The objective of this research was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of educators and Grade 6 and 7 learners on the effectiveness of school rules at public primary schools within the Fezile Dabi school district. Chapter Two of this dissertation focused on the specific identification of what effective school rules comprise of, as perceived by the academic community. In order to provide the reader with an overview of the nature of effective school rules, this chapter was divided into providing a short historical reflection on discipline, looking at the nature of discipline, developing a South African framework for legal school rules and taking note of international and foreign law relevant to the topic of this dissertation. The researcher then discussed the outlines of the research design used to collect, edit and analyse the data in Chapter Three. The chapter included the research paradigm, and the difference between research designs was highlighted to motivate the choice for the research design. The research design chosen for this study was a quantitative design. The researcher also indicated that she used a pilot study while conducting the empirical research of this dissertation. It was followed by the data collection method and the data collection strategies were discussed. Reliability and validity were dealt with and the guarantees thereof included. The chapter negotiated ethical considerations and ended with a discussion of foreseen research challenges. The data were extrapolated from questionnaires. This study was conducted at 6 primary schools in the smaller Metsimaholo district. Learner participants (n = 421), as well as educator participants (n = 54), were selected to answer the same/similar questions on the effectiveness and experiences concerning school rules so as to enable comparisons of learners and educators’ perceptions of learner misconduct. The data were analysed and interpreted. Learner responses were used to determine the factor analysis, after which the same factors were applied for educators. The empirical study led to the following findings: • According to this study, it appears that educators with more experience than the average educator do not necessarily have command of content on the contemporary approach to dealing with learner discipline, which may contribute to learner misconduct. • According to the responses of participants, it seems that the role players are not aware of their influence on one another in terms of learner misconduct. *Educators are not aware of the influence of gang activities on learners. *Educators are not aware of the high prevalence of abuse within their school communities. *Learners are not aware of the educators’ concerns for the influence of family structures and divorces. *Educators feel that they are not respected by parents. • Learners acknowledge that they have less control over and input into the drawing up of school rules, than educators are willing to admit. • Some learners indicate that educators turn to illegal forms of punishment in a desperate attempt to maintain discipline. / MEd, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

The Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA), a high-stakes exam mandatory for all Standard 5 students in Trinidad and Tobago, is posited to be anxiety inducing. The purpose of this correlational research was to examine the relationships among the psychological constructs of the achievement goal theory, and students’ test anxiety. The study specifically looked at whether relationships exist among students’ (n= 215) perceptions of their parents’, teachers’, and classroom goals; their own achievement goals; and their cognitive anxiety about the SEA. The results revealed that students’ personal achievement goals were not associated with SEA cognitive anxiety, but their perceptions of parents’, teachers’, and classroom goals were significantly associated. Perceived avoidance goal messages from peers were also significantly associated with students’ cognitive anxiety, and with tendencies to avoid displaying normative incompetence or failure. Results from this study can be useful for future research in the area of social and emotional learning in Trinidad and Tobago by investigating the effect increased social awareness, through empathy development, has on reducing students’ test anxiety and improving task-engagement, peer relationships, and general academic performance. / Graduate

