Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Narratives students and teachers'

Abstract. This study examined teacher students’ narratives about their language identities and future as language-aware teachers. The importance of the topic arises both from the current educational discussion around the topic, and the lack of research examining the connection between language identity and language awareness. In the theoretical framework, identity was explored through its flexible and multidimensional nature, as well as its connection to language and language learning. The complexity of multilingual identity and the importance of supporting multilingual identity in a classroom setting were discussed. Language awareness was studied from the societal perspective, and linguistic and critical approaches to the concept were introduced. The linguistic approach was found to comprise metalinguistic and cross-linguistic awareness, while the critical approach emphasized appreciation of multilingualism in the society. Language-aware practices connected to these approaches were examined. A narrative approach was used to conduct the study. Three narratives were collected in the form of theme interviews and the data was analyzed through thematic narrative analysis. The themes found from the data were divided under three main categories: personal themes, social themes, and themes related to the participants’ future role as language-aware teachers. The study revealed that language identity was a sensitive issue for the participants and that they saw language awareness essential in supporting students’ language identities. The study emphasized that by supporting students’ language identities and through language-aware practices, equality, learning and the holistic development of students are enhanced.Tiivistelmä. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli tarkastella opettajaopiskelijoiden kertomuksia heidän kieli-identiteeteistään sekä tulevaisuudestaan kielitietoisina opettajina. Aiheen tärkeys nousee esiin ajankohtaisesta kasvatustieteellisestä keskustelusta aiheen ympärillä, sekä vähäisestä tutkimuksesta kieli-identiteetin ja kielitietoisuuden yhteydestä. Teoreettisessa viitekehyksessä tutkittiin identiteetin joustavaa ja moniulotteista luonnetta, sekä sen yhteyttä kieleen ja kielen oppimiseen. Lisäksi tarkasteltiin monikielisen identiteetin kompleksisuutta ja sen tukemisen tärkeyttä koulukontekstissa. Kielitietoisuutta tutkittiin yhteiskunnallisesta sekä kielellisestä ja kriittisestä näkökulmasta. Kielellisen näkökulman todettiin viittaavan metakielelliseen tietoisuuteen sekä tietoisuuteen kielten välisistä suhteista. Kriittisen näkökulman nähtiin painottavan monikielisyyden arvostamista yhteiskunnassa. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin kielitietoisiin käytänteisiin liittyviä näkökulmia. Tutkimus toteutettiin soveltamalla narratiivista lähestymistapaa. Aineisto koostui kolmesta narratiivisesta teemahaastattelusta, ja sen analyysissä sovellettiin temaattisen narratiivisen analyysin periaatteita. Aineistosta löytyneet teemat jaettiin kolmen pääkategorian alle: yksilöllisiin teemoihin, sosiaalisiin teemoihin sekä teemoihin liittyen osallistujien tulevaisuuteen kielitietoisina opettajina. Tutkimus osoitti, että kieli-identiteetti oli sensitiivinen aihe osallistujille, ja he näkivät kielitietoisuuden välttämättömänä osana oppilaiden kieli-identiteetin tukemista. Tutkimus painottaa oppilaiden kieli-identiteetin tukemisen tärkeyttä sekä kielitietoisten käytänteiden merkitystä oppilaiden oppimisen ja kokonaisvaltaisen kehityksen sekä tasa-arvon edistämisessä.

This dissertation represents an inquiry into the narratives of gender embedded in the narratives of experience of a cohort of postgraduate student teachers, in the first semester of a three-semester initial (primary) teacher education programme in Ireland. The inquiry involved an attempt to explore gender narratives (using an inquiry based approach to aesthetic education) on a drama education course. The aims of the inquiry were 1) to make visible the extent to which gender, as a cultural construction, is taken for granted, 2) to interrupt culturally dominant narratives of gender with narratives that reveal their effects and the power structures upholding them, and 3) to create possibilities for the students to generate alternative constructions of gender and alternative narratives of experience. The focus was, therefore, a pedagogical as well as a research/inquiry one. The teaching/inquiry process was guided by the notion that people make sense of their experiences and shape their identities by making and sharing (or performing) stories. Guided thus, narrative and arts-based approaches were used as research/inquiry methods, as pedagogical approaches and as representational tools. Engagement with theoretical literature was integral to both the teaching/inquiry process and the subsequent representation/inquiry process. Among the theoretical narratives engaged with are feminist post-structuralism and performance studies. In these narratives, identity, knowledge and truth are constructed as provisional, in process, multiple, interconnected and embedded in larger systems of power. So, as a performance-centred narrative inquiry, this inquiry does not focus on structures or products but on the stories, tensions and performances that are produced by these structures and products. The dissertation text represents but one possible account of the teaching/inquiry process in which the students and the researcher (co)performed their narratives in the making. And, in its employment of multiple forms of representation, the dissertation text is constructed to open spaces for readers to engage with it in multiple ways.

Positive teacher-student relationships promote healthy school experiences and have been shown to play an important role in creating positive social and academic outcomes for students, including students with special learning needs (e.g., Hamre & Pianta, 2001). Most deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students are educated in inclusive school environments alongside their hearing peers, and likely receive additional support from an itinerant teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing throughout their school years (kindergarten to grade 12). However, very little is known about the significance of this unique teacher-student relationship in terms of social and emotional support, nor in what ways this relationship may help or hinder social inclusion at school. To address the paucity of research in this area, I used a narrative inquiry and multiple case study design to examine the characteristics of the itinerant teacher-DHH student relationship. Each participant (four itinerant teachers and four DHH students) participated in two separate individual interviews and was asked to reflect upon their relationship working with DHH students or itinerant teachers, as appropriate. The first interview was semi-structured and captured the participants’ perspectives of their itinerant teacher-DHH student relationships generally. The second interview focused on the meaning and significance of the itinerant teacher-student relationship. Narrative stories for each participant were written from the interview data and analyzed using a constant comparison, thematic content analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Six prominent themes emerged from the itinerant teacher narrative stores: identity development (of students), attachment, safe space, connector, advisor, and itinerant teacher identity. Five prominent themes emerged from the DHH student narrative stories: identity development (of students), attachment, safe space, connector, and advisor. This study contributes to the field of Deaf Education in terms of identifying possible important aspects of the itinerant teacher-student relationship from both the teachers’ and the students’ perspectives. In addition, the findings shed light on potential interpersonal mechanisms that may be involved in creating successful school experiences for DHH students who are educated in inclusive school environments.
Education, Faculty of
Graduate

Abstract This research focuses on studying teacher-student relationships based on memories of teachers. It asks what and how those memories tell about teacher-student relationships. The work of teachers is understood as relational, and at its core are relationships to students. Body, gender, caring, emotions and power evolved as important concepts in studying the teacher-student relationships. Personal and professional aspects were intertwined in the relationships. In this study, student memories are approached via narrative research and thematic, holistic and narrative ways of analysis are applied. The memories are understood as related to the past, but above all as a result of storytelling. They are interpreted in the present context and through expectations of the future. Memories of teachers were written by 49 students of education. A group of seven female teachers recalled their own teachers together. In addition, 141 people of varying ages and educational backgrounds wrote about their teachers via a request published in Yhteishyvä magazine. The research revealed that from students’ perspectives, there can be different sides to a relationship with a particular teacher. Relationships can also change and some even continued after a student’s school years. Teacher-student relationships were seen evolve in the institutional context of school, but also outside of it. Participants recalled how particular moments became significant in their relationship with a teacher. Those moments could define their whole memory of it. It was found that teachers are constantly being observed by students, through their bodies, emotions and personal lives. It was also found that aspects of caring and power are intertwined in teacher-student relationships. Teachers can influence their students’ lives in many ways, both personally and professionally. Relationships need time, space and small enough groups of students. It must be assured that the structures of school institutions and the increasing demands on teachers’ work promote the development of teacher-student relationships. Relationships and challenges related to them need to be central in the content and curriculum of teacher education. Teachers also need to be aware of their own pasts. Dealing with one’s own memories from school and teachers is one part of the personal, professional and collective identity-work
Tiivistelmä Tämä tutkimus keskittyy tarkastelemaan opettaja-oppilassuhteita opettajia koskevien muistojen pohjalta. Tutkimuksessa kysytään mitä ja miten nuo muistot kertovat opettaja-oppilassuhteista. Opettajan työ ymmärretään suhteissa olemisena, jonka ytimessä ovat suhteet oppilaisiin. Keskeisiksi käsitteiksi opettaja-oppilassuhteen tarkasteluun muotoutuivat ruumiillisuus, sukupuoli, välittäminen, tunteet ja valta. Suhteet tulee nähdä niin henkilökohtaisina kuin ammatillisina. Tutkimuksen lähestymistapa on narratiivinen ja tutkimuksessa sovelletaan temaattisia, holistisia ja narratiivisia analyysitapoja. Muistot ymmärretään menneeseen kytkeytyvinä, mutta kertomisen kautta muotoutuvina. Muistoja tulkitaan tämänhetkisen kontekstin ja tulevaisuuden odotusten valossa. Muistojaan opettajista kirjoittivat 49 kasvatusalan opiskelijaa. Seitsemän naisopettajan ryhmä muisteli yhdessä opettajiaan. Lisäksi 141 eri-ikäistä ja erilaisen koulutustaustan omaavaa ihmistä kirjoitti opettajistaan Yhteishyvä-lehdessä julkaistun kirjoituspyynnön pohjalta. Tutkimuksen perusteella opettajan ja oppilaan suhteeseen voi liittyä eri puolia oppilaiden näkökulmasta. Suhteet voivat myös muuttua ja jatkua oppilaan kouluvuosien jälkeenkin. Suhteet muotoutuvat koulun institutionaalisessa kontekstissa, mutta myös sen ulkopuolella. Tutkimukseen osallistuneet muistelivat, kuinka tietyt hetket voivat muodostua merkityksellisiksi opettaja-oppilassuhteissa. Nuo hetket saattoivat määritellä koko heidän muistoaan suhteesta. Opettajat ovat oppilaiden katseen alla ruumiillisuutensa, tunteidensa ja henkilökohtaisen elämänsä kautta. Välittäminen ja valta kietoutuvat opettaja-oppilassuhteisiin. Opettajat voivat vaikuttaa monin tavoin oppilaidensa elämään niin henkilökohtaisella kuin ammatillisella tasolla. Suhteet tarvitsevat aikaa, tilaa ja tarpeeksi pieniä oppilasryhmiä. On varmistettava, että kouluinstituution rakenteet ja opettajan työn yhä lisääntyvät vaatimukset edistävät opettaja-oppilassuhteiden kehittymistä. Suhteiden ja niihin liittyvien haasteiden tulee olla keskeisessä asemassa opettajankoulutuksen sisällöissä ja opetussuunnitelmassa. Opettajien on myös oltava tietoisia omasta menneisyydestään. Omien muistojen käsittely kouluajoilta ja opettajista on yksi osa henkilökohtaista, ammatillista ja kollektiivista identiteettityötä

