This study investigated home schooling as alternative form of educational provision in South Africa by focussing on the following aspects: • the nature of home schooling as alternative form of educational provision; • home schooling as alternative form of educational provision in the USA; and • the position of home schooling as alternative form of educational provision in South Africa. The nature of home schooling as alternative form of educational provision has been researched by means of a literature study. Home schooling within a system of educational provision has been investigated and it has been found that home schooling cannot be categorised within existing terms because it includes aspects of both formal and non-formal education and excludes aspects of both. Home schooling has moved from an initially traditional form of education to an alternative form of education, enjoying growing support at an international level. As an alternative form of educational provision in the USA home schooling has a sound legal foundation and has become an acceptable educational alternative. Home schoolers in the USA are very diverse with regard to various aspects, including reasons for home schooling. In regard of the structure of home schooling there are two extremes, namely the orthodox structuralists and the proponents of unstructured learning, with the largest group of home schoolers somewhere between these extremes. Available research indicates clearly that academically home schoolers perform very well and home schooling does not in any way disadvantage them with regard tosocial-emotional development or socialisation. Policy makers in the USA seem to be increasingly of the opinion that there should be some form of cooperation between public schools and home schoolers. The literature study on the origin and development of home schooling as alternative form of educational provision in South Africa revealed that, although the Constitution does not contain a stipulation granting parents an explicit right to home schooling, it does not make homeschooling unconstitutional. New regulations regarding home schooling have been announced by the government in November 1999 and are already operative. The empirical research revealed that home schooling in South Africa has grown phenomenally over the past two years. In South Africa home schoolers are also diverse regarding various aspects, but generally spend much time on formal lessons and mostly use previously prepared curricula. It seems as if educational reasons are the most important and religious beliefs the second most important reason for home schooling in South Africa. Some of the most important recommendations of this study are firstly that a partnership should be established between government and home schoolers. The government should take notice of research on home schooling and the opportunities that home schooling presents. Home schooling as alternative form of educational provision can be supplementary to the existing system of educational provision. Finally, education policy makers should also reconsider legislation regarding compulsory education rather than compulsory schooling. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2000

For many learners the school system works. Skills and knowledge are learned, social relationships are formed, and positive self-esteem and self-image as a learner lead to accomplishments such as a secondary school diplomas, opportunities for further education, and futures filled with a litany of choices. For others diplomas are not forthcoming, nor are futures bright with hope and opportunity. Schools in Ontario have struggled to develop engaging and meaningful programs for these other students; students identified as “at-risk” of not successfully completing secondary school. Making up nearly 30% of the secondary school population (King, 2004), these students struggle or fail to meet curriculum expectations often resulting in missed opportunities for the development of a solid framework for life-long learning. Educators grapple with the question of how to support at-risk students in classrooms and schools. This study provides an often overlooked perspective to the existing literature on pedagogy, curriculum, and programming for at-risk students; that of the learner. It gives a voice to at-risk students and offers educators and policy makers insights into how at-risk students experience learning, how they feel they learn best, what they need from their school setting, and what they identify as meaningful to their lives and their learning. Listening to the voices of at-risk students provides an authentic perspective of how to best serve at-risk students. This thesis tells the story of four at-risk students (key informants) in an alternative educational setting. In addition, one educational assistant, identified by key informants, provided information about the setting and further insights into key informants’ engagement in the curriculum and their learning. This study reveals stories of at-risk learners and what they see as relevant and necessary for active engagement with school and learning. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2009-04-24 18:54:45.539

