Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Teacher-research methodology'

Almost one quarter of children, by the time they reach 18 years old, will have experienced domestic violence (DV) at some point in their childhood (Bentley et al., 2017). The impact of DV on children can affect the areas of emotional and social development, communication, physical health and learning, in the home and school environments. Rather than being passive witnesses to abuse, children experience it through all of their senses. Despite a wealth of research exploring the areas of DV and the impact on children, there is limited current research in the area of DV in relation to children in education, and teacher perspectives of DV. This research therefore aims to add to the body of literature by exploring the educational experiences of children who have lived with domestic abuse and the views of teachers supporting those children. There were two phases to the research. Phase one involved working with children to explore their views of education and what was important to them, using image-based data collection methods. Phase two explored teacher perspectives of the effects of DV on children and a discussion about the implications of phase one, using a soft systems methodology approach. A visual arts-based methodology was utilised in order to allow children to explore and share their thoughts and feelings in a creative way; to tell their stories, take ownership over their own information and feel empowered to do so through a method of their choosing. The data was analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings illustrated that children’s experiences of school were centred on six key areas: play, education, identity, relationships, feeling safe and linking the past to the future. Teachers in the study expressed an understanding of DV and the impact on children and families. They described what children think about school and what children need at school. However, there were many barriers and conflicts for teachers in providing such support, and they felt disempowered to enact positive change for those children. Visual methodology allowed for children to express their views in a way that linked the past with the future that helped them navigate the present situation. The implications for educational psychology practice were explored at various levels of working. In particular, with relation to eliciting child voice, supporting schools at a systems level and promoting organisational change.

Initial teacher education is constantly in the spotlight regarding its quality and its effectiveness. The literature contains many claims from those who believe that it is ineffectual. The notion of the reflective practitioner was introduced and embraced as an antidote to these claims, and as an approach to break the influence of technocratic beliefs and expectations which pre-service teachers bring with them to their initial teacher education. Typically reflection targets the practicum experience. However, this study focuses specifically on the contribution of course work to the development of a reflective beginning teacher. This qualitative study invited pre-service teachers to provide insight into their initial teacher education experience: initially within a Teaching of Science methods paper, and then some 18 months later at the conclusion of their three year Bachelor of Education (Teaching) professional preparation. A critical reflexive interpretive methodology which sought authenticity within its meaning-making process developed from an initial consideration of self-study research methodology. Of particular importance was that the enquiry was authentic, participants' voices were valued and recognition was given to the implications embedded within the context within which the study occurred. Methods of data collection included in phase one were: a pre-course questionnaire, a Gestalt-like activity, and pre-service teachers' email reflections based on Hoban's (2000a) categories of learning influences, and meta-reflections from the Teaching of Science paper. The journal I kept during this phase was also drawn upon as data. Phase two data collection included a vignette, and a three part final questionnaire to which 40 pre-service teachers and nine teacher educators responded. The findings suggest that pre-service teachers' understanding of the nature of education is critical to the way in which they experience the course work within initial teacher education. This understanding shapes their perception and consideration lens through which course work is experienced. On entrance to initial teacher education this lens is described, for many pre-service teachers, as technocratic. Education is seen as a commodity, something to acquire, teaching is telling and initial teacher education is dependent on the teacher educator providing the necessary tools and techniques so the beginning teacher can do the right thing. This study suggests that such a stance toward educational experiences is a hindrance mechanism when teacher educators seek transformative teaching, learning, and reflexivity. However, when that view of education is as a process of growth and transformation toward a valued 'way of being', the perspective and consideration lens is described as professional. Rather than focusing on what a teacher does, the focus is on whom the teacher is and how this influences the teaching and learning process. Teacher educators and the institution which is the context within which course work occurs also demonstrate a mixture of technocratic and professional lenses. Important factors within initial teacher education which contribute to transformation from technocratic to professional lens include relational and pedagogical connectedness. These factors lead to valuing, ownership and justification of learning where assessment tasks are tools for personal development and where critical consideration of multiple perspectives has an important role. Relational connectedness (to self, peers, and teacher educators) is important for developing a safe, but challenging, dialogical space in which paradoxes, challenges and pre-service teachers' vulnerable sense of disorientation may be engaged. Pedagogical connectedness relates to the fit between what the teacher educator says and does. For example, a powerful approach to learning is where the pre-service teachers learn to be reflexive, by being reflexive. The study indicates the importance of institutional congruency so that what is espoused is experienced through language, assessment, teaching approaches and contextual culture. However, pre-service teachers' perception and consideration lens determines the degree to which course work is transformational. Where a technocratic lens is dominant, reflection becomes a task to be completed. Where a professional lens is dominant, reflection becomes an iterative process for improving practice by becoming professionally self aware through identifying assumptions in decisions and responses within the learning/teaching relationship, and judging those assumptions for their appropriateness in the light of a developing and critiqued personally owned educational vision.

