Dissertations / Theses: 'Middle schooling'

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Litke, Cary Del. "Virtual schooling at middle grades, a case study." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ34683.pdf.

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Webb, R. "Developing information skills in the middle years of schooling." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 1987. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.380974.

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Wilson, Leigh Herbert Alexander. "Keeping up and keeping out: Mapping middle class schooling." Thesis, Wilson, Leigh Herbert Alexander (1996) Keeping up and keeping out: Mapping middle class schooling. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 1996. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/51379/.

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This thesis investigates the role of middle class schooling in patterns of social disadvantage and privilege. The outstanding performance of a group of government secondary schools at tertiary entrance examinations is widely recognised in Western Australia and is reflected when these schools are popularly described as "Superschools". The practices behind the success of these schools and the systemwide effects created by that success provoke the consideration of a range of issues. A critical methodology is used in providing a comprehensive explanation of the phenomenon of high achieving government schools and involves: Conceptual and economic analyses of class in Australia; a geographic analysis of urban space in the Perth metropolitan area as it relates to class and government secondary schools; an historical analysis of changing government policies for school boundaries and curricula, and; an ethnographic analysis of one of the Superschools in the form of locally-based interviews and document analysis. Evidence is presented identifying a middle class which has been able to exploit opportunities in creating non-fee-paying "Superschools" as educational sites where tertiary entrance examination performance is optimised. The achievement at a level comparable to expensive private schools by these middle class government schools has influenced wider patterns of privilege and disadvantage in education. It masks the real discrepancy in the overall performance between private fee-paying and government non-fee-paying secondary school systems and at the same time is related to the constraints on educational opportunities available to students in other government schools in less affluent areas. Significantly, despite the rhetoric of meritocracy and freedom of choice, urban space provides an arena where economic structures and social practices intersect producing differentiated opportunities and choices in education.

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Copping, Warren. "Middle schooling and scientific literacy : bringing the students to science." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2012. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/63597/1/Warren_Copping_Thesis.pdf.

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This study is about young adolescents' engagement in learning science. The middle years of schooling are critical in the development of students' interest and engagement with learning. Successful school experiences enhance dispositions towards a career related to those experiences. Poor experiences lead to negative attitudes and rejection of certain career pathways. At a time when students are becoming more aware, more independent and focused on peer relationships and social status, the high school environment in some circumstances offers more a content-centred curriculum that is less personally relevant to their lives than the social melee surrounding them. Science education can further exacerbate the situation by presenting abstract concepts that have limited contextual relevance and a seemingly difficult vocabulary that further alienates adolescents from the curriculum. In an attempt to reverse a perceived growing disinterest by students to science (Goodrum, Druhan & Abbs, 2011), a study was initiated based on a student-centred unit designed to enhance and sustain adolescent engagement in science. The premise of the study was that adolescent students are more responsive toward learning if they are given an appropriate learning environment that helps connect their learning with life beyond the school. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of young adolescents with the aim of transforming school learning in science into meaningful experiences that connected with their lives. Two areas were specifically canvassed and subsumed within the study to strengthen the design base. One area that of the middle schooling ideology, offered specific pedagogical approaches and a philosophical framework that could provide opportunities for reform. The other area, the construct of scientific literacy (OECD, 2007) as defined by Holbrook and Rannikmae, (2009) appeared to provide a sense of purpose for students to aim toward and value for becoming active citizens. The study reported here is a self-reflection of a teacher/researcher exploring practice and challenging existing approaches to the teaching of science in the middle years of schooling. The case study approach (Yin, 2003) was adopted to guide the design of the study. Over a 6-month period, the researcher, an experienced secondary-science teacher, designed, implemented and documented a range of student-centred pedagogical practices with a Year-7 secondary science class. Data for this case study included video recordings, journals, interviews and surveys of students. Both quantitative and qualitative data sources were employed in a partially mixed methods research approach (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2009) dominated by qualitative data with the concurrent collection of quantitative data to corroborate interpretations as a means of analysing and developing a model of the dynamic learning environment. The findings from the case study identified five propositions that became the basis for a model of a student-centred learning environment that was able to sustain student participation and thus engagement in science. The study suggested that adolescent student engagement can be promoted and sustained by providing a classroom climate that encourages and strengthens social interaction. Engagement in science can be enhanced by presenting developmentally appropriate challenges that require rigorous exploration of contextually relevant learning environments; supporting students to develop connections with a curriculum that aligns with their own experiences. By setting an environment empathetic to adolescent needs and understandings, students were able to actively explore phenomena collaboratively through developmentally appropriate experiences. A significant outcome of this study was the transformative experiences of an insider, the teacher as researcher, whose reflections provide an authentic model for reforming pedagogy. The model and theory presented became an adjunct to my repertoire for science teaching in the middle years of schooling. The study was rewarding in that it helped address a void in my understanding of middle years of schooling by prompting me to re-think the notion of adolescence in the context of the science classroom. This study is timely given the report "The Status and Quality of Year 11 and 12 Science in Australian Schools" (Goodrum, Druhan & Abbs, 2011) and national curricular changes that are being proposed for science (ACARA, 2009).

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Paris, Lisa. "Visual arts history and visual arts criticism : Applications in middle schooling." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1999. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1240.

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Visual arts history and criticism occupy central positions in visual arts curriculum statements in Western Australia. This status is sustained by the belief that the study of visual arts history and criticism actively contributes to the education of the student as a "whole person". In reality however, rather than attending to the holistic education of students, the application of visual arts history and criticism in Western Australian schools tends to be pragmatic and instrumental - visual arts teachers often use visual art works as "learning aids" because they don't have time, interest or experience in dealing with visual arts works in any other way. While visual arts history and criticism offer the student a valuable life-skill worth acquiring for the contribution they could make to the student's autonomy and personal welfare, this understanding often seems a foreign concept for many classroom teachers. The difference between theorists' and teachers' understandings of the place and purpose of visual arts history and criticism provides an important area of inquiry requiring urgent attention. This research makes a foray into this domain with the purpose of shedding light on the content and methods used by middle school visual arts teachers and their students' perceptions of the content and methods. A qualitative descriptive study was selected for the research taking the form of semi-structured interviews with six teachers. An interview guide was used and transcripts deriving from this methodology were coded by way of reference to the original research questions and classifications which emanated from emergent themes. The teacher interviews were complemented by a questionnaire administered to one class of students from each of the six schools. Participating teachers were selected through a stratified sampling technique. Analysis of data was undertaken from a qualitative stance in the case of interview participants. Narrative-style reporting of interview content was employed to facilitate accurate representation of the teachers' perceptions of visual arts history and criticism at the middle school level. A quantitative analysis of students' questionnaires provided triangulation of methodology, ensuring greater levels of validity than would be afforded by qualitative methods alone. With pressure being applied by the impending implementation of the Curriculum Framework for Kindergarten to Year 12 Education in Western Australian Schools (1998) for the formal inclusion of Arts Responses (aesthetics, art criticism) and Arts in Society (art history), a pressing need exists for clear information about current professional practice. Findings indicated that a misalignment appears to exist between theoretical assumptions embedded in documentation supporting the implementation of the Framework and actual classroom teaching practice. The implications of such misalignment, albeit illustrated on a small scale, are that the initiatives of the Framework may not be sustainable in the longer term, precisely because they are built upon invalid assumptions about what teachers actually do. Whilst the size of the sample and scope of the research limits the generalisability of findings, this first foray may provide impetus for a more comprehensive and evaluative study at a later date.

