Com o propósito de criar estratégias de fortalecimento e preservação da agricultura familiar, agricultores do Sudoeste do Paraná, apoiados por lideranças locais, inspirados em iniciativas francesas, implementaram as Casas Familiares Rurais como uma forma de educação possível para melhorar a qualidade de vida na agricultura, oferecendo a seus filhos uma formação adequada, baseada em sua realidade e que viesse ao encontro de suas necessidades proporcionando a seus filhos perspectivas de permanecer no meio rural, exercendo plenamente sua cidadania com trabalho e dignidade. Entender esse modelo é fundamental, já que as Casas Familiares Rurais têm-se espalhado pelo Brasil como uma estratégia de desenvolvimento do espaço rural, mantendo o vínculo com a terra e a cultura local, e, ao mesmo tempo, oferecendo formação para os jovens agricultores através das suas realidades. Portanto, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi investigar as possibilidades e limitações do Ensino através da Pedagogia da Alternância nas Casas Familiares Rurais do Sudoeste do Paraná (Regional I da ARCAFAR-SUL) no período atual. Os métodos de investigação utilizados foram a pesquisa bibliográfica, análise de dados secundários e pesquisa de campo (documental e questionários. Como principais conclusões destaca-se que: a Pedagogia da Alternância pode ser um grande contributo para a formação integral, fazendo-se um esforço nas diferentes situações em que a educação de alguma forma precisa ser mais específica, onde a realidade local possa ser considerada em sua sabedoria e as experiências vivenciais aproveitadas como subsídios de formação profissional e humana. Nestes lugares, como nas comunidades de agricultores familiares, a Pedagogia da Alternância faz diferença. Suas especificidades metodológicas, seus princípios e fundamentos contribuem para o desenvolvimento humano e do meio, atingindo assim seus dois grandes objetivos. Porém, ela não é a solução para todos os problemas de educação em todos os lugares. Ela é singular, para lugares específicos, como tem sido para o Sudoeste do Paraná. / With the purpose of creating strategies for strengthening and preservation of family farms, farmens southwestern Paraná, supported by local leaders, inspired by French initiatives, implemented the Rural Family Houses as a form of education possible to improve the quality of life in agriculture, offering their children a proper education, based on their reality and to come to meet their needs by providing their children the prospect of remaining in rural areas, fully exercising their citizenship and work with dignity. Understanding this model is important, since the Rural Family Houses have spread throughout Brazil as a strategy for rural development, keeping the bond with the land and local culture, while at the same time offering training for young farmers through their realities. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the possibilities and limitations of Teaching through the Pedagogy of Alternation in Rural Family Houses in Paraná (the Regional I ARCAFAR-SUL) in the current period. The research methods used were a literature review, secondary data analysis and field research (documents and questionnaires). As main conclusions highlight that: the Pedagogy of Alternation can be a major contribution to the integral formation, making an effort in the different situations that education somehow need to be more specific, where the local reality can be considered in their wisdom and life experiences exploited as subsidies for vocational training and human. In these places, like the communities of family farmers, the Pedagogy of Alternation makes a difference. Their specific methodological principles and foundations contribute to human development and the environment, thus achieving its two main objectives. However, it is not the solution to all problems of education everywhere. It is unique to specific places, as it has been to the Southwest of Paraná.

Com o propósito de criar estratégias de fortalecimento e preservação da agricultura familiar, agricultores do Sudoeste do Paraná, apoiados por lideranças locais, inspirados em iniciativas francesas, implementaram as Casas Familiares Rurais como uma forma de educação possível para melhorar a qualidade de vida na agricultura, oferecendo a seus filhos uma formação adequada, baseada em sua realidade e que viesse ao encontro de suas necessidades proporcionando a seus filhos perspectivas de permanecer no meio rural, exercendo plenamente sua cidadania com trabalho e dignidade. Entender esse modelo é fundamental, já que as Casas Familiares Rurais têm-se espalhado pelo Brasil como uma estratégia de desenvolvimento do espaço rural, mantendo o vínculo com a terra e a cultura local, e, ao mesmo tempo, oferecendo formação para os jovens agricultores através das suas realidades. Portanto, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi investigar as possibilidades e limitações do Ensino através da Pedagogia da Alternância nas Casas Familiares Rurais do Sudoeste do Paraná (Regional I da ARCAFAR-SUL) no período atual. Os métodos de investigação utilizados foram a pesquisa bibliográfica, análise de dados secundários e pesquisa de campo (documental e questionários. Como principais conclusões destaca-se que: a Pedagogia da Alternância pode ser um grande contributo para a formação integral, fazendo-se um esforço nas diferentes situações em que a educação de alguma forma precisa ser mais específica, onde a realidade local possa ser considerada em sua sabedoria e as experiências vivenciais aproveitadas como subsídios de formação profissional e humana. Nestes lugares, como nas comunidades de agricultores familiares, a Pedagogia da Alternância faz diferença. Suas especificidades metodológicas, seus princípios e fundamentos contribuem para o desenvolvimento humano e do meio, atingindo assim seus dois grandes objetivos. Porém, ela não é a solução para todos os problemas de educação em todos os lugares. Ela é singular, para lugares específicos, como tem sido para o Sudoeste do Paraná. / With the purpose of creating strategies for strengthening and preservation of family farms, farmens southwestern Paraná, supported by local leaders, inspired by French initiatives, implemented the Rural Family Houses as a form of education possible to improve the quality of life in agriculture, offering their children a proper education, based on their reality and to come to meet their needs by providing their children the prospect of remaining in rural areas, fully exercising their citizenship and work with dignity. Understanding this model is important, since the Rural Family Houses have spread throughout Brazil as a strategy for rural development, keeping the bond with the land and local culture, while at the same time offering training for young farmers through their realities. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the possibilities and limitations of Teaching through the Pedagogy of Alternation in Rural Family Houses in Paraná (the Regional I ARCAFAR-SUL) in the current period. The research methods used were a literature review, secondary data analysis and field research (documents and questionnaires). As main conclusions highlight that: the Pedagogy of Alternation can be a major contribution to the integral formation, making an effort in the different situations that education somehow need to be more specific, where the local reality can be considered in their wisdom and life experiences exploited as subsidies for vocational training and human. In these places, like the communities of family farmers, the Pedagogy of Alternation makes a difference. Their specific methodological principles and foundations contribute to human development and the environment, thus achieving its two main objectives. However, it is not the solution to all problems of education everywhere. It is unique to specific places, as it has been to the Southwest of Paraná.

