The concept of instructional leadership has become a growing interest in the discourse on school leadership. Effective schools studies in the 1970s and early 1980s found that principals who were strong instructional leaders significantly influenced school performance. While this thesis predominately focuses on the relationship between principal, school curriculum officer (hence forth as SCO) and teacher, it focuses heavily on the role of the principalship in fostering the growing emphasis on multiple leadership approaches throughout the school. The specific purpose of this study is to explore how teacher leadership and the principalship nurture student learning. It highlights the professional culture which principals nurture to engage teachers in school improvement issues. The notion of teacher leadership potentially empowers teachers to exercise professional responsibility for student learning and promotes a focus on teacher professionalism. The literature illuminated several key themes, which formed the conceptual framework underpinning the research. These included school improvement, encouragement of learning communities, teacher commitment and motivation, changing roles of principals and promotion of teacher leadership. Given the purpose of this study it seemed fitting that the approach of the study should be predominantly interpretive and orchestrated through multiple site case study. The research results confirmed the findings of the literature in terms of leadership. The response of schools to improve student learning was strongly influenced by the principal and SCO who were able to articulate school vision and engage staff in meaningful whole school decision-making practices. This study concluded that the support of the principal for the role of the SCO was a major determiner of the SCO’s success in implementing school-wide pedagogical reform. The findings also affirmed the role of principals as being able to influence student learning through their interactions with class teachers. Furthermore it is essential such interactions are school wide, agreed upon and implemented via a close working relationship with the principal and the SCO. The findings also highlight that specific work conditions had an influence on the motivation and commitment of teachers to ongoing school reform.

ABSTRACT In the early years of education, the Performing Arts assume a particular significance as learning is both in and through the Arts. When appropriately managed, they are enjoyed in their own right, but also permeate other areas of the curriculum enabling greater relevance and meaning. The Performing Arts are an excellent means through which children, in their early years of schooling explore and express their feelings. Dance, drama and music are Arts disciplines through which children investigate ideas and exhibit opinions about their known and unknown world. The Performing Arts make an effective contribution to the personal and social development of children. The Performing Arts provide an interesting way for teaching young children the values which many adults believe are vital in today's society. Through the Arts children are able to develop social competencies. Participation in the Arts motivates and enhances young children's desire to learn. The Arts have an important role in inspiring and improving the w hole school environment. This research investigated the teaching of the Performing Arts in primary schools in Catholic Education in the Northern Zone of the Diocese of Ballarat. Literature on curriculum development, education in early schooling, and delivery of the arts and education is examined, as well as the impact of the implementation of the Performing Arts stream of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards. Education of pre-service teachers and the continued professional development of experienced teachers is discussed as is the role of education systems in providing this teacher education. Generalist (non-specialist) teachers from primary schools in the Northern Zone were surveyed and interviewed to establish the current situation regarding the Performing Arts in schools. Based on the literature and the data collected and analysed from the survey and interviews, a number of teaching for learning models were proposed. These models placed the child at the centre of the educational experience, linking the school to the community. The models were informed by current Government and Catholic Education policy. The various components included the current curriculum the Victorian Essential Learning Standards, the important roles played by the school, the teacher and parents. The importance of teacher education and further professional development to ensure the teacher has the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to implement a quality program was also an important aspect of the models. Findings from the research established that many teachers had basic skills in teaching the different areas of Performing Arts, but lacked confidence in their ability to do so. Therefore, in a number of schools, programs in Performing Arts were either based around the annual school concert or were non-existent. Many teachers used simple Performing Arts activities as a means to teaching knowledge and skills in other curriculum areas. As a result of the research findings and the model development, a resource to enable and assist in the teaching of the Performing Arts was developed for the teachers to implement an appropriate Performing Arts program in the early years of education.

This dissertation presents an essential faculty development program framework for teaching and learning centers in research extensive universities for introducing, enhancing, and improving faculty development programs. In this study, the Delphi method was used to gain consensus from the study experts on essential and model faculty development programs, key goals and biggest challenges for teaching and learning centers in research extensive universities. This study included two major phases: (1) creation of the original survey instrument, and (2) conducting the surveys with the identified experts. The first phase utilized three experts in the field of faculty development to validate the questionnaire instrument. The second phase was completed by a panel of 15 experts representing 14 states and was conducted in four iterations. The study answered five research questions: (1) What are essential faculty development programs for teaching and learning centers as reported by directors in selected research extensive universities? (2) What are model faculty development programs for teaching and learning centers as reported by directors in selected research extensive universities? (3) What programs will be essential for faculty development in the future as forecasted by faculty professional development experts on the Delphi panel? (4) What should be the key goals for teaching and learning centers as reported by directors in selected research extensive universities? (5) What are the biggest challenges for teaching and learning centers as reported by directors in selected research extensive universities? This dissertation study identified 18 currently essential faculty development programs and 28 future essential faculty development programs for teaching and learning centers in research extensive universities. Additionally, the Delphi panel members provided descriptions of model programs for identified essential faculty development programs that are considered as successful best practices to faculty development. The Delphi panel also provided insights into key goals and key challenges for teaching and learning centers that can be used by directors to plan essential faculty development programs. This dissertation is significant because the results are expected to serve as a means for evaluating existing faculty development programming and guiding the planning of new faculty development programs to enhance teaching and learning on research extensive university campuses.

A qualitative case study was presented in order to explore an inquiry-based learning approach to teaching risk in two different grade 11 mathematics classes in an urban centre in Canada. The first class was in an all-boys independent school (23 boys) and the second class was in a publicly funded religious school (19 girls and 4 boys). The students were given an initial assessment in which they were asked about the safety of nuclear power plants and their knowledge of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. Following the initial assessment, the students participated in an activity with the purpose of determining the empirical probability of a nuclear power plant accident based on the authentic data found online. The second activity was then presented in order to determine the impact of a nuclear power plant accident and compare it to a coal power plant accident. The findings provide evidence that the students possess intuitive knowledge that risk of an event should be assessed by both its likelihood and its impact. The study confirms the Levinson et al. (2012) pedagogic model of risk in which individuals’ values and prior experiences together with representations and judgments of probability play a role in the estimation of risk. The study also expands on this model by suggesting that pedagogy of risk should include five components, namely: 1) knowledge, beliefs, and values, 2) judgment of impact, 3) judgment of probability, 4) representations, and 5) estimation of risk. These ii components do not necessarily appear in the instruction or students’ decision making in a chronological order; furthermore, they influence each other. For example, judgments about impact (deciding not to consider accidents with low impact into calculations) may influence the judgments about probability. The implication for mathematics education is that a meaningful instruction about risk should go beyond mathematical representations and reasoning and include other components of the pedagogy of risk. The study also illustrates the importance of reasoning about rational numbers (rates, ratios, and fractions) and their critical interpretation in the pedagogy of risk. Finally, the curricular expectations relevant to the pedagogy of risk from the Ontario secondary curriculum are identified.

A qualitative case study was presented in order to explore an inquiry-based learning approach to teaching risk in two different grade 11 mathematics classes in an urban centre in Canada. The first class was in an all-boys independent school (23 boys) and the second class was in a publicly funded religious school (19 girls and 4 boys). The students were given an initial assessment in which they were asked about the safety of nuclear power plants and their knowledge of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. Following the initial assessment, the students participated in an activity with the purpose of determining the empirical probability of a nuclear power plant accident based on the authentic data found online. The second activity was then presented in order to determine the impact of a nuclear power plant accident and compare it to a coal power plant accident. The findings provide evidence that the students possess intuitive knowledge that risk of an event should be assessed by both its likelihood and its impact. The study confirms the Levinson et al. (2012) pedagogic model of risk in which individuals’ values and prior experiences together with representations and judgments of probability play a role in the estimation of risk. The study also expands on this model by suggesting that pedagogy of risk should include five components, namely: 1) knowledge, beliefs, and values, 2) judgment of impact, 3) judgment of probability, 4) representations, and 5) estimation of risk. These ii components do not necessarily appear in the instruction or students’ decision making in a chronological order; furthermore, they influence each other. For example, judgments about impact (deciding not to consider accidents with low impact into calculations) may influence the judgments about probability. The implication for mathematics education is that a meaningful instruction about risk should go beyond mathematical representations and reasoning and include other components of the pedagogy of risk. The study also illustrates the importance of reasoning about rational numbers (rates, ratios, and fractions) and their critical interpretation in the pedagogy of risk. Finally, the curricular expectations relevant to the pedagogy of risk from the Ontario secondary curriculum are identified.

This is an exploratory study, using quantitative and qualitative tools, studying younger adult students (aged 18 to 25) at a college in Ontario and proposes that younger adult notions of possible selves are strengthened through engaging with models for possible selves by conducting informational interviews with them. Research was conducted in the classroom and outside of the classroom (but on campus) using a methodological framework informed by the scholarship of teaching and learning. Anticipated outcomes include a further understanding of the researcher’s own practice in order to improve it, a further grounding of the researcher’s personal theory of practice, and useful data for other researchers interested in using possible selves as a lens to understand their teaching. The results of the study indicate that there are other issues and concerns related to notions of possible selves, including goal-setting and a sense of having choice and control over one’s fate. Implications for practice include recommendations that more opportunities and tools for the development of possible selves be offered to students and that these opportunities can be found in existing courses and programs. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2011-04-06 14:36:02.109

No description available.

International global citizenship practica programs abound in universities and high schools across North America; indeed, they are a growing trend. However, there has been little research into their long-term impact, particularly of high school practica. This dissertation explores the influence of a high school global citizenship practicum through the perspectives, perceptions, and lives of its participants eight years later, and subsequently examines implications for personal vocation, global education practice and global citizenship practica. The research questions are embedded in cares arising from my years teaching high school Social Studies and are inspired by the global citizenship practicum in question, one which I initiated and co-facilitated. They are informed by conceptions of global citizenship and a philosophy of experiential learning. The research project itself is framed as a case study; its approach is qualitative and interpretist in nature. The research findings derive largely from interviews and written communication with 11 of 14 former practicum participants, including the practicum’s co-facilitator. They are supplemented with memories and perspectives of the author-researcher and enlightened by scholarly literature. Findings show that high school global citizenship practica, ones that include a home-stay experience, can be effective and transformative in cultivating enduring traits commensurate with global citizenship. However, these practica face potential and critical impediments and challenges in accomplishing those ends. Teacher-facilitators play important, perhaps indispensable roles in helping address these challenges and in creating learning environments that foster global perspectives and critical awareness.

The General Medical Council now requires that all new medical graduates in the United Kingdom should be able to ‘function effectively as a teacher’. This thesis explores multiple perspectives on what this means, and the implications for medical student learning in relation to teaching. There is a lack of existing literature exploring how those involved in the undergraduate medical curriculum conceptualise teaching or what it means to function effectively as a teacher. There is also a lack of literature on what teaching recent medical graduates undertake, and what, if any, learning outcomes in teaching they and other key stakeholders think should be core for the undergraduate medical curriculum. To address these gaps in the literature, original data were gathered using 1) a Delphi study with eighteen experts in medical education, 2) semi-structured interviews with nineteen recent medical graduates, and 3) focus group interviews with twelve final year medical students. The three data sets were analysed individually, compared, then synthesised with the existing literature. All three participant groups articulated a wide range of conceptions of teaching, with considerable variation both within and between groups. The great majority thought that all medical students should learn about teaching as part of the undergraduate medical curriculum. Almost all of the recent graduates and medical students viewed teaching as part of the role of junior doctors working in the UK, although only two thirds of the recent graduates said they saw themselves as teachers. The recent graduates reported having delivered a wide range of teaching in their first year of work as junior doctors, and this correlated well with the range of teaching medical students reported having received from junior doctors. Teaching undertaken by recent medical graduates could be grouped into three broad categories: informal opportunistic teaching, semi-formal pre-arranged teaching, and formal organised teaching. A total of 153 learning outcomes in teaching were suggested and rated by the expert Delphi panel in terms of how appropriate they were for UK undergraduate medical curricula. Many of the graduates and students also suggested some learning outcomes in teaching before rating the 153 learning outcomes arising from the Delphi. All three groups indicated that they thought most of the 153 learning outcomes in teaching should be core for all UK undergraduate medical curricula, although there was some variation within and between groups. The majority of these learning outcomes have not been previously suggested in the literature for UK undergraduate medical curricula, but are consistent with literature on teaching competencies expected of more senior doctors. This thesis offers new insights on what teaching means to experts in medical education, recent medical graduates and current students, comparing these between groups and with the educational literature. It also offers multiple perspectives on core learning outcomes in teaching for UK undergraduate medical curricula, and greater understanding of the teaching undertaken by UK medical graduates. This thesis could help those responsible for undergraduate medical curricula to prioritise, refine and exemplify detailed learning outcomes in teaching, ensuring their graduates are more prepared for practice. It will also be of interest to policy-makers, programme directors, teachers, students, junior doctors, administrators and academics involved in medical and allied healthcare education. It is hoped that this thesis will encourage stakeholders to reflect on what teaching means to them, the role of junior doctors as teachers and the implications of learning about teaching as part of the undergraduate medical curriculum, leading to greater engagement, scholarly debate and research in this area. This in turn may lead to doctors delivering better quality teaching, to students and trainees in medicine and other disciplines receiving better teaching, and consequently to patients experiencing better healthcare.

Das postgraduale Bildungsangebot „Nachhaltigkeit in gesamtwirtschaftlichen Kreisläufen – Sustainability 2020“ wird an der Hochschule Mittweida seit März 2012 in unterschiedlichen Entwicklungsstufen auf Masterniveau erprobt. Besondere Herausforderung des weiterbildenden Studiengangs ist es, einer heterogenen Zielgruppe das Studium neben Beruf und Familie zu ermöglichen. Da die Studierenden aus der Berufspraxis kommen, sind zudem Konzepte und methodische Ansätze gefragt, die ein forschendes Lernen und das Erlernen wissenschaftlicher Methoden der Nachhaltigkeit in Verbindung mit der praktischen Anwendbarkeit der vermittelten Kompetenzen ermöglichen. Insbesondere die Einbindung zeit- und ortsflexibler Lernformen sind bei der Gestaltung des Blended Learning-Angebotes in Präsenz, E-Learning und Selbststudium wesentliche Erfolgsfaktoren. Ein Entwicklungsziel bildet zudem die Einbindung von Web 2.0-Technologien in den Lernprozess in definierten Entwicklungsstufen....