This thesis investigated pupil and staff experiences of a curricular sports programme known as the Scottish School of Sport (SSoS). Participation in these types of sports programmes is a promising avenue to foster what is known as Positive Youth Development (PYD; Holt, 2008). PYD is based on a strengths-based model, in which youth are seen as having the ability to develop and enhance socially desirable characteristics. As greater responsibility is placed within the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) for enhancing aspects commonly associated with PYD such as social and emotional well-being, it is essential to understand how school provision may develop these characteristics. The majority of research involving sport and youth development is cross-sectional and quantitative in nature, with very few studies drawing on qualitative evidence. In addition, research involving curricular sports programmes such as the SSoS, and their ability to foster aspects of PYD is limited. This research employed a sequential multi-phase mixed methods design consisting of three phases (QUAL→QUAN→QUAL). The three phases of research began with an exploratory design, which sought to understand the research context through documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with associated SSoS staff (Phase 1) and then to investigate pupil PYD reports with a longitudinal quantitative design that was comprised of two survey questionnaires (Phase 2). The final phase (Phase 3) was explanatory in nature and utilised semi-structured interviews with pupils both enrolled and not enrolled in the SSoS; these interviews sought explanations for the results which emerged from the previous two phases. A further extension phase, which analysed Tweets and the physical environment of the school, was devised to add further depth to findings from the earlier data collection. Findings overall indicated that while participation in the SSoS was a positive and engaging experience for most pupils, it was unclear if the pupils perceive the positive outcomes to be transferrable to other contexts, which was a key overarching aim of the SSoS. Programme ‘selection’ appeared to be a self-validating factor for increases in pupils’ confidence in their athletic ability. With recent requirements such as ‘playing for the school team’ added to the programme documentation, the SSoS has, perhaps unwittingly, taken on a ‘sports-plus’ approach, where the developmental aims have become secondary to sport performance. This research adds to the continuing conversation regarding the possible developmental nature of sport programmes and the continued search for positive avenues in which to enhance social and emotional development and HWB in the school context.

Analiza el nivel de relación con el rediseño curricular en la calidad educativa de la Unidad académica Especial de la Escuela Superior Militar Eloy Alfaro Ecuador - 2016, mediante el desarrollo de la investigación cuantitativa de nivel aplicativo, con el cual se diseñó un estudio no experimental. Asimismo, se aplicó un instrumento de medición practicado a 05 Directivos, 30 Instructores, 140 Estudiantes del 1ero al 4to año. En el análisis investigativo de las variables rediseño curricular y la calidad educativa, en los cuales se manifiesta que existe relación significativa. Respecto a la variable rediseño curricular y la dimensión calidad educativa arrojo el resultados 0,846 lo cual permitió un resultado favorable puesto que la variable se relaciona significativamente en la dimensión estudiada. En cuanto al análisis de la variable rediseño curricular y la dimensión integración del conocimiento se consiguió el resultado 0,776 un resultado positivo. Asimismo esta misma variable se relaciona significativamente con la dimensión de tecnología de punta con un nivel de significancia de 0, 872 en la dimensión metodología de aprendizaje. En cuanto a los resultados encontrados en la dimensión talento humano también se consiguió una significancia de 0,816 y finalmente con la dimensión investigación para el aprendizaje se obtuvo un nivel de significancia alta de 0,803 demostrado la relación significativa. / Tesis

Orientador: Vera Lúcia Messias Fialho Capellini / Banca: Angela Magda Rodrigues Virgolim / Banca: Christina Menna Barreto Cupertino / Banca: Olga Maria Piazentin Rolim Rodrigues / Banca: Sandra Leal Calais / Resumo: A legislação educacional brasileira se baseia na teoria de Joseph Renzulli, criador do modelo de enriquecimento escolar (MEE), um modelo complexo cuja implantação deve ser gradual, respeitando a realidade de cada escola. Para ele, uma educação enriquecida pode beneficiar a todos. Este estudo objetivou elaborar, implementar e avaliar o MEE em uma escola pública estadual do interior de São Paulo, por meio da consultoria colaborativa. Participaram uma professora especializada, seis professoras do Ensino Fundamental e 80 estudantes. Os instrumentos utilizados para a coleta de dados pré e pós-intervenção foram: Avaliação de conhecimentos acerca da superdotação, Diário de campo, Formulário de Avaliação da Intervenção, Matrizes Progressivas Coloridas de Raven, Lista de verificação de indicadores de AH/SD, Lista-base de indicadores de superdotação, Escala de Motivação para Aprender, Escala Clima para Criatividade em Sala de Aula e Teste de Criatividade Figural Infantil. Os dados foram organizados em tabelas, para análise qualitativa, enquanto a análise estatística foi feita pelo SPSS, com os testes Wilcoxon, para comparação intragrupos, Teste-t e ANOVA para comparação entre grupos, com nível de significância de 0,05. Os resultados apontam que a professora especializada melhorou o desempenho no ACAS, após a intervenção, mas as demais professoras não demonstraram bom aproveitamento no mesmo instrumento, apesar de considerarem que a assessoria colaborou com sua prática. Houve melhora no... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Brazilian educational legislation is based on the theory of Joseph Renzulli, creator of the schoolwide enrichment model (SEM), a complex model whose implementation must be gradual, respecting the reality of each school. For him, an enriched education can benefit everyone. This study aimed to elaborate, implement and evaluate the SEM in a state public school in the countryside of São Paulo, through collaborative consultation. A specialized teacher, six elementary school teachers and 80 students participated. The instruments used for data collection before and after the intervention were: Assessment of gifted knowledge, Field diary, Intervention Evaluation Form, Raven Color Progressive Matrices, Gifted Indicator Checklist, Gifted Indicators, Motivation to Learn Scale, Climate Scale for Creativity in the Classroom, and Children's Figural Creativity Test. Data were organized in tables for qualitative analysis and statistical analysis was performed by SPSS, with Wilcoxon tests for intragroup comparison, t-test and ANOVA for comparison between groups, with a significance level of 0.05. The results indicate that the specialized teacher improved the performance in ACAS after the intervention, but the other teachers did not show good use in the same instrument, despite considering that the advisory collaborated with their practice. There was an improvement in student performance in the three evaluated constructs, especially gifted ones. It is concluded that the implementation of the S... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

This thesis examines the processes and outcomes of a composer-teacher's practice in the context of a New Zealand secondary school. The research was undertaken by the composer-teacher/researcher as a case study that integrates an investigation of the context with four action research music composition projects developed as a creative response to that context. Chapters One to Three comprise the background theory. Chapter One provides an introduction and overview of the research; Chapter Two explains and justifies the research methods. Chapter Three peels away and examines five layers of the secondary school context identified as significant in shaping the perceptions of the participants: approaching the context in a multi-layered way enabled coherent synthesis and appraisal of the relevant literature. Chapters Four to Seven comprise the four action research music composition projects. Each action research project focuses on a music score composed by the composer-teacher/researcher for a specific group of students at Macleans College, Auckland. The composition, production, and performance processes are investigated from the perspectives of all the participants. Each music project comprises a four part progression - plan (composition process), data (music score), data analysis (recordings of performances, surveys, and interviews with all participants) and reflection (feedback, and feedforward into the next project). Each phase of the research generated significant outcomes, such as the four original music scores. Chapter Eight summarizes the themes, issues, and patterns that emerged, and makes recommendations for further research. A model of co-constructive practice emerges from this research: teacher and students co-construct artistic worlds through performance. The model is not new (it is common practice, adopted by generations of musician-teachers) but is rarely acknowledged and currently un-researched. This research demonstrates the validity of the practice from both musical, and teaching and learning perspectives, and examines the strengths and limitations of the model. At its best, the creative processes co-constructed by a teacher with her students are shown to provide a crucible within which intense and creative learning experiences occur. Students of all levels of ability are shown to gain confidence in this context, and subsequently develop skills with apparent ease. The co-constructive model is limited in that it cannot meet the musical needs of all students: co-construction should be considered as one model of practice, appropriate for use in association with many others. This research provides 'virtual access' to a particular world of performance practice, revealing the secondary school context as a realm of authentic and valid musical practice.

La presente investigación, aborda el estudio de la aplicación y uso de la Evaluación Diagnóstica de Aprendizajes (EDA) y su relación con la Planificación de Gestión Curricular, como también con la planificación y gestión de la enseñanza, considerando que estas planificaciones y acciones tienen su base fundamental en los resultados que se encuentran en la Evaluación Diagnóstica de Aprendizajes. Así, el estudio da cuenta tanto de la conceptualización como de la práctica respecto a la planificación y aplicación de la Evaluación Diagnóstica de Aprendizajes en los docentes del Nivel Primario y Secundario del Sub-Distrito de Huatajata.

