The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) has replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and many changes were made to offer more flexibility for English language learners (ELLs). Historically, teachers have not been well informed of the changes made to the specific requirements of educational policy despite being at the frontline to implement these changes in their classrooms. This mixed methods study includes the development of a comprehensive online survey to investigate how aware Indiana teachers are of the ESSA specific requirements for ELLs and the results of the survey completed by 46 teachers. For the analysis of the survey data, both statistical analysis and visual analytics were employed. Findings suggest that the teachers were not highly informed of the specific requirements of ESSA for ELLs, as well as were not adequately prepared to teach and assess ELLs under ESSA. Accordingly, very few teachers reported that they have made changes to their classroom instruction and assessment practices that would be beneficial for ELLs under ESSA. This study reiterates that the effectiveness of federal educational policy should be examined at the classroom level and suggests that the first step should be to clearly inform the classroom teachers by offering district level professional development, which includes a summary of the changes resulting from NCLB to ESSA. The study further highlights that without informing Indiana teachers of the changes made in federal educational policies, the shift from NCLB to ESSA will be nothing more than a renaming of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Hence, the study underlines that only when these changes are implemented at the classroom level through teachers, all students, including ELLs, will benefit from these new policy changes under ESSA.

This thesis based on an archive research as well as interviews with eleven interviewees describes aspects of every day routine in the lives of western foreigners in Czechoslovakia during the nineteen-seventies and eighties. Testimonies of the interviewees are set in context where a special emphasis is placed on legislation and internal regulations mostly of bodies of the Ministry of Interior concerning Czechoslovak visa policy, the status of foreigner in relation to Czechoslovakian citizens (marriages) and the police apparatus (observing, tailing and monitoring). Based on the testimonies and the archive material it can be concluded that the Czechoslovakian regime did not see the western foreigners as a priori ideological enemies and tolerated their presence in Czechoslovakia. Bureaucratic procedures, however, were set in such a fashion that the foreigners could be closely observed. A fear of not having their stay extended, resp. being expelled, often led those interviewees who wanted to live in Czechoslovakia permanently to subconsciously avoid conflicts with the regime. All interviewees are critical of the former regime and are able to accurately characterize its nature and its main negative aspects, but at the same time they perceived positively certain aspects of life in the brought-into-line...

This study deals with aspects of the everyday social reality of the forced community in the Terezin ghetto in 1941-1945. It is a microsociological introspection of the life of the prisoners that lived in the ghetto. It aims to define social factors that influenced the lives of people that were stigmatized, fought for their lives and lived in border-line situations. The research part of the study uses biographical method. It uses 10 recorded testimonials of survivors - former Terezin prisoners. The research was carried out by means of partly structured interviews. The questions dealt with internal and external factors that created the daily reality of this forced community. The aim was to map their subjective perception of life conditions, social ties, both negative and positive factors and further personal utterances of the narrators. The testimonies serve for better and deeper understanding of the Terezin reality. The factors that affected the community in a negative way included fear of the unknown, fear of loosing close friends and relatives, very bad life conditions that strongly affected the negative mind-set of people and loss of moral values. In contrast, the positive factors included culture and sports that were welcomed by the prisoners as they allowed them to shift aside gloomy thoughts....

Introdução: A abordagem \"Health at Every Size®\" (HAES®) vem sendo utilizada para o cuidado de pessoas com obesidade. Objetivo: Compreender os efeitos de uma nova intervenção interdisciplinar baseada na abordagem HAES®, especialmente acerca dos processos de escolhas alimentares. Métodos: Este foi um ensaio clínico prospectivo randomizado controlado, de sete meses, que empregou o desenho de métodos mistos. Cinquenta e oito mulheres obesas compuseram a amostra e foram alocadas aleatoriamente nos grupos intervenção (I-HAES®, n = 39) ou controle (CTRL, n = 19). A intervenção do grupo I-HAES® consistiu em uma nova proposta de cuidado baseada na abordagem HAES®, consistindo de atividade física três vezes por semana, atendimento nutricional individual quinzenal e cinco oficinas filosóficas. Já a intervenção do grupo CTRL consistiu em uma intervenção tradicional baseada nesta abordagem, consistindo de palestras bimestrais. Para ambos os grupos foram feitos ao início e final da intervenção exames de sangue, testes de função muscular, aferição de peso corporal