Fostering identification with Europe among citizens could legitimise European integration. Whether such an identity exists, however, remains an on-going debate among scholars. This research returns to the foundations of how a European identity is constructed, transmitted and transformed. It explores narratives of European identity in a carefully chosen context - European Schools for children of EU officials - where identification with Europe should mirror official EU visions. A qualitative content analysis explores narrations of 101 students collected during interviews and focus groups across three schools, and analyses documents and interviews with EU officials, school directors and teachers. This analysis reveals a descriptive puzzle: official EU and European School propositions of (multi-) national narratives differ markedly from teachers' and students' conceptions of cosmopolitan and transnational identities. The EU constructs an out-group of its own nationalist past and non-EU citizens. On the other hand, students construct an explicitly European in-group, but differentiate themselves from more national and less mobile lifestyles. This disparity, in turn, reveals a causal puzzle about how differences in narratives emerge. I use process tracing to elucidate the relationship between European schooling and students' identification with Europe. The results show a distorted transmission where broader EU goals are elaborated and transformed by teachers and further fuelled by interactions amongst students with similarly mobile and multilingual backgrounds. I develop a dual mechanism to understand how the varieties of identification with Europe develop: the concept of "doing Europe" explains how students nourish a transnational social network; "telling Europe", on the other hand, considers students' exposure to European symbols and stories in school and both national and anti-nationalist narratives provided by teachers and peers. Together, this leads to a transformed but ultimately European in-group understanding. Overall, this project underlines the complexity of identity construction, given that top-down transmission gets altered even in this favourable case. Specifically, it informs future research on European identity by detailing peculiar narratives and offering a causal approach to how these narratives emerge.

My autobiographical research focuses on creating digital heterotopias through social media platforms, providing safe spaces which allow art teacher candidates the opportunity to reflect upon their practicum experiences and question the status quo of institutional myths and inherited discourses in teacher fieldwork. Functions of heterotopic space link together and reflect other pedagogical sites, including institutional spaces. Heterotopias are often designed to be temporal and hidden from public view but are necessary enclaves for exploring non-hierarchical paradigms. Such temporary communal spaces can lead one to a personal praxis in uncovering what sometimes is never fully explored, our own autobiographical narrative of teaching. By creating a digital space utilized by art education student teachers in the midst of their practicum, I recalled my forgotten autobiography of student teaching, where memories of inequities and suppression of difference emerged. Through the lenses of critical theory and resistance theory, this study examines possibilities of crafting digital spaces as forms of artistic resistance and identity reconstruction zones. As such, the goal of examining the student teaching practicum concerning; power inequities, evaluation methods, standardization of teaching, evolving teacher identities, and the social environment of teaching, is to illustrate hegemonic processes and visualize spaces of possibility to deconstruct self and (re) imagine alternative ways of being teachers. Weaving in multiple stories of fieldwork experience allowed for a collocation in visualizing a space of unfolding inquiry, recognizing multiple genres of knowing through the qualitative and emergent methodologies of narrative inquiry and arts-based research.

This study investigated teachers' narrative choice and students' historical thinking. The research examined the influence of varying curriculum materials, including a graphic novel, feature film and discovery trunk, on student thinking about the Holocaust. The study was conducted in three social studies 11 classes, taught by the researcher, in an urban public secondary school. Data used in the study consisted of student essay samples and informal classroom observations. The study's findings revealed that students' thinking about the Holocaust was multi-dimensional and fairly complex. Students' thinking, at the end of the unit, was categorized into themes: preservation of Holocaust artifacts and relics, the use of museums as sites of memory, learning lessons from the Holocaust about humanity, and the intrinsic moral weight of the Holocaust as a historical event. The use of varied resources did not provide substantial evidence of differentiated historical understanding, but there was some evidence to suggest that the varied resources impacted student understanding on a general level. In light of these findings the thesis concludes that studying the Holocaust is a valuable topic for students because they will find the narratives compelling, confront personal moral frames and benefit from thinking through the historical complexity of the Holocaust.
Education, Faculty of
Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of
Graduate

This dissertation documents the oral historical narratives of the lived school experiences of eleven participants in school at the passing of Brown v. The Board of Education. It is organized as a three-article dissertation where each article examines one topic that surfaced during my research. Article One critically interrogates the idea that integration over segregation is always in the best interest of students. It describes the positive experiences of Black students in segregated schools. Article Two describes the type of care Black teachers in segregated schools showed their students, which had a positive impact on their lives both academically and socially. It is this type of care that is often times missing in classrooms with White teachers in integrated schools. Article Three is a reflection about my journey as a Black, bilingual teacher in a teacher preparation program at a predominately White university. It highlights the importance of Black teacher voices in teacher preparation programs.

Doctor of Philosophy
Curriculum and Instruction Programs
F. Todd Goodson
As the curriculum of American schools becomes more standardized, while teachers face the elevated levels of accountability, and definition of adolescent literacy rapidly expands, teacher education programs must do more to help pre-service teachers prepare for the realities of public education (Boyd, Ariail, Williams, Jocson, & Sachs, 2006). Among these realities exists the looming pressure to demonstrate the ability to help students succeed on standardized assessments that test comprehension-based literacy skills. Meyer (1999) suggests two sets of teacher education reforms have emerged as a result of rising awareness of adolescent literacy in public schools. Meyer (1999) explains “one set focus[es] on the content of teacher education—what courses and topics should be included—and another set focus[es] on the structure—where and when should teacher education take place and who should manage it” (p. 459). In addressing the second set of teacher education reforms, pre-service teachers are often afforded the opportunity to gain valuable professional training in public school classrooms, as field experiences are increasingly seen as an integral piece in the training of pre-service teachers. And, though these initiatives have shown improvement in teacher education, there are concerns, specifically in the field of language arts, that new teachers are not successfully negotiating the void that exists between theory and practice that is evident in some public school settings. So, with an expanding definition of literacy, and the rising awareness of secondary students’ literacy practices, there is a concern that pre-service teachers may in fact be unprepared to negotiate the demands of the career they have chosen for themselves. This study sets out to examine this problem. In preparing for a career in public education, certain expectations are formed by the teacher candidate based on what he or she understands adolescents should be able to do. These expectations are formed from a variety of sources. This study utilizes narrative inquiry to investigate the experiences of pre-service undergraduate language arts teachers who are completing a series of arranged field experiences. This study uses the stories of the participants to examine how the expectations of undergraduate pre-service language arts teachers are formed in regards to the range of high school students’ literacies. The data collected in this study indicate that while each participant in the study is operating from a different life stage, each has developed her own understanding of literacy and has the ability to apply that understanding to improve her practice. The ways in which these individually unique understandings of literacy vary widely and are, by in large, based on the personal experiences of each participant. This narrative study utilizes narrative analysis to investigate the storied experiences of three pre-service language arts teachers, on traditional undergraduate, one nontraditional undergraduate, and one self proclaimed “semi-nontraditional” undergraduate. Throughout the inquiry period, the primary research participants completed a field experience at a public high school located in American Midwest. During this field experience, each primary participant assisted a classroom teacher and tutored high school students during a common study hall period. Data was collected from a variety of sources including: personal interviews, video taped observations, reflective journals, and field notes. The storied experiences provided by the primary participants and field data were then reconstructed into narratives that present a meaningful representation of each participant’s experience in the field. These narratives also served as a meaningful platform for discussion in the final chapter of the report. The results of the study indicate that the participants base their expectations of high school students’ literacies on their own personal experiences. Throughout the inquiry period, each participant recalled their own experiences as a high school student when referencing literacy practices of the high school students under their direction. The narratives further illustrate noticeable differences in the understandings of literacy between the traditional and non-traditional participants. Where as the traditional undergraduates in the study were more reflective in their assessment of high school students’ literacies, the non-traditional undergraduate was more active in meeting the needs of the students she tutored and assisted during the field experience. In addition to providing answers to the primary and secondary research questions that investigate the participants’ developing expectations in terms of high school students’ literacies, the data also present themes that contribute to a better understanding of how the three pre-service language arts teachers negotiate the challenges that come with the major life transition of entering the professional workforce as a schoolteacher. While all three participants represent three different populations of undergraduate college students (i.e.: traditional, “semi-nontraditional”, and nontraditional), common themes of fear and uncertainty are present in each participant’s narrative. While these results are reminiscent of Fuller’s (1969) findings, it is important to understand that these feelings of fear and uncertainty are still present after forty years of advancements in teacher education. Which leads to further examination of the experiences these three participants have shared about the training they have received. Additionally, because each participant’s life experiences vary greatly from the other participants in the study, these feelings of fear and uncertainty are manifested differently for each participant. The findings of this study could have lasting implications to the fields of adolescent literacy and teacher education. While the definition of literacy is expanding to include not only academic literacy but social literacy practices that students experience beyond the classroom, the data in this study indicate that the participants who are close in age to the students the are preparing to teach seem open minded to use alternative texts that support academic literacies while encouraging students to explore their own interests. Additionally, each participant shared that she could benefit from more extensive field experiences where she could learn more about teaching as it is done in the field. And, as the data collected in this study indicate, more varied experiences tend to provide undergraduates with the necessary context to more successfully negotiate the demands of providing quality instruction.

Current accountability measures require English language arts (ELA) teachers to teach literacy skills to all students. However, the population of mainstreamed students is becomingly increasingly diverse and includes students on the autism spectrum for whom literacy skills may lie in opposition to population characteristics. Further, educators are encouraged to respond to students in culturally responsive ways, and current teacher evaluation systems often require teachers to demonstrate cultural competence. However, a dearth of research provides insight into the ways secondary ELA teachers perceive their students on the autism spectrum, or how they interact with those students or support them in culturally responsive ways. This narrative multiple case study was undertaken to examine how five new ELA teachers perceived their students on the autism spectrum and if they enacted culturally responsive practices with them. Further, because the teachers were new to the profession with three years or fewer teaching experience, the study examined in what ways they constructed knowledge about how to teach the population. Themes emerged suggesting, among other things, that 1) ELA teachers perceive both strengths and challenges for their students on the autism spectrum within their content area, 2) ELA teachers rely primarily on other people to help them learn how to teach students on the autism spectrum because other resources are lacking, and 3) ELA teachers tend to demonstrate more culturally responsive practices over time with their students on the autism spectrum depending on the nature of their experiences. I propose a model to capture movement in culturally responsive practices for the autism spectrum utilizing Gay’s (2010) characteristics of culturally responsive pedagogy.

Background: In March 2020, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, suddenly and completely unexpected, governments worldwide replaced face-to-face education with emergency distance teaching. Studies showed that students and teachers, in general, had been negatively affected by the strategy. Upper secondary school teachers and students in Sweden were affected and have now worked and studied from home for more than one year. Problem: Teachers were now asked to do extraordinary things regarding course delivery and learning. However, school curricula have not changed, and it has been up to the teachers to adapt their teaching to fulfil the curricula. Few studies provided teachers’ perspectives on this extraordinary situation and why it was essential to enter the teacher’s world and determine how this affected them and their work. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the Swedish upper secondary school teachers' experiences of Emergency Distance Teaching during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Three research questions were considered sufficient to answer this aim. Method: A qualitative narrative design captured the lived experiences of Swedish upper secondary school teachers. Stories from two teachers that worked in two different school contexts were collected. Result: The stories were personal, emotional, and revealing and answered the research questions. The Qualitative content analysis identified three themes: (1) Distant and Remote Communication, (2) Key are to be Present, Kind, and Innovative, and (3) Trials. Both teachers' most decisive change and challenges were the difficulties they experienced with maintaining connectedness and the interrupted teacher-student relationship, which was especially difficult in vocational programs. The result surprisingly showed that some students had benefitted from EDT and showed higher attendance than before. The stories showed how the teachers struggled to be creative to fulfil students' vital needs and often used outside-box strategies to manage. The teachers also showed how they felt lonely and how this had affected their job satisfaction and well-being. Significant, was that the result showed that the teachers had gained new skills and knowledge of how to handle the best teaching during school closure, even if it were not the teaching that they would prefer. Conclusion: Remote and distance teaching will become increasingly important in the future, considering Anthropogenic Climate Change. There is a strong call for a holistic transdisciplinary approach to identify and manage the organizational and psychological impacts of EDT on Swedish upper secondary school teachers. Strategies specifically targeting teachers working with vocational programs and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are needed to avoid exacerbating existing disparities. Teachers required close contact with their students to have job satisfaction and they needed to be included and receive clear support, trust, and guidelines from school management.

This master thesis is about the autopoietic development process of undergraduate students of pedagogy from Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), who were studied by us in this thesis. The main objective was to search the senses wire weaved in the autopoietic development process of undergraduate students of pedagogy from Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM) and study the meanings built by the students that link them to the teaching profession. The research subjects of this study accepted to share with us his experiences by the Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido (TCLE). It s a qualitative research considering the autobiographic perspective and the methodological process involved individual narratives interviews, which one were recorded, transcribed and analised by the Análise Textual Discursiva (ATD), according to Roque Moraes (2003). The theories of this study were built by these concepts: autopoiese (MATURANA & VARELA, 2001; 2010); processo identitário docente (ISAIA, 2006); narrativas (JOSSO, 2004; 2010); identidade profissional docente (ISAIA, 2006); narrativas de Si (ABRAHÃO, 2006); investigação narrativa (ISAIA, 2006); memória educativa (FERNANDES, 2006); formação inicial (CUNHA, 2006); processos formativos (OLIVEIRA, 2006); percurso vital (MACIEL, 2006); trajetória, trajetória profissional e trajetória de formação (ISAIA, 2006) e ambiência (MACIEL, 1995; 2000; 2006; 2009; 2010). We hope, with this search, to contribute with education and teacher training of basic education, considering the theories about the autopoietic development process of undergraduate students of pedagogy, regarding the meanings built by them that link those students to the teaching profession.
Esta dissertação de mestrado versa sobre o processo formativo autopoiético de estudantes do Curso de Pedagogia da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), os quais foram os sujeitos pesquisados deste estudo. O objetivo geral foi investigar os fios de sentido que são tramados no processo formativo autopoiético como (re)significações que vinculam estudantes do Curso de Pedagogia (diurno) Licenciatura Plena da UFSM à profissão docente, considerando a trajetória inicial de formação. Os sujeitos de pesquisa estudantes do referido curso aceitaram compartilhar e narrar as suas vivências e experiências formativas mediante Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido (TCLE). Por ser uma pesquisa qualitativa de abordagem narrativa autobiográfica, o processo metodológico envolveu entrevistas narrativas individuais, as quais foram gravadas, transcritas e, posteriormente, analisadas e interpretadas por meio da Análise Textual Discursiva (ATD), sob a perspectiva de Roque Moraes (2003). A definição teórica, epistemológica e conceitual deste estudo foi construída a partir destes conceitos: autopoiese (MATURANA & VARELA, 2001; 2010); processo identitário docente (ISAIA, 2006); narrativas (JOSSO, 2004; 2010); identidade profissional docente (ISAIA, 2006); narrativas de Si (ABRAHÃO, 2006); investigação narrativa (ISAIA, 2006); memória educativa (FERNANDES, 2006); formação inicial (CUNHA, 2006); processos formativos (OLIVEIRA, 2006); percurso vital (MACIEL, 2006); trajetória, trajetória profissional e trajetória de formação (ISAIA, 2006) e ambiência (MACIEL, 1995; 2000; 2006; 2009; 2010). Esperamos, com esta pesquisa, ter contribuído com a educação e a formação de professores para a Educação Básica, ao considerarmos o referencial teórico que versa sobre os processos (auto)formativos de estudantes de um curso de licenciatura, ao considerarmos as (re)significações das trajetórias formativas discentes, assim como suas motivações iniciais, os sentidos e significados atribuídos à formação inicial e as experiências que vinculam os estudantes ao curso e, deste, à profissão docente.

Many students have problems learning stoichiometry, a complex mathematical chemistry concept used to determine how much product will be produced or formed from a given quantity of reactants. The problem addressed in this study was teachers' lack of understanding of how to teach stoichiometry in a Midwestern urban school district. The conceptual framework of the study was based upon constructivist theory. A qualitative narrative approach was used to obtain the perceptions of 5 high school chemistry instructors related to their experiences, successful or unsuccessful, in teaching stoichiometry to students in Grades 10 and 11. Data were gathered through face-to-face interviews, which were analyzed via an inductive approach to reveal 6 themes: a difficult subject to teach, presentation of stoichiometry, relevancy, students' reactions, barriers, and gender differences. Findings suggested the need for teachers to be knowledgeable, creative, and resourceful in their subject areas to help their students to learn stoichiometry. Findings also revealed the need for teachers to adapt their instructional strategies and modes of delivery to reflect their students' individual learning styles. Understanding how the participating teachers explained stoichiometry to their students might help other chemistry teachers to examine and adapt their own instructional styles and delivery methods of the concept. This understanding might, in term, help to improve student achievement in stoichiometry in particular and chemistry in general.

Latino/a students currently have lower graduation and higher dropout rates than their white peers. This population of students also performs lower on state exams. This qualitative study explored teacher-student relationships and their impact on Latino/a student populations. Using Funds of Knowledge and a social justice perspective, the study characterized positive teacherstudent relationships and ways that schools can support their formation. This dissertation study consisted of two rounds of interviews; participants were interviewed individually and then as part of two focus groups. The first phase consisted of one-on-one interviews, where the participants were asked questions on effectiveness, teacher-student relationships, and administrative support. The results from these interviews were analyzed for themes. The themes were then brought to the participants in forms of two focus groups for further exploration and clarity. Findings indicate that teachers characterize six themes in positive teacher-student relationships; student voice, humanization, trust, openness, respect, and personal connections. Three areas of school support were also uncovered; this included community circle, time to connect, and opportunities outside the classroom. The findings support the need for educators to be aware of the elements of positive relationships and to include these areas of school support in teacher and leader preparation programs.