This study investigated home schooling as alternative form of educational provision in South Africa by focussing on the following aspects: • the nature of home schooling as alternative form of educational provision; • home schooling as alternative form of educational provision in the USA; and • the position of home schooling as alternative form of educational provision in South Africa. The nature of home schooling as alternative form of educational provision has been researched by means of a literature study. Home schooling within a system of educational provision has been investigated and it has been found that home schooling cannot be categorised within existing terms because it includes aspects of both formal and non-formal education and excludes aspects of both. Home schooling has moved from an initially traditional form of education to an alternative form of education, enjoying growing support at an international level. As an alternative form of educational provision in the USA home schooling has a sound legal foundation and has become an acceptable educational alternative. Home schoolers in the USA are very diverse with regard to various aspects, including reasons for home schooling. In regard of the structure of home schooling there are two extremes, namely the orthodox structuralists and the proponents of unstructured learning, with the largest group of home schoolers somewhere between these extremes. Available research indicates clearly that academically home schoolers perform very well and home schooling does not in any way disadvantage them with regard tosocial-emotional development or socialisation. Policy makers in the USA seem to be increasingly of the opinion that there should be some form of cooperation between public schools and home schoolers. The literature study on the origin and development of home schooling as alternative form of educational provision in South Africa revealed that, although the Constitution does not contain a stipulation granting parents an explicit right to home schooling, it does not make homeschooling unconstitutional. New regulations regarding home schooling have been announced by the government in November 1999 and are already operative. The empirical research revealed that home schooling in South Africa has grown phenomenally over the past two years. In South Africa home schoolers are also diverse regarding various aspects, but generally spend much time on formal lessons and mostly use previously prepared curricula. It seems as if educational reasons are the most important and religious beliefs the second most important reason for home schooling in South Africa. Some of the most important recommendations of this study are firstly that a partnership should be established between government and home schoolers. The government should take notice of research on home schooling and the opportunities that home schooling presents. Home schooling as alternative form of educational provision can be supplementary to the existing system of educational provision. Finally, education policy makers should also reconsider legislation regarding compulsory education rather than compulsory schooling. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2000

The study of adolescent psychopathy has grown from being a fringe element in psychology to a mainstream topic for research. One issue that divides scholars centers on the relationship between conduct problems and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and their relationship to adolescent psychopathy. Some state the former factor has the most crucial relationship while other scholars categorically disagree, claiming that ADHD is the strongest. The majority of adolescents assessed for adolescent psychopathy are residents at state training schools; however, many of the behaviors associated with psychopathy are seen in students assigned to their district’s alternative educational setting. In order to gauge which factor had strongest relationship with psychopathy, 80 male students, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years old, placed at interim alternative educational settings for misbehavior were assessed using the Antisocial Process Screening Device---Youth Edition (APSD-Y) to determine level of psychopathy. In addition, ADHD was assessed using both the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children- Second Edition (BASC-2) and Conners-Wells’ Adolescent Self-Report Scale-L (CASS:L); likewise, both instruments were used assess conduct problems. Each assessment instrument used a self-report method. Results indicated that of the two factors, conduct problems had a statistically significant relationship with adolescent psychopathy, while the relationship between ADHD’s and psychopathy was nonsignificant. The implications are straight forward. Adolescents with impulsivity problems are regularly sent to interim alternative educational settings for misbehaving; however, the findings of this study indicate that impulsivity alone should not be the focus when considering pathways to psychopathy. Rather, conduct problems should be considered a contributing factor as it shares a significant relationship with psychopathy. A secondary analysis using an Independent T-test was used to explore the differences between the Low and High scoring APSD-Y groups. Clinical significance was found between the two APSD-Y groups with the BASC-2 Externalizing and the CASS:L Externalizing subscales, as well as the BASC-2 Conduct Problems and the CASS-Conduct Problem scores.

Traditional public-school settings are not meeting the needs of all students. Alternative educational settings have been established for students who struggled in traditional public schools. According to research by Beken et al. (2009); Cotton (2004); and Groves (1998), traditional schools often lack an understanding of social issues, positive peer relationships, personal interactions with teachers, and a school-wide emphasis on maturity and responsibility. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to identify leadership practices that alternative education leaders indicate are effective in increasing positive outcomes for students in alternative education programs. Alternative education program leaders from four public high schools in Southeastern Virginia were asked 11 interview questions regarding their leadership practices in developing and implementing an effective program and practices to increase alternative student outcomes as it relates to staff characteristics, attendance, positive behavior, and graduation rates. The alternative school leaders' interview responses were analyzed and coded for themes. The study findings suggest alternative educational program leaders who share their school vision, select competent and compassionate staff, and have an atmosphere of high academic expectations that foster positive relationships with at-risk students effectively increase positive outcomes for students in alternative education programs. The researcher proposes that the study's findings could contribute to research on best practices and strategies for promoting success in alternative education programs. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this qualitative research study was to identify leadership practices that alternative education leaders indicate are effective in increasing positive outcomes for students in alternative education programs. Alternative education program leaders from four public high schools in Southeastern Virginia were asked eleven interview questions regarding their leadership practices in developing and implementing an effective program and practices to increase alternative student outcomes as it relates to staff characteristics, attendance, positive behavior, and graduation rate. The study findings suggest alternative educational program leaders who share their school vision, select competent and compassionate staff. They have an atmosphere of high academic expectations that foster positive relationships with at-risk students effectively increase positive outcomes for students in alternative education programs. The researcher proposes that the study's findings could contribute to research on best practices and strategies for promoting success in alternative education programs.

Nosso estudo oferece a problematização político-pedagógica da experiência docente em um Cursinho Popular Pré Vestibular da Capital paulista (Cursinho Popular Florestan Fernandes), pesquisa que evoca em seus capítulos alguns tensionsamentos: a cultura da elitização do acesso ao ensino superior, os obstáculos ao ingresso no ensino superior pelos alunos de escola pública e a até mesmo como a urbanização de São Paulo tem reproduzido em larga medida, as desigualdades educacionais. Animados da convicção de que a resposta aos desafios que nos colocam as complexas questões da experiência educacional contemporânea somente pode ser pensada e enfrentada criativamente, em espaços de realização histórica não formais, os cursinhos populares acenam como instrumentos alternativos e originais não apenas de inclusão ou de preparo para o vestibular, mas, sobretudo, de um trabalho de empoderamento do estudante. As entrevistas e relatos das práticas que trouxemos afirmam a validade da estrutura do Cursinho como instância de transformação de um interdito inicial em experiências emancipadoras, tarefa que se realiza em conjunto e como ensina-nos Paulo Freire, de modo solidário. À medida em que se desenvolve a temática da construção de espaços que asseguram a oportunidade de acesso dos grupos discriminados, ampliando sua participação em diferentes setores da vida econômica, política, institucional, cultural e social, as reflexões finais do trabalho voltam-se a um olhar sobre o ensino da Filosofia no Cursinho, à maneira socrática: como gesto político e como potência do pensar, reflexo do trabalho de seis anos de docência da autora com essa disciplina. / This study presents an overview about the teaching experience in a political and a pedagogy approach on popular and alternative Brazilian courses to access higher education in São Paulo, capital city (specifically, Florestan Fernandes). Mainly this study demonstrate several tensions on the elitism cultural in access Higher Education, the barriers that students from public education face to access Higher Education and even how urbanization spaces in São Paulo city has contribute to raising educational inequalities. The many and complex challenges faced in teaching experience encouraged us to find it those answers out of the box creatively in a historical space of achievement outside the power of State and governments. The