In today’s education context, not all young people are able to complete their high school education. In fact, in 2016, the number of low-income young people ages 16 to 24 years who did not complete high school or were not enrolled in high school was 3.7 times higher than those of high-income families (McFarland et al., 2018). This may be due to discipline policies, conflicts with teachers and administrators, and other factors creating a poor school climate. The COVID-19 pandemic further created a sense of isolation amongst many students, causing disengagement from traditional approaches and revealing a need for an increased focus on community building. Sense of belonging is an important factor impacting school climate, academic outcomes, and well-being for students. However, research regarding the practices which foster belonging is limited. This qualitative study investigated teacher perceptions of sense of belonging in their context, as well as the classroom and school-wide practices that influence and foster a sense of belonging with their students. Findings suggest that student belonging is observable, impacted by previous schooling experiences, and fostered through caring, relational practices. Findings reveal effective classroom and school-wide practices linked to elements of critical hope that teachers used in order to build a sense of belonging with their students. Findings culminate in a graphic displaying these practices which could serve as a framework for implementation. In order to create classroom environments that empower students, the findings suggest the need for teachers to apply practices such as setting community agreements; embracing student-centered, collaborative instruction; and having hard conversations instead of removing students from class. This research indicates the need for school site leaders to review existing school policies and practices to be more inclusive of high-need students. The findings also suggest that policy makers allocate increased funding for schools to become community centers, allowing them to better foster social interaction and recreational activities.

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine how teachers of primary school students view the concept of information literacy and their classroom practices related to this subject. In addition, the study was designed to compare teachers’ understanding of information literacy in two European countries, Norway and Hungary. In spite of the fact that both countries are European developed countries with a similar culture and educational purposes, the economic difference can affect their possibilities to profit from the rapidly developing internet and information technologies. This study investigates the assumption that the differences between teachers’ answers in the two countries will be more and more significant on each further step of Van Dijk’s model of access: motivational, material, skills, and usage access. The study has a socio-economic perspective and the empirical data was collected through quantitative web-based questionnaire. The findings indicate that most of the teachers have a good understanding of the concept of information literacy and they are aware of the importance of information literacy skills to some level. Exploring the teachers’ classroom practices, I found that they do teach information literacy skills, and they do have classroom practices which can facilitate the improvement of information literacy skills, but there is a difference between the Norwegian and Hungarian teachers’ practices. The findings of the study confirm my initial assumption and are consistent with the pattern that I would expect to find according to the Van Dijk’s model, and thus, with the influence of the socio-economic features on teachers’ view on information literacy and their classroom practices related to teaching information literacy skills.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / "This study is guided by theories about educational policy implementation and their implications for teaching. These theories underline the notion that educational reform is a progress and it iv comes in cycles. According to Tyack and Cuban (1995), the first cycle (policy talk) is for diagnosing problems and for advocacy of solutions. It is followed by policy action; then actual implementation of the plan. The implications for these theories therefore imply that teachers play an important role in any educational reform and as such should be involved in any decision making and policy implementation in order to make any change in education a worthwhile process (Fullan, 2001; Helsby, 1999; Tyack and Cuban, 1995). This study focused on the implementation of the policy document Towards education for All: A development brief for education, culture, and training and its implications on mathematics teachers at secondary schools. The policy document highlights the main features of Learner-Centered approaches. Therefore, the aim of the study is to investigate how mathematics teachers implement Learner-Centered Education in Mathematics classrooms in Namibia..."

This study aims to explore teacher beliefs on accents in the classroom and how they affect classroom practices as well as the teachers views on the LFC approach. Furthermore, the study investigates whether there exists a possible disconnect between teachers and the Swedish National Agency for Education when it comes to deciding what approach to take when teaching English pronunciation. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with five Secondary school and Upper Secondary School English teachers in Sweden, whose work experience ranged from six months to 22 years. The study found that the teachers with more experience were more likely to prefer the inner circle English accents and use them as a benchmark for correctness. Phenomena like the native-speaker ideal, which means to idealize native speakers and view them as better speakers of English, can be linked to the teachers age and experience. Moreover, some teachers expressed feeling pressure from students to sound native-like and felt disfavored as some schools showed a preference for hiring native speakers as English teachers. Thus, a haloeffect for teachers speaking with an inner-circle English accent was identified, which affects students’ and employers’ perception of non-native EFL-teachers. The study also found that while some of the teachers were familiar with the Lingua Franca Core model, none of them had taught it. The study concludes that there is a disconnect between the teachers and Skolverket’s steering documents, as most of the teachers felt that Skolverket does not explicitly call for pronunciation teaching and were unsure of the demands. Furthermore, this calls for clearer demands from Skolverket as well as re-formation programs for experienced teacher to change their beliefs on non-native accents.