Abstract This comparative study examines the views of Finnish and Japanese student teachers on global perspectives (GP) in relation to their future profession. As global citizens, teachers should know, one, the cultural and historical backgrounds of pupils and their families, and two, how to teach interrelated themes and global issues. The research questions of this study are, "How do student teachers conceptualise global perspectives in relation to their future teaching, in Oulu and Hiroshima?"; "How do those students view the role and significance of GP in their future teaching?"; and, "How does teacher education support the development of GP?" My theoretical framework rests on Gaudelli’s heuristic model of global citizenship education (2009) and on Hanvey’s five aims of GP (1982), enriched by principles of critical pedagogy (Giroux 2004, Freire 1985). The main body of empirical data was acquired through interviews with and questionnaires completed by students in the two contexts. This study found differences and similarities in the Finnish and Japanese student teachers’ views of global perspectives. Those views, in many respects, reflect Hanvey’s model of five aims, "perspective consciousness" and "cross-cultural awareness" in particular. Views derived from critical pedagogy were less visible. Remarkable differences were evident in terms of Gaudelli’s "four orientations" model. The Japanese student teachers expressed nationalistic tendencies more often than their Finnish counterparts, who stressed humanistic principles. Neo-liberalist and transformational orientations were more difficult to detect in the Japanese data. In both cases, the student teachers saw GP as valuable for their future profession, referring to "cross-cultural awareness" within a humanistic orientation. However, the Japanese student teachers stressed "perspective consciousness" as part of a nationalistic orientation, while the Finns justified the teaching of GP in terms of "global dynamics" in a transformational orientation. Both groups saw teacher education programmes as significant to the development of GP, expressing similar views on the importance of curricula and of professors’ knowledge. Yet, while the Finnish student teachers saw peer support and varied assignments as helpful in developing GP, the Japanese considered those factors to be less relevant
Tiivistelmä Tämä vertaileva tutkimus tarkastelee suomalaisten ja japanilaisten opettajaksi opiskelevien näkemyksiä globaaleista näkökulmista (global perspectives) suhteessa heidän tulevaan ammattiinsa. Maailmankansalaisina opettajien tulisi tuntea oppilaidensa ja heidän perheidensä kulttuurihistorialliset taustat sekä kuinka heidän tulisi huomioida globaalit kysymykset opetuksessa. Tutkimuskysymykset ovat: 1) Kuinka Oulussa ja Hiroshimassa opettajaksi opiskelevat käsitteellistävät globaalit näkökulmat suhteessa heidän tulevaan ammattiinsa? 2) Millaisena nämä opiskelijat näkevät globaalien näkökulmien merkityksen ja tehtävän tulevassa ammatissaan? 3) Kuinka opettajankoulutus opiskelijoiden mielestä tukee globaalien näkökulmien kehittymistä? Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys rakentuu seuraavista osa-alueista: 1) Gaudellin heuristinen maailmankansalaisuuden malli, 2) Hanveyn malli globaalin näkökulman viidestä tavoitteesta sekä 3) kriittisen pedagogiikan pääperiaatteet. Empiirinen aineisto koostuu pääasiallisesti kyselyistä ja opiskelijoiden haastatteluista näissä kahdessa kontekstissa. Tulokset osoittavat, että suomalaisten ja japanilaisten opettajaksi opiskelevien käsityksissä globaaleista näkökulmista on sekä yhtäläisyyksiä että eroavuuksia. Heidän käsityksensä heijastavat suurelta osin Hanveyn mallin viittä tavoitetta, joista vallitsevimpia olivat "näkökulmatietoisuus" ("perspective consciousness") ja kulttuurien välinen ymmärrys ("cross-cultural awareness"). Kriittiseen pedagogiikkaan pohjaavia näkemyksiä esiintyi aineistossa vähemmän. Gaudellin neljän orientaation malliin osalta tuloksissa oli havaittavissa huomattavia eroja. Japanilaiset opiskelijat ilmaisivat nationalistisia tendenssejä useammin kuin suomalaiset, jotka taas painottivat humanistisia periaatteita. Uusliberalistisia ja transformatiivisia orientaatioita oli vaikeampi havaita japanilaisten aineistossa. Sekä japanilaiset että suomalaiset opettajaksi opiskelevat pitivät globaaleja näkökulmia merkittävänä osana tulevaa ammattiaan ja viittasivat perusteluissaan kulttuurien väliseen ymmärrykseen. Japanilaiset opiskelijat kuitenkin painottivat näkökulmatietoisuutta osana nationalistista orientaatiota, kun taas suomalaiset perustelivat globaalien näkemysten opettamista "globaalilla dynamiikalla" osana transformatiivista orientaatiota. Mitä tulee opettajankoulutuksen rooliin, kumpikin ryhmä piti koulutusohjelmiaan merkittävinä globaalien näkökulmien kehittymiselle painottaen opetussuunnitelmien ja opettajankouluttajien tiedon tärkeyttä. Kuitenkin suomalaiset opiskelijat pitivät vertaistukea ja erilaisia tehtäviä oppimisprosessia edistävinä, mikä taas ei korostunut japanilaisten aineistossa

