Early childhood programs enhance children's knowledge and skills when teachers intentionally engage with children during free play. Preschool teachers' ability to notice and capitalize on teachable moments has been questioned in the literature. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the efficacy of professional development designed to increase teachers' awareness of teachable moments in their informal interactions with young children during independent play, and teachers' intentionality in responding to those opportunities. The study was grounded in Vygotsky's principles of socially constructed learning, including teachers adjusting their intentional interactions to accommodate the thinking of learners. Qualitative data were collected using reflective journals kept before and after the vignette-based professional development sessions and focus group responses by 11 preschool teachers in the Southwestern United States. Chi square analysis of qualitative findings revealed significant positive change in teacher intentionality for the themes of daily schedule, awareness, and scaffolding. Vignette-based professional development coupled with reflective journaling appears to be an effective method to increase teacher awareness of intentional teaching, which may positively influence the education of preschool children.

The bully has been a figure in adolescent life for decades; however, the nature of bullying in the 21st Century has changed as it has moved to cyberspace. Bullying has taken on a new form termed cyberbullying. This quantitative survey design study examined Catholic school teachers’ legal understanding and perceptions of cyberbullying. In examining Catholic school teachers’ understanding of the law governing cyberbullying, their concerns about cyberbullying, their perceived responsibility in addressing cyberbullying, and their perceived ability to respond to cyberbullying, the study examined the human interactions that reflect not only legal responsibilities, but also ethical obligations as caring and just leaders in Catholic schools. A survey instrument was distributed online to eight Catholic schools within the Diocese of St. Aquinas (a pseudonym). The study showed that Catholic school teachers had limited understanding of the law governing cyberbullying. Findings indicated that Catholic school teachers were concerned about cyberbullying and perceived a high level of responsibility in addressing cyberbullying, but did not perceive an ability to effectively respond to cyberbullying. The findings support the need for professional development programs to increase Catholic school teachers’ awareness of cyberbullying and provide comprehensive training on how to respond effectively. Findings also suggest re-examination of teacher preparation programs to provide training to teachers on how to recognize and effectively manage cyberbullying. Persistent attention to private school law and current case analysis should be an ongoing practice at the diocesan level with the intent to disseminate legal information and direction to Catholic school principals and teachers.

EFL/ESL teachers in Sweden have traditionally favored using only English in the classroom, however, research demonstrates they incorporate Swedish for various purposes. Moreover, teachers perceive the guidelines for the use of the target language and learners’ first language outlined in the curriculum for English as vague, experience feelings of guilt when resorting to Swedish in the English classroom and lack familiarity with the translanguaging theory. These issues could affect the requirement of evidence-based teaching and have implications for the quality of EFL/ESL education in Sweden. Through interviews and observations, this study aims to explore this matter and examine the reasons why and for what functions some English teachers in Sweden claim they use learners’ L1 in their teaching, as well as their level of awareness regarding their language practices and the concept of translanguaging. The findings indicate that the teachers primarily employ learners’ L1 to aid in knowledge construction, classroom management, and interpersonal relations. Additionally, certain inconsistencies were found between their motivations and their actual practices, indicating a potential lack of awareness and understanding of the translanguaging theory. Finally, it is suggested there is a necessity for clearer directives in the Swedish curriculum for English and for enhancing teachers’ awareness when implementing translanguaging strategies, such as pedagogical translanguaging (PTL).

This essay investigates nine upper secondary English teachers’ awareness, beliefs and practices when dealing with pragmatics in the EFL classroom in relation to the intercultural dimensions of the subject. The study was conducted using a phenomenological approach where nine semi-structured interviews with upper secondary English teachers were conducted. The results showed that the teachers displayed a high level of awareness of pragmatics, especially when provided with propositions of pragmatic input based on formulations from the syllabi. In addition, the results showed that teachers incorporate pragmatics in their teaching as a way of enabling metacognitive conversations about language in order for the students to understand why certain phrases or words are deemed more appropriate than others. Consequently, the question of why speakers communicate the way that they do not only seems to be of interest to scholars but for teachers and students as well. In relation to the teachers’ perception of the intercultural dimensions of the English subject, all the participating teachers perceived it to be an important part of the subject, while also shedding light on current issues relating to monocultural teaching groups, filter bubbles and the rise of difficult conversations. The results also showed that using the students’ first languages was an important tool for teachers to understand and scaffold students in their learning of English. One conclusion drawn based on the results was that incorporating pragmatics in the EFL classroom not only seems to benefit language development, but it may also act as a facilitator when developing an understanding of other people.

The research described here was inspired by a national review which concluded that too many children come into our primary schools with unmet speech and language needs (Bercow, 2008). Teachers are in a position to identify language difficulties but many have expressed uncertainty regarding their role in this process. I believed that the LAMP (Linguistic Assessment for Mapped Provision) screen for language and communication which I had developed would help teachers to identify language concerns and would also increase their professional confidence in this complex area. I had developed the LAMP screening instrument and piloted it over a 2 year period prior to this study. It is employed here as a universal screen that is used in a whole school approach in order to enable teachers to identify language need. The use of the LAMP as a universal screen applied to all the children in a school lessened the likelihood of preconceived notions impacting upon teacher’s perceptions of need in the classroom. The LAMP data allowed schools to track the progress of individual children within a class and whole school context. Teachers need to be aware of any pre-conceptions they may have in relation to the performance of children from different socio economic circumstances. The hypothesis that poverty continues to provide the weightiest detrimental effects upon children’s language development was examined and within the parameters of this study was found to be contestable. Study design: A systematic survey was conducted over 4 Primary schools using the LAMP. Rich picture data was accessed from teacher questionnaires and focus groups involving participants from the schools in the study. The repeated measures design provided information on what teachers had learned in the period of reflection between the screenings. The use of a mixed methods repeated measures design helped me to understand what was difficult for teachers and what the teachers felt would help them. The 4 schools in the study were chosen to reflect varied social contexts in order to explore any impacts of SES on the results. Analysis of data: In a repeated measures design, a LAMP screen was completed for every child across the 4 schools by their teachers in February and then June in one school year. Results of screening were analysed and compared on a range of variables using SPSS. Questionnaires were used to collect teacher perceptions before and after using the LAMP screen. Focus groups were held in the schools at the end of the study to add more information on how helpful teachers felt the process had been in raising their awareness, confidence, and skills in the identification of SLCN. Findings: The main trend observed was a decrease in levels of teacher concern related to children’s speech and language needs from the first to second screening survey. Differences were found at a statistically significant level on a range of variables. The expected differences between high and low socio-economic status (SES) schools were not found. Teachers reported increases in their awareness, confidence, and skill in identifying children’s speech language and communication concerns by the end of the study. Some changes to classroom practice were reported. Conclusions: I propose that use of the LAMP screen increased teacher awareness of the nature of language difficulty and that this heightened awareness was a key variable in the observed changes to language concern scores. The LAMP screening process was seen by schools’ staff to have had a positive effect on teacher’s skills and to be relatively easily assimilated into the school system. However some participants identified a number of challenges relating to time constraints and maintaining the use of LAMP as high profile in the context of competing time demands in their schools. It is suggested that EP services would be in a position to support schools to implement and embed the LAMP screening model as part of their Service provision. It is also proposed that economic deprivation or disadvantage did not appear to be the only important factor to consider when making funding decisions intended to support children’s linguistic competency in schools.

Submitted by Priscila Ferreira Mazzini null (priscila.fmazzini@gmail.com) on 2018-03-10T21:26:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao pronta Revisão okay.doc: 723968 bytes, checksum: 904a864fdc5c399b824299229d4961a9 (MD5) / Rejected by Satie Tagara (satie@marilia.unesp.br), reason: - o arquivo contendo sua dissertação deve estar no formato PDF; - anexar a ficha catalográfica antes da folha de aprovação; - na ficha catalográfica, preencher a parte destacada em amarelo: (página inicial e final das Referências). on 2018-03-12T14:51:42Z (GMT) / Submitted by Priscila Ferreira Mazzini null (priscila.fmazzini@gmail.com) on 2018-03-13T20:39:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao pronta Revisão okay.pdf: 1063062 bytes, checksum: 906c415c51d0d49e39033322ba5bb028 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Satie Tagara (satie@marilia.unesp.br) on 2018-03-14T17:53:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 mazzini_pf_me_mar.pdf: 1063062 bytes, checksum: 906c415c51d0d49e39033322ba5bb028 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-14T17:53:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 mazzini_pf_me_mar.pdf: 1063062 bytes, checksum: 906c415c51d0d49e39033322ba5bb028 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O tema do trabalho refere-se às práticas morais em uma escola democrática; com este estudo, objetivou-se investigar a relação entre as práticas morais e consciência do educador sobre suas práticas de modo a conduzir à autonomia no ambiente escolar. Especificamente, analisar as práticas adotadas pelos professores de uma escola com práticas democráticas, onde o desenvolvimento do trabalho se dá de uma maneira bastante diferente das escolas tradicionais, permitiu observar que a escola democrática favorece relações de cooperação, diálogo e respeito mútuo, que são base para a construção da autonomia. Os referenciais teóricos usados neste trabalho são Jean Piaget e Jose Maria Puig. Realizou-se uma pesquisa de campo com delineamento de estudo de caso, com uma abordagem de análise qualitativa. A escola foi escolhida intencionalmente, pois se trata de uma instituição pública que apresenta proposta educacional conduzida a partir de práticas democráticas, paralelas àquelas que encontramos em escolas tradicionais. Participaram da pesquisa 10 professores do ciclo II do ensino fundamental, com os quais utilizamos uma entrevista acerca de três eixos temáticos: características do professor, desenvolvimento do trabalho e escola. Pudemos, a partir disto, analisar suas concepções de práticas, escola e educação. Contamos ainda com entrevista com a diretora e observações do cotidiano escolar para conseguir informações que não foram alcançadas nas entrevistas, e pudemos perceber uma concordância da prática com o discurso dos professores. Identificamos uma consciência dos professores sobre a importância de uma escola que seja diferente da escola tradicional, visto que em suas falas, eles apresentaram um olhar voltado à necessidade do desenvolvimento do sujeito como um ser integral, evidenciando uma escola para além de conteúdos curriculares. / The subject of the work refers to the moral practices in a democratic school; with this study, the objective was to investigate the relationship between moral practices and the educator's conscience about their practices in order to lead to autonomy in the school environment. Specifically, analyzing the practices adopted by the teachers of a school with democratic practices, where the development of work occurs in a very different way from traditional schools, allowed to observe that the democratic school favors relations of cooperation, dialogue and mutual respect, which are base for the construction of autonomy. The theoretical references used in this work are Jean Piaget and Jose Maria Puig. A field study with a case study design was carried out with a qualitative analysis approach. The school was chosen intentionally, because it is a public institution that presents an educational proposal based on democratic practices, parallel to those found in traditional schools. Ten teachers from cycle II of elementary school participated in the research, with which we used an interview about three thematic axes: teacher characteristics, work development and school. We could, from this, analyze their conceptions of practices, school and education. We also had an interview with the director and observations of the school daily to obtain information that was not reached in the interviews, and we could see a concordance of the practice with the teachers' discourse. We identified a teacher consciousness about the importance of a school that is different from traditional school, since in their speech they presented a view focused on the need of the development of the subject as an integral being, showing a school beyond curricular contents.

The main aim of this study was to assess teachers’ awareness levels of dyslexia, their perceptions of their ability to identify and manage dyslexia, and their perceptions of the adequacy of their pre-service and in-service training in dyslexia. The sample comprised teachers at 16 mainstream high schools in the Western Cape. A Likert type scale questionnaire was used to collect data that were analysed by means of a sign test of difference and a Kruskal-Wallis test of variance. The results indicated that teachers had adequate knowledge of dyslexia, believed they are able to identify and manage dyslexia, and believed that they received little or no pre-service and in-service training in dyslexia. The main conclusion that can be drawn is that teachers need on-going adequate pre-service and in-service training in the field of dyslexia. / Department of Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The main aim of this study was to assess teachers’ awareness levels of dyslexia, their perceptions of their ability to identify and manage dyslexia, and their perceptions of the adequacy of their pre-service and in-service training in dyslexia. The sample comprised teachers at 16 mainstream high schools in the Western Cape. A Likert type scale questionnaire was used to collect data that were analysed by means of a sign test of difference and a Kruskal-Wallis test of variance. The results indicated that teachers had adequate knowledge of dyslexia, believed they are able to identify and manage dyslexia, and believed that they received little or no pre-service and in-service training in dyslexia. The main conclusion that can be drawn is that teachers need on-going adequate pre-service and in-service training in the field of dyslexia. / Department of Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)