Reports on undergraduate medical education in the recent decade clearly point towards a need for greater integration of content in the medical curriculum. The pedagogy of an integrated curriculum embraces many models of integration, representing a continuum where full integration sits at one end and disciplinebased teaching at the other, with many intermediate steps between the two extremes. A vertically integrated curriculum seeks to bridge the preclinical and clinical divide in content by teaching the content concurrently rather than sequentially, but still retaining discipline boundaries. A horizontally integrated curriculum seeks to further break down the distinctions between the basic and clinical sciences, with the early years of the program focusing on the basic sciences and introducing clinical features into the program wherever possible as part of a gradual shift to a more continued collaborative clinical focus. At the College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, the overall redesigned curricular program will be phased in over the next four years of the curriculum, with a greater emphasis towards an integrated approach of the teaching and learning of human disease. In the first year, this has led to the creation of a patchwork quilt teaching style, where a cross disciplinary functional system incorporates elements of the traditional basic science components of anatomy, physiology, embryology, and histology, and an introduction of core general pathological concepts in a vertical and horizontal integrated fashion. <p>The main objective of this research, detailed in Chapter 1, was to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the two models of horizontal and vertical integration of the reorganized structural teaching of pathology through an analysis of the perceptions of medical educators and first- and second-year students in the undergraduate curriculum at the College of Medicine, and based contextually within a theoretical framework of the newly designed medical curriculum. <p>In this context, the literature review in Chapter 2 focused on four major areas that are the underpinnings of the pedagogy of pathology teaching in the undergraduate medical curriculum: (a) integration concepts in relation to medical education; (b) the practice of pathology teaching in the past, present, and future; (c) theories of curricular integration; and (d) its effects on the student learning environment. This resulted in the development of the pre-research conceptual framework for this study. <p>The in-service monitoring research design for this study included a triangulation of research methodologies using multiple data sources, multiple subjects, and multiple data collection techniques using comparative qualitative and quantitative research inquiry techniques. Data collected from the semi-structured interviews of the medical faculty provided not only an understanding of the educators perceptions towards the integrated curriculum, but also some insight towards their feelings of respect, power, and identity in this new integrative environment. Personal perceptions of fear, apathy, and stress and perceptions regarding accountability and sustainability of this integrative process were also observed as arising from this educational intervention. <p>Quantitative data analysis collected from the first-year student survey questionnaires derived the following grand mean responses with respect to the vertical integration of pathology teachings: student learning satisfaction with integration (3.6); the learning environment (3.8); student engagement (3.3); and student stress (2.9). The grand mean responses to horizontal integration showed a similar trend: student learning satisfaction (3.7); learning environment (4); student engagement (3.5); and student stress (3). Perceptions of the second-year medical students to horizontal integration of pathology teachings were comparable: student learning satisfaction (3.7); learning environment (4.2); student engagement (3.7); and student stress (3.1). A comparison of first- and second-year medical students showed a significant difference (p<0.05) with respect to the domains of student engagement with active independent learning. This difference may, perhaps, be directly related to the level of maturity of the first- versus second-year students, coupled with the receptiveness, awareness, and familiarity of the integration process between the two groups. There were no perceived differences between the horizontal and vertical integrative learning environments. Likewise, inter-modular and inter-system components within the vertical and horizontal integration did not demonstrate any major differences. These results are explored in greater detail in Chapters 4 and 5.<p>One of the noteworthy findings of this study was the statistically significant difference between the perceptions of first-year medical and dental students in both vertical and horizontal integrative environments in many domains, including student learning satisfaction (p<0.001); learning environment (p<0.001); and student engagement (p<0.01). There was no difference in student stress perceptions between the two groups of first-year students. The main theme linking these disparities seemed to be related to a lack of academic and vocational relevance of the undergraduate medical course teachings to the inter-professional composite cohort of dental students. This has led to the creation of an independent course dedicated to first-year dental students. This rapid in-service responsive evaluation thus recognized a major immediate dissatisfaction, resulting in curricular program change. Other curricular changes are underway to address student concerns of ineffective curricular content and time management. An unexpected emergent theme of this study was the recognition of a perception gap between students and faculty medical educators. This is probably nested in complex factors, such as generational learning differences and attitudes towards the learning environment, which are beyond the research scope of this study.<p>In conclusion, the results of this study strongly supports an overall balanced composite curricular design, including facets of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal integration that meet the needs of the student learner and satisfy the expectations of the medical faculty as the best practice plan for the instruction of pathology in the newly designed integrated medical curriculum. As learning is the central function of all education, perhaps the future of successful effective medical educational learning environments are those in which an intergenerational component of students and instructors can engage as true joint partners in curriculum organization to provide the right balance between faculty expectations and student learner needs.

