The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of analyzing elementary school principals' perceptions of the Individually Guided Education process of staff development. A survey is made of 100 randomly selected principals from 18 states of the United States with regard to the problems of implementing the process in their schools.

This investigation is concerned with determining the extent of inservice education provided for special education personnel by the five pilot programs of Plan A. The two methods of determining this involvement are a case study of the pilot programs' inservice education and its relationship to resource agencies such as the Texas Education Agency and Regional Education Service Centers. The purposes of this study include the following: (1) determining the principles underlying the philosophy formulated by school district personnel in regard to the nature and purpose of inservice training for Plan A, (2) identifying the nature, scope, and assessment of a three-year period of inservice education for the pilot Plan A programs, (3) identifying the successful components of and the problems encountered during the three-year period of inservice education, and (4) describing recommendations for future inservice education. Only the five pilot districts are described in the case studies of Plan A programs. Data is reported in the following sequence for each of the pilot districts: background information; philosophy and goals; pre-, in-, and post-service activities for 1970-1971, 1971-1972, and proposals for inservice education for 1972-1973. Also reported is information concerning the role of the Texas Education Agency and the Regional Education Service Centers in relationship to Plan A implementation and inservice education.

M.Ed. / Science teachers in South Africa had to cope with the implementation of a host of new policies and curricula during the past years. New policies were implemented within a short space of time and teachers struggled to cope. The professional development teachers received during the implementation phase did not provide sufficient support to teachers and manifested in teacher overload, confusion and stress. For science teachers this resulted in lack of content knowledge, laboratory skills and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), to name a few. The consequence was learner underperformance in science during international and local assessments. The aim of this study is to add to current knowledge pertaining to the professional development of science teachers. The lived experiences of the science teachers during implementation of a new curriculum, their problems and needs, as well as the professional development that they received in their community of practice by keystone species were researched. A qualitative case study with a phenomenological flavour was chosen as research design. A single school was selected and data generated using interviews, observations, photos and artefacts. The findings suggest that the needs and problems of the science teachers in this case study are not sufficiently addressed through professional development programmes. No keystone species could be identified amongst the science teachers and the community of practice was found to be a pseudo-community of practice. The science teachers experienced problems with learner-centred teaching methods and practical investigations. In addition, there appears to be a general lack of applying shoestring science. The teachers experienced negative feelings and many of them lacked a sense of agency. To overcome the problems it is recommended that a community of practice be developed and nurtured for the science teachers. This should be supplemented by properly planned professional development programmes offering shoestring science, PCK and personal wellbeing programmes. The establishment of cluster groups (as ecologies of practice), in which Natural-, Life- and Physical Sciences teachers support one another, is also a recommendation of this study.

M.Ed. / The core of this study is to review and analyse the management and effectiveness of induction processes for newly-appointed educators as they adjust to their entry into the teaching profession. The study employed a quantitative research method. The aim of the research study was to investigate the perceptions of educators with regard to the management of induction for newly-appointed educators. The study was prompted by the by the need to address challenges arising from a lack of a rigorous induction programme within the Ekurhuleni West District schools. These challenges are in line with the political changes that have taken place in South Africa. From the literature review it is evident that managers are having difficulties in adequately preparing and equipping newly appointed educators for the realities of the teaching profession which include, limited support for educators, unacceptable discipline among learners, overcrowded classes and poor salaries. This research indicates that it is necessary to support educators in a personal capacity in their absorption into the teaching profession. Furthermore, the literature study revealed that educators who are not properly inducted will experience adjustment difficulties at schools which may lead to frustration and loss of confidence and, in some instances, to resignation. It is thus the recommendation of this study that educators be inducted to avoid these unpleasant experiences as well as to prepare a career development path that is customised to individual needs. The researcher used structured questionnaires to gather data. The questionnaire was distributed to 20 schools in the Ekurhuleni West District to determine educators’ perceptions concerning induction. The finding was that, at present, there is no formal system to induct educators in South Africa and the majority of school management teams lack the capacity to induct educators.The recommendation was that school management teams must be trained on how to provide induction, and the workloads of school management teams need to be reduced. There is a need for further research on the induction programmes for Department of Education officials. / Dr.L.N Conley

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Science, 2002.

