Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Linda Hestenes; submitted to the Dept. of Human Development and Family Studies. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 27, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-190).

M.Ed. / The purpose of this study was to research and record the training process of teachers in a Grade R learning programme, within a context of inclusive education, by describing the teachers’ perception of the Grade R learning programme and by making certain changes to the training and training process that have been suggested in the study, and to offer guidelines with regard to the training of foundation phase educators, with specific reference to Grade R educators working within the context of inclusive education. The researcher opted for an interpretative action research design within a qualitative research paradigm since she wished to describe, interpret and explain actions within her research whilst attempting to bring about certain improvements within the teaching practice. The type of action research that was performed is known as practitioner action research because it was performed in the presence of, and with the cooperation of education practitioners as well as academics who assisted the researcher with relevant skills and resources. The following major themes were identified: Facilitating, programme implementation, complete empowerment, cooperation as well as common religious convictions. The most significant findings were the following: When we look at the facilitation of training programmes, it is of the utmost importance that the facilitator accepts from the onset that the participants as well as the facilitators will experience uncertainty within themselves, specifically regarding their own knowledge and abilities and the level of acceptance they will experience in the company of other professionals. It is therefore all the more important to determine each participant’s expectations regarding the purpose and outcomes of the the training programme as this will ease the process considerably and at the same time render the facilitator a clear idea of what needs to be addressed and what not. Facilitators of training programmes, especially within contexts similar to this study, should reflect on the importance of sound relationships being established between facilitator and participants. The initial level of experience and skill of each participant should be determined before the start of the programme and here the facilitator plays an enormous role as far as emotional and social support is concerned. When it comes to programme implementation, I should think that educators in all possible contexts will benefit immensely from the format of the lessons, the contents of the lessons as well as the presentation thereof because these are outcomes-based lessons. In terms of contexts similar to the one in this reseach, it is important that the facilitator works through each new lesson with the educators to ensure that they fully understand everything and also to give them the opportunity to ask questions as this will enable them to implement these lessons with enhanced confidence in their own classes. It was important for the teachers to experience their training in a practical manner because they learnt from one another, they had the opportunity to exchange ideas and, whatever problems they experienced, could be addressed and solved immediately. In conclusion I would like to strongly advocate the choice of practitioner research as research methodology in any study that is focussed on the improvement of the teaching practice. Not only does it hold immense benefits for practitioners, but as researcher I experienced complete personal enrichment in as far as I acted as an agent of meaningful change in the lives of the practitioners who accompanied me on this journey.

The central problem investigated in this field study was whether the working conditions of rural preschool teachers were different from those encountered by urban preschool teachers. And, if so, whether the problems encountered by rural preschool teachers were similar to those experienced by rural primary and secondary teachers. For the purposes of this study, small rural towns were those towns with populations of less than eight thousand and were geographically remote from large rural and urban centres of populations of more than twenty thousand. The data were collected by means of a mail questionnaire. The questions were devised around the issues raised in the literature about rural primary and secondary teachers. The material reviewed was converted into question format and placed in the context of preschool education. Eighteen teachers from rural schools and seventeen teachers from city schools participated in the survey. The statistical package for the Social Sciences was used to analyse the survey data. In all, nineteen hypotheses were tested. Further data, more directly pertinent to preschool education, were derived from four open ended questions. The results of the tested hypotheses revealed the following outcomes which were similar to those reported in the research on rural primary and secondary education: Rural Teachers were younger and less experienced than city teachers lacked resources and back up staff lacked adequate inservice opportunities were isolated from colleagues and advisers had some difficulty coping with the values portrayed by some members of the aboriginal community. Unlike rural primary and secondary teachers, the rural preschool teachers did not appear to have the same problems of adjusting to the rural community and did not lack parental support. The open ended questions suggested that rural and city preschool teachers did not differ greatly in their perceptions of school readiness, the role of parents, and the functions of preschool. However, rural preschool teachers did nominate isolation and lack of resources as their greatest problem. Both groups identified the complex and time consuming administrative tasks as a major problem. Since this is only a pilot study, this particular piece of research should be developed much further. This study has implications for further research in that it has identified a large number of areas to be explored, especially in regard to the working environments of rural preschool teachers, their relationship with their communities and the problems they face.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1984. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 106-112). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

In this empirical study I have investigated how preschool teachers relate to the free play at the preschool. At the same time I have investigated how the free play is adapted into everyday practice in the preschool. Previous research shows that children process what they experienced in the free play. The child retrieves content to play with through things they have experienced, such as family life, preschool and so on. To play, grow and continue, it is important that free play may take place and space in the daily activities at the preschool. To do so the preschool teachers must organize time so that the free play can have the space that it requires at the preschool. The method I have chosen for this study is two interviews with two preschool teachers and four observations at a preschool. In the interviews I found out that the preschool teachers believes that participation and the presence of an adult in the free play is of great importance. If you as a preschool teacher are involved in the free play at the preschool, you have to make sure that the free play continues to develop and survives. However, both interview preschool teachers believe that free play is often suffers, as a result of the daily routines at the preschool. In the four observations I have carried out, I have compared the interview responses with what happened in the observations at the preschool.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2003. / Thesis directed by Jeanne D. Day for the Department of Psychology. "December 2003." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-106).

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

No description available.