Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 249-256).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1982.

This study investigates certified and non-certified teachers in Sweden and how they themselves view the status of their profession. Teacher certifications were introduced to Sweden in 2011, under the assumption that it would raise the status of qualified teachers. Recent results from international studies showed that Swedish students have fallen in rank compared to other countries around the world, and one of the proposed solutions proposed to this was to raise the status of teachers, as well as their pay. A higher status would then solve other issues, such as the low number of applications to university courses related to teaching. This study asked high school teachers, through an online questionnaire, what their views were on the status change the reform was supposed to create. The status changes were measured via questions regarding if they felt their students and their students parents viewed certified teachers differently than those without a teaching certificate, if the teachers felt that the certification had changed their status since it was introduced, and how important the teachers felt the certification was for the future. The teachers were sorted into groups based on what subjects they taught, how long they had worked as teachers, and what the focus of their high school was. Based on their answers the study showed that most teachers felt that students did not see a difference between teachers regarding certification while their parents did. It also showed that few teachers experienced their status had changed, but thought that the certification was important for the future of the profession even if a large number of teachers were disappointed with the implementation of the certifications. The study also showed that the teachers whom had worked for a long time in the profession had a more positive outlook on certifications as a whole but felt that it should only apply to younger teachers.

Understanding nature of science (NOS) is an important learning objective of the science curricula in many countries. However, research shows that there is a large gap between the curriculum emphasis and classroom practice. There have been calls for more studies on how teachers can be better prepared for teaching NOS. This study examines what teachers have learned, how they have learned it and the factors affecting their learning in a teacher professional development (TPD) programme to prepare them to teach NOS. The study was conducted in 2008-10, when the new Hong Kong Senior Secondary Biology curriculum, with its emphasis on NOS, was introduced. Three of the 18 teachers participating in the programme were chosen for in-depth case studies to illuminate their process of learning to teach NOS. Over a 20-month period, the teachers worked collaboratively to learn how to teach NOS in study group settings. Initially, the teachers were given curriculum materials designed for the explicit and reflective teaching of NOS. They selected, adapted and refined the curriculum materials to suit their own students. They then taught NOS to their students using the modified curriculum materials in their classroom, and the lessons were videotaped. These videos were later shared and analyzed collaboratively in study group meetings and workshops. To monitor their learning, the teachers were asked to complete reflection tasks and follow-up interviews after participating in each of the TPD activities, including the trial teaching of NOS in their own classroom, reflecting on the lesson, reflecting on the lesson video, and discussing the lesson video with their peers. Using an interpretive approach, other data sources, including field notes from classroom observations, transcripts of teacher discussions in meetings and workshops, and interviews with individual teachers before and after the programme on their confidence and concerns about NOS teaching, were also collected for triangulation purposes, and for the production of individual case reports for each teacher. It was found that the teachers had improved their NOS knowledge, NOS teaching skills, confidence as well as intention to teach NOS after participating in the programme. The process of learning to teach NOS can be characterized as lengthy, recursive and closely embedded in authentic classroom practices. Four major factors related to the TPD programme were identified as contributory to teachers’ learning to teach NOS. They are: (1) the formation of a community of practice with a shared goal to improve NOS teaching, (2) the provision of educative curriculum resources for explicit and reflective teaching of NOS, (3) first-hand experience of teaching NOS in authentic classroom settings, and (4) video-based discussions on NOS teaching in meetings and workshops. Based on the findings, an emergent model of effective use of video for learning to teach NOS was also proposed. The implications of the findings on the design of effective TPD programmes for learning to teach NOS were discussed. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Not available / text

M. Tech. Education, Tshwane University of Technology, 2010.

Not available / text

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences