The study was undertaken as the first cycle of an action research project. It presents a case study that explores the potential of the combined use of self-, peer-, and tutor-driven assessment in enhancing students’ learning in a professionally orientated postgraduate media management course. The study also explores how such a process can contribute to students developing the skills and dispositions required by autonomous learners and professionals. In approaching these questions the study draws directly on students’ own accounts of their experiences and contrasts these accounts with the growing body of literature on participative assessment in higher education that has emerged over the past decade. The study begins by exploring how action research can aid in the development of valuable insights into educational practice. It draws on educational theorists’ use of Habermas’s (1971, 1972 and 1974 in Grundy, 1987: 8) theory of knowledge constitutive interests in developing a conceptual framework against which assessment practice can be understood and argues against instrumental approaches to assessment. Set against a background of outcomes-based education, the study presents an argument for privileging the role of assessment in promoting learning above its other function. It contends that this function is undermined if students are excluded from direct involvement in assessment practice. Informed by research into participative assessment, the study presents a thick description of a particular approach used during the action research cycle and explores how students experienced this process. The findings of the study support theories favouring the involvement of students in their own assessment and suggest that such processes can contribute to meeting students’ present and future learning needs.

The study set out to investigate the perceived effects of the Leadership Development Programme, a two-years training programme for school principals in the Ondangwa East Educational Region of Namibia. The objective has been to find out whether the training curriculum and content were related to what participating principals thought they needed to help them to do their work better, and improve their schools. Data were collected through interviews with two of the first group of nine principals who have completed the training. The study has found that the Leadership Development Programme helped the participating principals to experience personal changes and professional growth. Through the process of participatory action research, the Leadership Development Programme has been able to bring together theory and practice. It has also helped the principals to recognize their responsibility for planning, implementing and evaluation of action, and problem solving initiatives in their schools. The study has also found that the Leadership Development Programme recognized, and therefore applied, the element of experiential/adult learning. Although the Programme has had its basic core curriculum, its content and training process have been flexible in the sense that the Programme tried first to establish what participants knew, and then assisted them to gain a new and enquiring perspective on their knowledge and practice, which helped them to become reflective practitioners. While the study could not establish with a degree of certainty as to what extent the principals have taken up the processes of the training Programme in their schools, it has, however, found that there are many positive changes brought in about schools during the time the training was running. Secondly, while the study could obviously not establish a direct link between every change and the inputs made by the training Programme, it concluded, however, that the Programme at least brought about changes in the mindsets of principals, which were conducive to teaching and learning. What was important, though, was the question of how many of the initiatives were still bearing fruit three years after the training has taken place.

