This dissertation presents a phenomenological qualitative study that examines the lived experiences of six Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Directors representing county, urban, and suburban school districts. The study aims to explore the perspectives, challenges, and strategies of SEL Directors in implementing SEL programs district-wide. The study gathered rich data from the six SEL Directors through in-depth qualitative interviews, enabling a comprehensive examination of their experiences. The findings of this research contribute to the generalizability of the study for the field of SEL. They underscore the complex nature of the SEL Director role, revealing commonalities and unique challenges across different school districts. Participants demonstrated unwavering dedication and passion for fostering social and emotional skill development among students and staff. However, they also faced common obstacles, such as limited resources, SEL and Academic integration, resistance to change, and the need to balance competing priorities. Additionally, the study uncovers the significant role of SEL Directors in planning for district-wide coherence and alignment of SEL implementation. By amplifying the voices of SEL Directors, this research provides valuable insights and contributes to the ongoing discourse on SEL implementation. It seeks to support the continuous improvement of SEL programs and enhance adults' and students' social and emotional skills across diverse educational settings.

This dissertation explored the perspectives of African American youth aspirations for college, their support systems, and their academic and social development towards college. The narratives of 7 student participants were used to gather perspectives of their supports and school circumstances in order to understand how some youth overcome or navigate the path towards higher education. This exploratory study was situated around two primary research questions: (a) In what ways do student aspirations intersect with capacity building systems (supports and interventions) for college, and (b) how does that intersection impact the academic and social development of students aspiring towards college? This study contributed to two areas. The first area had to do with providing an outlet for African American youth’s perspectives, particularly on the role that their aspirations and support systems play in their ability to access college. In the liberating tradition of critical race framework, accessing the experiences and perspectives “of the people” is the defining element of this study. We often hear about the pitfalls of minority students; their families and the communities from which they hail. There is general emphasis on this deficit perspective as the public education system strains under a multitude of contending factors. This dissertation, through the narratives of students, explored what students believed to work, what they perceived to fail, and the direction that their perspectives might contribute towards improved policy and practice. Thus, a second potential contribution of this study is its application for policy studies in that a participant-centered perspective is articulated. This multiframed approach demonstrated a more informed space from which to shape policy. / text

"... In the development of training and practice, as a student and as a professional school counselor, counselors are searching for tangible, grounded real life examples of how to transfer and apply theory into practice for commonly encountered counseling situations. The purpose of this text is to introduce students in training and new professional school counselors to various situations each is likely to come across during training and the first 5 years of practice. It is our hope that exposure to these experiences and attention to the diverse theoretical approaches that can be applied to resolve these student situations will enhance your training and better prepare you to deal with a variety of situations. ..." --Preface. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1107/thumbnail.jpg

