This dissertation surveyed the validities of teaching the chemistry of water purification in South African schools using locally available materials (LAM) through the scientific inquiry (SI) approach. The researcher randomly selected four secondary schools that provided a small and purposive study sample of thirty-two Grade 11 learners and four teachers. The research design applied a mixed-method approach, consisting of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Within this approach, the outcome of SI instruction that integrated LAM was compared with that of conventional instruction through a quasi-experimental control groups design. The researcher identified in the analysis of interviews and questionnaires the most complex aspects of the chemistry of water purification for learners to understand as redox reactions, acid-base systems, precipitations, and chlorination. However, the use of LAM through the scientific inquiry approach made it easier for learners to understand the concepts. The high mean scores ( =80.88; SD=10.28) in Research-based Test 2 (RBT2), of the experimental groups taught through SI signified that those learners immensely benefited from an active and collaborative learning environment. The lowly scores ( =61.69; SD=4.21) of control groups could be attributed to a linear and passive participation of learners in the conventional classroom instruction. The marks of the two groups in post-test RBT2 were paired and contrasted using GraphPad software. The results showed that t =6.699, df =21 with a significant value of 0.0001, which is less than 0.05 (p<0.05), hence it can be inferred that the difference between the means of the two groups was not only statistically important but also worth an explanation. The higher performance scores in RBT2 and the Rubric Assessment Tool (RAT) in experimental groups represents that the intervention was successful in the implementation of instructional design in the the study. In addition, the learners had mastered the crucial aptitudes that included self-discipline in understanding, cooperative learning, searching relevant text on topic, hands-on or laboratory practice and logical thinking in problem solving by working through the SI activities that used LAM. / Mathematics, Science and Technology Education / M. Sc. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education with specialization in Chemistry Education)

This dissertation explores the integration of Buddhism and the practice of mindfulness into Western psychotherapy, starting with a sketch of the cultural and historical factors that shaped the beginnings of these institutions, and gives consideration to some of the major themes that have influenced the development of both psychotherapy and Buddhism which have given rise to the current proliferation of interest in Buddhism and mindfulness in the West. A secondary objective is to give voice to the obstacles, criticisms and concerns that have challenged the integration of Buddhism in the West, particularly in the amplification of mindfulness practices, which in having been appropriated into Western culture, have met with consumerism, competition and a culture of narcissism, all of which have subjected the practice of mindfulness to commodification and commercialisation. A revisiting of the original practices of Theravāda Vipassanā meditation to gain a deeper understanding of its original practices opens discussion around how Buddhism could then be selectively adapted, modified and reinterpreted to fit in with mainstream Western psychology, not as a religion, or as a philosophy, but rather as psychotherapy with a defined model and categorisation within a constructivist postmodernist epistemology. A third objective is to critically explore a detailed application of mindfulness as it is currently being applied alongside existing Western psychotherapy to ascertain its true efficacy in a clinical therapeutic context. Finally this dissertation highlights the need to move beyond the Eurocentrism in psychoanalysis by the automatic, unquestioning pathologising and marginalisation of religion and spirituality on the one hand; to the other of Orientocentrism as deification and idealisation of religion and the spiritual quest, on the other hand. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Religious Studies)

Thesis (Ph.D.(Psychology))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2013. / The research entailed a comprehensive study of vicarious trauma in short-term insurance claims workers, compared to trauma counsellors and a control group of holiday booking consultants. A well-known, comprehensive model of compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress, developed for therapists formed the basis of the study. The research attempted to determine whether this model can be applied more widely to include administrative populations exposed to traumatised clients on a regular basis. To this end, the model was deconstructed into its eleven constituent parts and each element was investigated in addition to other variables of interest to the study. This was done to determine the importance and applicability of each model element and other selected variables to the administrative context. A mixed methods approach was utilised, which combined quantitative and qualitative data. The results yielded by the study were collectively utilised to construct an etic and an emic voice from the research. At the same time, effects from vicarious trauma were considered from an overarching bio-psychosocial stance, systematically gauging effects on various levels of functioning. Scores from quantitative measures on secondary traumatic stress, negative cognitive schemas, empathy, social support and compassion satisfaction were statistically analysed, which revealed significant differences between the worker groups. Widely accepted relationships between the study variables were tested and found to hold true within and across groups. Regression analysis determined the roles of empathy, social support and compassion satisfaction in vicarious trauma, as measured by secondary traumatic stress and negative cognitive schemas. In addition, constructivist selfdevelopment theory was employed to interpret the negative cognitive effects from vicarious traumatisation. Qualitative data were utilised to further elucidate the role and nature of vicarious trauma in each of the worker groups. The themes of exposure to client suffering, detachment, level of empathic engagement, personal trauma history and difficult life demands were unearthed from the qualitative data, which illuminated the importance and role of each of these elements to claims workers. Other areas of interest, being utilisation of sick-leave as a means to cope, work-related illness, attitudes towards professional counselling, feelings evoked by traumatised clients, and the language utilised by workers in response to client traumata were investigated. Further effects on participants as well iv as effects that reach beyond the person were identified and examined. Effects on the social and work contexts were also elucidated. Finally, interesting themes that emerged spontaneously from the data were considered. The consideration of the various model elements and other areas of interest systematically revealed that administrative workers dealing with traumatised clients are also affected by the process of vicarious trauma. Furthermore, the model was found to be largely suitable to the context of claims workers. However, the model was expanded to augment its usability within the more general administrative domain. Finally, the overarching aim was to enrich, contextualise and elaborate on the experiences of claims workers within their unique work context, to facilitate insight and a deeper understanding of vicarious trauma in more administrative populations that have largely been overlooked in research.