A research report in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the School of Science Education of the Witwatersrand. Johannesburg, 1995. / This project is concerned with a multimedia package which incorporates comics, video and pupil workbooks. The intention as to determine the effectiveness of the package on the conceptual change of pre-service teachers, using an empirical research method and decriptive analysis of results. Logistical constraints experienced at colleges of education and schools led to an alternative evaluation of the packaqe with D.E.T. college lecturers at RADMASTE workshop. Results indicated that, if properly administered, the multimedia package can assist users in identifying and changing tneir interfering preconceptions and misconceptions while they are enjoying the story. / MT2017

Research report submitted to the Faculty of Science University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, in part completion for the Master of Science Degree, / Three case studies were conducted involving Andrew, Ferrial and Mary. A number of aspects relating to their experiences were explored and are described in this report. In addition to their personal accounts, their views about the nature of science, science teaching and learning were sought. The study also surveyed HDE students' knowledge of certain concepts related to chemical bonding and acids and bases. The case studies were observed during their teaching practice to establish how the aspects mentioned above relate to their practices in the classroom. Data was collected through intervews, journals, classroom observation both in their science methodology classes and during teaching practice and diagnostic tests. It was found that school backgrounds influenced Ferrial's and Mary's perceptions of the HDE programme. They both appreciated those aspects of the metholodologies that were directly linked to preparation for teaching, such as the mini lessons, test design, the practical work, and enriching their knowledge of science concepts through discussing science content. Both were very anxious about their competence in teaching science. They considered the assignment work excessive, irrelevant, and frustrating and were sometimes not sure what was expected. Ferrial felt .they were given too much work. Andrew, on the other hand did not seem to find any problems. He liked the practical approach followed in the classes and appreciated the suggestions made. His experiences were more of a personal nature and related to the fact that he was engaged in part time teaching. Their conceptions of science, teaching and learning were modified rather than changed during the year of study. They were not always successful in trying out their theories of teaching and learning and applying the suggestions made in the HDE courses because such moves were sometimes unacceptable to their students or cooperating teachers. In Andrew's situation implementation of suggestions were impeded by lack of appropriate facilities. It was also found from this study that student teachers had several erroneous ideas about chemical bonding and acids and bases irrespective of the depth of their chemical background. It was further found that discussing chemical bonding helped the students change some of their ideas to more acceptable ones. / Andrew Chakane 2018

The quality of early caregiving and educational environments has a significant effect on children’s later cognitive outcomes. Early childhood teachers are an important determining factor in the quality of these environments. Due to inconsistencies in practice across the early childhood field, there is a call for better prepared teachers. Teacher preparation itself is criticized for its lack of innovative and effective practices. While research finds that more effective teacher preparation programs are those that are steeped in clinical practice, these types of experiences are inconsistent and fragmented in the early childhood field. Part of the issue is the lack of knowledge on how to integrate highquality clinical experiences carefully into early childhood teacher preparation in order to prepare all preservice teachers successfully for the classroom. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the BASICS program. The program, Building and Applying Strategies for Initial Cognitive Skills, was developed by the Institute for Staff Development of Miami, Florida, for educating teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents in techniques considered essential in helping pre-school, primary grade, and special education children develop initial cognitive skills. The study was undertaken to determine the effects of the program on the self-concept, experimental beliefs, dogmatism, and pupil control ideology of in-service elementary school teachers who participated in it as an elective graduate level course. The design of the study was the non-equivalent control group design. Twelve subjects who volunteered to participate in the program formed the experimental group. Twelve other subjects were randomly selected from a graduate-level class in elementary school curriculum development to form the control group. The instructor who was in charge of the BASICS program taught the class from which the control subjects were selected. The study was conducted during the first six-week summer term of 1975 at North Texas State University. The two groups were administered pre and post the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, the Personal Beliefs Inventory (PBI), the Teacher Practices Inventory (TPI), the Dogmatism Scale Form E, and the Pupil Control Ideology (PCI) Form. The pre- and post-test data obtained were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U as a one-tailed test.