer teaching abroad is an increasing worldwide trend, there are few studies that combine these areas, showing that the existing blend of volunteerism and English language teaching needs to be further examined. The analysis of the data showed that novice volunteer teachers experience five types of experiences when teaching English: language teaching experiences, language learning experiences, challenges, general experiences, and volunteering experiences. Novice teachers recalled their expectations before teaching and those were maintained, modified, or unfulfilled. Volunteers stated what teaching means to them after working in public schools, they were able to describe diverse language teaching experiences, and make recommendations to future volunteers.

This dissertation examines how teachers understand and use their own bodies in their everyday practice of teaching. Using a poststructural theoretical framework and an ethnographic and arts-based research methodology, I demonstrate how discourses of the body shape experiences of teaching and teachers’ lives. This work is significant not only because it has direct implications for teachers but also because teachers’ bodies are rich and complex sites for theorizing and thinking critically about contemporary practices and discursive understandings that shape our lives. I call the research methodology that I used in this study “embedded performed ethnography”. This methodology involved in-depth ethnographic interviews, creative writing, and dramatic performance with twelve teachers in Ontario. By drawing on three distinct but interrelated fields: critical physical education, feminist and queer curriculum theory and Fat Studies, my research demonstrates the richness and complexity of teachers’ professional lives and the impact that dominant discourses of the body have on educational spaces. I use three key concepts to analyze the experiences and writing of the research participants. First, I use the concept of ‘biopedagogy’ to examine the ways in which teachers’ bodies are subject to regulation and policing in schools. Next, I use the concept of ‘performance’ to examine how participants use their bodies to construct and reproduce dominant notions of health in the classroom. Lastly, I use ‘affect’ as a concept to address the complex and complicated moments that occur on and through a teacher’s body in the classroom. I work with the everyday experiences of teachers in the classroom to explore how particular teaching moments illustrate and connect to the broader discourses and practices of the body that shape our lives.