Curriculum innovations, such as Tech Prep, provide practitioners an avenue to change expectations, attitudes, teaching styles, and organizational structure. However, the benefits of educational innovations are not fully realized until those practitioners, such as administrators, academic teachers, vocational teachers, and guidance counselors, adopt and implement change in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to determine the concerns of Tech Prep practitioners at the secondary level in the state of Virginia as measured by the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM). The population for this study was 322 individuals consisting of administrators, academic teachers, vocational teachers and guidance counselors involved in implementation of Tech Prep programs for two years or longer. Based on the findings of this study the following conclusions are presented. Based on the theory of the CBAM and the mean scores of the Stages of Concern, indications are these practitioners are becoming experienced users of the Tech Prep concept. The two highest SoC mean scores for the four groups were either Collaboration or Consequence Stage. It was concluded that staff development should relate to strategies necessary to increase student outcomes and cooperation and coordination of others. Practitioners involved with Tech Prep have passed the self-concerns (Awareness, Informational, and Personal Stages) and task-concerns (Management). The Stages of Concern for all groups evolved around impact-concerns (Consequence, Collaboration, and Refocusing Stages). It was concluded that the level of involvement by administrators, academic teachers, and vocational teachers during implementation of Tech Prep is related to the Stages of Concern. There was not a significant relationship between the Stages of Concern and level of involvement for counselors. Selected recommendations drawn from the findings and conclusions are: • Attention should continue to focus on concerns, attitudes and expectations of practitioners as they proceed with the continuation of Tech Prep in Virginia. • This study should be replicated with larger sample sizes and questionnaires submitted at the beginning of the innovation adoption and at designated periods after the implementation process. Such longitudinal studies may determine linkage between time, staff development activities, integration of vocational and academic studies, and the SoC of practitioners. • Focus by teacher educators, the Virginia Department of Education staff, vocational-technical and academic personnel, should concentrate on collaborative techniques and student competencies. It is recommended that policy be developed to include extensive professional development and increased dialogue among practitioners as they implement Tech Prep programs. / Ed. D.

The major focus of this study was to obtain information and to make comparisons of the importance of technology education program goals as determined by three professional groups in the State of Virginia: professional leaders/teacher educators, local supervisors, and technology education teachers. Two dimensions were investigated: actual program goals and ideal program goals. Furthermore, goal emphases at two school levels, middle school and senior high, were investigated separately. Two primary factors were investigated: (1) were there differences among the three professional groups relative to the assessed importance of program goals; (2) were there differences among the geographic locations (urban, suburban, and rural) relative to the assessed importance of program goals? Data were collected through a mailed questionnaire. Results of the study were based on responses received from 77.1 percent of professional leaders/teacher educators, 82.5 percent of local supervisors, and 73.9 percent of technology education teachers. The MANOVA, and ANOVA, and Hotelling paired T² tests were used to determine significant differences among the mean scores. Major conclusions reached as a result of the study were: 1. Professional leaders/teacher educators held different beliefs than did local supervisors and technology education teachers about the importance of program goals for technology education. 2. Local supervisors and teachers in the three geographic locations held similar beliefs about the importance of technology education program goals. 3. All three groups of respondents put greater importance in the ideal goals as compared to actual goals for most the 14 goal statements for technology education. / Ph. D.

