This thesis is an inquiry into the relationship between drama and traditional stories and their potential contributions, when used together, to the moral education of young children. The stimulus for this inquiry has stemmed from my own academic interests and professional practice as a teacher educator for the primary age range. It is underpinned by a belief that this is an area which has been both under-researched and under-theorised but that it is nonetheless of interest and importance for drama teachers, primary teachers and others who share an interest in the moral development of young children. The research has proceeded with two parallel but closely related forms of inquiry. The one has been an academic investigation into those theoretical issues which underpin the project and the other has consisted of fieldwork within primary classrooms, centred upon my own teaching. In its final form, the thesis is presented in two parts of roughly equal length, the one concentrating on theoretical concerns, the other consisting of a critical analysis of my own classroom practice, where issues of theory are investigated as they directly impinge upon it. However, it has been a key aim throughout this project to relate theory closely to practice, so that the one might continually inform the other as the research progressed. In the introduction, I give an account of the genesis of the inquiry, provide an argument for its significance to the contemporary educational debate and give a clear exposition of its parameters. In Part I, I begin with a discussion of current developments in moral educational theory and make the case for the importance of narrative and narrative literature in the development of moral understanding. In applying these theories to literary versions of traditional tales, however, it becomes quickly clear that the area is problematic and informed by contradictory theories and profound disagreement. I propose that the narrative form of these tales is inappropriate to didactic moral teaching and argue that a perspective which is informed by their mythic and oral origins is best placed to help our understanding of how they can be harnessed for the purposes of moral learning. I argue that there are historical and artistic reasons for seeing an important role for drama. in this process and examine how moral processes are engaged and informed by the dramatic event. In Part IT, I introduce the fieldwork with a critical look at how the practices of drama in education can be used to engage children in ethical exploration as defined within the parameters of this inquiry. I provide a detailed account of the research methodology followed by three case studies, each of which recounts and analyses a series of lessons with three separate classes of children, centred around three distinct traditional tales. These case studies are discursive in nature, each focusing upon issues and questions generated by the particular stories and lessons. They are informed by the theoretical exposition in Part I but generate their own theoretical perspectives and hypotheses which I propose to have implications for general classroom practice within this area. In the concluding chapter, I propose that the theoretical thrust and practical findings of the project signal an important role for drama in a school's moral education policy and suggest particular areas of inquiry which would further inform this argument.

The importance of early childhood education in children's social, emotional, cognitive, physical and spiritual development is only recently gaining coinage in the formal education system in the UK, despite the fact that extensive research has been conducted in the fields of child development and child psychology for many years. Such studies reveal the importance of a child centred, humanising education in the development of the young child, and pay particular attention to the role and value of language acquisition and meaningful language use in the holistic education of young children. Against the background of a newly introduced early years curriculum in the UK (2000), this study traces the historical origin of early childhood education and the socio-cultural, political and economic factors that impact upon its delivery and implementation in various curricula, both nationally and internationally. The recent Foundation Stage curriculum document (2000) identifies language, play and human interaction as tools not only for the development of personal, social and linguistic skills but also as key processes of learning and teaching in early childhood education. However, in the absence of a well developed methodology and with insufficient Early Years training for the Foundation Stage Curriculum (2000), language teaching and learning is generally regarded more as a preparation for the formal school curriculum rather than in the context of discourse and communication for the development of personal and social skills. This situation has led to a considerable degree of professional conflict and insecurity amongst Early Years practitioners about the aims of the new curriculum and its implementation. The thesis argues that young children develop holistically (cognitively, personally and socially) through the medium of 'speech' and 'discourse', and that language is a social construct and a product of human culture. Therefore in early years, language and literacy development cannot be separated from the child's social world and the focus, in terms of teaching and learning, should be on discourse-making: the making, negotiation and development of rules, terms and conditions of the child's social world. This can offer children the linguistic resources they need to be confident and secure in familiar and unfamiliar environments and to problem-solve, organise and maintain their social worlds. The thesis argues that play and well structured Drama in Education activities can provide opportunities for meaningful communication and discourse. Drawing from the research findings, a model to structure and develop children's play for personal, social and linguistic development through Drama in Education is proposed. It will be shown that drama contains interactive tools and meaningful forms of learning which can assist teachers to create living contexts and fictitious worlds with the children within which the different functions of language can be identified and developed.

The thesis develops from the introduction and analysis of an heuristic methodology, to a dedicated chapter that considers the issues raised in respect of minority ethnic citizenship, particularly in relation to identity. This chapter includes questions of semiotics, discourse, and the development of a dynamic model of change incorporating these related concepts. A critical perspective on the Crick Report follows, and examines whether the report does in fact give 'due regard' (CRE, 2001, p7) to issues of anti-racism and minority ethnic citizenship. The data chapters then present the results of field study both from within the Local Education Authority (LEA) as an institution, and from various schools throughout the county. Both contain comprehensive case studies; the LEA chapter introducing a 'typology of engagement' in relation to the issues raised by minority ethnic citizenship, whilst the pupil data returns to further analysis of identity related issues. The concluding chapter endeavours to pull the research findings together, considering the implications for both policy and practice, with attention given to further research that might follow from the findings. At the same time consideration is given to various texts and contexts presented throughout the thesis in order that these may be considered in overview from a more holistic perspective.