popular preparatory courses to acess higher education arise not merely as alternative feature to inclusion or to support students to access Higher Education, but, above all, as student empowerment work. To support our results in this study we show interviews and practice reports that confirmed the framework of popular preparatory as a space of transformation in an initial interdict in emancipatory experiences, a task that is carried out jointly and in a solidary way as Paulo Freire already stated. Once the thematic about building spaces as an opportunity to ensure access to vulnerable groups develops raising that participation in different areas of life (economic, politic, institutional, cultural and social aspects) the conclusions of this study turn to reflections about teaching of Philosophy in preparatory, as Socrates said: to teach as a political gesture and as a power of thought.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T16:38:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 KRISTIAN SGORLA DISSERT2.pdf: 2179710 bytes, checksum: 25e569a8175912896a75f34953cd20ae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-06 / Mastering the English Language is a complicated task in Brazil. Reduced study load, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate teacher formation and obsolete teaching material make it common sense to assign this problem to the low quality of public teaching. In addition, there is the conflict between the traditionally proposed way of building knowledge and the contemporary educational paradigm that valorizes the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the pedagogical practices. In this scenario, this study intends to find out if the English teachers ally the ICT to their teaching and learning processes in the state of Paraná s Public Education System present in the city of Foz do Iguaçu/PR. In order to do so, it s necessary to locate the context where education and technology meet each other, to understand how this last one enters the school environment. It s also fundamental to know how the implantation and the evolution of English Teaching happened in the Brazilian school curriculum, in order to examine its function in the state public schools. Finally, it s indispensable to know who the teacher of this school subject is and what technological structure the school offers him. For that, the research analyses qualitatively the aforementioned problem. A literature and documentary review gives the theoretical support for the interpretation of the data collected through a questionnaire applied to all the English teachers serving the State s Own Teaching Board and contracted over a Simplified Selective Process, who work with classes between the 6th and 9th years of 28 elementary schools from Paraná s Public Education System present in the city of Foz do Iguaçu/PR, during the school year of 2016. Through this questionnaire, it was found that the school, the teachers and the students are in different technological and language generations. And this, not the cliché of the educators resistance to the use of technologies or the lack of structure of the schools, is what precludes digital teaching practices. / Dominar a Língua Inglesa é uma tarefa complicada no Brasil. Carga horária reduzida, classes superlotadas, formação docente inadequada e material didático obsoleto tornam senso-comum atribuir esse problema à baixa qualidade do ensino público. Soma-se a isso o conflito existente entre o modo tradicionalmente proposto de construção de conhecimento e o paradigma educacional contemporâneo que valoriza o uso de Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC) nas práticas pedagógicas. Nesse cenário, este estudo pretende descobrir se o docente de Língua Inglesa alia as TIC a seus processos de ensino-aprendizagem na Rede Estadual de Ensino do município de Foz do Iguaçu/PR. Para isso, é mister situar o contexto no qual a educação e a tecnologia se unem, para entender como a última é incorporada no ambiente escolar. Também é necessário saber como se deu a implantação e a evolução do ensino da Língua Inglesa no currículo escolar brasileiro, para examinar sua finalidade nos colégios públicos estaduais. Finalmente, é preciso conhecer o docente dessa disciplina e que estrutura tecnológica a escola lhe oferece. Para tanto, a pesquisa faz uma análise qualitativa do problema supracitado. Um levantamento bibliográfico e documental dá o suporte teórico para a interpretação das informações coletadas por meio de um questionário aplicado a todos os docentes de Língua Inglesa servidores do Quadro Próprio do Magistério do Estado (QPM) e contratados por Processo Seletivo Simplificado (PSS), atuantes entre os 6º e 9º anos de 28 colégios de ensino fundamental da Rede Estadual de Ensino de Foz do Iguaçu/PR, durante o ano letivo de 2016. Por meio dele, constatou-se que escola, docentes e discentes encontram-se em diferentes gerações tecnológicas e de linguagem. E isso, não o clichê da resistência dos docentes ao uso de tecnologias ou da falta de estrutura das instituições de ensino, é o que impossibilita práticas docentes digitais.

Under the guidelines of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), all students with disabilities must be provided a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). This includes students who violate the law in regards to possession of a weapon or drugs, or students whose behaviors pose a threat to themselves or to others. Therefore, each school district must develop an Interim Alternative Educational Setting (IAES) where students can continue to receive a FAPE, where the goals and objectives of their Individual Educational Program (IEP) can be met, where they can continue to progress in the general curriculum and where their behavior can be addressed through assessment and positive behavioral interventions. The purpose of this study was to understand how the experience of placement in an IAES affected students’ behaviors and attitudes. The study examined the effectiveness of the research-based interventions used in the IAES from the perspectives of students, parents and staff and how the various interventions related to the characteristics of the program. Data were collected from students, parents and staff at the IAES through a series of semistructured interviews designed and conducted by the researcher. The findings from this study have a number of implications for improving the programs designed for students attending the IAES and for the operation of the program. Recommendations included providing opportunities for parents to gain educational experience and seeking out and involving more community organizations, agencies and citizens in order to develop a more functional and meaningful curriculum. Finally, it was recommended that the district reconsider the status and role of the district’s IAES in board policy. By restructuring Bayfront Preparatory School (BPS) as an accredited alternative high school, the school could receive funds from district, state and federal sources, which would allow the development of a comprehensive academic, vocational and counseling program. This would increase the opportunities for all students attending BPS to complete their high school programs and successfully transition to post-secondary education, training, or work.

In the Czech Republic, about one per cent of children grow up outside their own families, mainly children under the age of three. For this reason the Czech Republic has lately received several important challenges concerning a fundamental reform of the children at risk care system. The aim of my thesis was to carry out an analysis of the development and changes in the comprehensive care and in the situation of the children in the Children?s Centre Jihlava and in the Children?s Home Kamenice nad Lipou in the years 2005, 2010 and 2011 in chosen aspects. The research was focused on changes over time in the situation of concrete children?s homes, further on the changes in the provided care depending on the children?s characteristics and specific needs, and finally on the changes in the cooperation with the biological families and in the circumstances how the stay of children is terminated. To achieve these goals of my thesis, a secondary data analysis and SWOT analysis was carried out. Two files were analysed recording the situation in the Children?s Centre and in the Children?s Home during the the years 2005, 2010 and 2011.

Alternative educational tools have been investigated, in form of a meta-game structure, a computer-based educational software (Quest Atlantis) which was used in an after-school environment within the frame of Fifth Dimension site in Ronneby. The study is based on field material from five sessions, each of two hours. A first focus in this thesis is on the extent to which such a virtual environment can be used for educational purposes, to which extent it can supplement the traditional educational system. A second focus is on how appropriate the software is to its educational purpose and how it can be improved by means of participatory design. The analysis of the data shows that computer games are a rich setting for human learning, in a more dynamic, active and involving manner than traditional education. In this particular case, we came to the conclusion how the software has to be improved in order to suite children’s computer skills and we came up with an original method for involving users in participatory design. / Alternativa utbildningsverktyg har studerats, i form av en meta-spel struktyr, en databaserad utbildning software (Quest Atlantis), som har varit använt i en efterskola miljö, inom Fifth Dimension ramar, i Ronneby. Studiet baseras på fältmaterialet från fem sessioner, varje session på två timmar. En först fokuspunkt i det här arbetet koncentrerar sig på: till vilken mån en sådan virtuel miljö kan användas för utbildnigssyfte och kan supplimentera det traditionella utbildningssystemet. En andra fokupunkt koncentrerar sig på hur lämpligt mjukvara är för dess utbildningssyften och hur den kan förbättras med hjälp av participatory design. Analysen av data visar att dataspel är rika miljöer för mänsklig lärande, på ett mer dynamiskt, aktivt och involverande sätt än traditionell utbildning. I det här studiet har vi kommit fram till att hur man kan förbättra mjukvaran för att passa barnens datavana och vi har uppfunnit en original metod för att involvera användare i participatory design. / This thesis has been conducted at the Department of Human Work Science, Media Technology and Humanities at Blekinge Institute of Technology in the fields of work science and computer science.