A teoria de Jean Piaget sobre o desenvolvimento da inteligência tem sido utilizada na área de inteligência computacional como inspiração para a proposição de modelos de agentes cognitivos. Embora os modelos propostos implementem aspectos básicos importantes da teoria de Piaget, como a estrutura do esquema cognitivo, não consideram o problema da fundamentação simbólica e, portanto, não se preocupam com os aspectos da teoria que levam à aquisição autônoma da semântica básica para a organização cognitiva do mundo externo, como é o caso da aquisição da noção de objeto. Neste trabalho apresentamos um modelo computacional de esquema cognitivo inspirado na teoria de Piaget sobre a inteligência sensório-motora que se desenvolve autonomamente construindo mecanismos por meio de princípios computacionais pautados pelo problema da fundamentação simbólica. O modelo de esquema proposto tem como base a classificação de situações sensório-motoras utilizadas para a percepção, captação e armazenamento das relações causais determiníscas de menor granularidade. Estas causalidades são então expandidas espaço-temporalmente por estruturas mais complexas que se utilizam das anteriores e que também são projetadas de forma a possibilitar que outras estruturas computacionais autônomas mais complexas se utilizem delas. O modelo proposto é implementado por uma rede neural artificial feed-forward cujos elementos da camada de saída se auto-organizam para gerar um grafo sensóriomotor objetivado. Alguns mecanismos computacionais já existentes na área de inteligência computacional foram modificados para se enquadrarem aos paradigmas de semântica nula e do desenvolvimento mental autônomo, tomados como base para lidar com o problema da fundamentação simbólica. O grafo sensório-motor auto-organizável que implementa um modelo de esquema inspirado na teoria de Piaget proposto neste trabalho, conjuntamente com os princípios computacionais utilizados para sua concepção caminha na direção da busca pelo desenvolvimento cognitivo artificial autônomo da noção de objeto. / In artificial intelligence some cognitive agent models based on Jean Piaget\'s intelligence development theory have been proposed. Although the proposed models implement some fundamental aspects of this theory, like the cognitive schema struture, they do not consider the symbol grounding problem. Therefore, they are not concerned about the theoretical aspects that lead to the autonomous aquisition of the basic semantics needed by the cognitive organization of the agent\'s external world, as for the object concept aquisition. A computational cognitive scheme model inspired on Piaget\'s theory of the sensorimotor intelligence is presented. The scheme is autonomously built by computational mechanisms using principles considering the symbol grounding problem. The proposed scheme model uses sensory-motor situations to perceive, capture and store the finest grain deterministic causal relations. These causal relations are then expanded in time and space by more complex computational structures using the first ones. Those complex structures itselves are also designed in a way they can be used by more complex structures, expanding even further the causal relations in time and space. The proposed scheme model is implemented by an artificial neural network using feedforward architecture. The neural network output layer units progressively organized to compose a sensory-motor graph. Some known computational mechanisms from artificial inteligence were modified to fit to the zero semantic and the autonomous mental development paradigms, conceived in this work as the premises to handle the symbol grounding problem. The scheme model inspired by Piaget\'s theory implemented by the proposed self organizing sensorimotor graph in conjunction with the computational principles used, goes toward to the artificial autonomous cognitive development of the object concept.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:57:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciane Santos Rosenbaum.pdf: 6907932 bytes, checksum: 73fa79dd753c44164be51ff0aab23315 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-04 / Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo / This present work aims to verify: as compatible constructivist perspectives of learning with the planning of Trigonometric Functions; teaching the as researches in mathematics education field , which brings important results on the learning process may contribute to the organization of the Trigonometric Functions teaching that leverage best learning situations for students, as the performance of teachers of mathematics is revealed, with regard to planning activities in the teaching of Trigonometric Functions, consistent with a constructivist view of learning. We developed a qualitative study with two teachers and 70 students from the 2nd Grade of high school in a public school in the State of São Paulo. Its theoretical work of Simon (1995) on the use of HLT in teaching mathematics to formulate models of teaching based on constructivism. As a component of the Mathematics Teaching Cycle developed by Simon, the elaborate HLT was made use of the research