The object of this study was to determine the extent to which coordinators of Industrial Cooperative Training programs in Virginia high schools used the directed study method in directly related instruction, to compare its use with other teaching methods used, and to determine the coordinators‘ evaluation of its effectiveness as related to other methods. A list of 30 programs providing a representative sampling of the I.C.T. programs in the state system considered above average on the basis of past performance was secured from state supervisory personnel. Questionnaires prepared by the researcher were mailed to the coordinators of the selected programs, and to seven other state departments of education to determine the procedure found most effective in their directly related instruction. The questionnaires provided data for the study. The other state departments reported use of the directed study method for directly related instruction. In Virginia, where each coordinator was found responsible for his own program, all but five of the coordinators questioned considered the directed study method most effective in directly related instruction. The researcher concluded that the evaluative judgment of the individual coordinators resulted in agreement that the most effective instructional procedure in directly related instruction was the directed study method. The researcher also concluded that additional research in Industrial Cooperative Training is needed in comparing the effectiveness of the directed study method with that of other methods in actual use in the classroom, and in other fields necessary for complete understanding and utilization of directed study. / Master of Science

This dissertation is a contribution to understanding the relationship between schooling and gender inequality. The study explores how gender as a social relation is organized and embedded in the daily experiences of classroom life and in the discourses of people who dwell there. The study deals with how classroom encounters contribute to the reproduction or transformation of gender categories and how students' and teachers' discursive practices build and support patriarchal structures. The study is grounded in critical education theory, feminist theory, and ethnographic research. The specific site for the study is the knowledge area described as the Practical Arts, namely home economics and technical studies. The research is limited to a single Grade 8, coeducational, home economics and technical studies program in an inner-city, multi-ethnic, secondary school in western Canada. Evidence is based on participant observation of classrooms, for one school year, with one group of students as they proceed through a combined home economics and technical studies program. Evidence is also obtained through interviews with students and teachers. The study illustrates how classroom practices support the patriarchal structures of division of labour, violence against women, and sexuality. The study shows how the students' and teachers' discursive practices produce girls and women, and less powerful boys, in subordinate positions and as objects of regulation. As well, students' previous experiences in domestic and technical work, and classroom discourse, produce and support the division of labour. The study shows how the conditions of teachers' work, their authoritarian, product oriented approach, and their powerful, institutional discourses grounded in biological and psychological development and equality of educational opportunity, prevent them from challenging patriarchal structures. Although the study shows how students and teachers are actively engaged in the production rather than the transformation of traditional gender relations, it also shows how patriarchy is incomplete: there were divisions within gender categories and there were many contradictions. The study shows how power relations are not static - they are constantly in process of negotiation, thereby opening possibilities for social change.

This dissertation is a contribution to understanding the relationship between schooling and gender inequality. The study explores how gender as a social relation is organized and embedded in the daily experiences of classroom life and in the discourses of people who dwell there. The study deals with how classroom encounters contribute to the reproduction or transformation of gender categories and how students' and teachers' discursive practices build and support patriarchal structures. The study is grounded in critical education theory, feminist theory, and ethnographic research. The specific site for the study is the knowledge area described as the Practical Arts, namely home economics and technical studies. The research is limited to a single Grade 8, coeducational, home economics and technical studies program in an inner-city, multi-ethnic, secondary school in western Canada. Evidence is based on participant observation of classrooms, for one school year, with one group of students as they proceed through a combined home economics and technical studies program. Evidence is also obtained through interviews with students and teachers. The study illustrates how classroom practices support the patriarchal structures of division of labour, violence against women, and sexuality. The study shows how the students' and teachers' discursive practices produce girls and women, and less powerful boys, in subordinate positions and as objects of regulation. As well, students' previous experiences in domestic and technical work, and classroom discourse, produce and support the division of labour. The study shows how the conditions of teachers' work, their authoritarian, product oriented approach, and their powerful, institutional discourses grounded in biological and psychological development and equality of educational opportunity, prevent them from challenging patriarchal structures. Although the study shows how students and teachers are actively engaged in the production rather than the transformation of traditional gender relations, it also shows how patriarchy is incomplete: there were divisions within gender categories and there were many contradictions. The study shows how power relations are not static - they are constantly in process of negotiation, thereby opening possibilities for social change. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Although Business-Industry-Education (B-I-E) involvement in Tech Prep programs is frequently discussed and encouraged in the literature, there was little information which identified what is meant by involvement. This study determined what constitutes B-I-E involvement in Tech Prep programs in Virginia's community colleges and secondary schools. At the time of this study there were forty-four (44) Tech Prep projects in Virginia. Each Tech Prep project had at least one key person at the community college and at least one key person at the secondary schools in the community college service area. There are twenty-three (23) community colleges in Virginia with at least one Tech Prep project at each community college. Each community college in the consortium had at least one secondary school associated with it. In most instances, there were several secondary schools associated with each community college. The sample consisted of 23 key persons at the community colleges and 23 at the secondary schools. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of special needs students in technical educational programs.