Pre-collegiate teachers in Saskatchewan recognize the value of integrating archaeological content into natural and social science curricula. However, there is currently a lack of curriculum-relevant resources available to teachers who are interested in teaching with archaeology. In addition to meeting Saskatchewan Core Curriculum standards and objectives, the holistic, multi-disciplinary, activities-based approach inherent in archaeology education provides students with opportunities to inquire, investigate, connect, cooperate and collaborate as they develop higher-level understanding and cognition independently and as members of a community of learners (Short and Burke 1991). Thus, the integration of archaeology into existing curricula complements contemporary cognitive development and social constructivist theories of knowledge of scholars Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Furthermore, learning through archaeology increases students awareness and appreciation of other cultures, and promotes understanding of the need to protect and conserve cultural resources. <p>There were two aims in the research: 1) To answer the question: What do teachers require to integrate archaeology concepts, themes and activities into Grade 6 Science and Grade 9 Social Studies curricula; and, 2) To assess the validity of the two assumptions that were taken after the review of the literature: i) If successful archaeology education programs in North America employed the use of hands-on, active learning, then the inclusion of hands-on, active learning in the archaeology education resources developed for the research will also prove effective ; and ii) If successful archaeology education programs in North America incorporated constructivist theories of learning, including the cognitive development theory of Jean Piaget and the sociocultural theory of Lev Vygotsky in their designs, then reference to constructivist theories of learning, including Piagets cognitive development theory and Vygotskys sociocultural theory, will result in the development of appropriate archaeology education materials.<p>The research occurred between January 2003 and June 2005, and involved the collaboration of nine teachers, a First Nations Elder, 689 Grade 6 and Grade 9 students, and 13 archaeologists. The research design followed a qualitative, action research approach, with the collection of data occurring through semi-structured interviews using McCrackens (1988) long interview method, as well as questionnaires, a survey, and participant observation. An open-coding approach was used to code data collected during the research.<p>In addition to providing answers to the research question and assessments of the validity of the two assumptions taken in the research, the results indicate that the benefits of integrating archaeological content into pre-collegiate curricula transcend professional jurisdictions. Outcomes include the development of Grade 6 Science and Grade 9 Social Studies archaeology units that can serve as templates and resources for teachers, curriculum developers, and archaeologists. Also, participants learned about: Saskatchewans human and environmental histories; how archaeology can be used to reveal these histories; and why it is necessary to protect and conserve cultural resourcesall goals of avocational and professional archaeological associations across North America.

Pre-collegiate teachers in Saskatchewan recognize the value of integrating archaeological content into natural and social science curricula. However, there is currently a lack of curriculum-relevant resources available to teachers who are interested in teaching with archaeology. In addition to meeting Saskatchewan Core Curriculum standards and objectives, the holistic, multi-disciplinary, activities-based approach inherent in archaeology education provides students with opportunities to inquire, investigate, connect, cooperate and collaborate as they develop higher-level understanding and cognition independently and as members of a community of learners (Short and Burke 1991). Thus, the integration of archaeology into existing curricula complements contemporary cognitive development and social constructivist theories of knowledge of scholars Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Furthermore, learning through archaeology increases students awareness and appreciation of other cultures, and promotes understanding of the need to protect and conserve cultural resources. <p>There were two aims in the research: 1) To answer the question: What do teachers require to integrate archaeology concepts, themes and activities into Grade 6 Science and Grade 9 Social Studies curricula; and, 2) To assess the validity of the two assumptions that were taken after the review of the literature: i) If successful archaeology education programs in North America employed the use of hands-on, active learning, then the inclusion of hands-on, active learning in the archaeology education resources developed for the research will also prove effective ; and ii) If successful archaeology education programs in North America incorporated constructivist theories of learning, including the cognitive development theory of Jean Piaget and the sociocultural theory of Lev Vygotsky in their designs, then reference to constructivist theories of learning, including Piagets cognitive development theory and Vygotskys sociocultural theory, will result in the development of appropriate archaeology education materials.<p>The research occurred between January 2003 and June 2005, and involved the collaboration of nine teachers, a First Nations Elder, 689 Grade 6 and Grade 9 students, and 13 archaeologists. The research design followed a qualitative, action research approach, with the collection of data occurring through semi-structured interviews using McCrackens (1988) long interview method, as well as questionnaires, a survey, and participant observation. An open-coding approach was used to code data collected during the research.<p>In addition to providing answers to the research question and assessments of the validity of the two assumptions taken in the research, the results indicate that the benefits of integrating archaeological content into pre-collegiate curricula transcend professional jurisdictions. Outcomes include the development of Grade 6 Science and Grade 9 Social Studies archaeology units that can serve as templates and resources for teachers, curriculum developers, and archaeologists. Also, participants learned about: Saskatchewans human and environmental histories; how archaeology can be used to reveal these histories; and why it is necessary to protect and conserve cultural resourcesall goals of avocational and professional archaeological associations across North America.

The objective of this research was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of educators and Grade 6 and 7 learners on the effectiveness of school rules at public primary schools within the Fezile Dabi school district. Chapter Two of this dissertation focused on the specific identification of what effective school rules comprise of, as perceived by the academic community. In order to provide the reader with an overview of the nature of effective school rules, this chapter was divided into providing a short historical reflection on discipline, looking at the nature of discipline, developing a South African framework for legal school rules and taking note of international and foreign law relevant to the topic of this dissertation. The researcher then discussed the outlines of the research design used to collect, edit and analyse the data in Chapter Three. The chapter included the research paradigm, and the difference between research designs was highlighted to motivate the choice for the research design. The research design chosen for this study was a quantitative design. The researcher also indicated that she used a pilot study while conducting the empirical research of this dissertation. It was followed by the data collection method and the data collection strategies were discussed. Reliability and validity were dealt with and the guarantees thereof included. The chapter negotiated ethical considerations and ended with a discussion of foreseen research challenges. The data were extrapolated from questionnaires. This study was conducted at 6 primary schools in the smaller Metsimaholo district. Learner participants (n = 421), as well as educator participants (n = 54), were selected to answer the same/similar questions on the effectiveness and experiences concerning school rules so as to enable comparisons of learners and educators’ perceptions of learner misconduct. The data were analysed and interpreted. Learner responses were used to determine the factor analysis, after which the same factors were applied for educators. The empirical study led to the following findings: • According to this study, it appears that educators with more experience than the average educator do not necessarily have command of content on the contemporary approach to dealing with learner discipline, which may contribute to learner misconduct. • According to the responses of participants, it seems that the role players are not aware of their influence on one another in terms of learner misconduct. *Educators are not aware of the influence of gang activities on learners. *Educators are not aware of the high prevalence of abuse within their school communities. *Learners are not aware of the educators’ concerns for the influence of family structures and divorces. *Educators feel that they are not respected by parents. • Learners acknowledge that they have less control over and input into the drawing up of school rules, than educators are willing to admit. • Some learners indicate that educators turn to illegal forms of punishment in a desperate attempt to maintain discipline. / MEd, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

The aim of the study was to investigate how an independent revision of a self- produced text for the national examinations in Swedish for grade 6 changes its quality. An additional aim was to study whether this change in quality led to a change in the grade awarded to the text. In this study the pupils were viewed as independent individuals with an ability to think and act on their own, and therefore a cognitive perspective was applied to the result. The study used the texts produced by the pupils during the national examination, and the accompanying grading matrix was used as a yardstick. After the pupils had revised their text, it was graded again and this was compared with the previous grade to manifest the change. When the grading had been done, the texts were divided into one of three categories: improved, deteriorated, or unchanged quality, which enabled a quantification of the results of the study. This shows a general improvement in text quality after the revision. Of the 36 participants in the study, 28 improved the quality of their texts, and 6 of these were judged to have earned higher grades. Only one text was deemed to have declined in quality and earned a lower grade. It is relevant for teachers in today’s school to know that a revision should not just be viewed as a final correction but as part of the entire writing process. The study also shows that pupils who revise a text on their own improve its quality. In some cases it may be appropriate for a teacher to give a response in order to allow pupils a better chance to improve the quality of their texts.

Magister Educationis - MEd / South Africa’s poor performance in local, regional and international benchmark literacy assessments is well documented and has implications for teachers. Both the Progress in International Reading and Literacy Studies (PIRLS) and the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU) reports and research argue that South African teachers lack both the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of their subjects. Although the studies refer to teachers, their voices are not heard in the studies and their opinions are not known. Investigation was required to examine teachers’ experiences of the literacy assessment and thus bring teachers’ voices into this hotly debated topic.

This study examined the impact of grade span configuration on the academic achievement of sixth grade students in Florida public schools. Grade configuration (PK-6, PK-8, and 6-8) was the independent variable. Academic achievement, the dependent variable, was measured using 2009 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Reading and Mathematics mean scale scores and the percentage of students making annual learning gains from 2008 to 2009. School socioeconomic status (SES) was used as a covariate to equalize the effect of poverty on achievement. Random samples of schools were drawn from the population of all Florida public schools with sixth grades in 2009, and from Florida's 2009 Academically High Performing School Districts. Findings showed that there was a statistically significant difference in achievement based on grade level configuration in reading and mathematics for all schools and for schools in Academically High Performing Districts. In all cases, the PK-6 configuration was statistically significantly higher than 6-8, with varied significance between PK-6 and PK-8, and PK-8 and 6-8. The strongest practical significance for all schools was found for learning gains in mathematics, with 26% of the variance in mean learning gain percentages accounted for by grade configuration when controlling for SES. Recommendations were made that future studies address differentiating grade configurations by instructional models and other factors that could impact achievement. The degree and the fidelity to which the middle school concept is implemented in 6-8 schools should be accounted for before making conclusions about the impact of configuration on academic achievement of students in that configuration.

Resultaten från PISA undersökningen 2018, i relation till undersökningen som utfördes 2015, visar att elevernas attityd till läsning blivit allt mer negativ och att läsandet har minskat, särskilt bland elever i Sverige. Trots fortbildningar vad gäller att utveckla lärares didaktiska förhållningssätt för att skapa goda förutsättningar för elever att utvecklas till goda läsare, är det någonting som går fel i barnens möte med litteraturen i skolan. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur elever i årskurs 6 beskriver sin upplevelse och uppfattning av litteraturundervisningen i ämnet svenska och vilka arbetssätt som eleverna anser har en positiv respektive negativ påverkan på deras motivation samt läsintresse. Studien utgår från självbestämmandeteorin och datainsamlingen genomfördes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer utifrån en kvalitativ ansats.  Resultatet visar en variation av arbetssätt som elever uppskattar mer och mindre i litteraturundervisningen. Gemensamt för hur eleverna beskrev litteraturundervisningen var att valet av bok, läsmiljön, förtydligande av syftet med läsningen samt att meningsfulla uppgifter är avgörande för inställningen till aktiviteten. Det framkom att om betydelsen av skönlitteratur inte reflekteras i klassrummet, reflekteras värdet av läsningen inte heller hos eleverna, vilket i sin tur får konsekvenser för deras motivation. / Results from the PISA survey 2018, in relation to the survey conducted in 2015, show that students’ attitudes to reading have become increasingly negative and that reading has decreased, especially among students in Sweden. Despite continuous education in terms of developing teachers’ didactic approaches to create good conditions for everyone to develop into good readers, something goes wrong in the children’s encounter with the literature in school. The purpose of the study is to investigate how students in year 6 describe their experiences and perceptions of literature teaching in the Swedish subject and which working methods the students consider has a positive and negative impact on their motivation and interest in reading. The study is based on the self-determination theory and data collection was achieved through semi-structured interviews based on a qualitative approach.  The results show a variation of which working methods students appreciate in literature teaching. Common to how the students describe the literature teaching was that the choice of book, the reading environment, clarification of the purpose with the reading and that meaningful assignments are crucial for the attitude to the activity. The results indicate that if the importance of fiction is not reflected in the classroom, the value of reading is not reflected in the students either, which in turn affects their motivation.

Syftet med studien är att göra en empirisk undersökning om hur elever i årskurs 6 upplever kooperativt lärande i matematikundervisningen inom problemlösning. Baserad på en intervju undersöker studien också hur kooperativt lärande kan ha betydelse för elevers resonemangs.- och kommunikationsförmågor. En intervju utförs i studien som ger anledning till att eleverna innan intervjun genomför ett lektionsmoment med kooperativt lärande. Efteråt analyseras samt diskuteras intervjun genom att förena data med teorin sociomatematiska normer. Detta för att ta reda på hur elevers upplevelse och normer kan beskrivas. Resultatet pekar på att kooperativt lärande inom problemlösning kan upplevas mer positivt. Det är normer i klassrummet som kan ha en betydelse för att elever ska kunna utveckla sina resonemangs- och kommunikationsförmågor. Med utgångspunkt i analysen kan kooperativt lärande i matematikundervisningen vara ett komplement för ett mer välstrukturerat grupparbete med engagemang, gemensamhet, samarbete och möjlighet till lärande.