Thesis (doctoral)--Stockholms universitet, 1987. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 316-328).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 185-193).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-193). Also available in print.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2008. Dept of Psychology and Education. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-78).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

A research report submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Coursework and Dissertation), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2018 / Internal educator migration has emerged as one of the factors aiding inequalities in South African schools. A unidirectional movement of irreplaceable educators has become evident which aids the inequalities persisting amongst neighbouring schools. Irreplaceable educators move from public to former model C schools and from former model C schools to independent schools, leaving schools exposed to a less capable quality staff. This research aimed to voice the experiences of post internal-migration educators in Pretoria while determining the push and pull factors that lead to the unidirectional migration of educators between former model C schools to independent schools. The research comprised of a narrative study in which six participants were interviewed about their migration experiences. The results of the study revealed that internal educator migration is caused by six push factors in former model C schools: economic pressure, school management, personal and emotional experiences, poor academic achievement, lack of learner discipline and a high teacher to learner ratio. Internal educator migration is also aided by six pull factors offered by independent schools: good learner discipline, financial benefits, lighter workload, lower teacher to learner ratio, professional treatment and higher quality academic learners. The finding further revealed that educators from former model C schools are attractive to independent schools and are regularly headhunted by independent schools. The researcher concludes the research report with an analytic model of the factors which influence internal educator migration and recommended methods to alleviate the educator migration push factors. In addition, the researcher provides recommendations for educator retention and further studies. / XL2019

No description available.

More than one in four children under age 6 in the United State are children of immigrants, and the majority of these children are Asian and Hispanic. Despite this, there have been few studies on the early development of young children of immigrants. In particular, although healthy development in the early years of life is important in helping children get ready for school, little is known about school readiness among children in immigrant families. Therefore, this study examines school readiness among children of Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers, with particular attention to two important characteristics of immigrant families: maternal language use and use of preschool. This study is composed of five chapters, starting with Chapter 1 that introduces the background and purpose of this study. Chapter 2 reviews the theoretical backgrounds for the association between maternal language use and the development of young children in immigrant families, and then for the role of preschool in children's school readiness. Using a nationally representative sample of children of Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), Chapters 3 and 4 examine whether maternal language use is associated with school readiness and whether preschool plays a protective role in promoting school readiness, respectively. Finally, Chapter 5 concludes by summarizing the findings and providing implications for theory and methodology, future research, and social work and policy. In Chapter 3, this study finds generally advantages of maternal use of English and bilingualism for children's cognitive development at kindergarten entry in both Asian and Hispanic groups. It also finds, compared to children of home language Asian mothers, higher levels of pro-social behavior among those of English dominant and bilingual Asian mothers, but also higher levels of behavior problems among those of English dominant Asian mothers. Furthermore, in additional analyses, this study finds that longer residency in the U.S. is associated with higher levels of approaches to learning for children of bilingual Asian mothers and lower levels of behavior problems for children of bilingual Hispanic mothers. In Chapter 4, this study finds that attending preschool (mostly prekindergarten or other center-based care) is associated with better academic school readiness at kindergarten entry among children of Asian immigrant mothers, but not children of Hispanic immigrant mothers. This study also finds higher levels of behavior problems and lower levels of approaches to learning among children in Head Start compared to those in parental care in both Asian and Hispanic groups. In addition, this study finds beneficial associations between preschool and academic school readiness at the year of participation among children of both Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers, but these beneficial associations do not hold up at kindergarten entry among children of Hispanic mothers, while such associations are still found at kindergarten entry among children of Asian mothers. This study also finds more pronounced beneficial influences of preschool on academic school readiness at the year of participation among children of mothers who speak their home language in both Asian and Hispanic groups, but such more pronounced benefits are gone at kindergarten entry in both groups.

This dissertation examines how the formal schooling trajectories of forced migrant women from Africa and the Middle East are shaped by the ongoing confrontation of the women with the policies and practices of the community college they attend. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork done at a community college in the largest metropolitan area in the otherwise predominantly rural state of Maine. This work is motivated by an interest in the validity of the rhetoric of community college as the vehicle for upward social mobility for marginalized populations. The students in the study are constructed as various types of minorities: linguistic, racial, religious, national, depending on the bureaucratic, social or schooling context. Because of the ideology of equal opportunity, often the only documentation by the community college of minority status is their language status that is recognized in the standardized entrance exam. Racial and national origin information is voluntary and commonly left blank on official forms, but, along with religion, are made meaningful both in and outside of the classroom through interactions with white peers and teachers. Forced migrant students experience this construction of otherness, and react through the formation of social support networks made up exclusively of forced migrants where they teach each other ways of adaption and resistance. Because of the conditions that led to their flight, forced migrants have survived traumatic situations, face language barriers and may have interrupted formal schooling, as well as retain familial obligations around the globe that present unique challenges. The community college does not fully recognize these challenges, and maintains a narrow standard that is upheld through teaching practices and the use of standardized exams, which serve to marginalize forced migrant students. This marginalization translates into low graduation rates for forced migrants, effectively blocking any upward social mobility to be gained from the community college.

While educators have recognized that students from other countries often face traumatic experiences in their initial period of adaptation to the receiving country's schools and society, little attention has been devoted to understanding the nature or educational significance of these experiences. Traditionally, educators have equated adaptation difficulties with host language deficits, while other, possibly more consequential dimensions of the adaptation experience have gone unrecognized, and have not been represented in educational policy and funding decisions. Accordingly, this study is directed toward providing a more comprehensive understanding of the adaptation experiences of adolescent students who have recently arrived in Canada from other countries, and addresses a critical need for understanding these experiences from the perspectives of the students themselves. Inquiry is advanced within a descriptive, exploratory, and explanatory study which predominantly utilizes a phenomenological, qualitative methodology. The study's principal methodology builds upon Edmund Husserl's philosophical foundation by incorporating the existential perspectives of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, the life-world social dimensions of Alfred Schutz, and the historical-contextual and interpretive elements of Max van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology. Fieldwork occurred over a six month period in a suburban Canadian secondary school. Study findings and recommendations derive from analysis of interviews, observations, and self-reports of three male and three female grade 10 students who arrived in Canada not more than 20 months prior to the outset of the study. Initial adaptation experiences of study participants point to three principal findings. The study's finding that despite adaptation challenges, students from abroad often achieve at or above receiving society norms within a short period after arrival, suggests that educators should consider how successful academic patterns of newcomers might be adopted by receiving society members. Participant experience indicates that host language acquisition is but one dimension of a multidimensional adaptation experience, and that it is seldom the student's most critical adaptation concern, even in terms of host communication skills. Participants experienced establishing friendships as their most critical and difficult adaptation concern, and looked to friendship to provide uncertainty reduction, access to and inclusion in the receiving society.