This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of teaching practice as a context for the development of student teachers’ competences at Walter Sisulu University. The study was necessitated by the lack of information on whether teaching practice really provides an effective context or not. A literature study focusing on planning of teaching practice, preparation of student teachers for teaching practice, placement of student teachers for teaching practice, mentoring during teaching practice as well as supervision and assessment of teaching practice was conducted. The activity and situated learning theories provided a theoretical framework for studying teaching practice. The mixed-methods approach consisting of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used and data was collected through questionnaires and focus group discussions. The participants in the study were: thirty (30) student teachers in their third year of study; ten (10) host teachers who were hosting student teachers at the time of data collection for this study and ten (10) university supervisors responsible for teaching practice supervision. Data from closed-ended questionnaire items were analysed statistically. Frequencies and percentages were derived. Content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. The results of the study revealed that there was a serious lack of communication between the university and the schools used for teaching practice and as a result student teachers were subjected to a wide range of treatment when they arrived at the schools. The findings also showed that student teachers were inadequately prepared for teaching practice. Student teachers were faced with serious challenges with regard to placement and there was no common programme of mentoring. The schools, as a result, did not provide a sufficiently-appropriate environment for teaching practice to become an effective context for student teachers‘ competence development. The recommendations made include suggestions for the improvement of the general organisation of teaching practice with the university and the schools working as partners in all the activities of teaching practice. The introduction of a formal programme for the preparation of student teachers for teaching practice is suggested and a teaching practice model is also proposed.

This study was designed to examine the effects of a Focusing-oriented emotional management method for the student teacher. This study was divided into three parts. The first part of this study was designed to understand how forty-six student teachers managed their emotional distress in life. The second part of this study was designed to examine the effects of the Focusing-oriented emotional management method for the twenty student teachers who participated in this part of the study. The third part of this study was designed to examine the six months follow-up effects for one of the twenty student teachers who participated in the second part of this study. The results of this study suggested that the Focusing-oriented emotional management method is a helpful tool for the student teachers in managing their emotional life.

This study explored one classroom teacher's attempt to bridge young learners' access to the academic content of Social Studies in an elementary, multilingual, multicultural, mainstream classroom. To this end, it examined both the planning and enacting of a Grade Five/Six Social Studies unit: Immigration In Canada. The unit was designed to draw on the teacher's and learners' social and cultural identities as a resource and afford students multiple ways to access and demonstrate understandings. In the complex, and dynamic environment of the mainstream classroom, the subject of Social Studies presents a linguistically demanding academic discipline for native English speakers and often an even more formidable challenge for students who are in the process of acquiring English as a second or an additional language Simultaneously, the subject matter of Social Studies can provide a useful venue to share experiences related to language, culture and personal histories. This study provided a rich and holistic account of the everyday classroom life of students' and their teacher's experiences over a three month time span during Social Studies lessons. Through qualitative research methods, data were drawn from reflective notes of planning sessions, field notes of classroom observations, audio-recorded interviews of the students, and an audio-recorded interview of the teacher, a survey and student work samples. Two, one hour after school planning sessions and seventeen (usually forty-five minute) classroom lessons were observed over a three-month period. The data was analyzed and systematized around my research questions in order to explore how the Social Studies unit was enacted in a mainstream setting. The qualitative analysis of the data suggested that there were positive connection between the curriculum as planned and the curriculum as experienced in the classroom. The study demonstrated that a Social Studies unit that encompassed a multiliterate pedagogy where particular attention was paid to drawing on students' social and cultural identities had very positive outcomes. The study also highlighted that the teacher's own professional identity played a key factor in affirming student identity and promoting student engagement. There was a strong link between investment of the learner and the relationship between the teacher and the students. The students were more deeply invested in the lessons than they might otherwise have been because the learning environment that the teacher constructed, valued students as members of a learning community, each with a personal history that was respected. The findings also suggest that the narrative genre of storytelling was a preferred activity for students and bridged a connection between both home and school environments. Within the Social Studies lessons the teacher continually emphasized and fore-grounded the role of relationship between student and teacher and student to student as means to an effective learning environment. The study also highlighted the need for further research in diverse, elementary mainstream, classroom settings and the need to further examine literacy practices that encompass a more linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy.

This study explored one classroom teacher's attempt to bridge young learners' access to the academic content of Social Studies in an elementary, multilingual, multicultural, mainstream classroom. To this end, it examined both the planning and enacting of a Grade Five/Six Social Studies unit: Immigration In Canada. The unit was designed to draw on the teacher's and learners' social and cultural identities as a resource and afford students multiple ways to access and demonstrate understandings. In the complex, and dynamic environment of the mainstream classroom, the subject of Social Studies presents a linguistically demanding academic discipline for native English speakers and often an even more formidable challenge for students who are in the process of acquiring English as a second or an additional language Simultaneously, the subject matter of Social Studies can provide a useful venue to share experiences related to language, culture and personal histories. This study provided a rich and holistic account of the everyday classroom life of students' and their teacher's experiences over a three month time span during Social Studies lessons. Through qualitative research methods, data were drawn from reflective notes of planning sessions, field notes of classroom observations, audio-recorded interviews of the students, and an audio-recorded interview of the teacher, a survey and student work samples. Two, one hour after school planning sessions and seventeen (usually forty-five minute) classroom lessons were observed over a three-month period. The data was analyzed and systematized around my research questions in order to explore how the Social Studies unit was enacted in a mainstream setting. The qualitative analysis of the data suggested that there were positive connection between the curriculum as planned and the curriculum as experienced in the classroom. The study demonstrated that a Social Studies unit that encompassed a multiliterate pedagogy where particular attention was paid to drawing on students' social and cultural identities had very positive outcomes. The study also highlighted that the teacher's own professional identity played a key factor in affirming student identity and promoting student engagement. There was a strong link between investment of the learner and the relationship between the teacher and the students. The students were more deeply invested in the lessons than they might otherwise have been because the learning environment that the teacher constructed, valued students as members of a learning community, each with a personal history that was respected. The findings also suggest that the narrative genre of storytelling was a preferred activity for students and bridged a connection between both home and school environments. Within the Social Studies lessons the teacher continually emphasized and fore-grounded the role of relationship between student and teacher and student to student as means to an effective learning environment. The study also highlighted the need for further research in diverse, elementary mainstream, classroom settings and the need to further examine literacy practices that encompass a more linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy.

This study explored one classroom teacher's attempt to bridge young learners' access to the academic content of Social Studies in an elementary, multilingual, multicultural, mainstream classroom. To this end, it examined both the planning and enacting of a Grade Five/Six Social Studies unit: Immigration In Canada. The unit was designed to draw on the teacher's and learners' social and cultural identities as a resource and afford students multiple ways to access and demonstrate understandings. In the complex, and dynamic environment of the mainstream classroom, the subject of Social Studies presents a linguistically demanding academic discipline for native English speakers and often an even more formidable challenge for students who are in the process of acquiring English as a second or an additional language Simultaneously, the subject matter of Social Studies can provide a useful venue to share experiences related to language, culture and personal histories. This study provided a rich and holistic account of the everyday classroom life of students' and their teacher's experiences over a three month time span during Social Studies lessons. Through qualitative research methods, data were drawn from reflective notes of planning sessions, field notes of classroom observations, audio-recorded interviews of the students, and an audio-recorded interview of the teacher, a survey and student work samples. Two, one hour after school planning sessions and seventeen (usually forty-five minute) classroom lessons were observed over a three-month period. The data was analyzed and systematized around my research questions in order to explore how the Social Studies unit was enacted in a mainstream setting. The qualitative analysis of the data suggested that there were positive connection between the curriculum as planned and the curriculum as experienced in the classroom. The study demonstrated that a Social Studies unit that encompassed a multiliterate pedagogy where particular attention was paid to drawing on students' social and cultural identities had very positive outcomes. The study also highlighted that the teacher's own professional identity played a key factor in affirming student identity and promoting student engagement. There was a strong link between investment of the learner and the relationship between the teacher and the students. The students were more deeply invested in the lessons than they might otherwise have been because the learning environment that the teacher constructed, valued students as members of a learning community, each with a personal history that was respected. The findings also suggest that the narrative genre of storytelling was a preferred activity for students and bridged a connection between both home and school environments. Within the Social Studies lessons the teacher continually emphasized and fore-grounded the role of relationship between student and teacher and student to student as means to an effective learning environment. The study also highlighted the need for further research in diverse, elementary mainstream, classroom settings and the need to further examine literacy practices that encompass a more linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

The student-teacher relationship quality has shown to predict academic and social outcomes (Crosnoe, Johnson, & Elder, 2004), and relatively recent research suggests its protective nature for children who are academically at-risk, such as those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; Ewe, 2019). Unfortunately, children with ADHD often have strained relationships with their teachers (Rogers & Tannock, 2013). Aside from our understanding of this association, little is known about the developmental trajectory of the association, nor other systemic mechanisms that could be contributing to it. Therefore, three related studies were executed to enhance our understanding of the complexities of the student-teacher relationship for children with ADHD. The first study of the three targeted preschool children in the community (n=113) and their daycare providers (n=55), and assessed the association between early ADHD symptoms and concurrent and later student-teacher relationships in kindergarten (n=67). Findings revealed that higher inattention in preschool was associated with more conflict with daycare providers/educators, whereas higher hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms in kindergarten children were associated with higher student-teacher conflict. The second study compared the student-teacher relationship of children with clinical diagnoses of ADHD and typically developing peers (n=76). Additionally, family-school relations and communication were investigated as a potential contribution to the student-teacher relationship quality. Non-significant differences of the parent-teacher relationship for children with ADHD versus those without the disorder were identified. However, home-school communication was established as a mediator between both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms and student-teacher conflict. Utilizing the same research methods as study two, study three evaluated the contribution of teacher-level characteristics on the student-teacher relationship for children with clinical diagnoses of ADHD. Teacher stress, self-efficacy, and knowledge of ADHD were assessed as mediators between ADHD symptoms and the student-teacher relationship quality. Significant main findings revealed that teacher stress significantly mediated the relationship between children’s ADHD symptoms and student-teacher conflict, whereas teacher efficacy and knowledge of ADHD did not. As a whole, this dissertation research project established and enhanced our understanding of developmental and systemic mechanisms contributing to the student-teacher relationship quality for children exhibiting ADHD symptomology. Future research directives and practical implications are reviewed.

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The purpose of this study was to discover and describe how two teachers effectively interacted with and differentiated instruction for students who displayed off-task behaviors in the classroom. Through the use of observations and interviews, I described how two teachers interacted with students who display high-frequency, low-intensity off-task behaviors; identified strategies these effective teachers used in dealing with these behaviors; described where the teachers’ behaviours, attitudes, and practices lay on the Preventive-Restorative (P-R) continuum of beliefs of inclusion; and discovered how the teachers’ self-efficacy is related to P-R orientations and effective teaching behaviors. The teachers were chosen based on their principals’ belief in their effectiveness in dealing with off-task behaviours. The principal and the teacher collaboratively chose the students who displayed off-task behaviours on a consistent basis. The findings of this study confirm the existing research; the two teachers, whose beliefs lay on the preventive end of the continuum of beliefs of inclusion, tended to use effective teaching practices; these beliefs and practices were related to the teachers’ beliefs of their capability in being able to effectively help their students; these two teachers, who have preventive beliefs and high efficacy beliefs, interact in ways that are beneficial to students who display off-task behaviours. The common themes that emerged through the analysis of both teachers’ data included the belief in and the use of differentiated instruction; the belief in the importance of having a positive classroom environment; the practice of ensuring student engagement; the teachers’ use of their knowledge about students; and the teachers’ beliefs about inclusion and efficacy beliefs. The diversity of the teachers and their classroom contexts resulted in some differences in the findings, which are also discussed. This research extends previous research about teachers’ beliefs about inclusion and efficacy beliefs to teaching practices used for and interactions with students who display off-task behaviours. The findings also extend previous research revealing a relationship between teachers’ beliefs about inclusion and the belief in the importance of creating a positive classroom environment. Implications of this research for practice and for future research are discussed. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-08-26 09:43:54.336