The purpose of this research study was to explore and describe the experience of primary school educators of inclusive education. Educators experience inclusive education with dissimilar attitudes and perceptions. Educators constantly have to cope with large numbers of learners in the classroom, an inflexible curriculum and a lot of administration work. All these things make implementation of inclusive education difficult. I perceive that there is a need to re-evaluate the existing curriculum and come up with new teaching methods to assist the educators to cope with their dilemma. The objectives of this study were to explore and describe the experience of educators in a primary school of inclusive education and to describe guidelines to assist educators to facilitate a positive experience of inclusive education. The study was qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual in approach and it therefore became necessary to use phenomenological semi-structured interviews with educators involved in inclusive education. Before the interviews, trust was build through a written request of permission to the principal of the school concerned to conduct the research study. The participating educators were also informed of what the research is all about before the main interview. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews focusing on the experience of primary school educators of inclusive education. Data were analysed utilising Tesch’s (Cresswell 2004:192) method of open coding. Trustworthiness was ensured throughout the study by applying Guba’s approach (Lincoln and Guba 1995:15) including the service of an independent coder. Results were recontextualised within the literature. Most educators view inclusive education as beneficial to the educators, the parents, the school and the learners as a whole; “a tool to make every learner a winner.” There are challenges that make inclusive education difficult to implement and are voiced by educators through a feeling of disempowerment. Support systems presently implemented by educators are met with varying opinions about the efficiency in inclusive education. There is an increased need for support systems for educators involved in inclusive education. Guidelines to assist educators to facilitate a positive experience of inclusive education were developed based on the above theme. / Prof. C.P.H. Myburgh Prof. M. Poggenpoel

Thesis (M.ED.) --University of Limpopo, 2007. / Lack of parental involvement in primary schools has been a burning issue to fellow educators, school managers and departmental officials in Mankweng Circuit in Limpopo Province. Parents too were dissatisfied about their children’s performance. The main aim of this study was to investigate causes which hinder learner performance and intend to develop or propose strategies to be used to improve learner performance. Research and practice indicate that parental involvement remains a crucial topic effort to enhance school effectiveness. However, principals in schools still experience a number of problems in this regard and do not succeed in obtaining optimal involvement of parents. The present research therefore investigated the Impact of Parental Involvement on Learner Performance. Although it was possible to isolate factors responsible for non-involvement of parents, it is clear that each of these factors must not be seen in isolation, they cumulatively compound the problem of Parental Involvement. Method used for this study was qualitative and quantitative approaches. Populations were from parents, principals, heads of departments and educators. Questionnaires, interviews, observations and documents were used as instruments to obtain information from respondents. Data was analysed using tables and figures. The major findings of the research revealed that, principals are of the opinion that parents in rural areas and lower socio-economic areas present a special problem as they lack interest in parental involvement in schools for education of their children. / Not listed

This research is a Case Study of the experiences of two groups of gifted children, including two preschoolers (3-5 years old) and three primary age children (6 - 9 years old), and their families in Victoria. The children were selected utilising a multi-faceted approach to identification appropriate to their ages and stages of development. That is, both objective and subjective procedures were used which included teacher nomination, parent nomination and checklists for the identification of the children for the case study. The focus of the study was on the personal and educational experiences of these children, with a particular emphasis on recording the

Aims. Problem-solving approaches to teaching mathematics have been recommended in curriculum documents for some time but there is evidence to suggest that there has been limited classroom implementation both in Australia as well as overseas. This investigation explored the level of implementation of mathematical problem solving in primary classrooms in NSW. Teachers' beliefs about the role of problem solving in learning mathematics as well as their classroom practices were also investigated. To explore what teachers believe and what they do in relation to problem solving, this investigation examined primary school teachers' reported beliefs about the role of problem solving in learning mathematics and their reported practices in classrooms. It aimed to discover how beliefs about mathematical problem solving influenced decision making in teachers' classrooms and what factors promoted and hindered the implementation of problem-solving approaches. The results of this investigation could provide benefits to several different groups involved in mathematics education. Preservice teacher educators and presenters of inservice education courses could benefit from increased knowledge about the role of beliefs in determining practices as well as potential constraints on desirable practices. Associated with this may be the need to challenge teachers' beliefs that might not support the development of practices that promote problem-solving approaches. For practising teachers, professional development could focus on examining their beliefs and providing the necessary support for teachers to realise the aim of assisting their pupils to achieve problem-solving competence. Curriculum developers may benefit from an increased awareness of the difficulties associated with implementing recommended approaches. Finally, participating teachers may benefit from their involvement in the investigation through opportunities to reflect on their practice while completing the survey instrument as well as during interview discussions with the researcher. Scope. Data collection focused on teachers' beliefs about mathematics, teaching mathematics and learning mathematics, as well as on their reported practices since all of these factors impact on what occurs in teachers' classrooms. A combination of methods was used to collect data so that there was increased confidence in the research findings. In this way, the results of one method could be tested against another for consistency, thus enhancing trustworthiness and dependability. The data collection for this investigation was divided into two phases. The first phase involved the use of a questionnaire to seek data on teachers' reported problem solving beliefs and practices as little is known overall in this area, particularly within the context of Australian teachers. Responses were received from 162 primary school teachers currently teaching in NSW. The instrument was designed with reference to similar instruments that had been used by other researchers in the field and incorporated a combination of closed and open questions. The second phase of data collection incorporated interviews and observations that were conducted in the field. These methods were used to explore the problem-solving teaching approaches used by a small number of teachers in particular school settings. To collect data about teachers' planning for instruction, and opportunities that support or constrain innovative practices, it was more appropriate to explore particular contexts that would provide a rich set of data. Conclusions. Analyses of data confirmed the spread of teachers' beliefs, the diversity of their practice, and revealed issues that could hinder their problem-solving efforts in classrooms. A small group of surveyed teachers reported holding very traditional views that were quite distinct from another group who reported support for very contemporary views. These differences were also apparent in relation to reported classroom practices and appeared to be linked to the current teaching grade level of the respondents. This was confirmed during the interviews and observations as it seems easier for teachers of the lower primary grades to implement practices identified as supporting problem-solving approaches. For teachers of upper primary grades, parents' and school expectations impinge on teachers' practices and potentially constrain their problem-solving efforts. For the two teachers who participated in the classroom observations, considerable energy was required to resist constraints and implement problem-solving approaches. Recommendations for practice and future research include the need for an examination of constraints on practice, the role of reflective practice in implementing innovative practices, the viability of teaching through problem solving as a necessary and important teaching approach, and the use of a variety of problem types in preparing students to be successful problem solvers. In addition, teachers may need to be encouraged to continually reflect on practice and teacher educators may need to raise the awareness of preservice and inservice teachers to the issues involved in implementing problem-solving approaches in their classrooms.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 342-359). Also available in print.

The aim of this study is to examine schoolchildren’s knowledge about malaria in Babati, Tanzania. It will also examine the impact of the disease on children’s education and if schoolchildren in Babati have the possibility to act as health change agents and be a part of combating the high malaria prevalence. The thesis is based on a qualitative method with secondary information retrieved from scientific articles and previous studies. It is also based on empirical data collected during a field study in Babati, Tanzania in 2012. Both structured and semi structured interviews were made with schoolchildren, teachers and health care personnel. The studies showed that malaria affects children’s education primarily through absence, but can also cause cognitive impairment as well as neurological damage. The interviews revealed the students to have varying knowledge about the disease and it also revealed that children only have the ability to act as health change agents if teachers with help of the government, the hospital or an NGO are willing to cooperate and provide the students with information.

The research employed the questionnaire survey. We recruited Ping Tung primary school educational stuff, including directors, coordinators, homeroom teachers and subject teachers, to complete the ¡§Questionnaire on Ping Tung Primary School Educational Staff¡¦s Awareness of School Marketing and the Levels of Identification¡¨. 404 valid samples were collected. The relevant data collected from the questionnaire was analyzed with the statistical program, SPSS for Windows. The result¡¦s which discussed the divergences of variables under different background.Examined via statistical methods such as frequency distribution, percentage, ranking, T-test, One-way ANOVA, and correlation coefficient. Furthermore, the comparison of the groups was compared by employing the Scheffé test. The major findings of the present study are summarized as follows: 1. Among all the variety of types of school marketing awareness of the Ping Tung county primary school teachers. Our study showed , the level of the ¡§staff perception awareness¡¨ is of the highest,while the level of the ¡§value awareness¡¨ is of the lowest. 2. From the viewpoint of the Ping Tung county primary eductors stuff, the ¡§perceptual awareness ¡¨ of school marketing is considered to be crucial. 3. Educators of displayed remarkable variations toward the identification levels of school marketing led to educators.The three facts:different positions, school sizes, and admission conditions. 4. The result demonstrates a positive correlation between the awareness of school marketing and the levels of identification.

ABSTRACT Paper name¡GThe Relations between Consumer Socialization and Consumer Behavior in Grade 5-6 Students of Primary School The school¡]courtyard¡^the group leaves¡GNational Sun Yat-sen University, Institute of China and Asia -Pacific Studies Student¡GChien Hung-hsu Instructs professor¡GDr. Weng Jai-hsi In earlier days, Taiwan was an agricultural society and economic conditions of general families were rather poor. It was after the take-off of Taiwan economy that it brought progress and prosperity to Taiwan society and upgrading of living standard to families. These of course resulted in increase of consumption capacity as well as drop in age of consumers and increase of frequency of consumption behavior. Studying the consumption behavior of children can help the understanding of development of adults¡¦ mode of consumption behavior. In this research, we adopted Questionnaire Survey and targeted at senior students of elementary school. The survey recovered 1,140 valid responses. The purpose of this research is in studying the effect of consumption behavior of senior students of elementary school with different background variables and consumption socialization. In this research, we divided consumption behaviors into Material Enjoyment, Calculated, Pulsating, Conspicuous types. Independent sample T test, ANOVA, Pearson Product / Difference Correlation and certain other statistical analysis method were employed to test the assumptions of the research. Findings of the analysis of the results of research are: a. There is significant difference in parental influence over the socialization of consumption of senior students of elementary school with different background variables, b. There is significant difference in peer influence over the socialization of consumption of senior students of elementary school with different background variables, c. There is significant difference in TV commercial influence over the socialization of consumption of senior students of elementary school with different background variables, d. There is significant difference among students of elementary school with different background variables and e. There is significant correlation between socialization of consumption and consumption behavior of senior students of elementary school. Finally, based on the result of the research, we present suggestions for reference of parents, schools and future researchers. Key words: Consumer Behavior, Consumer Socialization, Students of Primary School.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-56).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University. BLDSC no. DX215638.