Orientador: Mauricio Compiani / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociencias / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T21:05:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_FernandaKeilaMarinhoda_D.pdf: 3448060 bytes, checksum: 15cbb76553325b92c0388c6341950ae8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: A presente pesquisa aborda a formação de professores a partir do projeto "Geociências e a Formação Continuada de Professores em Exercício no Ensino Fundamental", que ocorreu entre os anos 1996 e 2001, no Instituto de Geociências, Unicamp. O objetivo principal da tese foi reconstruir o processo formativo vivido pelas professoras a partir da reflexão sobre os principais aspectos teóricos metodológicos do Projeto. A análise privilegiada nessa tese parte do conteúdo dos relatórios das professoras participantes e da coordenação do Projeto, além de três entrevistas feitas com três professoras envolvidas no processo de formação. Esses dados possibilitaram um recorte de análise que abordou três aspectos principais. Primeiro, as Práticas de Debate e Reflexão do projeto, que embora guardem semelhança e tenham o referencial de Donald Schön como referência, foi uma prática que, nessa tese, é considerada em função do coletivo envolvido na prática colaborativa. Um segundo aspecto está relacionado à pesquisa do professor, pois o projeto privilegiou a formação do professor a partir da investigação que o mesmo faz de sua prática. Finalmente, o terceiro aspecto estaria relacionado às opções conceituais do Projeto: as geociências e as estratégias didáticas de natureza construtivistas. Nesse ponto, o interesse foi por destacar as ressignificações feitas pelas professoras no decorrer do processo formativo. Essa análise foi feita a partir do referencial bakhtiniano, especialmente, a teoria do enunciado pois, a partir dela a materialidade lingüística ganha contornos específicos e passa a representar e ser representada por sujeitos falantes integrantes de um determinado grupo social. Entre os enunciados dos relatórios e entrevistas, foi possível relembrar e dar novo sentido a diversos aspectos do Projeto Geociências, enxergando toda essa produção como apropriações das professoras em relação às demandas do Projeto. / Abstract: This research approaches the training of teachers in the context of a research project entitled "Geosciences and the continuing teacher education for elementary and secondary school", that was carried out between the years 1996 and 2001, Institute of Geosciences, at Campinas University - UNICAMP. The main goal of the thesis was to rebuild the educational process faced by teachers by reflecting upon the major theoretical and methodological aspects proposed by the Project. The analysis considers the content of reports written by participating teachers, the reports written by the coordination of the program, as well as three interviews carried out with three teachers involved in the continuing education process. The analysis of the corpus approached three main aspects: First, it approached the practices concerning debate and reflection attitudes in the context of the project. Although these practices present similarities to Schön's theoretical approach, in this thesis, they were adopted considering the collectiveness that was involved in collaborative practice in the program. A second aspect is related to the research process conducted by teachers; since the project has focused on the investigation that teachers carry on taking into consideration their own practice. Finally, the third aspect is the one related to conceptual basis of the Project, such as: the concept of geosciences, and the constructivist nature of teaching strategies. By analyzing the corpus, the main interest was to highlight the re-signifying process teachers implemented during the training process. This analysis was embedded in the theory of enunciation based on Bakhtin, through which the linguistic substance acquires specific contours and it is able to represent and be represented by speakers, members of a particular social group. The reports and interviews analyzed made possible to remember different aspects of Geosciences Project and re-signifying them in such a way that we considered that the teachers' production faces a constant process of appropriation and re-appropriation of concepts concerning the demands of the project. / Doutorado / Doutor em Ciências

