Several cross-national studies, which monitor the quality of education in many countries across the world, have been conducted over the recent years. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), founded in 1958 by a group of European and American researchers (Grisay and Griffin, 2004), wanted to measure the achievement of comparable samples of students in various subjects and in diverse school systems, with the view of investigating the relationships between possible differences in achievement and differences in inputs, processes and educational contexts. Since Mozambique’s independence in 1975 there have been many small research studies undertaken by the Ministry of Education and universities, which have not been nationally representative. One exception is a nationally representative study conducted under the auspices of the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) implemented in 2000 and comprising 15 systems of education, namely Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe. This thesis is a quantitative study and undertakes a secondary analysis using a sample from the SACMEQ database archive collected in 2000 in all countries except Zimbabwe in reading and in mathematics. The Mozambican sample was drawn from 3 177 pupils in 168 schools, while in the SACMEQ study the sample was composed of 41 686 pupils within 2 305 schools. The purpose of this study was to describe and explore the main factors that have an effect on Grade 6 teacher competence and pupil performance in reading and mathematics. Findings reveal that the relationship between teacher competence and pupil performance in reading and mathematics in upper primary schools in Mozambique, as well as in SACMEQ countries, is influenced by a cognitive domain, an affective domain and a behavioural domain. In addition, teacher competence and pupil performance are affected by many constructs but in this study 10 main predictors related to teacher competence and pupil performance, were identified. The Cheng and Tsui model (1998) was adopted and adapted as a conceptual framework for this study and findings reveal that for SACMEQ countries as a whole, the data in some way is consistent with the adapted model and fill two domains, namely cognitive and behavioural within the following six constructs: teacher training, teacher characteristics, internal and external teaching context, pre-existing pupils’ characteristics and parent and community involvement. However, no individual country is completely consistent with the adapted model. This study, taking into account the role of the teacher on pupil performance, as emphasized by many researchers such as Chapman and Mählck (1997), Châu (1996), Darling-Hammond (1999) and Kanu (1996), is intended to be a modest contribution for the Ministries of Education in SACMEQ countries although it has particular reference for the Ministry of Education and Culture in Mozambique. For instance, on the one hand, the Ministry has conducted few studies in upper primary schools related to the pupil and teacher performance and, on the other hand, Mozambique as a Portuguese speaking country, has a unique history, tradition and system of education which differs from that of the other participating countries. The SACMEQ studies have provided valid and reliable data on which important decisions could be based. Specifically, SACMEQ II provided relevant, high quality data about the academic profile of teachers, the level of performance in the areas assessed, school management and other aspects that are relevant for policymaking. A comparative analysis, using such a cross-national study, is important for the Ministry of Education and Culture in order to have an overview of the performance of teachers and pupils in other school systems within the SACMEQ countries. By identifying the weaknesses and the strengths in each system, all SACMEQ countries can learn from one another. However, the results of this analysis should be used with caution, taking into consideration the history, location, economy and culture of each country. Within the educational context of the region, many benefits are also apparent. The data collected through SACMEQ II can be considered to be of extreme importance for Mozambique’s education system, since it provides the country with important data to promote a reflection on its primary education sector, to identify the position of Mozambique’s education system within the region, and to work towards its improvement. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

This thesis reports the findings of research conducted with Irish primary teachers who had recently completed probation. The study employed semi-structured interviews to examine the teachers’ perceptions of beneficial influences on the development of their teaching identity. The principals of the two schools involved were also interviewed. The interviews were designed to allow me to explore influences that had been identified in the literature as important in the formation of teacher identity. In the interviews, themes that have been identified in the literature on teacher identity were explored with participants. The teachers identified incidents and persons whom they perceived as having inspired them to become teachers. Their perceptions of how their interactions with pupils and parents had influenced their identities were examined, as were their experiences of school cultures and of working in collaboration with colleagues. Finally, their awareness of theoretical literature as a tool to help their further development was examined. The findings of the study confirm that teachers’ identities are formed by a combination of factors and add a more detailed understanding of those factors in the Irish context. Beginning teachers are influenced strongly by their own biographies, and by their experiences as students prior to and during their pre-service teacher education. They are sensitive to the perceptions of them by parents and pupils. Their willingness to engage collaboratively with other colleagues, including their principals and mentors, features strongly in their own perceptions of how their identities have been formed. The importance of the school culture in helping to shape the teacher’s identity is highlighted as a phenomenon which both shapes and is reshaped in turn by teachers and their colleagues. Literature is generally not considered relevant by the Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) in this study, although the principals’ responses indicate their familiarity with themes common in the literature concerning teacher induction, and with concepts of teachers as reflective practitioners who need to continuously examine their practice and experience in order to promote the ongoing shaping of their identity as teachers. The thesis argues for a conception of teacher professionalism which respects the identity of teachers and the agency of teachers as individuals in a world of individuals who are engaged in the constructionist creation of knowledge. This understanding prioritises practical wisdom, phronesis, over the technical knowledge, techne, and knowledge of subject, episteme, which teachers also require. This is at odds with widespread competency-based conceptions of teacher professionalism. The findings of the research indicate that the development of teacher identity is complex and is affected by a broader range of influences than the imperative to develop competencies. It calls for an alternative approach to teacher induction which acknowledges the importance of these factors.

<p>Doktorska disertacija razvija nastavni model za elektronsko učenje preko Interneta namenjen razvoju informaciono-komunikacionih kompetencija nastavnika u osnovnim i srednjim &scaron;kolama i drugih zaposlenih u obrazovanju.</p><p>Informaciono-komunikacione kompetencije nastavnika i drugih zaposlenih u obrazovanju su veoma važne za obrazovni i ekonomski sistem i potrebno je omogućiti njihovo sticanje, unapređivanje i upotrebu u obrazovanju zbog njihovog uticaja na promenu stavova prema obrazovnoj tehnologiji.</p><p>Za potrebe doktorske disertacije urađeno je pedago&scaron;ko istraživanje u novembru 2014. godine, sa dve grupe ispitanika, kontrolnom i eksperimentalnom grupom. Istraživanje je u potpunosti sprovedeno preko veb portala: www.azomjns.com/moodle.</p><p>Uticaj predloženog nastavnog modela za e-učenje &quot;5 koraka&quot; na razvoj kompetencija kod zaposlenih u obrazovanju za kreiranje multimedijalnih prezentacija za nastavu, pokazao je bolje rezultate u odnosu na uticaj klasičnog modela za e-učenje &quot;Isporuka sadržaja&quot;.</p><p>Ponuđeni nastavni model &quot;5 koraka&quot; može se primeniti na različite uzrasne grupe i nastavne predmete &scaron;to otvara mogućnosti za dalja istraživanja.</p> / <p>The thesis develops a model of online e-Learning for improving information and communication competencies&nbsp; of teachers and other employees in primary and secondary education.</p><p>Information and communication competencies of employees in education are of great importance to the educational and economic system. We must enable their acquisition, improvement and use in education because they change attitudes towards educational technology.</p><p>For this purpose, the main pedagogical research was carried out in November 2014, with two groups of respondents: a control and an experimental group. The research was conducted entirely online through the web portal: www.azomjns.com/moodle.</p><p>The impact of the proposed &#39;5-step&#39; teaching e-learning model on the development of competencies of employees in education in creating teaching multimedia presentations showed better results than the classical model of e-learning, viz. &#39;learning by distributing&#39;.</p><p>The offered &#39;5-step&#39; teaching model can be adapted to different age groups and subjects, which opens up possibilities for further research.</p>

<p>Följande studie har till syfte att undersöka hur lärarrekryteringsarbetet på kommunala och</p><p>fristående gymnasieskolor i en mellanstor kommun i södra Sverige går till. Skillnader och</p><p>likheter vid rekrytering av lärare mellan de olika skolorna har undersökts. De psykologiska</p><p>aspekterna (intelligens/begåvning, personlighet och kompetens) knutna till urval har</p><p>behandlats i denna uppsats för att undersöka om dessa aspekter väger in i beslutet om</p><p>anställning. Sex rektorer från sex olika gymnasieskolor (tre kommunala och tre fristående</p><p>skolor) i en mellanstor kommun i södra Sverige har intervjuats. Resultatet av intervjuerna har</p><p>sammanfattats, diskuterats och analyserats utifrån tidigare forskning och teorier. De aspekter som</p><p>diskuterats i studien är rekryteringsarbetet på de olika skolorna, felrekryteringar,</p><p>anställningsförlopp, lärarkompetens och egenskaper, användandet av personlighets- och</p><p>intelligenstest samt lärarbehörighet. De slutsatser författarna kommit fram till är att det råder</p><p>likhet mellan de olika skolorna när det handlar om hur rekryteringsarbetet ser ut. Dock finns</p><p>vissa skillnader i vilka som är med vid anställningsintervjun på skolorna och vilka sökande</p><p>som har företräde till en ledig lärartjänst. Alla skolor strävar efter att ha behöriga lärare i de</p><p>undervisande ämnena. Inga av skolorna använder sig av begåvningstest eller</p><p>personlighetstestning vid rekryteringsarbete, istället används intervjuer frekvent.</p> / <p>The purpose of this study is to examine the recruitment procedure of teachers on municipal and</p><p>independent comprehensive upper secondary schools in a medium-sized municipality in</p><p>southern Sweden. The problems that compose the foundation of the study are how recruitment</p><p>of upper secondary schools teachers is being carried out. Differences and resemblances in the</p><p>recruitment process between the different type of schools was studied. The psychological</p><p>aspects (intelligence/aptitude, personality and competence) tied to selections has been treated</p><p>in this essay in order to examine if these aspects are important for the decision about</p><p>employment. Six headmasters from six different comprehensive upper secondary schools</p><p>(three municipal and three independent schools) in a medium-sized municipality in southern</p><p>Sweden was interviewed. The result of the interviews has been summarized, discussed and</p><p>analyzed from earlier research and theories. The aspects that have been discussed are</p><p>recruitment procedures on the different schools, wrong recruitments, employment course,</p><p>teacher competences and other competences, the use of personality - and intelligence tests and</p><p>teacher qualifications. The analysis and discussion of this study point out that there is</p><p>resemblance between the different schools concerning the recruitment procedure. Differences</p><p>between the schools are: who is present during the employment interview at the schools and</p><p>which applicants have precedence to a vacant teaching position. All schools strive to have</p><p>authorized teachers in the teaching subjects. None of the schools used intelligence/aptitude- or</p><p>personality tests during the recruitment procedure. Instead they used interviews frequently.</p>

Följande studie har till syfte att undersöka hur lärarrekryteringsarbetet på kommunala och fristående gymnasieskolor i en mellanstor kommun i södra Sverige går till. Skillnader och likheter vid rekrytering av lärare mellan de olika skolorna har undersökts. De psykologiska aspekterna (intelligens/begåvning, personlighet och kompetens) knutna till urval har behandlats i denna uppsats för att undersöka om dessa aspekter väger in i beslutet om anställning. Sex rektorer från sex olika gymnasieskolor (tre kommunala och tre fristående skolor) i en mellanstor kommun i södra Sverige har intervjuats. Resultatet av intervjuerna har sammanfattats, diskuterats och analyserats utifrån tidigare forskning och teorier. De aspekter som diskuterats i studien är rekryteringsarbetet på de olika skolorna, felrekryteringar, anställningsförlopp, lärarkompetens och egenskaper, användandet av personlighets- och intelligenstest samt lärarbehörighet. De slutsatser författarna kommit fram till är att det råder likhet mellan de olika skolorna när det handlar om hur rekryteringsarbetet ser ut. Dock finns vissa skillnader i vilka som är med vid anställningsintervjun på skolorna och vilka sökande som har företräde till en ledig lärartjänst. Alla skolor strävar efter att ha behöriga lärare i de undervisande ämnena. Inga av skolorna använder sig av begåvningstest eller personlighetstestning vid rekryteringsarbete, istället används intervjuer frekvent. / The purpose of this study is to examine the recruitment procedure of teachers on municipal and independent comprehensive upper secondary schools in a medium-sized municipality in southern Sweden. The problems that compose the foundation of the study are how recruitment of upper secondary schools teachers is being carried out. Differences and resemblances in the recruitment process between the different type of schools was studied. The psychological aspects (intelligence/aptitude, personality and competence) tied to selections has been treated in this essay in order to examine if these aspects are important for the decision about employment. Six headmasters from six different comprehensive upper secondary schools (three municipal and three independent schools) in a medium-sized municipality in southern Sweden was interviewed. The result of the interviews has been summarized, discussed and analyzed from earlier research and theories. The aspects that have been discussed are recruitment procedures on the different schools, wrong recruitments, employment course, teacher competences and other competences, the use of personality - and intelligence tests and teacher qualifications. The analysis and discussion of this study point out that there is resemblance between the different schools concerning the recruitment procedure. Differences between the schools are: who is present during the employment interview at the schools and which applicants have precedence to a vacant teaching position. All schools strive to have authorized teachers in the teaching subjects. None of the schools used intelligence/aptitude- or personality tests during the recruitment procedure. Instead they used interviews frequently.

The present thesis deals with the popular teacher. The theoretical part brings the concept of the teacher, provides further evidence of the teacher's personality in terms of psychology. The theoretical part also includes chapters dedicated to the typology of teachers, teacher competence concept and also brings visions of successful teachers, guidance teachers and research results. The practical part is based on research that was conducted through in-depth interview.

The focus of the thesis is self-education as a part of the professional activity of a primary school teacher. A brief definition of a teacher according to the Education Act and the competencies of a pedagogical staff. The following chapters concern on self- education, self-esteem and self-knowledge, which are the key qualities that are needed in self-knowledge process. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the important role of continuous self-education as an integral part of the teacher's competencies applied in everyday pedagogical activities. The predominant part of the paper is devoted to the practical part carried out by mixed research, followed by the questionnaire survey aimed at finding out opinions on the area of teacher self-education at the Prague primary school, an analysis of these questionnaires follows. The sample of three teachers was chosen out of the total number of 13 respondents, with whom their motivations, forms, methods, time-consuming self-education, or obstacles preventing, them from self- education were ascertained in the form of in-depth interviews. Furthermore, the analysis compares the attitudes and opinions on the self-education of these teachers. The research shows that the most common motivation of teachers for self-education is the development of themselves, the...

Preschool documentation has been a recent topic in Sweden amongst preschool teachers, preschool managers, education policymakers, and researchers. Interest in this topic is driven in part by the 2010 revision of the Swedish preschool curriculum that introduced requirements concerning the use of documentation in follow-up, evaluation, and development activities in preschool. Of particular interest is the relative open-ended quality of the language describing the requirements in the curriculum as to how these documentation practices should be enacted. What kinds of documentation preschool teachers adopt and implement in their pedagogical practices is therefore a key question. Research by Vallberg-Roth (2012) has shown that some preschool teachers in Sweden document in a number of locally unique ways, in order to strive for curriculum-specific goals on one hand, and ensure child learning and development on the other. Learning and development can be described in terms of teacher’s competency rubrics proposed by Sheridan et al. (2011). These rubrics are analytic tools in preschool teachers’ documentation processes. This systematic review examines different kinds of documentation practices as they are described in selected articles and finds documentation types to include; pedagogical, systematic, teacher binders, and use of portfolios, as well as other techniques used by preschool teachers to document. This review implies that documentation is multi-faceted partly due to the uncertainty surrounding how to carry out its processes as well as the need to meet the individual needs of every child. In line with already defined competency types by Sheridan et al. (2011), which include knowing what and why, knowing how, and interactional, relational and transactional competences, the thesis also tentatively relates documentation types within the reviewed articles to teachers’ competency, thereby laying a possible foundation for the improvement of preschool teaching in Sweden.

Thesis is focused on attitudes of the 4th and the 5th grade pupils towards people with disabilities. Specifically it is the influence of influencing the manifestations of otherness on the cultivation of pupils' attitudes towards the issue. Thesis defines the manifestation and otherness of selected types of disabilities. In context of modify of pupils' attitudes, findings from the psychosocial development pupils in late middle childhood are summarized. Thesis also presents the personality of the class teacher from the perspective of the teacher's professional competencies. The aim of the thesis is to find out what are the attitudes of the 4th and the 5th grades of primary schools towards people with disabilities and whether the teaching process can modify the attitudes. Through a research survey 455 pupils from randomly selected primary schools in Prague, it was found that half of them have difficulty accepting otherness of people with disabilities. The least accepted group are people with mental disabilities. Thesis also presents a relations between positive attitudes of pupils and social proximit of people with disabilities, also realtions between the pupils' ignorance of the issue, low awareness and together with lower social proximity. Next it presents relations between the manifest otherness,...

Lärarkompetens rymmer såväl ämneskunskap och didaktisk färdighet, som ledarskap och relationell kompetens. Syftet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen för hur gymnasielärare uppfattar betydelsen och utvecklingen av relationell kompetens i sin yrkesroll utifrån följande frågeställningar: •Hur uppfattar gymnasielärare den relationella kompetensens betydelse i sin yrkesroll? •Hur uppfattar gymnasielärare att den relationella kompetensen utvecklas? Data har samlats in genom fyra semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer. Analysen har genomförts utifrån modeller över lärarkompetensens yttre formella perspektiv och det inre personliga perspektivet. Resultatet visar att i mötet med eleverna blir den relationella kompetensen central och vilket i sin tur förutsätter en reflekterande och etisk dimension. När personliga erfarenheter och värderingar vävs samman med yrkesmässig kunskap kan läraren utveckla en autentisk yrkespersonlighet. Det sker över tid, i praktiken, tillsammans med kollegor och inom den gemensamma professionen. / Teacher competence holds content knowledge as well as didactic skills, leadership and relational competence. The aim of this study is to increase understanding of how upper secondary school teachers perceive the meaning and development of relational competence. Research questions: •How do upper secondary teachers perceive the significance of relational competence in their professional role? •How do upper secondary teachers perceive the development of relational competence? The research uses four semi-structured qualitative interviews. The analysis has been conducted based on models of teacher competence's external formal perspective and the inner personal perspective. The findings show that in interactions with students, relational competence becomes central and presupposes a reflective and ethical dimension. When personal experiences and values are integrated with professional knowledge, the teacher can develop an authentic professional personality. This happens over time, in practice, in collaboration with colleagues, and within the shared profession.