Through the use of action research methodology, this exploratory study examines the relationship between explicit grammar teaching and the development of year 8 students’ metalinguistic knowledge. The research particularly focuses on exploring the transfer of new grammatical knowledge into the students’ own writing, as well as charting their abilities to articulate the design decisions underpinning their linguistic choices. Throughout the research, students were encouraged to employ a range of supportive self-regulation strategies to meet the cognitive demands of writing. The research was conducted over one academic year and involved three different teaching and reflection cycles. Three students, with differing attainment levels, were selected at the start of the research process to be case studies. Their written work was analysed at five different points during the year: a pre-test writing assessment; a post teaching test assessment and after each of the three teaching cycles. Students were also encouraged to write reflective commentaries outlining their linguistic and grammatical choices. These data sets were complemented by the addition of case study participant interviews which were conducted within a few weeks of completing their written assessments. Both the commentaries and interviews were used to elicit students’ metalinguistic reflections regarding their written texts and the writing process as a whole. This data was inductively coded and analysed in order to identify patterns in students’ reflections. The findings are presented in case study form, highlighting individual student’s transfer and articulation of their new grammatical knowledge. This study reinforces recent research into the complexities associated with bridging the gap between grammar transfer and grammar articulation and therefore contributes to the growing body of research in this area.

A year long learning strategy course was designed and embedded in a Year 8 science curriculum. The Science Learning Strategy (SLS) program aimed to improve student ability to apply learning strategies to science, increase student achievement in science and to augment students' feelings of control over their science learning, so that their perceived competence was maximised. Achievement of these aims was monitored by collecting perceptions from students, parents and the teacher/researcher via a range of devices including questionnaires, work samples and interviews. The program overall was regarded as successfully achieving all three aims by 22 of the 24 students. The other two students found that only some aspects of the course were helpful, and felt they had learned little from the program. Thirty three percent of parents attributed positive changes in their daughter's study and learning strategies to participation in the SLS program (the remainder were unsure, or did not know of any changes). In relation to perception of academic performance, 38% of the parents interviewed believed that the SLS had a positive effect on their daughter's achievement in science. Several of these parents reported very positive effects on performance. The remainder were not sure or did not know if there had been any positive effects. No parents mentioned that the SLS program had caused a drop in science performance. The proportion of parents believing their daughters blamed disappointing results on factors they couldn't control dropped from 45% at the start of the year, to 22% by the end of the SLS program. After the intervention, 33% of parents reported that their daughters had come to believe that their science performance was affected by many factors, most of which they could control. / The teacher/researcher observed strong improvement in student ability to apply learning strategies to science as a result of participation in the program. Students were also observed by the teacher/researcher, to have been assisted by the intervention to realise that their science performance was governed not only by their natural ability, but also by factors such as studying behaviour and affective influences. In particular, the program appeared to the teacher/researcher to have helped students realise that they had control over their use of learning strategies, and that this control could influence their science performance. However, the teacher/researcher found that no statistically significant changes in science achievement resulted from student participation in the SLS course. The other objective of the research was to investigate the extent to which learning strategy education was valued and implemented by Western Australian science teachers. The 218 returned surveys revealed that most respondents recognised the need to teach these skills during science lessons. Seventy six percent of respondents considered the delivery of learning strategy instruction in the lower school science classroom to be as important, or more important, than teaching subject processes and content. Sixty seven percent recognised that improving study strategies can improve confidence and/or motivation. / Many teachers, however, had not been able to convert these views into consistent classroom practice. A moderate proportion of teachers reported teaching a variety of learning strategies; 74% of the respondents agreed that learning strategy instruction could improve performance in science. Only one teacher specifically mentioned incorporating the teaching of learning strategies with instruction in science process and content. As a future outcome of this project, the teacher/researcher will encourage other teachers to embed learning strategy instruction within the science curriculum, so that their students come to feel more in control of their learning and can learn more effectively.

This research explored the understandings and perceptions of teacher leadership in the Year 8 classroom, as expressed by teachers and students at a Catholic school, and the relationship between this leadership and boys’ academic motivation. The researcher assumed that the classroom is an organisation (Cheng, 1994) where all teachers, perhaps even unknowingly (Crowther, 1996), exercise leadership and, furthermore, that this leadership results in positively influencing boys’ willingness to learn. The research was targeted at Year 8, the first year of high school in South Australia, because academic motivation is considered most problematic during and after transition into high school (Maehr & Midgley, 1991). The research was interpretivist, with symbolic interactionism as the theoretical perspective. The methodology adopted was case study, and data were collected using: a) Focus group interviews with eight members of the Year 8 ‘core’ teaching team on issues pertaining to teacher leadership in the classroom and how this positively influences boys’ academic motivation. b) A survey questionnaire about academic motivation, distributed to thirty-nine specially identified Year 8 students. c) Interviews with five key Year 8 student informants about teacher leadership and its impact on boys’ academic motivation. Data were analysed using a “general analytic strategy” (Yin, 1994, p.102), which included the adoption of a method of “successive approximation” (Neumann, 1997, p.427). Five categories of teacher leadership in the Year 8 classroom were identified: service; authenticity; transformation; empowerment; and community. The research also established that each category involves an array of qualities that help teacher leaders strengthen relationships in the classroom, and a set of actions that enable teacher leaders to help boys complete classroom tasks. Further, results indicate that by strengthening relationships and supporting boys to complete tasks, teacher leaders positively influence boys’ academic motivation. In addition, the research presents a framework for understanding and discussing the relationship between teacher leadership and boys’ academic motivation. This framework draws attention to the relational qualities and task specific strategies in each category of classroom leadership that positively influence boys’ academic motivation.

This action research study examines the learning experiences of Year 8 students and their teacher as they negotiate aspects of their English classes. The study takes place in a regional Catholic co-educational secondary college in Victoria, Australia. The question of understanding the lived experience of ourselves and other is fundamental to this study, which is situated within an holistic, enactivist view of the world. From this perspective learning is a shared activity in which students participate in creating their own interpretation as they interact with others to bring forth understanding. The study focuses on classroom practice which aims to include all participants, through negotiation, in the actions that take place in the classroom. I have used a narrative approach to describe the way in which three action research cycles were implemented in the English classroom during one academic year. A variety of data gathering techniques was used and these included: classroom questionnaires, classroom meetings, journals, partnership observation and interviews. The main sources of data were the interviews that I undertook with each of the twenty five students in the class. The three action research cycles allowed both the students and me to reflect upon classroom activities and make appropriate changes as the cycles progressed. In addition, negotiating in this English class has helped me to better understand my students and, through reflection, to improve my teaching practice. Analysis of the data suggests that students experience greater commitment and motivation when they are given opportunities to be actively involved in contributing to their own learning. The data also supports research that recognises the importance of collaboration, positive relationships within the classroom, the importance of metacognitive skills and student voice. In addition, the findings point to the value of action research as a method of improving teaching practice.

The purpose of this study was to identify any changes in attainment, self-esteem, self-motivation and attitudes to physical education between the end of year 6 and the beginning of year 8 (during the transfer from primary to secondary school), and to establish the extent of any differences between gender, age of transfer and school attended. Consideration was also given to the ways in which continuity and promotion was promoted between schools involved in the study. Data was collected on four occasions over a 20-month period. Data pertaining to attainment was collected using observation techniques and teacher assessment, whilst self-esteem and self-motivation was collected using questionnaires. Attitudinal data, information relating to physical education, and continuity and progression data were collected using questionnaires and interviews. Results showed significant increases in attainment, self-esteem and self-motivation between the end of year 6 and the beginning of year 8. Significant differences were evident in relation to gender, age of transfer and secondary school attended. Significant positive relationships were found between attainment and self-esteem, attainment and self-motivation, and self-esteem and self-motivation, allowing a tentative relationship model to be proposed. Changes in attitudes towards physical education were also found. Whilst teachers acknowledged the importance of continuity and progression, links between schools focused on social / pastoral rather than curricular issues. Time, staffing issues and finance were identified as the main constraints to the establishment of links. What emerges is a complicated picture of inter-related factors, with no universal solution. Each teacher must consider this broad range of factors within the context they teach. In order to do this there is perhaps a need to raise awareness amongst teachers of the impact of the transfer between primary and secondary phases of education on pupils across curriculum subjects, and that this should be explicitly considered and planned for.

The number of students electing to study music at the Senior Level in Queensland State High Schools has declined over recent years. Year 8 is the last time that students experience music lessons before being faced with subject choices. This study investigates the year 8 music program - its content and delivery. What can be done to improve music teaching in year 8? How can we present experiences at this level that will stimulate students' interest; improve their knowledge and skills; and develop students' aesthetic sensitivity to the art of music? This study involved conducting an action research project in a year 8 music class. This was done in collaboration with the classroom music teacher and her class of 25 students. The cyclical process as described by Zuber-Skerritt - acting, observing, reflecting, planning - was adopted. The study aimed: (a) to document positive experiences that could be used in the year 8 music classroom; (b) to stimulate new interest in the studying of senior music; (c) to discover ways to encourage music teachers to become reflective practitioners with a view to improving their practice; (d) to offer an action research model that other music teachers could implement in their classroom. The data collection involved the keeping of journals by the teacher and researcher; recorded interviews with the teacher and students; videos and photographs of the class; as well as interviews with other year 8 music teachers. The study identified a negative attitude by music teachers to the teaching of year 8 music. The dominant theme being taught at this level is Pop Music with a foundation unit being the starting point. Year 8 students also revealed a negative attitude to music lessons. This research project has demonstrated that it is possible to set up a program which engages year 8 students in music making and provides them with worthwhile learning experiences. However, at the end of the project, there was not a significant increase in the number of students electing to study music at the senior level. The study also set up a model for action research that could be adopted by other music teachers in their classrooms. The results of reflective practice employed by the researcher and the music teacher provided positive attitudes for other music teachers and encouragement for others to implement this practice in their classroom. Further studies are needed to involve other music teachers in reflective practice; collaboration in action research (especially in the year 8 classroom); and also the implementation of the new syllabus that will have a positive effect on the future of the subject of music and a positive effect on students' attitudes to the music subject.

I föreliggande C-uppsats i Geografi söker jag ta mig an ett avgränsat ämnesområde i skolans värld genom att undersöka vad högstadieelever tänker och känner inför ämnet Geografi. Syftet med undersökningen är således att undersöka högstadieelevers tankar om och attityder till skolämnet Geografi. Undersökningens material och bakgrundsdata har inhämtats med hjälp av enkäter som elever i årskurs 7-9 vid en medelstor högstadieskola i staden Nybro i Småland har besvarat. Sammanlagt har ett sjuttiotal högstadieelever varit delaktiga i att delge sina tankar om skolämnet Geografi. Frågeställningarna som jag har utgått ifrån är följande: Vilka är elevernas tankar om, och attityder till, skolämnet Geografi? Vad har elevernas tidigare undervisning i Geografi omfattat? Hur uppfattar eleverna skolämnet Geografi – är ämnet viktigt, gillar eleverna Geografi? Vad anser eleverna vara det viktigaste att lära sig i Geografi? Att ha Geografi varje termin/läsår eller att ha Geografi varierande termin/läsår, vad anser eleverna fungerar bäst för dem? Hur rangordnar eleverna Geografi i förhållande till övriga SO-ämnen? Undersökningen ger vid handen att eleverna rankar ämnet Geografi högt. Resultaten visar dock att pojkar och flickor rangordnar SO-ämnena olika; pojkarna rankar bland annat Geografi högre än vad flickorna gör. För att med säkerhet kunna svara på varför det är just så, skulle förslagvis en longitudinell studie av elevernas attityder och tankar behöva utföras, vilket dessvärre inte ryms inom ramarna för denna undersökning, men som eventuellt skulle kunna komma att genomföras i framtiden.