Orientador: Olga Maria P. Rodrigues / Banca: Silvia Regina Ricco L. Sigolo / Banca: Kester Carrara / Resumo: A escola desempenha importante papel na socialização da criança, proporcionando diversas experiências, com repercussões diferentes na vida do indivíduo que por ela passa, sendo que o período escolar pode interferir diretamente sobre os comportamentos futuros do indivíduo e acometendo outras instâncias como relacionamento com colegas e com a família. A literatura aponta para correlações entre o baixo rendimento acadêmico e a emissão de problemas de comportamento, mas também traz como uma variável importante as relações estabelecidas entre professores e alunos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar os efeitos de uma intervenção com professores sobre os repertórios comportamental e acadêmico de alunos. Participaram deste estudo quatro professores do Ciclo I do Ensino Fundamental, de uma escola estadual de um município do interior do estado de São Paulo. Essas professoras foram solicitadas a indicar cinco alunos de sua sala com problemas de comportamento (GI) e tiveram outros cinco sorteados (GS) cada uma, totalizando 40 alunos. O instrumento utilizado para obter o rendimento acadêmico foi o Teste de Desempenho Escolar (TDE) e para verificar o repertório acadêmico as professoras responderam ao Questionário de Comportamentos Socialmente Adequados para professores (QCSA-PR) e a Escala de Comportamentos Infantis (ECI). O procedimento constou de cinco etapas: Etapa Preliminar - procedimentos éticos e caracterização dos participantes; Etapa I - avaliação do rendimento acadêmico e comportamental dos alunos: Etapa II - Intervenção através do curso "O Manejo Comportamental do Professor em Sala de Aula"; Etapa III - Reavaliação do rendimento acadêmico e comportamental dos alunos e Etapa IV - Devolutiva e avaliação do processo. Como principais resultados temos que a maioria dos alunos de GI e de GS, tanto na Etapa I quanto na Etapa III tiveram desempenhos... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The school has a major role on the child's socialization, providing various experiences, with different repercussions on the individual's life, whereas the school period can have a direct impact on the individual's future behavior and relating to other areas such as the relationship with colleagues and family. The literature points out to correlations between low academic development and the emission on behavior problems, but also brings an important variable on the relations established between teachers and students. The objective of this work was to verify the effects of an intervention with teacher, about the repertoire of behavioral and academic students. For this reason, four teachers of the first cycle of Basic Schooling have participated, from a small city state school in São Paulo. These teachers were asked to indicate five students from their classroom, with behavior problems (GIC), and other five students randomly selected, each one, with the total of 40 students. The instrument used to obtain academic output was the School Output Test (TDE), and to verify academic repertory, the teachers answered to a Questionnaire of Socially Adequate Behavior for teachers (QSCA-PR), and the Scale of Infantile Behavior (ECI). The procedure was composed of five stages: Preliminary Stage-ethical procedures and characterization of participants; Stage I- Evaluation of Academic Output and Behavior: Stage II- Intervention through the course "the Conduct Manage of the Teacher in the Classroom: ; Stage III - Reevaluation of Academic Output and Behavior of students and Stage IV - Delivery and process evaluation. The main results show that most of the GI and GS students, both in the Stage I and Stage III had academic output considered inferior to the their expected average level. But GS had superior academic output compared to GI, as well as being better evaluated on the QSCA-PR and ECI... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

This research focuses on the extent to which the Rhodes University Academic Skills Programme (ASP), now known as the Academic Development Programme, is able to act as an agent of progressive change within Rhodes University. In so doing it concentrates on the potential of the strategy of integrated academic development for dealing with the academic needs of university students within the context of South Africa as a society in transition. The candidate considers the inability of structuralist educational theory to account for the potential of human agency at the site of formal education. It is shown that structuralist theories provide deterministic and pessimistic accounts of the role of institutions of formal education. In support of this contention this study explores the history of ASP at Rhodes University, demonstrating that significant change in student academic development has already taken place. ASP has contributed to change within the said University through challenging traditional notions of academic development. This thesis suggests that the non-structuralist critical theory of Jurgen Habermas provides a more holistic account of ASP than do structuralist theories of formal education. Through the incorporation of Habermas's theory of communicative action a process of critical integration is explored, showing that a strategy of integrated academic development has the potential to involve all those who have an interest in university education through a process of rational discourse. This potential is strengthened by the fact that many students and staff have expressed an awareness of the need for an integrated academic development strategy. This thesis subsequently explores the possibility of there being a process of democratic and rational discourse which could lead to a progressive integration programme in the Rhodes University Department of Sociology and Industrial Sociology. This thesis stresses the contested nature of the integration process within departments. It is indicated that Habermas's critical theory is able to account for the changes which have taken place in the past and which are presently under way. It is argued that it not possible to predict future outcomes, but that if ASP pursues a process of rational discourse, it will indeed be able to stimulate a critical integrative approach to academic development in the Rhodes University Department of Sociology and Industrial Sociology.

Magister Educationis - MEd / In this paper, I focus on the issue of student perceptions and experiences of a 3rd generation academic development programme in higher education. I set out to explore the issue from two perspectives: firstly from the perspective of the higher education institution’s approach to academic development, namely, a learning skills programme and a first year sociology course, and secondly from the perspective of students’ intentions, expectations and experiences of such a programme. The research questions focused on the learning priorities embedded in the curriculum of a learning skills programme at Monash University, South Africa and the learning experiences of students in this programme.The methodology used in this study includes a case study which focused on the responses of six participants from a number of African countries completing their BA degrees. Semistructured interviews held and the content analysis method was used to analyse the data. The study concludes: that the main priority of the learning skills programme is to prepare students for their university learning rather than to prepare students for the world of work i.e. it falls within Street’s (2004) academic socialization model and that the Learning Skills programme can be seen as an example of Boughey’s (2007) 3rd generation academic development programmes.The study also suggests that there is a need to explore Volbrecht’s (2003) argument on the limitations of discipline-based models of academic development, the need to examine how academic literacy is constructed and how identity and power relations intersect in this construction. It further highlights the importance of the idea of multi-literacies as put forward by Street (2004) and suggests that as practitioners we should include a consideration of these literacies in academic development programmes to improve the quality of students’ learning and meaning making.

Many students when they arrive at university do not possess the “cultural capital” (Bourdieu 1977) which is favoured by the institution. The purpose of the English Language for Academic Purposes (ELAP) course and the drafting-responding process is to help students to begin to acquire the “cultural capital” required to succeed at university. The research reported on in this thesis examined the drafting-responding process as it is used to develop students’ writing in the ELAP course at Rhodes University. The process involved students submitting drafts of their essays on which they received constructive and formative feedback from their ELAP tutor. This feedback was then used to revise their essays before a final version was submitted for assessment. The research took the form of a case study with an essentially interpretive orientation. I examined the drafts (with the tutor’s comments) and final versions of seven students’ ELAP essays. Additional data was obtained by interviewing the students and the tutor. Underpinning my beliefs regarding the role of writing in learning as well as my orientation to research is an understanding of knowledge and learning as being socially constructed. All writing is embedded in and dependent on, not only the immediate social circumstances, but also the broader social and cultural context. In analysing and discussing the data in this research I used Halliday’s (1985) definition of context, in which he draws a broad distinction between the immediate context of situation and the broader context of culture The research findings showed that the drafting-responding process can help students with the process of developing the academic literacy they need in order to write essays within specific situational contexts, in this case, the context of the ELAP course. In addition, at a broader level, it can help students to begin the process of being initiated into the culture of the university as a whole.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-03-13Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:58:19Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 correia_mrg_me_bauru.pdf: 540823 bytes, checksum: def536eb5670571fd6bb7152e29d86a3 (MD5) / A escola desempenha importante papel na socialização da criança, proporcionando diversas experiências, com repercussões diferentes na vida do indivíduo que por ela passa, sendo que o período escolar pode interferir diretamente sobre os comportamentos futuros do indivíduo e acometendo outras instâncias como relacionamento com colegas e com a família. A literatura aponta para correlações entre o baixo rendimento acadêmico e a emissão de problemas de comportamento, mas também traz como uma variável importante as relações estabelecidas entre professores e alunos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar os efeitos de uma intervenção com professores sobre os repertórios comportamental e acadêmico de alunos. Participaram deste estudo quatro professores do Ciclo I do Ensino Fundamental, de uma escola estadual de um município do interior do estado de São Paulo. Essas professoras foram solicitadas a indicar cinco alunos de sua sala com problemas de comportamento (GI) e tiveram outros cinco sorteados (GS) cada uma, totalizando 40 alunos. O instrumento utilizado para obter o rendimento acadêmico foi o Teste de Desempenho Escolar (TDE) e para verificar o repertório acadêmico as professoras responderam ao Questionário de Comportamentos Socialmente Adequados para professores (QCSA-PR) e a Escala de Comportamentos Infantis (ECI). O procedimento constou de cinco etapas: Etapa Preliminar - procedimentos éticos e caracterização dos participantes; Etapa I - avaliação do rendimento acadêmico e comportamental dos alunos: Etapa II - Intervenção através do curso O Manejo Comportamental do Professor em Sala de Aula; Etapa III - Reavaliação do rendimento acadêmico e comportamental dos alunos e Etapa IV - Devolutiva e avaliação do processo. Como principais resultados temos que a