In the context of Canadas Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system and given the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, there is a growing body of jurisprudence which reflects ongoing debates about who should ultimately maintain control of the formal and informal curriculum in our schools. In these cases, debates about curricular battles play out through rights conflicts, which our courts are required to resolve. These conflicts typically involve claims relating, directly or indirectly, to fundamental freedoms such as freedom of religion and freedom of expression as well as claims associated with the right to equality.<p>In this thesis, I aim to offer a critical assessment of the relevant body of jurisprudence. My critique draws on the theoretical work of Rob Reich and Jeremy Waldron. Reich suggests that our best hope of understanding and resolving the curricular struggles related to the control of childrens education requires a balanced approach whereby we attempt to reconcile the educational interests of three primary actors: parents, the state and children. Building on Reichs conceptualization of the different interest holders, I identify a fourth stakeholder, namely, teachers, who have interests which are germane to our analysis because these interests raise issues connected to curricular control and childrens education. In my analysis, I apply Reichs matrix of interests to the extant body of jurisprudence to ascertain whether or not our courts are alive to the different interest holders in its treatment of cases involving conflicts of constitutional rights. I also want to know whether the interests of the four stakeholders overlap or conflict with another. Finally, I want to know how these interests are conceptualized by the court and whether this conceptualization is consistent with, or differs from, the one offered by Reich. <p>Waldrons work offers analytical clarity for how we might better understand and resolve conflicts of rights, including conflicts involving constitutional rights claims. He maintains that rights conflicts are fundamentally about conflicts of duties and that we are likely to have more success reconciling conflicts of rights when we conceive of these conflicts in this manner. Applying Waldrons strategy for reconciling rights conflicts to the cases in my study, I posit that we can make sense of the reconciliation process by examining the duties associated with the rights in question. Although our courts do not explicitly draw on Waldrons theoretical framework in their legal analysis, I maintain that, generally speaking, what our courts do is consistent with a Waldronian analysis of conflicts of rights. <p>In my conclusion, I note that the jurisprudence considered initially seems to focus exclusively on two key guiding values: liberty and equality. Yet, a closer examination of the case law reveals a concern for two other important meta values, namely, efficiency and community. Furthermore, the notion of children as rights bearers poses special challenges. We might treat older children as rights claimants, on their own terms, because of their capacity to advance certain projects and to engage in certain commitments. Yet, the exact moral and legal status, for example, of a six- or seven-year old is still uncertain. Finally, I recognize that a rights only version of what happens in our schools provides only a partial account of educational reality. Other values such as duty, love, friendship and compassion are needed to furnish a richer and more nuanced account of morality for our school communities.

Aquesta tesi pretén: establir quina és la situació real dels Projectes Curriculars de Centre (PCC) a les escoles d'Educació Infantil i Primària de Catalunya; comprovar si el PCC ha estat un instrument de canvi i d'innovació; i configurar propostes per facilitar i redreçar l'elaboració, aplicació i avaluació dels PCC. Per aconseguir aquests propòsits s'ha partit d'una recerca bibliogràfica i documental que ha permès disposar d'un marc teòric de referència. Després, per poder realitzar el coneixement i anàlisi de la realitat hem determinat un marc pràctic a partir del disseny i aplicació d'un treball empíric. Amb la informació obtinguda en el marc teòric i pràctic, hem elaborat unes conclusions i finalment concretat unes propostes d'intervenció en diferents àmbits. El marc teòric s'ha concretat a partir de tres grans apartats. El primer, la reforma educativa i els nous reptes que ha suposat tant pel sistema educatiu com per als propis centres. El segon apartat es refereix al Currículum, al Disseny Curricular i al PCC (hem fet un breu repàs històric, i hem vist algunes fonts, definicions, models i components del Currículum ; hem comentat també les fonts en que es basa el Disseny Curricular català, els seus nivells de concreció i les seves directrius fonamentals; i pel que fa al PCC, hem recollit diferents definicions, determinat quins creiem són els seus components, diferents processos d'elaboració, la normativa que l'acompanya, i alguns recolzaments que el poden facilitar. I el tercer i últim apartat del marc teòric han estat els canvis i les innovacions (els hem conceptualitzat, i hem concretat les seves dimensions, fases, estratègies, el paper que hi juguen els equips directius, i les seves resistències i facilitadors. El marc pràctic ha tingut en compte una metodologia combinada de procediments tan quantitatius com qualitatius (aquests últims contrastats a partir de l'estratègia de la triangulació). El seu disseny i desenvolupament s'ha basat tant en un estudi genèric com en un