Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / Changes in climate are being experienced by people globally, and increasingly pushing into school science. Educators struggle to make sense of the critical thinking and agency youth will need to face such changes. To this end climate change curriculum, teaching and learning in schools has garnered significant attention in educational research in the last decade. This is particularly important given that formal education is viewed as an important canvas for building the capacity of young people. However, curriculum materials are mostly understudied and taken for granted. In addition, there is also a paucity of scholarship from the global South with respect to climate change education. To address the need for climate change education as well as inclusion of international perspectives, this dissertation presents an analysis of climate change content in select textbooks and supplementary educational materials from Bangladesh, California & Ghana, and three widely different jurisdictions. Using a cultural politics framework, I explored the following questions related to climate change content in textbooks and supplementary materials: (1) How is climate change portrayed in select official/state approved textbooks (2) How is climate change portrayed in supplementary materials? (3) What are the similarities and differences the textbooks and supplementary materials? Using a classical content analysis approach, I show that the content in all three textbooks acknowledged the contributions of human activity to climate change, for example discussing the primary role of human activity to the warming of the planet. However, there were some distinct differences when it came to discussions around the scientific consensus on climate change. While Bangladesh fully noted the scientific consensus, California presented mixed messaging and Ghana did not reference the scientific consensus at all. The textbooks from the three jurisdictions included local and global climate change impacts and policy solutions. My analysis also showed that the two supplementary materials from the United States used different frames to challenge each other’s messaging. And while Heartland Institute cast doubt on the scientific consensus, the Paleontological Research Institution embraced it. Lastly, the United Nations, as an exemplar of content intended for an international audience, was constructed similar to the textbooks in attempting to balance local and global perspectives on climate policy solutions. Importantly, I argue that textbooks and supplementary materials need to provide robust content that attends to the context-specific complexity of climate change. I discuss cultural influences on climate change education. Finally, I conclude with recommendations for the inclusion of more localized ideas on climate change impact and policies / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

This study aimed to map how much space is given to the five world religions in two textbooks used to teach history 1b at high school in Sweden, as well as how these are presented based on Jackson's theoretical perspective of representation. Part of the questions discussed had a descriptive nature and were used to investigated how much space was given to religions in the study material. With a deductive approach, Jackson's model describing concepts of religious tradition, group, individual, bounded systems of belief and personal and flexible model was used to see similarities and differences in how different religions were presented in the textbooks. Through a qualitative content analysis, the material was analyzed based on the categories controlling and developing, which had been derived from the coded material based on an inductive working method. The results show that there is little variation in the context in which the religions are presented, and that there is an imbalance in how much space is given to them. Comparing the results against the background of Jackson's theoretical perspective of representation, the results further shows that it is only Christianity that is presented based on all of Jackson’s three levels (religious tradition, group and individual). The overall picture of how the five largest world religions are presented in the material therefore, cannot be understood based on a personal flexible model for teaching.

This study revolves around calculating the extent of appearance of both anonymously and named men and women as well as determining whether or not Yvonne Hirdman’s gender theory is applicable on two versions of a Swedish educational history textbook called Epos: historia: för gymnasieskolans kurs A (2008) and Epos [historia] 1b (2012), published for two different curriculum. Our qualitative investigation of two parts of the book’s content proves that the two principles of gender system are present in both books, although to a lesser extent in the latter version. Calculating the material, results have shown that anonymous men and women are almost equally presented in Epos 2012, which is not the case in the 2008 version. However, studying the extent of named men and women, we can determine that male characters are overrepresented in both versions, with a total of 80 % of all persons named in the books being of the male gender. To further problematize our material, we discuss how the student’s identity, based on E.H. Erikson’s theory of identity, could be affected by the subject matter content. We believe that it can be malicious to student’s self-image, and that it is the teacher’s responsibility to debate with the students about how the gender system’s two principles are present in our society.

Skolverket claims from a study that students are using school textbooks that are outdated and doesn't reach the curriculum of Lgy11. The first aim of the study, therefore, is to find out if outdated upper secondary school textbooks are used at high schools today. The second aim of the study is to analyse Christianity, Judaism, conception of life, ethical models and the relationship between religion and science in the textbooks to see if they attain to Lgy11. The textbooks that are analyzed is selected by a sample in terms of email contacts form various high school teachers, from different cities around Sweden. The textbooks that were selected by the sample was published before and after 2011 to see the differences on how close the textbooks are according with the current curriculum published in 2011. The method that has been used in the study in order to analyze the textbooks are content analysis with different categories from Lgy11.

This study is an attempt to determine how a course in general mathematics can satisfy some of the needs of youth. The purpose of this study is to find out how the course in general mathematics can be made to contribute effectively to pupil growth, and how well the present course is contributing to pupil growth.

The problem of this study was to determine the suitability of available industrial arts textbooks for classroom use in the subject area of power mechanics. Criteria used in determining the subject matter content and format suitability of the textbooks were selected from previous research and applied to the textbooks by five jurors. Only one of the eight textbooks evaluated for subject matter content was found suitable for use in courses in power mechanics, while all of the textbooks were found suitable when evaluated for format. In order to conduct a comprehensive industrial arts power mechanics program, teachers must rely on supplementary materials in classroom instruction because of the low levels of subject matter suitability of the textbooks.

The education program in America began with the self-contained classroom and is today gradually moving back to that concept. It is believed that more attention can be given to the interests, needs, and abilities of the pupil if he is allowed to remain in his home room with his teacher throughout the school day. This is especially true in the primary grades. In many cases the primary teachers have only the minimum requirement by law of six hours credit in music.9 Furthermore, it is known that many primary teachers have little or no supervision from a music specialist. It is with these facts in view that this tabulation is needed for aid in the appraisal and selection of textbooks available for the teaching of music in grades one, two and three.

O trabalho analisa o percurso estabelecido pelo livro didático de Geografia Trança Criança, volume de 4ª série, desde as diretrizes e avaliação do MEC, no contexto do Programa Nacional do Livro Didático, até o uso numa determinada sala de aula. Trança Criança foi a coleção de Geografia mais bem avaliada pelo MEC no PNLD 2004. O objeto selecionado permitiu examinar práticas e representações de atores da cadeia do livro didático: MEC e avaliadores; indústria editorial (autores, editores e técnicos de editoração); e, por fim, professora e alunos de uma sala de aula. O estudo aborda a materialidade do livro e a descrição enunciada de conteúdo (geográfico e pedagógico), e observa seu uso com princípios de orientação etnográfica. Verificou-se que o livro foi pouco usado e de modo diferente do enunciado pelos protocolos de leitura; a disciplina Geografia desenvolvida na sala de aula também se distanciou do conteúdo do livro. Tal fato revela que as práticas pedagógicas inserem-se numa dinâmica interna própria e se relacionam àquilo que se denomina cultura escolar (Chervel). Isso pode contribuir para elucidar a distância entre o que se pretende no discurso oficial e o que sucede no âmbito escolar; entre o que preconiza a ciência de referência e o que ocorre na prática geográfica escolar; entre o que traz o protocolo de leitura do livro e o uso que se faz dele. A pesquisa revelou também problemas na escolha do livro naquela realidade escolar, mas que podem se repetir no país em outros contextos e situações: os professores que estavam lecionando para a 4ª série na ocasião da pesquisa não haviam participado da escolha do livro no PNLD 2004. No PNLD 2007, eles atuaram efetivamente e fizeram a seleção, embora não se saiba se os que escolheram os livros são os mesmos que os usariam na sala de aula, porque pode haver mudança de professores nas escolas de ano para ano. O Guia de Livros Didáticos foi pouco manuseado pelos professores, que consideraram sua linguagem de difícil leitura e excessivo o número de páginas para cada disciplina. Os professores entrevistados relataram que preferem verificar os livros, folhear suas páginas para poder escolher, em vez de se basear apenas na consulta ao Guia. O estudo de caso apresentado revela que muito ainda está por construir na política de livros didáticos, que precisa ser dialógica com as escolas, em virtude da dinâmica interna, rotina, dificuldades e cultura própria dessas instituições. / The assignment analyzes the route established by the didactic geography textbook Trança Criança, 4th grade volume. It traces the basic route from the guidelines and evaluation of MEC, in the context of the National Didactic Textbook Program (PNLD), up to the moment of use in a determined classroom. Trança Criança was considered the best collection of Geography textbooks as evaluated by MEC at PNLD 2004. The selected object allowed for the examination of practices and representations of actors from the textbook: MEC and evaluators; publishing industry (authors, editors and publishing technicians); and, finally, teachers and students in the classroom. The study dealt with the books material and a description of the stated content (geography and pedagogy), and observed their use with the principles of ethnography. The book was used very little and in a way contrary to that stated in literary protocols; the geography course developed in the classroom was also different than the content in the book. That fact reveals that the pedagogical practices are inserted with their own internal dynamics and relate to that which is called school culture (Chervel). This could help explain the distance between that intended in the official curriculum and that which succeeds in the educational environment; between that which proclaims the science of reference and that which occurs in real school geography practices; between that which brings the books reading protocol and its use. This research also reveals problems in choosing the book within that schools reality, but might be able to repeat itself around the country in other contexts and situations: the teachers that were teaching to the 4th grade during this research had not participated in choosing the book at PNLD 2004. At PNLD 2007, they effectively took part and made the selection, even though they didnt know if the ones that chose the books were the same ones that used them in the classroom, because the teachers could have changed from year to year. The Textbook Guide was handled very little by the teachers. They considered it difficult reading and excessive in the number of pages for each course. The teachers that were interviewed reported that they prefer to verify the books, leafing through the pages in order to make a choice, instead of just basing their decision on the Guide. The study of the case presented reveals that there is still a lot to do when it comes to textbook policies. There needs to be dialogue with the schools in virtue of the internal dynamics, routines, difficulties and their own separate cultures.

The purpose of this study is (1) to investigate the characteristics of ideal physics textbooks, (2) to investigate the students, teachers, textbook writers, book committee members and science education instructors&rsquo / opinions whether the 9th grade physics textbooks, used in TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus), possess the characteristics of an ideal physics textbook, and (3) to investigate how physics textbooks should be used and how they are being used. In this study, &ldquo / Physics Textbooks Evaluation Questionnaires&rdquo / , which were prepared for physics teachers, 9th grade students, National Ministry of Education book committee members, science education instructors and physics textbook writers separately, were used as measuring instruments. The study was conducted with 591 students, 18 physics teachers, 4 book committee members, 3 science education instructors in Magosa and LefkoSa cities in TRNC, and 4 physics textbook writers in 2005-2006 spring semester. The data were analyzed by using frequency analysis. Results revealed that most of the opinions of the participants matched with the literature review in terms of ideal physics textbooks characteristics. In addition, according to most of the textbook writers and book committee members, textbooks, that were analyzed, possessed most of the characteristics of ideal physics textbooks in the nine determined categories. However, according to most of the teachers&rsquo / and students&rsquo / opinions, analyzed physics textbooks possessed most of the ideal physics textbook characteristics in all categories except instructional approach category. Students&rsquo / views on usage of physics textbooks indicated that most of the teachers and students&rsquo / levels of using physics textbooks were almost similar. In addition, all groups of the participants stated that it is necessary to support textbooks with other sources.

M. Tech. Education / It is well known that learners do not perform well in physical science. The purpose of this study was to investigate how learners interpret the role of photographs and other illustrative devices in physical science and whether learners are able to identify physical science concepts that they think are embedded in the photographs found in grade 12 physical science textbooks. The study focused on photographs found in physical science textbooks as it is clear that photographs are explicitly used in physical science textbooks as pedagogical resources. It is of great significance for learners to also understand the physical science concepts embedded in photographs.