This phenomenological study explored how college students’ perceptions of experiences with their secondary mathematics teachers affected their mathematical identities. The study was rooted in Wenger’s notion that learning is an experience of identity and Dewey’s theory that all experiences are inextricably linked to past and future experiences. Constructed narratives of eight college developmental mathematics students with high and low levels of mathematics anxiety were created from autobiographical essays and semistructured interviews. Analysis of the constructed narratives employed a deductive coding process using a priori themes related to experiences with secondary teachers and dimensions of mathematical identity. The study answered three research questions: What kind of experiences did students recall having with their secondary mathematics teachers? How did students perceive that those experiences influenced their mathematical identities? What common student experiences positively or negatively affecting mathematical identity emerged from the data? Two general factors that affect student mathematical identity emerged from the research: student-teacher interactions and student-mathematics interactions. Interconnectivity existed between positive student-teacher relationships, meaningful student-mathematics interactions, and strong mathematical identities. Positive student-teacher relationships were foundational to the overall connection.

This quantitative study was conducted to investigate the preferred conflict-management behaviors of small-school principals in Texas Education Service Center regions five, six, and seven. The problem facing the small-school principal in conflict-management was knowing how and when to behave towards campus teachers in order to further the goals of the school system and satisfy the needs of its teachers. The study focused on the principal-teacher relationship and the five possible preferred conflict-management behaviors - competing, collaborating, compromise, avoiding, and accommodating. The abilities of gender and experience were analyzed as possible predictors of the preferred conflict-management behaviors of small-school principals. Using a logistical regression analysis, the predictive abilities of gender and experience were evaluated by using the Thomas-Kilmann Instrument in relation to five possible preferred conflict-management behaviors of small-school principals toward teachers. The instrument identified frequencies of preferred conflict-management behaviors. Based on existing literature, the null hypotheses posited that neither gender nor experience would have a significant predictive effect (.05 alpha level) on the preferred conflict-management behaviors of the small-school campus principals under examination. Results indicated that gender could not predict a clear preference for any of the five possible conflict-management behaviors. Thus, the null was not rejected concerning gender. Also, experience was found to have no significant effect on the prediction of collaborating, avoiding, and accommodating. However, findings revealed that experience had a significant positive relationship to a preference for competing behaviors; and experience also had a significant negative relationship to a preference for compromising behaviors in the group of small-campus principals. Findings indicated that more experience came with an increased preference for competing and a decreased preference for compromising behaviors. The study sought to address a gap in the literature as related to the preferred conflict-management behaviors of small-school principals in the principal-teacher relationship. Societal changes and differences in school administrator and teacher viewpoints have necessitated that school principals acquire and improve conflict-management skills in advancing student achievement. By focusing on the small-school principal-teacher relationship and the variables of gender and experience the study contributed to the research-base surrounding small-school campuses. Findings suggested the need for a renewed emphasis on conflict-management skills in principal preparation programs.

I den Svenska skollagen står det ”lika skola för alla” stämmer det egentligen? Denna studie tar upp rektorers ledarroller för barn med ADHD. Har alla barn samma förutsättningar eller skiljer det sig åt? Vem är ansvarig för detta? Genom olika teorier samt tidigare forskning undersöker denna studie vad som skiljer  i ledarskapet för elever med ADHD.  För att göra det tar studien med er genom dels socialpsykologiska, dels ledarskapsforskning för att finna ett svar. Genom intervjuer med 5 rektorer i olika kommuner i mellan-Sverige har studien visat att rektorernas ledarskapsstil är avgörande för deras roll som ledare för barn med ADHD. Resultaten tyder på att även om alla intervjuade rektorer har samma förutsättningar för budget och många av dem koncentrera sig på den ekonomiska aspekten av sitt arbete, är det om de ser sig själva som flexibla ledare samt tillåter dem att sätta eleverna i centrum. En av många slutsatser som föreslås är att ledarens egenskaper, såsom att tänka utanför boxen och se eleverna som individer och inte objekt, kan i hög grad bidra till att förbättra kommunikationen och processer samt socialisation bland barn med ADHD. / Is the Swedish Education Act’s statement of "equal education for all" accurate? This study analyzes the role school principals have with regard to children with ADHD. Are all children given the same opportunities or does it vary? Where does the responsibility lie? Thus the paper looks at both social psychological and leadership-based research to find an answer to its research question. Through interviews with five principals in different municipalities of middle Sweden, the study concludes that the principal's leadership style and their understanding of their own role is the answer. The results suggest that, while the all interviewed principals have the same budget and many of them concentrate on the economic aspect of their work, it is seeing themselves as flexible leaders that allows them to put the students at the centre of focus. One of many conclusions suggested is that leadership characteristics, such as thinking outside the box and seeing students as individuals and not objects, can contribute greatly to the improvement communication and socialization processes among children with ADHD.

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

Apartheid education in South Africa created and maintained deliberate inequalities between schools serving the Indian, Coloured and African communities on one hand and the White population on the other hand. The advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994 addressed a range of issues, one of which was school governance. The South African Schools Act of 1996 was a bold attempt by the government to address issues like school governance. This act created a new school-governance landscape based on a partnership between the state, schools, learners, parents, school staff and the local communities. The aim of this study was to establish reasons why parental involvement is muted in some public schools but more active in other public schools. The participants in the study were parents, school principals and the chairpersons of the school governing bodies of the two schools. The purpose of the study was to listen to differing perspectives on why parents were involved, or not involved, in school governance. The research used both quantitative and qualitative methodology to gather data, and it assumed the form of a comparative case study of the two schools. A survey questionnaire and semi-structured interview were used as data collection techniques. Findings of the study revealed that those parents who were involved in school governance did so because they wanted to be of assistance to both their children, as well as the schools their children attended. In addition, parents who were not involved in school governance cited different reasons for their noninvolvement, ranging from a lack of time, a lack of knowledge and skills, as well as institutional difficulties at the schools their children attend. There was evidence of a conflict between policy and practice in respect of parental involvement in school governance. Policy expected parents to be involved in school governance, and assumed that all parents were familiar with the roles of school governors. Parents, on the other hand, seemed to lack a clear understanding of what school governance entailed, and what the school governance policy expected from them. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

Parent-teacher relationship and support to children are essential for effective education to be functional. Sound parent-teacher relationships influence teaching and learning. Hence it was evident from literature review that so many studies were conducted in parent involvement in schools to enhance teaching and learning, this study focused on the dimension of the perceptions of both teachers and parents on their relationship to accelerate parent involvement in schools. The study focused on how parents and teachers view their relationship, how they raise problems encountered in the relationship, what enhances and/or aggravates the status of their relationship, and the issue of policies pertaining parent-teacher relationship. The objectives of the study were to examine and define the concept of the parent-teacher relationship, to investigate the perceptions of parents and teachers about their relationship with a focus on their obligations and responsibilities, to understand what enhances and/or impedes the parent-teacher relationship in rural Black communities, and to discuss possible solutions towards enhancing parent-teacher relationship. The research questions were: a) How do parents and teachers describe their relationship? b) What factors do parents and teachers suggest impede and/or enhance their relationship? c) What school policies and practices are in place that facilitate or hinder the relationship? The outline of the dissertation took this shape: Chapter One provides a background to the study explaining the motive behind it, and discussing the rationale of the study. The main objectives of the study and the research questions are explored in this chapter and the chapter has further furnished readers with the description of the setting of the schools under study. Chapter Two defines terms used in the study, and then reviews relevant literature adopted in this study. The contextual and theoretical framework of the study is explored in this chapter. Chapter Three deals with the methodological aspects and procedures. A justification on the use of qualitative approach is given and the choice of research instruments is also discussed. How access was gained from high structures to the parents on the ground level is also discussed. Experiences and methods used during interviews are also explored. Chapter Four embarks on the clear milieu of the two schools, the initial visits and the description of respondents. Chapter Five present, analyses and discusses the findings and implications of the study employing literature reviewed. Chapter six concludes the entire study and makes recommendations. The briefing of the study is of two schools that were selected purposively and then three teachers per school including the principal and six parents per school community that resulted in eighteen respondents in all. The study opted for a qualitative approach and for a case study. The findings of the study were that there is poor or no parent-teacher relationship. Teachers and parents admitted the need for each other. Though parents admitted their deficiency in supporting schools and in making good relations with teachers, however, they shifted more blame to teachers who do not initiate the relationship whilst they stand a good chance. The study revealed that there are factors that impede parent-teacher relationship and those that are supposedly to enhance the relationship. Both parents and teachers raised a need for empowerment on how to deal with each other. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Thesis (M.A.T.) -- School for International Training, 2006. / Advisor -- Paul Levasseur Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60).

This study is a qualitative, phenomenological inquiry into teachers’ and children’s ‘lived experiences’ of the child-teacher relationship in an Irish upper primary school context. It highlights the current need to re-focus our attention on the child-teacher relationship which Biesta (2004) argues is the 'location' of education. An overview of the literature on relational pedagogy is provided which connects the child-teacher relationship to broader theoretical debates including Heidegger's (1962) concept of Mitsein and Buber's I- Thou relation (1937). Hermeneutic phenomenology describes the overarching methodology following van Manen’s (1990) ‘lived experience’ approach. The study was conducted in a large, suburban, primary school with designated disadvantaged status. Before data generation commenced, a Children’s Research Advisory Group was established in the school following Lundy, McEvoy, and Byrne (2011). The function of this group was to advise about conducting research with children. Research participants included three teachers and five children from each of those teachers’ classes. Data generation featured the use of protocol writing and conversational interviews following van Manen (1990, 2014) and the use of embodied, drama methods which were unique to this study but inspired by the work of Norris (2000) and guided by O’Sullivan (2011). Data was also generated using visual methods drawing on the work of Mitchell (2011), Tinkler (2015) and Chappell and Craft (2011). In line with the phenomenological approach adopted, data was interpreted in what Gadamer (1989) describes as a circular manner. This involves attending to ‘parts’ whilst keeping in mind the ‘whole’ picture. This study identified three overarching thematic findings which find resonance with the fields of relational pedagogy and embodied teaching and learning as well as new insights at the point where these two areas overlap. These include how teachers and children relate to one another as ‘whole, embodied feeling beings’; the idea that there is a tension between ‘closeness’ and ‘distance’ in the child teacher relationship and that there is a need for both ‘structure’ and ‘freedom’ to feature in that relationship. Further, this study found that the child-teacher relationship is experienced as ‘knotted’ with social and contextual relationships. These findings are discussed in light of the concepts of ‘connectedness’ and ‘emergence’, features of complexity theory. This study provides new insights into how teachers and children experience their relationships with one another, thereby extending the body of knowledge on the child-teacher relationship.

The thesis concerns about the relationship between teacher and student at lower-secondary school. To be more precise, it focuses on student's self-perception and perception of a teacher; also it focuses on teacher's self-perception and perception of his/her students, all of it in the context of teacher/student interaction. The theoretical part covers student's and teacher's personality, their relationship and selected dimensions of their communication verbal correctness, sense of humour, personality and relationships and competencies. In question of dimension, there were specified so called observed spheres, which became important for determination of interactive perception of educational-process participants (e. g. "verbal correctness" dimension includes the grammatical correctness). The empirical part was realized by quantitative research represented by four questionnaires: (1) student's reflection (student evaluates behaviour of a specific teacher), (2) student's self-reflection (student evaluates his/her behaviour during classes of a specific teacher), (3) teacher's reflection (teacher evaluates the students of a specific class), (4) teacher's self-reflection (teacher evaluates his/her behaviour during specific classes). The research took place on three basic schools and two grammar schools. 16 teachers and 224 students were involved in the research. The acquired data enabled to create three outlines of results. First outline are "overall results and results obtained in a specific type of school" on basis of comparison reflections and self-reflections of teachers and students. Second outline is presented by "specific results", which came out by comparison of reflections and self-reflections of specific teachers and students of particular classes throughout all variations of questionnaire (e. g. identical and non-identical interactive perception) or just selected variations of questionnaire. Third outline is represented by "another results", these include analysis of teachers and students reflections and self-reflections according to a particular criterion (e. g. gender).

Cette thèse analyse les parcours des acteurs depuis la naissance de leur vocation jusqu’à leurs débuts professionnels, à partir de l’étude de leurs propres discours (récits autobiographiques, journaux personnels, correspondances, entretiens). La profession théâtrale est, depuis son apparition au XVe siècle, l’objet de considérations sociales ambivalentes pesant sur la décision de devenir acteur : longtemps accusé de moeurs dissolues mais acclamé par le public, le comédien est, par l’exercice professionnel d’une activité singulière, appelé à la fois à se marginaliser et à rejoindre une élite. S’il revendique, dès le XVIIIe siècle, une démarche désintéressée dans le but de réhabiliter sa fonction, l’apparition du metteur en scène comme protagoniste de l’entreprise théâtrale au tournant du XXe siècle, va imposer un idéal artistique commun à tous les membres de la troupe, derrière lequel doivent souvent s’effacer les motivations personnelles. À cette période, le Conservatoire d’Art Dramatique, seule école existante, est accusé d’inciter les élèves au cabotinage, aussi cet idéal devient-il un enjeu pour de nouvelles formations d’acteurs. Au sein des écoles et troupes d’avant-garde, l’élève-comédien est confronté à la démarche artistique et éthique de celui qui, à ses yeux, devient un maître. Puis, au cours du siècle, une très large offre de formation apparaît : des écoles supérieures aux espaces alternatifs d’expérimentation (théâtre étudiant, troupes semi-professionnelles), le parcours initiatique est aujourd’hui jalonné de confrontations avec des enseignants et metteurs en scènes différents. Si la démarche d’apprentissage et de création du jeune acteur implique qu’il accorde sa confiance à ces derniers et adhère aux expériences qu’ils lui proposent, elle doit également consister, à terme, à rompre avec eux afin d’emprunter le chemin de l’autonomie artistique. / This thesis analyzes the path of actors from the moment their vocation started until their first steps as professional actors, on the basis of their own words (autobiographical stories, personal journal, letters, interviews). Since its appearance in the 15th century, acting as a profession has been subject to ambivalent social interests when it comes to deciding to become an actor. The actor used to be highly touted by the audience despite his being considered as a person of loose values. By choosing an unusual professional path, the actor inevitably needs to marginalize himself and to join an elite. Starting from the 18th century, the actor would claim his choice to be selfless to restore the image of this occupation. But the appearance of the director within the theatrical organization during the 20th century would impose an artistic ideal which needed to be common to all members of the theater company, who thus had to put their personal motivations aside. At the time, the only school in this area, the Academy of Dramatic Arts, was accused of inciting its students to showing off. This ideal thus became a concern for the next generations of schools and trainings. Within avant-garde schools and companies, when learning how to be a professional actor, the student faced the artistic and ethical approach of the person he saw as his teacher. Later on, various schools and trainings appeared: with higher schools or alternative experimental areas (student theater, semi-professional companies), the student now has to deal with several teachers and directors throughout his learning path, who all have their own approach. On the one hand, the teaching approach and the creation process of the young actor implies that he trusts these teachers and directors and accepts to take part to the experiences they offer him. But on a longer term, he/she should also learn to put those aside in order to reach his/her artistic emancipation.