This arts-based, qualitative investigation focused on high school English teachers of students with learning dis/abilities (Baglieri & Knopf, 2004) who used visual arts integration (Eisner, 2002) to find out how teachers experience using visual arts in English and what their experiences mean (Zoss & White, 2011) in order to understand why certain experiences stood out for the teachers as being important. I framed the study theoretically with complexity theories of teaching and learning (Davis, Sumara, & Luce-Kapler, 2008), while combining aspects of sociocultural theory (Smagorinsky, 2001; Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1991), cognitive pluralism (John-Steiner, 1997) and Dewey’s notion of experience (1934/1980). The teacher participants were three high school English teachers employed at an independent school for students with learning dis/abilities. A/r/tography (Irwin & Springgay, 2008; Springgay, Irwin, & Kind, 2005, 2008) influenced my methodology in that I created visual art to theorize the data and my experiences conducting the study. I collected data during spring and summer 2011. Data sources included participant observation and field notes (Dewalt & Dewalt, 2002), photography (Coover, 2004; Harper 2000, 2002), teachers’ visual texts (La Jevic & Springgay, 2008), artifacts (Prior, 2003), and interviews (Smagorinsky, 2008; Smagorinsky & Coppock, 1994). I used qualitative methods of coding analysis (Charmaz, 2006; Ezzy, 2002; Saldaña, 2009) and visual analysis (Riessman, 2008; Rose, 2001), as well as arts-based methods for educational research (Cahnmann-Taylor & Siegesmund, 2008). This study fills a gap in empirical research in both English education and special education by examining English teachers integrating art in classes for students with dis/abilities. Furthermore, understanding how teachers experience visual arts integration can inform methods courses for teaching secondary English educators.

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This diploma thesis is concerned with authority of a novice teacher based on their usage of his or her interaction style in a classroom. The aim of this thesis is to find out how teachers and their pupils perceive particular interaction styles of a teacher with regard to establishing and using their authority. The theoretical part of this thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter deals with the terms authority and teacher's authority, emphasizing pupils' point of view and in connection with this introduces its classification of authority types. The next chapter inquires into interpersonal behaviour of a teacher, definition of their interaction style and ways of its detection in practise. The third chapter is concerned with the issues of novice teacher emphasizing their problems in interaction with their pupils which can appear at the beginning of their professional career. Practical part is primarily based on a quantitative inquiry implemented with the help of modified standardized questionnaires QTI investigating the interaction style of a teacher. Their task was to give feedback to the teachers who participated in the inquiry and discover how the interaction models of novice teachers differ from their pupils' versions, alternatively among particular classes. The questionnaires were...

Uppsatsens syfte är att öka kunskapen om lärares erfarenheter av arbetet med lågaffektivt bemötande. De frågeställningarna som ställts handlar om lärares erfarenheter av metoden lågaffektivt bemötande, vilka perspektiv på lågaffektivt bemötande som framträder i lärarnas utsagor och vilka resultat som lärare menar att metoden lågaffektivt bemötande kan ge i skolan. Uppsatsen bygger på åttaintervjuer med lärare som undervisar i förskoleklass till årskurs 6. Teori i uppsatsen är de tre specialpedagogiska perspektiven, det kritiska perspektivet, det kompensatoriska perspektivet och dilemma perspektivet (Nilholm, 2020). Resultatet visar att lärarna menar att de ska tillägna sig metoden lågaffektivt bemötande eftersom den ger dem redskap att bemöta de elever som lätt hamnar i affekt. Ett lågaffektivt bemötande leder också till att elever känner sig sedda och accepterade och relationer skapas mellan lärare och elev. Lärarna beskriver att lågaffektivt bemötande ska implementeras i deras uppdrag med hjälp av ökad kunskap som lärarna kan tillägna sig genomhandledning av specialpedagog, kollegialt lärande, föreläsningar och fortbildning. Lärarna påpekar också att det behöver avsättas tid i organisationen för detta. Lärarna påpekar att det krävs samsyn ibland kollegorna på skolan för att implementeringen av lågaffektivt bemötande i deras uppdrag ska lyckas. Lärarna beskriver också att metoden lågaffektivt bemötande leder till en ökad måluppfyllelse i skolan för elever som lätt hamnar i affekt, genom att förebygga och anpassa skolmiljön minskas affektutbrotten och det blir en lugnare tryggare studiemiljö för alla elever i skolan. Den slutsats som kan dras i uppsatsen är att lärarna anser att lågaffektivt bemötande är en användbar metod i arbetet med de elever som lätt hamnar i affekt. Lärarna i uppsatsen menar att om elever ges rätt förutsättningar minskas affektutbrotten. / The purpose of the essay is to increase the knowledge of teachers' experiences of the work with low arousal approach. The questions asked are about teachers 'experiences of the low arousal approach, what perspectives on low arousal approach appear in the teachers' statements and what results a teacher believes that the low arousal approach can give in school. The essay is based on eight interviews with teachers who teaches from preschool class to grade 6. The theory in the essay is the three perspective on special educational, the critical perspective, the compensatory perspective and the dilemma perspective (Nilholm, 2020). The result shows that the teachers believe that they should adopt the method of low arousal approach because it gives them the tools to cope with the students who are easily affected. A low arousal approach also leads to students feeling seen and accepted and a relationship is created between the teacher and the student. The teachers describe that low arousal approach should be implemented in their assignments with the help of increased knowledge through the supervision of a special educator, collegiate learning, lectures and continuing education. The teachers also point out that time needs to be set aside in the organization for this. The teachers point out that consensus is required among colleagues at the school in order for the implementation of low arousal approach in their assignment to succeed. The teachers also describe that the low arousal approach leads to increased goal achievement in the school for students who are easily affected. By preventing and adapting the school environment, the impact of the outbreak will be reduced, and the study environment becomes calmer and safer for all students in the school. The conclusion that can be drawn from the essay is that teachers consider low arousal approach as a useful method in the work with students who easily comes into effect. The teachers in the essay believe that if students are given the right conditions, the outbreaks will be reduced.