findings for the development of Trigonometric Functions through activities and solve problems involving: constructions with ruler and compass, manipulative material, scientific calculator, construct graphs using software GeoGebra and paper and pencil. The results led us to conclude that the use of research contributes to the education organization of Trigonometric Functions; however you must provide access to such teachers to such research. Although the HLT are potentially rich, complex is the task of developing activities to accomplish a constructivist learning perspective. We note that participation in tasks involving the use of technology and material handling enhances the learning of Trigonometric Functions. However, the HLT is not prepared enough for learning to occur, because the teacher performance has a decisive role in mediating the construction of knowledge of the students. In the same way we experience the interaction and participation between students and teacher which is essential for learning / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo verificar: como compatibilizar perspectivas construtivistas de aprendizagem com o planejamento do ensino de Funções Trigonométricas; como as pesquisas na área de Educação Matemática, que trazem resultados importantes sobre a aprendizagem, podem contribuir para a organização do ensino de Funções Trigonométricas que potencialize boas situações de aprendizagem aos alunos; como a atuação do professor de Matemática se revela, no que se refere às atividades de planejamento do ensino de Funções Trigonométricas, de forma compatível com uma perspectiva construtivista de aprendizagem. Desenvolvemos um estudo de natureza qualitativa com 2 professores e 70 alunos da 2.ª série do Ensino Médio de uma escola da rede pública do Estado de São Paulo. Este trabalho, tem como fundamentação teórica os trabalhos de Simon (1995) sobre o uso de THA no ensino de Matemática para formular modelos de ensino baseados no construtivismo. Como componente do Ciclo de Ensino de Matemática desenvolvido por Simon, a THA elaborada fez uso de resultados de pesquisas para o desenvolvimento de Funções Trigonométricas por meio de atividades e resolução de problemas que envolveram: construções com régua e compasso, material manipulativo, calculadora científica, construção de gráficos usando o software Geogebra e papel e lápis. Os resultados obtidos nos levaram a concluir que o uso de pesquisas contribui para a organização do ensino de Funções Trigonométricas, no entanto é necessário possibilitar o acesso dos professores a tais pesquisas. Verificou-se que embora as THAs sejam potencialmente ricas, é complexa a tarefa de elaboração de atividades para que se efetive uma aprendizagem numa perspectiva construtivista. Constatamos que a participação em tarefas que envolvem o uso de tecnologia e manipulação de materiais potencializa o aprendizado de Funções Trigonométricas. Porém, a THA elaborada não é suficiente para que a aprendizagem ocorra, pois a atuação do professor tem papel decisivo na mediação da construção do conhecimento dos seus alunos. Da mesma forma vimos que a interação entre alunos, e estes com o professor são essenciais para uma aprendizagem significativa

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:57:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria do Carmo da Silva Rodrigues Miranda.pdf: 4466440 bytes, checksum: 78da9e3297c73fa1710f24e092943e46 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-13 / Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo / This study aimed to determine how to develop a Hypothetical Learning Trajectory (HLT), according to constructivist perspectives, considering the reading and interpreting of figures, charts and measures of mean, median and mode. Thus, It was analyzed the performance of the mathematics teachers in relation to the planning and development of a hypothetical learning trajectory, consistent with the constructivist perspective of learning. For the theoretical background, it was used the theory of Simon (1995), because it defends the formulation of models of teaching based on a constructivist perspective. The study is part of a research project entitled "Construction of Hypothetical Learning Trajectories and Implementation of Curriculum Innovation in Mathematics Teaching in High School." In order to answer the research questions, It was carried out a qualitative study, with the participation of three teachers under cooperation of the State of São Paulo and 90 students of the 3rd Grade of high school. The (HLT) was established by the researcher based on the results of researches conducted about reading and interpreting graphs and statistical charts, measures of mean, median and mode which includes tasks, containing charts of gross data, problem-situations, graphics representations and tasks involved in exploratory data analysis. Supported by the results found, we inferred that the use of research results contributes to the planning of teaching and learning situations, however, it is necessary to review how they could reach the teachers. It is considered that, despite the use of (HLT) be relevant and truly important as a reference