Bakalauro darbe analizuojama muzikinio ugdymo turinio įsisavinimo kompetencijos bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų 11–12 klasėse. Darbo tikslas – išsiaiškinti muzikinio ugdymo turiniįsisavinimą bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų 11–12 klasėse, mokinių muzikinės kompetencijos kontekste.Tyrime dalyvavo 62, 17–19 metų sulaukę respondentai. Tyrimui atlikti buvo pasirinktos 4 mokyklos: Kuršėnų Lauryno Ivinskio gimnazija, Šiaulių „Romuvos“ gimnazija, Šiaulių Simono Daukanto gimnazija ir Biržų „Aušros“ vidurinė mokykla. / Bachelor thesis analyses the musical curriculum mastering competences in the 11–12th grades at secondary schools. The aim of the thesis is to find out how musical curriculum is mastered by secondary school students in the 11–12th grades in the context of musical competences. The survey involved 62 respondents from 17 to 19 years old. Four schools have been chosen for this survey: Kuršėnai “Laurynas Ivinskis“ gymnasium, Šiauliai “Romuva” gymnasium, Šiauliai “Simonas Daukantas” gymnasium and Biržai “Aušra” secondary school.

This study examines how Swedish upper secondary school youth constructed femininity and masculinity in the period 1880–1930. The overall intention of the dissertation is to analyse the gender ideals that are found in texts written by girls and boys in a bourgeois school environment during a period characterised by transformative social changes in society. The source material consists of school magazines and student essays authored by youth in upper secondary boys’ schools, secondary girls’ schools, and co-educational schools.  The study analyses gender stereotypes from five different areas: youth, love life, body, parenting and working life. Boys are prone to use gender stereotypes that emphasise the subordination of women vis-a-vis men. The boys’ usage of stereotypes is thus prominent and is widely used in order to reinforce male dominance. They did not problematise or question their role in the society to any great extent. Girls were, to a significantly greater extent than the boys, keen to problematise women’s traditional role in society. This challenges the images of women as complicit in their own subordination. It seems that the girls have not only been aware of their subordination, but also have been more inclined to strive for their emancipation. The girls’ gender stereotypes are diverse and tolerant, and display progressiveness towards the emancipation movement. The young people’s ideal of moderation emerges as a recurring theme. Both the working class and the upper class are used as deterring examples of excess. The changes in society during this period seems to have had little influence on the ideal gender stereotypes, but in terms of emancipation, appears have made the boys more reactionary than the girls. The daughters of the bourgeois pressed forward; the sons of the bourgeois glanced backward.

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of school-to-work programs on cognitive engagement from the students’ perspective. The study was guided by the question: “How do students perceive their cognitive engagement in learning when participating in school-to-work transition programs”? Using a case study methodology, data were collected from ten students at a rural high school using semi-structured interviews, and were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The results show an increase in cognitive engagement and the motivation to graduate as a result of participation in the school-to-work program. This increase in cognitive engagement is attributed to the students’ career preparedness, and the hands-on practical experiences gained from the program. By studying the students’ perception of their own engagement we gain a better understanding of the contributing factors that lead to increased cognitive engagement and motivation levels.

The thesis provides a socio-historical perspective through which to evaluate the first five years of implementation (2002 to 2006) of social studies within the National Certificate of Educational Achievement [NCEA] in New Zealand secondary schools. The experiences of both lead educators, with responsibilities at a national level, and classroom teachers provide insights into the personal, contextual and institutional factors which have enabled and constrained the implementation process, especially at NCEA level one. The inclusion of social studies as a subject for the new qualifications and assessment system in New Zealand, the NCEA, heralded a significant opportunity for this integrated subject to gain academic status and acquire a unique identity within the senior secondary school curriculum. Paradoxically it set a relatively strongly framed assessment system beside a curriculum that has traditionally been weakly classified and framed (Bernstein, 1971). This paradox has created tensions for teachers who have responded in different ways, from full implementation to a more functional approach. Two groups of teachers were identified in the course of this study. The idealists are passionate advocates for senior social studies and are likely to implement it to all three NCEA levels in their school. The pragmatists, on the other hand, are more likely to offer only level one social studies, typically to their more academically able year 10 (Form 4) students for extension purposes, and also to induct them into the assessment requirements of the NCEA system before they study the traditional social science subjects at levels one, two and three. This pragmatic approach reflects past practices of the pre- NCEA, School Certificate era (1945-2001). It continues to reinforce the low status and unclear identity of senior social studies within the social sciences as well as within an already overcrowded senior school curriculum. At the end of this first five year period of implementation the viability of senior social studies is at a critical juncture, with its on-going success not yet assured.

Holy Cross College, Woollahra, was established in the newly formed parish of Holy Cross by Cardinal Moran and the Parramatta Sisters of Mercy in 1908 as a select high school for middle class Catholic girls in the northern section of the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. Moran made it clear, and it was obvious that the sisters agreed, that the primary purpose of the College was the imparting of the Catholic Faith integrated with a suitable middle class education equal to, but preferably excelling, that provided by the secular state schools. This thesis is informed by two questions: Why did Holy Cross College close in 2001? Did the College achieve the objectives of the founding pioneers of the school, including Cardinal Moran? This strongly contextualised thesis demonstrates that for almost a century Holy Cross College was a microcosm of a complex world, one which was influenced by many factors, at local, state, federal and international levels. These factors, in the early days, included the rapid response of Catholic educators to Peter Board’s ‘New Syllabus’, the first wave women’s movement; and the dubious rationalising argument of Cardinal Moran to extract aid for Catholic schools from the state, which remains an ongoing problem for Catholic education in Australia. While the College in the 1920s was enjoying a growing reputation for highly successful music and academic tuition, it was challenged, through to the 1950s, by such factors as: Pope Pius XI’s call to Catholic Action as interpreted for the Archdiocese of Sydney by Archbishop Kelly; participation in the various public displays of Catholic faith; the rigours of the Great Depression; and the dangers of being in an especially vulnerable location during World War Two. The community of the College which inhabited this complex ‘mini’ world was strongly bonded by common goals and values for the first fifty years of the school’s existence. This was a community which aspired to the fullest possible development of the spiritual, intellectual, cultural and physical attributes of girls through a Catholic education inspired by the Mercy Vision, but always constrained by the reality of finances, staffing, physical resources, and imposed authority. The somewhat idyllic existence of the College with its relatively small numbers and homely atmosphere was disrupted in the 1960s when Holy Cross was selected by the Sydney archdiocesan educational authorities to be a regional school. This study reveals the increasing complexity of the various levels at which authority was exerted over Holy Cross College as a regional school. Regionalisation was a central element in the Sydney Archdiocese’s wide ranging plan to cope with the enormous strains on the Catholic educational system caused by such post-war challenges as the influx of Catholic migrants and the implementation of the Wyndham comprehensive secondary education scheme. There followed the success of the state aid campaigns and the challenges of Vatican II Council, movements which impacted upon the personal and communal lives of the women religious who staffed the College, as well as their students. Also impacting upon the College was the cultural revolution and the second wave women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout this study the geographical setting of the school in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and the region’s socio-economic characteristics are explored and emerge as significant factors in both the creation and maintenance of a unique school culture and the decline of Holy Cross College in the 1990s. Finally this decline is mapped in terms of the erosion of the College’s unique identity, which was forged by religious, cultural, geographical, political and pedagogical forces, and eroded by a complex of factors including demography, centralised authority, class, and international economic downturns. It is concluded that the founding sisters and Moran would have mixed and nuanced responses to the question: Did the College achieve the objectives of the founding pioneers?

Thesis (Ph.D.) ---University of Western Sydney, 2006. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Also available in print.

abstract: National and state education reforms are centered on developing higher academic expectations and standards to ensure students transitions into postsecondary options, college and career ready. What does this national emphasis signify for urban school districts that are educating a significant proportion of first-generation students and that struggle to produce students ready for the rigor of postsecondary education without remediation? Framed within Karl Weick's (1976) theoretical framework of loose coupling organizational theory, this qualitative study examined the implementation of the pseudonymous ABC High School District college readiness education reform initiative through the lens of district-wide system actors, which included district leadership, school-level implementers and the students as the intended beneficiaries. ABC High School District is the largest non-unified urban school district in a large metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States. I focused specifically on two implementation sites: Blue Sky and Desert Flower High Schools. The system actors expounded on their knowledge and understanding of how they perceived the implementation of the initiative, their interpretations of the district's new policy and initiative, and how this initiative guided their practices based on their respective roles. The findings included the four major themes of (a) building capacity of the actors, (b) communication, (c) policy and politics, and (d) academic rigor and high expectations. Two additional findings specific to counselors and students were also revealed. The counselor-specific experiences revealed the changes in their roles that have created confusion among school staff and their growing responsibilities that may impede the progress of the district initiative. The student-descriptions suggest their knowledge about college and career planning, challenges, and their academic preparedness to successfully transition to a postsecondary institution. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2012

The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in developing countries like Tanzania is considered to be a necessity in order to overcome the challenges that are hindering the country from developing in all sectors and also from reducing the digital divide. As ICT is becoming more and more integrated in societies world wide, its effects are clearly seen i.e. on peoples’ lives, on countries’ economy, opens doors to new opportunities, change how people learn etc. Applying ICT to empower education is one of the national strategies in eradicating poverty in Tanzania. This licentiate research is about the use of ICT tools in the secondary schools arena particularly in the development of e-Learning content and delivery for self learning environment. The main aim is trying to reduce the long time existing problems of lack of learning and teaching resources and inadequacy of qualified teachers in rural secondary schools in Tanzania. The research is focused on two secondary schools as pilot schools at Kibaha district Pwani region. The licentiate research involves multidisciplinary principles in the development of the e-Learning resources. The knowledge of instructional design, learning objects, theories in pedagogy and software engineering principles has been acquired in the course of this study. The licentiate research is also based on the participatory action research methodology throughout the conduction of the research. The licentiate thesis is developed based on the data obtained from the two surveys conducted in a number of secondary schools in Tanzania, data from the readily available reports, literature review and from the participatory activities with the stakeholders. The main stakeholders are students, teachers, head teachers, and Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) officials. This is an applied type of research designed to solve a practical problem, the outcome of this study is a trial package of e-Learning material for secondary schools at the pilot site. The end product of the whole e-Learning research is the e-Learning Management System (e-LMS) and the proposed name for the system is TanSSe-L (Tanzania Secondary School e-Learning) system. The e-Learning contents will be delivered using a blended mode approach. Three delivery options are considered, first, of using the e-LMS (TanSSe-L) or local server for online delivery, second of using Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) for offline delivery and third of using face to face (F2F) for classroom delivery. This licentiate research is part of the on going e-Learning research work which will lead to a doctoral thesis.