While the word 'critique' appeared frequently in Australian legal education texts between 1987 and 2003, the meaning and the emphasis accorded critique varied widely. Michel Foucault's ideas about the close relationship between knowledge and power provide a theoretical framework within which this inconsistency of meaning and emphasis can be described, analysed and explained. Rather than monolithic, the discipline of legal education was by 2003 a dynamic nexus of distinct and competing discourses: doctrinalism, vocationalism, corporatism, liberalism, pedagogicalism and radicalism. Each of these six discourses was simultaneously a form of knowledge and an expression of disciplinary power within the law school. As a form of knowledge, each discourse accorded critique a different meaning and a different emphasis as a consequence of a range of historical, social and political contingencies. As an expression of power, each discourse was an attempt to achieve a set of objectives including the universalisation of a particular approach to the teaching of law and the enhancement of the status of a particular role within the law school. Critique, in a variety of forms, was a strategy employed by each discourse in order to achieve these objectives and to dominate and displace competing discourses.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Mar. 10, 2010). Thesis advisor: Deborah Ann Wooten. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Η παρούσα διατριβή έχει ως αντικείμενο τη μελέτη επιλεγμένων διαστάσεων της εκπαίδευσης των εκπαιδευτικών και συγκεκριμένα τη διερεύνηση της δυνατότητας ανάπτυξης κριτικού στοχασμού σε εκπαιδευόμενους εκπαιδευτικούς στο πλαίσιο της τριτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης. Σκοπός είναι η μελέτη της εφαρμογής στην τριτοβάθμια εκπαίδευση μιας σύγχρονης μεθόδου η οποία στηρίζεται στη χρήση της τέχνης και προέρχεται από το χώρο της εκπαίδευσης ενηλίκων. Ένας από τους επιδιωκόμενους στόχους είναι η εξέταση της δυνατότητας εφαρμογής της, σε τυπικό εκπαιδευτικό πλαίσιο και σε εκπαιδευόμενους που διανύουν τη φάση της πρώιμης ενηλικιότητας, προκειμένου να ενισχυθεί και να προωθηθεί η ανάπτυξη του κριτικού στοχασμού. Παράλληλα, η παρούσα έρευνα στοχεύει στη διερεύνηση πιθανών αλλαγών στις παραδοχές των εκπαιδευομένων, οι οποίες συνδέονται με την εφαρμογή της μεθόδου, εστιάζοντας ιδιαίτερα στη μελέτη του βαθμού διάρκειας και ευρύτητας των αλλαγών αυτών. / The present dissertation has as its object the study of selected dimensions of teacher education and specifically the investigation of developing critical thinking in learners and educators in the context of higher education. The aim is to study the implementation in higher education of a modern method which relies on the use of art and comes from the field of adult education. One of the objectives is the examination of the applicability, in formal educational context and to learners who are going through the phase of early adulthood, in order to strengthen and promote the development of critical reflection. At the same time, this research aims to investigate possible changes to assumptions of trainees, which are associated with the implementation of the method, focusing particularly on the study of the degree of maturity and breadth of these changes.

The educational reform policy in Namibia adopted the principles and practice of learner-centred education, a policy based on constructivist epistemology. This approach emphasises that learners are constructors of knowledge and that they must discover information and construct their own learning. Constructivist techniques require the use of critical thinking through learners’ active involvement in the learning process. The aim is for learners to use critical thinking to identify problems, ask questions, reason, examine and solve problems in real situations and make sound decisions. This approach provides learners with activities and experiences that stimulate them to learn to think for themselves and to ask questions. Therefore, teachers need to design activities that require learners to think critically and act independently through mastering these various modes of inquiry. The purpose of this study was to explore how the selected Grade 10 Life Science teachers understand and implement critical thinking in their teaching practice. I conducted the study in two secondary schools from the Omusati region in Namibia using a case study to gain insight into the implementation of critical thinking. Three data collection instruments: interviews, document analysis and class observations were used. The reason for conducting this study was to gain a better understanding of how teachers use various strategies to foster critical thinking skills in Life Science and the challenges they experience in teaching in secondary schools. The results of the study revealed that teachers have a theoretical understanding of what critical thinking implies and the role it plays in learning. They are also aware of the strategies used to develop critical thinking skills. However, these theoretical perspectives do not reflect in their teaching in that some of the strategies that the teachers used did not bring about meaningful learning. Learners are still required to recall factual knowledge, thus active involvement of the learners is limited. The study also revealed that there are specific issues that hamper the implementation of critical thinking, which include superficial understanding of learner-centered education, teacher-tell approach, overcrowded curriculum, inexplicit syllabus, lack of good examples from the textbooks and examinations, too short lesson periods, lack of language proficiency and lack of professional development. The findings indicate that despite the theoretical understanding of the teachers in this study, their actual practice of developing critical thinking skills is problematic. The study concludes that teachers should be encouraged to design better-structured activities in order to involve learners beyond just being listeners. In light of these findings, the study recognizes a need for ongoing in-service professional development to support teachers in modelling critical thinking to their learners and to teach them to think critically. The findings of the study will serve to inform both my and my colleague’s professional practice as advisory teachers with regard to what to focus on when advising and supporting the teachers in schools.

