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This research examines three central questions: What are teachers' conceptions of history education?, What are the constituent components of these conceptions?, and Upon what sources of teacher knowledge are these conceptions based? To elicit data relevant to these questions a phenomenographic research methodology is utilised. In this phenomenographic inquiry, a conception is defined as the broadest possible understanding teachers have of what they teach, why they teach it, and how they teach it. The phenomenon in this inquiry is history education. Of primary interest are the ways in which teachers understand their purpose for history education. This inquiry utilises teachers' descriptions of their agendas and curriculum scripts to examine conceptions of history education. Certain foundational elements are used to analyse the data: a broad understanding of history education in which purpose is a salient feature; a tactical plan or the parts of instruction necessary to accomplish their purpose; reflective rationalisation which explains the knowledge upon which the purpose is predicated; and the extent to which the conception is consistent. Data is analysed from fourteen teachers who represent a cross section of teachers in secondary schools. Teachers have six ways of seeing their purposes. The conceptions include purposes focusing upon historiography, developing social studies methodology, developing a national collective identity, developing a non - national identity, developing an understanding of antecedents of current issues, and developing lessons from the past. Within conceptions representing more than one teacher, individual variations are found in the tactical plan, yet each retains enough similarity to suggest the broad categorisation. Teachers were asked to reflect upon the likely source of this conception. As phenomenography seeks to examine understanding, there is no need nor is there a way to confirm if the results reflect the actual source of their conception. However, it is significant that teachers state they believe they have developed their conception based upon certain sources. University scholarship, educational materials, the wisdom of practice, the role of students and collegial interaction are discussed as prominent in shaping conceptions. This research has important implications for teacher education and educational policy.

The aims of this study are two-fold: (a) to describe facilitators' educational beliefs about human rights education (HRE), and (b) to identify which of these are shared and are idiosyncratic. Using research on teachers' educational beliefs as a starting point for this study, the following five dimensions of educational beliefs about HRE were explored: (a) participants and participating, (b) facilitation, (c) HRE, (d) learning to facilitate, and (e) Self and the facilitation role. A sample of facilitators from North and Central America, Eastern Europe, Western and Eastern Africa, and South and South-East Asia who were affiliated with a large-scale HRE training program were invited to participate in this study. Fifteen facilitators were interviewed, three of whom consented to providing additional data through stimulated recall sessions. Research results suggest that facilitators' shared educational beliefs about HRE represent universal principles of facilitation practices in the field, while idiosyncratic beliefs are linked to local needs and issues, respectively. Focusing on facilitators' shared educational beliefs provides the basis for a general model of possible relationships that exist between key components of HRE. Outcomes from this study indicate that the psychological construct of educational beliefs is both a significant factor and viable research focus involved in the professional practices of facilitators working in non-formal contexts. Implications for future research and professional development arising from this study of facilitators' edudtional beliefs in non-formal educational contexts are discussed.

The aim of this study was to investigate Grade eight (8) Natural Science educators' assessment classroom practices and their perceptions about assessment. This study was based on the theory of a hierarchy of knowledge and skills that underpins the Revised National Curriculum Statement for Natural Sciences. An assumption was made that if assessment practices are to promote learning, as conceived in Curriculum 2005, educators' assessment practices must reflect a hierarchy of knowledge and skills. The educators' perceptions and their assessment practices were explored in the light of how learning is conceived to take place in the Revised National Curriculum Statement for Natural Sciences, i.e. learning is conceptualised as a "process". It was on this basis that an "accumulative" nature of learning was perceived as a relevant theoretical framework informing this study, i.e. learning ranges from simple to complex capabilities. To facilitate the educator's assessment practices and perceptions, a qualitative and quantitative approach was adopted. Interview schedules, observations and document analysis instruments were used as a means of collecting relevant data. The interview schedule included questions that elicited educators' biographies, perceptions the educators hold in relation to a hierarchy of knowledge and skills and the perceptions the educators hold about assessment. The observation schedule and the document analysis instrument were based on Gagne's hierarchy of knowledge and skills. These skills are discrimination learning, concept learning, rule learning and problem solving learning. The sample consisted of four Grade eight Natural Sciences educators drawn from four high schools in the greater Pietermaritzburg district. Three of these educators were from well-resource urban schools and one was from a poorly resourced Imbali Township. Interviews, documents and observations were analysed in terms of a hierarchy of knowledge and skills as a research framework informing the study. The results show that all the respondents assessed concrete and concept categories more frequently than the rules and problem- solving categories. This assessment strategy was common in both oral and written assessment tasks. The results exposed some inconsistencies between the educators' perceptions and their assessment practices. All four educators have unclear perceptions of the notion of a hierarchy of knowledge and skills, while in practice a wide range of categories of knowledge and skills were used in assessment tasks. The findings led to the conclusion that the policy needs to be explicit about the fact that the expected assessment standards within each learning outcome are organised around the notion of a hierarchy of knowledge and skills. This will make it clear to science educators why assessment should form an integral part of learning. In- service programmes are necessary to sensitise educators about organising assessment practices on the basis of a hierarchy of knowledge and skills. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate early childhood lead teachers' perspectives of time out, including their attitudes and beliefs, and the practice of time out in their classrooms. The study sought to detail the practice of time out, to investigate teachers' perceptions of time out, and to gain further understanding into teachers' choices regarding time out use. These objectives were achieved with the use of a comprehensive, written survey directed to 151 lead preschool teachers at 18 randomly selected preschool programs within Hamilton County, Ohio. Written discipline policies from 9 preschool programs included in the survey sample were also analyzed as they related to the use of time out. Fifty completed surveys were returned representing a well-balanced sample of lead teachers across multiple demographic variables.Results indicated that 66% of teachers were using time out and there were not any distinguishable differences among the variables collected between those teachers who used time out and those who did not. Teachers' time out practices included verbal or visual warnings for children, discussion, and redirection. Teachers defined time out as an action, as a period of time, and as a place. 63% of teachers did not perceive time out as punishment; nonetheless 55% perceived that time out had the potential to be harmful to young children. The majority of teachers using time out did so because they perceived that the child learned through time out, but other teachers indicated that young children were not able to comprehend time out. Some teachers used time out due to the perceived social and emotional benefits for the child while other teachers perceived time out to be detrimental to children's social and emotional development. Teachers also indicated that they used time out to maintain control of children.Teachers who used time out were influenced by experience, education, program policies, and because time out is a form of discipline. Interestingly, these same factors influenced other teachers to not use time out. The majority of the teachers who chose not to use time out were influenced by other methods available for classroom or behavior management. / Department of Elementary Education