The purpose of this descriptive and exploratory study was to obtain insight into collaborative partnership trends between educational psychology researchers and teachers, in order to inform participatory theory and practice in future methodology studies. The Community of Practice Framework theoretically framed the study, describing professional communities and the way in which meanings, beliefs and understandings are negotiated and reflected in communal practices. Five symposium and two reflection session presentations were purposefully selected and transcribed for qualitative content analysis in terms of a trend analysis. Findings indicate that collaborative partnerships between educational psychology researchers and teachers differ from other partnerships in that collaborative partnerships between teachers and educational psychology researchers appear to be directed by an overarching philosophy of “care”. Also, collaborative partnership studies between teachers and educational psychology researchers favour methodologies encouraging participation in identifying and addressing school-community issues. In this way, knowledge exchange and the co-creation of knowledge is promoted. These partnerships focus on how education, as well as teacher and learner experiences can be enhanced and be meaningful, rewarding, enabling and supportive. Finally, benefits and challenges in collaborative partnerships between teachers and educational psychology researchers are similar to those experienced by other professionals participating in collaborative partnerships.
Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Educational Psychology
unrestricted

A presente pesquisa verifica as possibilidades e limites da formação de professores em Educação Ambiental (EA) na perspectiva crítica, por meio da Educação a Distância (EAD) semipresencial. As análises estão baseadas na aplicação do curso Educação Ambiental: Rede Ambiência, promovido pelo Instituto Nacional de Análise do Risco Ambiental (INAIRA). As contribuições de autores do pensamento crítico em EA foram consideradas em torno da formação continuada dos educadores. Os princípios metodológicos da pesquisa-ação subsidiam este estudo. No processo, as interpretações da realidade observada e as possíveis ações transformadoras são objetos de discussão. A pesquisa prática ocorreu durante o ano de 2010, com um grupo de 42 educadores do município de Mirassol DOeste, no Mato Grosso. O percurso da formação pautou-se no conhecimento e na discussão das questões ambientais locais e na sensibilização dos educadores, para um efetivo trabalho de EA com os alunos. A metodologia de projetos foi a estratégia sugerida para o desenvolvimento da EA crítica com os estudantes, pois possibilita estudos do meio que estimulam as investigações das problemáticas locais. Como resultado, verificou-se que a EAD semipresencial pode ser utilizada na formação em EA crítica, desde que conte com as ferramentas interativas de comunicação - os fóruns virtuais, e com metodologias participativas que agucem o pensamento reflexivo. Quanto aos limites apresentados, a presença do formador para um melhor acompanhamento no momento da realização dos projetos revelou-se positiva, também um maior estímulo à participação dos educadores nos fóruns pode ser considerado fundamental para a melhoria da qualidade do processo.
This study assesses the opportunities and limits of the training of teachers in Environmental Education (EA) in critical perspective, conducted by Distance Education. The analyzes are based on the application of the course \"Environmental Education: Rede Ambiência\", sponsored by Instituto Nacional de Análise do Risco Ambiental (INAIRA). The contributions of authors of critical thinking in area, were considered around the training of educators. The methodological principles of action research are subsidizing this study. In the process, the interpretations of observed reality and the possible transformative actions are objects of discussion. The research practice occurred during the year of 2010, with a group of 42 educators in the town of Mirassol DOeste, Mato Grosso. The formation was prompted in knowledge and in the discussion of local problem affairs, for an effective work area with the students. The projects methodology has been the strategy suggested for the development of critical Environmental Education with the students, because it allows studies of the environment that stimulate the investigations of local problems. As a result, it was found that the EAD can be used in training in critical environmental education, with the interactive tools of communication - the forums, and participatory methodologies to develop the reflective thought. As to the limits shown, the presence of the advisor for a better follow-up at the moment of realisation of projects can be considered important, also a greater motivation of the educators in the forums it is fundamental to the improvement of the quality of the process.

Previous research has identified student engagement as an important antecedent to student learning in higher education. Although student engagement is viewed as important for learning, a significant number of college students still report frequently feeling bored in their courses. The use of music as a pedagogical tool is believed to be beneficial for promoting student engagement and student learning in higher education sociology courses, yet it has been suggested that sociology faculty members do not commonly incorporate the technique into their courses. The purpose of this comparative interview study is to explore higher education sociology faculty members' understandings of the use of music as a pedagogical tool, and the perceived importance of student engagement to student learning among higher education sociology faculty members.

In this study, it is found that higher education sociology faculty members believe student engagement can lead to increased student learning. It is also found that higher education sociology faculty members generally identify music as an effective pedagogical tool for promoting student engagement and learning in higher education sociology courses. Interestingly, participants believed the use of music as a pedagogical tool to be an uncommon practice in higher education sociology courses in the United States. As part of their efforts to explain their choices to use or not use music as a pedagogical tool, faculty participants described potential barriers that may impact faculty member choices to use music in their higher education sociology courses.

Sociology faculty participants in this study agreed that a lack of discussion of pedagogical tools among colleagues and in teaching courses might serve as a potential barrier for the use of music as a pedagogical tool. Higher education sociology faculty participants also identified a lack of knowledge of how to use music as a pedagogical tool as a potential barrier for the use of music in sociology courses. This research suggests that the lack of faculty knowledge of music as a pedagogical tool may be due to the lack of discussion of pedagogical tools both among colleagues and in the teaching courses completed by higher education sociology faculty members.

Past research has suggested that sociology faculty members need to create an environment that encourages students to be active and engaged participants in their own learning through building a community of learners. This study suggests that higher education sociology faculty members may successfully build a community of learners through using music as a pedagogical tool in their courses. This study recommends that changes at the departmental level need to occur in order to make it easier for sociology faculty members to gain the knowledge required to use music effectively in their courses. Suggestions for practice and future research are provided.