e das circunferências da cintura e quadril, além do preenchimento de escalas e questionários autoaplicados. Duas entrevistas individuais semiestruturadas e dois grupos focais foram conduzidos com todas as participantes. Os dados qualitativos foram analisados pela técnica da análise de conteúdo e os quantitativos pelos softwares estatísticos SAS e SPSS. Resultados: Embora ambos os grupos tenham reportado melhoras na qualidade da alimentação, estas foram mais expressivas no grupo I-HAES®. Essa melhora se relacionou com o maior engajamento com experiências culinárias e com o aumento no planejamento da alimentação. Outras estratégias que impactaram positivamente nas escolhas alimentares desse grupo foram comer com atenção, com tempo adequado e de acordo com as sensações de fome e saciedade. Inicialmente, as participantes de ambos os grupos relataram que seus corpos traziam consequências físicas e psicológicas negativas, impactavam na sua autoavaliação e eram alvo de estigmatização. Posteriormente, grande parte do grupo I-HAES® reportou que, embora a perda de peso ainda fosse uma expectativa, elas estavam satisfeitas com outros ganhos que tiveram, não colocavam mais a perda de peso como central para sua felicidade e entenderam que as mudanças se dariam em longo prazo. O peso corporal, o índice de massa corporal e as circunferências da cintura e quadril não diferiram significativamente intra ou entre grupos (p > 0,05). O grupo I-HAES® apresentou aumento no consumo de oxigênio máximo e no teste funcional -timed-stand? (P = 0,004 e P = 0,004, comparação entre grupos). Não foram observadas diferenças intra ou entre grupos para as medidas objetivas de atividade física, embora a maioria das participantes do grupo I-HAES® tenha reportado estar engajadas ou ter planos para incluir atividades físicas em suas rotinas. Ambos os grupos apresentaram melhoras relacionadas à qualidade de vida, mas no grupo I-HAES® estas foram mais expressivas. Conclusões: Uma nova intervenção baseada na abordagem HAES® pareceu superior a uma intervenção tradicional. Embora não tenham sido observadas mudanças no peso corporal e em níveis de atividade física, essa nova intervenção melhorou as escolhas, atitudes e práticas alimentares das participantes, sua percepção de imagem corporal, capacidade física e qualidade de vida. / Introduction: The \"Health at Every Size®\" (HAES®) approach is being more and more used to the care of people with obesity. Objective: To understand the effects of a new interdisciplinary intervention based on the HAES® approach, especially regarding food choice processes. Methods: This was a prospective, seven-month, randomized, controlled, mixed-method, clinical trial. Fifty-eight obese women composed the sample and were randomly allocated into the intervention (I-HAES®) or control (CTRL) groups. The I-HAES® intervention consisted of a new proposal of care based on the HAES® approach, comprising physical activity classes three times a week, biweekly individual nutritional sessions, and five philosophical workshops. The CTRL intervention consisted of a traditional intervention based on this approach, comprising bimonthly lectures. Both groups were assessed at the beginning and after the intervention for blood tests, aerobic condition, body weight and waist and hip circumferences, muscle function, in addition to the filling of scales and questionnaires self-administered. Two semi-structured individual interviews and two focus groups were conducted with all participants. The qualitative data were analyzed using the content analysis technique, whereas the quantitative data were analyzed using the statistical software SAS and SPSS. Results: Although both groups reported improvements in food quality, they were more expressive in the I-HAES® group. It seems that this improvement was related to this group higher engagement with culinary experiences and the increase in food planning. Other strategies that positively impacted on the food choices of this group were eating mindfully, deliberately, and in response to hunger and satiety cues. Initially, participants of both groups reported that their bodies had negative physical and psychological consequences, impacted their self-assessment, and were subject to stigmatization. After the intervention, most of the I-HAES® group reported that although weight loss was still an expectation, they were satisfied with other gains they had, no longer placed weight loss as central to their happiness and understood that the changes would take place in the long term. Body weight, body mass index, and waist and hip circumferences did not differ significantly within or between groups (p > 0.05). I-HAES® showed increased peak oxygen uptake and improved performance in the timed-stand test (P = 0.004 and P = 0.004, between-group comparisons). No significant within- or between-group differences were observed for objectively measured physical activity levels, although most participants in the I-HAES® group reported that they were engaged in or had plans to include physical activities in their routines. Both groups presented improvements related to quality of life, but in the I-HAES® group these were more expressive. Conclusions: A new intervention based on the HAES® approach seemed superior to a traditional intervention. Although no changes were observed in body weight and physical activity levels, this new intervention improved participants\' food choices, eating attitudes and practices, their perception of body image, physical capacity and quality of life.

Introdução: A abordagem \"Health at Every Size®\" (HAES®) vem sendo utilizada para o cuidado de pessoas com obesidade. Objetivo: Compreender os efeitos de uma nova intervenção interdisciplinar baseada na abordagem HAES®, especialmente acerca dos processos de escolhas alimentares. Métodos: Este foi um ensaio clínico prospectivo randomizado controlado, de sete meses, que empregou o desenho de métodos mistos. Cinquenta e oito mulheres obesas compuseram a amostra e foram alocadas aleatoriamente nos grupos intervenção (I-HAES®, n = 39) ou controle (CTRL, n = 19). A intervenção do grupo I-HAES® consistiu em uma nova proposta de cuidado baseada na abordagem HAES®, consistindo de atividade física três vezes por semana, atendimento nutricional individual quinzenal e cinco oficinas filosóficas. Já a intervenção do grupo CTRL consistiu em uma intervenção tradicional baseada nesta abordagem, consistindo de palestras bimestrais. Para ambos os grupos foram feitos ao início e final da intervenção exames de sangue, testes de função muscular, aferição de peso corporal e das circunferências da cintura e quadril, além do preenchimento de escalas e questionários autoaplicados. Duas entrevistas individuais semiestruturadas e dois grupos focais foram conduzidos com todas as participantes. Os dados qualitativos foram analisados pela técnica da análise de conteúdo e os quantitativos pelos softwares estatísticos SAS e SPSS. Resultados: Embora ambos os grupos tenham reportado melhoras na qualidade da alimentação, estas foram mais expressivas no grupo I-HAES®. Essa melhora se relacionou com o maior engajamento com experiências culinárias e com o aumento no planejamento da alimentação. Outras estratégias que impactaram positivamente nas escolhas alimentares desse grupo foram comer com atenção, com tempo adequado e de acordo com as sensações de fome e saciedade. Inicialmente, as participantes de ambos os grupos relataram que seus corpos traziam consequências físicas e psicológicas negativas, impactavam na sua autoavaliação e eram alvo de estigmatização. Posteriormente, grande parte do grupo I-HAES® reportou que, embora a perda de peso ainda fosse uma expectativa, elas estavam satisfeitas com outros ganhos que tiveram, não colocavam mais a perda de peso como central para sua felicidade e entenderam que as mudanças se dariam em longo prazo. O peso corporal, o índice de massa corporal e as circunferências da cintura e quadril não diferiram significativamente intra ou entre grupos (p > 0,05). O grupo I-HAES® apresentou aumento no consumo de oxigênio máximo e no teste funcional -timed-stand? (P = 0,004 e P = 0,004, comparação entre grupos). Não foram observadas diferenças intra ou entre grupos para as medidas objetivas de atividade física, embora a maioria das participantes do grupo I-HAES® tenha reportado estar engajadas ou ter planos para incluir atividades físicas em suas rotinas. Ambos os grupos apresentaram melhoras relacionadas à qualidade de vida, mas no grupo I-HAES® estas foram mais expressivas. Conclusões: Uma nova intervenção baseada na abordagem HAES® pareceu superior a uma intervenção tradicional. Embora não tenham sido observadas mudanças no peso corporal e em níveis de atividade física, essa nova intervenção melhorou as escolhas, atitudes e práticas alimentares das participantes, sua percepção de imagem corporal, capacidade física e qualidade de vida. / Introduction: The \"Health at Every Size®\" (HAES®) approach is being more and more used to the care of people with obesity. Objective: To understand the effects of a new interdisciplinary intervention based on the HAES® approach, especially regarding food choice processes. Methods: This was a prospective, seven-month, randomized, controlled, mixed-method, clinical trial. Fifty-eight obese women composed the sample and were randomly allocated into the intervention (I-HAES®) or control (CTRL) groups. The I-HAES® intervention consisted of a new proposal of care based on the HAES® approach, comprising physical activity classes three times a week, biweekly individual nutritional sessions, and five philosophical workshops. The CTRL intervention consisted of a traditional intervention based on this approach, comprising bimonthly lectures. Both groups were assessed at the beginning and after the intervention for blood tests, aerobic condition, body weight and waist and hip circumferences, muscle function, in addition to the filling of scales and questionnaires self-administered. Two semi-structured individual interviews and two focus groups were conducted with all participants. The qualitative data were analyzed using the content analysis technique, whereas the quantitative data were analyzed using the statistical software SAS and SPSS. Results: Although both groups reported improvements in food quality, they were more expressive in the I-HAES® group. It seems that this improvement was related to this group higher engagement with culinary experiences and the increase in food planning. Other strategies that positively impacted on the food choices of this group were eating mindfully, deliberately, and in response to hunger and satiety cues. Initially, participants of both groups reported that their bodies had negative physical and psychological consequences, impacted their self-assessment, and were subject to stigmatization. After the intervention, most of the I-HAES® group reported that although weight loss was still an expectation, they were satisfied with other gains they had, no longer placed weight loss as central to their happiness and understood that the changes would take place in the long term. Body weight, body mass index, and waist and hip circumferences did not differ significantly within or between groups (p > 0.05). I-HAES® showed increased peak oxygen uptake and improved performance in the timed-stand test (P = 0.004 and P = 0.004, between-group comparisons). No significant within- or between-group differences were observed for objectively measured physical activity levels, although most participants in the I-HAES® group reported that they were engaged in or had plans to include physical activities in their routines. Both groups presented improvements related to quality of life, but in the I-HAES® group these were more expressive. Conclusions: A new intervention based on the HAES® approach seemed superior to a traditional intervention. Although no changes were observed in body weight and physical activity levels, this new intervention improved participants\' food choices, eating attitudes and practices, their perception of body image, physical capacity and quality of life.

L’approche d’apprentissage par problèmes (APP) a vu le jour, dans sa forme contemporaine, à la Faculté de médecine de l’Université MacMaster en Ontario (Canada) à la fin des années 1960. Très rapidement cette nouvelle approche pédagogique active, centrée sur l’étudiant et basée sur les problèmes biomédicaux, va être adoptée par de nombreuses facultés de médecine de par le monde et gagner d’autres disciplines. Cependant, malgré ce succès apparent, l’APP est aussi une approche controversée, notamment en éducation médicale, où elle a été accusée de favoriser un apprentissage superficiel. Par ailleurs, les étudiants formés par cette approche réussiraient moins bien que les autres aux tests évaluant l’acquisition des concepts scientifiques de base, et il n’a jamais été prouvé que les médecins formés par l’APP seraient meilleurs que les autres. Pour mieux comprendre ces résultats, la présente recherche a voulu explorer l’apprentissage de ces concepts scientifiques, en tant que processus de construction, chez des étudiants formés par l’APP, à la Faculté de médecine de l’Université de Montréal, en nous appuyant sur le cadre théorique socioconstructivisme de Vygotski. Pour cet auteur, la formation des concepts est un processus complexe de construction de sens, en plusieurs étapes, qui ne peut se concevoir que dans le cadre d’une résolution de problèmes. Nous avons réalisé une étude de cas, multicas, intrasite, les cas étant deux groupes de neuf étudiants en médecine avec leur tuteur, que nous avons suivi pendant une session complète de la mi-novembre à la mi-décembre 2007. Deux grands objectifs étaient poursuivis: premièrement, fournir des analyses détaillées et des matériaux réflectifs et théoriques susceptibles de rendre compte du phénomène de construction des concepts scientifiques de base par des étudiants en médecine dans le contexte de l’APP. Deuxièmement, explorer, les approches de travail personnel des étudiants, lors de la phase de travail individuel, afin de répondre à la question de recherche suivante : Comment la dynamique pédagogique de l’APP en médecine permet-elle de rendre compte de l’apprentissage des concepts scientifiques de base? Il s’agissait d’une étude qualitative et les données ont été recueillies par différents moyens : observation non participante et enregistrement vidéo des tutoriaux d’APP, interview semi-structuré des étudiants, discussion avec les tuteurs et consultation de leurs manuels, puis traitées par diverses opérations: transcription des enregistrements, regroupement, classification. L’analyse a porté sur des collections de verbatim issus des transcriptions, sur le suivi de la construction des concepts à travers le temps et les sessions, sur le role du tuteur pour aider au développement de ces concepts Les analyses suggèrent que l’approche d’APP est, en général, bien accueillie, et les débats sont soutenus, avec en moyenne entre trois et quatre échanges par minute. Par rapport au premier objectif, nous avons effectivement fourni des explications détaillées sur la dynamique de construction des concepts qui s'étend lors des trois phases de l'APP, à savoir la phase aller, la phase de recherche individuelle et la phase retour. Pour chaque cas étudié, nous avons mis en évidence les représentations conceptuelles initiales à la phase aller, co-constructions des étudiants, sous la guidance du tuteur et nous avons suivi la transformation de ces concepts spontanés naïfs, lors des discussions de la phase retour. Le choix du cadre théorique socio constructiviste de Vygotski nous a permis de réfléchir sur le rôle de médiation joué par les composantes du système interactif de l'APP, que nous avons considéré comme une zone proximale de développement (ZPD) au sens élargi, qui sont le problème, le tuteur, l'étudiant et ses pairs, les ressources, notamment l'artefact graphique carte conceptuelle utilisée de façon intensive lors des tutoriaux aller et retour, pour arriver à la construction des concepts scientifiques. Notre recherche a montré qu'en revenant de leurs recherches, les étudiants avaient trois genres de représentations conceptuelles: des concepts corrects, des concepts incomplets et des concepts erronés. Il faut donc que les concepts scientifiques théoriques soient à leur tour confrontés au problème concret, dans l'interaction sociale pour une validation des attributs qui les caractérisent. Dans cette interaction, le tuteur joue un rôle clé complexe de facilitateur, de médiateur, essentiellement par le langage. L'analyse thématique de ses interventions a permis d'en distinguer cinq types: la gestion du groupe, l'argumentation, les questions de différents types, le modelling et les conclusions. Nous avons montré le lien entre les questions du tuteur et le type de réponses des étudiants, pour recommander un meilleur équilibre entre les différents types de questions. Les étudiants, également par les échanges verbaux, mais aussi par la construction collective des cartes conceptuelles initiales et définitives, participent à une co-construction de ces concepts. L'analyse de leurs interactions nous a permis de relever différentes fonctions du langage, pour souligner l'intérêt des interactions argumentatives, marqueurs d'un travail collaboratif en profondeur pour la co-construction des concepts Nous avons aussi montré l'intérêt des cartes conceptuelles non seulement pour visualiser les concepts, mais aussi en tant qu'artefact, outil de médiation psychique à double fonction communicative et sémiotique. Concernant le second objectif, l’exploration du travail personnel des étudiants, on constate que les étudiants de première année font un travail plus approfondi de recherche, et utilisent plus souvent des stratégies de lecture plus efficaces que leurs collègues de deuxième année. Ceux-ci se contentent, en général, des ouvrages de référence, font de simples lectures et s’appuient beaucoup sur les résumés faits par leurs prédécesseurs. Le recours aux ouvrages de référence essentiellement comme source d'information apporte une certaine pauvreté au débat à la phase retour avec peu d'échanges de type argumentatif, témoins d'un travail profond. Ainsi donc, par tout ce soutien qu'elle permet d'apporter aux étudiants pour la construction de leurs connaissances, pour le type d'apprentissage qu'elle offre, l’APP reste une approche unique, digne d’intérêt. Cependant, elle nécessite d'être améliorée par des interventions au niveau du tuteur et des étudiants. / The Problem-based learning (PBL) approach was developed, in its contemporary form, at the Faculty of Medicine, of MacMaster University in Ontario (Canada) in the late 1960s. Very quickly, this new active pedagogical approach, student-centered and based on biomedical problems, will be adopted by many medical schools around the world and used also in other disciplines. Despite its apparent success, however, PBL is also a controversial approach, particularly in medical education, where it has been blamed for promoting superficial learning. Furthermore, it has been documented that students trained by this approach, tend to be less successful at tests assessing the acquisition of basic scientific concepts.To what degree doctors trained by PBL excel in their work as doctors, remains to be determined as well. To better understand these results, this study sought to explore further the construction of scientific concepts, in the context of PBL, at the Faculty of Medicine, of Université de Montréal. The study is grounded in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and its inherent treatment of concepts’ formation as a complex construction process of meaning. We conducted a case study, multiple cases in the same site, the cases being two groups of nine medical students with their tutor that we followed during a full session, from mid-November to mid-December 2007. Two major objectives guided the study: First, we sought to offer a detailed study of the process of meaning making and development of scientific concepts by medical students in the context of PBL. Second, we studied students’ individual work that followed initial tutor mediated discussion of the case, and preceded the return session. We tried to answer to the following research question: How do the dynamics of PBL in medicine support students’construction of scientific concepts? The study was qualitative in nature, and data were collected through various means: no participant observation, video recordings of PBL tutorial sessions, semi-structured interviews of students, discussion with tutors and the consultation of their manuals. Analysis entailed the verbatim transcriptions of the observed problem solving sessions and interviews, and in turn inductive data analysis of concept formation accross time and over session. Through the grouping and classification of data and study of evolution of concepts over time, insights could be gathered into students’development of scientific concepts and the tutor’s role in this construction. Analysis suggests that PBL approach is generally well received, and discussions are lively, with an average of three to four exchanges per minute. Considering the first goal, we offered detailed explanations of the dynamics of concepts’ building that extends in all three phases of the PBL, namely the initial phase, the individual student research phase and the return phase. For each case studied, we highlighted the initial conceptual representations, resulting of students’ interactions, under the guidance of the tutor, and followed their transformation, through discussions at return phase. The choice of social constructivist theoretical framework of Vygotsky has allowed us to reflect on the mediation role played by components of the interactive system of PBL, that we considered as a zone of proximal development (ZPD) in a broader sense, and which are the problem, the tutor, the student and his peers, resources, including graphics artifact conceptual map, used extensively in all tutorials, to support the construction of scientific concepts. Our research has shown that students developed three kinds of conceptual representations: correct concepts, incomplete concepts and misconceptions, returning from their research. So, it is necessary, through social interaction, that attributes of scientific theoretical concepts be validated by facing the practical problem. In this interaction the tutor plays a key complex role of facilitator, mediator, mainly through language. Thematic analysis of his interventions helped to distinguish five themes: group management, arguments, questions of different types, modeling and conclusions. We have shown the link between tutor’s questions and the type of student responses, to recommend a better balance between different types of tutor’s questions. Students, also by verbal exchanges and by the collective construction of initial and final concept maps participate in the co-construction of these concepts. Analysis of their interactions enabled us to identify different functions of language, to emphasize the importance of argumentative interactions, markers of in depth collaborative work. We also showed interest of concept maps not only to visualize the concepts, but also as artifacts and tools of psychic mediation that play both, communicative and semiotics functions, in the development of scientifically sound concepts. Regarding the second objective, the exploration of students’ personal work, we found that first year students pursued a more thorough search, and relied on more effective reading strategies than their second year colleagues. These second year students relied more on reference books, reading simply and relying heavily on the summaries made by their predecessors, which is suggestive of a more superficial learning. Those students also, relied more on tutor. By using textbooks essentially as information source, debates were marked by cognitive low level exchanges, leading to little argumentative exchange and lack of deep and engaging collaborative work. Overall, however, the research suggests PBL is a unique, worthwhile pedagogical approach, offering students with opportunities to construct new conceptual understandings of complex medical concepts with help of a team within the zone of proximal development. But it requires to be improved by interventions concerning both tutors and students.

This collective case study examined the factors affecting the collaborative relationship between teachers and early childhood educators (ECEs) teaching together in elementary schools as Early Learning Teams in the first year of implementation of full-time kindergarten in Ontario. There are six major adjustments required concurrently by the Ontario government’s new policy in all kindergarten classrooms: team-teaching (sharing instruction, not just classroom management); supporting ECEs as new staff; changing from theme-based to inquiry-based; balancing the School District’s literacy goals with provincial play-based curriculum; double the instructional time, and the increased number of children in the classroom (up from 19 to 24-30). Two of the four classrooms studied in a rural Ontario school district were full-day, every day kindergartens (FDK) for 4 and 5 year olds and the other two were alternate full-days. Data were collected through classroom observations and interviews with principals, kindergarten teachers and ECEs. Case study theory guided the collection and analysis of data with open coding of transcripts, active code notes and memos to help answer the question of how to best implement FDK programs in Ontario. Results indicated that the FDK Team relationship itself enabled and constrained classroom instructional strategies, which would in turn have an impact on student outcomes. Collaborative practice involved a process that was affected by both internal factors (such as teacher foreknowledge of ECE skills), and thirteen external factors which arose from government and school district mandates, as well as practices of the school principal. Examples are: planning time, pay differential, hiring practices and adjusting to the new curriculum at the same time as the team adjusts to team teaching. The collaboration of more than 9,500 teacher and ECE teams is key to the success of Ontario’s new full-time early learning program. The education sector needs to adopt the long-established business practice of supporting team development through recognizing progressive teaming stages, such as those identified by Tuckman (1965). Recommendations are made for principals, school districts offices, government policy, FDK teachers, ECEs, and colleges that provide ECE training. A mnemonic for the four attributes evident in high-functioning collaborative integrated teaching teams (RISE) is proposed.

This dissertation explores the relevance of recent studies of Aristotle’s comic theory to the central dramatists of early modern England, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. Applications of the Poetics to Renaissance English drama tend to treat Aristotle’s theory historically, as a set of concepts mediated to England by continental redactions. But these often conflated the Poetics’ focus on literary form with the Renaissance’s predominant interest in literature’s rhetorical effect, reducing Aristotle’s genuinely speculative theory to a series of often pedantic literary prescriptions. Recent scholarship has both undone these misinterpretations and developed the comic theory latent in the Poetics. Ironically, these studies make Jonson’s and Shakespeare’s comedy look much more Aristotelian than do Renaissance ones. So rather than taking the Poetics simply as a possible source for each dramatist, I read it primarily as a literary theory that, when reinvigorated by modern scholarship, can explain structures and effects arrived at practically by these dramatists. Three recent hypotheses are especially pertinent to Jonson and Shakespeare: that comic hoaxes aim to expose comic error, which is for Aristotle a deviation from the mean of virtue; that “righteous indignation” is the comic emotion equivalent to the “pity and fear” of tragedy; and that catharsis is a clarification, rather than purgation, of reason and emotion. In light of these, I offer detailed readings of four plays that demonstrate these authors’ comic range: from Jonson’s satirical Every Man Out of His Humour to the almost farcical Epicoene, and from Shakespeare’s romantic Much Ado About Nothing to the tragicomic Measure for Measure. These plays demonstrate a variety of ways in which catharsis, the end of drama, results directly from the comic hoax and involves both the audience’s and characters’ experience of indignation and their comprehension of its relationship to the emotions of envy and pity. In each case, Aristotle’s incisive but flexible theoretical framework enables an explanation of the emotional pain present in the these “comedies of affliction” and reveals remarkable similarities between dramatists usually described as direct opposites.

RÉSUMÉ L’approche d’apprentissage par problèmes (APP) a vu le jour, dans sa forme contemporaine, à la Faculté de médecine de l’Université MacMaster en Ontario (Canada) à la fin des années 1960. Très rapidement cette nouvelle approche pédagogique active, centrée sur l’étudiant et basée sur les problèmes biomédicaux, va être adoptée par de nombreuses facultés de médecine de par le monde et gagner d’autres disciplines. Cependant, malgré ce succès apparent, l’APP est aussi une approche controversée, notamment en éducation médicale, où elle a été accusée de favoriser un apprentissage superficiel. Par ailleurs, les étudiants formés par cette approche réussiraient moins bien que les autres aux tests évaluant l’acquisition des concepts scientifiques de base, et il n’a jamais été prouvé que les médecins formés par l’APP seraient meilleurs que les autres. Pour mieux comprendre ces résultats, la présente recherche a voulu explorer l’apprentissage de ces concepts scientifiques, en tant que processus de construction, chez des étudiants formés par l’APP, à la Faculté de médecine de l’Université de Montréal, en nous appuyant sur le cadre théorique socioconstructivisme de Vygotski. Pour cet auteur, la formation des concepts est un processus complexe de construction de sens, en plusieurs étapes, qui ne peut se concevoir que dans le cadre d’une résolution de problèmes. Nous avons réalisé une étude de cas, multicas, intrasite, les cas étant deux groupes de neuf étudiants en médecine avec leur tuteur, que nous avons suivi pendant une session complète de la mi-novembre à la mi-décembre 2007. Deux grands objectifs étaient poursuivis: premièrement, fournir des analyses détaillées et des matériaux réflectifs et théoriques susceptibles de rendre compte du phénomène de construction des concepts scientifiques de base par des étudiants en médecine dans le contexte de l’APP. Deuxièmement, explorer, les approches de travail personnel des étudiants, lors de la phase de travail individuel, afin de répondre à la question de recherche suivante : Comment la dynamique pédagogique de l’APP en médecine permet-elle de rendre compte de l’apprentissage des concepts scientifiques de base? Il s’agissait d’une étude qualitative et les données ont été recueillies par différents moyens : observation non participante et enregistrement vidéo des tutoriaux d’APP, interview semi-structuré des étudiants, discussion avec les tuteurs et consultation de leurs manuels, puis traitées par diverses opérations: transcription des enregistrements, regroupement, classification. L’analyse a porté sur des collections de verbatim issus des transcriptions, sur le suivi de la construction des concepts à travers le temps et les sessions, sur le role du tuteur pour aider au développement de ces concepts Les analyses suggèrent que l’approche d’APP est, en général, bien accueillie, et les débats sont soutenus, avec en moyenne entre trois et quatre échanges par minute. Par rapport au premier objectif, nous avons effectivement fourni des explications détaillées sur la dynamique de construction des concepts qui s'étend lors des trois phases de l'APP, à savoir la phase aller, la phase de recherche individuelle et la phase retour. Pour chaque cas étudié, nous avons mis en évidence les représentations conceptuelles initiales à la phase aller, co-constructions des étudiants, sous la guidance du tuteur et nous avons suivi la transformation de ces concepts spontanés naïfs, lors des discussions de la phase retour. Le choix du cadre théorique socio constructiviste de Vygotski nous a permis de réfléchir sur le rôle de médiation joué par les composantes du système interactif de l'APP, que nous avons considéré comme une zone proximale de développement (ZPD) au sens élargi, qui sont le problème, le tuteur, l'étudiant et ses pairs, les ressources, notamment l'artefact graphique carte conceptuelle utilisée de façon intensive lors des tutoriaux aller et retour, pour arriver à la construction des concepts scientifiques. Notre recherche a montré qu'en revenant de leurs recherches, les étudiants avaient trois genres de représentations conceptuelles: des concepts corrects, des concepts incomplets et des concepts erronés. Il faut donc que les concepts scientifiques théoriques soient à leur tour confrontés au problème concret, dans l'interaction sociale pour une validation des attributs qui les caractérisent. Dans cette interaction, le tuteur joue un rôle clé complexe de facilitateur, de médiateur, essentiellement par le langage. L'analyse thématique de ses interventions a permis d'en distinguer cinq types: la gestion du groupe, l'argumentation, les questions de différents types, le modelling et les conclusions. Nous avons montré le lien entre les questions du tuteur et le type de réponses des étudiants, pour recommander un meilleur équilibre entre les différents types de questions. Les étudiants, également par les échanges verbaux, mais aussi par la construction collective des cartes conceptuelles initiales et définitives, participent à une co-construction de ces concepts. L'analyse de leurs interactions nous a permis de relever différentes fonctions du langage, pour souligner l'intérêt des interactions argumentatives, marqueurs d'un travail collaboratif en profondeur pour la co-construction des concepts Nous avons aussi montré l'intérêt des cartes conceptuelles non seulement pour visualiser les concepts, mais aussi en tant qu'artefact, outil de médiation psychique à double fonction communicative et sémiotique. Concernant le second objectif, l’exploration du travail personnel des étudiants, on constate que les étudiants de première année font un travail plus approfondi de recherche, et utilisent plus souvent des stratégies de lecture plus efficaces que leurs collègues de deuxième année. Ceux-ci se contentent, en général, des ouvrages de référence, font de simples lectures et s’appuient beaucoup sur les résumés faits par leurs prédécesseurs. Le recours aux ouvrages de référence essentiellement comme source d'information apporte une certaine pauvreté au débat à la phase retour avec peu d'échanges de type argumentatif, témoins d'un travail profond. Ainsi donc, par tout ce soutien qu'elle permet d'apporter aux étudiants pour la construction de leurs connaissances, pour le type d'apprentissage qu'elle offre, l’APP reste une approche unique, digne d’intérêt. Cependant, elle nécessite d'être améliorée par des interventions au niveau du tuteur et des étudiants. / ABSTRACT The Problem-based learning (PBL) approach was developed, in its contemporary form, at the Faculty of Medicine, of MacMaster University in Ontario (Canada) in the late 1960s. Very quickly, this new active pedagogical approach, student-centered and based on biomedical problems, will be adopted by many medical schools around the world and used also in other disciplines. Despite its apparent success, however, PBL is also a controversial approach, particularly in medical education, where it has been blamed for promoting superficial learning. Furthermore, it has been documented that students trained by this approach, tend to be less successful at tests assessing the acquisition of basic scientific concepts.To what degree doctors trained by PBL excel in their work as doctors, remains to be determined as well. To better understand these results, this study sought to explore further the construction of scientific concepts, in the context of PBL, at the Faculty of Medicine, of Université de Montréal. The study is grounded in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and its inherent treatment of concepts’ formation as a complex construction process of meaning. We conducted a case study, multiple cases in the same site, the cases being two groups of nine medical students with their tutor that we followed during a full session, from mid-November to mid-December 2007. Two major objectives guided the study: First, we sought to offer a detailed study of the process of meaning making and development of scientific concepts by medical students in the context of PBL. Second, we studied students’ individual work that followed initial tutor mediated discussion of the case, and preceded the return session. We tried to answer to the following research question: How do the dynamics of PBL in medicine support students’construction