Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-90). Also available in print.

Development agencies have been sending educational aid to Ghana for more than three decades, their declared purpose being to support the country’s educational development. Despite the aid and development agencies’ own literature indicating the aid is promoting education development, there has been little research exploring the aid’s actual outcomes as experienced in country by recipients. This dissertation therefore sought to explore experiences of Ghanaian educational aid recipients: teachers, head teachers, district, and national education managers, focusing on whether and how educational aid has contributed to or hindered educational development. Using an interpretive approach, the participants’ perceptions of their experiences of aid were sought. The interviewing method was used to collect data as it gave the opportunity to hear from the recipients’ individually. 13 participants were interviewed from the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, two primary schools and a District Education Office. King’s (2007) template analysis strategy was used to identify important themes in the recipients’ accounts of experiences, and the themes interpreted to arrive at findings. Six major findings were identified, the most significant being that the outcomes of aid are mixed – having both positive and negative impacts. Positive impacts include increased funding and learning experiences, whilst the negatives include aid conditionality. The other findings are that aid may be funding non-priority items; an urgent need to improve the delivery of aid; measuring the outcomes of aid is a challenge; there are tensions around the appropriateness of aid; and, aid not being the first option for recipients to seek assistance. Implications of these findings for practice include recommendations to: decentralise needs assessment for aid processes from the national authorities to include a cross section of regional, district and school staff in consultations; development agencies to allow recipients to decide what and how funds are used to meet local educational needs; the recipient nation to develop a standardized evaluation framework that can generate necessary data to report aid results; the need for the national government to incrementally wean the country off aid by pursuing alternative sources of funding; and in the short term, the need for development agencies to provide sustainable aid if the need arises. The concluding observation is the urgent need to recognise that aid can be improved for the betterment of those who it is intended to benefit.

The Diploma thesis dealing with the relation between a founder and a director of pre-school education management in the Pilsen region, aims to evaluate a system of kindergartens, which are independent contributory organizations and whose founder is a municipality. To find out what competences the founder has in relation to a kindergarten, in which spheres the founder cooperates with a director. How the founder evaluates director's work, if he does control activities and if he works with outputs of the control bodies, especially the Czech School Inspectorate.To find out what the competences of a kindergarten director are, whether he is supported by the founder or not. To find out how the cooperation between the founders and the directors of kindergartens is evaluated by inspectors of the Czech School Inspectorate who are specialized in pre-primary education and work in the Pilsen Inspectorate of the ČSI. The theoretical part of the thesis is based on the specialized literature, legal regulations and strategic documents concerning kindergartens, their founders and the Czech School Inspectorate in the field of pre-primary education, which were valid at the time of this diploma thesis. The practical part is drawn up on the basis of the results of the survey carried out by the directors of...

This thesis explores how the concept of well-being is understood and operationalised in the early years through examining the implementation of the Foundation Phase in Wales. In 2008, the Welsh Government presented well-being as one of seven Areas of Learning in the Foundation Phase, which is the statutory curriculum for 3-to-7 year olds. Despite the appealing interest of well-being within policy, very limited research focuses on understanding the nature of well-being in schools and the curriculum. Well-being is generally acknowledged as a complex concept and there are many different explanations. In addition, and despite the fast-growing interest in education there is little consensus about child well-being. Therefore, this study explores primary school practitioners’ knowledge and understanding of well-being and examines day-to-day classroom practices. This qualitative case study included eight focus groups, 21 practitioner interviews, as well as 342 hours of observations in two primary schools. Several Bernsteinian concepts are drawn upon in the analysis. Key findings suggest that practitioners are uncertain about the nature of well-being as well as operationalising and capturing well-being. The study reveals four different dimensions associated with the concept of well-being, and one unwarranted assumption shared by some practitioners about a child’s well-being and their socio-economic background. In addition, five different types of well-being practices are identified; four of these practices are integrated in nature and one of them is discretely delivered by adults. The study shows that criterion-referenced assessment is implemented in different ways, but practitioners encounter various difficulties when capturing children’s well-being. Practitioners also report that well-being assessment tools are missing helpful follow-up strategies. The thesis concludes by discussing ways of developing practitioners’ understanding of complex concepts such as well-being and pedagogy, and the longer term policy implications regarding the curriculum and assessment. Future directions about child well-being research are considered.

The vast majority of studies of educational change are contextualised within the school. This is a new qualitative multi-level study of the interaction of the school with its LEA and government and the current changes to the structure of the education system. A number of LEAs have changed, or have plans to change, the age of transfer at which pupils move fromprimary to secondary school. The eGect is to dismantle three-tier systems, i.e. Grst, middle and secondary schools; and to replace them with a two-tier system of primary and secondary schools. This represents the abolition of middle schools in those LEAs. Principal access for the research was at Chief Education Officer level, with headteachers, governors and parents also targeted. Some pupil interviews were possible. Research data was collected in these interviews and through documentary evidence gathered &omboth study areas, and &om any LEA which had formally considered change. The quality of the data was ensured by encouraging participants to comment upon and check the accuracy of their contributions. Analysis was achieved by the constant comparative method. In 1970, Birley wondered how far age of transfer was a national issue, and how far a matter for local discretion. The evidence of this research would suggest that it has the appearance of a local discretionary matter, but, in reality, enormous pressure is applied through government direct action or its agencies. This study concludes that the relationship between LEA and the government is ambiguous; that LEA planning can be thwarted by cross-cutting aspects of legislation - what may be called "bureaucratic bolt-holes'; that changing the age of transfer &om 12 or 13 back to 11 is demonstrably unnecessary on purely educational grounds; and that the tensions between choice and economy contributed to the decline of the middle school.

No description available.

The Primary MFL curriculum (DfE, 2013: 1-3) calls for the development of reading and writing in a foreign language in primary schools. Specific attainment targets refer to “accurate reading aloud for understanding” and the ability to “describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing” (DfE, 2013: 2). Research, however, has shown both the teaching and learning of MFL literacy to be most problematic. Observation-derived evidence noted that writing was the “least developed skill” in primary MFL provision (Ofsted, 2011: 10, 25) and that written work tended to provide consolidation and support for oral learning (Cable, Driscoll, Mitchell, Sing, Cremin, Earl, Eyres, Holmes, Martin & Heins, 2010: 87). Meanwhile, empirical evidence holds that a lack achievement and motivation in school-based language learning is a reflection of limited progression in second language literacy and decoding (Erler, 2003; Macaro & Erler, 2008; 2011). Despite these findings, research has yet to identify teaching and learning approaches which could shape pedagogical practice and deliver the “substantial progress” that the curriculum expects (DfE, 2013: 2). This action research study, conducted over 23 weeks, presents an empirically-derived, principled and systematic approach to teaching MFL literacy and oracy simultaneously. Qualitative and quantitative data, collected throughout the intervention and at pre-, post- and delayed post-test allowed for both detailed statistical analyses of learning outcomes and the exploration of the learning process. The study finds that, in this beginner learner setting, MFL oracy is not disrupted by the simultaneous introduction of MFL literacy. It notes that both L1 reading age and verbal working memory proficiency are highly influential in L2 oracy and literacy learning but reports that learners across the L1 ability range can participate in L2 learning and make meaningful progress. It further suggests that the development of L2 sound/spelling links (through systematic phonics instruction) is slow and that familiar words are more likely to be successfully recoded. These findings together ii with evidence of an ever-dominant L1, support an argument for an early start to MFL literacy.

Despite the fact that the primary languages initiative was not made compulsory in 2011, excellent progress has been made in implementing primary language teaching in the majority of English schools. However, previous research in a range of contexts has shown that a critical success factor for the success of early foreign language teaching lies in the successful transition of pupils from primary to secondary school. Transition studies focused on the core subjects of English, maths and science have shown that there are issues related to social adjustment as well as evidence of a drop in learner motivation across the first year of secondary school along side a hiatus in academic progress. In relation to foreign language teaching, it is well-documented that poor transition and liaison arrangements contributed to the failure of the last major primary languages in England. Several other studies report a lack of clear evidence of a sustained advantage for early starters and a drop in learner motivation following transition which has been attributed to a lack of continuation in teaching approaches and a tendency for secondary schools to start language teaching from scratch. Taking a longitudinal mixed-method approach to the investigation of learner motivation and linguistic progression, with a cohort of 26 students from two primary schools, the study provides detailed information firstly on the levels of French attainment reached at the end of the primary phase as well as motivation for language learning. Data collected at two points post transition show that motivation developed qualitatively and quantitatively across the year, particularly in relation to the learning situation and the perceived instrumentality of language learning. There was no evidence of a hiatus in terms of learner progression in French learning however the results emphasise the role of individual differences in learner outcomes. This study contributes to an increased understanding early learner motivation and provides detailed, insightful and original evidence regarding the learning of French by early learners within an instructed setting.

