This study explored the experiences and survival strategies of teachers in Zimbabwe in the context of low salaries that were brought by the adoption of the multicurrency system in 2009. The specific objectives were to: (i) examine the main socio-economic challenges that teachers are facing after the dollarization of the economy; (ii) establish how the teachers are coping with the challenges; and (iii) illuminate some of the key areas in which in which government may improve conditions and enhance teachers’ wellbeing so as to retain them in the education sector. To achieve its objectives, the study adopted a qualitative interpretive research paradigm. Data collection entailed conducting in-depth interviews with 20 male and female teachers drawn from primary and secondary schools in high and low density areas of the capital Harare. The objective of the interviews was to explore the coping strategies of the teachers in the post-crisis period. The livelihood framework provided the theoretical and analytical framework for the study. The key thesis of this framework is that there is a direct link between assets and the options people possess in practice to pursue alternative activities that can generate the income level required for survival. The interview guide was thus designed to solicit information of the respondents’ income levels; income-generating activities, expenditure and purchasing patterns, rural-urban ties, social networks, and community participation. The key findings of the study were that: the main socio economic challenges that the teachers are facing after the dollarization of the economy include poor salaries, poor living conditions, poor working conditions, demotivation, and restricted career growth paths and to cope with these challenges, the teachers are using the five identified forms of capital—human, physical, natural, financial, and social— to sustain their livelihoods. However a salient finding was that the teachers generally reduced their expenditure and diversified their sources of income as coping strategies. The study concludes with the following three policy recommendations. First, the government should consider using tangible compensation to improve teachers’ remuneration. Second, the government should also improving infrastructure in educational institutions to ensure that working conditions are conducive for teachers to carry out their work effectively. Third and finally, the government in partnership with organizations that promote children’s rights should mobilize resources that can be used to improve teacher motivation. These could include incentives, accelerated promotions and manpower development. / Mini Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Sociology / MSocSci / Unrestricted

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / One in five children in schools today are from immigrant families and speak a language other than English. Research reveals many teachers in urban schools feel inadequately prepared to meet the unique needs of these students. Teachers lack research- based knowledge about culturally relevant teaching and differentiated instructional strategies that benefit all learners. They do not understand issues such as ethnicity, poverty, racism, cultural and linguistic identities, and immigration. Few studies have described the nature of the learning experiences of English Language Learners (ELLs) and immigrants in urban high schools. Using identity, sociocultural, and self-efficacy conceptual frameworks (relevant immigrant pedagogy), this qualitative case study focused on classroom interactions and instructional efforts of two teachers in an English 10 class in an urban high school. The researcher observed class activities, took field notes, interviewed teachers and students, collected instructional planning documents, and photographed student artifacts and interactions. One teacher in the classroom had an English as a Second Language (ESL) certification and extensive professional development to increase her competency as a teacher of immigrants. The other teacher had English Language Arts certification. Findings indicated that relevant immigrant pedagogy was an expansive instructional framework which transformed ELLs and immigrants to grow in their construction of self and identity, self-efficacy, sociocultural consciousness, and academic rigor within a period of five months despite the prescriptive curriculum from vii the district in a restricted environment. The urban teachers displayed skills, zeal, and commitment to building a community of learners of all ability levels in class and bridged the gaps between immigrants and non-immigrants. All students grew together in their learning and socio emotional experiences and became advocates and helpers for one another, not competitors. The conclusions suggest that it is possible to improve the educational programs for immigrant students and English Language Learners through well-developed research-based instruction, and proposes a model for effective urban teacher education.

A substantial amount of research exists and was reviewed on why teachers leave the teaching profession and/or why they leave one school to teach at another school. Significantly less research exists on why teachers remain in an urban school and what they view as being the essential pieces of teacher induction. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the body of knowledge by identifying the key pieces of induction that influence teachers, with three or less years of experience in an urban school, to remain teachers in their school. A case study design was utilized in this research in order to gain an in-depth understanding of what these teachers view as being the essential pieces of induction. In response to the larger problem stated here, I have organized my dissertation around three separate, but related manuscripts: 1. The first manuscript is a literature review on the essential pieces of comprehensive induction focusing on urban settings and the role that administrators play in novice urban teacher retention. The essential pieces of induction were identified through the literature as being effective administration, mentoring, formative evaluation, empowerment, and professional development. 2. The second manuscript is an exploration into the need for school-university partnerships through the results of a questionnaire on a one time professional development held at the university. The questionnaire results demonstrated the novice urban teachers' beliefs that professional development positively impacted their instructional practices, yet did not report that professional development would have a positive influence on their students' standardized test scores. 3. The third manuscript is a case study of Brookstay Elementary, an urban school successfully retaining novice urban teachers. This case study gives specific examples of how the essential pieces of comprehensive induction are seen through the eyes of novice urban teachers as well as provides evidence for the importance of building a positive school culture in order to retain novice urban teachers.

The purposes of the study were: (1) to determine whether the experience of attending a human relations workshop produces a change in anxiety levels as measured by two instruments, the Janet Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale and the Anxiety Scale (Omnibus Personality Inventory); (2) to compare the mean anxiety scores of the experimental treatment group and the control group using the variables of sex, teaching level, and years of experience in public school teaching; and (3) to determine the retention effect on anxiety over an intervening time span of four months for the experimental treatment group. The following are conclusions derived from this study: 1. Whatever effect the experience of attending a human relations workshop had, it cannot be measured by the Anxiety Scale (OPI) or the TMAS. 2. No segment of a school population will experience increased anxiety as a result of attending a Thiokol human relations workshop (1). 3. No significant changes in levels of teacher anxiety can be expected from attending a one-week human relations workshop with the possible exception of individuals with six or more years’ experience who did report lowered anxiety. 4. There is no longitudinal effect on levels of anxiety for teachers as a result of a human relations workshop experience.

Based on previous studies and the author's observations pre-service teachers do not typically consider teaching in underserved areas as their preferred option (Aragon et al., 2014). My goal for this study was to provide PSTs with a different perspective on teaching in urban areas by developing a compendium of evidenced-based practices based on the five major patterns found in effective teaching in underserved elementary schools. A qualitative content analysis of research on teacher effectiveness in underserved, underfunded, and under-resourced elementary schools allowed me to gather data from previous studies to identify evidenced-based best practices for this particular setting. Based on the review of literature, I found the following five major patterns when discussing teacher effectiveness in underserved, underfunded, and under-resourced elementary schools: Student-Teacher Relationships, Safe and Supportive, Learning Environment, Real-world Connections, Collaborative Learning, and Differentiation. Pre-service teachers considering working in an urban environment and veteran teachers can benefit from learning about these five commonalities found in effective instruction when serving underserved populations. A comprehensive website was created to provide educators with a resource that concisely explains evidence-based practices in the urban education setting.

This study investigates the “the cost of caring” (Figley, 1995) for educators who teach and work with traumatized children; that is children who live in challenging social environments with ongoing stressors, such as family physical abuse, sexual assault, neglect, community violence, bereavement and loss issues, parental mental health and substance abuse, and homelessness. This study examines the theoretical framework of Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS). The phenomenon of STS has been investigated in depth for professionals, such as social workers, counselors/therapists, hotline/crisis workers, law enforcement officers, nurses, emergency medical technicians/paramedics, firefighters, and disaster relief workers (Bride et al, 2007). This study explores how teachers address the emotional stressors of teaching traumatized children, the impact of their work on them both personally and professionally, if teachers are able to incorporate self-care strategies, and explores the applicability of STS to elementary educators

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This study examined the differences in teacher racial ideology among white teachers in urban, suburban, and rural areas. This study advances the scholarship on the ideological frames used by teachers in urban, suburban, and rural areas through an examination of the differences in teachers’ discourse and racial ideology. Using contact theory, this study employed interviews to examine teachers’ discourse related to racial inequality in education to determine whether there were similarities in teacher discourse within and across urban, suburban, and rural areas with differing racial compositions. Interviews were conducted with 42 teachers in urban, suburban, and rural school districts during the 2014-2015 school year. There were three major findings in this study. First, four original frames of color-conscious racial ideology were present in data across urban, suburban, and rural areas. Second, teachers across all areas employ the systemic responsibility frame to talk about the achievement gap, and the cultural racism frame to talk about increased violence in urban areas, revealing that teachers frame some topics similarly across areas of differing racial composition. Third, analysis of teacher racial ideologies using the eight frames of color-conscious and color-blind racial ideology reveal that teachers within Lincoln City, Gresham, and Arcadia employ specific frames within each area to talk about racial inequality in education. Further, teachers in Lincoln City and Gresham framed racial inequality in education more consistently using color-conscious frames than teachers in Arcadia, indicating that contact with outgroup members also shapes teacher racial ideology. / Urban Education

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