Both educators and parents are concerned with how best to shape sexual development because of the myriad personal and social complications that can occur for adolescents along with becoming sexually active. Many variables have been shown individually to influence sexuality. Of specific interest in this study was parent-adolescent closeness and communication about sexuality. Past research has found parental communication about sexuality and parent-adolescent closeness individually to have a positive impact on adolescent sexuality. However, other studies have found no relation between parent-adolescent communication about sexuality and sexual outcomes. Still others have suggested that the combination of the two variables may have the most significant influence on adolescent sexuality. The main goal of this study was to see if a combination of parent-adolescent closeness and parental communication about sexuality was more strongly related to adolescent sexual knowledge, attidudes, and behaviors than either communication or closeness alone. Participants were 157 boys and girls in the ninth through twelfth grades from two suburban high schools in the midwest: Questionnaire measures of adolescents' perceptions were used. Canonical correlation analyses revealed two significant combinations of variables. First, age and maternal and paternal communication were significantly related to sexual behavior and sexual knowledge. Specifically, younger age and less maternal and paternal communication were related to less sexual behavior and less sexual knowledge. Second, gender, age, and maternal communication were significantly related to less sexual knowledge and more conservative sexual attitudes. Specifically, being younger and female and receiving less maternal communication was related to less sexual knowledge and more conservative attitudes. Four important findings are evident in these results. Implications for interpretation and future research are discussed. / Department of Educational Psychology

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-99).

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2008. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, page: 2099. Advisers: Robert E. Roberts; Christine Markham. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-99). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Instructional Systems, Leadership, and Workforce Development. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

This study's purposes were to (1) determine perceptions toward citizenship and the Bill of Rights among social studies students and teachers and (2) examine variables useful in predicting their degree of support for the Bill of Rights. To accomplish these purposes, a thirty-item perceptions scale and a demographic questionnaire was administered to 72 teachers and 249 5 students in 25 racially mixed Texas public high schools. A random sample of 703 students was drawn for statistical analysis with the original teacher sample. A mean score was computed for each subject and analysis of variance utilized to test for differences between means of various groups

M.Ed. / This investigation forms part of a greater research project on identity and the factors influencing identity as perceived by the learners themselves. A research team of the Department of Educational Sciences of the Rand Afrikaans University conducted the research project. The focus of this study is the contribution of the geographical environment to the identity of secondary school learners as perceived by the learners themselves. Aspects of the geographical environment are addressed as factors contributing to the identity of secondary school learners as perceived by the learners themselves. In chapter two a literature study to the contribution of the geographical environment to the identity of secondary school learners as perceived by the learners themselves was undertaken. This information was used to support the investigation and to make conclusions based on factual information. Aspects of the geographical environment that make a contribution to the identity of the learners as perceived by the learners themselves were discussed. In chapter three the instrument of research was discussed. Questionnaires were completed by secondary school learners of different schools in the Johannesburg district of the Gauteng Department of Education. The information from the completed questionnaires helped the researcher to ascertain to what extent the aspects of the geographical environment contributed to their identities as perceived by the learners themselves. The analyses and interpretation of empirical data were discussed in chapter four. The validity of the research instrument was investigated. Chapter five focused on the importance of research on the contribution of the geographical environment to the identity of secondary school learners as perceived by the learners themselves. Teachers and parents should be aware of the contribution of the geographical environment and how this affects the secondary school learner's personal and social development as well as his/her expectations for the future. The findings of this research essay suggest that secondary school learners do perceive the geographical environment as contributing to their identities. Data indicate that learners seem to put a higher value on 'mobility' and `home' followed by 'health' than in other aspects. Data also show that learners seem to have a lower opinion of the contribution of the geographical environment to their identities concerning 'educational and recreational facilities' as well as on 'security in their surroundings' despite literature that proves that these aspects are very important in the development of an adolescent's identity.

M.Ed. / In spite of notable changes that have been made in education since 1994 in South Africa, many challenges are still being experienced in the education system. Not least of these are the academic challenges experienced by learners from contexts of poverty, and in particular, those who live in informal settlements and who attend public (former model C) suburban secondary schools. Inclusive education, founded upon the principles of human rights, aims to provide equal and quality education to all learners in South Africa. A process of addressing and responding to the diversity of learners, its objective is to reduce exclusion from education, however, many learners either fail to achieve or drop out of the education system altogether. In the changing educational climate, and with limited research in this sector of education being found, the researcher, wished to explore, interpret and describe these academic challenges. To achieve this, a qualitative approach was chosen with a phenomenological design and a constructivist paradigm. The methodology was selected according to the research question. Data collection was based on semistructured, conversational interviews and projective techniques, namely, the sentence completion method. The data analysis approach was qualitative in nature. Data from both the interviews and incomplete sentence sets were compared with connections sought between the data. Attention was paid to trustworthiness and ethical considerations in the study. The results of the study revealed four themes: Learning Challenges; Relationships; Lack of Resources; Family Support. Firstly, the study revealed that learning and academic achievement was of great importance to the participants, secondly, relationships played an important role in learning, thirdly, a lack of resources was a major challenge, and finally, the importance of family support was indicated. Guidelines and recommendations were provided to educators and other learning support professionals in order to support participants and other learners so that they can achieve their potential in school.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Behavioural Emotional and Social Difficulties (BESD) is a significant impediment in the effective learning in secondary schools in England. Legislation includes BESD. within the range of Special Education Needs (SEN). In-schooJLearning Support Units (LSUs) and off-site Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) aim to address BESD through short-term learning programmes, followed by the mandatory, often failed, reintegration of learners into mainstream education. The research focused on the reintegration experiences of these learners in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. A qualitative research approach in two phases through a generic phenomenological enquiry within an interpretivist-constructivist paradigm was pursued. Data collection included participant writing activities; analysis of documents and records; a qualitative parent questionnaire; participant interviews; teacher participant feedback and professionals' interviews. A purposive sample of 13 reintegrated learners with BESD (aged 11 - 14 years) from four secondary schools was used. The findings indicated that learners experienced incongruity between promotive and risk factors within the themes of emotional experiences, relationships and the reintegration process. The contribution of this new understanding to existing knowledge win support practitioners, teachers and education policy makers to adjust their reintegration practices in order to support the sustained .improvement of inclusive education provision to learners with BESD. A new perspective theoretical through the amalgamation of Bioecological Theory and Resilience Theory contributed to Positive Psychology and supported our understanding of the learners' reintegration experiences. From this a resilience-based reintegration programme to provide practitioners and policy makers with a tri-strand programme to develop emotional competence, facilitate skills in promotive relationships and a reintegration route, was developed. The RRP has potential on a wider field as it can be adjusted to be included in the policies that guide practitioners in the way they provide support to enhance inclusive education in similar situations internationally.