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Menzies, Victoria Jane, and n/a. "Artist-in-Residence: A Catalyst to Deeper Learning in Middle Phase Schooling." Griffith University. School of Vocational, Technology and Arts Education, 2005. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20051130.101749.

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The study sought to investigate the nature of learning that occurs in two different approaches (integrated and non-integrated) to an artist-in-residency program. The program was conducted in middle phase schooling, and adopted the principles of authentic learning. Two year five classes and their teachers participated in the study. The residency provided learning experiences that connected to the curriculum unit theme for one year five class (integrated), but not for the other year five class (non-integrated). These experiences were designed to relate to the learner's lived experiences and promote higher-order thinking processes. The study sought to explore the potential for visual arts residencies to foster more 'authentic' modes of learning. The study examined children's ability to transfer knowledge, gained through the visual and verbal analysis of images, by manipulating and integrating diverse information and ideas. Grounded Theory was deemed to be an appropriate research methodology for this study as it involves gathering data in field settings and applying inductive methods to analyze this data. Diverse data collection strategies were implemented including: teacher stories, interviews, student reflection, researcher observations and student artworks. LeximancerTM software was selected as an instrument for analyzing data. This software was considered appropriate as it fosters a descriptive and interpretive approach to analysis. The findings of the study indicated that children who participated in the integrated artist-in-school's curriculum program demonstrated more evidence of higher-order thinking processes than children who participated in the non-integrated program. The participants undertaking the integrated approach were able to establish relatively complex relationships between the central residency concepts, demonstrating an ability to use visual and verbal codes of communication to articulate their ideas, knowledge and experiences. A further important finding identified positive student behavioural outcomes, where the integrated residency approach appeared to connect group members as small supportive learning communities. The study also identified a transition in the teacher's perspectives on teaching and learning after participating in the integrated approach. This research project has significance both nationally and internationally by investigating current practices in artist-in-schools programs that both enhance and hinder educational outcomes. The study has significance to the broader educational community in terms of its focus on the role of visual arts specialist adjuncts in maximising learning outcomes. The findings of this study could provide insight into the interrelationship between visual arts and other curriculum areas to heighten student learning outcomes. The findings of the study illustrate how particular approaches to visual art in education can enhance children's learning and development. These insights can assist artists undertaking residencies in schools, and the teachers involved, to provide richer learning experiences. The findings provide ifirther evidence to support an approach that involves close collaboration between resident artists and educators. It is recommended that the residency learning experiences are connected to the children's lived experiences and that there is social support from teachers, parents and peers. It is also argued that for a residency to be considered 'authentic', the approach requires a number of essential and valuable attributes. These essential and valuable attributes have two tiers of application which coalesce to contribute to the efficacy of a school art residency.

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Demarte, Adele Louise, and adele@rahna com. "Middle Years of Schooling: The pressures on rural adolescents to achieve academically." RMIT University. Education, 2007. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20080208.145838.

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Within a climate of continual change this study offers insights into the academic pressures experienced by rural adolescents to achieve at school. In the often challenging transition from childhood to adulthood expectations from others place additional pressures on adolescents' lives. To better understand these pressures, I conducted a qualitative study of six students (ages nine to 15) and their teachers in the Middle Years of Schooling within rural Victoria, Australia. Students were studied prior to the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) in order to examine the pressures on students facing the Middle Years of Schooling. The study was carried out over a 6 month period using a Naturalistic Inquiry process with semi-structured interviews and participant observation. This allowed access into the participants' subjective insights. A Collective case study approach was employed to situate the information in its holistic environment and offer thick and information rich narratives depicting the experiences of these early adolescents. The case studies also involved examination of the school experiences of the early adolescents. Academic pressure was then broadly viewed in light of these experiences and recommendations offered. The findings from this research revealed that the early adolescents in the study all experienced degrees of academic pressure and demonstrated varied abilities to cope with these pressures. External support provided by parents, the school, teachers and peers tended to provide support more than fostering resilience.

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Faulkner, Val, and N/A. "Adolescent literacies, middle schooling and pedagogic choice: Riverside's response to the challenge." University of Canberra. Education, 2002. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20050411.094459.

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This study looks at the ways in which middle schooling initiatives (particularly notions such as 'authentic pedagogy') are impacting on teachers' pedagogic choices and practices especially in the area of literacy teaching. There has been no research to date which explores the linkages between curriculum/school reform such as proposed in middle schooling initiatives and choices/practices demonstrated by teachers caught up in this initiative in particular schools. My research attempts to theorise the connection between crucial features of middle school reform, teacher decisions and practices in the classroom and their impact on students' own learning/adolescent literacies. I assume that if the reform is to have continuity and to contribute to higher levels of adolescent engagement and deep learning, it needs to support and facilitate certain kinds of decisions and practices in the school and classroom environments. Where I find evidence of engagement, sustained/substantial conversation across lessons, within lessons and 'deep learning' in transdisciplinary work by students, then it is fair to say that middle schooling is working for students and teachers. Where I find little or no evidence of these things, then it is necessary to apply a critical and constructive reading of reform initiatives. This critical and constructive reading attempts to outline the necessary and sufficient conditions which must be in place in schools if middle schooling is to thrive and to make the difference in young peoples' school lives it claims to make. My research is a contribution to the sustained and substantial conversation that is so necessary to middle schooling reform. Many previous studies surrounding middle schooling have remained at the level of "description". These commentaries either support or oppose the reform initiative. In making a commitment to move beyond description, generated by participant observation and ethnographic conversations, to also involve extensive D/discourse analysis (Gee, 1999; Bernstein, 1990) of pedagogic practice, this thesis sought to develop an awareness of the notion of authentic literacy pedagogy through close analysis of pedagogic choice enacted in three middle school homerooms. A further significance lies in the perspectives that it offers on adolescent literacies. The data collected raised questions about the "actual" impact of the middle school reform initiative at one school, Riverside', how this approach to schooling for young adolescents impacts on the way that teachers and students construct literacies; and whether or not these constructions are mindful of the range of those "private" and "public" literacies found in the multiple life-worlds of adolescents (Phelps, 1998). It challenges some "myths" about literacy pedagogic transformation linked to middle schooling, as well as, highlights those factors, both physical and intrinsic, that impact on reform initiatives and change. Acknowledgement of the need to engage in a theorisation of adolescent literacies that moves beyond the current narrow macro-level D/discourse agenda, which focuses on the "public" school-based literacies, also emerged. This highlights those tensions that exist between the macro, meso and micro educational environments when considering what it means to be "literate" for young adolescents. The study also highlights those disjunctions and tensions found within the progressivist middle school approach. As a result there are a number of implications that emerge. These are linked to the preparation of pre-service teachers; a concern for the physical/material landscape of middle schools; the establishment of Learning Circles as critical in creating the "ferment of change"; the need to continue theorising the notion - adolescent literacies; the need to link professional learning for teachers to those phases of pedagogic change highlighted as part of the reform process; as well as an acknowledgement of the importance of the need to support the development of more authentic pedagogies.

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Menzies, Victoria Jane. "Artist-in-Residence: A Catalyst to Deeper Learning in Middle Phase Schooling." Thesis, Griffith University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365864.

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The study sought to investigate the nature of learning that occurs in two different approaches (integrated and non-integrated) to an artist-in-residency program. The program was conducted in middle phase schooling, and adopted the principles of authentic learning. Two year five classes and their teachers participated in the study. The residency provided learning experiences that connected to the curriculum unit theme for one year five class (integrated), but not for the other year five class (non-integrated). These experiences were designed to relate to the learner's lived experiences and promote higher-order thinking processes. The study sought to explore the potential for visual arts residencies to foster more 'authentic' modes of learning. The study examined children's ability to transfer knowledge, gained through the visual and verbal analysis of images, by manipulating and integrating diverse information and ideas. Grounded Theory was deemed to be an appropriate research methodology for this study as it involves gathering data in field settings and applying inductive methods to analyze this data. Diverse data collection strategies were implemented including: teacher stories, interviews, student reflection, researcher observations and student artworks. LeximancerTM software was selected as an instrument for analyzing data. This software was considered appropriate as it fosters a descriptive and interpretive approach to analysis. The findings of the study indicated that children who participated in the integrated artist-in-school's curriculum program demonstrated more evidence of higher-order thinking processes than children who participated in the non-integrated program. The participants undertaking the integrated approach were able to establish relatively complex relationships between the central residency concepts, demonstrating an ability to use visual and verbal codes of communication to articulate their ideas, knowledge and experiences. A further important finding identified positive student behavioural outcomes, where the integrated residency approach appeared to connect group members as small supportive learning communities. The study also identified a transition in the teacher's perspectives on teaching and learning after participating in the integrated approach. This research project has significance both nationally and internationally by investigating current practices in artist-in-schools programs that both enhance and hinder educational outcomes. The study has significance to the broader educational community in terms of its focus on the role of visual arts specialist adjuncts in maximising learning outcomes. The findings of this study could provide insight into the interrelationship between visual arts and other curriculum areas to heighten student learning outcomes. The findings of the study illustrate how particular approaches to visual art in education can enhance children's learning and development. These insights can assist artists undertaking residencies in schools, and the teachers involved, to provide richer learning experiences. The findings provide ifirther evidence to support an approach that involves close collaboration between resident artists and educators. It is recommended that the residency learning experiences are connected to the children's lived experiences and that there is social support from teachers, parents and peers. It is also argued that for a residency to be considered 'authentic', the approach requires a number of essential and valuable attributes. These essential and valuable attributes have two tiers of application which coalesce to contribute to the efficacy of a school art residency.
Thesis (Masters)
Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
School of Vocational, Technology and Arts Education
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Priest, Hardev K. "Parent involvement in middle years schooling : a comparison of student and parent perceptions." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1996. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp04/mq23463.pdf.

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Varughese, Jincy. "Environmental Inequities in U.S. Public Schooling." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2016. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1416.

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Several studies and local accounts have documented elevated levels of air pollution and toxics on or near US public schools. The low cost of brownfield lands and lands near major sources of air pollution have made siting schools on these areas enticing. Histories of using toxic chemicals in building materials explain their presence in school environments. The impacts to academic achievement associated with air pollution and exposure to lead as well as the health implications of regular, high exposure to air pollution and toxic chemicals necessitate policy changes. In this paper, the extent of these health and achievement impacts will be analyzed along with the current work being done by government and nongovernmental organizations to mitigate pollution in public schools. This study will also offer policy recommendations to address these issues and advance environmental equity in public schools.

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Hunter, Lisa Therésè. "Young people, physical education, and transition : understanding practices in the middle years of schooling /." [St. Lucia, Qld. : s.n.], 2002. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe16654.pdf.

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Hudson, Sue M. "Preservice teachers’ perceptions of their middle schooling teacher preparation : a sample of the Australian context." Thesis, Southern Cross University, 2011. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/57068/1/Hudson_Sue_Thesis.pdf.

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Reviews into teacher education and reform measures, such as implementing professional standards for teachers, are designed to raise the quality of education. Such reviews and reforms also target preservice teachers; hence universities examine their teacher education programs to address these issues, including developing programs that are current with the literature. Over the past fifteen years, concerns have arisen about Australian early adolescents and their disengagement from the schooling system, their “at risk” behaviour and their need for social, emotional and academic support. These concerns have prompted a middle schooling movement in Australia with the literature recognising a need for specialised middle school teachers. As a result, various universities have responded by developing courses specifically designed to graduate teachers who possess the theoretical and pedagogical knowledge for engaging early adolescent learners. This mixed-method study analysed the responses of preservice teachers from three universities across two states in Australia near the completion of their middle years teacher preparation program. The three aims of the study were to: (1) investigate final-year preservice teachers’ perceptions of their confidence to teach in the middle years of schooling; (2) analyse the experiences included in their teacher preparation course that made them feel confident; and (3) describe strategies for enhancing middle schooling teacher education preparation. Data were gathered from final-year preservice teachers (n=142) using a survey that was developed in response to middle schooling literature and the Professional Standards for Queensland Teachers (Queensland College of Teachers, 2006). A questionnaire collected extended information about the participants’ (n=142) experiences that made them feel confident. It also gathered information about strategies for enhancing middle years teacher preparation. One-to-one, 45-minute interviews (n=10) were conducted to elicit in-depth responses aligned with the research aims. Quantitative results indicated that the majority of preservice teachers (n=142) claimed confidence associated with survey items relating to creating a positive classroom environment (range: 70-97%), developing positive relationships for teaching (71-98%), pedagogical knowledge for teaching (72-95%), and implementation of teaching (70-91%). Qualitative findings suggested that the experiences that assisted them to be confident for teaching were practicum and associated field studies coursework, a positive mentor teacher, specifically designed middle years subjects, the pedagogical approaches of university staff, and other real-world experiences such as volunteering in schools and participating in professional development alongside their mentors. This study demonstrated that universities presenting middle years teacher preparation need to consider: the quality of the practicum experience; the suitability of mentor teachers; the significance and practicalities of middle years subjects; university lecturers’ modelling of pedagogical practices; and the inclusion of real-world learning experiences. Although the findings of this study provided evidence as to how preservice teacher confidence for teaching has been influenced by their middle schooling teacher preparation, further research is required to investigate how confidence translates into practice within their first years of teaching.

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Haines, Santhini (Shan). "Middle Schooling in a Traditional High School : Reconceptualising Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment for New Times." Thesis, Griffith University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366067.

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The study investigates an instance of policy reform as it was enacted in a secondary school. It is situated in the nexus of two challenges facing contemporary secondary schools: engaging diverse cohorts of early adolescents in learning and transforming secondary schools into organisations of the future. It investigates teacher experiences of planning a transdisciplinary curriculum, forging professional learning communities and facilitating authentic assessment tasks conceptualised as evidence of knowledge in action during the implementation of a particular reform called the New Basics Framework. The aim of the reform was to set up generative conditions at the school level for transforming schools into futures‐oriented learning organisations. A related aim, specific to secondary schools, was to provide early adolescents with learning experiences that were intellectually challenging and connected to the real world. Central to the reform was the notion of transdisciplinarity that underpinned curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and social relationships. This particular reform, therefore, provided an appropriate lens with which to study the challenges facing secondary schools in the new millennium. There is a dearth of research on transdisciplinarity and futures‐oriented education in secondary schools and the current study aims to address this gap. Drawing on the literature of early adolescent education and secondary school reform, the study builds on recent research that shows a growing convergence between middle schooling principles and the characteristics of learning required in contemporary times. It advances the argument that middle schooling practices such as transdisciplinary curriculum, collaborative teams and flexible use of time and space are needed in secondary schools if they are to become effective learning organisations in the knowledge society. The theoretical framework used was developed specially for the study by bringing together a number of binary categories from Bernstein’s (1971, 1977, 1990, 2000) corpus of theoretical work: vertical/horizontal discourse; instructional/regulative discourse; official/local pedagogic identities; prospective/therapeutic pedagogic identities; performance‐based/competence‐based pedagogic models; and collection/integrated knowledge codes. These binary categories, when amalgamated in a single framework and applied to the tensions manifested in the teacher accounts, offered me a language of description and analysis as well as the necessary conceptual frames to investigate the contradictions inherent in contemporary educational reform and the disjuncture between policy and practice. The study draws on the methodologies of case study and ethnography. As a case study, it investigates the enactment of a particular reform in a particular school. However, it is also partly ethnographic due to its emphasis on the lived experiences of teachers. Research has identified teachers as key players in the implementation of reform initiatives. Despite this, teacher voices are often marginalised or silenced during the implementation and appraisal of reforms. The study has deliberately chosen to foreground teacher voices in order to understand the factors that help and/or hinder the work of teachers during the implementation of mandated reform. The practitioner‐researcher held an insider status in the case study school as a teacher. Her insider status is a key strength of this study. The richness of the interview data can be attributed to the fact that teachers were responding to the questions not only as research participants but also as colleagues. Three key findings emerged in the study. The first finding was that cultural changes in a secondary school are constrained by the absence of necessary structural changes. The study advances the argument that the adoption of key middle schooling principles may be a pre‐requisite for reconceptualising secondary schools for the future. The second finding was that frequent opportunities for interaction and communication among teachers are necessary for the development of common goals and collective responsibility for student learning. The third finding was that pedagogy in early secondary classrooms is mediated by the identities assumed by teachers and by their beliefs on adolescents and adolescent‐responsive education. The retention of subject‐based division of curriculum, time and labour was found to hinder the development of a transdisciplinary curriculum, communicative practices among teachers and professional learning communities across subject departments. A number of implications for research, practice and policy were identified during this study. First, there is an identified need for research‐based practice in school contexts. Teachers engaged with transformational reform need conceptual frames to guide dialogue and reflection. Second, teachers in secondary schools need supportive cultures and professional learning in order to develop collaborative practices across subject departments. Third, policies that aim at transformational change in schools need to address the structuring of teachers’ work. Failing to do so can result in teachers taking pragmatic decisions during the enactment of reform. In conclusion, the study shows that teachers are the lynchpin in the enactment of reform. Hence, investigating and understanding teacher practice is important. The teachers’ accounts in the study highlight the diversity in their lived experiences and the gap between the rhetoric of reform and the realities of practice.
Thesis (Professional Doctorate)
Doctor of Education (EdD)
School of Education and Professional Studies
Arts, Education and Law
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Owens, Rick. "A number sense approach to written calculation: Exploring the effects in the middle years of schooling." Thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2012. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/5f6d90fdac781dc0b71033c0ed6b5e47aef60d621db25305f8c4323c324bee07/1610774/Owens_2012_A_number_sense_approach_to_written.pdf.

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The purpose of this research was to investigate some of the effects on teachers and students of positioning written calculation within a commitment to building students’ number sense. The focus on number sense took shape initially through explicit teaching of a strategies approach to mental computation, followed by an exploration of approaches to written calculation which made use of effective mental computation strategies. The impetus for this research came from the following observations of many classrooms and a review of the available literature: the dominant aspect of calculation in many schools in the primary and middle years of schooling (here deemed as up to Year 8 in schools in the Australian Capital Territory) is the teaching and using of formal written algorithms for many students this emphasis works against overall facility with calculation and the development of number sense. This study investigated the following research question: What are some of the effects on teachers and students within a junior high school setting, of aligning written calculation with a strategies approach to teaching and using mental computation?

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Connelly, Adam. "The home in the mountains : imagining a school and schooling imaginaries in Darjeeling, India." Thesis, Brunel University, 2013. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8563.

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Why do middle class kids go to middle class schools? It all began with the story of a father’s dream. It was sometime in April in 2008 and I was in the midst of my undergraduate fieldwork. I had been exploring the resurgence in the ‘Gorkhaland’ movement across the hills of Darjeeling in North Eastern India. I had been interviewing various people who had been engaging in hunger strikes in pursuit of the cause. In the process of these interviews and in my general experiences during this time, I was struck by the constant rhetoric that they fought not for themselves or their own futures but for the futures of their children and generations to come. I was staying in the small town of Sukhia about 20 km outside of Darjeeling town. On that particular April day I had found myself temporarily housebound in the home of my host family, in the wake of a sudden tumultuous downpour. The weather it seemed was conspiring against my research, forcing me to postpone another interview. I sat in the kitchen waiting for the weather to pass, sharing an afternoon cup of tea with a side of sliced bread and jam, with Prabin, a member of my host family. Prabin worked in the office of the District Magistrate and thus was a man with a keen eye on local politics. As such, he had volunteered himself to be my unofficial research assistant. It had been a quiet Saturday about the house, as Prabin’s wife Binita and their 3-year-old son, Pranayan, were out shopping in the market. Prabin’s mother and father were visiting other family nearby, and Prabin’s younger brother, Pramod, had travelled into town to collect some supplies for his school. There was no sign of the rain letting up soon so Prabin and I continued to chat. Prabin’s son had recently started school and we were discussing his son’s apparent indifference towards schooling. ‘Everyday he cries! He doesn’t like school very much’. Prabin was convinced that his son would stop crying once he had learned the value of school. I had been working as an English teacher in a small private school and had seen first-hand how parents like Prabin acknowledged the importance of schooling choice, even as their children began their schooling journeys at around 2 years old. Prabin was keen to reinforce the idea that his son’s present school, a small building only 5 minutes’ walk up the road, was just the beginning. Prabin told me that he wanted his son to get a ‘good education’ in contrast to his own schooling experience, which he described as ‘simple’. Prabin told me that he dreamed of his son going to England and making enough money to support the whole family. Prabin knew that if his son was going to fulfil his dream then he would need to succeed at school, but not just any school. ‘I want my son to go to St. Joseph’s School; this is the best school in Darjeeling’. I was aware that there were many schools in Darjeeling, both in the town itself and in the surrounding areas, all of which professed to offer a high level of English medium education, so I was keen to know what made St Joseph’s such a certain choice. ‘Have you been there?’ he challenged me, as if to say that anyone who would lay eyes upon this place would know what he was talking about. ‘We will go there someday; it is a very nice place’. He was keen to emphasize how ‘nice’ this school was even if he had only seen the building from the road. ‘Others schools can teach English but [St. Joseph’s] is more than that. They play all the sport[s], they have good Rector, they have nice student[s], good discipline, this is the right place for my son’. Prabin emphasized that he dreamed of a good life for his son and in order to get there he first had to go to the right school. This was the first time I had even heard of St. Joseph’s School, but it provided a provocative insight into perceptions of the roles of schooling in India today. Prabin’s dream outlined a particular future for his son, which depended upon a foundation within a specific kind of schooling. I was immediately drawn to how he had mapped out a prospective educational trajectory, which leaned on certain intangible aspects of schooling that were perceived to subsequently guide his son towards a certain livelihood. St. Joseph’s had been singled out, as it offered something that others were perceived not to have. Perhaps most importantly of all, Prabin had never been to the school which he dreamed of. His ideas of St Joseph’s were ultimately imagined through an amalgam of stories that he had heard from work colleagues, interspersed with his own fleeting encounters in passing the school building. The imagined view of the school was integral in shaping Prabin’s actions. He was planning for his son’s future around a dream. Prabin’s perspective reflected a wider trend within literature pertaining to the Indian middle class, indicating a certain preference for a particular kind of schooling as being a necessary prerequisite for a specific, ultimately idealised, future livelihood. Donner (2006) identified a similar kind of career mapping amongst middle class Bengali families in Calcutta. The families, particularly the parents themselves, sought to admit their children to particular pre-schools, which were seen as the foundations of a scholastic career. Admission to future primary and secondary education hinged on the previous stage and as such, investment in each stage of the schooling process was vital in establishing the necessary trajectory for their child to progress on to specific occupations that would offer the necessary array of capital - financial, social and cultural – that would lead to a middle class life. What I became interested in was the concept that shapes this process. Why do middle class Indians choose certain schools and not others? What is the apparently intangible quality that leads parents like Prabin to desire St. Joseph’s over all the others? What is it about schools like St. Joseph’s that make them stand out from the range of available schools? It was with these questions that I headed off to St. Joseph’s for some answers.

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Beutel, Denise. "Teachers' understandings of pedagogic connectedness." Queensland University of Technology, 2006. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16229/.

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This thesis explores the nature of pedagogic connectedness and reveals the qualitatively different ways in which teachers in the middle years of schooling experience this phenomenon. The researcher defines pedagogic connectedness as the engagements between teacher and student that impact on student learning. The findings of this phenomenographic-related study are used to provide a framework for changes to pedagogic practices in the middle years of schooling. Twenty teachers of years 7, 8, and 9 boys in an independent college in South-East Queensland participated in this study. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with these teachers and the interview transcripts were analysed iteratively. Five qualitatively different ways of experiencing pedagogic connectedness emerged from this study. These categories of description are linked hierarchically and are delimited from each other through six common dimensions of variation. Teachers' conceptions of pedagogic connectedness range from information providing through instructing, facilitating, guided participation to mentoring. The five different conceptions may be classified broadly as teacher-centred, transitional or student-centred. In the information providing conception, pedagogic connectedness between teachers and students is limited with teachers perceiving themselves as subject experts and providing few opportunities for student-teacher engagements. The most complex conception, mentoring, is characterised by partnerships between teachers and students in which teachers view themselves as more experienced equals. These partnerships extend beyond the confines of the classroom and beyond the years of schooling. In this conception, teachers describe teaching as an emotional activity with teachers demonstrating passion for teaching and learning. The findings of this current study extend earlier understandings of teacher-student mentoring relationships in the middle years of schooling. These expanded understandings may contribute to enthusing middle years students and re-engaging them with schooling during these vital years.

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Baker, Lottie Louise. ""Going for the Gold"| Successful Former English Language Learners' Experiences and Understandings of Schooling." Thesis, The George Washington University, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3592853.

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The well-documented achievement gap between English language learners (ELLs) and their native English-speaking peers (e.g., NCES, 2012) has prompted nationwide efforts to ensure that the growing population of ELLs in the U.S. meet academic proficiency standards and graduate from high school. Missing from educational studies on ELLs is an investigation of those students who succeed beyond minimum standards, defying the achievement gap. The research study presented in this paper contributes to this area by examining the experiences and understandings of five middle school ELLs who have demonstrated linguistic and academic success. These students are former ELLs who once were in need of language support but have now exited from ESL instructional services and are currently enrolled in advanced coursework.

A basic qualitative approach (Merriam, 2009) was employed, and both social constructivist (Vygotsky, 1978) and critical (Solórzano & Yosso, 2003) theories guided the study. Four data sources from students were collected and analyzed: life history interviews, classroom observations, post-observation interviews, and photo-elicitation interviews. In addition, two of each student's teachers were interviewed individually for the purposes of triangulation. Descriptive data on district and school-wide ELL enrollment and achievement trends in advanced courses in the school was also analyzed to inform the findings. Yosso's (2005, 2006) model of Community Cultural Wealth served as a conceptual framework that informed data collection, but to the extent possible, all data was analyzed inductively (Creswell, 2007).

The results of this study shed light on the experiences and perspectives of successful former ELLs. In general, findings indicated that these ELLs experienced schooling as social, "not that hard," busy, and technological. In analyzing the ways students understood their schooling, themes emerged in two interrelated categories: external agents and individual characteristics. Within external agents, data indicated the importance of role of family, peer interaction, and institutional support. The individual characteristics included the themes of negotiating agency, commitment to heritage, and motivation. Each theme is discussed with affiliated sub-themes that illuminate the various ways the themes were expressed in different students.

This document concludes with broad interpretations drawn from the study based on findings and their relationship to existing research. The discussion emphasizes the complexity and heterogeneity of successful ELLs while also illuminating points of intersection in students' experiences. Lastly, implications are provided for raising expectations for ELLs and ensuring ELLs have equitable opportunities to realize academic success. These recommendations are specified for educators in the arenas of policy, practice, and research.

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Hamilton, Mauricette Ann, and res cand@acu edu au. "We Grow in the Shade of Each Other: A study of Connectedness, Empowerment and Learning in the Middle Years of Schooling." Australian Catholic University. School of Education, 2005. http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp95.29052006.

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Learning is enabled in an environment that promotes connectedness. This belief led me to an exploration of connectedness and the discovery that connectedness has more than one connotation in the literature. For some it means making connections within curriculum areas, which is closely associated with the understanding that connectedness means teaching and learning within a community of learners. Another body of literature understands connectedness as a person’s sense of belonging within the family, school and wider community. Embedded in all these understandings of the term is either implicit or explicit reference to empowerment.An exploration of learning necessarily involves an exploration of students and teachers perceptions of effective learning. The exploration of learning focuses on: teacher and students understanding of learning, student expectations and achievements within the classroom, the opportunities for participation and contribution. The various understandings of connectedness, empowerment and learning are linked in the exploration of the following themes within the classroom: Building caring relationships, Setting high and achievable expectations and Providing opportunities for participation and contribution (Bernard, 1991; 1997; MindMatters, 2000). The context is the middle years of schooling as the last 10 years has produced research that delivers findings asking teachers in the middle years to negotiate a curriculum that is based on people. Effective teaching and learning is essential if students are to achieve their potential, should be cooperative and be fostered within a reflective community atmosphere. Relationships are to the fore in all concepts of effective middle schooling and this case study explores relationship as they exist at Garden College in year seven. It is these relationships that promote a sense of belonging to and empowerment within the learning community, thus enabling learning. If schools are to “expedite the development of effective middle schooling” (Schools Council, National Board of Employment, Education and Training, 1993, p. 65), by addressing the issues highlighted above, I believe the concepts of connectedness, empowerment and learning must be fully explored by the community of learners in each school.

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Rafiq, Mah-i.-Laqa, and n/a. "Middle schooling program in public schools of Canberra Australia (an exploration of practice in the light of theory)." University of Canberra. Education & Community Studies, 2005. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060808.120614.

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Middle schooling, although a contested phenomenon, has established its position on the huge landscape of secondary education. The philosophy of middle schooling claims that middle school has the best organisational structure for meeting the (educational, emotional, social and psychological) needs of adolescents1. This study is an attempt to see how successful schools of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) are in implementing the middle schooling program with respect to the General Design for a Whole School Approach to School Improvement (Hill & Cr�vola, 1997), which is used as theoretical framework for the evaluation. The three schools selected through purposive sampling for this study are considered exemplary for their implementation of programming consistent with the essential elements of middle schooling. The literature has recognised that, during last two decades, policy makers, educators, innovative reformers, and private foundations have manifested enormous commitment and interest in favour of the middle schooling program. The findings of this study indicate that, with certain adaptations, each of the three sample schools are implementing the salient features and characteristics of effective middle schools identified in the General Design and discussed widely in the literature. Each sample school is making its best efforts to improve the teaching and learning environment better to meet the needs of adolescents and is implementing middle school philosophy in accordance with the design. It is unlikely that any school can achieve "perfection" in all of the areas identified in the selected design (Hill & Cr�vola, 1997), and the possibilities for improvement are always there. Certain significant issues related to students� security and connectedness are identified as requiring some attention by the school organisation. The main question of this study�how responsive middle school reforms are in the enrichment of the physical, social and emotional growth of adolescents�has largely been answered positively in this study. Based on the findings of this study it is concluded that the middle schooling program is not a wasted effort on the landscape of secondary education in Australia. The results of this study have certain implications for policy makers, educators and researchers. These include recognition of the need for teacher training programs to provide teacher training with a greater understanding of the teaching and learning needs of adolescents and the need for educators to make extra efforts in making the school environments safe, secure and inviting for adolescents. Longitudinal studies will be required to determine the long-term outcomes of the middle schooling program, as claimed by the proponents of the middle schooling movement.