point for planning teaching activities; its development is a difficult task within the framework of a learning process, according to the assumptions of a constructivist perspective. In addition to, it was noticed that only the (HLT) is not enough to happen a meaningful learning / Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar como desenvolver uma trajetória hipotética de aprendizagem (THA), de acordo com as perspectivas construtivistas, contemplando a leitura e a interpretação de gráficos, tabelas e medidas de média, moda e mediana. Assim, analisou-se a atuação do professor de Matemática, no que se refere ao planejamento e desenvolvimento de uma trajetória hipotética de aprendizagem, de forma compatível com a perspectiva construtivista de aprendizagem. Para a fundamentação teórica, a teoria de Simon (1995) foi usada, pois defende a formulação de modelos de ensino, baseados em uma perspectiva construtivista. O estudo faz parte de um projeto de pesquisa denominado Construção de Trajetórias Hipotéticas de Aprendizagem e Implementação de Inovações Curriculares em Matemática no Ensino Médio . Com a finalidade de responder às questões de pesquisa, realizou-se um estudo de natureza qualitativa, contando com a participação de três professores em regime de colaboração da rede pública do Estado de São Paulo e 90 alunos da 3.ª série do Ensino Médio. A THA foi elaborada pela pesquisadora com base nos resultados de pesquisas já realizadas sobre leitura e interpretação de gráficos e tabelas estatísticas, medidas de média, moda e mediana que contemplam tarefas, contendo tabelas de dados brutos, situações-problema, representações gráficas e tarefas que envolveram a análise exploratória dos dados. Apoiada nos resultados obtidos, inferiu-se, que o uso dos resultados de pesquisa contribui de forma relevante para o planejamento de situações de ensino e aprendizagem, porém, é necessário rever como estas poderão chegar aos professores. Considera-se que, apesar do uso das THAs ser relevantes e servir realmente de ponto de referência para o planejamento das atividades de ensino, sua elaboração é uma tarefa difícil dentro do âmbito de uma aprendizagem, segundo os pressupostos de uma perspectiva construtivista. Ressalta-se ainda que apenas a THA não é suficiente, para que ocorra uma aprendizagem significativa

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:57:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciane Mendonca.pdf: 3977557 bytes, checksum: fb98d9c9ddfea06e70f87610d14a30ce (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-02 / Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo / The present study aimed to verify the possibility to reconcile constructivist perspectives of learning with the planning of teaching in a collaborative work between researches and teachers, what refers to the theme Combinatorial Analysis, and verify the performance of mathematics teachers in the activities of planning education, consistent with the constructivist perspective of present learning in the Hypothetical Learning Trajectory. It is a qualitative study with three teachers and 104 high school students of two public schools of the state of São Paulo and has as theorical reasons Simon s works about the use of Hypothetical Learning Trajectory in the education of mathematics to formulate models of teaching based on constructivism. The results led us to conclude that the use of researches contributes to organizing the teaching of Combinatorial Analysis; that the commitment of the instructor when planning your lessons and the pratice in the classroom consistent with the constructivist perspective are fundamental to reach the expected results to the elaboreted Hypothetical Learning Trajectory; that the teacher performance has a decisive role in mediating the construction of knowledge of your students; and that the interaction and participation among students and teachers are essential for learning to occur / O presente trabalho teve como objetivo verificar a possibilidade de compatibilizar perspectivas construtivistas de aprendizagem com a planificação do ensino, em um trabalho colaborativo entre pesquisador e professores, no que se refere ao tema Análise Combinatória. Busca-se também verificar a atuação do professor de matemática nas atividades de planejamento de ensino, de forma compatível com a perspectiva construtivista de aprendizagem presente na Trajetória Hipotética de Aprendizagem (THA). É um estudo de natureza qualitativa com três professores e 104 alunos do Ensino Médio de duas escolas da rede pública do estado de São Paulo e tem como fundamentação teórica os trabalhos de Simon sobre o uso de THA no ensino de Matemática para formular modelos de ensino baseados no construtivismo. Os resultados obtidos levaram-nos a inferir que o uso de pesquisas contribui para a organização do ensino de Análise Combinatória; que o comprometimento do docente ao planejar suas aulas e a prática em sala de aula condizente com a perspectiva construtivista são fundamentais para alcançar os resultados esperados para THA elaborada; que a atuação do professor tem papel decisivo na mediação da construção do conhecimento dos seus alunos; e que a interação e a participação entre alunos e professor são essenciais para que ocorra a aprendizagem

