The purpose of this study was to explore solution strategies that can enhance the achievement of low-performing Grade 12 learners in the following mathematical aspects: finding the general term of a quadratic sequence, factorising third degree polynomials, determining the centre and radius of a circle, and calculating the angle between two lines. A convenience sample of twenty-five low-performing Grade 12 learners from a secondary school in Capricorn District of Limpopo Province participated in the study which adopted a repeated-measures research design. Learners were exposed to multiple solution strategies and data were collected using achievement tests. Findings indicated significant differences in learners‟ average scores due to the solution strategies used. In determining the general term of a quadratic sequence, learners‟ scores were significantly higher when they used formula and the table method than with the method of residues and solving simultaneous equations. Synthetic division made learners to achieve better scores than long division and equating coefficients in factorising third degree polynomials. The use of formulae to find the centre and radius of a circle made learners to have better achievement scores than completing the square. In calculating the angle between two lines learners‟ scores were better using formula and the cosine rule than using theorems. It was concluded that exposing low-performing Grade 12 learners to multiple solution strategies would enhance their achievement in the mathematical aspects explored in the study. Some of the solution strategies that made learners to achieve better results were not in the prescribed mathematics textbooks. The study therefore recommends that mathematics teaching should not be textbook-driven and that low-performing Grade 12 learners should not be regarded as beyond redemption. / Mathematics Education / M.Sc. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This thesis documents and explores health-related exercise (HRE) policy and practice within selected secondary schools in England and Wales, and examines the impact of the National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) revisions (DfEE/QCA and Welsh Assembly, 1999) on the status and expression of HRE in the curriculum. It also considers the factors affecting teachers' approaches to change and their consequent decisions and behaviours. Specifically, the research makes comparisons between the policy and practice in schools at the time of data collection (2000) and that reported by Harris (1997). The methodology incorporated both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Case studies were completed in 2001 in five strategically selected mixed sex state schools, three of which were located in one Local Education Authority (LEA) in England and two of which were in one LEA in Wales. One of the English schools was a specialist sports college (SSC). Case study data analysis focused on the status and expression of health within each school, with particular attention to HRE policy and practice prior to and following the National Curriculum revisions. This analysis also explored the factors influencing the delivery of HRE in each department. The case study element of the research included the lesson observation of a unit of work on health-related aspects of PE in one school from the English LEA. This allowed an examination of the translation of school level policy into practice. A survey of all the secondary schools in the two case study LEAs in 2001 elicited questionnaire responses from 67.5% of heads of PE departments (PE HoDs). Analysis employed the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). The findings revealed that delivery of HRE in case study schools was based on a fitness for sports performance perspective, utilising fitness testing and training. This was despite many teachers reporting a philosophy for physical education that reflected a fitness for life perspective with pupils adopting active lifestyles as its goal. Case study schools reported that the NCPE had influenced HRE delivery, however, limited change had resulted from the 1999 revisions.

Pour respecter les droits d'auteur, la version électronique de ce mémoire a été dépouillée de ses documents visuels. La version intégrale du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal. / Cette recherche propose de se questionner sur la présence — ou l'absence — du cinéma dans les écoles secondaires québécoises en 2011. Ce mémoire s'amorce par un bref historique de l'éducation cinématographique au Québec, qui permet de démontrer la récurrence des recommandations émises en faveur de l'éducation cinématographique depuis les années 60 au Québec, et qui met en contexte la situation actuelle de l'éducation cinématographique. Il s'attarde ensuite à la notion de culture, telle qu'entendue dans la réforme du programme de formation de l'école québécoise, survenue au début des années 2000 au Québec, et ce afin de souligner l'incongruité de l'absence du cinéma dans le parcours scolaire des étudiants. Il tente également de démontrer l'urgence d'inclure le cinéma au corpus étudiant afin de former les élèves à l’analyse critique et informée des images, urgence qui découle en partie de l'omniprésence des images en société. Ce mémoire analyse également les différents outils pédagogiques liés au cinéma qui sont offerts aux enseignants des écoles secondaires québécoises par l'Office national du film du Canada et par l'Association des cinémas parallèles du Québec, pour ensuite les mettre en parallèle avec le projet cinématographique développé par Alain Bergala en France. / This thesis proposes to question the presence — or absence — of cinema in secondary schools of the province of Quebec in 2011. It begins with a brief history of film education in Quebec, which demonstrates the recurrence of recommendations for film education since the 60s in the province, and puts into context the current situation of education film. It then focuses on the concept of culture, as described in the recent reform of the Quebec's educational program, which occurred in the early 2000s, in order to emphasize the incongruity of the absence of cinema in the program. It also demonstrates the urgency of including the cinema to the educational program to train students in critical analysis of images, urgency stems in part from the pervasiveness of images in society. This thesis then analyzes the various educational tools related to cinema that are available to high school teachers in Quebec, mostly offered by the National Film Board of Canada and the Association des cinémas parallèles du Québec, and compares them with the educational project linked to cinema developed by Alain Bergala in France.

Il est généralement admis que l’éducation constitue une des stratégies les plus efficaces pour lutter contre le VIH/SIDA et diminuer sa transmission (Gallant et Matika-Tyndale, 2004). À cet effet, plusieurs pays d’Afrique subsaharienne ont inclus des programmes d’éducation au VIH/SIDA dans leur curriculum scolaire afin de contrer l’épidémie (ADEA, 2007). Cependant, l’efficacité de ces programmes éducatifs demeure incertaine. Par exemple, les objectifs des programmes éducatifs, tels que la transmission de connaissances relatives au VIH/SIDA, ou la diminution des comportements sexuels risqués, ne sont pas toujours atteints (Matika-Tyndale, 2009; Oshi, D., Nakalema, S. et Oshi, L, 2005). Le succès d’un programme de lutte et de prévention en milieu scolaire peut être lié aux contenus d’enseignement traités en classe par les enseignants (Ahmed et al., 2009). Les contenus traités dépendent en partie des représentations et des connaissances des enseignants par rapport au(x) sujet(s) qu'ils enseignent et pour des sujets aussi délicats que le VIH/SIDA et la sexualité, cette relation est particulièrement importante. Par exemple, en Afrique du Sud, malgré l’existence d’une politique nationale sur le VIH et l’inclusion des sujets relatifs au VIH/SIDA dans le curriculum scolaire, la mise en oeuvre du programme de lutte et de prévention peut être compromise par la résistance des enseignants à parler de certains sujets controversés (Ahmed et al. 2009; Mathews et al., 2006). Notre étude, menée dans la région de Cape Town en Afrique du Sud, visait à mieux comprendre les relations entre les caractéristiques socioprofessionnelles des enseignants, leurs connaissances, leurs représentations à l’égard de l’éducation relative au VIH/SIDA et les contenus d’enseignement abordés dans le cours life-orientation dédié à l’éducation relative au VIH/SIDA. Au total, 71 enseignants du cours life-orientation provenant de 18 écoles secondaires ont participé à cette étude. Les enseignants ont rempli un questionnaire portant sur leurs caractéristiques socioprofessionnelles (âge, genre, expérience d’enseignement, niveau enseigné et expérience personnelle avec le VIH/SIDA), leurs connaissances, différentes composantes de leurs représentations (attitudes, norme sociale perçue et contrôle comportemental perçu) et les contenus d’enseignement qu’ils abordent en classe. iv Les résultats des analyses des données ainsi recueillies montrent que la norme sociale perçue est la seule composante des représentations reliée aux contenus d’enseignement abordés en classe par l’enseignant. Les attitudes des enseignants envers l’éducation relative au VIH/SIDA sont plutôt favorables, mais plusieurs d’entre eux manifestent des lacunes par rapport à leurs connaissances sur les modes de transmission et de prévention du VIH/SIDA. Par ailleurs, plusieurs croient que le manque de formation et le manque de matériel sont des obstacles à leur enseignement. Les expériences personnelles avec le VIH/SIDA sont associées à des attitudes plus positives chez les enseignants et l’expérience d’enseignement du cours life-orientation est reliée aux connaissances relatives au VIH/SIDA et au contrôle comportemental perçu de l’enseignant. Nos résultats suggèrent également que certains contenus d’enseignement spécifiques de l’éducation relative au VIH/SIDA, tel que l’utilisation des condoms, semblent être particulièrement controversés et source de malaise pour les enseignants. Nos résultats donnent également des pistes de recherches futures s’intéressant à l’amélioration de l’enseignement relatif au VIH/SIDA, notamment au sujet du besoin de formation et de matériel pédagogique supplémentaire, ainsi qu’au sujet de l’influence des membres de la société sur l’enseignement effectué en classe. Notre recherche montre également l’importance de distinguer, en recherche, les différents contenus d’enseignement, plutôt que de considérer de façon globale l’éducation relative au VIH/SIDA. / It is generally accepted that education is one of the most effective ways to fight against HIV and reduce its transmission (Gallant et Matika-Tyndale, 2004). Many African countries have thus included HIV/AIDS related topics in school curricula, in hopes of countering the epidemic (ADEA, 2007). However, the efficiency of HIV/AIDS related education programs remains uncertain, as certain programs do not seem to succeed in increasing students’ knowledge of HIV/AIDS (Oshi et al., 2005) or changing their behavior (Matika-Tyndale, 2009). In this regard, several studies show that teachers are key players in determining the success of program implementation (Mathews et al., 2006). Studies show that teachers responsible for HIV/AIDS education sometimes feel fear and discomfort with certain topics, which can seem contradictory to their own values and beliefs (Ahmed et al., 2009; Mathews et al., 2006). For example, in South Africa, despite a national policy on HIV and the inclusion of topics related to HIV / AIDS in the life-orientation learning area, implementation of such subjects may be compromised by resistance from teachers to talk about certain topics (Mathews et al., 2006; Ahmed et al., 2009). Our study was designed to gain a greater understanding of the relationships between South African life-orientation teachers’ personal and psychosocial characteristics and their teaching practices. The investigated characteristics include age, gender, teaching experience, level taught, personal experience with HIV/AIDS as well as teacher knowledge, attitudes, perceived social norms and perceived behavioral control. In total, 71 questionnaires were completed and returned (44 % response rate) from 18 secondary schools. Perceived social norm proved to be the only psychosocial characteristic associated with teaching practices. Teachers had generally positive attitudes towards HIV/AIDS education, although knowledge gaps and lack of training, material and resources were problems for many of them. Personal experience with HIV/AIDS was associated with more positive attitudes amongst teachers, and years of experience teaching life-orientation was associated with higher levels of HIV/AIDS knowledge and perceived behavioral control. Our findings show that HIV/AIDS education is vi not a value-free experience and support the need for ongoing teacher training and additional materials for teachers. Furthermore, our findings highlight the importance of studying HIV/AIDS related topics individually and suggest that HIV/AIDS interventions should also focus on dialogue between schools, teachers and community members, and the impact of social norm on teaching practices.

Les débats sur l’éducation qui passionne la sphère publique du dernier tiers du XVIIIe siècle, tout comme les réformes scolaires mises en place à cette même époque en Europe, présentent un intérêt particulier dans l’histoire de l’éducation, mais aussi et plus largement dans l’histoire des idées. Le Berlinois Friedrich Gedike (1754-1803) joue un rôle décisif sur la scène pédagogique et intellectuelle prussienne. L’étude de son œuvre et des deux établissements primaires et secondaires qu’il a dirigés, le Friedrichswerder de 1779 à 1793, puis le Cloître Gris (Berlinisch-Kölnisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster) de 1793 à 1803, met au jour le processus de démarcation entre le lycée et l’université, mais aussi le développement et la transformation de l’enseignement secondaire. Sous son impulsion, un processus de sécularisation et de nationalisation de l’enseignement est également lancé. L’étude des problématiques éducatives est par ailleurs étroitement liée au contexte social et politique de l’époque, ainsi qu’à la philosophie des Lumières. Elles soulèvent des questions sur la conception de l’État, de la société et de l’individu. Friedrich Gedike a œuvré à la diffusion des Lumières en Allemagne, en tant que penseur des Lumières et publiciste, mais aussi concrètement, en tant que directeur, enseignant et membre du conseil national de l’éducation de Prusse. Son projet éducatif se caractérise par sa singularité et une certaine radicalité. À la croisée des chemins entre le philanthropinisme et le néohumanisme, il donne une identité singulière aux Bürgerschulen : d’ « écoles de bourgeois », elles se métamorphosent sous sa direction en « écoles de citoyens ». La formation morale et civique à travers des leçons de culture générale, de lecture de presse, d’histoire, de langues modernes et des pratiques de rédactions et d’expression en public sur des sujets sociaux et politiques, d’actualité parfois brûlante, est au cœur de son projet. Celui d’instaurer un examen validant les acquis du secondaire, l’Abitur, est par ailleurs une tentative de faire du mérite personnel l’unique critère d’accès aux études universitaires. Il croit en une réforme progressive de l’État prussien grâce à une réforme de l’éducation. Il voit en l’éducation (Bildung) un nouveau pouvoir légitime qui permet d’accéder à la haute fonction publique et d’intégrer les sphères du pouvoir. Face à un pouvoir institutionnalisé, les citoyens « cultivés » et « éclairés » détiennent la possibilité d’un pouvoir en train de s’établir. Gedike se situe dans une démarche de rendre ce nouveau pouvoir légitime aux yeux du pouvoir établi en le faisant reposer sur des fondements institutionnels. / Throughout the political upheavals that had an impact on the European continent over the last three decades of the Eighteenth century, the missions, contents, methods and organization of the educational world were profoundly remodeled. Mainly restricted to an elite and focused on the humanities, education diversified and democratized itself and gradually became a public matter and a State concern which reformed its educational system and integrated a larger part of its population into the public and political sphere. On the eve of the Nineteenth century, the secondary education developed and changed under the action of governments, but also and especially thanks to the commitment of schoolmen. A case study devoted to the work of a Berliner pedagogue and man of the Enlightenment, Friedrich Gedike (1754-1803), and to the two secondary establishments he successively directed between 1779 and 1803, allows not only to extend and deepen knowledge of the Prussian educational landscape and the Berliner Enlightenment, but it is also exemplary on more than one account. It illustrates the creative initiative of schoolmen engaged in a profound reform of education and the Prussian society of the last two decades of the century. Moreover, it highlights the metamorphose of secondary-level education which stands out from universities and diversifies itself with inferior classes proposing a more practical teaching (Bürgerschule) and superior classes preparing for university while teaching humanities (gelehrte Schule). Progressively, the curricula of secondary schools began to propose a balance between linguistic and scientific teaching, but also between ancient and modern languages. The student population began to change: diversifying and democratizing itself. Merit imposed itself little by little as a form of selection and access criteria to higher education and power. Finally, this case study shows the politicization of educational debates and reforms. Through a reform of education, schoolmen and men of letters aimed at a deep reform of society: creating the conditions for tolerance, a real “living together” between social orders, confessions, corporations, and to a certain extent genders, replacing privilege of birth and wealth by individual merit. Moreover, secondary schools became places of learning about a vibrant political culture. Humanities training was accompanied by a citizenship training with an opening up to the modern world, to immediate history and to national and foreign policies. Intellectual curiosity, personal thought, critical thinking and a debating culture were encouraged daily among students. Prussian High Schools became a privileged place for the constitution of a public sphere that would dialog with the institutional power or get access to it, allowing the integration of a larger and diversified part of the population to take part in political decisions. This study demonstrates the importance and the singularity of Friedrich Gedike in the history of education in Prussia.

This thesis deals with the use of comic adaptations in literary lessons at primary and secondary schools. The aim of this work is to map available comic adaptations of literary works written by Czech authors. The comic adaptations of Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis will be evaluated based on pre-selected criteria. Part of the work will also be a comparison of the original text with the selected comic adaptation and noting the changes in the fictional world created by transferring it to the comic medium. The work will help teachers to understand the theory of comics. Theoretical knowledge will be applied in the creation of two teaching blocks built for the purposes of literary education at primary and secondary schools. The concrete implementation of both teaching blocks in practice will be compared.

Critical incidents impact on populations that experience them. Within secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand, there is an expectation that a response is made to schools that experience such incidents. There is much conflicting international research as to the efficacy of these responses. The adult experts are making decisions that they believe are in the best possible interests of the young people; they are putting together a quilt that they believe will nurture young people. The expertise and knowledge of a major stakeholder – the young people involved in the critical incident response – has been for the most part, omitted from research. This particular study set out to gather data about young people’s experiences of critical incident responses, so that the quilt being provided has input from this group and so is able to better meet their needs. The study had four major facets. It incorporated reflections on my intrinsic involvement in this field of practice and was, therefore, heuristic. Secondly, qualitative research was utilised to explore with young people their stories about what happened for them at the time of an incident. Thirdly, it incorporated principles of participatory research as an acknowledgement that young people are central stakeholders in secondary schools and that their voice was one that needed to be heard in order that the best responses may be offered. Lastly, it was utilisation focused. It was designed so that the findings were not just written up and filed away but disseminated to those who make decisions at the school level and policy level. At the analysis stage, two major methods were used. Firstly, inductive analysis was used to identify the themes that emerged from the interviews with the young people. Triangulation was then used to consolidate these themes using the input from Collaborative Groups and a systematic review of the knowledge that I have gained over the time that I have been involved with young people in the critical incident response area. This analysis of the contribution from the young people resulted in several areas being highlighted. Firstly, participants asked that those responding to critical incidents considered the use of language and the power of words, Secondly, they believed that schools needed to act proactively and to have a plan and, in association with this, that they develop a culture that better cared for the needs of young people. Thirdly, the young people involved requested that the ‘right’ people responded at the time of an incident: the qualities of the ‘right’ people and the ‘wrong’ people were also identified. Next, the young people were well able to identify the positives that could ensue out of negative situations, and lastly, they expressed their wish that there be a place for their involvement at the time of a critical incident response.

År 2003 utnämnde UNESCO årtiondet 2005-2014 till decenniet för utbildning i hållbar utveckling och även andra internationella och nationella beslut togs för att föra in utbildning för hållbar utveckling (Education for Sustainable Development) i skolans alla ämnen. ESD syftar till att eleven ska utveckla sin förmåga att kritiskt granska olika såväl ekologiska, sociala och ekonomiska perspektiv samt kunna ta ställning till dessa genom ett aktivt deltagande i olika demokratiska processer för att stödja hållbar utveckling. Forskning på området har dock visat att integreringen i skolans alla ämnen inte har fungerat på det sätt det har varit avsett. Denna uppsats syftar till att ta reda på om ESD förekommer inom engelskaundervisningen på gymnasienivå (inom Skaraborgs län). Den försöker också att identifiera vilka hinder och möjligheter det kan finnas för att arbeta med ESD i engelska A/B. Detta har gjorts utifrån en teoretisk litteraturstudie och en semistrukturerad enkätundersökning. Frågeformulär skickades ut till alla engelskalärare på tre gymnasieskolor i länet. De viktigaste resultaten som framkom var att ett av de största hindren för att arbeta med ESD i engelska var bristande kännedom om både skolans uppdrag gällande ESD, men också om vad begreppet innebär innehållsmässigt och didaktiskt. Även litteraturen speglar fortfarande uppfattningen att ESD till största del handlar om miljöfrågor och det finns mycket få praktiska råd vad gäller ESD i språkundervisningen. Det framkom dock framförallt att det verkar finnas stora möjligheter för att föra in ESD i engelskaämnet, eftersom det finns både intresse och motivation för detta bland majoriteten av de tillfrågade lärarna. / In 2003 UNESCO proclaimed the years 2005-2014 as a global decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Likewise other resolutions stated that ESD should be integrated in all school subjects. ESD focuses on developing the students’ ability to critically examine different ecological, social and economical perspectives and to participate actively in democratic processes in order to support sustainable development. Nevertheless, research has shown that the integration of ESD into all subjects has not been accomplished successfully. This degree project aims at examining if ESD occurs in English language lessons at three Swedish upper secondary schools. It also attempts to identify which impediments and possibilities there might exist for working with ESD in English lessons. This has been done by a literary review and a semi-structured questionnaire. An inquiry form was sent to all English teachers at the schools mentioned above. The most important results derived from this study were: Firstly, one of the biggest obstacles for working with ESD in English lessons was insufficient knowledge about UNESCO’s and the Swedish Education System’s commission as well as insufficient knowledge about what the concept ESD implies, both on a content level and on a didactical level. Secondly, literature reflected the common misconception that ESD is primarily concerned with environmental issues and modern research did not provide much information about how to teach ESD within language lessons. Above all, though, the results showed that one very important condition for integrating ESD into English lessons is fulfilled, since the majority of the teachers involved in this study seemed to be motivated to do so.

Aquesta tesi està basada en l'etnografia d'un institut d'educació secundària situat en una ciutat mitjana de Catalunya, amb un nivell socioeconòmic mig-baix i una important presència d'immigrants (de diferents zones de l'estat espanyol i d'Àfrica, sobretot marroquins i gambians). El treball inclou una recerca bibliogràfica i de clarificació teòrica amb la que es pretén situar els fenòmens que s'estudien (identitat, racisme i violència) en el moment històric i context social actual, per tal de poder explicar l'ascens o la importància d'aquests fenòmens, així com les relacions que es poden establir entre ells.La primera part de la tesi respon a la voluntat de contextualitzar teòricament la recerca etnogràfica i de situar les observacions d'aula en un marc social més ampli. A la segona part es presenten les aportacions que han realitzat els sociòlegs i els antropòlegs de l'educació a l'anàlisi del tractament de la diversitat ètnica, del racisme i de la violència en l'àmbit escolar. A la tercera part es desenvolupa el treball de recerca etnogràfica centrat en l'anàlisi de les relacions interètniques de l'alumnat. / This doctoral thesis is based on the ethnography of a state secondary school situated in an average-sized town in Catalonia with a medium-low socio-economic level and a population that includes considerable numbers of immigrants both from other parts of Spain and from some African coutnries (principally Morocco and Gambia).The thesis includes bibliographical research and a theoretical clarification to situate the phenomena of indentity, racism and violence within the historical and social context of the present day. The growing importance of these phenomena and the relationships established between them are explained in this context.The first part of the thesis endeavours to provide a theoretical context for the ethnographic research and to situate the classroom observations within a much wider social framework.The second part of the thesis introduces contributions from educational sociologists and anthropologists to the analysis of how ethnic diversity, racism and violence are dealt with in schools.The third part develops the ethnographic research by focusing on the interethnic relations among the students.