The purpose of this study is to investigate how six students at a Secondary School describes interaction patterns among teachers when students express in a way that the teacher perceives as racist and/or xenophobic, by presenting a qualitative interview study. The interviews were analyzed by two opposing models of value education: the traditional and the constructive model. The results show that students divide teachers in different categories based on five qualities: 1) they listening, 2) they accept students' opinions, 3) they allow discussion, 4) they are knowledgeable and 5) they can express their own opinions. These qualities are included in the value pedagogical model for deliberative conversations, whose strategies for interaction aim to create an understanding of different rules and values, thereby creating skills of rules by using a democratic approach. In contrast to this model, the rule-based moral education, in which the teacher uses his authority and refers to rules without giving an explanation for why they occurred, as strategies.

Stagnant student achievement in science education in the United States has placed an increased emphasis on teacher professional development. Since many elementary educators could benefit from improved science content knowledge—and given the challenge of providing this at a level scalable and sustainable through face-to-face delivery alone—this study sought to understand what types of online self-directed content-interaction strategies are of greatest learner satisfaction and provide the highest learning impact for teachers in grades three–six. Employing Anderson's Equivalency of Interaction Theorem, and looking at age, years teaching experience, and learning preferences via Kolb and Kolb's Learning Style Inventory 3.1 (2005), this descriptive study non-randomly sampled 85 educators who passed a series of self-paced interactive web modules to rate their preferences for five different types of content-interactive strategies: (a) simulations, (b) interactive reference, (c) hands-on, (d) personal feedback, and (e) pedagogical implications. Using an online survey and a pre- and postassessment instrument it was found that (a) as age and years teaching experience increase, teachers' preferences for personal feedback, interactive reference, and simulations increased, (b) teachers' content knowledge increased significantly after completing the web modules, (c) teachers' learning style moderately aligned with their preferences for content-interaction strategies, and (d) teachers least preferred the pedagogical implications component. Instructional designers and education administrators selecting professional development for teachers may find this informative. Data from this research support Anderson's theory that if the content interaction is rich, human interaction may be provided in diminished capacities. / Ph. D.