Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.65-70).

The study investigated the nature and quality of in-service education and training programmes organized for Further Education and Training (FET) mathematics teachers in the Greater Taung Area. The researcher is of the contention that more could be done to improve the process and the effectiveness of in-service training in the area. An extensive literature study provides a theoretical foundation and exposes some critical issues for effective in-service training programmes. The qualitative approach is used in the case study. The data were analysed through inductive analysis. The major research findings are that there are no formal processes of identifying the needs of mathematics teachers and further, teachers are not monitored and supervised after in-service sessions. It is recommended that the needs of teachers be identified by the school before inset. For effective monitoring and supervision of mathematics teachers after inset, it is recommended that each cluster within the Area Project Office (APO) should have a subject specialist for mathematics. / EDUCATIONAL STUDIES / MED (MATHS EDUC)

This thesis aims to reflect the stage of professionalteachers start first grade of primary school. It deals with pedagogical activities and responsibilities of primary school teachers and professional support you as a teacher stating clearly set out to professional qualities of a teacher or profilig on a new teacher education program teacher training in it. One of them is an innovative program Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking (RWCT). The aim of my thesis is the finding of such problems facing today's beginning teachers, helps them to overcome what level of involvement in RWCT own approach to teaching, the influence of the quality of knowledge of the principles and methods of the program RWCT in conception of educationon, on job and The professionalization of teacher. Keywords: Beginning teacher, support for beginning teachers, the quality of teachers, teaching approaches, educational program RWCT, RWCT teacher, teacher professionalization.

This thesis follows the bachelor thesis ,,Gestalt therapy and its use in education" and deals with self-development of teachers as a basic premise for preparedness for the profession. It describes very complicated concept self-development of teacher itself, then it discusses the issues of teaching quality and professionalism, where the thesis again emphasizes self-development as a way of transition from semiprofession to profession. It contemplates the necessity of self-development due to the rapid changes in today's society and thus increasing demands on the personality of the teacher. This thesis is based on the belief in the importance of self-development of teachers mainly in social and personal qualities, it asks whether these qualitites are sufficiently developed in the pregraduate teacher's education and if the offer of further education is sufficient for today's teachers. A short chapter is devoted to the burnout syndrom. Empirical probe aims to validate the conclusions and research of the theoretical part. The chosen method for the probe is questionnaire for primary school teachers. There is a list of centers that provide teacher training in the end of the thesis.

The study investigated the nature and quality of in-service education and training programmes organized for Further Education and Training (FET) mathematics teachers in the Greater Taung Area. The researcher is of the contention that more could be done to improve the process and the effectiveness of in-service training in the area. An extensive literature study provides a theoretical foundation and exposes some critical issues for effective in-service training programmes. The qualitative approach is used in the case study. The data were analysed through inductive analysis. The major research findings are that there are no formal processes of identifying the needs of mathematics teachers and further, teachers are not monitored and supervised after in-service sessions. It is recommended that the needs of teachers be identified by the school before inset. For effective monitoring and supervision of mathematics teachers after inset, it is recommended that each cluster within the Area Project Office (APO) should have a subject specialist for mathematics. / EDUCATIONAL STUDIES / MED (MATHS EDUC)

<p>Глобализација светске привреде довела је да је квалитет постао приоритетан фактор у борби са конкуренцијом за опстанак на тржишту. Квалитет се дефинише као скуп особина, карактеристика производа, робе, услуга, рада, изазивајући њихову способност да задовоље потребе и захтеве потрошача у складу са циљем и њиховим очекивањима. Због потребе привреде за радном снагом која ће бити компетента да производи производе који ће задовољити потребе и жеље купаца, све су израженији захтеви за квалитетом у стручном образовању. Основу за оцену квалитета образовног процеса чине образовни исходи који обухватају знања, способности вештие и ставове ученика који се стичу кроз формално образовање у школама. Квалитетно образовање не би требало посматрати као процес потрошње него као процес интгеракције између наставника и ученика. Образовање мора имати за циљ давање ученицима прилика за лични развој и поверење да ће се прилагодити новим ситуацијама да ће их променити ако то буду сматрали потребним. Образовање никад не може бити неутралан процес; увек ће бити базиран на вредности. Равнотежа између објективних чињеница и испитивање тих чињеница представља велик изазов за професионалног наставника (<a href="http://www.ei-ie-org">www.ei-ie-org</a>).</p><p>На квалитет образовних исхода средњег стручног образовања утичу разни фактори међу којима су: наставници са својим компетенцијама, менаџмент школа, наставни планови и програми, материјални ресурси.</p><p>За истраживање утицаја поменутих фактора, констурисан је упитник за директоре, наставнике, ученике, родитеље и привреднике којим је вршено прикупљање податак у узорку. Смањење количине података вршено је помоћу факторске анализе у SPSS Statistics 17, односно, извршили смо издвајање најмањег броја фактора који добро представљају међувезе у скупу променљивих из помоћ:</p><p>- анализе главних фактора (Кајзеров критеријум),</p><p>- факторизације слике (дијаграм одрона,&nbsp; engl.scree тест),</p><p>- паралелне анализе (користећи програм MONTE CARLO PCA for PARALLEL ANALYSIS),</p><p>- оцене прикладности података за факторску анализу (Бартлетов тест сферичности и Кајзер-Мајер-Олкинов-КМО показатељ адекватности узорка).</p><p>У обради података и доказивању галавне и помоћних хипотеза &nbsp;коришћене су основне статистичке методе:</p><p>1. дексриптивна статистика,</p><p>2. непараметарски тест:</p><p>-Колмогоров-Смирновљев тест нормалности дистрибуције</p><p>-HI квадрат тест</p><p>3. графички приказ резултата статистичке обраде.</p><p>Резултати истраживања су показали да квалитет средњег стручног образовања зависи од наставног кадра, менаџмента школа, модуларних наставних планова и програма и материјалних ресурса. Да квалитет средњег стручног образовања утиче на повећање нивоа производње, доказ је изведен на основу резултата истраживања које је проведено међу привредницима.</p><p>Даља истраживања у области квалитета средњег стручног образовања треба усмерити на: компетенције наставника, компетенције менаџмента, корелације опремљености школа са успехом ученика, утицај модуларних наставних планова и програма из појединачних предмета, смањење оптерећења ученика, сарадње школе и предузећа на утврђивању програмских садржаја практичне наставе, мотивације наставника и менаџмента школа за квалитетан рад и постизање резултата којима ће бити задовољни сви корисници.</p> / <p>Globalizacija svetske privrede dovela je da je kvalitet postao prioritetan faktor u borbi sa konkurencijom za opstanak na tržištu. Kvalitet se definiše kao skup osobina, karakteristika proizvoda, robe, usluga, rada, izazivajući njihovu sposobnost da zadovolje potrebe i zahteve potrošača u skladu sa ciljem i njihovim očekivanjima. Zbog potrebe privrede za radnom snagom koja će biti kompetenta da proizvodi proizvode koji će zadovoljiti potrebe i želje kupaca, sve su izraženiji zahtevi za kvalitetom u stručnom obrazovanju. Osnovu za ocenu kvaliteta obrazovnog procesa čine obrazovni ishodi koji obuhvataju znanja, sposobnosti veštie i stavove učenika koji se stiču kroz formalno obrazovanje u školama. Kvalitetno obrazovanje ne bi trebalo posmatrati kao proces potrošnje nego kao proces intgerakcije između nastavnika i učenika. Obrazovanje mora imati za cilj davanje učenicima prilika za lični razvoj i poverenje da će se prilagoditi novim situacijama da će ih promeniti ako to budu smatrali potrebnim. Obrazovanje nikad ne može biti neutralan proces; uvek će biti baziran na vrednosti. Ravnoteža između objektivnih činjenica i ispitivanje tih činjenica predstavlja velik izazov za profesionalnog nastavnika (<a href="http://www.ei-ie-org">www.ei-ie-org</a>).</p><p>Na kvalitet obrazovnih ishoda srednjeg stručnog obrazovanja utiču razni faktori među kojima su: nastavnici sa svojim kompetencijama, menadžment škola, nastavni planovi i programi, materijalni resursi.</p><p>Za istraživanje uticaja pomenutih faktora, konsturisan je upitnik za direktore, nastavnike, učenike, roditelje i privrednike kojim je vršeno prikupljanje podatak u uzorku. Smanjenje količine podataka vršeno je pomoću faktorske analize u SPSS Statistics 17, odnosno, izvršili smo izdvajanje najmanjeg broja faktora koji dobro predstavljaju međuveze u skupu promenljivih iz pomoć:</p><p>- analize glavnih faktora (Kajzerov kriterijum),</p><p>- faktorizacije slike (dijagram odrona,&nbsp; engl.scree test),</p><p>- paralelne analize (koristeći program MONTE CARLO PCA for PARALLEL ANALYSIS),</p><p>- ocene prikladnosti podataka za faktorsku analizu (Bartletov test sferičnosti i Kajzer-Majer-Olkinov-KMO pokazatelj adekvatnosti uzorka).</p><p>U obradi podataka i dokazivanju galavne i pomoćnih hipoteza &nbsp;korišćene su osnovne statističke metode:</p><p>1. deksriptivna statistika,</p><p>2. neparametarski test:</p><p>-Kolmogorov-Smirnovljev test normalnosti distribucije</p><p>-HI kvadrat test</p><p>3. grafički prikaz rezultata statističke obrade.</p><p>Rezultati istraživanja su pokazali da kvalitet srednjeg stručnog obrazovanja zavisi od nastavnog kadra, menadžmenta škola, modularnih nastavnih planova i programa i materijalnih resursa. Da kvalitet srednjeg stručnog obrazovanja utiče na povećanje nivoa proizvodnje, dokaz je izveden na osnovu rezultata istraživanja koje je provedeno među privrednicima.</p><p>Dalja istraživanja u oblasti kvaliteta srednjeg stručnog obrazovanja treba usmeriti na: kompetencije nastavnika, kompetencije menadžmenta, korelacije opremljenosti škola sa uspehom učenika, uticaj modularnih nastavnih planova i programa iz pojedinačnih predmeta, smanjenje opterećenja učenika, saradnje škole i preduzeća na utvrđivanju programskih sadržaja praktične nastave, motivacije nastavnika i menadžmenta škola za kvalitetan rad i postizanje rezultata kojima će biti zadovoljni svi korisnici.</p> / <p>Globalization of the world economy has brought about the fact that the quality is a<br />priority factor in the competition for the survival on the market. The quality is defined<br />as a collection of features, characteristics of products, goods, services, work, which challenges their capacities to meet the needs and the demands of the consumers in accordance with the goal and their expectations.<br />Because of the needs of the economy for labour forces, that are competent to produce products which would meet the needs and desires of buyers, the demands for the quality in the vocational education have become prominet. The assesment of the quality of the educational process is based on the educational results which comprise knowledge, abilities, skills and attitudes of students, which are required<br />through formal education in schools. A high quality education should not be viewed<br />as a process of consumption but as a process of interaction between teachers and students. The educational goal should be to provide opportunities for the students for their personal developement and for boosting their confidence that they would be able to adjust to new situations, and that they would be able to change such situations, if necessary. The education can never be a neutral process; it is<br />always based on values. The balance between objective facts and the examination of these facts represents a big challenge for a professional teacher (www.ei-ie.org).<br />The quality of educational results in the secondary vocational education is affected by<br />various factors, some of which are: teachers with their competences, management of<br />schools, educational curricula and programmes, material resources. For the purposes of research of the impacts and of the abovementioned factors, a questionnaire was designed for schoolmasters, teachers, students, parents and businessmen, through which a collection of data in the sample was<br />made. The reduction of the quantity of the data is conducted by means of factor analysis in SPSS Statistics 17, i.e., the extracting of the smallest number of factors was done, which represents well the interrelations in the collection of variables by means of: Analysis of major factors (Kajzer&#39;s<br />criterion), Factorization of the picture (screen test), Parallel analyses (programme used: Monte Carlo PCA for Parallel Analysis), The assessments of the adequacy of the data for the factor analysis (Bartlet test of specification and Kajzer-Majer-Olikin -<br />KMO indicator of the sample adequacy) For the data processing and in proving the main hypothesis as well as the auxilliary hypotheses, two basic statistical methods were used:<br />1. Descriptive statistics<br />2. Non-parameter test:<br />1. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test of the normality of the distribution<br />2. HI-square test<br />3. Graphic representation of the results of the statistical processing.<br />The results of the research have shown that the quality of the secondary vocational education depends on the teaching staff, school management, modular educational curricula and programmes and material resources.