Orientador: Maurício Compiani / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T00:25:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Garcia_FabianaBurgosTakahashi_M.pdf: 5270236 bytes, checksum: 1fa1e53fc6bf45eb1dcc6fa74e637d09 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: A presente dissertação tem seu olhar voltado para o currículo da disciplina escolar química e sua relação com as geociências. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido no contexto do projeto apoiado pela Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa de São Paulo (FAPESP) - Ensino Público intitulado "Elaboração de conhecimentos escolares e curriculares relacionados à ciência, à sociedade e ao ambiente na escola básica com ênfase na regionalização a partir dos resultados de projeto de Políticas Públicas", cujo recorte de análise era a bacia do Ribeirão das Anhumas, onde está inserida a escola estadual que foi cenário principal desta dissertação e onde atuavam professores, alunos e acadêmicos. Baseando metodologicamente na perspectiva da pesquisa-ação sugerida por Mckernan principalmente, foi possível sistematizar este trabalho de modo que a importância do professor na elaboração do currículo fosse evidenciada, como propõe o mesmo autor. Neste sentido, a pesquisadora, professora da escola básica, voltou-se para seus instrumentos de trabalho questionando-os e sugerindo alterações. Então foi realizada uma revisão dos documentos oficiais que contribuíram para a elaboração da Proposta Curricular do Estado de São Paulo para o Ensino de Química (PCEQ) sob o olhar da contextualização e interdisciplinaridade visando mostrar que as discussões acerca da elaboração de currículos com esta conotação não são recentes. Além disso, os cadernos do professor e do aluno que complementam a PCEQ, e o livro didático utilizado em sala pela pesquisadora também foram analisados abordando a presença ou não do tema "Química e Litosfera" bem como o tratamento dado a esta temática quando presente no material, uma vez que é sugerido nas Orientações Complementares aos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais (PCN+), porém ausente na PCEQ. Por isso que em meio a discussões e reflexões colaborativas do subgrupo Ensino-Aprendizagem, nas quais a interdisciplinaridade era discutida e utilizada como referencial para elaborar e desenvolver atividades escolares dentro do contexto local, e também com base nas lacunas encontradas durante estas análises, é que foi possível complementar o referido material. Dentre todas as atividades, podemos dizer que o trabalho de campo foi talvez o mais importante, afinal, foi possível perceber que os alunos tinham conhecimento para explicar a formação dos solos a partir das interações que ocorrem no ambiente, partindo de observações da paisagem local. Desta forma, pudemos nos aproximar dos objetivos de incorporar ao currículo de química o tema citado utilizando conhecimentos sobre a Bacia do Ribeirão das Anhumas, local onde a escola se insere. Enfim, a inserção do tema faltante na PCEQ vem suprir necessidades de conteúdos, enquanto promove junto com a abordagem local a superação de problemas reais e escolares, e tudo isso dentro de uma dinâmica de colaboração entre os atores envolvidos naquele cenário / Abstract: This dissertation focuses the curriculum of the Chemistry discipline and its relation with the Geosciences. This paper was developed in the context of the FAPESP Public Teaching Project entitled "Construction of school and curricular knowledge relative to science, society and environment at primary and secondary school with emphasis in the local conditions from results of public politicians projects" which focused its analysis in the basin of the Brook of Anhumas where the state school is located. This school was the scenario of this research whose professors, teachers and students maintained a collaboration relationship and learning to the development of this study. Using Mckerman methodological approach of action-research, it became possible to design a system of work with a view to emphasize the importance of the teacher in the elaboration of the curricular content, as the author proposes. Therefore, the researcher who is also a teacher at the secondary school, looked at her working tools, questioned them and suggested changes. Official documents that contributed to the elaboration of PCEQ were also reviewed in the light of context and interdisciplinary relations with a view to show that discussions about curricular contents using this concept are not new. Teacher's and student's notebooks which complement the PCEQ and the didactic book used by the researcher were also analyzed to ascertain whether or not they contained the theme "Chemistry and the Lithosphere" as well as how the subject is mentioned in the books, since its use is suggested in the PCN+ but is, however, absent from the PCEQ. Based on the collaborative discussions of the sub-group "Teaching-Learning", where the subject of interdisciplinarity was discussed and used as reference to elaborate and develop school activities within the local context, and also using the gaps found during these analyses it was possible to develop complementary material. Amongst all the activities we can say that the field work was perhaps the most important, as it made possible to perceive that the students had acquired the knowledge to explain the soil formation from the interactions that occur in the environment using as the starting point for their comments the local landscape. Therefore we could reach our goal of incorporating to the Chemistry curricular studies the subject above mentioned using the data of the basin of Brook of Anhumas where the school is located. At last the insertion of the missing subject in the PCEQ comes to suffice necessities of contents while it makes possible to overcome, with a localized approach, existing school problems promoting a collaborative dynamics among all the participants involved in that particular scenario / Mestrado / Ensino e Historia de Ciencias da Terra / Mestre em Ensino e Historia de Ciencias da Terra

Post independent Namibia adopted a decentralization policy which involved the transfer of decision-making powers and administrative authority from central government to government institutions, including schools, with a view to improving quality. However, despite new educational policies, Namibian educators continue to operate in a non-participatory manner and are unprepared for their role as change agents. This has created tension between the espoused benefits of decentralizing and the reality in schools. In such a turbulent situation schools need to be helped to understand the complexity of change in order to adapt, and OD plays a crucial role in this regard. OD is a consciously thought of and systematically implemented organization-wide improvement effort which aims at increasing organizational effectiveness and health through action research. Rather than a top-down change approach, the OD practice adopts a bottom-up approach to change. This study introduced and investigated an OD intervention in a Namibian rural school in Ohanguena Education Region, with the purpose of exploring participants’ perceptions and experience of the process and of the possible short-term outcome of the intervention. Its findings could be of significance to educators, organizations and future OD esearchers. The study is an action research case study located in the interpretive and critical paradigms. Multiple data collection tools were used during this study, namely observations, structured one-to-one interviews and focus group interviews. Interpretive analysis was used as the data analysis approach. The study found that despite OD being new to participants, it was embraced as a change strategy as it made significant impact on their understanding of organizations and conception of change which is radically different from the common top-down approach to change. The intervention further empowered participants with new skills of initiating change and problem-solving strategies. Apart from that, the intervention yielded a positive short-term outcome which motivated participants to adopt and apply OD in the future without underestimating challenges associated with the process.

