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'There is more to a song than meets the ear' to paraphrase an old adage. This 'more' refers particularly to certain songs in which the acoustic properties of the music move in confluence with spoken English. This 'more' refers to a particular process through which children learn songs, and once learned engage with them as objects of thought and represent them in symbol. This 'more' refers to particular songs as events aptly suited to circumscribe the temporal/spatial, perceptual/motor, emotional/social, imaginative/cognitive engagement of children-as-learners. The dissertation is a narrative in which the author traces the story of her transformation from being a successful symbol-to-sound music teacher, to becoming a sound-to-symbol educator of children and the teachers of children.

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Evolution is considered a controversial topic and has been met with much debate, concern and conflict in its inclusion in the school curriculum. The aim of his investigation was to determine what conceptual change occurs when learners are taught evolution and what factors influence this change looking in particular at learners’ conceptual ecologies and the role that religious beliefs play. The attitudes of the learners, teachers and school community towards evolution were also investigated. A mixed methods approach was used because it obtains a fuller picture and provides a deeper understanding of a phenomenon by combining the strengths of qualitative and quantitative research. Learners were given a pre-and post-instruction survey and concept mapping task, and a sample of learners were interviewed post instruction. Results showed that learners made significant conceptual changes and that religious beliefs are the main contributing factor to learners’ conceptual ecologies and the conceptual changes that occurred. An overall negative attitude was initially experienced from learners, but this developed into curiosity and interest. Teachers had a positive attitude towards teaching evolution. This study also highlights the notion that conceptual change theory is not sufficient in explaining how all learners learn evolution. Learners that experience cultural conflict follow various other learning paths explained by collateral learning. Collateral learning is considered because it more accurately explains how religious learners learn evolution. Collateral learning puts emphasis on the importance that learner cultures have in learning and highlights the importance of teaching for cultural border crossing / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

In recent years, the media have publicized the social problem of physical child abuse. This study examined three artifacts of physical abuse: the children's book Robin's Story, the popular song "Luka," and the television documentary Scared Silent: Exposing and Ending Child Abuse. Chapter One described each artifact and provided a literature review which detailed the writings about physical child abuse and artifacts discussing this topic. The chapter then posed research questions about how the artifacts viewed abused children and their abusers, the causes of abuse, and the solutions proposed for ending physical abuse.Chapter One finally discussed the narrative framework of rhetorical analysis used to examine the three artifacts. The narrative method used in this analysis employed three steps: 1) An examination of narrative structure, which discussed the plot of the story, the crucial points of the story and the events which supplemented those points, and the steps of breach, crisis, redress, and reintegration in the narrative; 2) An examination of narrative rationality, which talked about the completeness and true to life quality of the story and evaluated the reasons the rhetors gave for following the course of action endorsed by the story; and 3) An examination of narrative standards, including truth standard or how the narrative compares with what the audience believes is true; aesthetic standard or the grammar, setting, and characterization within the story, and ethical standard or the values expressed within the narrative. Chapter Two applied this framework to the children's book Robin's Story. Chapter Three viewed the popular song "Luka" through the narrative framework. Chapter Four discussed the documentary Scared Silent in terms of narrative analysis.Chapter Five then discussed the conclusions of the analysis for each artifact, artifacts discussing physical abuse, and for rhetoric. Some of the conclusions reached were that artifacts discussing physical child abuse should attempt to make their stories universal, that such artifacts need to distinguish between abuse and physical punishment, and that artifacts dealing with this problem must provide concrete courses of action to end physical abuse. This analysis concluded that, while narrative analysis provided the answers to the research questions, this framework needs to be made into a concrete method of rhetorical analysis to ensure that narratives are effectively evaluated. Narrative analysis was positive in this analysis, however, in that it supported the definitions of rhetoric as value, epistemology, motive, drama, meaning, and argument. This analysis found that, to end the problem of physical child abuse, rhetors must work with experts in this field and tailor artifacts from different perspectives to various audiences using different forms of media. / Department of English

Many U.S. corporations have begun investing in the education and training of their personnel in order to implement and maintain the changes necessary to remain competitive in a global market place. Employees have been required to learn and utilize new and/or different competencies.The purpose of this study was to identify formal training and informal learning experiences that were judged as valuable as the learners began the on-the-job utilization of their formal training and/or informal learning activities. Three adult education learning theories (andragogy, proficiency theory, and situated cognition) were examined to determine what formal and informal learning experiences of the respondents, were reflected or contradicted, by these theories.It was determined that interviews with employees to ascertain their perceptions might yield insights as to how they think they have learned new skills. Therefore, 15 employees with various job descriptions and who were employed by three separate and diverse organizations wereinterviewed. This diversity was necessary in order to achieve maximum variation sampling. All of the interviews for this study were audio tape recorded to ensure accurate data collection. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and reviewed item-by-item and line-by-line for emerging trends and important concepts.The findings suggested that the majority of workplace skills or competencies were learned and utilized through informal learning. Formal training was used to initiate, maintain, or validate the informal learning. Content learned during the formal training was more likely to be used if participants were given an opportunity to practice the skills or competencies during the training. Handouts or booklets were used after the training to replicate the skill or competency.The findings suggested that the theoretical description of needs assessment and of the evaluation process were not valid in the current workplace training setting. Respondents suggested improvements for both areas.This study has implications for trainers, training directors, and human resource personnel. Further study is recommended on needs assessment, evaluation, and informal learning within the workplace. / Department of Educational Leadership

Two overlapping situations in the American educational environment have given fuel for this study: the NAEP reported that 34% of fourth grade students read below grade level and NCLB mandated that all children read on grade level by 2014. First grade students from a Midwestern elementary school participated in an after school reading club that met daily. This reading experience was different from others because these first grade students were grouped by learning style preferences. Meanwhile, many classroom teachers respond to the challenge of differentiating reading instruction based solely on students’ reading ability levels creating a forever “reading below grade level” for struggling readers placed in low reading groups. The primary purpose of this study was to explore reading instruction utilizing learning style preferences of first grade students. An overarching question for this study, “How might reading instruction (nurture) aligned with the child’s learning style preference (nature) impact the child’s reading achievement?” To investigate this question the researcher created a supplemental reading experience after school by grouping children by their learning style preference to differentiate instruction. Utilizing the right kind of quality instruction with the right level of intensity and duration with the right children at the right time created an effective preventive program (Torgesen, 1998). That is differentiated instruction! A pretest and posttest assessment was conducted using running record reading assessments focusing on the total number of errors recorded. This quantitative research design, randomized pretest-posttest control group analyzed the collected data using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the one-way ANOVA analysis showed there was no significant difference in the posttests of the learning style treatment and the leveled reading control groups. Further analysis of the data revealed there was a significance comparing the pretest to the posttest within the treatment group and within the control group. This was important and implied grouping children by learning style preference for reading instruction may be an effective form of differentiation for small group reading instruction. / Department of Elementary Education