d'específic. A partir de la creació i difusió d'un propi Instrument d'Avaluació del Projecte Curricular i la seva Elaboració (I.A.P.C.O.) es va recollir una mostra, que considerem representativa, de 109 centres en els quals ens hem basat per determinat l'estudi genèric. A més, es va realitzar un assessorament a 4 escoles pilot, per a que elaboressin, passessin i determinessin els resultats d'un instrument per avaluar el propi projecte curricular, i la seva anàlisi ha constituït el que hem anomenat l'estudi específic. Podem dir que s'ha fet una anàlisi de resultat força extensa i vista sota diferents prismes, a partir tant d'una anàlisi estadística com de veure que ha passat en cadascuna de les 41 variables d'anàlisi que s'han determinat. Una vegada acabat el marc teòric i el pràctic, hem concretat quines són les que considerem les conclusions d'aquesta recerca i les hem dividit en unes de parcials i en una única conclusió general de tota la recerca. Pel que fa a les conclusions parcials destaquem; d'entre moltes i a títol d'exemple; les que fan referència a: que per elaborar el PCC s'ha seguit un model deductiu; només s'han acabat de 2 a 4 àrees del 2n. Nivell de concreció ( menys de la meitat); s'ha dedicat una mitjana setmanal d'1h. a nivell col·lectiu i d'1:30 a 2h. a nivell individual; el professorat s'ha agrupat per cicles, les decisions s'han pres per consens, no s'està massa content amb els suports externs rebuts; s'ha manifestat moltes dificultats de temps; hi ha continguts dels tres tipus i ordenats de més a menys de: conceptuals, actitudinals i procedimentals; es fan poques adaptacions curriculars; els recursos són insuficients i mitjanament adequats; s'ha millorat l'avaluació; encara no s'està aplicant; com a formació es demanen assessoraments de centre; dintre de l'organització general del centre hi ha hagut una gran reestructuració d'ordenació i planificació de reunions; etc. La conclusió general diu que: l'elaboració i aplicació del PCC encara no la podem considerar un instrument de canvi i d'innovació. Està produint canvis en les dimensions intencional, estructural i avaluadora, però encara n'ha de produir més en la pedagògica i en la curricular. Així doncs ens preguntem: era necessari un PCC per aconseguir un canvi més organitzatiu que curricular? Per respondre a aquesta pregunta hem determinat els que considerem alguns dels errors que s'ha comès. També hem considerat quines han estat algunes de les limitacions d'aquesta investigació i hem acabat fent algunes propostes per facilitar i redreçar l'elaboració, aplicació i avaluació dels PCC d'ara en endavant. / Esta tesis pretende: establecer cual es la situación real de los Proyectos Curriculares de Centro (PCC) en las escuelas de Educación Infantil y Primaria de Cataluña; comprobar si el PCC ha sido un instrumento de cambio y de innovación; y configurar propuestas para facilitar y reencaminar la elaboración, aplicación y avaluación de los PCC. Para conseguir estos propósitos se ha partido de una búsqueda bibliográfica y documental que ha permitido disponer de un marco teórico de referencia. Después, para poder realizar el conocimiento y análisis de la realidad hemos determinado un marco práctico a partir del diseño y aplicación de un trabajo empírico. Con la información obtenida en el marco teórico y práctico, hemos elaborado unas conclusiones y finalmente concretado unas propuestas de intervención en diferentes ámbitos. El marco teórico se ha concretado a partir de tres grandes apartados. El primero, la reforma educativa y los nuevos retos que ha supuesto tanto para el sistema educativo como para los propios centros. El segundo apartado se refiere al Currículum, al Diseño Curricular y al PCC (hemos realizado un breve repaso histórico, y hemos visto algunas fuentes, definiciones, modelos y componentes del Currículum ; hemos comentado también las fuentes en que se basa el Diseño Curricular catalán, sus niveles de concreción y sus directrices fundamentales; y por lo que se refiere al PCC, hemos recogido diferentes definiciones, determinado cuáles creemos son sus componentes, diferentes procesos de elaboración, la normativa que le acompaña, y algunos apoyos que el pueden facilitar. I el tercer y último apartado del marco teórico han sido los cambios y las innovaciones (lo hemos conceptualizado, y hemos concretado sus dimensiones, fases, estrategias, el papel que juegan los equipos directivos, y sus resistencias y facilitadores. El marco práctico ha tenido en cuenta una metodología combinada de procedimientos tanto cuantitativos como cualitativos (éstos últimos contrastados a partir de la estrategia de la triangulación). Su diseño y desarrollo se ha basado tanto en un estudio genérico como en uno de específico. A partir de la creación y difusión de un propio Instrumento de Evaluación del Proyecto Curricular y su Elaboración (I.A.P.C.O.) se recogió una muestra, que consideramos representativa, de 109 centros en los que nos hemos basado para determinar el estudio genérico. Además, se realizó un asesoramiento a 4 escuelas piloto, para que elaborasen, pasaran y determinasen los resultados de un instrumento para avaluar el propio proyecto curricular, y su análisis ha constituido el que hemos llamado el estudio específico. Podemos decir que se ha hecho un análisis de resultados bastante extenso y vista desde diferentes prismas, a partir tanto de un análisis estadístico como de ver que ha pasado en cada una de las 41 variables de análisis que se han determinado. Una vez acabado el marco teórico y el práctico, hemos concretado cuáles son las que consideramos las conclusiones de esta