Este trabalho, realizado no período de 2004 a 2008, relata nossa investigação de acordo com uma abordagem de pesquisa-ação-colaborativa, de natureza qualitativa e dialético-crítica. Analisamos como a pesquisa e o mapeamento bibliográfico, apoiados por Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação, podem ser usados como estratégia de organização informacional na formação de professores. Um dos desafios, ao realizar pesquisas que utilizam tecnologias contemporâneas, foi construir estratégias de desenvolvimento de habilidades tais como saber acessar informações bibliográficas e organizá-las. No entanto, o mero acesso à informação não garante por si só a construção de conhecimentos. Considerando-se tais desafios, apresentamos fundamentos relacionados a formação de professores na interface com a pesquisa em educação, Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação e Arquitetura da Informação. Socializamos nossas experiências vivenciadas no Núcleo de Educação de Jovens e Adultos e Formação de Professores da Faculdade de Educação da USP (NEA), no Grupo Alpha de Pesquisa, no Simpósio de Iniciação Científica da USP (SIICUSP), na Disciplina de Didática da Faculdade de Educação da USP, na Disciplina Educação a Distância da Faculdade de Educação da USP, no Seminário Web Currículo, no Anuário Estatístico Brasileiro de Educação a Distância (ABRAEAD), no artigo Mapeamento de fluxos informacionais na iniciação científica de docentes e no artigo Aspectos bibliométricos em EAD. Como resultado, apresentamos como o uso pedagógico das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação trouxe significativa contribuição na mobilização e registro da prática docente e socialização coletiva de aprendizagens relacionadas a pesquisa e mapeamento informacional bibliográfico, bem como permitiu qualificar a reflexão efetivada sobre a prática do professor, fortalecendo o espírito crítico, a postura ativa e autoral necessárias à profissão docente. Observamos que o trabalho de pesquisa do fluxo informacional apoiados por recursos tecnológicos se trata de um processo complexo de organização, que leva tempo até ser plenamente incorporado. No entanto, parece ser indispensável investir em atividades desta natureza para contribuir para a formação qualitativa do professor e pesquisador, propiciando autonomia na busca, seleção e organização de informações bibliográficas, ampliando o repertório pedagógico e científico por meio de projetos coletivos de colaboração e cooperação.
This work, was carried out from 2004 to 2008, it reports our research in accordance with an approach of action research, collaborative, qualitative and dialectical-critical. We analyze how the research and the bibliographic mapping, supported by Information and Communication Technologies can be used as a strategy for organizing information in the education of teachers. One of the challenges, to conduct research using contemporary technologies, is the building of strategies to develop skills such as knowledge on how to access bibliographic information and organizing it. However, the sole access of that information does not guarantee by itself the building of knowledge. Considering such challenges, we introduced foundations of related basis of education, Information and Communication Technologies in the Information Architecture. We socialized our lived experiences on Nucleus of Youth and Adult Education and Faculty of Education of Teachers of USP (NEA), in Search Alpha Group, in Symposium of Scientific Initiation USP (SIICUSP), in Didactics of the School of Education at USP, in Discipline Distance Education of Faculty of Education at USP, Web Seminar on Curriculum in the Statistical Yearbook Brazilian Distance Education (ABRAEAD), in the article \"Mapping of informational flows in the initiation of teachers scientifically\" and in \"Bibliometrics aspects in Distance Education. As a result, we presented how the educational use of Information and Communication Technologies brought significant contribution to the mobilization and record of teaching practice and collective socialization of learning related to bibliographic search and mapping information, and helped qualify the reflection affect on the practice of teacher, strengthening the critical spirit, the same active and copyright necessary to the teaching profession. We observed that the work of research of information flow supported by technological resources is a complex process of organization; it takes time until fully incorporated. However, it seems essential to invest in such activities to contribute to the quality of teacher training and research, providing autonomy in the search, selection and organization of bibliographic information, expanding the repertoire educational and scientific projects through collective collaboration and cooperation.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
This work is linked to the group that develops research on subjective aspects of foreign language teaching and learning process at the Instituto de Letras e Linguística of a Federal University. Its main objective is to investigate cognitions, conceptions and points of view about the role and relevance of research for in-service English language teachers and for professors / researchers working with language teachers` education. The term cognitions , according to Borg (2003) refers to non-observable aspects of the cognitive dimension: what the teachers know, believe and think. Thus, the development of the research starts from the following questions: (a) What are the cognitions of regular public school foreign language teachers` about research developed by professors working with language teachers` education? (b) What are the cognitions of professors working with language teachers` education, about research developed in/about the regular school context? To which extent do participants` cognitions converge / diverge? Q Methodology research approach, which makes use of PQMethod 2.11 software, was used. Focal group and semi-structured interviews were used, as secondary data gathering tools, for raising a wide range of participants` points o view and subsequent composition of a semi-structured Q sample of statements. These represent the participants` cognitions about the role and contributions of research on the process of teaching and learning foreign language. The subjects distributed statements along a continuum in a scale ranging from Totally agree (+5) to Totally disagree (-5), and the results of the Q Distribution were analysed with PQMethod 2.11 software. From further qualitative and interpretive analysis, the factors, or groups, that emerged from the fator analysis were defined, characterized and interpreted. These groups of participants share similar points of view about research on the teaching and learning process. The following aspects stand out among the emerging results: the relationship between theory and practice, Applied Linguistics contributions to foreign language teachers` Education, foreign language reflective practice, teachers and professors` cognitions about the relevance of research to practice; and the (re)construction of teacher knowledge in Applied Linguistics research. I believe that, through the development of awareness of roles and critical stance of practices, the results of this research may bring contributions to foreign language teachers at regular public schools as well as to professors working with language teachers` education.
Este trabalho está vinculado ao Grupo de Pesquisas sobre Aspectos subjetivos do processo de ensino e aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras, do Instituto de Letras e Linguística da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. O objetivo principal é investigar as cognições, concepções e pontos de vista sobre pesquisa, sobre o papel e relevância destas, para professores e formadores da área de ensino e aprendizagem de Língua Estrangeira (LE). É meu interesse investigar as cognições de professores-em-serviço e professores formadores sobres os estudos na área de ensino e aprendizagem de língua estrangeira. O termo cognição, na definição de Borg (2003) refere-se a aspectos da dimensão cognitiva não observável: o que os professores sabem, acreditam e pensam. Assim, o desenvolvimento da pesquisa se dá a partir dos seguintes questionamentos: (a) Quais são as cognições dos professores de LE de escolas regulares sobre pesquisas realizadas pelos professores formadores? (b) Quais são as cognições de professores formadores de LE em relação às pesquisas realizadas no/sobre contexto de escolas regulares? (c) Em que ponto as cognições dos participantes convergem/divergem? Como abordagem de pesquisa utilizei a Metodologia Q, que utiliza o programa PQMethod 2.11. Por meio do grupo focal e entrevistas semi-estruturadas, usados como instrumentos de coleta secundários, foi feito o levantamento de uma gama de pontos de vista dos participantes para a posterior composição de uma Amostra Q semi-estruturada de assertivas. Estas representam as cognições dos participantes sobre o papel e as contribuições das pesquisas sobre o processo de ensinar e aprender língua estrangeira. Os participantes distribuíram as assertivas ao longo de um contínuo em uma escala de concordo totalmente (+5) e discordo totalmente (-5) e os resultados obtidos pela distribuição Q foram analisados no pacote estatístico PQMethod 2.11. A partir da posterior análise qualitativa e interpretativista, os grupos que emergiram da análise fatorial foram definidos, caracterizados e interpretados. Após o levantamento dos resultados, surgiram fatores a serem analisados e interpretados, ou seja, grupos de participantes que compartilham do mesmo ponto de vista sobre as pesquisas do processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Dentre os aspectos emergentes desta pesquisa destacaram-se: a relação teoria e prática; contribuições da LA para a formação de professores; a prática reflexiva de LE; relação universidade-escola; cognições de professores sobre a relevância das pesquisas em LA para a prática e sobre os formadores e a (re)construção do saber docente na pesquisa em LA. Acredito que os resultados desta pesquisa podem trazer contribuições para professores e formadores, tendo em vista que a partir da conscientização e postura crítica perante suas práticas poderão, juntos compreender seus papeis e orientar suas ações.
Mestre em Linguística

