In Part A of this ethnography, I explain how my life experiences have shaped who I am and why I want to be a teacher. In Part B, I describe my experience of working with three focus students—an English learner, a student with a 504 Plan, and a student with significant life experience. My work with these students allowed me to learn of their strengths and assets, and areas of need. Based on the knowledge that I compiled over the course of the Fall Semester 2018, I created an action plan to help each student improve his/her academic standing and socio-emotional well-being. In Part C, I identify and evaluate the assets of the school and the community in which my students live, and how such assets help students thrive. I also assess the challenges that both the school and community face, and their continuous efforts to overcome them. In Part D, I reflect on my first year of teaching to assess my instructional practices, and I evaluate the progress made by my whole class, and more specifically my focus students.

This is a historical study of preschool nationally and partly internationally with a focus on elucidating the development of quality elements. The study will trace the beginnings of perkindergaten and how the programs have evolved to their current state. The study contains a look at the current state of prekindergarten programs within the United States and how the differing states are measuring their programs. The use of the word quality is examined as it relates to how programs are designed and implemented. The study will also examine several different states that have been acknowledged as the front runners in prekindergarten education services. The international perspective includes at look at several different countries and how they have implemented their early childhood programs. This is section looks at some of their standards for their programs and the requirements for their teachers. The final part of the study draws conclusions as to how to best proceed when making polices for prekindergarten programs in the United States taking into account the many perspectives.

This study examined teacher characteristics and practices identified as effective through current research for teaching students with complex communication needs. For this population, communication issues are more complex than those typically encountered in other settings. Specifically, the researcher asked: what are the desired characteristics and practices for this population, and are the desired characteristics and practices present in current settings? Working with six teachers in a large urban school district, this study utilized a multiple case study design. Criteria for participation included the teacher as the primary reading/language arts instructor for a student who used an augmentative and alternative communication system (AAC). This study builds on prior research and fills a gap in current research through a focus on the teacher. This study was conducted through three phases: a survey of teacher characteristics, observations of teacher practices, and a semi-structured interview. Four instruments were utilized to ensure validity. Results suggest that teachers for this population require knowledge on language and literacy specific to the non-verbal child. AAC training is critical in regard to programming and navigation. The use of other technology supports which offer auditory, visual, and access options are essential. Strong collaborative teams (school and district) are also important. However, one of the most significant findings documents that success may lie with the teacher's 'choice' to embrace challenges with this population. This issue of 'choice' questions the teacher's willingness (personally or professionally) to accept this commitment. This finding also questions the degree to which teachers are willing to pursue opportunities. Recommendations include the need for: training (teachers and paraprofessionals), pursuit of opportunities for supports, addressing parent issues, a district-based liaison between home and school, and to examine issues which prevent the recommended instructional time (90 minutes of reading instruction plus 45 minutes of supplemental instruction). Conclusions indicated that participants ranged from effective to ineffective. The identification of 'highly qualified' teachers through level of education and amount of experience did not correlate with participants' level of effectiveness. Given the limited research available, this study addresses a need in the field and lays the foundation for future research with this population.

With the acceptance of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa, the emphasis shifted from a teacher-centred to a learner-centred instruction approach. The learner-centred teaching approach of OBE is based on the social constructivistic teaching view. This view is based on the fundamental acceptance that people construe knowledge through interaction between their existing knowledge and beliefs and new ideas or situations within a social environment or milieu. It is thus essential that future Geography education students receive training in a similar manner as that which is expected of them as future practising teachers. Lecturers' and students' beliefs and perceptions of how instruction must take place, in the majority of cases, still support the traditional direct instruction approach where lecturers transfer knowledge to students mainly through formal lectures. The acceptance of the social constructivistic teaching approach for the training of Geography education students implies that the beliefs of lecturers and students as well as their roles in the teaching learning process, must change. This means that the purpose of contact time between lecturer and students must necessarily change. Contact time should not just be used by the lecturer for presenting content. It is the task of the Geography lecturer to create a learning environment where students are actively involved in cooperative learning environments in the learning process. The lecturer acts as facilitator, guide, enabler and fellow-explorer in the learning process. Contact sessions must be used to offer the students the opportunity to report back on the learning assignments and activities or to reflect on what has been learnt. Continuous formative assessment takes place during contact and non-contact times to give