My essay has three foci. One is the presentation of a survey I gave to two groups of pupils, one grade 7 and the other grade 8 about their attitude to reading books in school, and their attitude to reading books in general. I was interested in how the result would correspond to what many investigations on this subject had concluded. One such result was that girls were usually not only more willing to read, but they were also better readers than boys. Therefore, the answerers must tell if they were boys or girls. The result of my investigation rather corroborated what many others had already said: Swedish young people are not enthusiastic book readers, but when reading, the girls are the ones that take the lead. Another focus is in a way historical. I used a novel by a Swedish author telling about poor people on the Swedish countryside in the nineteenth century dreaming of being able to emigrate from their home country and come to America. What interests me is the story telling of the attitude to reading, both in the characters and the authorities. There is much about reading incapacities, but also of lust for, and skill in reading. The attitudes from the authorities is dominated by churchly paternalism: reading skill in ordinary people has one primary function, to make them good Christians. This common value-system is fixed by the didactic curricula of the time. My third focus is the Swedish curricula especially in what they say about reading and literature. I thought I found that they have at least something in common with the curricula of mid-nineteenth century than might be expected. The older ones have what could be seen as an instrumental attitude to reading and such an attitude I thought could be perceived also in the modern ones: they seem to be eager to point out the usefulness of reading in general and even of reading literature. Another point would be the great importance attached to the strengthening of the common value-system, here, not Christian belief, but a democratic ground of values. In my study of what is said about reading in school by people discussing the subject, and when looking at the result of my own investigation by the questionnaire I very often find a similar instrumental attitude: all reading, be it fact or fiction, is expected to lead to something useful not just pleasure.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Through the process of motor learning and control, new skills are then developed. There are various physical activities that enable the development of new motor skills, one being dance. Numerous studies have found that dance has improved sensorimotor control of body sway following just a single dance session. Furthermore, learning dance engages a variety of cognitive resources that improve postural control of children. Dancing therefore contributes to the development and refinement of the fundamental motor skills like gait and balance. The aim of this research was to determine the effect of dance training on gait and balance of Grade R and Grade 7 school children, and to investigate which age group would best demonstrate these effects. This study was conducted using an intervention and control group. The Grade R intervention group constituted a sample of thirty-four participants, the Grade R control consisted of twenty-seven participants, the Grade 7 intervention group and control group consisted of twenty-one participants each. Three different testing instruments were used; a 10-meter walk test for stride pattern analysis, a dynamic balance test known as the tandem gait and the static balance test known as the tandem stance balance test. Both the control and experimental group were required to perform these tests before and after the intervention period. The dance training lasted a period of six weeks and was conducted on a weekly basis. Following the intervention it was found that only Grade R stride pattern in terms of stride frequency was significantly changed and that no significant changes were seen at any time for Grade 7 children stride pattern and balance. The balance changes were seen for both Grade R intervention and control groups, showing that the children were improving with physical activity, which cannot be attributed to dance alone. This highlights that training should be started at the young age, and that physical activity programs like dance are good and diverse options to consider when designing such activities.

The focus of this project is on the use of the reader-response orientation in the development of a poetry unit for grade seven. The reader-response orientation is a literary theory which suggests that the meaning of any literary work is the result of the interaction between the text and the reader. In this project, the emphasis is on providing a bridge between this theory and the practice of teaching poetry. To implement the reader-response orientation into teaching practices, it is important for teachers to understand how theory affects classroom activities. If the theory behind the reader-response orientation is understood, then teachers may be better able to change their teaching approaches. In the classroom, reader-response activities involve students in ways that encourage interest and personal response to poetry. Understanding the reader-response critical theory can help teachers plan their poetry lessons and develop more effective teaching practices. This project begins with a survey of the literature of the reader-response criticism and provides a summary of the theory. The link between theory and practice is demonstrated with a review of a current curriculum project that uses the reader-response orientation. Chapter Five is a poetry unit, for grade seven, designed to embody the reader-response theory in actual classroom practices. In my conclusion I briefly highlight some concerns and give suggestions for further research direction. / Thesis / Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)

Abstract When Curriculum 2005 was introduced into South African schools in 1998, it was considered too cumbersome in design and its language too complex. In accordance with the recommendations of the Ministerial Review Committee (2000) it was revised into the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS). The language was simplified; it was streamlined to critical, developmental and learning outcomes and assessment standards. Teachers were expected to produce these outcomes and provision was to be made for improved teacher orientation and training, learning support materials and provincial support to teachers in schools. The study looks at how the RNCS is being provided for in terms of the support structures and programmes available to teachers working in the Learning Area of English in Grade Seven within the Senior Phase (Grades 7-9). Firstly, by identifying the competences expected from teachers and secondly, by trying to establish the extent to which these structures and programmes are effectively assisting teachers to achieve the required competences and learning outcomes.

This thesis reports on a study which made an analysis of the new Grade 7 social science syllabus textbooks that are currently being implemented in the high schools of Papua New Guinea. Data relating to these textbooks has been gathered from the teachers who are teaching the course and their Regional Secondary Inspectors. The data was basically obtained through postal questionnaires. The basic aim of the study was to find out how the syllabus materials are received and used in the implementation process. The study also attempted to identify the problems and difficulties the teachers encountered and the concerns they had about the new course. The study revealed some interesting results. For example, there are some teachers of social sciences in the high schools who do not have secondary teaching qualifications, the level of English language used, which was one of the major problems identified with the old syllabus, has not been completely overcome, the problems, difficulties and concerns identified by this study differ from school to school and between rural and urban schools. In addition, the study also identified many practical problems, difficulties and concerns which affect the effective and successful implementation of the syllabus. These include the need for additional support such as reference materials both for teachers and students and a need for more short in-service courses to resocialise teachers in order to change their classroom culture and thus facilitate change.

Grade 7-learners are continuously exposed to challenges that influence their developmental tasks and general social adaptation. Mastering these challenges sculpt the learners and will influence the ways in which learners develop to adults. Through developing and improving the emotional intelligence skills of learners, learners can be enabled to maintain a successful subsistence. Learners with adequate emotional intelligence will demonstrate effective functioning in many areas of life. The aim of this investigation was to determine what emotional intelligence is and how it relates to wellbeing in the early development of adolescents, the state of a certain Grade 7-learner group's emotional intelligence and the relation in terms of race and gender. In the study, 50 learners from the Grade 7-classes of four schools were selected randomly based on availability. The schools involved were Swartruggens Combined School, Swartruggens Primary, Koster Combined School and Koster Primary. The BarOn EQ-i:YV was conducted on the learners. The quantitative data was processed by the Northwest University's Statistical Consultation Services. Results indicate that, amongst other things, the girls in the study posses more adequate emotional intelligence and skills than the boys in the study. Black boys show the least adequate emotional intelligence and skills. Thus, race and gender play an important role in the development of emotional intelligence of the group of learners. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vilka arbetssätt som verksamma matematiklärare använder för att arbeta med formativ bedömning. Syftet är även att undersöka vilka effekter på elevernas lärande de upplever att arbetssätten har samt vilka svårigheter de upplevt med att implementera formativ bedömning. I och med den nya läroplanen samt flera stora forskningsöversikter har begreppet formativ bedömning fått stor genomslagskraft inom den svenska skolan, trots detta upplevs ämnet matematik inte vara lika formativt som många andra ämnen. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten i denna studie bygger på Dylan Wiliams fem nyckelstrategier för formativ bedömning. För att uppnå studiens syfte har åtta stycken verksamma matematiklärare deltagit i en kvalitativ intervju. Deras svar har analyserats utifrån en meningstolkande analysmodell. Resultatet visar att samtliga lärare anser sig arbeta med formativt bedömning och att det främst görs genom ökad muntlighet i klassrummet, grupparbeten och problemlösningsfokus. Det framgår även att de två sista nyckelstrategierna, kamratbedömning och självvärdering, är de som lärarna arbetar minst med. Samtliga lärare upplever att tidsbristen är den största svårigheten och att den främsta effekten på elevernas lärande är att de blir mer medvetna om sin egen lärprocess. / The purpose of this essay is to give an insight into how people working as mathematics teachers works with formative assessment, which effects on the students learning they experience that the formative methods have and which difficulties they have experienced when implementing a formative assessment. Due to the new curriculum and many significant research surveys the term formative assessment have made a big impact on the Swedish school system, despite that the mathematics subject doesn't seem as formative as other subjects. The theoretical starting point for this study is found Dylan Wiliams five key strategies for formative assessment. Eight mathematics teachers have participated in a qualitative interview and their answers have then been analyzed on the basis of an analyzing model with the purpose to find an answer at our research questions. The result shows that all the teachers consider themselves to work with formative assessment and that it is mostly done through more oral components, group work and problem solving in the classrooms. It also shown that the last two of the key strategies, peer assessment and self-evaluation, are the two components that they work the least with. All teachers experience that the lack of time is the biggest problem in implementing a formative assessment and that the biggest effect on students learning is that the students become more aware of their own learning process.

Grade 7-learners are continuously exposed to challenges that influence their developmental tasks and general social adaptation. Mastering these challenges sculpt the learners and will influence the ways in which learners develop to adults. Through developing and improving the emotional intelligence skills of learners, learners can be enabled to maintain a successful subsistence. Learners with adequate emotional intelligence will demonstrate effective functioning in many areas of life. The aim of this investigation was to determine what emotional intelligence is and how it relates to wellbeing in the early development of adolescents, the state of a certain Grade 7-learner group's emotional intelligence and the relation in terms of race and gender. In the study, 50 learners from the Grade 7-classes of four schools were selected randomly based on availability. The schools involved were Swartruggens Combined School, Swartruggens Primary, Koster Combined School and Koster Primary. The BarOn EQ-i:YV was conducted on the learners. The quantitative data was processed by the Northwest University's Statistical Consultation Services. Results indicate that, amongst other things, the girls in the study posses more adequate emotional intelligence and skills than the boys in the study. Black boys show the least adequate emotional intelligence and skills. Thus, race and gender play an important role in the development of emotional intelligence of the group of learners. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Grade 7-learners are continuously exposed to challenges that influence their developmental tasks and general social adaptation. Mastering these challenges sculpt the learners and will influence the ways in which learners develop to adults. Through developing and improving the emotional intelligence skills of learners, learners can be enabled to maintain a successful subsistence. Learners with adequate emotional intelligence will demonstrate effective functioning in many areas of life. The aim of this investigation was to determine what emotional intelligence is and how it relates to wellbeing in the early development of adolescents, the state of a certain Grade 7-learner group's emotional intelligence and the relation in terms of race and gender. In the study, 50 learners from the Grade 7-classes of four schools were selected randomly based on availability. The schools involved were Swartruggens Combined School, Swartruggens Primary, Koster Combined School and Koster Primary. The BarOn EQ-i:YV was conducted on the learners. The quantitative data was processed by the Northwest University's Statistical Consultation Services. Results indicate that, amongst other things, the girls in the study posses more adequate emotional intelligence and skills than the boys in the study. Black boys show the least adequate emotional intelligence and skills. Thus, race and gender play an important role in the development of emotional intelligence of the group of learners. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Schools played an important role during apartheid in shaping the mindsets of learners. In contemporary South Africa schools can now play a similar role in promoting democratic values in order to build a more just, humane and democratic society in a democratic South Africa. Through democratic citizenship, democratic schools can be created. Apple and Beane (1999, p. 10) state that democratic schools are the result of specific attempts by educators to put arrangements in place that will bring democracy to life. These arrangements and opportunities involve the production of democratic structures and processes through which life in a school is carried out and the creation of a curriculum that will allow young people the opportunity to experience the nature of democracy.