This thesis examines the attitudes of students to teaching strategies that are aimed at encouraging autonomous learning in university level biology. Attitudes determine the learning which occurs within a student as he/she selects from the environment what he/she learns according to his ideas, values and feelings as well as his concepts. Attitudes may indeed lead to a rejection or acceptance of new ideas. Hence there is the need to inculcate the right attitudes in the students. Favourable attitudes to a subject could be promoted by the use of appropriate teaching strategies. The result indicated that :- (1) The students were encouraged to become autonomous in their learning and this position was more evident when the changes were made to the course in 1995/96 session. (2) The laboratory method with its many activities which serve to ensure that each student has an opportunity to participate effectively also indicated that the students were encouraged to think for themselves. (3) The tutorial method which had become more varied and frequent encouraged the students to become more free in airing their views thereby enabling them to become more independent. (4) The project method enhanced the student's ability to carry out their studies independently. (5) The organisation of the course, especially the new course, was considered very good as it facilitated their moving towards autonomy. (6) The Perry model confirmed that the changes made in the course did make a difference in students' attitudes to their learning producing a shift towards a higher degree of autonomy. The findings have shown that students were undergoing changes in their perception and approach to their study while at university.

USING GRICE&rsquo / S COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE AND ITS MAXIMS FOR ANALYZING COHERENCE: A STUDY ON ACADEMIC WRITING &Ouml / zhan, Didem M.A., Program in English Language Teaching Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. S&uuml / kriye Ruhi September 2004, 95 pages Coherence in written discourse is considered to be a complex and a fuzzy concept but it is, at the same time, a crucial feature of any well-written text. The present study aims to contribute to the field of the teaching of the concept of coherence by proposing an approach to analyzing coherence in students&rsquo / essays in the context of the Department of Modern Languages (DML) at Middle East Technical University (METU) and to the teaching of the concept. The study suggests an approach involving Gricean maxims for analyzing coherence in freshman student argumentative essays at DML at METU. In order to achieve this aim, 50 essays were rated for coherence by two raters and the same essays were analyzed by the researcher for maxim violations. Next, the correlation between the raters&rsquo / judgments and the number of maxim violations in each essay and the correlation between raters&rsquo / judgments and the number of violations for each maxim in each essay was calculated. The findings revealed a significant negative correlation between the variables and a negative correlation between the violation of Quantity maxim most frequently and the raters&rsquo / judgments. The findings suggest that Gricean maxims can be used as a tool for analyzing coherence in student argumentative essays. The implications of this finding for the analysis of the essays, for the teaching, learning and assessment processes are discussed.

The literature indicates that children are highly influenced by product packaging and that it is the packaging that will make the product stand out from the crowd and hopefully making a sale. There have been a number of valuable studies offering practitioners principles and guidelines on how to enhance package design for products that target children; however the extent to which practitioners adhere to the principles proposed by academics has had limited attention. This study is therefore aimed at examining the degree to which practitioners implement current knowledge relating to the principles of package design in the context of packages designed to attract children, while simultaneously assessing the relationship between package design and brand performance. An extensive secondary research of the literature has been made to establish a list of criterion for package design for children elements assessment. At the same time, attempts have been made to gather brand performance data. Product samples have been collected from major supermarkets in New Zealand and then analysed against the criterion using the principle of content analysis. The result generated by this study shows that practitioners are mostly adhering to the principles of children’s package design established by academic research. However, the relationship between brand performance and package design was not established in this study.

The literature indicates that children are highly influenced by product packaging and that it is the packaging that will make the product stand out from the crowd and hopefully making a sale. There have been a number of valuable studies offering practitioners principles and guidelines on how to enhance package design for products that target children; however the extent to which practitioners adhere to the principles proposed by academics has had limited attention. This study is therefore aimed at examining the degree to which practitioners implement current knowledge relating to the principles of package design in the context of packages designed to attract children, while simultaneously assessing the relationship between package design and brand performance. An extensive secondary research of the literature has been made to establish a list of criterion for package design for children elements assessment. At the same time, attempts have been made to gather brand performance data. Product samples have been collected from major supermarkets in New Zealand and then analysed against the criterion using the principle of content analysis. The result generated by this study shows that practitioners are mostly adhering to the principles of children’s package design established by academic research. However, the relationship between brand performance and package design was not established in this study.