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This study examined how in-service teachers transformed professionally and personally as a result of participation in the International Teacher to Teacher Exchange Program (ITTTE). Six teachers, 3 from the U.S. and 3 from Guatemala, were paired. Each pair spent a total of 8 weeks together, in each other's countries, over the course of 2 years. The pairs reciprocated home stays, school engagement, and cultural learning in three cohorts; 2012-2014, 2014-2016, 2016-2018. In 2018, each participant engaged in a structured interview tailored to the ten meaning phases of Mezirow's transformative learning theory (TLT). The data were analyzed deductively, through the application of the ten meaning phases of transformation. The data were also analyzed inductively to determine additional themes of transformation. The deductive findings revealed 5 out of 6 participants experienced full transformative learning. All 3 Guatemalan teachers transformed professionally with new understandings of mathematics pedagogy. Two U.S. teachers transformed personally, one by learning how to be a more caring teacher and the other by overcoming shyness to engage as a relational teacher. The third U.S. teacher adopted the point of view that speaking a second language had value. The inductive analysis revealed emerged themes of learning, language, relationships, and program affecting others as evident in transformed frames of reference, habits of mind and points of view. Due to the range of participation years, latent effects were noted. The ITTTE was shown to influence transformation in teachers' personal and professional development. TLT was effective in revealing participant transformation within the ITTTE.

Comparative analyses of district-run public schools and charter schools are limited to performance outcomes. There is a dearth of research on how the school-types vary on factors consequential to performance such as school climate. Public-private distinctions, such as in organizational autonomy, value orientations, funding structures, and management practices, could result in school climate dissimilarities between district-run public schools and charter schools. The aim of this dissertation is to assess the influence organizational factors have on school climate and determine if school-type affects school climate. Student and staff school climate survey data from the Miami-Dade school district were utilized for this dissertation. Structural equation modeling was employed to test theoretical models of students’ and staffs’ perceptions of school climate using data from 2001-2002 through 2015-2016 academic years. Within-between effects panel regression was utilized to test the effect of school-type on school climate constructs over time using data from 2005-2006 through 2015-2016 academic years. The structural equation results demonstrate that milieu, ecology, culture, and organizational structure influence students’ and staffs’ perceptions of their schools’ climates. Ecology has the strongest association with students’ perceptions of school climate. Job satisfaction, a part of milieu and culture, has the strongest association with staffs’ perceptions of school climate. The results indicate that the theoretical models of school climate employed by this study are sound. The within-between effects panel regression results demonstrate that characteristics inherent to school-type have a plausible influence on students’ perceptions of school climate, but not for staff. Charter school students rated their school climates more favorably than traditional public schools, but when other factors are controlled, traditional public schools and magnet schools had more favorable ratings. Public-sector values, collective bargaining, and school district oversight may be beneficial to schools’ climates. This dissertation underscores the impact management and funding structures have on school climate. The author recommends that the school climate concept and evaluations of schools’ organizational practices be incorporated into school improvement policies. The milieu, culture, ecology, and organizational structures of schools should be reviewed when assessing school quality.

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This study was designed to investigate the correlational relationship between four school elements listed on the Texas Academic Progress Report (TAPR) and the academic achievement of 8th grade African American male students. Data for this study was provided from the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) Office for Public Information Requests. The study included four independent variables: percent of socioeconomically disadvantaged students, average years of teachers' experience, attendance rate and average class size in mathematics. The dependent variable was the 8th grade African American males' performance on the mathematics STAAR exam. The study examined scores from the mathematics STAAR exam for the years 2012-2014. The sample population included 1,540 schools and 47,169 individual test results. The results of the correlational analysis indicate that none of the independent variables were correlated to each other, but each of the independent variables had a statistically significant correlation with the dependent variable at the p < .05 level. The study also sought to explore the variance in academic achievement that could be explained by the four independent variables when used as a model. The results of the simple multiple regression suggest that not only were the results statistically significant at the p < .01 level, but the model explained 32.4% of the variance in 8th grade African American males' performance on the STAAR mathematics exam in the years 2012-2014.