investigación y las hemos dividido en unas de parciales y en una única conclusión general de tota la investigación. Por lo que se refiere a las conclusiones parciales destacamos; de entre muchas y a título de ejemplo; las que se refieren a: que para elaborar el PCC se ha seguido un modelo deductivo; solamente se han acabado de 2 a 4 áreas del 2o nivel de concreción ( menos de la mitad); se ha dedicado una media semanal de 1h. a nivel colectivo y de 1:30 a 2h. a nivel individual; el profesorado se ha agrupado por ciclos, las decisiones se han tomado por consenso, no se está demasiado contento con los soportes externos recibidos; se han manifestado muchas dificultades de tiempo; hay contenidos de los tres tipos y ordenados de más a menos de: conceptuales, actitudinales y procedimentales; se hacen pocas adaptaciones curriculares; los recursos son insuficientes y medianamente adecuados; se ha mejorado la evaluación; todavía no se está aplicando; como formación se piden asesoramientos de centro; dentro de la organización general del centre ha habido una gran reestructuración de ordenación y planificación de reuniones; etc. La conclusión general determina que: la elaboración y aplicación del PCC todavía no la podemos considerar un instrumento de cambio y de innovación. Está produciendo cambios en las dimensiones intencional, estructural y avaluadora, pero todavía tiene que producir más en la pedagógica y en la curricular. Por lo que nos preguntamos: era necesario un PCC para conseguir un cambio más organizativo que curricular? Para responder a ésta pregunta hemos determinado los que consideremos algunos de los errores que se ha cometido. También hemos considerado cuáles han sido algunas de las limitaciones de esta investigación y hemos terminado haciendo algunas propuestas para facilitar y reencaminar la elaboración, aplicación y evaluación de los PCC de ahora en adelante. / This Doctoral Thesis will try to establish which is the actual situation of the Curricular Project of the Centres (CPC) in the primary schools of Catalonia; to investigate if the CPC has been a tool of change and innovation; to configure suggestions to facilitate and re-address the elaboration, application and evaluation of the CPC. In order to achieve this objectives it has been performed a documentary and bibliographical research which has provide a theoretical frame of reference. After that, in order to acquire the knowledge and analysis of the reality it has been determined a practical frame from the design and application of an empirical work. With the information included in the theoretical and practical frame, we have elaborate the conclusions and, finally, a proposals of change in several levels have been established. The theoretical frame has been fixed from three central items. First, the educational reform and the new challenges posed both by the educational system and the schools. The second item refers to the Curricula, the Curricula Design and the CPC. A historical review has been done, and several sources, definitions, models and components of the Curricula; we have; the Curricula Design's sources in Catalonia has been commented, together with its concretion levels and its main directives; and, with respect to the CPC, we have selected a great variety of definitions, we have established which are, from our point of view, its components, several process of elaboration, its rules, and ways to facilitate the process. The third and last part of the theoretical frame has been the changes and the innovations (we have conceptualise it and we have clarify its dimensions, phases, strategies, the role of the directive team, and its resistance and facilitators. The practical frame has took into account a combined methodology of procedures, both quantitative and qualitative (these lasts has been verified with the strategy of triangulation). Its design and development is based on both a generic study and a specific one. From the creation and diffusion of a own tool of Evaluation of the Curricular Project and its Elaboration (E.C.P.E.) a representative sample was provided by 109 schools, which was used to determine the generic study. Furthermore, the elaboration, application and results analysis of a tool to evaluate its own curricular project for 4 schools was also advised. This process has been call the specific study. A quite extensive and broadly tested analysis of the results has been performed both from an statistical point of view as from the review of the 41 variables used in the study. Once the theoretical and practical frame has been finished, we have established the conclusions of our research, which have been divided in a partial ones and in a unique general conclusion of the research. With respect to the partial conclusions we would like to point out those stating that: in order to elaborate the CPC, a deductive model has been followed; only between 2 and 4 areas of the 2on level of concretion (less than a half of the total) has been finished; it has been devoted 1h on the average in the collective level and 1h30m in the individual level; teachers have been grouped by cycles; the decisions were took by consensus; more external help and time have been needed; the contents were of three different kind (in order of relevance): those addressed to the concepts, those addressed to the behaviour and those addressed to the procedures; the curricula are few adapted; more resources are needed and best adapted; the evaluation has improved; it is not yet being applied; the centres are demanding more advice; the meetings into the centres have been largely re-scheduled and re-structured. The general conclusion is that: the elaboration and application of the CPC can not be considered yet a tool of change and innovation. Its is the motivation of changes in the spheres of the intentions the structure and the evaluation, but it must produce still more changes in the pedagogical and the curricular. Moreover, we can ask ourselves; it was necessary a CPC to achieve a change mainly in the organisation and less in the curricula? In order to answer this question we have determined several of the existing mistakes. We have also considered which has been the limitations of this research and we have ended with several proposals to facilitate and re-orient the elaboration, application and evaluation of the CPC in the future.

Reports on undergraduate medical education in the recent decade clearly point towards a need for greater integration of content in the medical curriculum. The pedagogy of an integrated curriculum embraces many models of integration, representing a continuum where full integration sits at one end and disciplinebased teaching at the other, with many intermediate steps between the two extremes. A vertically integrated curriculum seeks to bridge the preclinical and clinical divide in content by teaching the content concurrently rather than sequentially, but still retaining discipline boundaries. A horizontally integrated curriculum seeks to further break down the distinctions between the basic and clinical sciences, with the early years of the program focusing on the basic sciences and introducing clinical features into the program wherever possible as part of a gradual shift to a more continued collaborative clinical focus. At the College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, the overall redesigned curricular program will be phased in over the next four years of the curriculum, with a greater emphasis towards an integrated approach of the teaching and learning of human disease. In the first year, this has led to the creation of a patchwork quilt teaching style, where a cross disciplinary functional system incorporates elements of the traditional basic science components of anatomy, physiology, embryology, and histology, and an introduction of core general pathological concepts in a vertical and horizontal integrated fashion. <p>The main objective of this research, detailed in Chapter 1, was to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the two models of horizontal and vertical integration of the reorganized structural teaching of pathology through an analysis of the perceptions of medical educators and first- and second-year students in the undergraduate curriculum at the College of Medicine, and based contextually within a theoretical framework of the newly designed medical curriculum. <p>In this context, the literature review in Chapter 2 focused on four major areas that are the underpinnings of the pedagogy of pathology teaching in the undergraduate medical curriculum: (a) integration concepts in relation to medical education; (b) the practice of pathology teaching in the past, present, and future; (c) theories of curricular integration; and (d) its effects on the student learning environment. This resulted in the development of the pre-research conceptual framework for this study. <p>The in-service monitoring research design for this study included a triangulation of research methodologies using multiple data sources, multiple subjects, and multiple data collection techniques using comparative qualitative and quantitative research inquiry techniques. Data collected from the semi-structured interviews of the medical faculty provided not only an understanding of the educators perceptions towards the integrated curriculum, but also some insight towards their feelings of respect, power, and identity in this new integrative environment. Personal perceptions of fear, apathy, and stress and perceptions regarding accountability and sustainability of this integrative process were also observed as arising from this educational intervention. <p>Quantitative data analysis collected from the first-year student survey questionnaires derived the following grand mean responses with respect to the vertical integration of pathology teachings: student learning satisfaction with integration (3.6); the learning environment (3.8); student engagement (3.3); and student stress (2.9). The grand mean responses to horizontal integration showed a similar trend: student learning satisfaction (3.7); learning environment (4); student engagement (3.5); and student stress (3). Perceptions of the second-year medical students to horizontal integration of pathology teachings were comparable: student learning satisfaction (3.7); learning environment (4.2); student engagement (3.7); and student stress (3.1). A comparison of first- and second-year medical students showed a significant difference (p<0.05) with respect to the domains of student engagement with active independent learning. This difference may, perhaps, be directly related to the level of maturity of the first- versus second-year students, coupled with the receptiveness, awareness, and familiarity of the integration process between the two groups. There were no perceived differences between the horizontal and vertical integrative learning environments. Likewise, inter-modular and inter-system components within the vertical and horizontal integration did not demonstrate any major differences. These results are explored in greater detail in Chapters 4 and 5.<p>One of the noteworthy findings of this study was the statistically significant difference between the perceptions of first-year medical and dental students in both vertical and horizontal integrative environments in many domains, including student learning satisfaction (p<0.001); learning environment (p<0.001); and student engagement (p<0.01). There was no difference in student stress perceptions between the two groups of first-year students. The main theme linking these disparities seemed to be related to a lack of academic and vocational relevance of the undergraduate medical course teachings to the inter-professional composite cohort of dental students. This has led to the creation of an independent course dedicated to first-year dental students. This rapid in-service responsive evaluation thus recognized a major immediate dissatisfaction, resulting in curricular program change. Other curricular changes are underway to address student concerns of ineffective curricular content and time management. An unexpected emergent theme of this study was the recognition of a perception gap between students and faculty medical educators. This is probably nested in complex factors, such as generational learning differences and attitudes towards the learning environment, which are beyond the research scope of this study.<p>In conclusion, the results of this study strongly supports an overall balanced composite curricular design, including facets of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal integration that meet the needs of the student learner and satisfy the expectations of the medical faculty as the best practice plan for the instruction of pathology in the newly designed integrated medical curriculum. As learning is the central function of all education, perhaps the future of successful effective medical educational learning environments are those in which an intergenerational component of students and instructors can engage as true joint partners in curriculum organization to provide the right balance between faculty expectations and student learner needs.

In the context of Canadas Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system and given the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, there is a growing body of jurisprudence which reflects ongoing debates about who should ultimately maintain control of the formal and informal curriculum in our schools. In these cases, debates about curricular battles play out through rights conflicts, which our courts are required to resolve. These conflicts typically involve claims relating, directly or indirectly, to fundamental freedoms such as freedom of religion and freedom of expression as well as claims associated with the right to equality.<p>In this thesis, I aim to offer a critical assessment of the relevant body of jurisprudence. My critique draws on the theoretical work of Rob Reich and Jeremy Waldron. Reich suggests that our best hope of understanding and resolving the curricular struggles related to the control of childrens education requires a balanced approach whereby we attempt to reconcile the educational interests of three primary actors: parents, the state and children. Building on Reichs conceptualization of the different interest holders, I identify a fourth stakeholder, namely, teachers, who have interests which are germane to our analysis because these interests raise issues connected to curricular control and childrens education. In my analysis, I apply Reichs matrix of interests to the extant body of jurisprudence to ascertain whether or not our courts are alive to the different interest holders in its treatment of cases involving conflicts of constitutional rights. I also want to know whether the interests of the four stakeholders overlap or conflict with another. Finally, I want to know how these interests are conceptualized by the court and whether this conceptualization is consistent with, or differs from, the one offered by Reich. <p>Waldrons work offers analytical clarity for how we might better understand and resolve conflicts of rights, including conflicts involving constitutional rights claims. He maintains that rights conflicts are fundamentally about conflicts of duties and that we are likely to have more success reconciling conflicts of rights when we conceive of these conflicts in this manner. Applying Waldrons strategy for reconciling rights conflicts to the cases in my study, I posit that we can make sense of the reconciliation process by examining the duties associated with the rights in question. Although our courts do not explicitly draw on Waldrons theoretical framework in their legal analysis, I maintain that, generally speaking, what our courts do is consistent with a Waldronian analysis of conflicts of rights. <p>In my conclusion, I note that the jurisprudence considered initially seems to focus exclusively on two key guiding values: liberty and equality. Yet, a closer examination of the case law reveals a concern for two other important meta values, namely, efficiency and community. Furthermore, the notion of children as rights bearers poses special challenges. We might treat older children as rights claimants, on their own terms, because of their capacity to advance certain projects and to engage in certain commitments. Yet, the exact moral and legal status, for example, of a six- or seven-year old is still uncertain. Finally, I recognize that a rights only version of what happens in our schools provides only a partial account of educational reality. Other values such as duty, love, friendship and compassion are needed to furnish a richer and more nuanced account of morality for our school communities.