This literature review examines two major areas: firstly, the impact of teachers’ knowledge about formative assessment on teachers' practices in the classroom; secondly, the role of formative assessment in raising students’ metacognition and how formative activities lead to raising students’ self-awareness and self-regulation. This paper also aims to shed light on the interdependence relation between formative assessment and teaching in general. Ten different primary studies relevant to formative assessment and its effects on teaching/learning have been chosen to investigate the formative assessment in relation with the school subjects and particularly with English as a Foreign Language. The data was collected by exploring different electronic websites. The results of this literature review show that teachers' knowledge of the formative assessment has significant influencing factors on their practices and on supporting students’ metacognition; however, the implementation of formative assessment continues to be hazy.

The primary aim of this study is to gain insight into the level of formality in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms in upper secondary schools and in SFI (Swedish for Immigrants) classrooms in Sweden. This research specifically examines how EFL and SFI teachers perceive and integrate formal language into their teaching practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 teachers, including 5 EFL and 5 SFI teachers to gather qualitative data. The interviews ranged from 20-45 minutes and were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a thematic analysis to identify recurring themes and patterns within the interview transcripts. The findings reveal distinct perceptions and practices between EFL and SFI teachers regarding formal language. EFL teachers view formal language as essential for promoting social norms, such as politeness and respect. They incorporate formal language using formal texts, advanced formal vocabulary, and sentence structures. Some EFL teachers prioritize the use of formal language based on specific lesson goals, while others are influenced by the informal nature of Swedish culture and prefer to use informal language in their classrooms. On the other hand, SFI teachers perceive formal language as flexible and context dependent. They emphasize practical applications of formal language such as writing emails and formal letters at a basic level. SFI teachers focus on clarity and correctness over strict formal language rules and the aim of such focus is to ensure that the students learn the basic Swedish language necessary for social integration.

<p dir="ltr">The study was conducted to understand teacher’s experience of burnout and its course, in addition to how burnout is related to classroom factors and student experiences. I used a person-centered approach, which accounted for all three burnout dimensions (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low perceived accomplishment), to characterize different patterns of burnout and investigate the various changes of burnout patterns from fall to spring over a school year. I conducted secondary analysis of survey data collected from 52 5th grade teachers and 693 of their students as part of a larger efficacy trial. The study’s results provide evidence that teachers experience burnout in various ways, as characterized by distinct profiles. Additionally, the results extend the existing evidence of teacher burnout stability at the sample level and indicate some degree of within-subject variability from fall to spring. Furthermore, the results add to the existing variable-centered literature on teacher burnout and provide evidence about the relations of teacher burnout patterns to teacher perceived conflict with students, student-reported teacher discipline, and student cognitive engagement. Moreover, the study’s results highlight four limitations in the research on teacher burnout, regarding the application of the three-dimensional model to teachers, appropriateness of burnout subscales and items, reliance on one-time point data, and reliance on survey methods, respectively. For all future interventions designed to address teacher burnout, the study’s person-centered approach to characterizing teacher burnout patterns can provide a useful tool that helps interventions tailor their supports to be responsive to the needs of teachers in specific profiles.</p>

This thesis investigates how high school students collaboratively solve naturally occurring spelling problems in an English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in Stockholm, Sweden. The study is motivated by the scarcity of research on spelling solving, both in terms of the observable spelling practices adopted by the students and in terms of the collaborative management of spelling issues in the second/foreign language classroom. The theoretical and methodological framework is multimodal ethnomethodological conversation analysis (CA). The data consists of video recordings of ten EFL lessons that took place during five consecutive school days. The thesis focuses specifically on three spelling solving episodes and analyzes at the micro level the process by which the students go from initiating to closing the spelling solving sequence. In providing fine-grained accounts of the students’ verbal and embodied actions as they collaboratively attempt to solve the spelling problems, the thesis respecifies spelling solving strategies as observable spelling solving practices. The analysis demonstrates how the participants orient to spelling solving as an important form-focused activity. Moreover, the analysis shows how the students integrate different verbal and embodied resources as well as cultural artifacts to accomplish the spelling solving. Finally, the analysis demonstrates how the students’ relative orientations to individual versus collaborative achievements and their management of epistemic rights and responsibilities in completing the task influence the sequential organization and the outcome of the solving sequences. The thesis discusses the findings in relation to prior work on spelling solving and also points out potential implications for second/foreign language instruction that may be of use for current and future EFL instructors.