maioria dos alunos de GI e de GS, tanto na Etapa I quanto na Etapa III tiveram desempenhos... / The school has a major role on the child's socialization, providing various experiences, with different repercussions on the individual's life, whereas the school period can have a direct impact on the individual's future behavior and relating to other areas such as the relationship with colleagues and family. The literature points out to correlations between low academic development and the emission on behavior problems, but also brings an important variable on the relations established between teachers and students. The objective of this work was to verify the effects of an intervention with teacher, about the repertoire of behavioral and academic students. For this reason, four teachers of the first cycle of Basic Schooling have participated, from a small city state school in São Paulo. These teachers were asked to indicate five students from their classroom, with behavior problems (GIC), and other five students randomly selected, each one, with the total of 40 students. The instrument used to obtain academic output was the School Output Test (TDE), and to verify academic repertory, the teachers answered to a Questionnaire of Socially Adequate Behavior for teachers (QSCA-PR), and the Scale of Infantile Behavior (ECI). The procedure was composed of five stages: Preliminary Stage-ethical procedures and characterization of participants; Stage I- Evaluation of Academic Output and Behavior: Stage II- Intervention through the course the Conduct Manage of the Teacher in the Classroom: ; Stage III - Reevaluation of Academic Output and Behavior of students and Stage IV - Delivery and process evaluation. The main results show that most of the GI and GS students, both in the Stage I and Stage III had academic output considered inferior to the their expected average level. But GS had superior academic output compared to GI, as well as being better evaluated on the QSCA-PR and ECI... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine the perceived development of life-long learning skills of Division I student-athletes and their non-athlete general student peers. Using grade point averages and graduation rates, athletics administrators are constantly evaluating the academic performance and growth of student-athletes by comparing their results with those of non-athlete general students. Though these traditional metrics are useful in many ways, there is little research on the self-reported development of life-long learning skills. Due to a changing global economy, employers are less concerned with the knowledge students possess at graduation and are more interested in a student’s ability to adapt to changes, think critically, and acquire information on their own and apply this new knowledge in an effort to create solutions to existing problems in a team based environment repeatedly over time. Collectively, these skills can be described as life-long learning skills. The Capacity for Life-Long Learning Index (CLLI), which is comprised of fourteen items from the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ), purport to measure students’ perceived gains on academic skills relevant to life-long learning. This study compares scores on the CLLI for several different variables, including student-athletes, non-athlete general students, gender, class, and ethnicity to determine whether there were differences in the perceived gains in life-long learning skills. On the basis of the results of this study, the following conclusions seem warranted: 1. There were no significant differences in the CLLI score for student-athletes and non-athlete general students. viii 2. There were significant differences between the CLLI scores for female students, both student-athletes and non-athlete general students, and their male counterparts. 3. There were significant differences between the CLLI scores for senior students, both student-athletes and non-athlete general students, and their freshman student counterparts. 4. There were no significant differences between the CLLI scores among students of different ethnic groups. "

Traditional healing is one of the most trusted methods of healing in South Africa, especially in rural areas, where health-care infrastructure is inadequate. People have depended on this method of healing since time immemorial. That belief has been strengthened by the fact that this method keeps people in touch with their ancestors. Traditional healers are trusted and believed to be the link between people and their ancestors. The Dwesa community is amongst the areas that still have strong belief in traditional healing. Traditional healers have a variety of methods of healing that they use, these methods have been trusted for people of all age groups. These methods are ukugabha, ukufutha and ukucima. Traditional healers prescribe them for both major and minor illnesses. They are believed to play a role in cleansing people from inside and outside. These methods together with other methods that are used in traditional healing are being explored in this study. This exploration is based on the fact that this information will be integrated into the teaching of isiXhosa to Pharmacy students at Rhodes University. This is an initiative to create awareness amongst health-care practitioners about traditional healing methods, so that they can caution and advise their patients about medicine taking behaviours, also to make them approach the subject in a sensitive manner. An isiXhosa course has been taught to Pharmacy students, as a pilot in 2007 and as an elective in 2008 onwards. This course deals with cultural issues in a broad manner, the issue of traditional healing specifically, and these methods of healing are outlined in the course, such that students have an understanding first of what a traditional healer is and their role in providing health-care services.