Como as crianças significam amizade na escola? Esta é a pergunta que procuro problematizar nesta dissertação. Busco analisar a amizade entre crianças na escola, tendo como foco de investigação as formas como as crianças fazem amigos e se relacionam entre si neste ambiente. Através dos signos produzidos pelas crianças desta pesquisa – um grupo de dezoito crianças, oito meninas e dez meninos, na faixa etária entre sete e onze anos, cursando o segundo ano do ensino fundamental de uma escola pública de Porto Alegre –, intento conhecer como as mesmas se produzem e são produzidas a partir das relações de amizade entre si. Para tanto, os conceitos de signo e linguagem, de Charles Sanders Peirce (2008), e de amizade, particularmente de Friedrich Nietzsche (2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 e 2012), Michel Foucault (2010) e Francesco Alberoni (1989), constituíram-se no aporte teórico principal para a análise dos dados produzidos. Pela amizade, as crianças vivem um aspecto fundamental de suas infâncias no período em que estão na escola, como um exercício de experimentação e transitoriedade, em que lhes é possível aprender o Outro e aprender a si mesmas através do Outro. / How do children assign meaning to friendship at school? This is the question I intend to discuss in this thesis. It is my intention to analyze friendship among children at school, having as my investigative focus the ways in which children make friends and relate to each other in such environment. Based on signs produced by those children involved in this research – a group composed of eighteen children, eight girls and ten boys, aged seven to eleven, attending the second year of an elementary public school in Porto Alegre – I attempt to understand how they engender themselves and are engendered based on friendship relations built among them. In order to do so, the concepts of sign and language, by Charles Sanders Peirce (2008), as well as the concepts of friendship, particularly as referred to by Friedrich Nietzsche (2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2012), Michel Foucault (2010) and Francesco Alberoni (1989), have become the main theoretical contribution used to analyze the collected data. Children live a fundamental aspect of their childhoods through friendship. As they attend school, they become part of an exercise in experimentation and transience, where they can learn about the Other and learn about themselves through the Other.

In today’s increasingly digitised world, we communicate both locally and globally across different languages, modes and media. Since the New London Group’s (1996) seminal ‘Pedagogy of Multiliteracies’ some twenty years ago, there have been further significant developments in the way we communicate, with the 21st century considered ‘the great age of translation’ (Bassnett 2014:1). Yet despite the increasing number of multilingual, multimodal texts we encounter, classrooms continue to teach traditional, monolingual print-based models of literacy. This research is therefore primarily in response to this rapidly evolving context, with a curiosity as to how international picturebooks might develop the skills learners need to succeed both now and in the future. The research process has been a journey comprising two separate phases of empirical study as I have sought to find out the best way to approach this topic. My initial focus, Phase One, was exploring the visual literacy skills of EAL learners and I completed a project in a primary school in Glasgow. As a result of the emerging findings, the research then changed in two ways – to a whole class approach comprising both bilingual and monolingual learners, and to a focus on translation. Phase Two comprised two whole class projects in the Scottish Borders, with my overarching question: How can translating both the verbal and visual in international picturebooks develop the multiliteracies learners require in the 21st century? In my discussions of multiliteracies, I have focused on four different areas: visual, critical, digital and intercultural literacies. Learners’ visual literacy skills were developed through their recognition of the cultural codes in visuals. Their critical literacies were developed through the recognition of power in texts, through deconstructing and reconstructing texts and seeking multiple perspectives. Digital literacies were improved through the critical retrieval of information online and through using tools such as Google Translate and, like Gilster (1997), I have suggested a key component of digital literacies is having an open mind as to the possibilities of emerging technologies. I also argue that intercultural literacy should be included under the umbrella of multiliteracies, in order to provide learners with the tools to navigate the increasingly multilingual, multicultural spaces they are likely to encounter, and offer tentative findings which show how translating international picturebooks has helped to develop these skills and attitudes. Prior to concluding the thesis, I briefly consider alternative lenses for the research, in particular Critical Race Theory, identity and translingualism. I then sum up the project in Chapter 11 and make some key recommendations, including the need for multiliteracies to be explicitly acknowledged in the curriculum and for international picturebooks, including those in the first languages (L1s) of the bilingual learners, to be introduced into classrooms to challenge the dominance of English and ‘what counts’ as reading. Alongside a discussion as to the limitations of the research and possible future directions, the thesis concludes with a call for both academics and educators to consider how the gap between research and practice might be reduced, to enable research such as this to have an impact on today’s literacy learners.