The Case Study of the Developmental Appraisal System (DAS) is the main focus of this research inquiry. DAS is an instrument for teacher professional development aimed at enhancing the competency of teachers and accordingly, the quality of education. In the context of this exploratory study, informed by concerns about teacher learning, I sought to gain insight into how the implementation of government policy on teacher appraisal influences the way teachers strive to learn and change their practices. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to trace the implementation of government policy on teacher development in different contexts and to determine the extent to which DAS policy influenced teacher learning in these diverse contexts. The research inquiry is guided by one main research question: · What are the effects of developmental appraisal policy on teacher learning as seen through the eyes of teachers working in different resource contexts? In tracing the effects of DAS Policy, I focused on policy breakdown by looking at the views of implementers, i.e., educators at the level of the school. The study also explains how teachers understand the policy, which helped to lay the empirical foundation for exploring teacher learning. The investigation draws on recent work on what is called “teacher learning” for the conceptual focus. The framework provided a descriptive function that helped to assign content to the new concept on “teacher learning” in education research. It also presented an empirical function and exploratory purpose that assisted in exploring the effects of DAS Policy on the teacher learning. In seeking responses to the main research question, I conducted qualitative cases of 12 teachers who have been involved in the various phases of DAS. Teachers were selected from different resource contexts and sampled on the basis of their different profiles. I used teacher testimonies composed qualitatively through multiple methods of data collection, viz. biographical data, free writing schedule, semi-structured interviews, critical incident reports and teacher diaries. From the data generated, the following are the main findings of the study: · Teachers find the developmental promises of DAS to be unpersuasive because of its identification with the previous inspection system, and because of teachers’ identification with more powerful sources of learning. · The failure of the policy to give recognition in practice to the diverse contexts within which teachers work had a negative effect on teacher learning. · Teacher learning is an extremely complex process, and to pin down its critical features is very difficult in a developing country context. · Teachers found it difficult to ascribe “learning” to their DAS experiences given the largely negative experiences of the policy implementation process. · Context contributed to the disjuncture between understanding and practice in terms of teacher development and in particular to teacher learning. Finally, given the importance of teacher professional development in the reform process there is need for further research on how to effectively promote teacher learning. In addition, in considering the implications that diverse work contexts have for teacher learning in developing countries, policymakers can aim at effective programmes that will strengthen teacher learning. Therefore, research needs to address the link between teacher learning and diverse work contexts in different ways. / Thesis (PhD (Education Management and Policy Studies)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

This study explores teachers’ understanding and implementation of the multi-faith Religious Education curriculum in Botswana junior secondary schools. The multi-faith curriculum resulted from an educational policy change in 1996 that saw a move from a Christian-based RE to a multi-faith Religious Education (RE) curriculum. This study is based on qualitative case studies and draws data from classroom observations, interviews with four RE teachers, five RE education officers, eight RE in-service teachers and three groups of RE students. The main participants are two groups of teachers, those who taught the multi-faith curriculum and those who taught both the Christian based RE and the multi-faith Religious Education. In this study, documents such as the syllabus document, end of month tests, end of term examinations and end of three year junior secondary school national examinations papers were used to further highlight the classroom practices of RE teachers. Furthermore, the study adopts the teachers’ professional knowledge landscape as the theoretical framework, a view that is espoused by Clandinin and Connelly (1995), that stresses the importance of teachers’ knowledge. The following themes emerge in the study; teachers’ understanding of the multi-faith RE, teachers’ classroom practices in terms of their content and pedagogical knowledge, their classroom management, and especially discipline. The study reveals that there are no marked differences between these two groups of teachers in terms of their understanding of the curriculum and their classroom practices. It further reveals that there are various factors that impact on the practices of teachers such as their view of the multi-faith philosophy, assessment skills, use of students’ textbooks, mentoring and tracking of RE graduates from teacher training institutions. The study suggests that teachers need to have an adequate understanding of students’ environment, in terms of their personal experiences and social background. The study recommends that teachers in general and RE teachers in particular need to be involved on an occasion of any curriculum change because they are the main implementers. In addition, teachers need extended periods of professional in-service training on occasions of curriculum reforms. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted