In Developmental Work Research and its Change Laboratory methodology, development is understood as being when a group of people collaboratively change their material object. This study argues that this understanding ignores personal zones of proximal development and personal history as a beginning, and functional concepts as an outcome. Perceiving the subject of an activity as a homogenous group, I claim, is tantamount to an assimilation model of integration. Integration models that aim at homogenization rely on abstract concepts of others and require retooling in order to be more empathetic and expansive. Switzerland in 1998 adopted an acculturation model of assimilation that was thought to be the only possible solution for the maintenance of national unity. The model has been referred to as a national capitalistic ‘steamroller’ based on homogenization and exclusion. Under this perspective, migrant and refugee parents are categorised by mainstream educators as desisting from their children’s formal education, and national parents represent the perfect model. The empirical work was carried out within a home-school project in a French-speaking canton in Switzerland. The project was designed by a group of special education teachers. The study explores the potential of Developmental Work Research and Change Laboratory methodology, as developed by Engeström (1987), to produce radical and sustained organisational change in a social context. Through the inclusion of an analysis of subject positioning, the findings show that Change Laboratory offers a solid background for retooling new concepts of immigrant people to one that is more empathetic and expansive. The conflicts that ensued within the Change Laboratory sessions opened a developmental zone in which the concepts of being a national or a foreigner were reconstructed. The study suggests ways of improving Change Laboratory methodology for better understanding of subject positioning.

Since the 1960s homeschooling has increased in popularity across the United States. While homeschooling was deemed illegal in all 50 states, by 1993 homeschooling was legal in every state. As homeschooling was legalized, each state created its own ways of monitoring and supporting homeschooled students. In 1991 when the state of Iowa legalized homeschooling, the Iowa legislature created Home School Assistance Programs (HSAPs), which used public school funds to provide state-certified teachers to supervise homeschooled families. The purpose of this study was to apply the theoretical model of the parental involvement process created by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1995, 1997) to examine differences between parents who homeschooled within a HSAP and those who homeschooled in a different manner. Specifically, the study explored parental involvement, parents’ perceptions of their life context, parental self-efficacy, social-contextual motivators of involvement, and parents’ perceived invitations from their children. The study also investigated the extent to which HSAPs serve homeschooling parents and the viability of HSAPs as a means of serving homeschooling parents. Findings suggest that there were no significant differences between parents who homeschool using a HSAP and those who do not in regard to any of the aforementioned categories. However, there was a significant difference in parental role activity beliefs based on the size of the HSAP in which a participant was involved, such that participants who were involved with a larger HSAP reported being more involved in their children’s education than parents involved with a small HSAP. No additional significant differences were found regarding the size of the HSAP or the geographic setting of the HSAP. Overall, the results of the study demonstrated that parents who homeschool are similar in parents’ motivational beliefs, perceptions of specific invitations from their children, perceived life context, and home-based involvement behaviors, regardless of their involvement with a HSAP.

The purpose of this study was both to determine the most popular art curricula used by home-schooled students in Georgia and also to access whether or not these curricula align with State and National Standards for art education as well as current trends in the field. This research was approached from a document analysis standpoint and individual curriculum documents were examined and evaluated. Seven curricula/teaching resources were identified as the most popular in the state of Georgia and these were evaluated individually to identify themes, which were then compared to themes present in the National and State Standards for art education. While there was some overlap in themes from the curricula examined and the State and National Standards, it was determined that on the whole the curricula made no concerted effort to adhere to these standards.

Parental involvement has a major influence on students' academic and overall success; however, Latino parents tend to be less involved than non-Latino parents. Additionally, Latino students have higher dropout rates than other ethnic groups, and their continued underachievement is of great concern to many educators. The purpose of this study is to better understand Latino mothers' involvement and identify the precursor factors that may influence these mothers' involvement in their children's education. Specifically, the study investigated specific family factors that may potentially impact Latino mothers' involvement at school and at home (i.e., mothers' number of years residing in the U.S., mothers' English proficiency, mothers' level of education, and mothers' mental health). Parental involvement and family factors were evaluated using a demographic parent interview, while mothers' mental health was evaluated using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). All participants (N = 165) were Latino mothers of children who attended Head Start programs or kindergarten in public schools in five counties in Florida. Hierarchical linear models were utilized to evaluate the relationship between the different family factors and Latino mothers' involvement at school and at home. Results indicated that at school involvement was correlated to some extent with mothers' English proficiency, mothers' education level, mothers' anxiety (panic), mothers' hostility, and mothers' paranoid ideation. Additionally, findings suggested that mothers' English proficiency increased the predicted at school involvement score for the participants. The remainder predictors were not found to be statistically significant; thus further research must be conducted to examine and better understand parental involvement of Latino parents given that these parents are less likely to become involved in their children's education.

