The main purpose of this study was to consider the effects of amplification and vocal function exercises on the perceived vocal health of elementary music educators (N = 37) from Oklahoma (n = 11) and Texas (n = 26). Participants were assigned to the use of the ChatterVoxTM amplifier or vocal function exercises based on pretest scores on the Voice Handicap Index with Music Teacher Voice Questionnaire (VHI/MVQ). Following the 4-week study period, participants completed the posttest VHI/MVQ. The results of a one-way ANCOVA that used treatment group as the independent variable, the summed posttest scores as the dependent variable, and the summed pretest scores as the covariate or control variable indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the adjusted means for the posttest scores, favoring the exercises group. The overall group and both treatment groups reported frequent loud voice use in work settings and in public places. The overall group and the amplification group reported hoarseness after prolonged talking. The exercises group did not report as great a problem with hoarseness after prolonged talking. Secondary purposes addressed demographic variables. Women perceived greater overall vocal difficulties than men; men frequently reported specific vocal complaints that were not commonly indicated by women. The vocal problems of women may have been associated with loud voice use. The following common vocal complaints of men may have been related to the use of falsetto while teaching: need for vocal rest, worse voices in the evening, dry throats, loss of voice, obvious pitch breaks in their singing voices, pain after singing for an extended time, and limited use of their high range. VHI/MVQ scores indicated that the study participants with 21 to 39 years of teaching experience had more vocal difficulties than other participants and indicated limited use of the low range of their speaking voices, inconsistency in the sound of their voices, dry throats, throat pain after singing for a prolonged time, difficulty singing softly, and the need for vocal rest. Participants with 6 or more years of experience experienced hoarseness after speaking for an extended time.

A review of the literature indicated that critical skills needed by educators of students with autism had not been sufficiently identified. Research efforts using survey instruments appeared to offer a method for gathering data in order to develop and analyze a comprehensive list of critical skills for educators of students with autism. A survey instrument was developed in bifurcate format that required respondents to rate 118 skill items according to Importance and Proficiency. Two Likert-type scales were provided to enable respondents to record their perceptions of Importance and Proficiency. The instrument was mailed to a nationwide stratified sample of educators of students with autism. A total of 90 surveys were mailed with 52 (57%) returned. Four hypotheses and two research questions were developed. Data were analyzed using MANOVA to test for significant differences among the four geographic regions of the United States and within ten skill areas. The findings did not support the hypotheses; therefore, all hypotheses were rejected. In further analysis utilizing the ANOVA and Chi-Square procedures, significant differences among some regions and within some of the skill areas were found. The findings suggest that educators from the four regions tended to differ in regard to Importance and Proficiency for certain skill items. Findings led to recommendations being given relevant to future research on critical skills needed for teachers in the field of autism.

Teacher educator preparation programs play a central role in preparing teachers and practitioners who work with children with exceptionalities, immigrants, and English language learners (ELL), among others. Research indicates that immigrants, ELL, and children with exceptionalities benefit from effective family-professional partnerships in several ways. Family-professional relationships are also key in producing positive educational outcomes for vulnerable and children who are at-risk. The following layers of partnerships and relationships are discussed: university-based educator preparation programs (EPPs) and K-12 schools; immigrant families and K-12 schools; and teachers/caregivers in K-12 schools and immigrant children/ELL, including children with exceptionalities. The benefits of positive partnerships and relationships are discussed. These include positive educational outcomes for children and their families, positive outcomes for children's school readiness, enhanced quality of life for families and their children, family engagement in children's programs, strengthening of home-school program connection, and trust-building for all stakeholders.

The purpose of our study has been to see how communication is used and how messages to students are conveyed at the after-school center. We observed at two different schools located in the Stockholm area and supplemented with interviews. We wanted to get an idea of how the educators at the after-school center use communication and how they themselves consider how they use communication. We also asked about the relationships that the educators have with the students and colleagues during the interviews as we believe it can make communication more difficult if you don’t have a relationship with those you want to get a message to. To achieve a result, we used different communication models and communication theories when we made our observations and interviews. We also used previous research about communication and relationship with children. Our results show how the educators used the communication in a glancingly and stressful way. The results also show that it is the non-verbal communication that is mostly used in these transient communicative situations. The educators experienced that it is hard to make time to communicate in a good way and make relationships with the students because of time constraints. Something that our observations contradicted since there were times where the educators only stood still or was “guarding” the students. / Syftet med vår undersökning har varit att undersöka hur kommunikation används och hur budskap till eleverna förmedlas i fritidshemmet. Vi har genomfört observationer av pedagoger på två olika skolor belägna i Stockholmsområdet och även kompletterat med intervjuer. Vi ville få kunskap om hur pedagogerna i fritidshemmet använder kommunikation och hur de själva anser sig använda kommunikation i den dagliga verksamheten i fritidshemmet. I intervjuerna frågade vi även om relationerna som pedagogerna hade till elever och kollegor, vilket vi anser kan försvåra kommunikationen om inte en relation finns till de som budskapet ska nå fram till. För att nå ett resultat utgick vi under observationer och intervjuer från olika kommunikationsmodeller och kommunikationsteorier. Vi använde även tidigare forskning om kommunikation och relationer med barn. Resultatet visar hur pedagogerna använde sig av kommunikation på ett flyktigt och stressigt sätt. Resultaten visar även att det oftast var den icke-verbala kommunikationen som pedagogerna använde i de flyktiga kommunikationssituationerna. Pedagogerna upplevde att det är svårt att hinna kommunicera på ett effektivt sätt och skapa relationer med eleverna på grund av att det saknas tid till det. Det motsäger dock våra observationer, det fanns tid men pedagogerna använde den till att vara stillastående eller ”vaktade” elever.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The majority of research on bullying focuses on learner-to-learner bullying, and educators are rarely identified or viewed as victims of bullying. This area of research is largely neglected, despite its serious negative outcomes such as burnout, deterioration in the educator–learner relationship and disintegrated of the educator and learning culture.

This multi-faceted research study examined the current approach of educational technology courses and how integrating modern learning technologies into curriculum effectively is addressed in pre-service education programs at U.S. universities. The primary goal was to explain the current trends in the reviewed pre-service programs in relation to how future educators are prepared by the universities to incorporate educational technology and use technology enhanced curriculum. This study was an exploratory, non-positivistic qualitative study that employed multi-strategy and survey research approaches in order to establish a baseline of the way that technology integration skills are being addressed in undergraduate pre-service educator programs today. Survey participants were educators within a public or private K-12 system in the U.S. The participants' level of education, university attended, educational technology experience, and technology perceptions were gathered from the survey's Likert-type and open-end questions. Current and historically statistics and data were collected for each university identified from the survey responses. Findings of this study revealed outcomes related to participants' education, perception of educational technology, and university educational technology course offerings and/or requirements for undergraduate pre-service educator programs. Results of this research study provide a solid foundation for future research in these areas within the field of education.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact Hip-Hop culture can have on white faculty who are committed to interrogating their identity and the constructs of whiteness, as it relates to implementing a sustainable process to interrogate race as a critically self-reflective educator and the development of a culturally sustaining practice in urban educational spaces. This qualitative study aimed to capture the experiences of the participants and to inform future efforts that challenge whiteness and identity amongst community college faculty and their role as educators by exposing them to educational tools and practices of Hip-Hop culture. With an emphasis on whiteness, power and privilege, this study engaged white community college faculty to not only look at themselves as educators but also how their influence impacts students on campus. The study used a cypher method to have participants engage in a series of interviews and workshops. Findings from this study suggest that Hip-Hop Based educational practices can offer tools for educators to engage in identity work and provide an opportunity to engage race, power, and whiteness. The implications from the study offers scholars beginning steps for further study around the relationship between Hip-Hop as a tool to engage white faculty with race and critical self reflection. It also presents implications for educators looking to further explore Hip-Hop Based Education as a tool for culturally responsive education, building community and liberatory practices.