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Swain, Katharine Mary. "Middle Years Students Perceptions and Reactions to NAPLAN: The Student Voice." Thesis, Griffith University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367248.

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The impetus for this research is an apparent philosophical mismatch between the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and Middle Schooling, which advocates for an intentional approach to teaching and learning incorporating signifying practices that are optimal for learners in the middle years. NAPLAN has come to the forefront of measures of achievement agendas in Australian schools. It is a test driven approach to student assessment that was introduced in 2008 and which signalled a significant accountability shift in outcomes for school education. Positioned predominantly across the middle years, NAPLAN testing is at odds with middle year’s practices which support authentic and reflective assessment. Advocates for and critics of NAPLAN testing recognise that schools attempting to reach national benchmarks may resort to practices such as ‘teaching to the test’, thereby affecting middle years curriculum, assessment and pedagogical practices, and potentially moving away from practices regarded to be optimal for learners. This contradictory agenda presents a quandary for middle year’s educators. To date, little attention has been paid to middle year’s students’ experiences, perceptions and reactions to the introduction and implementation of NAPLAN. This void takes the form of a clear absence of student voice in the range of spaces where it might be possible to include voice, such as in the research arena. This case study in two Queensland schools used qualitative methods of data collection including: formal interviews; semi-structured focus group interviews; observations; and students’ words and drawings, thereby privileging student voice in an attempt to craft a deeper understanding of NAPLAN from the students’ perspective. Without hearing the stories of the lived experience of the students themselves, they are silenced and we remain ignorant to their perspectives and assume they have nothing to contribute. As van Manen notes, “nothing is so silent than that which is taken-for-granted” (van Manen, 1997, p.112).
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Education and Professional Studies
Arts, Education and Law
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Zhu, Zhiyong, and 朱志勇. "State schooling and ethnic identity: a study of an inland Tibet middle school in the People's Republic of China." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2004. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31246291.

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Neville, Mary, and not supplied. "Teaching multimodal literacy using the learning by design approach to pedgogy: case studies from selected Queensland schools." RMIT University. Education, 2006. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20070524.142437.

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This study uses qualitative research methodologies to explore the ways in which the Learning by Design framework facilitated the introduction of Multiliteracies and multimodal learning into the classrooms of three Queensland middle schooling teachers as they participated in a professional learning project during the second half of 2004. Recent Queensland education policy initiatives recognise the need for students to espand their 'lilterate' repertoires in this increasingly diverse cultural, linguistic, techno, and global-economic based society; an outcome that has drawn attention to the crucial role of professional learning in giving teachers the skills to produce curriculum and pedagogical designs in line with such a goal. While the documentation of conscious pedagogical choices in teachers' approaches to teaching and learning about Multiliteracies and subsequent classroom practice in Queensland has varied according to teachers' individual preferences and conte xts, this study aimed to investigate what differences occurred when teachers deployed the Learning by Design pedagogy to produce a deliberate articulation of the micro teaching and learning conditions necessary for multimodal learning. From the cross-case analysis and interpretation of the research data, five propositions have emerged: the relationahip between the depth and breadth of teacher expertise in multimodality and its effect on instruction/design, learner engagement and performance; the alignment of pedagogical choices to learning goals, pedagogical alignment to learner goals; pedagogical alignment to learner needs and dispositions; consideration of flexibility in preparation of learners in transition points during the middle years of schooling; and the importance of quality multi-supportive professional learning environments to produce reflective practitioners with genuine and purposeful new knowledge. In this research the effectivity of the Learning by Design pedagogical framework was found to be directly related to the extent of professional learning and expertise that teachers had developed in both multimodality and the theory and principles informing the Learning by Design framework itself. The teaching of multimodal literacy creates an enormous pedagogical challenge for teachers as well as students. The research raises important considerations, therefore, not only about pedagogy but about the importance of developing professional learning initiatives to euip teachers to achieve the policy goals set out in recent initiatives. The highlights the need for the development of an in-depth and wide-ranging approach to the issue of professional learning. It is clear from this research that the Learning by Design framework can be used to transform classroom practice. However, it is equally clear that there must be a greater emphasis on professional learning and more resources channelled into building the groundwork for these new teaching initiatives.

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Dauguet, Kathleen, and res cand@acu edu au. "Understanding the ‘Mixed Ability’ Program in Catholic Secondary Schools in Mauritius: Perceptions of educators for best practice in the middle years of schooling." Australian Catholic University. School of Education, 2007. http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp181.20112008.

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The mission of Catholic Education in Mauritius is to ‘humanise’ education and pedagogies to be consistent with Catholic values. The vision of a ‘humanised’ education explicitly teaches collaboration and cooperation. In January 2005, the Catholic Education Bureau (BEC) opted for a ‘mixed ability’ philosophy whose articulation fosters inclusiveness in all Catholic secondary schools. To achieve this, schools need to re-invent and restructure themselves into learning organisations to make obvious the ‘mixed ability’ philosophy at the middle level of schooling from Form I to Form III.The first purpose of this study is to explore an integral model for an effective education for Catholic secondary schools in Mauritius that acknowledges diversity in the classroom particularly in Form I. The second purpose is to investigate the beliefs and understandings of educators in Catholic secondary education in Mauritius of this model.For the first purpose, a review of the literature was undertaken to understand the concepts of middle schooling, differentiation, learning theories and implications for practice, the enabling structures for Catholic secondary schools to develop into learning communities and the leadership role of key actors. For the second purpose, the perceptions of educators were investigated using a predominantly qualitative, interpretative methodology around an instrumental multi-site case study.The study found a number of challenges faced by Catholic educators in Mauritius regarding the implementation of the integral model. These challenges present a new direction for these schools to focus on the human person, leading to the development and implementation of the ‘mixed ability’ program. The study concluded with a cogent set of recommendations and directions which need to be put in place in order to improve student learning outcomes at the middle level of schooling and achieve the vision of a human-centered education within the espoused Catholic mission.

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Hamilton, Mauricette Ann. "We grow in the shade of each other: A study of connectedness, empowerment and learning in the middle years of schooling." Thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2005. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/22de170c1fd76442d060171ac912ad07919f57e379a0c089a86f46753f1d3511/3475008/64899_downloaded_stream_124.pdf.