quick feedback on learning. The lecturer and students are involved in the assessment process. Clear assessment criteria must be compiled by the lecturer in cooperation with students so that the students will know precisely what is expected of them. Together with the learner-centred teaching approach, certain universities worldwide have been obliged to decrease contact time between lecturer and student. Reasons for this can mainly be ascribed to an increase in student numbers and to effectively vii manage the lecturers' time so that more time can be spent on research. The lecturer is supposed to design and plan a specific module so that the set learning outcomes could be achieved within the reduced time. Different guidelines are identified in the context of reducing contact time so as to ensure the effective achievement of learning outcomes. The lecturer should prepare, plan and manage contact time. Students must also accept larger responsibility for independent learning and attain some of the learning outcomes during non-contact times. To support students during non-contact times and to guide them in the attainment of learning outcomes and completion of assignments, students must make use of resource-based learning. The interactive study guide and work planning, as developed and compiled by the lecturer, is necessary for providing students with assistance and guidance so that students know precisely what is expected of them, what resources to use and when. It is furthermore necessary that the assessment strategies, that are used in the teaching of Geography, support the decrease in contact time. Bigger responsibility is given to students in the assessment process and is included in self and peer group assessment of and feedback to assignments. The Geography education lecturer involved in the development of the different Geography modules must make sure that over-assessment does not take place, but that students are exposed to multiple assessment methods. Decision-making by university management on decreased contact time was probably taken without considering the full implications for learner-centred teaching. This study is an attempt to implement a learner-centred teaching approach in the Geography training of education students within the optimising of contact time between lecturer and students. A concept model for the Geography training of education students was developed to ensure the successful attainment of learning outcomes. The perception and attitudes of the students regarding the concept model in Geography-training within the optimising of contact time was analysed, after which the examination results of the students were compared with results of previous years. From the information required in the literature as well as in the implementation of the concept model in Geography training, criteria and strategies for the effective training of Geography teachers in the optimising of contact time were developed. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

With the acceptance of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa, the emphasis shifted from a teacher-centred to a learner-centred instruction approach. The learner-centred teaching approach of OBE is based on the social constructivistic teaching view. This view is based on the fundamental acceptance that people construe knowledge through interaction between their existing knowledge and beliefs and new ideas or situations within a social environment or milieu. It is thus essential that future Geography education students receive training in a similar manner as that which is expected of them as future practising teachers. Lecturers' and students' beliefs and perceptions of how instruction must take place, in the majority of cases, still support the traditional direct instruction approach where lecturers transfer knowledge to students mainly through formal lectures. The acceptance of the social constructivistic teaching approach for the training of Geography education students implies that the beliefs of lecturers and students as well as their roles in the teaching learning process, must change. This means that the purpose of contact time between lecturer and students must necessarily change. Contact time should not just be used by the lecturer for presenting content. It is the task of the Geography lecturer to create a learning environment where students are actively involved in cooperative learning environments in the learning process. The lecturer acts as facilitator, guide, enabler and fellow-explorer in the learning process. Contact sessions must be used to offer the students the opportunity to report back on the learning assignments and activities or to reflect on what has been learnt. Continuous formative assessment takes place during contact and non-contact times to give quick feedback on learning. The lecturer and students are involved in the assessment process. Clear assessment criteria must be compiled by the lecturer in cooperation with students so that the students will know precisely what is expected of them. Together with the learner-centred teaching approach, certain universities worldwide have been obliged to decrease contact time between lecturer and student. Reasons for this can mainly be ascribed to an increase in student numbers and to effectively vii manage the lecturers' time so that more time can be spent on research. The lecturer is supposed to design and plan a specific module so that the set learning outcomes could be achieved within the reduced time. Different guidelines are identified in the context of reducing contact time so as to ensure the effective achievement of learning outcomes. The lecturer should prepare, plan and manage contact time. Students must also accept larger responsibility for independent learning and attain some of the learning outcomes during non-contact times. To support students during non-contact times and to guide them in the attainment of learning outcomes and completion of assignments, students must make use of resource-based learning. The interactive study guide and work planning, as developed and compiled by the lecturer, is necessary for providing students with assistance and guidance so that students know precisely what is expected of them, what resources to use and when. It is furthermore necessary that the assessment strategies, that are used in the teaching of Geography, support the decrease in contact time. Bigger responsibility is given to students in the assessment process and is included in self and peer group assessment of and feedback to assignments. The Geography education lecturer involved in the development of the different Geography modules must make sure that over-assessment does not take place, but that students are exposed to multiple assessment methods. Decision-making by university management on decreased contact time was probably taken without considering the full implications for learner-centred teaching. This study is an attempt to implement a learner-centred teaching approach in the Geography training of education students within the optimising of contact time between lecturer and students. A concept model for the Geography training of education students was developed to ensure the successful attainment of learning outcomes. The perception and attitudes of the students regarding the concept model in Geography-training within the optimising of contact time was analysed, after which the examination results of the students were compared with results of previous years. From the information required in the literature as well as in the implementation of the concept model in Geography training, criteria and strategies for the effective training of Geography teachers in the optimising of contact time were developed. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Notre recherche doctorale porte sur l’influence des pratiques d’enseignement du code alphabétique sur les progrès des élèves de cours préparatoire. Elle a pour objectif d’identifier des pratiques pédagogiques efficaces et de contribuer à la réflexion sur la formation professionnelle des enseignants. Elle constitue l’un des volets d’une enquête collective de grande ampleur dirigée par Roland Goigoux qui visait à évaluer l’influence des pratiques d’enseignement de la lecture et de l’écriture sur la qualité des apprentissages.La première partie de notre recherche est consacrée à la mise en évidence de relations causales entre les pratiques d’enseignement du code alphabétique et les performances des élèves en décodage et en orthographe. Nous nous intéressons tout d’abord à la question de la planification de l’enseignement, plus précisément à la vitesse d’étude des correspondances entre les graphèmes et les phonèmes (tempo) et à la part déchiffrable des textes utilisés comme supports d’enseignement de la lecture (rendement effectif). Nos résultats soulignent l’influence significative de ces deux variables sur la qualité des apprentissages, cette influence s’exerçant de manière différenciée selon le niveau des élèves à l’entrée du cours préparatoire. En outre, nous proposons une progression de l’étude du code alphabétique fondée sur la fréquence théorique des correspondances graphèmes-phonèmes des textes écrits en français standard pouvant servir de référence aux enseignants. Nous étudions également les effets du temps d’enseignement de l’encodage sur les acquisitions scolaires, effets qui se révèlent significatifs et positifs mais qui varient selon la nature des tâches proposées et les publics ciblés.Dans la seconde partie de notre thèse, nous nous attachons à comprendre et à documenter la conduite de l’activité de maitres expérimentés de cours préparatoire à des fins de formation professionnelle. Nous analysons une situation de référence de l’enseignement du lire-écrire à partir des enregistrements vidéo de trente-six séances de lecture collectives. Puis, nous décrivons des scénarios pédagogiques prototypiques et nous posons les bases d’une formation destinée à développer les compétences professionnelles des enseignants. Nous soulevons notamment la problématique de l’articulation de la résolution de tâches de code et de compréhension et celle de l’autonomie de déchiffrage offerte aux élèves. Nous présentons enfin la plateforme numérique que nous avons élaborée et qui permet de déterminer la part déchiffrable des textes utilisés lors des séances de lecture collectives. Cette plateforme nommée Anagraph aide les enseignants à planifier l’étude des correspondances graphophonémiques et à choisir des textes adaptés à l’enseignement de la lecture / Our doctoral research focuses on the influence of phonics instruction on first-grade students’ progress. Its purpose is to identify effective teaching practices and to contribute to the training of teachers. This research is part of a larger study conducted by Roland Goigoux, which aimed to assess the influence of reading and writing on the quality of learning.The first part of our research examines causal relationships between the characteristics of phonics instruction and students’ performances in decoding and spelling. First, we study the influence of the speed of teaching of grapheme-phoneme relationships (tempo) and of the decodable part of texts used to teach reading (rendement effectif). Our results reveal a significant influence of these two variables on the quality of learning, this influence being different according to students’ initial levels. Besides, we propose a planning of the phonics instruction based on the theoretical frequency of the grapheme-phoneme correspondences in texts written in standard French which can serve as references for the teachers. We also study the effects of the teaching time allocated to encoding tasks on reading achievement, effects which appear to be significant and positive but which vary according to the nature of the tasks and to students’ characteristics.In the second part of our dissertation, we attempt to analyze and document teaching practices of experienced first-grade teachers for training purposes. We analyze a reference situation of the teaching of reading and writing from the video recordings of thirty six collective sessions of reading. Then, we describe prototypical teaching scenarios and lay the foundations for a training intended to develop the professional skills of the teachers. Specifically, we raise the issue of the relationship between the resolution of decoding and understanding tasks and the autonomy that decoding success afforded the students. We finally present the digital platform we designed, which allows calculating the decodable part of texts used during reading instruction. This platform named Anagraph has been designed to help teachers plan the study of the grapheme-phoneme correspondences and to choose texts adapted to their teaching