South African schools especially those situated in previously disadvantaged communities, are faced with a myriad of challenges that school leaders have to deal with on a daily basis. School leaders are inter alia required to improve the running and functioning of their schools. A prerequisite for good schools is strong leadership. Transformational leadership seemed an appropriate focus for this research study, in which an action research approach was followed to deal with issues that impact negatively on the functioning of schools. The aim was to explore the potential benefits of this approach in terms of improving school functioning. A qualitative approach was adopted, as the experiences of the school leaders regarding action research as a tool to enhance the functioning of their schools were described. The aim was also to describe not only school leaders‟ experiences of action research, but also to interpret these so as to make recommendations based on the findings of the qualitative investigation, as to how best action research can be used as a tool for helping school leaders address issues that impinge on school functioning. This study was informed by phenomenology, and an interpretive as well as a critical paradigm. Multiple data gathering, such as field notes, observation and interviews were employed. In line with the qualitative approach, purposive sampling was used. The results of the research study appear to suggest that the benefits of an action research approach in improving school functioning relate to the transformation of the school climate, and that school leaders experience personal as well as professional transformation. This study recommends that action research as a model be incorporated into preparation programmes as well as professional development programmes for school leaders.

Bibliography: leaves 486-504. / The thesis is an action research study of the work of a university-based facilitator and a total of 34 teachers from four african primary schools in Cape Town between 1987 and 1989. The study is premised on the argument that teachers are important in developing quality schooling, and that teachers should be active producers of pedagogical knowledge, shaping the curriculum through their engagement in a process of reflection-on-practice. It examines a relatively under-researched area in action research studies - namely the role of the facilitator in the process of educational change. The reflective practitioners of the thesis title are both the university-based facilitator conducting 'second-order' action research into her own educational of practice, and the teachers Both levels of the 'first order' reflective practice which the facilitator tried to encourage reflection shape and are shaped as facilitator and teachers explore together the limits and possibilities of curriculum development. The second order research thus: informs the facilitator's action with teachers; generates practical knowledge for INSET; contributes to knowledge of staff development processes; contributes to the general literature on action research; and also provides a comparative dimension for those working in developing countries. The study outlines the historical and political context shaping educational work in schools between 1987 and 1989, including an account of the nature of intellectual production at african teachers' colleges. It highlights two key dilemmas in the facilitator's practice the dilemma of democratic vs directive practice, and the dilemma of only reforming the form and content of the curriculum vs the transformation of teaching. The study found that a recessive role for the facilitator was not appropriate where bantu education has severely limited teachers' exposure to alternative ideas of teaching and learning. The tension was for the facilitator to learn how to share expertise within a participatory framework in which teachers would take responsibility for their own learning. The study explains how teachers changed, or failed to change, in the areas of new methods, new materials and changing pedagogical assumptions - and the influence of the facilitator's interventions in all this. The limits of technical knowledge divorced from critical thinking, and the limits of emancipatory knowledge without technical skills are revealed in the work of both the facilitator and the teachers. A more nuanced reading of the reform-transformation dilemma, arising from the concrete experience of participants in this study, is suggested. Action research is evaluated as a project of possibility, both for teachers and for teacher-educators to research their own practice in pre- and in-service work. Based on the findings generated by this study, suggestions are made for democratic and reflective forms of INSET for teachers, as a contribution to the reconstruction of education in a democratic South Africa.

Bibliography: pages 71-78. / Educational Psychology has been defined in the past as an interventionist profession, mainly focused on the alleviation of educational problems that interfere with the educational process. Currently a paradigm shift seems to herald new opportunities for the profession to develop whole school approaches and devote less of its time to individual case work. Educational psychologists world-wide foresee a broadening in the focus of their work to include a larger commitment to consultancy and school systems development. The benefits are seen in terms of the more efficient use of time, eliciting wider ranging change and the opportunity for offering a preventative approach to service delivery. School systems consultation represents such an approach. This study explores the practice of school systems consultation using an action research approach. It is argued that action research methodology provides a framework to contain and guide the complex developments which emerge once the consultation gets under way. Central concepts in an action research approach such as collaboration, participation and reflection are analysed and reflected upon in terms of the opportunities and constraints they presented to school systems consultation as a service delivery option for the educational psychologist. The role of the educational psychologist in South Africa has been conservative and the shift towards a more socially accountable one seems inevitable if such services are to be regarded as appropriate. The role of the educational psychologist as change agent in the transformation process in the South African education system is explored in this study.

Bibliography: pages 53-58. / Following the events of South Africa's democratisation in 1994, the country is undergoing transformation processes in virtually all spheres of life. Education is widely accepted as the one field where transformation is most needed. However at school level so many' complexities exist, that the management of the process of change and transformation requires a new approach to the effective training and development of education managers. It is precisely in this regard, that this research report seeks to offer an insight into the existing situation and understand the difficulties involved in attempts to address this need, with specific focus on the need for training and development of middle and senior management. One notable attempt to address the need for formal training and development programs for education managers and leaders in order to meet the demands of transformation, is the organisation development (OD) approach of the Teacher lnservice Project (TIP). Embodied in the OD approach of TIP, is the philosophy and methodology of Action Research, which encourages self-reflective enquiry and allows participants to be active in their own transformation process. In an attempt to locate TIP within the existing literature, the study shows how much it breaks new ground in the field. This new ground is reflected in the role assigned to action research within OD. TIP's approach to educational management and leadership, has value to both historically disadvantaged as well as advantaged schools, because its understanding of transformation is not solely based on the acquisition of material resources. The present educational crisis has to do with the provision of adequate resources to especially disadvantaged schools. The Western Cape Education Department (WECD) has taken cognisance of the transformational role of education management, in that it has called on Western Cape Business to advise on school administration. School governance and management would have full responsibility for monetary allocations and thus schools would be trained to run like small businesses. As stated by the Executive Director of the WCED, 'being a principal will change radically and require thinking like a company MD', (Cape Times, 13 March 1998). However this begs the question of how justified the implementation of corporate world practices in education is. One should bear in mind that fiscal expertise is but one of the plethora of skills which current education managers require. OD through action research could seemingly effect transformation of the entire system within which that school operates. Conclusions drawn from this research report clearly point to the interdependence of educational transformation as espoused by TIP - to restructure and redefine school management and the national attempt to consolidate democracy within education. TIP helps to focus attention on the need to implement School Based Management (SBM) as an exercise of empowering the teaching profession, because in essence, a critical and constructive disposition is developed in educators through Action Research.

The expectation of graduating nurses today is to be knowledgeable and responsive to rapidly changing technology in the health care environment. Although federal mandates, Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations, and nursing program accreditation initiatives are pushing an "informatics" healthcare agenda by promoting the implementation of electronic health record (EHR) systems by 2014 in all healthcare facilities, very few US nursing schools provide students with access and training in, EHR systems. In addition, nursing faculty may not have a clear understanding of healthcare informatics; the use of information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision-making. Nursing education must address faculty issues related to this innovative paradigm in order to keep pace and participate as co-creators of relevant informatics technology curriculum that prepares graduates for real life workforce. Understanding the challenges, concerns, and successes in implementing informatics may help nurse educators as they develop curriculum and teach in this environment. This case study explores and describes, with nursing faculty of a small liberal arts college, faculty knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) as they participate in an action research framed curriculum development program for informatics academic EHR (AEHR) integration. The research question:What is the experience of nursing educators and nursing faculty members involved in the integration of an AEHR project framed in the Learning by Developing model at a small liberal arts college school of nursing? Significant insights as participants in the study influenced nurse educators' ideas regarding collaborative curricular design, meaningful assignments, and the importance of feedback.