During the last few years, efficient mobile wireless communication devices have become widely available and easily accessible by a broad range of higher education students around the world in general and in Kuwait in particular. These devices offer the possibility of extending the boundaries of the educational process outside traditional classroom settings by providing communication and collaboration tools for students, instructors and staff members and by facilitating remote access to shared materials and tools. This learning arrangement is referred to as mobile learning or m-learning. The purpose of this thesis was to study and improve the use of m-learning in Kuwaiti higher education so learning in general would improve. This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework for guiding Kuwaiti decision makers in the successful adaptation of mobile learning in the Kuwaiti higher educational system. One of the major focuses of this study was to use mobile learning in places where it was intrinsically valuable such as subjects involving field studies. Three studies were conducted in Kuwait. In the first study, twenty-six instructors from three different Kuwaiti universities were interviewed to reveal the extent of the acceptance of the idea of mobile learning in Kuwaiti higher education. The second study was based on the results of the first study and used ninety-four students from five faculties at two universities to evaluate the trends of mobile learning amongst students and teachers. In the third study, there were forty participants from three faculties at two universities. This study tried to determine how beneficial it is to use a popular social media application as a learning tool under strict monitoring rules and instructions. Based on the results of the three studies conducted in this thesis, a framework was built to address the challenges and barriers facing mobile learning in Kuwait. This framework provides an appropriate environment for the adaptation of successful mobile learning in Kuwaiti higher education. The outcomes of the studies and research conducted for this thesis demonstrated that Kuwait could be a very successful example of adapting mobile learning if the barriers were faced by implementing the appropriate framework. The proposed framework enables Kuwait to be the one of the leaders of mobile learning in the surrounding region.

Development agencies have been sending educational aid to Ghana for more than three decades, their declared purpose being to support the country’s educational development. Despite the aid and development agencies’ own literature indicating the aid is promoting education development, there has been little research exploring the aid’s actual outcomes as experienced in country by recipients. This dissertation therefore sought to explore experiences of Ghanaian educational aid recipients: teachers, head teachers, district, and national education managers, focusing on whether and how educational aid has contributed to or hindered educational development. Using an interpretive approach, the participants’ perceptions of their experiences of aid were sought. The interviewing method was used to collect data as it gave the opportunity to hear from the recipients’ individually. 13 participants were interviewed from the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, two primary schools and a District Education Office. King’s (2007) template analysis strategy was used to identify important themes in the recipients’ accounts of experiences, and the themes interpreted to arrive at findings. Six major findings were identified, the most significant being that the outcomes of aid are mixed – having both positive and negative impacts. Positive impacts include increased funding and learning experiences, whilst the negatives include aid conditionality. The other findings are that aid may be funding non-priority items; an urgent need to improve the delivery of aid; measuring the outcomes of aid is a challenge; there are tensions around the appropriateness of aid; and, aid not being the first option for recipients to seek assistance. Implications of these findings for practice include recommendations to: decentralise needs assessment for aid processes from the national authorities to include a cross section of regional, district and school staff in consultations; development agencies to allow recipients to decide what and how funds are used to meet local educational needs; the recipient nation to develop a standardized evaluation framework that can generate necessary data to report aid results; the need for the national government to incrementally wean the country off aid by pursuing alternative sources of funding; and in the short term, the need for development agencies to provide sustainable aid if the need arises. The concluding observation is the urgent need to recognise that aid can be improved for the betterment of those who it is intended to benefit.

This thesis investigates the perceptions of former Initial Teacher Training (ITT) trainees in the post-compulsory sector, in an attempt to identify how their ITT influenced their practice as teachers within the sector. It analyses the perceptions of former trainees, gleaned through 21 semi-structured interviews and 35 completed questionnaires; together with semi-structured interviews of 5 managers of teaching staff from the sector, who employ university-led ITT for the development of their staff. The research employed a phenomenographical approach, in that it considered the perspectives and interpretations of the respondents to be wholly paramount. The study has found that initial teacher training in the post-compulsory sector produces teachers who experience perceptions of enhancement in three key ways. The first is that they are more connected with the sector, connected with their institutions and connected with the realities of teaching following their teacher education. The second is that they have a greater sense of self, together with a greater sense of professionalism, and carry more practical and pedagogical skills into the workplace following their teacher education. The third relates to their commitment to continuing professional development, and their ability to identify opportunities and necessities for their own development. The contribution to knowledge involves the creation of a middle range theory of the influence of initial teacher training on professional practice, developed from the three factors alluded to above, and postulated in the form of a model of conceptions demonstrating the influence of post-compulsory teacher training on its trainees. Additionally, it also makes recommendations to policy makers in ITT, including that the current emphasis on subject specialist teaching is reconsidered and clarified; and that the current government’s removal of compulsory completion of ITT for teachers in the sector is dissonant with the concepts of professionalism existing in both academic literature, and the perceptions of the participants in this study.