abstract: The purpose of this study is to impact the teaching and learning of math of 2nd through 4th grade math students at Porfirio H. Gonzales Elementary School. The Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) model serves as the independent variable for this study. Its intent is to promote math instruction that emphasizes problem-solving to a greater degree and facilitates higher level questioning of teachers during their instructional dialogue with students. A mixed methods approach is being employed to see how the use of the CGI model of instruction impacts the math achievement of 2nd through 4th grade students on quarterly benchmark assessments administered at this school, to see how students problem-solving abilities progress over the duration of the study, and to see how teacher practices in questioning progress. Quantitative methods are used to answer the first of these research questions using archival time series (Amrein & Berliner, 2002) to view trends in achievement before and after the implementation of the CGI model. Qualitative methods are being used to answer questions around students' progression in their problem-solving abilities and teacher questioning to get richer descriptions of how these constructs evolve over the course of the study. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2012

abstract: This action research study examines what common perceptions and constructs currently exist in educating adult immigrants in Arizona and considers how might the integration of citizen science with the current English curriculum promote higher order thinking and educational equity in this population. A citizen science project called the Mastodon Matrix Project was introduced to a Level 2 ELAA (English Language Acquisition for Adults) classroom and aligned with the Arizona Adult Standards for ELAA education. Pre and post attitudinal surveys, level tests, and personal meaning maps were implemented to assess student attitudes towards science, views on technology, English skills, and knowledge gained as a result of doing citizen science over a period of 8 weeks. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2012

Submitted by Murilo Oliveira (murilaum@gmail.com) on 2018-03-01T18:46:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 OLIVEIRA, M - TESE_VERSÃO_FINAL.pdf: 1798416 bytes, checksum: 11a7d41eb1cc82243837b512571a3510 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora da Silva Lopes (silopes@ufba.br) on 2018-03-01T20:15:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 OLIVEIRA, M - TESE_VERSÃO_FINAL.pdf: 1798416 bytes, checksum: 11a7d41eb1cc82243837b512571a3510 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-01T20:15:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 OLIVEIRA, M - TESE_VERSÃO_FINAL.pdf: 1798416 bytes, checksum: 11a7d41eb1cc82243837b512571a3510 (MD5) / Alterações significativas no que diz respeito ao trato com o conhecimento esporte requerem uma alteração significativa em sua concepção. Radicalizamos o debate partindo de uma concepção de esporte contra-hegemônica (prática social) que se expressa por dentro da contradição agonístico/lúdico. Esta concepção nos permitiu vislumbrar possibilidades de seleção, organização, sistematização e periodização do conhecimento esporte que atendam ao objetivo de contribuir no processo de humanização e no desenvolvimento do pensamento teórico dos alunos, alinhando- se, em última instancia a uma concepção de educação, de homem, de sociedade e de mundo revolucionária. Pelo debate com a proposição de trato com o conhecimento conforme esta é apresentada pelo Coletivo de Autores, discussões com a Psicologia Histórico-Cultural e a Pedagogia Histórico-Crítica, chegamos aos três eixos que regulam a atividade esportiva e aprofundamos os princípios curriculares para o trato com o conhecimento em sua relação com o esporte. A partir destas formulações tecemos considerações acerca dos ciclos de escolarização no trato com o conhecimento desta manifestação da cultura corporal. Concluímos com a observação da contradição que se apresenta quando se procura trabalhar pedagogicamente o esporte permanecendo-se circunscrito às concepções naturalizantes, biologizantes, dicotômicas e fragmentarias do fenômeno, o que dificulta sobremaneira o trato com o conhecimento esporte como um elemento que possa vir a contribuir no processo de humanização e no desenvolvimento do pensamento teórico dos alunos. Pautado no materialismo histórico-dialético, este estudo se soma aos que procuram contribuir na luta pela superação do capitalismo como modo de produção da vida, e na superação do esporte enquanto elemento utilizado ou para os fins da seletividade rígida, da competição extrema e da regulamentação inflexível, ou seja, o esporte quando abordado a partir de sua expressão de alto rendimento, fundamentado em marcos biologizantes, que atende a necessidades do capital; ou então do esporte simplesmente visto como um meio para outros fins, ou seja, como algo que não possui um conteúdo próprio que deve ser aos homens ensinado, mas que antes serve como um instrumento para que se veicule outros conteúdos. / ABSTRACT Significant changes with regard to dealing with sports knowledge require a significant change in their conception. We radicalize the debate based on a conception of counter-hegemonic sport (social practice) that expresses itself within the agonistic / ludic contradiction. This conception has allowed us to glimpse possibilities of selection, organization, systematization and periodization of sports knowledge that meet the objective of contributing to the process of humanization and the development of students' theoretical thinking, ultimately aligning themselves with a revolutionary conception of education, man, society and world. Through the debate with the proposal of knowledge treatment as it is presented by the Collective of Authors and discussions with Historical-Cultural Psychology and Historical-Critical Pedagogy, we reach the three poles that regulate the sport activity and deepened the curricular principles for the knowledge treatment in its relation with sport. From these formulations we make considerations about schooling cycles in dealing with the knowledge of this manifestation of body culture. We conclude with the observation of the contradiction that presents itself when one tries to work pedagogically the sport remaining circumscribed to the naturalizing, biologizing, dichotomic and fragmentary conceptions of the phenomenon, which makes it extremely difficult to deal with sport knowledge as an element that may contribute in the process of humanization and in the development of students' theoretical thinking. Based on historical-dialectical materialism, this study joins those who seek to contribute to the struggle to overcome capitalism as a way of producing life, and to overcome sport as an element used or for the purposes of rigid selectivity, extreme competition and inflexible regulations, that is, the sport when approached from its expression of high performance, based on biological landmarks, which meets the needs of capital; or of sport simply seen as a means to other ends, that is, as something that does not have a content of its own that should be taught to men, but rather serves as an instrument for the propagation of other contents.

The study deals with the RWCT pedagogical program - Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking and its application in the lessons of Religious Education. The theoretical part seeks to examene possibilities of critical thinking in the Religion, looks at the development of Religious Education and the Catechism and analyses the RWCT program in the context of currently on-going schoul reform. The practical part is dedicated to the structure of concrete Religious Education lessons based on the RWCT model.

One aspect of critical reasoning is the analysis and appraisal of claims and arguments. A typical problem, when analysing and appraising arguments, is inconsistent statements. Although several inconsistencies may have deleterious effects on rationality and action, not all of them do. As educators, we also have an obligation to teach this evaluation in a way that does justice to our normal reasoning practices and judgements of inconsistency. Thus, there is a need to determine the acceptable inconsistencies from those that are not, and to impart that information to students. We might ask: What is the best concept of inconsistency for critical reasoning and pedagogy? While the answer might appear obvious to some, the history of philosophy shows that there are many concepts of “inconsistency”, the most common of which comes from classical logic and its reliance on opposing truth-values. The current exemplar of this is the standard truth functional account from propositional logic. Initially, this conception is shown to be problematic, practically, conceptually and pedagogically speaking. Especially challenging from the classical perspective are the concepts of ex contradictione quodlibet and ex falso quodlibet. The concepts may poison the well against any notion of inconsistency, which is not something that should be done unreflectively. Ultimately, the classical account of inconsistency is rejected. In its place, a semantic conception of inconsistency is argued for and demonstrated to handle natural reasoning cases effectively. This novel conception utilises the conceptual antonym theory to explain semantic contrast and gradation, even in the absence of non-canonical antonym pairs. The semantic conception of inconsistency also fits with an interrogative argument model that exploits inconsistency to display semantic contrast in reasons and conclusions. A method for determining substantive inconsistencies follows from this argument model in a 4 straightforward manner. The conceptual fit is then incorporated into the pedagogy of critical reasoning, resulting in a natural approach to reasoning which students can apply to practical matters of everyday life, which include inconsistency. Thus, the best conception of inconsistency for critical reasoning and its pedagogy is the semantic, not the classical. / Philosophy Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Phil

South Africa needs an economy which is competitive and successful. Therefore, it is important that an education system will provide a skilled work force. Learners need to develop biology skills that will equip them for life, enable them to solve problems and think critically. Unfortunately South Africa is presently encountering a lack of skilled citizens. The reasons for this most probably is that the biology curriculum is mainly discipline-based, content-loaded and largely irrelevant, resulting in learners not furthering their studies in biology and related fields. The biology matriculation examination has a strangle hold on what is taught. Lengthy, content-loaded curricula emphasise the memorising of facts by means of expository teaching methods, leaving little opportunity to teach the application of information and skills to solve problems in real life situations. The teaching methods of biology are thus not sufficiently stimulating and motivating. Biology teaching should not only concentrate on facts or explain facts to learners, but should also concentrate on ways or processes by means of which these facts can be obtained. To implement a process approach where learners can develop basic- and integrated skills is not an easy task for those involved. The empirical research of this study, confirmed the findings throughout the literature study that various factors hamper the effective implementation of the process approach. It is important that negative factors such as 'large classes' and 'a lengthy syllabus' (in historically disadvantaged [HD] and advantaged schools [HA]) and 'lack of equipment' and 'resource material' (only in HD schools) which received high percentages in the survey, will duly be considered when implementing the process approach, curriculum 2005 or 21. These factors can exert a powerful influence on the success of any changes in biology education. To ensure the successful implementation of the process approach it is important that all teachers receive adequate in-service training to keep abreast with new teaching strategies and methods / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Didactics)