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:59:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria de Fatima Aleixo de Luna.pdf: 1631180 bytes, checksum: 605733c786ce49e5974e370a56c3d4ac (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-11-26 / Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo / The aim of this research was to investigate the possibility of harmonizing constructivist learning perspective to the planning of education, in collaboration researcher and teacher in the particular geometry of space and check the performance of teachers of mathematics in relation to plan activities education, consistent with a constructivist view of learning. Part of the research project "construction of hypothetical learning trajectories and implementation of curricular innovations in mathematics in high school." The theoretical foundation was based on the works of Simon (1995) about hypothetical learning trajectories (HLT). The study was qualitative and involved three mathematics teachers from the public schools of Sao Paulo and his performances with 104 students in the second year of high school. From the stages of Mathematics developed by Simon, was elaborated HLTs, seeking proposing tasks that explore research, use of technology, everyday contexts and in other areas of knowledge and of mathematics itself. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and observations at two different times: before and during the development of MASD. It was found that although the MASD are potentially rich in order to produce situations in which the teacher participates cogito is constantly (re) organization of school planning, it is understood that the HLT itself does not guarantee a constructivist learning perspectives. Thus, it was found, as already mentioned by different authors, the teacher plays a fundamental role in mediating the construction of knowledge of their students. The performance of teachers, it was considered that this path is still challenging in the sense of teachers' willingness to approach the world of research and continuing education, relying on different methodologies and didactic procedures. For students, it was felt that their involvement has become more promising, when participating in tasks that involve the use of technology and materials handling, particularly in relation to the concepts and procedures of the Space Geometry / O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi verificar a possibilidade de compatibilizar perspectivas construtivistas de aprendizagem com a planificação do ensino, em colaboração pesquisador e professor, no caso particular da Geometria Espacial e verificar a atuação do professor de Matemática no que se refere às atividades de planejamento de ensino, de forma compatível com uma perspectiva construtivista de aprendizagem. Faz parte do projeto de pesquisa denominado Construção de Trajetórias Hipotéticas de Aprendizagem e implementação de Inovações Curriculares em Matemática no Ensino Médio . A fundamentação teórica apoiou-se nas obras de Simon (1995) a respeito de Trajetórias Hipotéticas de Aprendizagem (THA). O estudo realizado foi de natureza qualitativa e envolveu três professores de Matemática da rede pública de São Paulo e suas atuações com 104 alunos da segunda série do Ensino Médio. A partir do Ciclo de Ensino de Matemática desenvolvido por Simon, elaborou-se THAs, buscando a proposição de tarefas que explorassem investigação, uso de tecnologia, contextos do cotidiano e em outras áreas de conhecimento e da própria Matemática. Os dados foram coletados por entrevistas semiestruturadas, questionário e observações em dois diferentes momentos: antes e durante o desenvolvimento das THAs. Verificou-se que, embora as THAs sejam potencialmente ricas, no sentido de produzir situações em que o professor cogite e participe constantemente da (re) organização do planejamento escolar, compreende-se que a THA por si só não garante uma aprendizagem sob perspectivas construtivistas. Desse modo, constatou-se, conforme já mencionado por diferentes autores, que o professor exerce papel fundamental na mediação da construção do conhecimento de seus alunos. Quanto à atuação do professor, considerou-se que esse caminho continua sendo desafiador, no sentido dos docentes estarem dispostos a aproximar-se do universo das pesquisas e formação continuada, apoiando-se em diferentes metodologias e procedimentos didáticos. Em relação aos estudantes, percebeu-se que seu envolvimento apresenta-se mais promissor, quando participa de tarefas que envolvem o uso de tecnologia e manipulação de materiais, particularmente, em relação aos conceitos e procedimentos da Geometria Espacial

