Inaug.-diss.--Leipzig. / Vita. "Quellen- und literaturverzeichnis": p. 149-156.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Meteorology, 1970. / Lacking leaf 149. / Bibliography: leaves 163-169. / by Edward Harold Blish. / M.S.

This thesis explores the nature of pedagogic connectedness and reveals the qualitatively different ways in which teachers in the middle years of schooling experience this phenomenon. The researcher defines pedagogic connectedness as the engagements between teacher and student that impact on student learning. The findings of this phenomenographic-related study are used to provide a framework for changes to pedagogic practices in the middle years of schooling. Twenty teachers of years 7, 8, and 9 boys in an independent college in South-East Queensland participated in this study. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with these teachers and the interview transcripts were analysed iteratively. Five qualitatively different ways of experiencing pedagogic connectedness emerged from this study. These categories of description are linked hierarchically and are delimited from each other through six common dimensions of variation. Teachers' conceptions of pedagogic connectedness range from information providing through instructing, facilitating, guided participation to mentoring. The five different conceptions may be classified broadly as teacher-centred, transitional or student-centred. In the information providing conception, pedagogic connectedness between teachers and students is limited with teachers perceiving themselves as subject experts and providing few opportunities for student-teacher engagements. The most complex conception, mentoring, is characterised by partnerships between teachers and students in which teachers view themselves as more experienced equals. These partnerships extend beyond the confines of the classroom and beyond the years of schooling. In this conception, teachers describe teaching as an emotional activity with teachers demonstrating passion for teaching and learning. The findings of this current study extend earlier understandings of teacher-student mentoring relationships in the middle years of schooling. These expanded understandings may contribute to enthusing middle years students and re-engaging them with schooling during these vital years.

The purpose of the study was to examine the Standards of Learning (SOL) test results of students participating in an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP) and compare their achievement with students of similar ability in schools not authorized to offer the Middle Years Program (MYP). It was important to determine if the MYP students, who were learning in a different and more holistic manner, were still competitive with their counterparts on standardized achievement measures. The study was guided by four questions: (1) To what extent is there a difference between the SOL achievement scores of students in an IBMYP and the SOL achievement scores of students not in an IBMYP?; (2) To what extent is there a difference between the SOL achievement scores for Black students in an IBMYP and the SOL achievement scores of Black students not in an IBMYP?; (3) To what extent is there a difference between the SOL achievement scores for Hispanic students in an IBMYP and the SOL achievement scores of Hispanic students not in an IBMYP?; (4) To what extent is there a difference between the SOL achievement scores for White students in an IBMYP and the SOL achievement scores of White students not in an IBMYP? The study was organized into intervention and control groups, which were statistically similar. In order to determine if the groups were statistically similar at the onset of the study, baseline data were established. One group of eighth grade students who were participating in the MYP program (intervention) and a non-participating group of eighth grade students (control) were matched by their Grade 5 VA Standards of Learning (SOL) achievement scores and ethnicity. The SOL data from the spring 2004 test administration were used for the study. Independent t tests were conducted to determine to what extent, if any, was there a difference between the SOL achievement scores of students who were participating in the MYP and the SOL achievement of students not participating in the MYP. Additionally, t tests were used to measure to what extent was there a difference between the achievement of Black, Hispanic, and White subgroups of the MYP and non-MYP students measured by their SOL scores. The effect size was calculated to determine the strength or magnitude of the differences between the two sets of data. The findings of the study indicated the average SOL mean scores of the total MYP group were higher than the mean scores of the total non-MYP group in all areas although there were no statistically significant differences (p<.05). The results also indicated that no statistically significant difference existed between the average SOL mean scores of Black students who participated in the MYP and Black students who participated in non-MYP schools across the division (p<.05). The results further indicated that no statistically significant differences existed between the average SOL mean scores of Hispanic students who participated in the MYP and Hispanic students who participated in non-MYP schools across the division (p<.05). Lastly, the results indicated that no statistically significant difference existed between the average SOL mean scores of White students who participated in the MYP and White students who participated in non-MYP schools across the division (p<.05). The content area that showed the greatest difference was English: Reading, Literature, and Research (15 scaled score points). Performance on the History/Social Science and Science SOL tests were virtually identical. For Black and Hispanic IBMYP students, the highest levels of performance were limited to the English: Reading, Literature, and Research test. / Ed. D.

