Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Standard critial education'

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att belysa hur pedagoger tänker kring och arbetar med genus på fritidshemmet. Frågeställningarna behandlar även hur genusordningen på skolan och skolkulturen påverkar verksamheten ur ett genusperspektiv. Som empirisk grund för arbetet har vi gjort fyra kvalitativa intervjuer med pedagoger som arbetar på fritidshemmet på två mångkulturella skolor i Stockholm samt på en svensk skola i ett spansktalande land. Med hjälp av genusteoretiska perspektiv visar resultatet av studien att pedagoger på fritidshemmet tänker och arbetar olika med genus i verksamheten. Vi har sett exempel på att pedagoger bidrar till upprätthållandet av stereotypa könsdefinitioner genom att till exempel tala om flickor och pojkar som två olika enhetliga grupper. I resultatet har vi även sett hur pedagoger kan möjliggöra elevers identitetsskapande genom att inte göra skillnad på elever grundat på föreställningar om kön. Det har också framgått att det råder olika kulturer på varje skola och gemensamt för alla tre skolor i undersökningen är att skolkulturen påverkar hur pedagoger tänker kring och arbetar med genus i verksamheten.
The purpose of this study is to illustrate how educators relate to gender in after-school programs and how school culture affects educators and students. Our questions also deal with gender order in school and how cultural factors affect the gender perspective in after-school programs. As empirical basis for our study we did four qualitative interviews with educators at two multicultural schools in Stockholm and one Swedish school in a Spanish-speaking country. The results of the study show that the educators at the after-school programs relate different to the students in school from a gender perspective. We have seen examples of educators maintaining stereotyped gender definitions by talking about girls and boys as two different uniform groups. The results also show how educators can create possibilities for students to find different identities by not making any differences between the students based on gender. It has also emerged that there are different cultures at each school and common to all three schools in the survey is that the school culture affects how educators think about and work with gender.

This is a historical study of the modern standards movement starting in 1983 with the landmark report, A Nation At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, and concluding in 1995 with the publication of the revised Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The study was done through a review of available archival papers, written documents, and oral testimony. The purpose of this study was to analyze critically the modern standards movement as a context to the development and implementation of the revised Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools. Objectives of the study were to identify key events and key characters that impacted the standards movement and identify issues that evolved. A main focus of the study was to develop a documentary history that identified themes that linked events and showed connections between past and current events. Phase one of the process involved data collection from appropriate literary sources and writing the history as portrayed in written documents. Phase two of the process was done through the collection of oral testimony from key informers, especially in the Virginia movement and weaving that testimony logically and chronologically into the appropriate documentary history. Phase three of the process concluded with the identification of main themes that linked events and implications for future studies.
Ed. D.

Even though America has seen an increase in the level of acceptance for people who identify as LGBTQ and/or gender non-conforming, certain aspects within society continue to hinder their rights, especially within public education. Specifically, there are insufficiencies regarding content of and attitudes toward including LGBTQ issues in teaching and leadership training programs. Add to that, the deficits in most Family Life Education (FLE) programs in elementary schools as they lack adequate coverage of developmentally appropriate teaching and learning about gender and sexuality. Taken together, it remains questionable whether the needs of LGBTQ and/or gender non-conforming children can truly be met. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the policy discourse concerning teaching and learning gender and sexuality issues during early childhood at an elementary school in Virginia. Another purpose was to understand how educators perceive developmentally appropriate timing and content for these topics as well. A combination of critical policy analysis and critical advocacy research was utilized to compare and analyze the written policy discourse as presented within Virginia’s FLE policy to educators’ (teachers, counselors, principals) interpretation and enactment of these written discourses in their classrooms and schools. Findings revealed specific ways the written, spoken, and enacted discourses diverged and coalesced and how these similarities and differences inform future policy and practice. A critical analysis of the written discourses (and silences) suggest Virginia’s FLE curriculum and instruction maintains heteronormative undertones, while the spoken and enacted discourses indicates concern for expanding elementary students’ understanding and acceptance of LGBTQ and/or gender non-conforming children and non-normative family structures. Implications of findings include suggestions for future research and changes in policy and practice that aim to create more inclusive classrooms and schools.

The spread of English in the world today is not only the result of colonizing campaigns (Canagarajah, 1999, 2005; Pennycook, 1994a, 1998a, 2000; Phillipson, 1992, 2000) but also of the compliance of the governments associated with the "expanding circle" (Kachru, 1986). In part, this compliance is a consequence of the different mechanisms of the circulation of discourse, in particular the idea that speaking English is a sine qua non condition to be a worldwide citizen. Colombia is a good example of this phenomenon, because its national government is implementing a National Bilingualism Project (PNB) where there is an explicit interest in the promotion of English over all other languages spoken in the country. This dissertation is a critical discourse analysis of the handbook Estándares básicos de competencias en lenguas extranjeras: Inglés. Formar en lenguas extranjeras, el reto" (Basic standards for competences in foreign languages: English. Teach in foreign languages: the challenge) published by the Ministry of Education of Colombia. This handbook is aimed at establishing the national standards for the teaching of English in Colombian public schools. The objective of the study is to offer an interpretation of the way in which bilingualism, English, and teachers are constructed through the language used in the handbook. The analysis of data follows Fairclough’s textual analysis and is supported by other written texts and informed by scholarly articles. The analysis of data shows that the official discourse creates a whole new meaning for “bilingualism” since it indexes exclusively the learning of English in Colombia. Along with this, the authors of the handbook perpetuate mainstream concepts and ideas about the symbolic power of English as the one and only necessary tool for academic and economic success. This is achieved by a redundant discourse on the neutrality of English on the one hand, and the benefits it brings to its speakers, on the other. In relation to the portrayal of teachers in this document, the data show that their role is either downplayed or made invisible, which also correlates with the low prestige that school teachers have in Colombia. The study leads to the conclusion that a document that contains national standards for the teaching of a language should include multiple voices where local knowledge gets the same recognition as global knowledge, and where the diversity of the country is represented, respected and promoted. In that way, official institutions would be legislating to benefit the majority of the population, and not the small number of elites of the country.

In recent years government reform has focused on the expectations of practice for professionals in the education sector. In the last three years alone, revised standards have been published for Headteachers and Teachers. But what model of professionalism do these standards seek to promote? The focus of the work which follows is concerned with analysing the language used within such policies in order to evaluate whether conceptualisations of professionalism are altered over time, by charting the development of policy from 2004 to 2015 for the Headteachers’ standards and from 2007 to 2012 for the Teachers’ standards. In exploring the language of the standards, the author will also consider the nature of professionalism and discuss whether any conceptualisation can ever be articulated which can produce certainty and consensus of understanding.

This dissertation examines discourses of professionalism and teacher education reform by carrying out a Critical Discourse Analysis of the British Columbia College of Teacher’s Standards for the education, competence and professional conduct of educators in British Columbia (BCCT, 2004). The broader context of the dissertation is the evolution of competing notions of professionalism in teacher education in Canada and the United States in the decades following the release of the influential policy report, A Nation at Risk (NCEE, 1983). It is argued that a more perspicuous understanding of professionalism in teaching will help prospective and practicing educators make better sense of their professional responsibilities, and will also encourage educators to enter into the ongoing discussions about appropriate directions for teacher education reform. The study takes the form of a critical discourse analysis (CDA). CDA is an interdisciplinary form of qualitative research that treats language as a social practice, and interprets texts in accordance with concepts such as discourse, power, and knowledge creation (Fairclough, 1995; Foucault, 1970; Habermas, 1970). The research utilizes the methods provided in Fairclough’s (1995, 2003) three step model of CDA to first describe, then interpret, and finally, to explain the relationships between understandings of professionalism and reform as these are taken up in the Standards text. The key finding from the study is that the term professionalism as it appears in the Standards is part of a discourse best understood in light of the tensions between various conceptions of educators’ responsibilities in an age of accountability. These various and often competing notions of responsibility are intertwined with genres of texts that are described as codes of conduct, manifestos, and standards. Contested perspectives on professionalism are interconnected with offers of membership, stipulations of governance, and regulatory pacts concerning educators’ professional obligations. In conclusion, it is argued that educators’ obligations should be framed in terms of ethical commitments, and specifically as a continual search for balance between notions of individual moral responsibility and professional accountability as defined in such documents as the Standards for the education, competence and professional conduct of educators in British Columbia.

The status of English language has increased over the years as a tool for international communication. The Thai government emphasises that English language education has now become part of the full driving force for national development. This research implies that in order to cultivate Thai learners of English to meet social demands, sound theoretical and coherent philosophical bases of curriculum are essential in the curriculum planning process. This research analyses the new official English language curriculum for the Thai school system: "English language learning strands and standards under Basic Education curriculum 2001" (English language standards-based curriculum, ESB Curriculum), which in 2001 was promulgated as the new official English language curriculum. This research reveals both the coherence and incoherence of the theoretical and philosophical bases of the Thai ESB curriculum, identifies strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum and makes recommendations for curriculum revision and curriculum development that could result in positive and effective changes in English language teaching and learning in Thailand. This thesis rests on the premise that principles underlying decisions made in curriculum planning will have a major impact on the effectiveness of the curriculum. It follows that difficulties with foreign language education nowadays are a consequence of the incoherence of philosophical, theoretical, and social bases of curriculum design. This research analyses the English language curriculum by asking questions about who was involved in the curriculum planning process and what were the decisionmaking mechanism and processes involved in its planning. The research is different from other research in curriculum studies in Thailand that aim only at curriculum implementation and evaluation. Three sources of data have contributed to the analysis of the curriculum: curriculum-related documents, interviews with the curriculum committees, and interviews and questionnaires with school teachers. The analysis has shown that (1) the curriculum was developed with input from numerous experts and various groups of stakeholders which affected the underlying principles, philosophical and theoretical bases of education and English language teaching and learning; (2) the theoretical and philosophical bases of the curriculum were found to be incoherent among curriculum elements; (3) the curriculum has problems at the level of meaning and this has led to the difficulty of conveying the philosophy of Thai education to the school level. The study has found that the incoherence of the theoretical underpinnings of the curriculum elements leads to misunderstanding, misinterpretation and misuse of the curriculum. The implication for future research is to stress a critical literacy approach to English language education and curriculum development. In this way, English language is seen as a language for empowerment, knowledge enhancement, social development and development of learners as a part of Globalisation and Information Age in the 2 lst Century as also stated in the Thai National Education Act 1999.

Education policies remain a contested terrain in both the social and political environments. They are not neutral instruments and are used both to maintain the existing social order and also to promote varying kinds of change or mobility. The South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act 84 of 1996) hereafter SASA, which is the source of all policies that regulate school issues in South Africa promotes democratic methods of school governing and education provisioning that favours the previously disadvantaged groups. The NNSSF is one of the policies of SASA that makes schooling accessible to the poor through school fee exemptions while attempting to close the gap between the rich and the poor through differentiated school funding created according to researched poverty levels and standardized target lists. This has been designed to fulfil one of the essential human rights of man- education that has been entrenched in the Bill of Rights of the Republic of South Africa Constitution, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996) hereafter, Constitution. Thus, the study’s objective is to evaluate the implementation of the NNSSF policy in public schools focussing on school fee exemptions. The extent to which poor parents and learners are given school fee exemptions as they are supposed to according to the policy will be indicators of whether the NNSSF is justly or unjustly implemented in public schools. Learners are the recipients of the right to education. Parents are given the responsibility to fund the education of their children. However, for poor parents to fulfil that they need advice and assistance from the teachers and SGBs to be able to access the school fee exemptions while they have a right to just administrative action and to human dignity in dealing with them. SGBs and teachers have to create a favourable environment for the just implementation of the NNSSF by advising and xiii assisting deserving parents and learners to access school fee exemptions so that the right to education is fulfilled. The duty of in loco parentis and acting in the best interest of the child enforce teachers to do everything possible to ensure that learners access education. EDOs are supposed to guide, monitor and supervise the implementation of the policy while legal bodies should assist parents and learners to demand their right when it is violated through litigation. The study used the method of survey which is quantitative and interviews which are qualitative. Questionnaires and interview schedules were tools used to collect data that was analysed through statistical methods and represented in the form of tables and pie-charts. Various significant findings were made that had a bearing on the implementation of the NNSSF policy in public schools, most important to note is that some learners who have the right to education are aware of this right but do not know how to ensure that it is not violated. Parents are not given the opportunity to decide whether school fees should be charged in their schools. Above that they are not given the advice they need to be able to access school fee exemptions. Some teachers think that by advising and assisting learners and parents they will be buying cheap popularity- showing ignorance. EDOs do not know how schools implement the NNSSF, they are not involved in anyway. Thus the study views the implementation of NNSSF policy in public schools as unjust and recommends that SGBs and teachers need to be educated, guided and monitored by the EDOs on the policy and its implementation. They in turn will have to educate parents and learners so that they are able to access school fee exemptions thereby receiving education – their right.

Outdoor School is a cherished educational tradition in the Portland, OR region. This program's success is attributed to its presumed ability to positively impact affective and cognitive student outcomes. Residential programs such as Outdoor School are considered to be an important supplement to the classroom model of learning because they offer an authentic, contextually rich learning environment. References to relevant literature support the idea that student gains in affective and cognitive domains occur as a result of the multi-sensory, enjoyable, hands-on nature of outdoor learning. The sample population for this study was 115 sixth graders from a demographically diverse Portland, OR school district. This study used an instrument developed by the Common Measures System that was administered to students as part of Outdoor School's professional and program development project. The affective student outcome data measured by the Common Measures instrument was complemented by a formative assessment probe ascertaining prior knowledge of the definition of plants and field notes detailing Field Study instructor lesson content. This first part of this study examined the changes that take place in students' attitudes toward science as a result of attending Outdoor School. The second part took a look at how Outdoor School instruction in the Plants field study aligned with NGSS MS-LS Disciplinary Core Ideas and Practices. The third section of the study compared how Outdoor School instruction in the Plants Field Study and students' prior knowledge of what defines a plant aligned with NGSS MS-LS DCIs. The intent of the research was to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of how students' attitudes toward science are influenced by participating in an outdoor education program and contribute to the development of a continuum between classroom and outdoor school learning using Next Generation Science Standards Disciplinary Core Ideas and Practices as a framework. Results of this study were intended to inform outdoor education program development, add to the existing body of research, and inform future research projects.

The problem undertaken in this study was an attempt to discover the image Texas Baptists have of their eight colleges and universities, and to recommend steps to ensure a positive image. The two methods used to determine the image was a questionnaire distributed through a weekly newsmagazine, the Baptist Standard, and telephone interviews. From the study it was concluded that Texas Baptists have a positive image of their eight colleges and universities and rely on the Baptist Standard for their information. The major strength of the eight colleges and universities is the spiritual emphasis, and the major weakness is the high cost of attending a private college or university.

As education focuses increasingly on standards based assessment, social studies must be examined for its integration of Black History in the United States History curriculum. Using a Critical Race Theory lens, this directed content analysis attempts to examine the Florida Standards for United States History to determine if and how Black History is integrated into United States History courses. The study also makes use of Banks’ (1994) “levels of integration” to explore the degree to which this is accomplished. In addition, lesson plans created and/or endorsed by the state of Florida are analyzed for their inclusion of Black History. Data and analysis from this study demonstrate that while Black History is integrated to varying degrees across the K-12 United States History Florida Standards, the “levels of integration” (Banks, 1994) and topics covered do not offer a complete historical narrative. Similarly, while the lesson plans approved by the state of Florida often reflect a higher “level of integration” (Banks, 1994) and historical understanding, the limited topics of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement prevent students from seeing the development of Black History across the continuum of United States History. Further, the findings suggest that standards should be developed that directly address the role race and racism play in the development of the United States. These findings can be useful to both administrators and teachers looking to develop standards which help form an accurate historical understanding of the development of the United States. The study recommends that United States History courses and state standards in United States History focus on the role racism has played in developing the United States, include the voices of people of color, and focus on social justice in the United States History curriculum

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In 1997, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) published its guidelines 'to provide for the development and implementation of a National Qualifications Framework (NQF)' (Government Gazette 1997:35). This framework was to pave the way for compelling transformation in the education sector. One of the key features of the framework would be a directive that a series of competencies, or generic skills, that SAQA termed its 'critical cross-field outcomes' would have to be incorporated into the design of all programmes of learning. The publication of the guidelines sparked considerable debate; a debate that, in the five years since 1997, does not appear to have been resolved. As higher education institutions prepare for the 2003 submission of programmes to SAQA for registration, the importance of swift and meaningful intervention is self-evident. This report gives an account of a study undertaken to allow for the critical analysis of generic learning outcomes, or specifically SAQA's critical outcomes, as they present themselves in a technikon diploma programme. While the initial impetus in terms of the skills debate may appear to have arisen as a result of national imperatives, the overview of the literature pointed to international precedents, particularly when the issue of generic skills was contextualised against the background of the changing higher education landscape. Thus empirical research was conducted at the Cape Technikon using the National Diploma in Human Resources Management, its academic staff and its second-year student group, as its focus. The qualitative data, generated via multiple techniques including document analysis, interviewing, and a survey, provided a wealth of information and in-depth insight into the perceptions and attitudes of the respondents. The researcher endeavoured to maintain a practical focus throughout the study and sought to interpret and critique existing practice against best practice as described in the literature. The findings highlighted numerous issues relating to the integration of generic learning outcomes into programmes of learning. Key among these were the apparent lack of clarity and guidance among students and staff about the meaning of, and envisaged role for, the generic learning or critical outcomes; the fact that many in the technikon sector are already employing those teaching and learning strategies that are deemed appropriate when following an outcomes-based approach; that the changing student profile has had a direct impact on what happens in the classroom; and that assessment systems and practices appear to be the main barriers to the effective development of generic skills. In response, this study recommends that a structured, holistic, process approach be implemented at those institutions that are serious about integrating SAQA's critical outcomes into their programmes of learning. While such an approach would require institutional support and guidance, as well as an overall commitment to staff development, it is the contention of the researcher that the technikon sector, by virtue of its career-oriented focus and the design of its programmes, is ideally positioned to embrace the SAQA challenge successfully.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Suid-Afrikaanse Kwalifikasieowerheid (SAKO) het in 1997 riglyne gepubliseer wat voorsiening maak vir die ontwikkeling en implementering van 'n Nasionale Kwalifikasieraamwerk (NKR). Hierdie raamwerk sou die weg baan vir ingrypende veranderinge in die onderwys. Een van die sleuteleienskappe van hierdie raamwerk was die opdrag dat 'n reeks bevoegdhede, of generiese vaardighede, wat deur SAKO as sy 'kritiese uitkomstes' beskryf is, in die opstel van alle leerprogramme ingesluit moes word. Die publikasie van die riglyne het 'n aansienlike debat ontketen; 'n debat wat in die vyf jaar sedert 1997 oënskynlik nog nie tot 'n einde gekom het nie. Aangesien hoëronderwysinstellings hul voorleggings vir 2003 aan SAKO vir registrasie nou reeds begin voorberei, is die noodsaaklikheid van 'n vinnige en betekenisvolle besluit hieroor voor die hand liggend. Hierdie verslag gee 'n uiteensetting van navorsing wat gedoen is om 'n kritiese analise van generiese leeruitkomstes, of spesifiek die kritiese uitkomstes van SAKO, soos toegepas in die diplomaprogram van 'n tegnikon, te beskryf. Alhoewel dit aanvanklik mag gelyk het asof die debat oor vaardighede sy ontstaan aan 'n nasionale opdrag te danke gehad het, het 'n oorsig van die literatuur daarop gedui dat internasionale presedente ook daartoe aanleiding gegee het, veral in gevalle waar vrae betreffende die generiese leeruitkomstes teen die agtergrond van 'n veranderende hoëronderwyslandskap beskou is. Empiriese navorsing is aan die Kaapse Tegnikon onderneem met die Nasionale Diploma in Menslike Hulpbronnebestuur, sy akademiese personeel en tweedejaarstudente, as fokuspunt. Kwalitatiewe data is deur die gebruik van verskeie tegnieke gegenereer wat dokumentêre analise, onderhoudvoering en 'n vraelysopname insluit. Hierdie data het 'n bron van inligting oor, en insae, tot, die persepsies en houdings van die respondente verskaf. Die navorser het deurgaans gepoog om 'n praktiese fokus tydens die studie te behou en om die huidige praktyk te interpreteer en te beoordeel teenoor dit wat as suksesvol in die literatuur bestempel is. Die bevindinge het verskeie aspekte ten opsigte van die insluiting van generiese leeruitkomstes binne leerprogramme na vore gebring. Van die belangrikste aspekte is die klaarblyklike gebrek aan duidelikheid en leiding, onder sowel studente as akademiese personeel, oor die betekenis van, en beoogde rol vir die kritiese of generiese leeruitkomstes; die feit dat vele akademici in die tegnikonsektor reeds gebruik maak van die onderrig- en leerstrategieë wat as toepaslik vir uitkomsgebaseerde onderrig beskou word; dat die veranderende studenteprofiel 'n direkte impak gehad het op dit wat in die klaskamer gebeur; en dat assesseringspraktyke en -metodes tans die grootste remskoen in die effektiewe ontwikkeling van generiese vaardighede blyk te wees. In antwoord hierop beveel hierdie studie die implementering van 'n gestruktureerde, holistiese, prosesbenadering by die instellings aan wat erns maak met die insluiting van SAKO se kritiese uitkomstes in hul leerprogramme. Alhoewel so 'n benadering ondersteuning en leiding van die instellings, asook 'n algemene verbintenis tot personeelontwikkeling, sal vereis, is dit die navorser se oortuiging dat die tegnikonsektor, as gevolg van sy loopbaangerigte fokus en die inhoud van sy programme, ideaal geposisioneer is om die SAKO-uitdaging suksesvol die hoof te bied.

Thesis advisor: Diana Pullin
In recent years, critical race theory (CRT) has garnered much attention in education scholarship as a way to examine the racialized practices that persist in U.S. schooling. This study was a grassroots attempt at using CRT as the theoretical framework to engage a group of administrators and teacher leaders at one urban school in inquiry-based discourse that focused on raising the educators' race consciousness and co-constructing an antiracist pedagogy. A combined method of action research and critical case study was used as the research methodology. This dissertation reports on three notable findings that surfaced from the study. One, the participants largely perceived racism an individual pathology, not as a system of privilege. Because the participants regarded themselves as educators who were committed to social justice, they were often deceived by their activism to recognize their own complicity in the perpetuation of racist ideologies in their practice. Two, despite the overwhelming criticisms against NCLB in scholarly literature, the participants at this low-income, racially-diverse, urban school were passionately in favor of the goals behind the statute. With the recent push toward the development of common core content standards through the Race to the Top program, increased dialogue regarding what knowledge should be considered "common" and "core" needs to occur in order to breach the impasse between the divergent curricular viewpoints held by all stakeholders. Three, although culturally relevant pedagogy is widely espoused and utilized in educational research and practice, it is often not commonly understood as a conceptual framework that advocates the three-pronged elements of academic success, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness. Findings revealed wide misconceptions and misuse of the theory that stemmed from teachers' cultural bias, the nature of racism in school settings, and the lack of support to adequately implement theories into practice. ` All of these findings revealed issues of power, positionality, and privilege that were deeply entrenched in the policies and practices of the school, which suggested that greater collaboration between scholars and practitioners was necessary in order to engender ongoing critical self-reflection and reconceptualization of theories as viable pedagogical tools to begin the work of antiracism
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010
Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education
Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education

At an international level, demands for accountability in respect of the quality of teaching and learning in higher education are increasing. This is also the case in South Africa. The response to these demands has taken the form of the introduction of quality assurance systems to higher education. In South Africa, a formal national external quality assurance was introduced to the higher education system in 2001 as a result of the establishment of the Higher Education Quality Committee. The Higher Education Quality Committee is a standing committee of the South African Council on Higher Education. Like other quality assurance agencies across the world, the Higher Education Quality Committee has the responsibility for i) auditing institutions of higher education and ii) accrediting learning programmes. The first cycle of institutional audits ran from 2004 until 2011. As quality assurance was introduced to the higher education system and the first cycle of institutional audits began, universities in South Africa developed policies and procedures intended to assure quality in three areas of their core functioning: research, teaching and learning and community engagement. The University of Venda, which is the focus of the study on which this thesis is based, was no exception. As a practitioner in the Centre for Higher Education Teaching and Learning at The University of Venda, it was my observation that the policies and procedures intended to assure quality in teaching and learning were not always implemented by academic staff members. This was in spite of poor student performance data which raised questions about the quality of the teaching and learning processes in place. The study underpinning this thesis was designed to explore this phenomenon. More specifically, it aimed to identify the conditions enabling and constraining the implementation of policies and procedures in two Schools in the University: the School of Health Sciences and the School of Human and Social Sciences. In order to explore these conditions, I adopted Roy Bhaskar’s Critical Realism as an under-labouring philosophy for the study. Critical realism posits a view of reality comprising three strata, none of which can be reducible to the other. The first of these strata is termed the level of the Empirical and consists of the experiences and observations which become apparent to us through the senses. The second layer, the Actual, consists of events from which these experiences and observations emerge. Underpinning both of these layers is a further layer, the Real, which is not accessible by empirical means and which consists of structures and mechanisms which generate both events at the level of the Actual and experiences and observation at the level of the Empirical. The design of my study sought to reach this deepest layer of reality to identify these mechanisms. Bhaskar’s critical realism is philosophy which needs to be operationalized using substantive, or explanatory, theory. For this purpose, I drew on Margaret Archer’s social realism. The design on my study drew on case study methodology and involved in-depth interviews with members of the two Schools which each formed cases within the more overarching case of the University itself. In addition to these interviews, I analysed a range of institutional documents related to the assurance of quality in teaching and learning. The exploration of enabling and constraining conditions at the level of the Real allow me to make a series of recommendations in the final Chapter of my thesis intended to enhance the quality assurance system introduced to the University.

This study focused on Registered Nurses (RNs) working in Acute Trust surgical wards in the context of their role development, role expansion and role extension. The study originated from concerns raised by RNs undertaking the surgical pathway of the BSc Hons in clinical nursing practice, who alerted me to their dissatisfaction with their working conditions and their role. This revelation was made at a time when modernization was cascading into Acute Trusts as a result of the NHS plan (DOH 2000); simultaneously the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) was being implemented, sequentially reducing Junior Doctor’s hours of work. NHS modernization and the EWTD were the two initiatives which led the researcher to the assumption that RNs working in surgical wards were the labour force who would be absorbing the additional workload brought about by these changes, because RNs are the only health professionals in acute surgical wards with twenty-four hour contact with, and responsibility for, ward-based surgical patient care. The study was conducted in one clinical directorate of an Acute Trust hospital, comprising six in-patient surgical wards and five specialist nursing services. The methodology was ethnography, where the researcher worked as an RN for fifteen months, collecting data through Spradley’s (1980) descriptive, selective and focused phases of fieldwork. Data was analysed using what Miles and Huberman (1994) refer to as a set of ‘choreographed / custom built’ techniques. The descriptive phase of fieldwork revealed an apparent ‘staffing illusion’ on the surgical wards and RNs were found to be under tremendous pressure to manage ‘patient throughput’, and an ever increasingly dependent case mix of surgical patients, within the existing, or if possible diminishing Senior / experienced RN labour force due to the emergent evidence of a ‘cycle of staff change’ with non-clinical managers backfilling Senior RN posts with Junior RNs. For Senior RNs this backdrop meant additional support and supervision demands on their role. To get through the workload many RNs held ‘dual roles’ to enable maintenance of the surgical services within the directorate. The selective phase of fieldwork re-focused the ethnographic lens on the RNs in the context of their role development, role expansion and role extension, from which six perspectives were found: 1) role development from Junior to Senior RN, 2) role expansion dependent on shift of the day, day of the week – the co-ordinator role, 3) role extension confusion and boundary disputes, 4) hidden [role expansion and extension] talents of surgical nurses, 5) role contraction – a feeling Nursing is going backwards, and finally, 6) ‘if only I could’ – role expansion aspirations of surgical RNs. The third phase of fieldwork, described by Spradley (1980) as the focused phase, was spent validating the findings and conducting the ethnographic interviews. The findings are interpreted locally [from the perspective of RN’s working within Rodin] as ‘working to full capacity’ through ‘doing more for more with less’, as a result of the RN with the surgical directorate being sandwiched between two agendas, that of Junior Doctors EWTD and NHS modernisation. Braverman’s skill substitution / degradation of skilled work thesis is then used as an interpretative framework to conclude the thesis, the outcome of which reports a ‘triple substitution’ agenda.

abstract: ABSTRACT The purpose of this descriptive study was to gain an understanding of the confidence level held by third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers as to their preparedness for teaching the cognitive demands of the Common Core State Standards (Arizona's College and Career Ready Standards) to all students, in particular Hispanic students living in poverty, who occupy close to a third of all classroom seats in Arizona. The achievement gap between Hispanic students living in poverty and non-Hispanic students of non-poverty status is one of the largest achievement gaps in Arizona, which has existed with minimal change for more than 12 years. By gaining an understanding of the teachers' confidence in teaching critical thinking skills, further support and professional development is suggested to link a teacher's knowledge to instructional practice that in turn increases the academic achievement of Arizona's poor Hispanic students. The process of gaining this understanding was by using a multi-dimensional survey with 500 third through fifth grade teachers in two uniquely different, but representative, Arizona school districts. Approximately one-third of those teachers responded to the multi-dimensional survey about teaching the critical thinking (CT) skills of Arizona's College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts. The survey asked teachers to rate their levels of preparedness for teaching CT to several types of students, to choose a CT definition, describe the relationship of CT and reading, explain how they teach CT to students who are reading below grade level, express the support they need to teach CT to those students, and rate the effectiveness of several CT classroom vignettes for different types of students. Although the questions involved several types of students, the primary focus was on exploring the teachers' position with teaching CT to Low SES Hispanic students. A disconnect was revealed between the teachers' perception that they had the ability and knowledge necessary to teach critical thinking skills and their ability to identify ineffective critical thinking instructional practices. This disconnect may be interfering with the link between the professional development teachers are currently receiving to implement Common Core State Standards and teachers actively engaging in learning what is needed to effectively teach critical thinking skills to their students.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2014

Flexible Learning is a personal investigation of the relationship between the design-thinking process and standardized primary education. The problem-solving methods used in graphic design, are studied as a means of enhancing skills among students—skills that are not generally being developed, some of which are creativity, engagement, collaboration, evaluation, refinement, and presentation techniques. While I access and synthesize information from my clients, a child also access and synthesize information from his or her teacher. When a client comes to me with a design request, I research, create, and then present the most appropriate solution. In the classroom, this kind of thinking process is also possible when the teacher offers students the opportunity to solve a problem, usually in the form of a project. I will explain how more intensive and creative application of design thinking process could expand the horizons for whole brain learning and creative thinking among students.

This thesis addresses the paradigm shift required for an MBA qualification in a world order of inclusive globalisation (WOIG) – where humankind‟s security is assured, and where global poverty has been eradicated. A new research methodology, termed critical metasynthesis, which is the enrichment of critical management research with metasynthesis and Socrates‟ dialectic method of systematic inquiry has been used. The critical metasynthesis derives its outcome from the insights of global leaders from the developed and developing world, refuted by Nobel Laureates from the past decade. From the Socratic dialogue an end-purpose Statement of Visions for a new world order, society, business, business leadership, and the postmodern MBA emerged, namely: to deliver a WOIG; requiring a society that finds its greatness in protecting both its humanity and its economy as a whole; requiring world-class businesses – financially robust across business cycles, with global stewardship as the dominant business logic; requiring global business leaders with an ability to envision the WOIG, and then to lead thereto in an entrepreneurial and path-breaking manner exerting leadership qualities associated with the golden Rule of Humanity; requiring an MBA that educates and inspires the business leader to lead (and, to co-lead with societal and political leaders) the planetary turn-around to a WOIG. For this, a fundamental change of paradigm for the MBA emerged as a prerequisite. The first prerequisite is a Social Contract with Business as a trichotomy of global business responsibility towards society, politics and the Earth. This, becomes the raison d‟être of the postmodern MBA. The second prerequisite is an educational context aligned with the values and aspirations of a WOIG society. The outcome of the postmodern MBA is a fundamental personal re-orientation as thé kairos moment - through holistic critical reasoning excellence and achieving a WOIG mindset. Flowing from this to craft, build and to manage enterprises for the turn-around from today‟s world order of destructive globalisation to a WOIG. The thesis contributes a new educational context, vocabulary, and guidelines for a new canon of MBA knowledge. The thesis concludes by describing new vistas of follow-up research in four interlocking priorities for the professoriate, namely: discovering, integrating, applying and teaching a postmodern MBA in a WOIG – to deliver MBA graduates who can lead any business in any industry sector in any country towards positive sustained results for all stakeholders.
Business Leadership
D.B.L.

abstract: Due to government initiatives, education in the classroom has focused on high stakes test scores measuring student achievement on basic skills. The purpose of this action research study was to augment fourth grade students' knowledge of basic content by teaching greater meaning and depth of understanding--to teach critical thinking using Socratic circles. Using a constructivist approach, a comprehensive plan was designed and implemented that included an age-appropriate platform for argument and inquiry, a process that required critical thinking skills, and allowed the intellectual standards for critical thinking to be developed and measured. Ten students representing the academic levels of the whole class were selected and participated in seven Socratic circles. Over a period of 15 weeks, a mixed methods approach was employed to determine how students were able to apply the intellectual standards to reasoning during Socratic circles, how this innovation provoked participation in student-centered dialogue, and how Socratic circles improved students' evaluation of competing ideas during their reasoned discourse. Results suggested that Comprehensive Socratic Circles increased participation in reasoned discourse. Students' ability to evaluate competing ideas improved, and their application of the intellectual standards for critical thinking to their reasoning increased. Students also increased their use of student-centered dialogue across the sessions. These findings suggest that Socratic circles is a flexible and effective teaching strategy that fosters critical thinking in fourth graders.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2015

This research study is a concept analysis of the Critical Cross-Field Outcomes (CCFOs). Legislation and related documentation such as SAQA Bulletins, respective Acts, and position papers of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) describe the CCFOs as one of the transformational tools utilised by the SAQA to ensure access, portability and lifelong learning. CCFOs express the intended results of education and training and underpin all learning processes, thus enhancing the learning process and contributing to the full development of an individual. CCFOs are generic and cross-curricular, they are not restricted to any specific learning context, but inform the formulation of specific outcomes in the individual areas of learning for all learners at all levels on the NQF. CCFOs should direct education, training and development practices, as well as the design and implementation of learning programmes. Learning materials should also be designed and utilised accordingly. Critical Cross-Field Outcomes are also referred to as soft competencies, personal competencies, thinking competencies and life competencies, which are the abilities that people need to be active, responsible and successful members of society. They provide the means to build a career and make the person more effective in executing a job. CCFOs should be developed during learning processes so that learners are able to deploy them when achieving work-related outcomes. Knowledge is of little value if it cannot be utilised in new situations or in a form very different from that in which it was originally encountered. Although knowledge is a necessary requirement in education, training and development, it is not sufficient for becoming an expert. What is needed is some evidence that the learners can do something with their knowledge, which implies that they can apply what they know to new situations and problems. The CCFOs are tools that the learner or facilitator can utilise to access knowledge and to develop new knowledge of purposeful objectives. The outcome of this research is a categorisation of underpinning competencies related to the CCFO statements that facilitators, proposers of qualifications, service providers and Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) Managers can use to incorporate the CCFOs in the education, training and development initiatives. These competencies also serve as the starting point for the outcomes-based principle of designing back. These competencies can also be utilized as a benchmark for conducting competencies audits on the CCFOs. Selected competencies are to be implemented at all levels of the NQF in all the fields as identified by SAQA.
Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2006.
Curriculum Studies
unrestricted

To explore the reported knowledge and skills held by secondary campus-based administrators pertaining to the instructional and programmatic needs of students with disabilities, a mixed-methods nationwide study of administrators was conducted. Data were collected through an internet survey delivered via email, yielding a total of 159 secondary campus-based administrators. The theoretical framework of Critical Pedagogy served as an analytical tool for investigating whether the lack of knowledge and skills of special education policy and procedures on the part of participating secondary campus-based administrators may contribute to the use of oppressive practices when serving the needs of students with disabilities. Additionally, using the lens of Critical Pedagogy, three national sets of leadership standards (CEC, 2008; ISLLC, 2008; and ELCC, 2011) for general and special education administrators were compared. The analysis of national leadership standards revealed a gradual yet limited progression toward a moral imperative (Burrello, Wayne-Sailor, & Kleinhammer-Tramill, 2012) to include more stakeholders in the education process and development of individual education programs at the secondary level for students with disabilities. Quantitative data obtained from the internet-based survey were analyzed using a frequency distribution. Using naturalistic inquiry without a predetermined focus or preordinate categories of analysis (Patton, 2002), qualitative responses to open-ended survey questions were investigated to discover and identify emergent themes. Findings indicate a breakdown in communication between administrators and students with disabilities and their families has occurred. Secondary campus-based administrators need and want more training in all areas of special education policy and procedures. Specifically they would like more coursework and professional development concerning special education law, information concerning specific disabilities, accommodations or modifications appropriate for said disabilities, RTI and Identification, discipline, understanding the IEP/BIP process, and how to work with teachers concerning special education requirements. Critical Pedagogy is advanced as a useful tool to be used by program directors for leadership preparation and professional development to assist them in determining the most appropriate and beneficial type(s) of leadership preparation, mentoring, and follow-up training to facilitate the transformation of secondary campus-based administrators' leadership practices on behalf of students with disabilities and their families.
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The research in this thesis attempts to select texts from the African American Spirituals and the Bible that are appropriate for secondary language arts instruction, specifically for grades 9-12. The paper first gives an overview of legal justifications and educational reasons for teaching religious literature in public schools. Then, relevant educational standards are discussed, and, using the standards as an initial guide, I identify common themes within the Spirituals and Bible, which, from my analysis of various literatures, are slavery, chosenness, and coded language. Next, I describe my systematic effort to choose texts from the Spirituals and the Bible. To help accomplish this, I draw primarily from two tomes: Go Down Moses: Celebrating the African-American Spiritual and Biblical Literacy: The Essential Bible Stories Everyone Needs to Know. After I describe the research process of selecting texts, I form judgments about which biblical passages and African American Spirituals are particularly worthy of study, along with their applicable and mutual themes.

Text in Afrikaans
Due to the radical reform in mathematics education worldwide, the mathematics curriculum underwent dramatic changes in order to meet the new objectives in mathematics. This has placed a huge responsibility on curriculum compilers and the authors of mathematics textbooks and mathematics teachers to enhance the cognitive development of learners. This study takes the view that: What happens in the class is what you get. Based on the above statement, the foundation of mathematics teaching, namely the mathematics curriculum, the mathematics textbook and the teacher’s instruction in the teaching venue were scrutinised. During a diagnostic examination of teachers’ interpretation, knowledge and application of the mathematics curriculum and the content of mathematics textbooks on the East Rand, the following problems regarding mathematics teaching emerged: The most important finding of TIMMS is that the differences in performance in mathematics between different countries can be linked to the way teachers interpret and present the content of mathematics. Research has revealed that the interaction of teachers with curriculum content follow a dynamic and constructive application instead of direct application based on the mathematics curriculum. Teachers often change the prescriptions and order of content in the mathematics curriculum to suit their teaching style, knowledge and previous experience. Consequently, align application of mathematical concepts and skills does not take place and this creates a gap in learners’ cognitive development. It also leaves a gap in the application of the Type 5 cognitive development tasks in mathematics which enable a verifying deductive application of concepts. The action research created a structure which could meet this need. Authors of mathematics textbooks present their own vision, interpretation and style in mathematics textbooks, which influences the order of mathematics content and concepts. The result is that mathematics content and concepts are at times not aligned with representations in the mathematics curriculum and objectives are therefore not reached. The different interpretations of mathematics textbooks by teachers differ greatly and these differences place great pressure on teachers to decide how the mathematics textbook will be used in the teaching venue. In this study a mathematics textbook profile and a task analysis were formulated in the cause of action research which will enable teachers to make a professional analysis which they can use. Because a variety of mathematics textbooks are selected for use in schools, teachers assume that these approved mathematics textbooks focus on the curriculum. They therefore slavishly follow the mathematics textbooks without consulting the mathematics curriculum. Shortcomings in mathematics textbooks and teachers’ own interpretation of mathematics content leave a big gap in their own alignment of mathematics teaching. To satisfy this need, an assessment profile and an methodology for alignment are provided to enable teachers to monitor the curriculum alignment presentation of concepts and skills.
As gevolg van die radikale hervorming in wiskunde-onderrig wêreldwyd het die wiskundekurrikulum dramatiese veranderings ondergaan ten einde die nuwe doelstellings in wiskunde te bereik. Dit het enorme verantwoordelikheid geplaas op kurrikulumsamestellers en outeurs van wiskundehandboeke en wiskunde-onderwysers om die kognitiewe ontwikkeling van leerders te bevorder. In hierdie studie is van die volgende standpunt uitgegaan: What happens in the class is what you get. Derhalwe is die fondasie van wiskunde-onderrig, naamlik die wiskundekurrikulum, wiskundehandboek en die onderwyser se instruksies in die klaskamer ondersoek. In `n diagnostiese ontleding van onderwysers se interpretasie, kennis en toepassing van die wiskundekurrikulum en die wiskundehandboekinhoude aan die Oos-Rand het die volgende probleme in verband met wiskunde-onderrig na vore gekom: Die belangrikste bevinding van TIMMS is dat die verskille in wiskundeprestasie tussen lande verband hou met die wyse waarop onderwysers die wiskudekurrikuluminhoude interpreteer en aanbied. Navorsing toon dat die interaksie van onderwysers met kurrikulummateriaal op ʼn dinamiese en konstruktiewe toepassing geskied in plaas van direkte toepassing vanuit die wiskundekurrikulum. Onderwysers verander dikwels die wiskundekurrikulum se voorskrifte en volgorde van inhoude om by hulle onderrigstyl, kennis en vorige ervarings te pas. Die gevolg is dat geen inlyntoepassing van wiskundebegrippe en vaardighede plaasvind nie en dit laat ʼn leemte in leerders se kognitiewe ontwikkeling. Verder laat dit ʼn leemte in die toepassing van die 5-tipe kognitiewe ontwikkelingstake in wiskunde wat ʼn verifiërend deduktiewe toepassing van begrippe bewerkstellig. In die aksienavorsing is ʼn struktuur geskep wat in hierdie behoefte voorsien. Outeurs van wiskundehandboeke het ʼn eie visie, interpretasie en styl wat hulle in wiskundehandboeke aanbied. Dit het ʼn invloed op die volgorde van wiskunde-inhoude en begrippe en gevolglik is wiskunde-inhoude en -begrippe soms nie inlyn geplaas met voorstellings van die wiskundekurrikulum nie, en word doelstellings nie bereik nie. Onderwysers se verskillende interpretasies van wiskundehandboekinhoude verskil radikaal van mekaar en plaas gevolglik groot druk op onderwysers om ʼn keuse te maak wat betref die gebruik van ʼn wiskundehandboek vir gebruik in die klaskamer. In die studie is ʼn wiskundehandboekprofiel en ʼn taakontleding tydens aksienavorsing geformuleer wat onderwysers in staat sal stel om ʼn professionele ontleding te maak vir gebruik. As gevolg van die verskeidenheid wiskundehandboeke wat gekeur word vir gebruik in skole neem onderwysers aan dat hierdie gekeurde wiskundehandboeke op die kurrikulum gerig is. Gevolglik word wiskundehandboeke slaafs nagevolg sonder om die wiskundekurrikulum te raadpleeg. Tekortkominge in wiskundehandboeke en die eie interpretasie van wiskundeinhoude deur onderwysers laat ʼn groot leemte in hul eie inlynwiskunde-onderrig. Om te voorsien in hierdie behoefte is ʼn assesseringsprofiel en ʼn inlynmetodiek saamgestel om onderwysers in staat te stel om die inlynaanbieding van begrippe en vaardighede te monitor.
Curriculum and Instructional Studies
D. Ed. (Didaktiek)