Context: The aim of the proposed research is to investigate the impact of the pilot ‘all-day’ school scheme in Greece on teachers’, students’ and parents’ lives. The ‘all-day’ school is considered to be an innovative pedagogical reform in the Greek primary education. It was legislated and initiated in the period 1997-2002 in response to the apparent need for an increased work force. In addition, the growing number of working mothers meant that children needed to be looked after in a safe environment beyond mainstream school hours. Since then the ‘all-day’ school remains a project in progress facing a lot of obstacles with the most recent being the economic crisis in Greece which has badly affected all the sectors, private and public, of the country, and consequently the public schools of all levels. Despite its importance for educational reform, only a few studies attempted to examine some of the aspects of the ‘all-day’ school. It is this study’s contribution to provide, for first time, the key stakeholders of the ‘all-day’ school, namely teachers, parents and students, with the opportunity to raise their voices and express their experience and opinions about the effect of the ‘all-day’ school on their lives. Objective: The aim of this thesis is to provide insights on the perceptions and feelings of teachers, parents and students involved in the operation and expansion of the institutionalization of the ‘all-day’ school. These key stakeholders are called to express their voices about the effect of the ‘all-day’ school on their lives. Methodology: This study follows the interpretivist perspective. It does not examine pre-existing theories; instead it relies on qualitative findings collected from policy documents, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with the ‘actors’ of the ‘all-day’ school, teachers, students and parents. Findings: This study revealed the huge gap between policy and practice in the operation of the ‘all-day’ school. The ‘all-day’ school aimed to fulfill certain pedagogical and social aims, as described in the official policy documents of the Greek Ministry of Education. Empirical evidence from this study indicated that in practice only few of these aims, mainly related to the social dimension of the ‘all-day’ school have been achieved. The ‘all-day’ school failed to achieve significant pedagogical aims such as the homework completion at school. A number of contradictions and dilemmas.

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Educational reform has been perceived as a process whereby the Thai Government expects to increase the national competitiveness and stimulate literacy across the country. Its crucial concept was to implement the student-centred learning approach (SCL). This study presents an analysis of classroom observation focusing on lower secondary (Mattayom 1-3) science classrooms in 14 schools located in a rural area in Thailand and discusses the implementation of the current science curriculum. Additionally, a thematic analysis of interviews with lower secondary school science teachers and focus group interviews of students are presented. Based on the thematic analysis, perceptions of 22 science teachers on the current science curriculum implementation and prospective factors which tend to deteriorate the effectiveness of curriculum implementation are addressed. Like the teachers' interviews, students' perceptions regarding science and benefit of studying science are obtained from 30 groups of students, using the thematic analysis and are presented in this study. Based on the observations of 22 science classrooms, teachers' practices in implementing the current science curriculum in the rural context can be categorised, based on their inclination towards particular learning approaches, into three groups; namely combination of the student-centred learning (SCL) approach and the teacher-centred learning (TCL) approach with a tendency towards SCL, combination of SCL and TCL with a tendency towards TCL ,and the teacher-centred learning (TCL).The teachers' perceptions could be described into two perspectives; namely on the reform and on implementation, and each perspective can be classified into several themes, and the major issues emerged are discussed. The students' perceptions can be categorised into eight themes such as attitudes regarding learning/studying science, future plans, etc. The study is expected to contribute to the understanding of current science teaching and improving its practices for the science teachers in Thailand. Eventually, these experiences could be an example for other transitional countries in the wider context.

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Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The focus of this study was to understand how public school principals perceived their roles changing as a result of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 (MERA) and to gain an understanding of the context from Which the changes in the principal's role evolved. The findings provide a basis for policy recommendations directed to the legislature and to policymakers at the state and local levels to ensure that our public schools have capable leaders to lead the Commonwealth's schools through ongoing education reform. There were three major findings of the study: (1) principals embraced the philosophical tenets of MERA and the conceptualization of their role as educational leaders; (2) principals perceived their roles to be more complex in the realm of interactions with constituencies (students, teachers, parents, community, and central office administrators) and in the kinds of tasks they encountered to meet student and program needs stemming from MERA implementation at both the state and local levels; and (3) principals experienced a restrained capacity to lead their schools due to lack of resources for leadership, comprehensive training, and the inability of the organization to modify its structures to meet new MERA governance designs. The findings of this study are clear: since the passage of MERA, principals perceive themselves to be school leaders confronted with complex jobs for which have neither sufficient authority nor sufficient training to effect reform to the level envisioned by MERA architects; even the most experienced among them is having difficulty. The findings further suggest principals need support to implement the ambitious MERA goals and the MERA vision for school reform will not be fully realized until policymakers provide principals with: (1) administrative structures and organizational cultures in which superintendents delegate authority to principals and provide them with the support that the MERA architects envisioned and which is commensurate with their changing and wide-ranging responsibilities; (2) employment conditions which provide contractual support and just cause protection so MERA expectations in the realm of innovation, change, human resource management, and increased student performance at the schoolhouse can be realized; and (3) comprehensive and sustained training programs and professional development opportunities in the areas of educational leadership and administration, instruction, organizational development, human resource management, and legal matters to realize the responsibilities required of their redefined roles. The research design was a qualitative study accomplished through personal interviews with five MERA architects and legislators and thirty principals representing both genders at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in urban and suburban school districts and relevant documents. Analysis of the data indicated that there were no meaningful differences among principals regarding their role change as a result of MERA. / 2999-01-01

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This study examined the relationship that exists between the processes that are employed when establishing and implementing higher education-business partnerships and the impact that these partnerships have on technology-supported education reform. The concept of technology-supported reform refers to educational initiatives that are designed to generate technological innovations and skills as the key outcomes of the reform process. While earlier studies (Antelo & Henderson, 1990; Powers & Powers; 1988; Meister, 1998) showed links between the implementation of the core partnership processes and the eflectiveness of partnerships, there was insufficient evidence in the literature to support the concept that higher education-business partnerships have an impact on higher education reform. Consequently, investigating the relationships between the core processes that lead to effective partnerships and those that contribute to education reform was a primary goal of this study. The case study method was selected as the method of evaluation. Four cases that represent different contextual and operational environments were selected for the purpose of impact evaluation. A benchmarking framework was applied to the evaluation so that the investigation was consistent. The prediction was that each participating case would yield similar outcomes or replications with regard to the five theoretical assumptions, and the key research questions that bounded this study. Such replications would provide evidence to support a view held by South Africa's Ministry of Education (White Paper on Education 3, 1997), that business-education partnerships are a strategic policy approach for improving educational outcomes. This study assessed the extent to which the four cases addressed South Africa's post-apartheid educational transformation needs and challenges. Two sets of findings emerged: findings related to partnerships, and findings related to education reform. The main finding relating to partnership was that successful higher educationbusiness partnerships engaged key processes and procedures for planning, implementing, and evaluating their work. A key finding related to education reform was that higher education-business partnerships make an impact on education reform. The most significant areas of impact were: teaching and learning, human resources development, technology transfer and research. The study concluded by developing a proposed benchmarking framework which can be used to plan, implement and evaluate higher education-business partnerships. / 2999-01-01

It is arguable that at all times the long-term prosperity of a nation is inextricably linked to its educational system, especially of higher education. This study of Vietnam's educational structure and system is both unique and necessary. It provides detailed information and considerable analysis not previously available to readers outside Vietnam. As a historical study, it covers aspects of more than 2,000 years of the country's educational developments, from the invasion of China in 111 B.C. to the present. The study is divided into six chapters, each of which deals with a major period of time. Each chapter is self-contained. Historical background and essential materials are presented and analysed. The writing of historical events is based on chronological order. Vietnam was a country without written language before the coming of the Chinese who, in their invasion of Vietnam in 111 B.C., brought with them their civilization, culture, educational system and language. The introduction of Chinese language to Vietnam can be taken as the overture of Vietnamese education. The first two chapters provide detailed information and historical factors as to how an early educational system of Vietnam was established under the influence of China and through its impact of education on the formation of a Confucian political system and Confucian society, which continued to exist for over 2,000 years. The political decline of China in the late 19th century provided the opportunity for the French to enter Vietnam and finally replace the Chinese sovereignty over the country in 1885. The invasion and ruling of the French (1886-1954) brought forward significant changes in Vietnam politically, socially and educationally. / The French introduced a new, modem educational system to Vietnam and set up an elite colonial educational system which had a great impact on Vietnamese society as well as its education. Traditional Chinese education and its imperial examination system commenced to fade out in Vietnam from the early 20th century and came to an end in 1917. During this colonial period, Western ways of thinking and culture began to flow into Vietnam and continued thenceforth. With the division of the country into North and South as separate regimes under the Geneva Accords in 1954, the educational systems of each regime developed under different political systems and different ideologies from 1955-1975. In the North, the educational system was totally reformed according to Communist doctrine while in the South, education continued to develop in the Western ways. The world-known Vietnam War ended in April 1975. However, the unification of the North and South failed to be effected in many aspects due to varied ideologies and political systems. During the period of 1975-85 Vietnam underwent a transitional reform of education in the South, which continued up to the practice of the nation's `open-door policy' starting from 1987. Narration of a significant profile of attributes of Vietnam's system of education today is fully sketched. The concluding chapter comprises two major parts; the summing up and a general review on Vietnam's educational system and practices, together with some of the issues evident in the system at present.