This study has explored the influence of six variables on the attitudes of regular classroom teachers concerning the integration of mentally retarded students into their classrooms. The variables investigated were:1. Years of teaching experience2. Grade level taught 3. Subject area taught4. Special education background5. Teaching experience with mentally retarded students 6. Current exposure to special education programsAn attitude survey, constructed by local university professors, was distributed to 366 regular classroom teachers in Muncie, Indiana. An analysis of Chi-square values indicated that subject area taught was the most influential variable, while years of teaching experience was the variable of least influence upon acceptance attitudes of regular classroom teachers.

The purpose of this study was to see if student teachers could bridge the gap between what is taught in higher education courses and what they observe practiced in primary school classrooms by implementing developmentally appropriate practices through the use of the Project Approach promoted by Lilian Katz and Sylvia Chard. Issues and attitudes that developed were also reviewed.Two student teachers provided the data for this qualitative study. The case studies consisted of interviews, observations, and documentation examination. Positive attitudes toward research and theory emerged. Issues that were identified included time, writing lesson plans, lack of a model, and the student teaching triad. Despite the issues it was determined that providing a framework to implement theory assists student teachers when they attempt to implement theory. In this particular study, providing the framework of the Project Approach aided the student teachers in implementing developmentally appropriate practices. / Department of Elementary Education

This study examines reasons why successful and dedicated women classroom teachers become disillusioned with teaching. The four women teachers who participated in this study embody the "good and ideal" woman teacher. Yet, over a three year period of time during which we engaged in a written correspondence, they disclosed personal stories about teaching that showed their anger, pain and disillusionment. The purpose of drawing on the narratives of these women was two-fold. First, I wanted their stories to better inform my practice as a teacher educator. I reasoned that if it is successful and dedicated women teachers who become disillusioned with teaching, then it follows that their stories are worth listening to. For pre-service teachers who enter teaching for any number of reasons, these stories help us to better understand the entirety of what it means "to be a teacher". Second, I wanted to situate their stories throughout the body of literature on women teachers that challenges age-old stereotypes and the notion of teaching as "women's work". Of particular interest to the study was their silence, their unwillingness to give voice to these feelings. As such, I named this essence I was seeking to better understand, "teacher shadows": those stories that dedicated and successful women teachers are reluctant to tell, but highlight their feelings of being devalued by a society that doubts their abilities, and a structure of schooling that has little room for shared authority.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Education (Management), Durban Institute of Technology, 2004. / This research examined The role of the school principal in reducing teacher absenteeism in primary schools. The study is confined to teacher absenteeism that has a negative impact on teacher performance. It investigates whether teacher absenteeism is a management issue by examining its impact on the work performance of teachers at school. It also looks at the effects of teacher absenteeism on learner performance. / M

This study was concerned with the extent to which coping behavior, coping efficacy, and their interaction are associated with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave teaching, after the effects of gender, stressor type, perceived stress, and control over stressor are accounted for. Respondents were 266 teachers from two British Columbia school districts covering smaller urban and rural areas. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire package distributed and collected through the district mail systems including: (a) demographic data, (b) 3 subsales from the revised version of the Teacher Stress Inventory (Pettegrew & Wolf, 1982), (c) 2 subscales from a coping efforts scale (Latack, 1986), (d) a modified version of the coping efforts scale measuring 2 subscales of coping efficacy, (e) the job satisfaction subscale from the Teacher Stress Inventory, (f) the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (Mowday, Steers, & Porter, 1979), (g) a propensity to leave measure (Lyons, 1971), and (h) 8 single-item questions. Preliminary analysis was done to compare male and female teachers and to determine the influence of reluctance to complete the questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to examine relations among variables entered in six levels: (1) gender and stressor type; (2) perceived stress; (3) perceived control over stressor; (4) control and escape coping; (5) perceived control and escape efficacy; and (6) control and escape products. The first regression equation reached significance, F(10,213)=13.68, p< .01, and accounted for 39% of the variance of occupational satisfaction. The second regression equation reached significance, F(10,213)=9.33, p<.0l, and accounted for 30% of the variance of propensity to leave teaching. The third regression equation reached significance, F(10,213)=7.6I, p<.0l, and accounted for 26% of the variance of organizational commitment. Partial support was found for the influence with control coping efficacy accounting for a significant increase in the variance of organizational commitment, and the control coping x efficacy interaction accounting for a significant increase in the variance for propensity to leave teaching. Other control efficacy measures, efficacy products, and all escape efficacy measures failed to account for a significant increase in variance. High control coping behavior was related to lower levels of occupational satisfaction, organizational commitment, and a desire to remain in teaching. High escape coping behavior was related to lower occupation satisfaction. Recommendations for the school environment are made as well as directions for future research. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate