The main aims of the current study are five fold (1) to develop a valid scale for measuring beliefs about education for sustainable development, (2) to adapt the values on sustainable development scale to the context of Turkey, (3) to explore elementary teachers&rsquo / familiarity with and understanding of sustainable development, (4) to determine the elementary teachers&rsquo / values on sustainable development, (5) to investigate their beliefs about education for sustainable development. In addition, the barriers elementary teachers have perceived regarding education for sustainable development, teaching strategies they have used in education for sustainable development and the possible relationship between barriers they have perceived and their beliefs about education for sustainable development was examined. The data of this study obtained from 211 elementary teachers who enrolled in the Green Pack and the Eco-Schools projects via direct administration and web-survey data collection methods in May to September 2012. The results revealed that Turkish elementary teachers lack of sufficient understandings of sustainable development. On the other hand, elementary teachers have favorable beliefs about education for sustainable development and favorable values on sustainable development. In addition, lack of the knowledge about sustainable development and lack of the knowledge about teaching sustainable development were relatively common barriers for these elementary teachers. Lastly, negative correlation between elementary teachers&rsquo / beliefs about education for sustainable development and barriers they have perceived was found.

The purpose of the study was to investigate skills development within the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector. The study investigates the reasons associated with the shortage of skills and the factors influencing the rate of skills development within this sector. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This research seeks to understand the perceptions of professionalism in education. In particular it focuses on the constructions of the space for professional action. A case study focuses on people, including teachers and non-teachers, who work in a special school for young people with SEBD. The perceptions of professionalism in education held by those in this case have been carefully listened to and analysed. Using an interpretive approach I have analysed data from interviews of members of the case. This reveals that a common language is used to describe professionalism but this is not commonly defined. There is an assumption that all share a common definition. In addition, other factors affect professional action. The experiences and life trajectories of the respondents are seen to colour and shape professional action. The construction of the space for professional action is problematic. There is a wide range of definition. The findings reveal that professionalism is complex and common language hides a wide spectrum of definition and meaning. Professionalism, as a concept, is often confused and misused. Foregrounding these confusions have contributed to the understanding of professionalism. There is tension between the constructions of professionalism. The person trying to enact professionalism in education has to interpret, sometimes incongruent, discourses and locate themselves within persuasive discourses. Awareness of these differences and tensions can help understand and allow them to make their own choices. The development of typologies as an analysis tool has been effective in understanding the space for professional action in this case. It is suggested that this might be used as a basis for professional discussion for others who are engaging in development in their own context. Professionalism in education is important as this impacts on the performance of each person and this performance effects the young people. It is argued that people trying to enact it should engage in professional discussion and agreement making to establish what is good and worthwhile in professionalism.

In this thesis I advocate and evidence ESD through understanding and analysing the ecology of change in educational organisations, in particular Tertiary Education (TE), during the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD, 2005-2014). I draw on my portfolio of research that examined various aspects of the efforts to mainstream ESD during this decade. My publications, which are referred to in this thesis, are based on experience of my own practice as lecturer, educational development manager and advocate of ESD at local, national and global level. My research approach is broadly based on action research principles. I argue that, to fully understand this complex change process, it is necessary to appreciate the role of the underpinning, and often conflicting, values in TE and how they influence the adoption of ESD. I further discuss the influence of both ‘top-down’ approaches, that are expressed in policies and frameworks, and ‘bottom-up’ approaches that are instigated by communities and individuals with special interests. The influence of the learning environment itself is also examined. Lastly, I make the case that the employment of appropriate action research methodologies can help with gaining a better understanding of this process as well as play a part in the process itself.

La presente tesi di dottorato è articolata in tre capitoli a se stanti che riguardano l’ambito dell’economia applicata e dell’economia dello sviluppo. Il primo capitolo analizza l’impatto intergenerazionale di shock idiosincratici alla situazione lavorativa dei genitori sull'istruzione secondaria dei figli, utilizzando un’indagine longitudinale condotta in Bosnia Erzegovina. Il secondo capitolo tratta delle potenziali conseguenze di lungo termine della guerra civile sulla partecipazione politica. In particolare, l’analisi utilizza le statistiche ufficiali disponibili relative alle elezioni in Bosnia Erzegovina e mostra che nelle municipalità più intensamente colpite dal conflitto, misurato in termini di perdite civili, l’affluenza elettorale e il capitale sociale sono minori. Il terzo capitolo contribuisce alla letteratura sulla “auto-selezione” in termini di salute della popolazione Indiana migrante presente in Inghilterra. L'analisi fornisce evidenza empirica delle differenze in termini di statura ed altri indicatori di salute delle prime e seconde generazioni di migranti in relazione alla popolazione nativa del paese di destinazione, e a quella del paese di origine. / This dissertation is a collection of three self-contained essays in applied and development economics. In the first chapter I evaluate whether educational investments of adolescent offspring are vulnerable to idiosyncratic shocks to parental employment. Specifically, I estimate the short-term impact of parental job loss on children’s enrollment in post-compulsory schooling, introducing a focus on paternal and maternal unemployment, and analysing differential gender specific effects. I further discuss the potential channels of inter-generational transmission with a specific focus on the role played by female labor supply in contexts of developing economies. Using panel data estimation techniques based on four waves of longitudinal household data from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the results show that maternal involuntary employment shocks affects school enrollment of daughters aged 15-18. In the second chapter I analyze the consequences of exposure to civil conflict on voters’ turnout and social participation. Our source of variation in violence exposure is given by war-related civilian fatalities recorded at the municipality level. In a “difference in differences” estimation framework, our results show that the intensity of civil conflict reduces turnout in the medium and long run, up to twenty years after the end of the war. War exposure is also associated with lower generalised trust and worse measures of social participation. The third chapter evaluates height performances of first and second generation migrants of Indian origins in England, with respect to adults and children in India, and the native population at destination. We provide evidence of migrants’ “self selection” on health, and we show that the circumstances in which individuals are born and raised can contribute to the definition of body size, in addition to the genetic channel and to the traits transmitted by maternal characteristics through gestation.