El tema d’estudi d’aquesta tesi són les pràctiques narratives, específicament, l’autobiografia educativa, en la formació inicial de mestres a través d’una metodologia qualitativa, concretament de l’etnografia educativa i circumscrita en el cas singular dels estudiants de primer curs del Grau d’Educació Primària de la Facultat de Psicologia, Ciències de l’Educació i de l’Esport Blanquerna (URL), amb la intenció de defensar les pràctiques narratives -que donen un lloc privilegiat a l’experiència i a la reflexió- com a mètodes especialment adequats i renovadors en la formació universitària dels mestres. Hi ha cinc qüestions que han anat sortint i aflorant durant el procés de recerca i que han esdevingut eixos claus i concloents de la investigació: 1. Construir saber pedagògic des de l’experiència i des de la reflexió dels estudiants: He constatat com els estudiants han construït saber pedagògic des de l’experiència a través de l’autobiografia educativa i m’he pogut adonar de la importància que aquesta té a l’hora de construir-lo. L’anàlisi i la interpretació dels relats i de les narratives dels estudiants palesen com ells tenen la possibilitat de passar del passat escolar viscut al present com a mestres en formació i, sobretot, de projectar-se en el futur com a docents; igualment, mostren la diversitat d’idees integrades, agafades de la realitat i de la seva vida escolar, i sobre les quals han construït un saber pedagògic. 2. La narrativa i la construcció de la identitat docent: Aquesta recerca m’ha donat l’oportunitat de comprovar la vinculació estreta que existeix entre la narrativa i la maduració i la construcció de la identitat docent. És a dir, com escriure ajuda els estudiants a madurar i a construir la identitat docent, quan tot just inicien la seva formació com a mestres. L’ús de la narrativa ajuda els estudiants a mostrar-se, a conèixer-se a si mateixos i a reconèixer-se tal com són, és a dir, quan els alumnes relaten i es relaten comprenen millor la singularitat de cadascú -la d’ells mateixos, però també la dels altres, la dels seus companys-. A través de les narracions els estudiants es posicionen, projecten les expectatives que tenen sobre l’educació en general i sobre la seva futura feina, aclareixen les seves opinions, els seus punts de vista i les seves opcions educatives. En definitiva, gràcies a la pràctica de la narrativa autobiogràfica, els estudiants desenvolupen, maduren i creixen en la seva identitat docent; són partícips d’una transformació en la construcció de la identitat docent. 3. La dinàmica de grups des d’una pràctica de treball dialogal amb l’acompanyament o el guiatge d’un tutor experimentat: M’ha possibilitat constatar la importància d’aquest treball en un espai o marc de grup reduït i, concretament, la manera com es dinamitza. Això és, una dinàmica de grups des d’una pràctica de treball dialogal. He vist com la pròpia vida del grup(s) creix i es desplega gràcies al diàleg, a la participació, a la implicació i a la donació dels estudiants al grup. I tot això ho fan amb el guiatge d’un professor-tutor que ha de ser sòlid intel•lectualment i amb coneixement directe de la pràctica educativa escolar, que els acompanya amb exigència i rigor, i que els ajuda a construir una bastida a partir de la qual construir coneixement i reflexió pedagògica. 4. Una metodologia de treball universitari a la formació de mestres: La recerca m’ha possibilitat, també, fer una reflexió sobre la metodologia de treball universitari, de pensar com es pot treballar en la formació inicial de mestres a la universitat. 5. Una clau per a replantejar el currículum dels estudis d’Educació: Aquesta investigació m’ha permès descobrir una manera, una nova clau d’accés al currículum dels estudis d’Educació. La pràctica de la narrativa de l’autobiografia educativa m’ha mostrat una manera d’atansar-se i d’obrir el currículum des de l’experiència. Així he pogut constatar que a partir dels relats dels estudiants -des de les seves experiències i reflexions educatives- s’obre una possibilitat diferent d’abordatge de continguts i de competències.
The main topic of this doctoral thesis is the analysis of narrative practices, specifically, those related to educational autobiographies during the initial formation of teachers through a qualitative methodology based on educational ethnography. The study is circumscribed to first year students in the Primary Education Degree at the “Facultat de Psicologia, Ciències de l'Educació i de l'Esport Blanquerna (URL)”. The aim is to defend narrative practices as a suitable and innovative method for pre-service university teacher training because they situate experience and reflection in a privileged position. Throughout this research, I have investigated and deepened into narrative practices and, moreover, into how they can influence the identity building of teachers in a significant way while they are in their initial formation. I have confirmed how the students have built educational knowledge through their educational autobiographies. I have also been able to document the relevance of experience to enable the construction of educational knowledge. This research has given me the opportunity to corroborate the sound connection between the narratives, and the maturity and identity building of the teachers. That is to say, how writing can help students to increase their own maturity when they have just started in their training as teachers. It has given me the possibility to affirm the importance of this work with a small group of people, specifically, how it can be dynamized and activated through group dynamics focusing on dialogue practices. The research has also given me the opportunity to think about university methodologies and to think about best practices in the initial education of teachers at university. Finally, I want to add that this research has allowed me to discover a new way to access the curriculum in Education Studies. The narrative practices undertaken in educational autobiographies carried out by first year students in Teacher Training have shown me a way of approaching and opening the curriculum through experience. What I have been able to record from the students’ essays -from their experiences and educational reflections- is that they open a different approach to contents and abilities.

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This research aimed to analyze the daily physical education through the perception of social actors in a College of Public School Serop?dica / RJ and verify the extent to which educational policies PCN'se NCM ENEM - National Minimum Curriculum and - the State of Rio de Janeiro , from the 90s of the twentieth century , has contributed to the daily lives of Physical Education in a Public School of Serop?dica / RJ . Educational policies were chosen with the criterion of high school curriculum change . This research adopted a research approach of qualitative nature -inspired participatory research which we believe provide questions that lead us to the dialogue between the Public Policy Educational selected for research and Physical Education . The subjects who participated in this study, field research , are physical education teachers and students of the School , a public school in the state of Rio de Janeiro . The instruments used in the research were semi-structured interviews and field records , derived from observing the daily work of teachers . Data analysis was carried out Johari's about the school routine , public policy education and physical education , in constant dialogue with theoretical sources and research subjects . We note that the teachers of the college concerned using Educational Policies as : PCN 's, NCM ENEM and Minimum Curriculum - although research be conducted in the same year of its publication - in the construction of their classes , so try include what they have more than relevant to your daily life.
Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar o cotidiano da Educa??o F?sica Escolar por meio da percep??o dos atores sociais em um col?gio p?blico de Ensino M?dio de Serop?dica/RJ e verificar em que medida as pol?ticas educacionais PCN?s e Matriz Curricular do ENEM - Nacional e Curr?culo M?nimo ? do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, a partir da d?cada de 90 do s?culo XX, tem contribu?do com o cotidiano da Educa??o F?sica Escolar em um Col?gio P?blico de Serop?dica/RJ. As pol?ticas educacionais foram escolhidas tendo como crit?rio a mudan?a curricular do Ensino M?dio. Esta pesquisa adotou uma abordagem de pesquisa de cunho qualitativa, com inspira??o da pesquisa participativa a qual acreditamos proporcionar quest?es que nos levem ao di?logo entre as Pol?ticas P?blicas Educacionais selecionadas para a pesquisa e a Educa??o F?sica. Os sujeitos que participaram deste estudo, em pesquisa de campo, s?o docentes de Educa??o F?sica e discentes do Ensino M?dio, em col?gio p?blico do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Os instrumentos utilizados na pesquisa foram: entrevistas semi-estruturadas e registros de campo, fruto da observa??o no cotidiano de trabalho dos professores. A an?lise dos dados se realizou ? luz do referencial te?rico sobre o cotidiano escolar, as pol?ticas p?blicas educacionais e a educa??o f?sica escolar, em constante di?logo com fontes te?ricas e sujeitos da pesquisa. Notamos que os professores do col?gio em quest?o utilizam as Pol?ticas Educacionais, como: PCN?s, Matriz Curricular do ENEM e Curr?culo M?nimo ? apesar de a pesquisa ser realizada no mesmo ano de sua publica??o - na constru??o de suas aulas, de forma a tentar incluir o que elas t?m de mais relevante para o seu cotidiano.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008.
Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-157). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Nesta tese procuro identificar e compreender de que modo os estudantes de Educação Física (EF) da Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Dança da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (ESEFID/UFRGS) atribuem sentidos à docência, e como o estágio curricular supervisionado influencia a produção/alteração desses sentidos. A escolha da temática ocorre a partir de um “olhar” lançado sobre meu próprio processo formativo. Especificamente, ao reconhecimento do lugar que ocuparam determinados eventos, experiências e pessoas, a partir dos quais foi possível compreender a docência por outros sentidos: prioritariamente em seu sentido formativo, procurando superar a exclusividade do sentido pautado por uma racionalidade técnica e instrumental. Assim, partindo do pressuposto de que os sentidos que atribuímos a determinados fenômenos no mundo estão, de algum modo, relacionados à maneira com que experienciamos e interpretamos esses fenômenos; e que, no interior da Formação Inicial (FI) em EF, o estágio se constitui em espaço/tempo privilegiado quanto à apresentação de outras possibilidades de leitura da docência, formulei o problema de pesquisa: que sentidos são atribuídos à docência pelos estudantes de Educação Física da ESEFID/UFRGS e como o estágio curricular supervisionado influencia a produção/alteração desses sentidos? Servindo-me de observações participantes, de registros em diário de campo, de entrevistas e de análise de documentos como opções teórico-metodológicas, desenvolvi uma pesquisa narrativa com a qual construí e aprofundei conhecimentos sobre as interpretações e sentidos conferidos à docência em EF na perspectiva de oito estudantes de EF da ESEFID/UFRGS – colaboradores O processo analítico e interpretativo dos argumentos e das narrativas dos colaboradores apontou para determinados eventos que, no percurso formativo dos estudantes, podem ser entendidos como aqueles com potencial para influenciar a produção de sentidos à docência em EF. Constituí três blocos interpretativos para olhar para esses eventos: a) O potencial das experiências anteriores à FI na produção de sentidos sobre a docência em EF; b) O potencial do estágio na produção de sentidos à docência em EF; c) Os limites e possibilidades do estágio na produção de sentidos à docência em EF: nexos com a produção curricular. No interior de cada bloco interpretativo foi possível perceber que são múltiplos os sentidos atribuídos à docência, e também são múltiplos os eventos e experiências que, no decorrer do processo formativo, possuem capacidade para influenciar a produção e/ou alteração de sentidos para a docência em EF. As narrativas dos colaboradores apontam para algumas experiências que parecem ter sido mais significativas: as experiências discentes, com distintas possibilidades de docência em EF à época da Educação Básica, e a influência das ideias e sentidos atribuídos por grupos de referência no âmbito da cultura; a experiência docente propiciada pelo estágio, assumindo este uma posição “luciferiana”, no ensejo de elucidar as possibilidades e os limites da docência enquanto criação humana; e a organização curricular do curso em EF experienciada, pela qual parece-me que a produção de sentidos à docência está relacionada à capacidade das disciplinas curriculares em apontar respostas às demandas e limites que cada estudante vai identificando na experiência docente propiciada pelo estágio É possível pensar que a organização curricular, ao destinar espaços e tempos para eventos que favorecem a apresentação e discussão de outras (novas) formas de enxergar a docência em EF, possibilita aos estudantes dessa instituição formadora desvelar outros sentidos em relação a esse ofício.
In this thesis, I try to identify and to understand how Physical Education (PE) students from the Physical Education, Physiotherapy and Dance School of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (ESEFID/UFRGS) attribute senses to teaching and how the supervised academic training affect the production and alteration of such senses. The choice of the theme takes place from a “review” on my own educational process, more specifically speaking, by recognizing the place that certain events, experiences and persons have occupied and through which it was possible to understand teaching from other senses: as a priority, from its educational sense, in the search to overcome the exclusivity of the sense that features a technical and instrumental rationality. Therefore, considering that the senses we assign to certain phenomena in the world are somehow related to the way how we experience and interpret such phenomena; and, that within the Initial Education (IE) in PE, the practice comprises a privileged space/time as to the presentation of other possibilities of viewing teaching, I have formulated the research problem as follows: which senses are attributed to teaching by the Physical Education students of ESEFID/UFRGS and how the supervised academic training affect the production/alteration of these senses? Guided by participative observations, records in field diary, interviews and analysis of documents as theoretical and methodological options, I have developed a narrative research that allowed me to build and to deepen the knowledge about the interpretations and senses assigned to PE teaching in the perspective of eight PE students from ESEFID/UFRGS – collaborators The analytical and interpretative process of the collaborators` arguments and narratives drew the attention to certain events that, over the students` educational path, can be understood as those with potential to influence the production of senses to PE teaching. I have built three interpretative blocks in order to look at these events: a) The potential of experiences previous to the IE in the production of senses about PE teaching; b) The practice potential in the production of senses to PE teaching; c) The practice limits and possibilities in the production of senses to PE teaching: links with the academic production. Within each interpretative block, it was possible to perceive that the senses assigned to teaching are multiple and that events and experiences over the path of the education process that have the capacity to influence the production and/or alteration of senses for PE teaching are also multiple. The collaborators` narratives point to some experiences that seem to have been more significant: learning experiences with distinct teaching possibilities in PE at the time of the Basic Education as well as the influence of ideas and senses assigned by reference groups in the realm of culture; the teaching experience provided by the practice which takes over a “luciferian” position with the objective of clarifying the possibilities and the limits of teaching as a human creation; and the academic organization of the PE experienced course whereby it seems to me that the production of senses to teaching is related to the capacity of the academic disciplines to provide responses to the demands and limits that each student identify in the teaching experience provided by the practice When the academic organization allocates spaces and time for events that benefit the presentation, discussion and other (new) forms of viewing PE teaching, one can think that it renders possible to the students of this educational institution to unveil other senses regarding this professional activity.
En esta tesis busco identificar y comprender cómo los estudiantes de Educación Física (EF) de la Escuela de Educación Física, Fisioterapia y Danza de la Universidad Federal del Rio Grande do Sul (ESEFID/UFRGS) atribuyen sentidos a la docencia y cómo la práctica académica supervisada influye en la producción y en la alteración de estos sentidos. La escogencia de la temática ocurre desde una “mirada” sobre mi propio proceso de formación y más específicamente al reconocimiento del lugar que ocuparon determinados sucesos, experimentos y personas a partir de los cuales fue posible comprender la docencia a través de otros sentidos: prioritariamente en su sentido de formación, buscando superar la exclusividad del sentido enmarcado por la racionalidad técnica e instrumental. Así, suponiendo que los sentidos que atribuimos a determinados fenómenos en el mundo están, de algún modo, relacionados a la manera con que experimentamos e interpretamos estos fenómenos; y que, al interior de la Formación Inicial (FI) en EF, la práctica se constituye en espacio/tiempo privilegiado en cuanto a la presentación de otras posibilidades de lectura de la docencia, he formulado el problema de investigación: ¿qué sentidos atribuyen, a la docencia, los estudiantes de Educación Física de la ESEFID/UFRGS y cómo la práctica académica supervisada influye en la producción y alteración de estos sentidos? Sirviéndome de observaciones participantes, de registros en diario de campo, de entrevistas y de análisis de documentos como opciones teóricas y metodológicas, desarrollé una investigación narrativa con la cual construí y profundicé conocimientos acerca de las interpretaciones y los sentidos conferidos a la docencia en EF desde el punto de vista de ocho estudiantes de EF de la ESEFID/UFRGS – colaboradores El proceso analítico e interpretativo de los argumentos y de las narrativas de los colaboradores apuntó para determinados sucesos que, en el recorrido de la formación de los estudiantes, pueden ser entendidos como aquellos con potencial para influir en la producción de sentidos a la docencia en EF. He constituido tres bloques interpretativos para darle una mirada a estos sucesos: a) El potencial de los experimentos anteriores a la FI en la producción de sentidos acerca de la docencia en EF; b) El potencial de la práctica en la producción de sentidos a la docencia en EF; c) Los límites y posibilidades de la práctica en la producción de sentidos a la docencia en EF: nexos con la producción curricular. Al interior de cada bloque interpretativo fue posible percibir que son múltiples los sentidos atribuidos a la docencia, así como son múltiples los sucesos y experimentos que, en el curso del proceso de formación, tienen capacidad de influir en la producción y/o alteración de sentidos para la docencia en EF. Las narrativas de los colaboradores apuntan para algunos experimentos que parecen haber sido los más significativos: los experimentos discentes, con distintas posibilidades de docencia en EF a la época de la Educación Básica, y la influencia de las ideas y sentidos atribuidos por grupos de referencia en el ámbito de la cultura; el experimento docente propiciado por la práctica, asumiendo ésta una posición “luciferiana”, con el objetivo de aclarar las posibilidades y los límites de la docencia como creación humana; y la experimentada organización curricular del curso en EF por la cual, paréceme, que la producción de sentidos a la docencia está relacionada con la capacidad de las disciplinas curriculares en apuntar respuestas a las demandas y a los límites que cada estudiante identifica en el experimento docente ofrecido por la práctica Es posible pensar que la organización curricular, al destinar espacios y tiempos para sucesos que favorecen la presentación y discusión de otras (nuevas) formas de ver la docencia en EF, posibilita a los estudiantes de esa institución formadora desvelar otros sentidos en relación con este ofi

Latino/a students currently have lower graduation and higher dropout rates than their white peers. This population of students also performs lower on state exams. This qualitative study explored teacher-student relationships and their impact on Latino/a student populations. Using Funds of Knowledge and a social justice perspective, the study characterized positive teacher-student relationships and ways that schools can support their formation. This dissertation study consisted of two rounds of interviews; participants were interviewed individually and then as part of two focus groups. The first phase consisted of one-on-one interviews, where the participants were asked questions on effectiveness, teacher-student relationships, and administrative support. The results from these interviews were analyzed for themes. The themes were then brought to the participants in forms of two focus groups for further exploration and clarity. Findings indicate that teachers characterize six themes in positive teacher-student relationships; student voice, humanization, trust, openness, respect, and personal connections. Three areas of school support were also uncovered; this included community circle, time to connect, and opportunities outside the classroom. The findings support the need for educators to be aware of the elements of positive relationships and to include these areas of school support in teacher and leader preparation programs.

Music Education
Ph.D.
The purpose of this research was to explore how music student teachers make sense of classroom events during the student teaching internship using a required Video Reflection Assignment. Three questions guided this study: 1) How did student teachers use aspects of three-dimensional narrative space (temporality, sociality, and space) to story classroom events? 2) What aspects of Reflective Practice did student teachers illustrate in their Video Reflection Assignments? 3) How did student teachers reveal their identities as musicians and teachers through their reflections? Data were Video Reflection Worksheets (VRW), video-recorded teaching episodes (videos), and participant questionnaires. Analysis combined narrative, case study, and grounded theory techniques. Participants' answers on VRWs revealed aspects of their musician and teacher identities, dilemmas of practice caused by classroom events and conflicting stories with cooperating teachers, and provided insight into the ways participants either rationalized or reflected on classroom events. Results of the study contribute to the profession's understanding of the interplay of musician and teacher identities, and point to the importance of attending to narratives of identity revealed in student teachers' reflections through language use, as well as the alignment of student teachers' and cooperating teachers' storied identities when assigning internship placements. Additionally, results raise important questions concerning student teachers' abilities to use reflective assignments like the one in this study to self-reflect, and point to the usefulness of three-dimensional narrative space and MacKinnon's clues to detecting reflective activity for reframing teacher-educator's evaluations of student teachers' reflections.
Temple University--Theses

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Wollongong, 2005.
Typescript. Narratives are based on experiences of prospective teachers enrolled at the University of Wollongong in the Knowledge Building Community (KBC) program, which is an alternative model of teacher training. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 264-283.

Considerando o contexto atual dos processos de mudanças históricossociais que envolve a escola e a comunidade escolar e que gera efeitos na vida da escola e nas relações que nela acontecem, realizei esta Tese por meio da escuta e da compreensão dos sentidos construídos sobre a escola a partir das narrativas de dois grupos: o professorado, representado por docentes de Educação Física; e os estudantes, representado por jovens matriculados no Ensino Fundamental da Rede Municipal de Ensino de Porto Alegre e que frequentam as aulas de Educação Física nas escolas. A Tese foi orientada pelo seguinte problema de conhecimento: Na atualidade, quais sentidos são conferidos à escola e à Educação Física pelo professorado dessa área de conhecimento e pelos estudantes do Ensino Fundamental da Rede Municipal de Ensino de Porto Alegre? Servindo‐me de observações participantes, de registros em diário de campo, de entrevistas e de análise de documentos, como opções teórico‐metodológicas, construí e aprofundei conhecimentos sobre os sentidos da escola a partir da perspectiva dos sujeitos que a constituem cotidianamente, nesse caso, sete docentes e doze estudantes. Assim, a partir das interpretações, dos argumentos e das narrativas de docentes e estudantes, foi possível construir as seguintes categorias interpretativas: (1) Escola e as relações com o conhecimento; (2) Escola e Educação Física; (3) Escola e os desafios vividos pelos colaboradores no seu cotidiano na atualidade, (4) Escola, mudanças e projetos; e (5) Pensar o sentido da escola é pensar o sentido da vida. Foi possível perceber que os sentidos conferidos à escola na perspectiva dos estudantes podem ser considerados em três esferas: a escola como espaço para aprender cada vez mais; a escola que ajuda no futuro; a escola que possibilita escolhas e ajuda em seus projetos de vida. As aprendizagens construídas nas aulas de Educação Física e os sentidos conferidos pelos estudantes a esse componente curricular podem ser assim sintetizados: (1) práticas corporais e esportivas, (2) respeito, apoio e superação, (3) momento de liberdade do corpo, (4) saúde e possibilidade de cuidar do corpo, (5) lazer e a construção desse espaço no interior da escola e na comunidade. Para os docentes, os sentidos conferidos à escola e à Educação Física são múltiplos e estão pautados nas experiências e reflexões realizadas a partir de sua prática pedagógica e do que é possível realizarem nessas aulas; nos processos formativos; em suas histórias de vida; dentre outros elementos constitutivos da docência. A escola entendida como uma instituição educadora e assistencialista; um dos locais de construção de conhecimento; que possibilite a transformação da sociedade e a formação de estudantes críticos e reflexivos; que possibilite trabalhar de forma coletiva e interdisciplinar; que equilibre o conhecimento historicamente acumulado pela humanidade com a realidade vivida pelos estudantes, foram algumas das significações conferidas pelos docentes. É possível pensar que a Educação Física escolar vem constituindo‐se componente curricular na escola, sendo percebida como um espaço capaz de insuflar discussões que sugerem uma busca de sentido, outrora preenchido pela atividade física e a prática hegemônica do esporte. Foi possível entender que o desafio humano de educar e participar do processo de formação e desenvolvimento de sujeitos – mediado pela construção de relações sociais – parece estar na pauta de uma prática social continuamente incompleta, inconclusa, dada a dimensão do inacabamento humano e as contingências da vida.
Taking into consideration the current context of historical social changing processes which involves the school and the school community and that generates effects in school life and relationships that happens there, I have realized this thesis through listening and understanding the meanings constructed about the school from narratives of two groups: teachers, represented by physical education teachers, and students, represented by youth enrolled in Elementary Education from the Municipal Net of Education of Porto Alegre and who attended to physical education classes in schools. The thesis was guided by the following problem of knowledge: At the present, what meanings are given to the school and Physical Education teachers in this area of knowledge and by elementary schoo’sl students from Municipal Net of Education of Porto Alegre? Using of participant observations, field records in a diary, interviews and documentation review, such as theoretical and methodological options, I’ve built and deepened knowledge about the meanings of the school from the perspective of the individuals that constitute daily, in this case, seven teachers and twelve students. Thus, from the interpretations of the arguments and narratives of teachers and students, it was possible to construct the following interpretive categories: (1) School and relations with the knowledge, (2) School and Physical Education (3) School and challenges experienced by employees in their daily lives nowadays, (4) School, changes and projects, and (5) Thinking the meaning of the school is thinking about the meaning of life. It could be observed that the directions given to the school from the perspective of students can be considered in three spheres: the school as a place to learn more and more, the school as an auxiliary for the future, enabling choices school provides and help in their life’s project. The learning constructed in Physical Education lessons and meanings conferred by the students in this curriculum component can be summarized as follows: (1) physical and sporting practices, (2) respect, support and overcoming, (3) time of freedom for the body, (4) health and possibility to care the body, (5) leisure and construction of this space within the school and community. For teachers, the meanings conferred to school and physical education are multiple and are graded on the experiences and reflections from their teaching practice and what you can accomplish these classes, the training processes and in their life histories, among other elements constitutive of teaching. The school understood as an educational institution and welfare, one of the construction sites of knowledge, allowing transformation of society and the formation of critical and reflective students, enabling work collectively and interdisciplinary, historically that balances the knowledge accumulated by mankind with the reality experienced by the students, were some of the meanings conferred by teachers. It is possible to think that Physical Education is a curricular component constituting at school, being perceived as a space capable of inflating discussions suggest that a search for meaning, once populated by physical activity and hegemonic practice of sports. It could be understood that the human challenge to educate and participate in the process of formation and development of subjects – mediated by the construction of social relations – seems to be on the agenda of a social practice continually incomplete, unfinished, given the size of human incompleteness and the contingencies of life.

During the 1990s, the numbers of pupils being permanently excluded from school increased dramatically (Hodge, 1998). Despite concern amongst educationalists and the government, changes in the law and approaches aimed at reducing exclusion, the level of permanent exclusion remains high. Studies such as Kinder et al. (1999) and Gilbertson (1998), have demonstrated that exclusion is a significant issue within education, and that the consequences of being permanently excluded are negative for young people. Some groups of pupils are at higher risk of exclusion than others, and some of these groups are considered to be already vulnerable to educational disadvantage. Educational psychologists are able to work at an individual and whole school level, to support and advise schools and the local authority, in meeting the needs of pupils at risk of exclusion. The present study is underpinned by social constructionism, narrative psychology, systems theory, and attachment theory. Research on the topic of permanent exclusion has explored a range of issues, including factors that contribute to the causes of exclusion and approaches to reducing exclusion. Research relevant to the present study has focused on exploring teacher and pupil perception of exclusion. The study aimed to collect excluded pupils' narratives about their experiences of exclusion. These narratives were then used to guide focus group meetings with teachers. The aim of the focus groups was to explore teachers' perceptions of exclusions from two contrasting schools. The study used a qualitative methodology, and data was collected using narrative interviews and focus groups. Data collection took place within a single urban local authority in England. Six participants took part in the narrative interviews- these were permanently excluded pupils who were attending Pupil Referral Units (PRUs). Focus groups took place within two secondary schools. One of the schools had a high level of permanent exclusion and the other was a low excluding school. A range of different perceptions was identified within the narrative interviews, and each pupil's story of their exclusion was unique. It was possible, however, to identify a number of similarities between the focus groups. These included pupils having negative relationships with teachers in mainstream school; experiencing a period of difficulty and disengagement preceding their exclusion; regret over being excluded ii and feeling that things were going better for them in the PRU. Analysis of the focus group data revealed that teachers perceive exclusion to be a complex issue with multiple causes. Teachers perceived that skilled and dedicated staff, and good communication within schools, were important, in order to reduce exclusion. A number of implications for the role of educational psychologists were identified. These included supporting teachers to understand pupils' perspectives, and working at a whole school level to help develop systemic approaches to supporting pupils with challenging behaviour. Suggestions for further research included exploring the perceptions of a range of professionals who may work with excluded pupils; and further research exploring sharing pupil perspectives with teachers and teacher perspectives with pupils.

Equality of educational opportunity has been a long elusive goal of public education in the United States. This narrative, phenomenological study conducted inquiry into how five teachers in Tampa, Florida construct meaning about social class and academic achievement based on their life experiences as members of a class-based society. Data produced descriptive, narrative stories that contextualize how meaning is constructed about social class based on participants' life experiences. This line of inquiry provides relevant insight into teachers' understandings of social class which may influence the provision of equal educational opportunities to all students. The following study includes a comprehensive analysis of the current qualitative and quantitative research supporting this line of inquiry and presents findings of how teacher's experiences with social class inform their understanding of academic achievement. Findings indicate emotional support is an important factor that influences academic confidence and success. Teachers' habitus is expressed through the practice of caring for students and providing students with support through the process of public schooling.

This study is an educational narrative inquiry of life stories of 27 student teachers and 7 pedagogical counsellors in the context of an Israeli teacher education program for the elementary school. From the stance of a teacher-educator researcher I explored the possibilities of understanding studetns and counsellors as other than me. Life stories collected from the concerned group were viewed as granting narrative access into personal realms of meaning, with auto/biographical and ethnographic perspectives used as borrowed conceptual lenses to examine from a new angle, the otherwise taken for granted world of studetns and counsellors. Learning to teach was viewed as a dialectic process of personal construction situated in a socio-cultural context, and story telling, as an inherent cognitive human act of meaning making. The purpose of the research was to reconstruct `glimpses of insight' of worlds of meanings, that were brought into the learning encounter of one studetns teachers' cohort and their pedagogical counsellors, as basis for a possible educative dialogue. The study was defined as an educational, narrative inquiry, situated in a constructivist-interpretive paradigm. The constructivist-interpretive perspective was viewed as a research paradigm and a theory of learning, and the narrative approach - as an alternative mode of knowing and an inquiry method. The educational perspective was underlined by a relational approach. A 3-round-reading interpretive model developed for this study, was used for an initial narrative analysis of the individual stories. The findings ('glimpses of insight') of the initial analysis were presented through a demographic profile of the group, a mosaic-like model of the interpreted data from a bird's eye view, and a detailed analysis of four life illustrations. stories as A second phase critical analysis of the interpreted data followed, out of which three major themes emerged as frames of reference that cut across the stories: 1. Chronology and historical contexts as background to family relationships and heritage. 2. The role of schooling and military service in shaping formal biographies as introduction to early adulthood. 3. Role and meaning of learning, career and family in early and mid adulthood, as it emerged from the life stories of the women of the study. Those themes were critically examined as horizons that delineated possible landscapes of knowing with shared and unshared spaces of meaning in the worlds of studetns and counsellors. The concluding discussion of the thesis focused on three questions: 1. What difference would it make in practice, `knowing' how studetns and counsellors as individuals, placed themselves in their world? 2. How could it influence the researcher's espoused educational assumptions? 3. What would critical pedagogy mean in this context. The significance of the study, I argue, could lie beyond its personal and local context, as the three-round reading model developed for this narrative inquiry could be used not only for research purposes but even more so, for educational purposes of teacher educators, who are interested in getting acquainted with their studetns in ways that are more egalitarian, as a possible basis for an educative dialogue

This research explores the relationships between visual and written narratives, as well as the quality of engagement in art and writing processes. The study focuses on the work of second grade students in the art education classroom at a small rural elementary school. Data collection included: direct observation of the students, teacher notes, rubrics, student surveys, and student projects. The aim was to collect information on the ways in which students prefer to create and share their narratives. Results show that by providing students with choices in their learning, they are more engaged in the narrative process. It also demonstrates that by providing a variety of narrative methods, particularly the inclusion of image making, students will produce stories that are richer, more elaborate, and engaging.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Este estudo tem como propostas pensar os processos formativos que acontecem nos movimentos estudantis e como as experiências vivenciadas neste espaçotempo influenciaram e influenciam práticas educacionais que busquem ser mais democráticas. Assim, neste texto, dedicar-me-ei a refletir um pouco mais sobre a noção de democracia que venho assumindo nesta pesquisa e meus caminhos formativos como pesquisadora e professora. Dialogo com Oliveira (2009) e Santos (2007) para pensar a democracia, partindo da noção de que uma sociedade seria realmente democrática quando as relações tecidas entre os diferentes conhecimentos, culturas e valores se darem de maneira horizontal, nas quais não sejam estabelecidas formas de inferiorização e marginalização entre as diferentes perspectivas de estar no mundo. Este trabalho parte da ideia de que as experiências vividas por ex-militantes/praticantes dos movimentos estudantis ajudam na promoção de subjetividades mais democráticas eo fortalecimento desta premissa se dá através das narrativas de professores/professoras que tiveram experiências nos espaçostempos dos movimentos estudantis. Assim, procuro tecer uma narrativa através do compartilhamento de diferentes experiências docentes, não como objetivo de qualificar ou quantificar o grau de democracia desenvolvida nessas práticas, mas sim, de apresentar que são múltiplas as práticas que partilham da noção de solidariedade entre os conhecimentos, valores e sentimentos, ocorrendo elas dentrofora do ambiente escolar.
This study has the proposals to think of the formation processes that take place in student movements and how the experiences lived in this spacetime influenced and influence the educational practices that seek be more democratic. Thus, in this text I will reflect a little more on the notion of democracy that I have been assuming in this research and my formative paths as a researcher and teacher. Dialogue with Oliveira (2009) and Santos (2007) to think democracy, based on the notion that a society would be really democratic when the relations woven between the different knowledge, cultures and values give on the horizontal way, in which there are not established ways of inferiorization and marginalization among the different perspectives of being in the world. This work is based on the initial idea that the lived experiences by former activists/practitioners of student movements help to promote more democratic subjectivities and the strengthening of this premise has consolidate through the narratives of teachers who have had experiences in student movements spacetime. So I try to weave a narrative through of the sharing the different experiences, not to qualify or quantify the degree of democracy developed in these practices, but to present that are multiple practices that share the notion of solidarity between the knowledge, values and feelings, happening inside and outside of the school environment

Doctor Educationis
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between identity and differential academic performance in a cohort of preprimary teachers-in-training. The study draws on indepth interviews with, and detailed observations of, nineteen students and five of their lecturers at a college of education in Cape Town in the late 1990s. Through an analysis of the narratives of academic performance of these students, this work argues that students constructed narratives of academic performance framed by their expectations of what they considered possible for people of their particular identity. Thus as a consequence, students who shared common identities and social locations tended to share common narrative threads. This was most evident in the way in which three broad narrative perspectives emerged - framed by shared social locations of race, class, and gender, and common understandings of religion and cognitive ability. However, within each broad grouping .individual agency nuanced how each student interpreted his or her personal history and particular social locations through the discourses to which he or she had access. This work presents a. challenge to the dominant metaphor of reproduction in the field of educational studies. It is clear from analysis of the students' narratives that as active agents they were not unproblematically reproduced by the teacher college as classed, raced, and gendered subjects. Rather, they produced themselves within existing, and often potentially contradictory, material and discursive contexts. In explaining differential academic performance, this work examines the way in which narrative understandings introduce people into particular ways of life through their authorial voice and legitimating functions. More specifically, it explains how subjective narratives of academic performance introduce students into particular social actions that result in 'objective' differential academic performance as recorded on year-end mark schedules. However, in selecting narrative analysis as a conceptual framework for the work, it has been possible to motivate for an explanation that goes beyond an analysis of academic achievement and failure. In successive chapters evidence is marshaled to frame an argument that students' narratives shape their social action as agents of history, and are implicated in the distribution of privilege within society. The framing of the research question was premised on the assumption that a relationship exists between educational outcomes and access to life chances. While evidence is presented that signals how subjective narratives of academic performance are 'lived out' as 'objective' academic performance, a linear relationship between marks as academic performance and life chances is raised as problematic. It is argued that rather than merely shaping academic performance, narratives as theories of social reality frame all understandings of the social world including access to socio-economic privilege. It is these understandings that get 'lived out' in the choices that students make about their futures. A significant thread to the argument is the extent to which lecturers are implicated in the narrative understandings that students construct, and consequently in the unequal distribution of privilege in society. While seeking to explain academic performance, the study comes to the significant conclusion that narrative understandings, rather than academic performance, are implicated in the distribution of privilege in society.

This thesis focuses on student teachers’ emotional learning experiences during their teaching practice abroad. The aim is to give voice to student teachers and explore what they consider the role of emotional experiences to be in their learning. This thesis draws on transformative learning theory and specifically on emotional transformative learning. Using purposeful sampling, four student teachers from the Intercultural Teacher Education Program at the University of Oulu, Finland participated in this study. An integral part of the students’ education involves completing teaching practice in a multicultural context which could either be within Finland or out of Finland. Many students choose to do their practice out of Finland, and all those who participated in this study carried out their teaching practice in countries out of Finland. Data was gathered and analysed within the framework of narrative research. The data was gathered through in-depth interviews with the participants, and were analysed using thematic narrative analysis. Each participant’s narrative was analysed as a whole and themes emerging from their stories in line with the research question were presented. Thematic analysis of narratives was used to analyse similarities in the experiences of participants. The theoretical framework of the study guided the interview and analysis process. Participants described the kinds of emotions they experienced ranging from negative emotions like confusion, anxiety, shame, frustration and anger to positive ones like joy and fulfilment. They expressed the relevance of these emotional experiences in terms of identifying and resolving practices they perceived as unethical, overcoming fear through the power of example, finding joy in teaching, learning to have an open mind, and understanding their privilege as young European adults. Professional and personal learning was described as being intertwined, with an emphasis however, on personal growth. Deliberate discussions within their teacher training program about the role of teachers emotions was a need raised by the participants. Considering that this work is situated within the constructivist paradigm and within the framework of narrative research which aims to give voice to very subjective knowledge, it is therefore not the aim of this study to make generalisable results. Effort is made to persuade the readers that I gathered and analysed the data in a trustworthy manner, and that I remain aware of my own biases resulting from my life experiences. The participants in this research have remained anonymous.

Focus County School District in the Mideast United States experienced a 12% teacher turnover rate over the last 2 years. The purpose of this study was to explore those factors that led to teachers leaving the district. Bandura's social cognitive theory was the guiding theory to examine and explain those factors that contributed to the district's teachers' attrition. Using narrative inquiry, the teachers' thick descriptions of their experiences were collected through the interview process. The data consisted of 9 personal interviews of teachers who left the district. .The data were analyzed and coded through the 6-part LaBovian model of abstract, orientation, complicating action, evaluation, result, and coda. The semistructured interviews were analyzed with thematic analysis of the interviews. The 4 themes, developed inductively, were (a) lack of administrative support, (b) mentoring, (c) teacher preparation, and (d) salary. The results of the study prompted questions about how teacher careers might be sustained by considering each person's narrative stories. A policy paper project was created based on the findings of the study. The policy paper addresses teacher turnover in Focus County schools and ways to mitigate the turnover crisis. Positive social change will result from the school district being better positioned to improve teacher stability. Through increased teacher stability, the students will be situated for improved instruction.

This thesis uses a framework derived from the work of Wertsch and Bruner to provide a sociocultural analysis of narratives of classroom experience created collaboratively by student teachers, school based mentors and university based tutors participating in a one year secondary Post Graduate Certificate in Education course at one English university. The narratives analysed are constructed during meetings in one placement school between students, mentors and tutors after all three have participated in an episode of teaching led by the student. The thesis explores the ways in which the Professional Standards for Qualified Teacher Status provide what Wertsch calls a narrative template that 'co-authors ' student teachers narratives of classroom experience and, therefore, shapes what sense they make of their experiences and what they learn from them. The thesis also explores the process through which the student teachers master this narrative template during these collaborative narrative making events.

In 2004 as many as 25% of teachers in Sweden, Denmark, and England were willing to leave their profession immediately; in the United States much effort has been invested in studying why teachers leave the profession. In this paper, four teachers who left the profession were interviewed from within the life-story tradition. In the narratives, which were rendered in a poetic style during the analysis, colleagues were mentioned both positively and negatively. The theme of having colleagues, and especially trust or mistrust between colleagues, was thus explored. The existence or non-existence of lateral trust between teachers can be connected both to school development and to student learning outcomes.

This thesis researches teachers as civic actors. The thesis begins with defining civic activity with the help of related terms. Next civic education is discussed first from a historical perspective and then in today’s context. The roles of socialization and schools in civic education will be contemplated in order to situate the teacher as a civic actor to a surrounding context. Teachers as civic actors are then studied from the critical pedagogy point of view and lastly from a practical perspective. In the end of the theoretical part civic activity’s role in teacher education is discussed and two examples of previous studies on teachers as civic actors are presented. The aim of the research is to study the characteristics of teachers as civic actors both from the theoretical point of view and through empirical research. The methodological choice is analysis of narratives and as data there are narratives written by teachers who have been active during their studies. It can be concluded that teachers who are civic actors promote civic activity through being a role model to their students and other people around them. These teachers are, as Giroux would define, transformative intellectuals, who are critical thinkers and active agents of change. They believe in themselves, want to influence decision-making and voice their opinions in wide societal debate. Teachers as civic actors emphasize action through their example, and encourage their students to participate as well. In practice they accomplish this by creating opportunities for being active by introducing or generating arenas for influencing. Open discussion is another important tool; these teachers inspire their students to think critically and use their voice by hosting debates and using real life references that the students can relate to. Both the theoretical and the empirical part demonstrate that civic activity is important for the growth of teachers as civic actors. The civic activity experiences of the participants have transformed them as people, but also as teachers and organizational experts. They narrate that they undeniably are better teachers today because of being active and argue that the skills they acquired through organizational activities are in use every day as teachers as well. Today civic activity still has only a tiny role in teacher education even though it should prepare teachers that will raise children and youth to become future-oriented active citizens. Based on the theory and the findings of the research it can be concluded that teacher education should have a bigger effect on the future teachers in regards to being active. Teacher education should provide for the needs of future generations by ensuring that future teachers are well equipped civic actors. Teacher students need to be introduced to various arenas of influencing in and outside the faculty by their teacher educators. More importantly, they need to be encouraged to participate in action, think critically, and have belief in their ability to influence. Today’s active teacher students are tomorrow’s teachers as civic actors
Tämän tutkielman aiheena ovat opettajat kansalaistoimijoina. Tutkimus alkaa kansalaisvaikuttamisen määrittelemisellä lähikäsitteiden avulla. Seuraavaksi tarkastellaan kasvatusta aktiiviseen kansalaisuuteen ensin historiallisesta ja sen jälkeen nykypäivän näkökulmasta. Sosiaalistamisen ja koulujen roolia aktiiviseen kansalaisuuteen kasvattamisessa pohditaan, jotta saadaan käsitys siitä asiayhteydestä, missä opettaja kansalaistoimijana toimii. Sen jälkeen aiheeseen otetaan kriittisen pedagogiikan ja käytännön näkökulmat. Teoreettisen osan lopussa tarkastellaan kansalaisvaikuttamisen roolia opettajankoulutuksessa ja esitellään kaksi esimerkkiä aikaisemmista tutkimuksista. Tutkielman tavoitteena on tarkastella sekä teorian että empirian avulla, mitä ominaisuuksia on opettajilla, jotka ovat kansalaisvaikuttajia. Tutkimusmenetelmänä on narratiivinen analyysi ja aineistona sellaisten opettajien narratiiveja, jotka ovat olleet aktiivisia kansalaisvaikuttajia opintojensa aikana. Yhteenvetona voi sanoa, että opettajat, jotka ovat kansalaisvaikuttajia, innostavat esimerkkinsä kautta oppilaitaan ja muita ihmisiä ympärillään kansalaisvaikuttamiseen. Nämä opettajat ovat, kuten Giroux kuvaa, transformatiivisia intellektuelleja, jotka ajattelevat kriittisesti ja ovat aktiivisia muutoksen edustajia. Opettajat, jotka ovat kansalaisvaikuttajia korostavat käytännön toiminnan merkitystä ja kannustavat oppilaitaan osallistumaan. Käytännössä he luovat mahdollisuuksia aktiivisuudelle esittelemällä ja järjestämällä erilaisia vaikuttamisen kanavia. Avoin keskustelu on myös tärkeä työkalu; nämä opettajat inspiroivat oppilaitaan järjestämiensä väittelyiden avulla ajattelemaan kriittisesti ja ilmaisemaan mielipiteitään. Sekä teoreettinen, että empiirinen osa tutkielmaa osoittavat, että kansalaisvaikuttaminen on tärkeä osa kasvussa aktiivisuutta kannustavaksi opettajaksi. Osallistujien kansalaisvaikuttamiskokemukset ovat muokanneet heitä ihmisinä, mutta myös opettajina ja järjestötoimijoina. He kertovat olevansa epäilemättä parempia opettajia nyt aktiivisuutensa takia. He perustelevat, että ne taidot mitä he oppivat kansalaisvaikuttamisen kautta ovat olleet hyödyksi opettajan ammatissa. Nykyään kansalaisvaikuttamiselle on vain pieni rooli opettajankoulutuksessa, vaikka sen kuuluisi kouluttaa opettajia, jotka kasvattavat tulevaisuuden aktiivisia kansalaisia. Teorian ja tutkielman tulosten perusteella voi todeta, että opettajankoulutuksella pitäisi olla suurempi osa tulevaisuuden kansalaisvaikuttajien valmentamisessa. Opettajankoulutuksen tulisi esitellä erilaisia vaikuttamisen mahdollisuuksia ja kanavia opiskelijoille tiedekunnan sisällä ja sen ulkopuolella. Tärkeintä olisi, että opettajaopiskelijoita kannustetaan osallistumiseen ja kriittiseen ajatteluun ja saadaan heidät uskomaan, että he pystyvät vaikuttamaan. Tämän hetken aktiiviset opettajaopiskelijat ovat tulevaisuuden kansalaisvaikuttajia

This study seeks to explore English teachers’ understandings of the challenges of classroom talk. A key assumption is that while many teachers and researchers view talk for learning as valuable, there is still a problem when it comes to actually using talk and small group learning widely. There are many different challenges that emerge when teachers try to promote this type of learning. Rather than study classroom discourse therefore, I wanted to focus on teachers’ understandings of how talk works in the classroom. This was the problem I wanted to research in more depth. I start the study with my own talk autobiography. I reflect on my own life in education and my life as a teacher in urban schools and highlight the role of talk, language and learning in my intellectual development. Having done this I identify the questions I wanted to ask teachers. I wanted to hear their stories of talk as pupils and as teachers. I chose to talk to six teachers at different stages of their careers in different phases of education. Later, I return to the teachers and ask them to video a lesson and identify what I am calling ‘a critical moment for talk’. We then evaluate such moments collaboratively. The study is sociocultural in approach. Further, the life narrative case studies draw on traditions of practitioner and feminist research with the aim of making teachers’ expertise more visible in wider debates about classroom talk. The analysis of the case studies suggests that a teacher’s own experiences in education and their values influence pedagogy and specifically their approach to talk. They reveal the challenges of dealing with conflicting power relationships within group work and during whole class dialogue and consider some solutions. The era and context are shown as particularly powerful factors in influencing pedagogy. Today what I refer to as the ‘talk for learning model’ is under attack and the focus has returned to the promotion of standard English. The aim of the study is make teachers’ intuitions and insights available about the place of talk and what they have found challenging about organising talk for learning.