This research explores postmethod pedagogy (Kumaravadivelu, 2003, p. 165) with two Mozambican secondary school teachers who expressed an interest in carrying out an exploratory research project in their context of practice. The research was undertaken to investigate how teachers, who had attended an International House Language Lab (IHLL) teacher education programme in 2008, were theorizing from their practice with the aim of developing a context-sensitive pedagogy. The research is a qualitative study consisting of two case studies. Each case is based on the practices of a teacher attempting to implement an exploratory research project. The exploratory projects included the following activities: the teacher teaching a lesson with a colleague observing; the teacher and observer meeting both before and after the observed lesson to discuss and analyse the lesson; and finally, the teacher inviting a group of students to discuss their perceptions of selected episodes in the lesson. The teachers used the exploratory research projects to explore their classroom practice in order to learn more about their teaching. Of particular relevance to this study is literature on practitioner research and teachers as reflective practitioners. In analysing the data, I demonstrate that although the exploratory research projects provided a frame of reference and point of departure for postmethod pedagogy, the teachers’ ability to ‘develop a systematic, coherent, and relevant personal theory of practice’ (Kumaravadivelu, 2003, p. 40) was limited by: the context, the surface level application of macrostrategies, and a lack of foregrounding of the critical in the postmethod macrostrategies. The study concludes with a critical reflection on the value of postmethod pedagogy for teacher education programmes offered at IHLL, as well as for the teachers’ contexts of practice. I offer some ‘fuzzy generalizations’ (Bassey, 1999) about the place of postmethod principles in teacher development courses for language teachers from a range of classroom and community contexts.

The in-class learning environments of a traditional and hybrid mathematics course were compared. The hybrid course had half the face-to-face meetings as the traditional course; outside of class, the students in the hybrid section completed asynchronous online assignments that involved watching content-delivery videos. Moving the content delivery outside of the classroom for the hybrid format had an impact on the interactions between the students and the professor inside the classroom. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of verbal discourse determined that the hybrid class format reduced the amount of in-class time devoted to direct instruction and increased the level of student discourse. Students assisted other students, had the freedom to make mistakes, and were able to receive personal guidance from the professor. The professor was able to address student misconceptions on formative assessments in class. Previous studies of the hybrid class model had focused on comparing differences in examination scores, GPAs, and pre- and post-test scores between the traditional and hybrid class model rather than comparing what is occurring inside the classroom. Quantifying what effect the shift from the traditional to the hybrid class model had on discourse inside the classroom is a first step towards confirming how the different methods of content delivery affects the in-class learning environment, and provides insight into certain pedagogic advantages the hybrid format may offer.

abstract: This project draws on sociocognitive rhetoric to ask, How, in complex situations not of our making, do we determine what needs to be done and how to leverage available means for the health of our communities and institutions? The project pulls together rhetorical concepts of the stochastic arts (those that demand the most precise, careful planning in the least predictable places) and techne (problem-solving tools that transform limits and barriers into possibilities) to forward a stochastic techne that grounds contemplative social action at the intersection of invention and intervention and mastery and failure in real time, under constraints we can't control and outcomes we can't predict. Based on 18 months of fieldwork with the Sudanese refugee diaspora in Phoenix, I offer a method for engaging in postmodern phronesis with community partners in four ways: 1) Explanations and examples of public listening and situational mapping 2) Narratives that elucidate the stochastic techne, a heuristic for determining and testing wise rhetorical action 3) Principles for constructing mutually collaborative, mutually beneficial community-university/ community-school partnerships for jointly addressing real-world issues that matter in the places where we live 4) Descriptions and explanations that ground the hard rhetorical work of inventing new paths and destinations as some of the Sudanese women construct hybridized identities and models of social entrepreneurship that resist aid-to-Africa discourse based on American paternalism and humanitarianism and re-cast themselves as micro-financers of innovative work here and in Southern Sudan. Finally, the project pulls back from the Sudanese to consider implications for re-figuring secondary English education around phronesis. Here, I offer a framework for teachers to engage in the real work of problem-posing that aims - as Django Paris calls us - to get something done by confronting the issues that confront our communities. Grounded in classroom instruction, the chapter provides tools for scaffolding public listening, multi-voiced inquiries, and phronesis with and for local publics. I conclude by calling for English education to abandon all pretense of being a predictive science and to instead embrace productive knowledge-making and the rhetorical work of phronesis as the heart of secondary English studies.
Dissertation/Thesis
Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2012

The following study is an exercise in understanding how educators can improve their professional practice in terms of addressing the needs of Aboriginal high school students. The study was delimited to four different high schools in Northwestern Ontario in order to develop a broader understanding of best practices used by various school communities. Interviews were conducted with students and educational professionals such as teachers, administrators, guidance personnel and school board members. The study was completed over a period of one week, where one day was spent in each school completing interviews. This study is unique in two ways: it presents the voices of secondary school educators (which had scarcely been reported or heard in the academic community) outlining the direction in which Aboriginal education should go and secondly, as a researcher I attempted to use the medicine wheel as a model for completing and conducting research. There were a number of findings that appeared through the interviews. Teachers and administrators agreed that in order for Aboriginal students to succeed they needed to have involved parental support. It was important to teachers that parents take an active role in the educational life of their child. Additionally, it was acknowledged that First Nation communities were ideal settings for schooling of Aboriginal students as they were supported by family and community kinships. Yet in this study, it was also acknowledged that First Nation schools suffered financially in comparison to provincial schools. They were not able to provide programming comparable to provincial schools and iii were limited to a barebones program with compulsory courses being offered. In some cases, if students failed a course, they were not able to participate in the rest of the school program, until the course was re-taught in two years. Despite these shortcomings, students might do better in First Nation based schools if they were adequately funded with current resources and adequately compensated teachers. This study offers some suggestions on how to improve the practice of educating First Nation secondary students.

This study investigated the psychological approach and the classroom methodology needed by an educator to teach street children effectively in a special school created for them. Street children with their psychological trauma, their independent, self-sufficient outlook and educational deprivation make their adaption to the methods and educational environment of mainstream schooling difficult. To meet the special educational, psychological and emotional needs of street children, Masupatsela School was started. The study was carried out in this school. The qualitative research methodology used an action research design which consisted of a reconnaissance phase and three cycles. Each cycle made use of a planning, implementation and evaluation phase. A general plan was formulated after the reconnaissance phase and revised after each cycle. The teaching was done by the researcher using four grades of street children ranging form grade 7 to grade 10. Because of their specific psychological makeup, street children, who have lacked close, comforting and trusting relationships and role models, require a classroom environment, atmosphere and a relationship with the educator which is supportive, caring, warm and firm. To achieve this a client centred approach was used based predominantly on the therapeutic principles of congruence, empathetic understanding and unconditional positive regard. The interaction with the children was based on openness, tolerance, the affirmation of others and honest firmness. The teaching methodology was an eclectic one which made use primarily of a cognitive teaching style which was introduced incrementally over the three cycles. The main components of this style consisted of cognitive questioning, cooperative learning and strategic reading for information. The results of the study showed that both the psychological and educational approach in the classroom to be very appropriate and successful. However the wider negative contextual influences such as the school organization, staffing and curriculum made the classroom strategies difficult to sustain. It is recommended that a programme using these educational and psychological approaches and incorporating functional literacy and numeracy, vocational skills, recreation and a therapeutic programme be incorporated when designing a programme for street children in a formal setting.
Psychology
D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

The thesis deals with the theoretic concept of Contextual Pedagogy and its application in the context of a disempowered and marginalized society, the Ju/'hoansi ("Bushmen") of Nyae Nyae in North Eastern Namibia. Contextual Pedagogy derives from the notion of Contextual Theology and is thus initially based on a pedagogical analysis of the KAI ROS-Document, whereby its sociopolitical content and its inherent methodology are being transferred into a context of pedagogy. Referring to theoretical concepts of Critical Theory and Liberation Pedagogy, Conditional Fields are being identified in a first analysis which determine and explain the pedagogical situation in a colonial context of Apartheid South Africa. During a three-year qualitative field research, central aspects of Contextual Pedagogy are being applied within the framework of the development of a post-colonial and community-based school programme in Nyae Nyae, the Village Schools Project. This school programme comprises a curriculum for a teacher training course as well as a curriculum for Grade 1-3 learners in five selected villages of Nyae Nyae, and is based on the dynamic processes between the communities, the Student Teachers and the author as their Teacher Trainer and Village Schools Co-ordinator. A further theoretical evaluation and reflexion of the field research gives rise to a pedagogical superstructure of Contextual Pedagogy, which also investigates the notions of power, empowerment and over-empowerment within a context of development work. By doing so, the previous Conditional Fields of pedagogic work within a theoretical framework of Contextual Pedagogy become extended in relevance for a pedagogical context of a post-colonial society with special reference to marginalized subjects. In conclusion, the finalization of the research project and its subsequent handing-over process to the Namibian government analyzes the paralyzing effects of an excessive bureaucracy, and the resurgence of conservative and colonial thought in the young and fragile democracy of Namibia.
Educational Studies
D.Ed.(Didactics)

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of instructional leadership on the culture of teaching and learning in ten rural schools of the Eastern Cape categorised as performing and under performing schools. The research utilises the transformational leadership theory in its theoretical analytical framework as the model for effective leadership. The research argues that principals’ instructional leadership can significantly improve teacher engagement, teacher collaboration and learner performances in the ten rural schools. The study draws on the qualitative research methodology, instruments utilised are interviews of teachers, principals and top education officials within the Buffalo City Municipality. Past matric results of the rural schools under consideration were retrieved from the archives of the National Senior Certificate Results to measure the impact of instructional leadership on the culture of teaching and learning and learners’ performances. The study concludes that there is a relationship between instructional leadership and learners’ outcomes.
Educational Management and Leadership
M. Ed. (Educational Leadership and Management)