This dissertation examines how teachers understand and use their own bodies in their everyday practice of teaching. Using a poststructural theoretical framework and an ethnographic and arts-based research methodology, I demonstrate how discourses of the body shape experiences of teaching and teachers’ lives. This work is significant not only because it has direct implications for teachers but also because teachers’ bodies are rich and complex sites for theorizing and thinking critically about contemporary practices and discursive understandings that shape our lives. I call the research methodology that I used in this study “embedded performed ethnography”. This methodology involved in-depth ethnographic interviews, creative writing, and dramatic performance with twelve teachers in Ontario. By drawing on three distinct but interrelated fields: critical physical education, feminist and queer curriculum theory and Fat Studies, my research demonstrates the richness and complexity of teachers’ professional lives and the impact that dominant discourses of the body have on educational spaces. I use three key concepts to analyze the experiences and writing of the research participants. First, I use the concept of ‘biopedagogy’ to examine the ways in which teachers’ bodies are subject to regulation and policing in schools. Next, I use the concept of ‘performance’ to examine how participants use their bodies to construct and reproduce dominant notions of health in the classroom. Lastly, I use ‘affect’ as a concept to address the complex and complicated moments that occur on and through a teacher’s body in the classroom. I work with the everyday experiences of teachers in the classroom to explore how particular teaching moments illustrate and connect to the broader discourses and practices of the body that shape our lives.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction / F. Todd Goodson / Kay Ann Taylor / This qualitative case study examined how successful professors who were awarded the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars at Kansas State University describe their teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices in undergraduate teaching and learning. Educators today are concerned about what are the best practices to educate new generation students to survive in a rapidly changing world. Additionally, because most research focus on best practices on the implementation or evaluation of a specific methodology, method, or strategy in one particular course or program, this research addressed the need to investigate the teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices of outstanding award winner professors in different areas; to understand the challenges they face and the ways they handle undergraduate teaching and learning. This qualitative case study was informed by Critical Theory as the theoretical framework, grounded in Constructivism, because critical theory cares about social justice while abandoning obsolete, elitist and antidemocratic features of traditional concepts of education. Seven distinguished teaching scholars, who belong to Psychological Sciences, School of Integrated Studies, Political Sciences, Horticulture and Natural Resources, Modern Languages, English, and Physics departments, voluntarily participated in this study. Multiple methods were used to collect data including demographic questionnaires, semi-structured interviews (time line elicitation interviews, formal interviews, and photo elicitation interview), analysis of documents, and journaling. Seven themes emerged from my findings. The first theme identified the influential people and struggles encountered by professors when they were students. The second identified events that led professors in choosing their major, why they became teachers, and their teaching strengths and passions. The third identified the challenges they face when teaching undergraduate students and mentoring support received as professors. The fourth identified how participants described themselves as successful professors and the way they organize and balance their academic and personal life. The fifth identified specific educational theories the professors apply in their teaching, the insights of their teaching philosophies, and their thoughts about the importance of education. The sixth identified the way professors decide the curriculum to teach and the way they evaluate their students. Finally, the seventh theme identified the significant work they did as recipients of the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholar, and their teaching best practices. Recommendations for practice and future research were also addressed. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices of successful professors in undergraduate teaching and learning, based on evidence which is the personal experiences of the participants for the benefit of every person involved in education.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / F. Todd Goodson / This qualitative case study examined how successful professors who were awarded the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars at Kansas State University describe their teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices in undergraduate teaching and learning. Educators today is concerned about what are the best practices to educate new generation students to survive in a rapidly changing world. Additionally, because most research focus on best practices on the implementation or evaluation of a specific methodology, method, or strategy in one particular course or program, this research addressed the need to investigate the teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices of outstanding award winner professors in different areas to understand the challenges they face and the ways they handle undergraduate teaching and learning. This qualitative case study was informed by Critical Theory as the theoretical framework, grounded in Constructivism, because critical theory cares about social justice while abandoning obsolete, elitist and antidemocratic features of traditional concepts of education. Eight distinguished teaching scholars, who belong to Psychological Sciences, School of Integrated Studies, Political Sciences, Horticulture and Natural Resources, Modern Languages, English, Physics, and Anthropology and Social Work Departments voluntarily participated in this study. Multiple methods were used to collect data including demographic questionnaires, semi-structured interviews (time line elicitation interviews, formal interviews, and photo elicitation interview), analysis of documents, and journaling. Seven themes emerged from my findings. The first theme identified the influential people and struggles encountered by professors when they were students. The second identified events that led professors in choosing their major, why they became teachers, and their teaching strengths and passions. The third identified the challenges they face when teaching undergraduate students and mentoring support received as professors. The forth identified how participants described themselves as successful professors and the way they organize and balance their academic and personal life. The fifth identified specific educational theories the professors apply in their teaching, the insights of their teaching philosophies, and their thoughts about the importance of education. The sixth identified the way professors decide the curriculum to teach and the way they evaluate their students. Finally, the seventh theme identified the significant work they did as recipients of the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholar, and their teaching best practices. Recommendations for practice and future research were also addressed. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices of successful professors in undergraduate teaching and learning, based on evidence which is the personal experiences of the participants for the benefit of every person involved in education

Each year a group of university students from English speaking countries go to Chile and work as volunteers under the National Volunteer Centre Program. The purpose of this case study is to examine how a group of novice volunteer teachers describe their experiences in a foreign country and how these experiences shape their understanding of teaching. Participants went through the process of open-ended questionnaires and one-on-one interviews of their experience. This study was sustained in the literature by the domains of volunteerism, English Language Teaching, and volunteerism and ELT, and a socio constructivist and experiential lens was adopted. Even though volunteer teaching abroad is an increasing worldwide trend, there are few studies that combine these areas, showing that the existing blend of volunteerism and English language teaching needs to be further examined. The analysis of the data showed that novice volunteer teachers experience five types of experiences when teaching English: language teaching experiences, language learning experiences, challenges, general experiences, and volunteering experiences. Novice teachers recalled their expectations before teaching and those were maintained, modified, or unfulfilled. Volunteers stated what teaching means to them after working in public schools, they were able to describe diverse language teaching experiences, and make recommendations to future volunteers.