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:59:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Americo Augusto Barbosa.pdf: 1871211 bytes, checksum: b1d025c51844683af5341ce09c48231b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-12-08 / Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo / This dissertation is part of the research project developed by researchers at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Sao Paulo, which seeks to develop support materials and curricular innovations to school, taking reference to the notion of Hypothetical Learning Trajectories (THA), a concept used by Dr Simon (1995) as part of the 'model' Cycle of Teaching and Learning of Mathematics. The objective of this research is to analyze the possibility of reconciling perspectives of learning by teaching plans related to the reasons and trigonometric functions and verify the performance of a mathematics teacher in front of a proposal aimed at teaching a constructivist perspective. To answer our questions we developed a qualitative study, collecting data through contents the observation of lessons with teachers and students from three different groups of 2nd year high school public school Education of the State of Sao Paulo. The results indicate that: it is possible to reconcile learning perspective with the planning of education and how important the work of mathematics teacher for learning to occur. We conclude that not just one good result of education, interaction and participation among students and teachers are the main instruments to be made effective a significant learning in a constructivist perspective / Esta Dissertação faz parte do projeto de pesquisa desenvolvido por pesquisadores da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, que procura desenvolver materiais de apoio e inovações curriculares para o Ensino Médio, tomando com referência a noção de Trajetórias Hipotéticas de Aprendizagem (THA), conceito utilizado pelo pesquisador Simon (1995) como parte do modelo de Ciclo de Ensino e de Aprendizagem de Matemática. O objetivo da pesquisa é analisar a possibilidade de compatibilizar perspectivas de aprendizagem com a planificação de ensino relacionada às razões e às funções trigonométricas e verificar a atuação do professor de matemática diante de uma proposta de ensino visando uma perspectiva construtivista. Para responder às nossas questões desenvolvemos uma pesquisa de caráter qualitativo, coletando os dados por meio de relatórios de observação das aulas com professores e alunos de três diferentes turmas de 2º ano do Ensino Médio da rede pública do Ensino Oficial do Estado de São Paulo. Os resultados obtidos indicam que: é possível compatibilizar perspectiva de aprendizagem com a planificação de ensino, e o quanto é importante a atuação do professor de matemática para que ocorra aprendizagem. Concluímos que não basta uma boa sequência de ensino, a interação e a participação entre alunos e professores são os principais instrumentos para que se efetive uma aprendizagem significativa numa perspectiva construtivista

The changing landscape of demographics, technology, and diversity in the learning environment is challenging schools around the world to rethink their approaches to the implementation of high-quality teaching practices. Classroom practices are becoming more complex because educators have to ensure that their students are well-equipped with 21st century skills (e.g., Darling-Hammond, 2010; Dede, 2010; Griffin, McGaw, & Care, 2012). Educators, curriculum developers, and school administrators need to be more than experts in pedagogy. They are now required to keep up with current ideas, innovative instructional practices, and the results of a variety of educational reform efforts. Believing that teachers’ beliefs are the most important psychological construct with regard to instructional practices (Pajares, 1992) and that teachers’ beliefs are related to their choice of classroom practices and, ultimately, the students’ performance (Bybee, Taylor, Gardner, Van Scotter, Powell, Westbrook, & Landes, 2006; Staub & Stern, 2002), the author of this study utilizes the international data set of the Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS) 2013 to examine the associations between teachers’ constructivist beliefs, their self-efficacy beliefs, professional activities, and the school principals’ instructional leadership as related to lower secondary school teachers and principals in South Korea, Finland, and Mexico. These three countries represent the high and low performers in the global index of cognitive skills and educational attainment (Pearson, 2014). An account of their educational practices will provide some insights for stakeholders in school systems across nations. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that each country has unique teaching and learning conditions, and that conclusions reached in relation to such conditions do not apply across nations. A series of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) studies were performed for the present work to provide evidence-based information with practical implications to school administrators and educational policymakers regarding the development and implementation of leadership programs and teacher professional development. Additionally, an understanding of how the constructivist beliefs associate with the level of self-efficacy and professional activities will assist curriculum developers in higher educational institutions in the development of quality teacher preparation programs for the future teaching workforce.