<br />For the fact that the quality of the secondary vocational education affects the increase of the level of production, the evidence was deducted on the basis of the results of the research which was conducted among businesmen. Further researches in the area of the quality of the secondary vocational education should be focused on: competences of teachers, competences of the management, correlation between the level of equipment of a school and the achievemtents of students, the impact of<br />modular educational curricula and programmes of individual subjects, reduction of the encumbrance of students, co-operation of schools and companies on defining the content of the programme of practical education, motivation of teachers and of the management of schools for a high qulity work and for achieving results with which all the beneficiaries will be satisfied.</p>

In the light of growing concerns regarding the quality of higher education after a period of rapid expansion, in 2003, the Chinese government launched the Undergraduate Teaching Evaluation (UTE), the first nation-wide evaluation of universities. In 2008, the UTE was replaced by the Quality Project, which signalled a change in its quality assurance approach, with a move from evaluations to the issuing of awards. In order to investigate the impact of the two national quality assurance policies, along with the impact of two long-standing internal quality assurance mechanisms employed by universities - class observation and student evaluation of teachers - on teaching, the researcher adopted policy analysis and a case study approach. Three different universities in the same region were selected as cases. Semi-structured interviews with 56 heads of department and teachers across three departments at each university were conducted. National and university policy documents, as well as interview data, were analysed thematically in the light of concepts derived from the political sciences, namely Knoepfel et al.'s (2007; 2011) framework for policy analysis and Schneider and Ingram's (1990) classification of policy tools. University policies and interview data revealed the patterns of impact of these two quality assurance policies. Faced with the UTE inspection, universities shifted their focus from assuring the quality of teaching to achieving good results in the exercise and therefore engaging in 'game-playing'. In order to ensure good UTE results, universities even resorted to the manipulation of data. University policies resulting from the UTE required teachers to produce standardised documents and to follow particular procedures. The majority of interviewed teachers regarded the impact of the UTE with cynicism, seeing it as a waste of time and effort, an interference with academic freedom, and believing it had the effect of undermining ethics. However, some teachers reported as positive impact of the fact that the UTE helped to keep teachers disciplined, and that it provided an impetus for ensuring teaching quality. Interview data showed that the Quality Project awards only had an impact on the award winners, who perceived the incentives on offer to be substantial. These award winners considered the acknowledgement given by the awards and the information obtained through reflection and good examples as valuable impacts. However, the Quality Project awards did not have impact on non-award winners, i.e. the majority of teachers. This study revealed that in order to have impact the institutional practices of class observation and the student evaluation of teachers relied on a number of conditions being in place. These practices had impact when the stakes were high or when university teachers received valid and reliable feedback. Whilst high stakes were found to lead to mixed impact, valid and reliable feedback contributed to the improvement of teaching. This study contributes to the understanding of the impact of quality assurance policies and mechanisms on teaching in Chinese higher education, an area that has not yet been the subject of significant empirical research. Covering the two major quality assurance policies in recent years, and also the institutional mechanisms teachers face, this research was able to capture the interdependence between these policies. No such research has previously been conducted in the context of Chinese higher education. In regard to the theoretical aspect of the research, the empirical evidence that was collected and a comprehensive review of other empirical research enabled the development of an Impact Framework. The Impact Framework identified patterns in the impact of various quality assurance policy tools and revealed their inherent strengths and weaknesses. Hence, the Impact Framework can serve in the future as an important reference for policy-makers who are seeking to design and implement effective quality assurance policy tools.