This thesis deals with the breaktime at the first grade of primary school, especially at the first class. The work is divided into two main parts. The theoretical part is devoted to the basic characteristics of school and education, develoments peculiarity of childs under school age, and finally the principal topic of the breaktime. The second part contains the braketime research of primary school in Liberec. The research includes methods of a structured observation of the first class pupils supplemented by interviews with pupils and their class teacher. The aim of this thesis is to present the current proces of breaketime and also to make comparison the first and 5th class and show the possibilities which are applicable to change the current proces.

This diploma thesis of a didactic character presents use of specific methods of personal and social education in leisure time centers through methodical cards linked with educational technologies. These methodical cards were made and practically proven by the implementer of this thesis together with leisure-time activities teachers and subsequently critically evaluated. Research methods were used for a comparison of my personal experience with methodical cards and the experience of each participant, where at least 3 teachers commented on 1 methodological card, as well as the qualitative semi-structured interview, which found out the possibilities and limits of the use of these methodical cards and the quantitative research study in the form of a questionnaire, which is used to get an overview of the needs of leisure-time activities teachers. Based on that, it creates detailed methodological cards. The result was that all 10 developed and practically proven methodological cards are under specific conditions have practical use.

The thesis is devoted to Development education. It focuses mainly on the possibility of inclusion of DE into the formal education with use of active learning techniques. The thesis is divided into two main parts. The theoretical part is made on the basis of the literature covering topic of DE. The practical part describes the schooling concept, which is including the DE into formal education.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the skills development project which aims at developing income generating skills, impacts on the ability of unemployed women to generate income. Secondly, the researcher wished to know how the women who have been involved with the skills development programme, used the developed skills to generate income. The study, in order to document the experiences of the women in trying to gain these skills and to use them in generating income, has produced life histories of the women who succeeded in generating income after their dressmaking skills were developed. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

The study examined the role of non-formal skills programmes at Further Education and Training (FET) colleges in assisting marginalized learners in their livelihoods. The high rate of unemployment and poverty in South Africa, and in Kwazulu-Natal in particular, highlights the need for non-formal programmes to be more responsive to the developmental needs of marginalized learners, and to the economy. There is a need to move away from programmes that are run in isolation, towards programmes that are more responsive, creative and holistic. A case-study of three different non-formal skills programmes from each of the FET colleges in the Durban area were used in the study. These included Coastal, Sivananda and Thekwini FETI's. The reason for choosing different programmes, was to get a broader picture of skills programmes offered at FET colleges. One of the programmes was a Welding one offered at the Swinton Road Campus of Coastal College. The second programme was the Organic Farming one offered at the Mpumalanga campus of Sivananda College, and the third programme was the Cooperatives one offered at the Asherville campus of Thekwini College. Interviews with learners comprised the primary data, while documents, observation and interviews with personnel comprised secondary data. The three different programmes provided an interesting contrast. While the Organic Farming programme and the Cooperatives were fairly new, the Welding programme had been in operation for some time. There were also differences in the design and implementation which impacted on the learners' ability to improve their livelihoods. Learners in the Organic Farming programmes for example, were technically unemployed. Yet they were producing organically grown vegetables to sustain themselves and their families. In contrast, learner in the welding programme were unable to find employment on completion of the programme. Using the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach used by international Aid agencies in developing countries as a bench mark, the programmes were examined to establish whether they were assisting their learners in developing sustainable livelihoods. What emerged was that there was a strong correlation between the design and implementation of the programme and the learners' ability to transfer skills to improve their lives. Programmes that provided support to learners aside from the actual training content tended to be more successful than programmes that focused only on training. The more a programmes incorporated the principles of SLA (responsive and participatory; learner-centred; conducted in partnerships; linking micro and macro-level activities, holistic and sustainable), the more they were able to assist learners in developing their livelihoods. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.