What makes an effective teacher? This is the question I have tried to answer as I developed this ethnographic narrative. What is written here for you to read is an outline of what my experiences have been for the past two years, although it could have been my first year of teaching, but because I set back in the program, I will talk about both my first and second year of teaching. It traces back to the early expectations and hopes to more complex understandings of my students and myself. It has been 19 months since I started writing my ethnography, therefore you will notice my verb tense throughout the whole writing process. There are also new perspectives for each section. The project begins with a reflective piece about my personal educational experiences and my journey to become a teacher. I do wish to warn you that I have included specifically, details about my personal upbringing that may make a few people uncomfortable, but all in all this is who I am and what has helped shaped me through out the years. The work of this ethnography centers on my experience in my current position as an Intern teacher at a high school in Pomona, California. This opens with a study of three focus students who I had the privilege of visiting in their homes. This allowed me to discover who my students truly are and lay a foundation for my teaching goals. It is then followed by a section on the school, classroom, and community environment because this is what helps further analyze what shapes my students and it opens up opportunities to understanding where, how and why my students perform at the level they do. Finally, this project although the majority analytical, it is also very personal. In the last section presented, I reflect on the journey as an educator and what changes can be made to better suit my students. This section allows me to analyze how effective I have been and continue to be as an educator.

Behavioral and academic outcomes differ for students by race, ability, and gender within the K-12 public education system. Moreover, striking gaps exist at the intersection of race, ability, and gender, despite the similarity in severity and frequency of behavior between groups. Few studies, however, have examined the educational mechanisms that contribute to these gaps. Despite this, the scientific literature? shows that when educators have high expectations, students are more likely to be successful academically and behaviorally. Therefore, this study examines the inverse of this relationship by recognizing that biases likely influence behavior and academic student outcomes through expectancy bias for certain groups of students. The present study utilizes an intersectional framework of disability studies and critical race theory (DisCrit) to examine preservice educator expectations of behavior and academic outcomes of a hypothetical student at the intersection of student race, ability, and gender using a factorial vignette experimental design. Analyses consisted of factorial multivariate analyses of main and interaction effects including covariates for social desirability, tolerance, severity, and demographic characteristics. Results indicated significant and meaningful differences in expectations of behavior and academic experiences by race and ability. However, interaction effects were not detected. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

Little is known about the experiences of doctoral students who are active duty military or veterans seeking a degree in counselor education and supervision (CES). The purpose of this research was to positively impact the counseling profession by ensuring adequate representation of military-competent counselors through an exploration of the academic journey of military students. This research sought to highlight military students' perceptions of barriers and contributors to degree completion. Selection criteria for participants involved any United States military personnel classified as active or inactive. These military personnel had to have earned within the past 12 months or were currently enrolled in a counselor education and supervision PhD program at an institution accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. This research adopted a phenomenological hermeneutic theoretical approach to explore the lived experiences of 6 military students on their journey to degree completion in a CES doctoral program. The central research question focused on the lived experiences of military CES students related to their journey towards degree completion. Key results emerged in the form of themes that contributed to degree completion such as helping other veterans/giving back and programmatic fit. Themes that showed prevalent barriers to degree completion included professional identity development, military students and degree completion, environmental factors, and access to military counselors. The implications of this study for social change include supporting academic institutions in reducing the attrition rates of military CES students.

The Utah Tort Liability law was defined and a teacher understanding of the law and their liability was determined. Physical Education teachers do not have a good knowledge of the state's liability law, nor are they aware of the liability they are open to. Where opportunity was afforded, teachers were anxious to place the responsibility for their actions on someone of a higher position. This could be attributed to the fact that district and state administrators have not made an awareness of our new law. The area of liability least understood is inadequate use of professional knowledge and skills. Sending a boy into a ball game not recognizing he has an injury, or letting a student participate With a letter of permission from home when it is obvious that he should not be allowed to participate are examples. Teachers do seem to be aware of safety practices and the need to make students more aware of them; however, their reluctance to accept liability for neglecting to follow those practices would tend to overshadow the response to this section. Physical educators must become more and more aware of the safety of pupils and provide the necessary supervision to make this possible. Much more confidence and discretion needs to be employed in making professional decisions; and if the teacher's knowledge doesn't merit a decision, then additional professional advice should be sought when a student's well-being is in danger.

During the past fifteen years there has been increasing interest in the role of reflection in professional development, especially amongst teacher educators. Yet although many preservice programs now place considerable emphasis on encouraging and assisting student teachers to reflect on their practice, reflection remaings a problematic notion. There is little consensus, for example, about what constitutes reflection, how it might be identified, and whether it can be promoted. This thesis reports a longitudinal study conducted over four years which explored the above issues within the context of an early childhood teacher education program, in Sydney (NSW), Australia. The specific purpose of this study was to investigate changes in student teachers' reflection on their professional development and practice during their enrolment in the Guided Practice component of their preservice program. A strength of this study is its focus on reflection as a multidimensional phenomenon involving far more than the processes of analytical thought typically addressed by most previous research in this area. Drawing on an eclectic range of literature, this thesis argues that emotion, imagination, intuition, and contemplation can also play an integral role. As such, it asserts that reflection can be seen, in effect, as a complex and holistic search for meaning. Conceptualising reflection in this holistic manner raises numerous methodological challenges. These challenges and the methodological decisions made in response to them are outlined prior to developing profiles of the participants' reflection. These profiles indicated that there was little consistent change in the reflection of eight of the 18 participants. For four student teachers, on the other hand, there was some change, while for six, there was considerable change. Several factors which appeared instrumental in hindering or promoting these student teachers' reflection are identified. These include commitment (or lack of) to teaching and to reflection; an epistemological perspective of received or constructed knowing; and the extent to which the learning environment was perceived as supportive. The study concludes with a discussion of some of the implications for teacher educators and for those intending to undertake further research into reflection.

Although the completion of the Human Genome Project helps develop efficient treatment/prevention programs, it will raise new and non-trivial public health issues. Many of these issues fall under the professional purview of health educators. Yet, no studies have evaluated if health educators (HEs) are ready to adopt genomic competencies into health promotion. This dissertation addresses this issue by examining three research questions in three separate studies: 1) Why must HEs develop genomic competencies? 2) What are HEs’ knowledge of, and attitudes toward genomic competencies? And 3) what is HEs’ likelihood of adopting genomic competencies into health promotion? The first theoretical study proposed five arguments supporting the need for HEs to develop their genomic competencies and integrate public health genomics into health promotion. These arguments touched on various dimensions of HEs’ professional goals and ranged from professional responsibilities and competencies, to the availability of funding for genomic-related research or interventions and opportunities for future employment. For the second study, a web-based survey was developed and distributed to all members of four major health education organizations. A total of 1,925 HEs’ completed the survey and 1,607 responses were utilized in the final analysis. This study indicated that participants had deficient knowledge and unfavorable attitudes toward the CDCproposed genomic competencies. In the third study, a theoretical model was developed to predict HEs’ likelihood to incorporate genomic competencies into their practice. Using techniques from Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the model was tested with the same data of the second study. Findings supported the proposed theoretical model. While genomic knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy were significantly associated with HEs’ likelihood to incorporate genomic competencies into their practice, attitudes was the strongest predictor of likelihood. In summary, these studies indicated that participating HEs had deficient genomic knowledge, unfavorable attitudes toward a set of CDC-proposed genomic competencies, and low likelihood to adopt genomic competencies into health promotion. Relevant training should be developed and advocated. As the SEM analysis results indicated the survey findings supported the proposed theoretical model, which can be utilized to steer future training for HEs.