The evidence clearly indicates that, not only is the learning process affected by many factors including students’ mental health and social-emotional learning (SEL), but also zero tolerance methods of managing students’ problem behaviors are largely ineffective. This dissertation introduces a suggested model for supporting educators’ efforts in the implementation and sustainability of SEL programs using a response-to-intervention (RTI) model for educators. Additionally, the current study examined the effects of conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) on (a) the role of teachers’ classroom practices, (b) the home-school partnership, and (c) the relationship these two factors have on young children’s challenging behaviors. Participants in this study were four triads, each consisting of one pre-k teacher, one preschool student with challenging behaviors, and one set of preschool students’ parents from a suburban county in the southeast. Three dependent variables were measured in this study: (1) teachers’ target behaviors were measured using direct observation; (2) students’ target behaviors were measured using direct observation (i.e., daily by teachers and parents) and ratings on the Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scale (SSIS-RS; Elliott & Gresham, 2008); and (3) the impact of the intervention on the home-school relationship was measured both pre- and post-intervention using the Parent-Teacher Relationship Scale - II (PTRS-II; Vickers & Minke, 1995). The independent variable was a multi-component intervention package that incorporated the four stages of CBC (Sheridan & Kratochwill, 2010) with a social skills intervention plan. A relationship was established between the intervention and teachers’ use of select positive behavior support (PBS) strategies. Furthermore, results indicated that the intervention package was effective in improving all students’ challenging behaviors in the school setting and for three of the four students challenging behaviors in the home setting. Finally, results from the PTRS-II indicated that parents and teachers’ perceptions of the home-school relationship actually declined. However, this outcome was unexpected because the anecdotal reactions from the participants throughout this study were very positive. Ratings on the social validity of the intervention as measured by the Treatment Evaluation Inventory – Short Form (TEI-SF; Kelley, Heffer, Gresham, & Elliott, 1989) were high.

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This investigation reports on a study that explores the views of students, teachers and parents about the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach in learning English as a second language in Bangladesh. This study focuses on the improvement of English language outcomes in Bangladesh. Though compulsory for fifteen years of schooling, public examination results indicate that students perform poorly in English. This research is conducted at the secondary schools in Bangladesh where English is compulsory because of its global nature as the second or foreign language. Mainstream students learning English using the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach are facing many challenges. The study employs a mixed methods approach which includes qualitative interviews, semi-structured focus group interviews and observations; and quantitative data involved achievement tests to find gaps between oral and written attainment, in order to determine the effectiveness of CLT developing language skills to communicate in and outside the classrooms. ESL learners in Bangladesh have been using CLT for nearly two decades, but the attainments are not satisfactory particularly in oral language (listening and speaking) compared to written language (reading and writing). Four schools (two high and two low achievement) were selected from two divisional cities according to the public examination results. Five students, all English subject teachers and five parents from each school were invited randomly to participate. Findings indicated a confirmation of the gap between oral and written language achievements and highlighted that CLT is not working effectively to develop communicative competence to the learners. The participants identified several factors causing this. Among these were large class sizes (number of students), an extensive curriculum, insufficient class time (duration), an inappropriate examination system, excessive teacher workload, lack of parent awareness of CLT, and negative relationships between home and school. All of these factors impact on the effectiveness of CLT in Bangladesh. All participants agreed that CLT as an approach is better than other approaches used in Bangladesh to develop English language learning, but the varied interpretation and implementation (practice) makes it less effective. Therefore, they suggested some issues for local and national level policy makers that could enhance the CLT practice in Bangladesh.

Purpose: To compare selected food /nutrient consumption between families that educate their children at home with those that educate their children in the public school system. Methods: The study sample included 112 children aged 7-11 years in Fayette Co Kentucky. The children were divided into groups according type of education. There were 65 home-schooled children and 47 children who attend public school. Subjects recorded their dietary intake for one week. The data were analyzed using Nutrition Data Software for Research (2006). Comparisons were made for the intake of selected nutrients using two tailed independent sample t-tests. Results: The public school students had a lower intake of Total Energy (calories, P=0.01), Total Fat (P= 0.02), Total Carbohydrate (P= 0.04), Total Protein (P= 0.004) and Total Dietary Fiber (P= 0.02) and selenium (P= 0.000) than did their home-schooled counterparts. Conclusion: Interpretation of the statistical analysis indicates that differences for consumption exist between the groups. The results of this study indicate that the public school children consumed less fat, protein, carbohydrates and sucrose than did their home school cohort.

This thesis is located in the emerging field of early childhood education for sustainability and has particular focus on Malta. It sought to gather insights into young children’s perceptions of environmental sustainability, and the influences that shaped these perceptions, particularly in the context of the family and the school. Twelve Maltese children, aged between 3 and 7 years, ten parents, five teachers and a head teacher participated in this study, which was conducted in two Maltese State schools and one household. Designed within interpretive methodology, this study adopted a qualitative multiple case study approach. It was guided by cognitive theory, socio-cultural theory, bio-ecological theory of human development, the “new sociology of childhood” and related policy initiatives like the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and theories of inter-generational influence. Data were generated through observations; conversational interviews with children; their interpretations of photographs; and their drawings and interpretation of them. Semi-structured interviews with parents, teachers and head teacher, a researcher’s journal and document analysis were used to triangulate the data. Manual data analysis produced a plethora of rich and in-depth data. The main findings reveal three themes which reveal children’s perceptions of the environment; their perceptions of environmental sustainability; and the contextual influences upon these perceptions. Children’s perceptions of environmental sustainability started at an early age; were influenced by context; and were socially and culturally constructed. Children were able to discuss issues related to environmental sustainability at a basic level by drawing on personal experience. Overall, the study indicates that young children possess some knowledge of environmental sustainability and can talk about it. This thesis concludes by considering the implications of the study for educators, researchers, curriculum and policy-makers; and by outlining several avenues for future research.

abstract: Unschooling is a child-centered educational philosophy that eschews teachers, schools, curricula, grades and tests. Unschool practitioners have complete freedom to choose what they want to learn, when, to what level, and for how long. Unschooling families use the World Wide Web to provide a bespoke academic experience at home. This study compares qualitative data collected from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews conducted with 10 unschooling families with quantitative data collected from 5 children within these families using a tracking and monitoring software. The software captured the duration of use, keystrokes, mouseclicks, and screenshots for all programs and websites for 14 days. Children stated they used technology less than 6 hours a day, and parents stated children used them less than 8 hours a day. Quantitative data shows the children use technology at least 10 hours a day, suggesting usage self-reports may not be reliable. The study revealed hardware form factor was the number one determinate of application use. Almost exclusively social media was used on smartphones, internet browsing on tablets, and creative endeavors such as modding, hacking, fan fiction writing, and video game level building all took place exclusively on laptops and desktops. Concurrent use of differing hardware form factors was the norm observed. Participants stated YouTube, Wikipedia and Khan Academy were the websites most used for knowledge gathering. The tracking software verified YouTube and Wikipedia were the most used websites, however when accessed on the PC, those sites were used almost exclusively for video game related purposes. Over 90% of the total PC use was spent on video games. More traditional educational activities were done primarily on tablets and on parent smartphones with parental engagement. Khan Academy was not used by the participants in the 14 day monitoring period. 90 day web browser logs indicated Khan Academy was used by individuals no more than 3 times in a 90 day period, demonstrating the inherent risks in relying upon internet usage self-reports without quantitative software for verification. Unschooling children spent between 30 and 60 hours a week using technology. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Technology 2014