Heeding Hillard’s call for teachers to crack the walls of the matrix (inequitable schooling), this qualitative case study used Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory as a theoretical lens and methodological tool to investigate the reflections of three elementary pre-service teachers. The first research question examined participants’ reflections as they were learning about teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students. The second question explored how these reflections connected to their developing culturally relevant beliefs and practices. To investigate these research questions the data sources collected for each participant included a pre/post Love & Kruger questionnaire, three individual semi-structured interview transcripts, eight written course documents, and two individual member written records. Cross case and within case analyses were conducted using a priori and open coding for all data and utilized the analytic strategy of relying on theoretical propositions. The theoretical proposition for this study was that teachers who reflected across systems of influences had more culturally relevant beliefs and practices. Findings from the cross case analysis suggested that (a) participants’ had shared patterns of reflectivity (b) drew upon multiple tools of references when confronted with less culturally relevant teaching in the field and program and (c) some course assignments facilitated participants’ reflection across systems more than others. The results from the within case analysis suggested that (a) participants’ racial identity experiences were the lenses they used to reflect on what being a culturally relevant teacher meant (b) some participants experienced cultural dissonance in the teacher development program as they considered culturally relevant pedagogy and (c) critical reflections across systems of influence revealed more developed understandings of culturally relevant pedagogy. This study offers insights about using critical reflectivity in developing pre-service teachers’ understandings of culturally relevant pedagogy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Dana Fox, committee chair; Steven Whatley, Joyce Many, Amy Flint, committee members. Electronic text (145 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed August 8, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-140).

Technology has become pervasive in society and classrooms today. However, studies show that most teachers are not yet comfortable integrating technology into their repertoire of instructional strategies (Education Week, 2005). National reports and standards documents have recognized that technology proficiency is essential for all students (International Society for Technology in Education, 2000; No Child Left Behind, 2002; U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Teacher instruction is a critical factor in maximizing the potential that educational technology has to impact student achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine how an exemplary elementary teacher uses technology to improve student learning and why she has chosen to integrate technology into her classroom instruction in the ways she has. A single-case design was used in this qualitative study. The researcher was the instrument used in the collection of data. Purposeful sampling was used in the selection of the study's participant, an exemplary elementary teacher who utilizes technology in her classroom. The participant in this research study was a certified elementary teacher. Her elementary principal and a school district administrator were also interviewed to provide additional perspectives to the case study. Personal interviews, observations, and document analysis were used to collect data. The findings of this study included examples of how the participating teacher used technology in her classroom. These findings included ways that she integrated technology into daily activities across of wide variety of curriculum content areas, and ways the classroom environment was designed to encourage interaction, communication, and cooperation as students worked on instructional activities that incorporated technology. The barriers of professional development, access, support, and time did not hamper the participating teacher's ability to integrate technology. Technology was used daily in the participating teacher's classroom for enhancing student work, easing the teacher's management and planning tasks, and communicating with parents and other faculty members. Additionally, I found that the participating teacher was motivated to use technology by several factors. Administrative support, the teacher's personal use of technology, and student engagement and motivation served as factors as to why the participating teacher integrated technology into her daily classroom instruction. Recommendations included: (a) incorporating educational technology into a variety of undergraduate teacher education courses, (b) including a variety of instructional strategies for integrating technology in methods courses of preservice teacher education programs, (c) studying further how to effectively reduce the most-noted barriers to technology integration - lack of professional development, access, support, and time, (d) requiring candidates in educational administration graduate programs to take an educational technology course, and (e) conducted further study to determine the link between the use of technology in a teacher's personal life and any increased classroom technology integration.

This qualitative study explores the expectations and preceptions elementary teachers have of school counselors. Participants were current or past students in an elementary education graduate progrma at a southeastern university. The participants responded to an open-endd online survey that consisted of questions that focused on the demographics of their schools and the expectations and perceptions they had of the school counselor's roles and responsibilities pertaining to both academic achievement and student behavior. Although responses varied, the data suggests that there was substatntial concern regarding the time and availability of the school counselor, implications of the use of counselors as school standardized testing administrators, and respondents' desires for school counselors to focus on the severe emotional and behavioral needs of students.

Thesis (Ed.D.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2010. / Dissertation advisor: Karen C. Beyard. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education ... " Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-130). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Syfte: Syftet med studien var att kartlägga tobaksvanor och uppfattningen om tobakens påverkan i munhålan bland grundlärarstuderande. Material och metod: En tvärsnittsstudie med kvantitativ design genomfördes i form av en enkätundersökning. Enkäten delades ut till 76 grundlärarstudenter där samtliga valde att delta. Resultat: Resultatet visade att det var 13 respondenter som rökte och 4 som snusade, varav en var blandbrukare av snus och cigaretter. Debutåldern för rökning var mellan 11-20 år och för snusning mellan 16-20 år. Den övervägande delen av respondenterna hade uppfattningen att tobak har någon form av påverkan i munhålan. En stor del av respondenterna uppfattade att rökning har en mycket stor betydelse för att utveckla tillstånden dålig andedräkt (73,3%) och missfärgning av tänderna (78,9%), medan majoriteten av respondenterna uppfattade att missfärgning av tänderna (82,7%) har en mycket stor betydelse vid användningen av snus. Slutsats: Resultatet visar att det var fler tobaksanvändare i denna studie i förhållande till tobaksvändningen i övriga Sverige. Studien visar att den övervägande delen av grundlärarstudenterna uppfattade att rökning och snusning påverkar utveckling av olika tillstånd i munhålan. / Objective: The aim of the study was to identify tobacco habits and the perception of its effects in the oral cavity among elementary teacher students at Kristianstad University. Material and methods: A cross-sectional study with quantitative design was performed with a questionnaire survey. It was distributed to 76 elementary teacher students where all participated. Results: The results showed that 13 respondents smoked and 4 used snus, one of those was using both cigarettes and snus. The debut age for smoking was between 11-20 years and 16-20 years when using snus. The vast majority of the respondents perceived that the use of snus and cigarettes effects the oral cavity. Many of the respondents perceived that smoking had very great importance in the development of halitosis (73,3%) and discoloration of the teeth (78,9%), while the majority of the respondents had the perception that the discoloration of the teeth (82.7%) was of very great importance in the use of snus. Conclusion: The result shows that there were more tobacco users in this study in relation to tobacco use in the rest of Sweden. This study shows that the vast majority of the elementary teacher students perceived that smoking and snus had an effect for developing various states in the oral cavity.

<p>This study is based on an examination of students’ habits of using the Internet in formal and informal environments. The focus within this study is on what kind of activities students use the Internet for and how and if their teacher connect the students actual usage of the Internet to base the education in school on it. What we have discovered in this report is that the student in this examination uses the Internet as a tool for communicative and entertaining purposes. Though, the use of the Internet is different depending on which physical environment it is situated in. Our method for this study was based on forms for the students (two classes) to fill in and interviews with two elementary teachers</p>

This study is based on an examination of students’ habits of using the Internet in formal and informal environments. The focus within this study is on what kind of activities students use the Internet for and how and if their teacher connect the students actual usage of the Internet to base the education in school on it. What we have discovered in this report is that the student in this examination uses the Internet as a tool for communicative and entertaining purposes. Though, the use of the Internet is different depending on which physical environment it is situated in. Our method for this study was based on forms for the students (two classes) to fill in and interviews with two elementary teachers

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1995. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Linda Darling-Hammond. Dissertation Committee: A. Lin Goodwin. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-230).

Att arbeta som lärare kräver att du erhåller vissa kunskaper. Du ska ha tillräckliga ämneskunskaper och pedagogiska kunskaper. Du ska även ha kunskaper om hur planering, utförande och utvärdering av undervisningen sker. Att skapa en lektionsplanering och integrera alla nödvändiga delar av en undervisning är komplext. Därför utvecklade Shulman (1987) sex processdelar undervisningen följer. Frågan är om dagens lärare använder dessa kunskaper. Syftet är därför att bidra med förståelse om vilka kunskaper lärare besitter samt hur planering av undervisning sker. Detta genom att låta lärarna planera en undervisning inom ämnet volym. Studien genomfördes genom kvalitativa intervjuer med fem stycken lärare. Resultatet av studien visar att alla lärarna följde processdelarna. Det var emellertid mycket som skiljde sig mellan lärarna. Forskning säger att erfarenhet, utbildning och fortbildning har betydelse för lärares planeringsförmåga. Resultatet av studien visar att detta i viss utsträckning har betydelse och att lärares förmågor är olika. Dock visar egen analys att det mer beror på att alla lärare är olika individer.