This study investigates Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low’s role as an art educator. The study is framed around the years of Low’s life, 1860-1927, concentrating on the years 1912-1927, when Low’s role as an art educator was most pronounced. An examination is made into Low’s early artistic influences and training, and artworks made by Low are discussed. An overview of the Girl Scout organization is presented, and Low’s working relationship with Boy Scout founder Sir Robert Baden-Powell is analyzed. Evidence of art education in the early Girl Scout movement is examined, including handbooks, artist merit badges, nature study and observational drawing, and the personal recollections of an early Girl Scout. Low’s art education contributions beyond the scope of Girl Scouts are also investigated, including her role as a charter member of the Savannah Art Club. The study concludes by suggesting a historical reframing of Low as an art educator is needed. / text

The main aim of social help is to act under natural situation at school in order to solve the problems that occur in the process of learning. The key objective of professional activities of a social educator is seeking for child’s welfare, early prevention, training of social potency, provisions of social services necessary for the child, while creating preconditions for successful human socialization of the growing child and his civil maturity. The purpose of the social educator is to be a lawyer of the child in all and every critical situation. The activities of the social educator are conditioned not only by the situation in the educational institution but also the problems of social education. While solving various problems, the social educator co-operates with school administration staff, form masters. According to the situation at school and on the basis of the main landmarks of the professional activities approved by the governing body, the social educator focuses on solving the most important problems.

Objectives of the work: To evaluate the social and pedagogical factors, having influence on the pupils‘ health and propose the model of social educator practice for fortifying the health of pupils at Kaunas Julijanava and J.Dobkevičius secondary schools. Methods: The research was conducted in November – December in 2005 after prior consent of the headmasters of these schools had been received provided that the results of the research would be presented. The research consisted of two parts: the questionnaire survey of pupils and qualitative research. First, an experimental questionnaire which was tested with one class was created and the final version was copied and given for students. The questionnaire was anonymous. The survey was conducted during a class hour with the help of the class teacher. The second part of the survey included an individual conversation with social educators. The conversation was half-structured; the social educators of both schools were asked the same questions. Results: In the comprehensive schools, almost 50% of the pupils (55% boys and 37% girls) who participated in the research have smoked at least once in their lifetime. It shows that the smoking problem exists among young pupils. The questionnaire also showed that the pupils use alcohol; 3,3% pupils from J.Dobkevičius school use it every day and 3,5% pupils from Julijanava school use it every month. The pupils are acquainted with all kinds of drugs. 93,3% pupils from J... [to full text]

The purpose of this study was to determine the nature of role conflict experienced by married black woman educators by means of a review of literature and an empirical investigation. The empirical study was also aimed at determining role conflict factors experienced to a great extent and those experienced to a slight extent. Chapter 1 deals with the problem statement, aims of the research and the methods employed to achieve the purpose of the study. The second chapter highlights the nature of the woman's role. The description of the role was given. This chapter also provided a discussion of the legal framework on the role of a woman as indicated by the legislation of the Republic of South Africa, mostly guided by the Constitution, which remains the supreme law of the country. The discussion of the nature of women's role within the home was given. Discussions on a woman as a homemaker and a mother and the physical, spiritual, moral, social, and emotional welfare were given. The nature of women's roles outside the home was presented. In the third chapter the nature of role conflict was investigated. The description of role conflict was laid out. Attention was given to a discussion of both the intra-role conflict and inter-role conflict. Factors contributing to a woman educator experiencing intra-role conflict within her home and profession were discussed. Factors contributing towards inter-role conflict were also identified and discussed. The empirical research design, questionnaire as research tool and the construction of the questionnaire were discussed in chapter four. The duly completed questionnaires returned by the woman educators as respondents were empirically analysed and interpreted in this chapter. The last chapter, chapter five, gives a summary of all the chapters, the research findings and recommendations based on the research findings derived from the previous chapters as well as an ultimate statement. The research findings indicate that most of the respondents expect their husbands to support them physically and psychologically. It is found that in addition to lack of support from husbands, time constraints are another main contributing factor towards role conflict experienced by woman educators. Despite their hard work, they are unable to accomplish all that they need to. These two factors: lack of spouse support and time constraints, need to be given the necessary attention in future research. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.