This study intends to explore the very relevant and current issue of violence at school level. Through this case study the experiences of an educator with regard to violence in a secondary school are explored.</p.> Data for this study was collected through observation and unstructured interviews with the participant. Data collected was analysed through several phases of establishing thematic categories. This analysis was done within the parameters of a scientific literature framework. The six main categories were discussed and interpreted in terms of literature to provide the findings portrayed by the study. To ensure the dependability and quality of the data the study incorporated member checking and literature control. An attempt was made to contribute to, and expand upon, the existing body of knowledge with regard to this very important phenomenon. The results of this study show that the educator experiences violence in school as a very serious reality. This study argues that the causes of school violence should be studied from an integrative perspective and it supports the Bio-Ecological Systems theory as a multi-dimensional approach to understanding school violence. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Detta är en kvalitativ studie som genom diskursanalys ämnar ta reda på hur samarbetet mellan förskolpedagoger och specialpedagoger ser ut på förskolor. Studien utfördes i en storstadsregion i Sverige. Alla barn ska få rätt till stöd i alla skolformer. Vi ämnar utröna hur förskolpedagoger ser på samarbetet och ifall det finns externa faktorer som påverkar. Externa faktorer som till exempel kan påverka skulle kunna vara maktstrukturer, professionella roller, erfarenhet och synen på vad som är bäst för barnet. Vi genomförde fem gruppintervjuer med 2 till 4 deltagare i vardera. Totalt intervjuades 15 personer, alla informanter var förskolpedagoger. Syftet med att intervjua pedagoger i förskolan är att det är en professionell yrkesroll med stor makt att påverka hur förskolan fungerar och att det är pedagogernas ansvar att planera och samarbeta med specialpedagoger. Denna studie kommer bidra till en större förståelse för vad förskolpedagoger har för förväntningar på samarbetet med specialpedagoger. Vi hade en uppfattning om att specialpedagogerna hade befogenhet att föreslå åtgärder oavsett vilka åsikter förskolpedagogerna hade i frågan. Detta var inte i linje med den information vi fick fram, där specialpedagogerna inte upplevdes befinna sig i maktposition gentemot förskolpedagoger. Däremot sågs det som önskvärt att ha specialpedagoger närvarande i samtal med vårdnadshavare som ett stöd åt alla inblandade parter. En specialpedagog bör således kunna ta hand om helheten, stödja lärare och barn, ge vikt och värdighet till svåra samtal med vårdnadshavare, men inte vara med och besluta om faktiska åtgärder. Denna komplexitet bidrar till att en möjlig hierarki av makt i pedagogiska termer faktiskt inte påverkar samarbetet mellan dessa yrkesgrupper negativt, utan tillför en positiv verksamhetsutveckling. / With the help of qualitative interviews, we want to find out what preschool teachers have for wishes and expectations of a collaboration with special educators. Are there any obstacles to good cooperation and what external factors can influence the collaboration? External factors that could affect, for example, may be power structures, professional roles, experience, and the view of what is best for the child. This will be of great importance to our future professional role if we have a better understanding of what is desirable in our professional role. We conducted five group interviews, with 2 to 4 participants. A total of 15 people was interviewed. All informants were preschool teachers in Sweden. The purpose of interviewing preschool teachers is that it is a professional role with great power to influence how preschool works and that it is the responsibility of preschool teachers to plan and collaborate with special educators. We were of the opinion that the special educators had the power to propose how the teachers would work regardless of what the teachers had in mind. This was not in line with the information we obtained, but it was desirable that the special educator could be present in discussions with the guardians as support for all parties involved. A special educator should thus be able to take care of the whole, support teachers and children, give weight and dignity to difficult conversations with custodians, but not be involved in deciding on actual measures. This complexity contributes to the fact that a possible hierarchy of power in pedagogical terms does not in fact affect the cooperation between these occupational groups negatively, but adds positive development.

The Resilient Educators (REds) Support Programme was compiled by the North West University in 2006. The aim of the REds Programme is to promote the quality of life of HIV and AIDS-affected educators. It is therefore geared towards assisting educators to cope more effectively with the challenges of the pandemic by supporting them to respond adaptively to a teaching context that demands responses more typical of counsellors or social workers, or medical personnel trained to prevent HIV (Theron, Geyer, Strydom&Delport, 2008:84). The content of the REds Programme is grouped into nine modules. Each module provides thematic structure, background information and interactive activities. Since its conception in 2006 and subsequent implementation, REds has continued to evolve, being continually informed by empirical research, with the future aim of disseminating REds to the National Department of Basic Education in South Africa (Theron et al., 2008:84-85). Continual refinement and development of REds have thus been occurring to the extent that the fourth version has been implemented in 2009. REds has to date been implemented in four South African provinces, namely Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State and North West Provinces, but not in the Northern Cape. However, its extended implementation in the Northern Cape may deem invaluable to the standardisation of the programme for the South African educational context The goal of the research project was to determine the effectiveness of the REds Support Programme (fourth version) in enhancing the quality of life of HIV and AIDS-affected educators in the Northern Cape. The researcher embarked upon programme evaluation as a type of applied research. The study utilised the triangulation mixed methods research design, as this study combines qualitative and quantitative research methods. The research design for the quantitative research approach was the quasi-experimental comparison group pre-test post-test design, whilst the collective case study design was used for the qualitative research approach. Quantitative data were collected through a group standardised questionnaire, the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) and for qualitative data different methods were used including narratives and drawings. The same standardised questionnaire was administered at both the pre- and post-test level with both the experimental and comparison groups. Narratives and drawings were also utilised for both groups before and after exposure to REds. The experimental group consisted of 11 respondents from a specific primary school in Kimberley, Northern Cape, while 10 respondents, from another primary school in Kimberley, participated as part of the comparison group. The quantitative research results suggested that even though a significant difference was indicated between the comparison group and the experimental group as it relates to the measure of burnout at the post-test level, it cannot be certain that this difference is as a result of the experimental group having been exposed to the REds programme, given that a significant difference between these groups already existed at the pre-test level. Qualitative research results, on the other hand, evidently indicated that participants have profited from the REds programme and that there was a positive mind shift in the post-exposure of respondents to the programme. This could be substantiated when comparing post-exposure findings of the comparison group and the experimental group. Based on the data obtained through ProQOL, the REds programme did not adequately address the support needs (Quality of Life) of participants. The qualitative results gathered through narratives and drawings seem to have given a better representation of the impact of the REds programme on participants when compared to the quantitative results. It is recommended that the qualitative component of the research project be elevated as the data gathered through this research method was much richer than the quantitative data. The impact of the programme is evident using this data collection method. It is recommended that other possible standardised questionnaires be explored or a self-structured questionnaire be compiled in order to identify a more applicable measuring instrument. It is also recommended that the possibility of excluding a quantitative measuring instrument be explored. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted