This study documents the origins of community service learning (CSL) and describes educational literature that relates to how CSL can become a learning experience in the educational process in middle schools. The case study examines how one interdisciplinary team of teachers in an urban middle school integrated CSL as an instructional strategy or culminating activity into curriculum, or used CSL as an extra-curricular experience for students. Four methods of data gathering were used: interviews, observation, a student questionnaire and review of documents. During 1990-1991 school year, the researcher observed the teachers and community partners planning and working with the students to implement the various service experiences. At the end of the school year, the principal, four teachers and three community partners participated in individual and group interviews. The researcher also conducted a group interview with students as a follow-up to the student questionnaire completed by some forty students. The questionnaire was designed with open-ended questions for the students to provide explanations for their answers. The organization of the data provided information to shape the case study and show the history and development of CSL, the delivery and design, and the student reaction to the experiences. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) The principal's vision and leadership affected the way the service experiences evolved. (2) Teachers found the service experiences to be useful as a pedagogy throughout the curriculum disciplines. (3) Service experiences enhanced the understanding of CSL as a process and an instructional strategy with teachers allowing for flexibility and the serendipitous to occur. (4) The integration of service experiences affected how teaching takes place and as an instructional strategy to enhance educational reform. (5) Teacher and students found that service experiences affected their relationships in a positive way which enhanced teaching and learning. (6) Service experiences gave students an opportunity to develop a sense of community by experiencing community within their classrooms, school, neighborhood and city-wide community. (7) Service experiences affected how students learned academically, socially and personally. (8) The process for successful implementation of service experiences needs to be better understood by both teachers and community partners. The principal of Chestnut Middle School and the Gold House teachers and students demonstrated how CSL can be designed and delivered in middle school education. By involving all curriculum areas, they built a model and process for implementation which can be adapted throughout a school district to demonstrate how to build learning experiences for students around a common purpose. The analysis and description of their work has implications beyond Chestnut and can help others understand how to build community, create change and integrate service experiences into education.

No description available.

This study reviews historical current factors limiting Puerto Rican women in the area of educational preparation and in the island's work force. Attitudes are identified in Puerto Rican society as well as reactions to the increasing role of women in the island's work force. Three questions guided this study. (1) Is there evidence in the history of Puerto Rico indicating discrimination of women at work? (2) Have educational opportunities promoted or limited the participation of women in the island's labor force? (3) Are Puerto Ricans' attitudes obstacles deterring women from entry into occupations or professions traditionally male dominated? An instrument designed, tested and applied randomly on a cross section of voters in Jayuya and in Precinct Two of San Juan, provided a 68.66% return. After a careful analysis of the findings of the study the following conclusions could be made. (1) There is clear evidence in the history of Puerto Rico indicating discrimination towards women in the work place. This is evident in a perusal of the island's political, economic, social and educational history. An analysis of data gathered by governmental agencies and findings of studies done by private and public work places show a limited number of higher management positions held by women. Prevalent discrimination is evident by the need to pass laws to protect the rights of women and to eliminate gender bias in the work place. The low representation of women in administrative positions as well as in legislative, judicial and other jobs in government, have further limited professional growth for women. (2) Even when educational opportunities for women have advanced their participation in the labor force, they have served to limit their participation in the work force by leading them into jobs and professions that are extensions of traditional roles. (3) Beliefs persist that minimize the capabilities and potentials of women, creating low expectations of their contributions to the labor force. This attitude plays a negative role in educational practices resulting in additional discrimination against women in Puerto Rico.

Those who teach in Higher Education in the UK face with the growing internationalisation and diverse landscape of the sector as well as an obligation to provide students with opportunities for personal, professional and academic development. Whilst a great deal has been written about both internationalisation and Personal Development Planning (PDP), a structured and supported process, which is intended to enable individual students to reflect upon their learning and plan for their future (QM, 2000), relatively little is known about international students' perceptions and experiences of such development and planning. This thesis aims to explore issues that are under-represented in the literature, experiences, perceptions and meanings of personal development and PDP among international students, and cast some light· on the complexities of individuals' development and growth. It employs a broadly phenomenological perspective, attending to individual representations and understandings of a small group of culturally diverse students in one university setting, captured with the use of qualitative research methods (concept maps and interviews). Methodologically, it attends to the researcher's specific insider/outsider positioning and highlights reflexivity as the key feature of the research process. It documents the research journey in a transparent and conscious way, evidencing the methodological experimentation and the development of the researcher. This research raises key questions about uncritical application of concepts such as PDP as well as other pedagogic practices in increasingly diverse classrooms that are underpinned by Western philosophical and scholarly traditions. It challenges a narrow perspective of personal development as centred on agency, individuality, self-promotion, independence and personal achievement and gain by inviting a consideration of personal development and learning as socially constructed processes with a wider range of purposes than traditionally articulated by PDP. It also challenges the perception of international students as 'bearers of problems' and 'empty vessels' and contributes to the shift in the literature from the rhetoric of blame and deficiency to the rhetoric of resource - respectful of students' experiences and knowledge. Whilst not claiming generalisability from a small sample of participants, this project nonetheless has broader implications for researching and teaching across cultures, raising awareness of complexities of multicultural education. In this research I focus on students' ideas of personal development (PD) and personal development planning (PDP). By looking for things that support, not hinder their personal, professional, social and academic development I am able to offer some insights into students' conceptions, beliefs, experiences, hopes and aspirations and suggest ways of improving educational practice (especially in terms of PDP).

This study investigates physical education (PE) teachers careers and professional development in the context of Taiwanese junior high schools (pupils aged 12-14), where a national educational reform the Grade 1-9 Curriculum was launched in 2001. In particular, from teachers perspectives, this study addresses questions about (1) how and why selected Taiwanese PE teachers engage in professional learning over their careers; (2) the impact of the introduction of a new curriculum and policies; (3) ways in which professional learning could be supported more effectively. Eight case study PE teachers, who simultaneously worked as local coordinators, were invited as participants. Life history method was followed by data analysis using constructivist grounded theory to generate findings at three levels: individual life histories, cross-case themes and a theoretical framework. In addition, the process of data analysis, both manually and using a popular software package, is critically compared. The findings suggest that teachers beliefs about professional development were closely connected to their individual career histories, and these were influenced by a set of personal and contextual factors in relation to their professional lives. Moreover, despite a major government curriculum reform, the implementation of the new curriculum resulted in very little change to these teachers practices, because: (1) the curriculum guidelines were very flexible and were difficult for teachers to fully understand; and (2) there was a lack of evaluation of, or accountability for, teachers practices. This study suggests that the Taiwanese government s aspirations for radical changes to teachers practice (both teaching and learning) are more likely to be realised by ensuring that policies and the new curriculum are based on a more realistic understanding of teachers lives and careers.

This study aimed to investigate what constituted the professional practical knowledge of EFL experienced teachers in the Egyptian context and what the sources of their knowledge were. It also aimed to examine the relationship between the teachers’ knowledge and the contextual factors intervening in action. By delineating its focus as such, the study responds to call for reconceptualising the core of the knowledge base of teaching to focus on teaching as a knowledge-based activity and an act of common sense and reasoning, the pedagogy by which teaching is done, and the context in which it is done. The study was carried out using multiple methods for collecting qualitative and quantitative data. This design was chosen to investigate the participants’ views of professional practical knowledge and to construct their different understandings and interpretations which they brought with them. Questionnaires completed by 236 EFL experienced teachers, semi-structured interviews conducted with 14 of them and stimulated recall classroom observation data with three of them were the data collected for the current study. Although it provided a parsimonious view, quantitative questionnaire data made an important contribution to the bricolage of information built up during the study. A more in-depth understanding was gained from qualitative data using responses to the open-ended section of the questionnaire, interviews and classroom observation. Based on quantitative and qualitative data analyses, six core areas of teacher knowledge were constructed from the participants’ responses and accounts. These were: subject matter, pedagogy, students, classroom learning environment, curriculum and self. The findings also revealed a variety of sources which shaped the teachers’ professional practical knowledge including: experience, teacher education, university study in the subject department, student and peer feedback, in-service training, expert advice, student output and postgraduate study. The findings also revealed that the relationship between teacher knowledge and practice was reflected in two ways. The first was that teacher knowledge represented an operative model which underpinned practice. The second was that it informed the classroom decisions. However, not all teacher knowledge found application in practice. A variety of intervening contextual challenges were revealed to deter the actualisation of teacher knowledge in action such as the EFL exam policy, lack of time, support and resources, mismatch between teacher purposes and students’ expectations and needs, and large class size. These findings were discussed in relation to existing research evidence and context. Implications for pre-service and in-service teacher learning were also drawn based on the findings of the study.

Apart from the introduction (Chapter 1) and conclusion (Chapter 7), this thesis comprises five chapters organized into two parts: Part I studies promotion incentives in the public sector, and focuses on the case of teachers in rural China. All teachers in China compete with their colleagues for rank promotions. I aim to answer two questions: first, whether the promotion system for teachers in China elicits effort from teachers, and second, how the design features of the promotion system affect effort incentives. Part I includes four chapters. Chapter 2 introduces the topic and provides a background on promotions for teachers in China. It also discusses related work in this area, and introduces the data that will be used in Part I. Chapter 3 presents and tests a theoretical model of promotions as an incentive device. The model treats all teachers as identical in terms of their ability, and as such, focuses on average levels of teacher effort. It predicts that effort is exerted in response to potential promotions. In addition, the model also predicts that average effort incentives are higher in promotion contests in which the wage gap is higher, the promotion rate is closer to one half, the number of teachers competing for a promotion is higher (for promotion rates between 1/3 and 2/3), and the average age of teachers in the contest is lower, or the proportion of female teachers is lower. The model is used to derive an estimating equation by which to test predictions on average levels of teacher effort. An equation is estimated for the probability of promotion as a function of teacher effort, which is proxied by the teachers' annual performance evaluation scores. There is simultaneity present as effort increases the probability of promotion, but it is also the promise of promotion that motivates effort. As a result, effort is instrumented using wage changes, which are both informative (higher wage gaps are associated with higher effort) and valid (wages only affect promotions through effort). The second stage of the regression demonstrates that effort is indeed exerted by teachers in order to win promotions. The first stage confirms the predictions of the model with regards to wage gaps, the promotion rate, and the size and composition of the pool of competitors. Chapter 4 extends the model of Chapter 3 in two ways: teachers are now treated as heterogeneous in ability, and a multi-period model of teacher effort over time is also added. This chapter focuses on individual levels of teacher effort, and on how the parameters of the promotion system interact with teacher characteristics to affect teacher effort. The predictions include that teachers in the extremes of the skill distribution will have lower incentives, and as the contest size increases these teachers will have effort incentives that are lower still, that teachers who are five or more years from promotion eligibility will have zero effort, as will teachers in the highest rank, that teacher effort will increase in the five years leading up to promotion eligibility, and that teacher effort will decrease after a teacher is eligible for promotion but has been passed over several times. An effort equation is estimated that captures all of these components, and the predictions are largely affirmed by the data. Tests are conducted in order to alleviate concerns about selection, as well as measurement error in the performance evaluation scores. Chapter 5 concludes Part I. Part II of this thesis looks at teacher labour markets, social distance, and learning outcomes in Punjab, Pakistan. Chapter 6 explores the link between the distribution of teachers in the labour market, caste differences between teachers and students, and child learning outcomes. Using rich longitudinal data from Pakistan that allows me to convincingly identify the causal effects of caste on learning outcomes, I show how the distribution of teachers across public schools induces particular matches of high and low caste teachers and students, and that these matches are highly predictive of test score outcomes. Specifically, low caste male children perform significantly better when taught by high caste teachers than when they are taught by low caste teachers. Several possible channels are explored, including discrimination in the classroom, role model effects, teacher quality, patronage, peer effects, and returns to education. Although the channel cannot be proven, the data points to high caste teachers being able to raise the already high returns to education for low caste children because they are able to assist these children in getting educational benefits and employment later on using their patronage networks. Low caste children therefore work harder to impress high caste teachers, and this results in higher learning outcomes.

Tecer o encontro, demonstrar as possibilidades efetivas de diálogo entre a pedagogia freireana e a psicologia histórico-cultural. Esse é o objeto central, mobilizador do presente estudo. Oriundo de indagações sobre uma vivência concreta de implementação dos princípios da pedagogia freireana, acabou se constituindo num objeto teórico cuja pesquisa e elaboração fortalecem a tese inicial de que a psicologia histórico-cultural e a pedagógica freireana podem constituir-se mutuamente campos férteis de encontro e diálogo. A tessitura proposta se materializa através da articulação, no âmbito do fundamento teórico, das categorias de trabalho, consciência e linguagem, tal como concebidas pelo materialismo histórico-dialético, compreendido aqui como base comum para o diálogo entre Paulo Freire e Lev Vigotski e, no âmbito interno da teoria psicológica e da pedagogia em questão, as categorias de mediação simbólica, internalização, mediação pedagógica, construção do conhecimento e elaboração conceitual, concebidas como campos teóricos de diálogo desses pensadores. Com base nesse arcabouço teórico, realizo uma reflexão acerca do lugar efetivo do encontro e do diálogo propostos: a escola e a sua organização em torno de processos de construção do conhecimento e desenvolvimento humano. Os resultados alcançados pelo processo de investigação teórica, permitem afirmar, antes e sobretudo, a efetiva possibilidade de diálogo e de encontro entre Paulo Freire e Lev Vigotski e, ainda, acrescentar que, se por um lado a pedagogia freireana pode constituir-se campo fértil de mediação dos pressupostos da psicologia histórico-cultural, por outro, aquela, constitui-se espaço profícuo de pesquisa sobre os processos do desenvolvimento de modos tipicamente humanos de ser e de pensar, como objetos de investigação desta. / To weave the meeting, to demonstrate the effective possibilities of dialogue between Freire\'s pedagogy and historical-cultural psychology, this is the mainly objective of this study. From asks about a concrete living of implementation of principles of Freire\'s pedagogy, it had constituted a theoretical object whose research and elaboration give strength to the initial thesis that historical-cultural psychology and Freire\'s pedagogy may constitute mutually fields of meeting and dialogue. This weaving proposed becomes material through the articulation, in terms of theoretical found of work, consciousness and language categories, as conceited by historical-dialectical materialism, understood here as common basis for the dialogue between Paulo Freire and Lev Vygotsky, and in terms of psychological theory and pedagogy discussed, the categories of symbolic mediation knowledge construction, internalization, pedagogic mediation and conceptual elaboration, concerned as theoretical patterns of dialogue of these authors. Based on this theoretical framework, I develop a reflection on the effective role of the meeting and dialogue proposed: the school and its organization around processes of knowledge construction and human development. The results reached by the process of theoretical investigation allow to affirm, now and moreover, the effective possibility of dialogue and meeting between Paulo Freire and Lev Vygotsky, and also to add that, on one hand Freire\'s pedagogy may constitute fertile field of mediation of historical-cultural psychology patterns, on the other, Freire\'s pedagogy constitutes fruitful space for research about the processes of the development of typically human ways to be and to think, as objects of its investigation.

Many developing countries do not have in place high quality science education postgraduate programs; consequently, teachers from these countries are enrolling in programs in developed countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. A number of authors have raised concerns that these programs are not responsive to the professional development needs of developing country teachers, suggesting that participants remain unaffected by their overseas experiences. There are similar concerns about teachers from developed countries also being unable to implement new ideas for teaching in their classrooms. This may be due to a number of reasons including feelings of powerlessness in overly prescriptive programs, high demands on teachers' time, a lack of resources, and a general lack of encouragement. These issues raise a number of questions about the nature of teacher professional development and in particular about appropriate ways to implement these programs.In response to these concerns, this thesis examines the responsiveness of a science education postgraduate program conducted in Australia to the needs of local and developing country participants and the influences of differences between Australian and developing country science teachers in terms of their professional, personal and social development. The assumption being that programs in developed countries are largely orientated towards the needs of home-country students. The conceptual framework for the thesis is a recent approach to science teacher professional development that provides a holistic perspective on science teacher professional development, focusing not only on individual teachers but also on the educational environment in which they operate. This perspective acknowledges the complexities of school environments and considers teachers' beliefs and feelings.The research focuses on ++ / participants from Australian and Indonesian who have completed a science education postgraduate program in Western Australia at the Science and Mathematics Education Centre (SMEC) located at Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia. These two groups were chosen because between 1988 and 1995 they were the predominant nationalities participating in SMEC programs. The research methodology and use of quantitative and qualitative research instruments was in keeping with the holistic conceptual framework adopted for the study and follows recent trends in teacher professional development research which have seen a broadening of research methodologies. The instruments used included a postal questionnaire, classroom observation schedule and structured interviews.The research findings indicated that the Indonesians have different needs to their Australian counterparts in terms of their professional, personal and social development. These differences included the Indonesians' strong beliefs in and use of didactic and formal teaching methodologies, limitations in Indonesian classrooms on the introduction of new teaching activities, a more centralised and formal education system in Indonesia in contrast to the increasing autonomy seen in Australia, and a more flexible teacher professional development approach in Australia focussing on personal development, as opposed to the curriculum and assessment focus seen in Indonesia. In addition, there are vast differences between the Indonesian and Australian education systems and these differences were seen to reinforce many of the different beliefs and practices between the Indonesian and Australian participants.The study suggests that the Australian participants are able to implement teaching approaches and theoretical frameworks included in their postgraduate studies at SMEC; however, the conclusions highlight the ++ / limitations of expecting that this can occur for developing country participants. In examining approaches in overcoming these limitations, it was concluded that a range of minor interventions or modifications to program design and content would be insufficient and a number of key indicators were identified that point to the responsiveness of programs for developing country participants. These indicators included the need for host institutions to be fully conversant with the classrooms and social contexts of developing country participants, constructivist pedagogical approaches to program design, planning and implementation, and the necessary flexibility to maintain academic rigour in postgraduate science education programs while incorporating unfamiliar education notions and frameworks from developing countries.

<p>Rubriken till detta arbete kommer från Matematikdelegationens betänkande, ”Att lyfta matematiken”. Utbildningsdepartementet fick i uppdrag att ta fram en handlingsplan som skulle syfta till att förändra synen på matematik och öka intresset för matematikämnet hos Sveriges elever. I betänkandet presenteras fyra huvudmål för matematiksatsningen: 1. Stöd och utveckla aktiviteter som ökar intresset för och insikterna om matematikens värde, roll och betydelse i vardag, yrkesliv, vetenskap och samhälle. 2. Utbilda kvalificerade lärare i matematik för alla barn, ungdomar och vuxna. 3. Stöd och samordna alla goda krafter som verkar för bättre lärande och undervisning i matematik. 4. Tydliggör och utveckla syfte, mål, innehåll och bedömning i matematik för hela utbildningssystemet. (SOU 2004:97, s.99) Mitt syfte med detta arbete har varit att undersöka om matematiken verkligen lyfter, har matematiksatsningen gett de önskade resultaten?</p><p>I detta arbete behandlas skolutveckling först ur ett mer generellt perspektiv för att därefter behandla matematikutvecklingen som en specifik del av skolans utvecklingsarbete. Matematik, som en del av skolutvecklingen, kan stöta på svårigheter som ibland kan vara generella för hela skolkulturen, men ibland även vara speciella för matematikämnet.</p><p>Med utgångspunkt från Matematikdelegationens fyra huvudmål synliggörs i arbetets resultat vissa av de möjligheter och svårigheter som utvecklingen av matematikundervisningen kan innebära. Av attitydundersökningens resultat kan även utläsas att flertalet lärare innehar ett stort intresse för matematik. Detta står i motsats till Matematikdelegationen, som istället skriver att många lärare har en negativ inställning till matematik.</p><p>Undersökningens resultat visar att många lärare efterfrågar fortbildning, före¬läsningar, studiecirklar och pedagogiska diskussioner inom skolämnet matematik. Brist på fortbildning visar sig även vara det näst största hindret till matematikutveckling när respondenterna själva får rangordna olika utvecklings¬hindrande faktorer. Enligt undersökningens resultat ses bristen på tid p.g.a. övriga arbetsuppgifter som inte innefattar undervisningstimmar som det största hindret för att utveckla matematik¬undervisningen.</p> / <p>The title of this study originates from the report of the Mathematics Delegation under the heading of " Enhancing the status of mathematics". The Ministry of Education was commissioned to produce a plan of action with the purpose to change the opinion about mathematics and to raise the interest in mathematics among Swedish pupils. In the report four main goals for the mathematic venture are presented: 1. Support and develop activities to increase interest in and provide greater insight into the value, role and significance of mathematics in everyday and working life, science and society. 2. Train qualified teachers in mathematics on all levels for all children, young people and adults. 3. Support and coordinate all the positive forces promoting better mathematics learning and teaching. 4. Clarify and develop aims, goals, content and assessment in mathematics for the entire education system (SOU 2004:97, p.30-33) My intention with this report has been to investigate if the status of mathematics really has been enhanced, has the mathematics venture resulted in its desired goal?<p>This report opens with a discussion around development of education seen from a general perspective. Development of mathematics will thereafter be handled as a specific part of the educational development. Mathematics development encounters difficulties that sometimes are common within educational culture as such, but sometimes unique for the subject.</p><p>With the Mathematics Delegation's four main goals as a starting-point, some opportunities and difficulties in development of Mathematics education are visualized. Replies to the questionnaire show that a majority of the teachers have a big interest in mathematics. This is quite the contrary of what is said by the Mathematics Delegation, where many teachers are said to have a negative view upon mathematics.</p><p>In this report it is shown that many teachers request further education, lectures, study circles and pedagogic discussions around the school subject mathematics. The shortage of further education is also identified as the second largest obstacle when the respondents rank obstacles for development. The results from the questionnaire pinpoints lack of time due to tasks outside actual teaching as the largest obstacle for development of mathematics education.</p></p>