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This research project aims to explore the role of the Key Person in Early Years preschool and nursery settings. The Key Person role is specified in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guidance, and aims to provide an adult figure with which the children can form a positive and productive learning relationship. The present study originated from previous research conducted in the same authority which looked at the experiences of children in day care settings (Day, 2010). Day (2010) identified children’s attachment needs in day care settings as being an avenue for further research, and it was from this that the present study developed. The current study seeks to understand the role of the Key Person in terms of how relationships are formed with children in Early Years settings, and what those relationships look like on a daily basis. This is an important line of enquiry, as an understanding of Early Years, adult-child relationships can help inform effective future practice for Early Years staff, as well as enable outside professionals (such as Educational Psychologists) to design more effective means of early intervention for the children who may need additional support. The theoretical foundations for this research lie in attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969), following the language used by the Government Guidance on the role of the Key Person. Attachment theory is used here as a basis for understanding early adult-child relationships, and the review of the literature looks at research that has explored the impact of children’s attendance in day care settings. The project is divided into two linked research papers. In the first paper, the role of the Key Person is explored through surveying and interviewing a sample of Early Years staff. In doing this, the following research objectives were addressed: • To examine the approaches that Key Persons use to form relationships with the children in their care. • To explore Key Persons’ perceptions of their role within the setting and the challenges they face. • To examine the awareness and impact of the current government guidance on Key Person practice. • To examine how settings organise and evaluate the Key Person role. In the second paper, the relationships between the Key Persons and the children they care for are explored through a series of case studies. This was in order to address the following research objectives: • To explore the relationships between particular children with adults in Early Years settings through intensive case studies. • To examine the Key Person-child relationship by comparing Key Person-child interactions with interactions with other adults in the setting. • To compare cases of Key Person-child relationships between children who have identified social or emotional needs and those who do not. The findings from paper one indicated that Key Persons do not generally seem to use the Government Guidance as a primary influence on the way they build positive relationships with their Key Children. Key Persons seemed to base their practice on experiential knowledge. Furthermore, the organisation of the role in most settings seemed to indicate a more administrative focus than a focus on building specific relationships. Paper two showed that Key Persons generally had more interactions with their Key Children than other adults had with the same children. Differences were found in the types of interactions children experienced with different adults. Relationships were reported to be close with both groups of children, with Key Persons reporting more conflict with the children identified with social or emotional needs. It is hoped that the findings of the two linked papers will inform EP practice in relation to Early Years settings, particularly in terms of developing early intervention. From professional experience, there seems to be a large amount of diversity in the way EP services work with preschool-aged children and the professionals who support them. Perhaps further uses for the findings in this research could be to inform future collaborative working, as well as areas to which EPs can contribute their body of research knowledge. The following document presents each study separately as individual papers, each with appendices which contain additional information on methods and data analysis. The papers are followed by the literature review, university Ethics form and the bibliography for the entire study.

This study uses interviews to investigate what kinds of teaching material three teachers in the early years of compulsory school use, and how and why they have chosen to use these particular materials. The study also examines which factors guide the teachers in their choice, and what they see as teaching material. The study applies a sociocultural perspective on learning, viewing teaching aids as artefacts created by humans and as a communicative tool in teaching. The informants’ interview responses have been analysed using content analysis. The result shows that the teachers use several different forms of material to teach Swedish to pupils in the early years of compulsory school. They see and use both publisher-produced textbooks and traditional photocopied handouts, as well as tablets, computers and other material, as teaching aids. The teachers think it is important to use more than one form of material in teaching, and that a functional teaching aid should be capable of individual adaptation so that every pupil can work at his or her level of knowledge. Teaching material should also be motivational so that the pupil will be able to acquire an improved knowledge in the subject of Swedish. The potential for individual adaptation is a factor that guides the teachers in their choice of teaching material, but they also consider the look of the material and the faith they place in the textbook publisher.

This thesis is concerned with developing our understandings and knowledge of children within Early Years Learning (EYL) and the importance of movement and play in processes of social class and cultural (re)production. The ways in which parents from different social classes are involved and invest in their children s education and physical activity have been researched quite extensively. This research therefore looks at the nature of transactions and interactions within EYL settings and the influence social class and parental investment has on children s embodiment, knowledge construction and learner identities. The study pays particular attention to how social inequalities are produced and reproduced within EYL through differences in its organisation, curriculum structures, pedagogical interactions and transactions. Data were collected over a ten month period of sustained critical ethnography in three socially and culturally diverse EYL settings in central England through observations and informal conversations. The collected data were first analysed ethnographically to determine the organising categories and concepts of the setting, while second order analyses brought into to play the researcher s sociological interests in questions of equity, social reproduction and control, imposing another layer of questions on the study. A Bernsteinian theoretical lens was adopted to interrogate the transactions within EYL settings in relation to power and control, while those of others (namely habitus , physical capital and the corporeal device - pace Bourdieu, Shilling, Evans and Davies respectively) were used to embellish such understandings and bring processes of embodiment to the fore. The findings illustrate the complexity of the discourses and practices that children negotiate when re-contextualising knowledge and constructing their learner identities within EYL settings. They also reveal how children learn about their own and others bodies through the various forms of play that feature in EYL settings and that these processes are profoundly class related. At the heart of the thesis lies the claim that extant social class hierarchies and ability differences are sustained rather than eroded or lessened through the structure, organisation and transactions of EYL settings. Finally, recommendations are made as to how UK Government policy relating to EYL might begin to promote pedagogies that enhance the potential for greater social mobility in the UK.