of scientific concepts? The study was qualitative in nature, and data were collected through various means: no participant observation, video recordings of PBL tutorial sessions, semi-structured interviews of students, discussion with tutors and the consultation of their manuals. Analysis entailed the verbatim transcriptions of the observed problem solving sessions and interviews, and in turn inductive data analysis of concept formation accross time and over session. Through the grouping and classification of data and study of evolution of concepts over time, insights could be gathered into students’development of scientific concepts and the tutor’s role in this construction. Analysis suggests that PBL approach is generally well received, and discussions are lively, with an average of three to four exchanges per minute. Considering the first goal, we offered detailed explanations of the dynamics of concepts’ building that extends in all three phases of the PBL, namely the initial phase, the individual student research phase and the return phase. For each case studied, we highlighted the initial conceptual representations, resulting of students’ interactions, under the guidance of the tutor, and followed their transformation, through discussions at return phase. The choice of social constructivist theoretical framework of Vygotsky has allowed us to reflect on the mediation role played by components of the interactive system of PBL, that we considered as a zone of proximal development (ZPD) in a broader sense, and which are the problem, the tutor, the student and his peers, resources, including graphics artifact conceptual map, used extensively in all tutorials, to support the construction of scientific concepts. Our research has shown that students developed three kinds of conceptual representations: correct concepts, incomplete concepts and misconceptions, returning from their research. So, it is necessary, through social interaction, that attributes of scientific theoretical concepts be validated by facing the practical problem. In this interaction the tutor plays a key complex role of facilitator, mediator, mainly through language. Thematic analysis of his interventions helped to distinguish five themes: group management, arguments, questions of different types, modeling and conclusions. We have shown the link between tutor’s questions and the type of student responses, to recommend a better balance between different types of tutor’s questions. Students, also by verbal exchanges and by the collective construction of initial and final concept maps participate in the co-construction of these concepts. Analysis of their interactions enabled us to identify different functions of language, to emphasize the importance of argumentative interactions, markers of in depth collaborative work. We also showed interest of concept maps not only to visualize the concepts, but also as artifacts and tools of psychic mediation that play both, communicative and semiotics functions, in the development of scientifically sound concepts. Regarding the second objective, the exploration of students’ personal work, we found that first year students pursued a more thorough search, and relied on more effective reading strategies than their second year colleagues. These second year students relied more on reference books, reading simply and relying heavily on the summaries made by their predecessors, which is suggestive of a more superficial learning. Those students also, relied more on tutor. By using textbooks essentially as information source, debates were marked by cognitive low level exchanges, leading to little argumentative exchange and lack of deep and engaging collaborative work. Overall, however, the research suggests PBL is a unique, worthwhile pedagogical approach, offering students with opportunities to construct new conceptual understandings of complex medical concepts with help of a team within the zone of proximal development. But it requires to be improved by interventions concerning both tutors and students.

This collective case study examined the factors affecting the collaborative relationship between teachers and early childhood educators (ECEs) teaching together in elementary schools as Early Learning Teams in the first year of implementation of full-time kindergarten in Ontario. There are six major adjustments required concurrently by the Ontario government’s new policy in all kindergarten classrooms: team-teaching (sharing instruction, not just classroom management); supporting ECEs as new staff; changing from theme-based to inquiry-based; balancing the School District’s literacy goals with provincial play-based curriculum; double the instructional time, and the increased number of children in the classroom (up from 19 to 24-30). Two of the four classrooms studied in a rural Ontario school district were full-day, every day kindergartens (FDK) for 4 and 5 year olds and the other two were alternate full-days. Data were collected through classroom observations and interviews with principals, kindergarten teachers and ECEs. Case study theory guided the collection and analysis of data with open coding of transcripts, active code notes and memos to help answer the question of how to best implement FDK programs in Ontario. Results indicated that the FDK Team relationship itself enabled and constrained classroom instructional strategies, which would in turn have an impact on student outcomes. Collaborative practice involved a process that was affected by both internal factors (such as teacher foreknowledge of ECE skills), and thirteen external factors which arose from government and school district mandates, as well as practices of the school principal. Examples are: planning time, pay differential, hiring practices and adjusting to the new curriculum at the same time as the team adjusts to team teaching. The collaboration of more than 9,500 teacher and ECE teams is key to the success of Ontario’s new full-time early learning program. The education sector needs to adopt the long-established business practice of supporting team development through recognizing progressive teaming stages, such as those identified by Tuckman (1965). Recommendations are made for principals, school districts offices, government policy, FDK teachers, ECEs, and colleges that provide ECE training. A mnemonic for the four attributes evident in high-functioning collaborative integrated teaching teams (RISE) is proposed.