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Learning is enabled in an environment that promotes connectedness. This belief led me to an exploration of connectedness and the discovery that connectedness has more than one connotation in the literature. For some it means making connections within curriculum areas, which is closely associated with the understanding that connectedness means teaching and learning within a community of learners. Another body of literature understands connectedness as a person's sense of belonging within the family, school and wider community. Embedded in all these understandings of the term is either implicit or explicit reference to empowerment. An exploration of learning necessarily involves an exploration of students and teachers perceptions of effective learning. The exploration of learning focuses on: teacher and students understanding of learning, student expectations and achievements within the classroom, the opportunities for participation and contribution. The various understandings of connectedness, empowerment and learning are linked in the exploration of the following themes within the classroom: Building caring relationships, Setting high and achievable expectations and Providing opportunities for participation and contribution (Bernard, 1991; 1997; MindMatters, 2000). The context is the middle years of schooling as the last 10 years has produced research that delivers findings asking teachers in the middle years to negotiate a curriculum that is based on people. Effective teaching and learning is essential if students are to achieve their potential, should be cooperative and be fostered within a reflective community atmosphere. Relationships are to the fore in all concepts of effective middle schooling and this case study explores relationship as they exist at Garden College in year seven. It is these relationships that promote a sense of belonging to and empowerment within the learning community, thus enabling learning.;If schools are to 'expedite the development of effective middle schooling' (Schools Council, National Board of Employment, Education and Training, 1993, p. 65), by addressing the issues highlighted above, I believe the concepts of connectedness, empowerment and learning must be fully explored by the community of learners in each school.

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26

Dauguet, Kathleen. "Understanding the 'mixed ability' program in Catholic secondary schools in Mauritius: perceptions of educators for best practice in the middle years of schooling." Thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2007. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/9737f34f590e58a2546a4191bac33c50e306a453d4fe3f4c66a2353917063cb5/1894262/64837_downloaded_stream_62.pdf.

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Abstract:

The mission of Catholic Education in Mauritius is to 'humanise' education and pedagogies to be consistent with Catholic values. The vision of a 'humanised' education explicitly teaches collaboration and cooperation. In January 2005, the Catholic Education Bureau (BEC) opted for a 'mixed ability' philosophy whose articulation fosters inclusiveness in all Catholic secondary schools. To achieve this, schools need to re-invent and restructure themselves into learning organisations to make obvious the 'mixed ability' philosophy at the middle level of schooling from Form I to Form III.

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27

Magnúsdóttir, Berglind Ró́s. "The cultural politics of middle-classes and schooling : parental choices and practices to secure school (e)quality in advanced neoliberal times : a US case-study." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2014. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.648849.

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28

Main, Katherine Mary. "A Year Long Study of the Formation and Development of Middle Years’ Teaching Teams." Thesis, Griffith University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366879.

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Australian acceptance of middle schooling has been gaining momentum. The impetus behind the introduction of middle schooling in Australia has been to provide a more developmentally appropriate educational experience for Years 6-9 students (approximately ages 10-11—14-15) and a smoother transition between the traditional primary and secondary divide. An underpinning practice in the philosophy of middle schooling is small communities of teachers and students. Teachers working in a middle school environment are organised into small teaching teams that plan and teach together. Middle schooling practice, however, demands some reshaping of complex and multiple relationships among teachers. This reshaping includes collaborative planning, teaching, assessing, and reporting within teaching teams, together with closer relationships with students, administrative staff, parents, and the wider community. These collaborative tasks require teachers to negotiate a new complex web of interrelationships. Stages in group development have been explored in a variety of settings. Tuckman (1965) identified four stages in the development or “life cycle” of groups (i.e., forming, storming, norming, and performing) that have been shown to be transferable to groups across a number of disciplines. As newly formed middle school teaching teams evolve and work to complete these new collaborative tasks and negotiate these new relationships, they have been reported to progress through this same life-cycle. The way that these teams move through these progressive stages is important to the effective functioning of the team. This purpose of this study was to examine the formation, development and maintenance of four middle school teaching teams over the course of their first year as a team. This study aimed to identify factors that facilitate or hinder a positive trajectory for a team’s development and to explore the influence of a school’s culture on teaming practices. Teams involved in this study were all in government run middle schools in South East Queensland that introduced an holistic reform in the last decade. A multi-site case study approach was used. Qualitative data were gathered through semistructured individual interviews with core teaching staff in each team and through notes taken during participant observation days throughout the year. Comparisons of data within and across teams revealed six main characteristics that were found to either positively or negatively influence teaching teaming in the four teams from the three Queensland schools participating in the study. These characteristics concerned (a) training (i.e., both preservice and inservice); (b) administrative support throughout the teaming process (i.e., from formation to establishment and maintenance); (c) attitudes of team members to teaming (i.e., a willingness to participate in a team and experience and confidence in contributing to the team); (d) relationship building; (e) conflict; and (f) school culture. These results resonated with the research literature on the experiences of middle school teaming practices in the USA. A school’s culture was identified as one of the six defining characteristics of a team’s experience within the first question of the study. It was found to exert facilitating and inhibiting effects on the other 5 characteristics that were identified. Moreover, the results revealed several aspects of working in teams that teachers found challenging. A lack of specific training in teaming skills (i.e., either preservice or inservice) prevented teachers from establishing adequate team protocols (i.e., goals, rules, and roles) able to facilitate the smooth functioning of the team. Specifically, teachers generally demonstrated limited and ineffective means of dealing with conflict, which, in most instances, caused team development to stagnate or regress. Findings from this study has shown a gap between what the middle school literature has said about collaboration and teaming and how it is being implemented in these three Queensland middle schools. This study also demonstrates the urgent need for preservice and inservice training in teaming practices to occur concurrently with the introduction of a middle years’ reform in Australia. It also identifies a list of specific teaming skills that are required by teachers embarking on a teaming experience and a list of the facilitating and hindering factors to team formation and development at an individual, team, and school level.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Education and Professional Studies
Faculty of Education
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Swed, Nannette. "Essays on socio-economic consequences of violent conflict in the Middle East." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/16927.

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Diese Dissertation besteht aus drei Aufsätzen, welche die sozio-ökonomische Konsequenzen der Verwicklung in Konflikte untersuchen. Der erste Artikel untersucht den Einfluss der “Operation Iraqi Freedom” und des folgenden Bürgerkrieges auf die Beschulung von irakischen Kindern im schulpflichtigen Alter. Einen Schwerpunkt der Studie bildet die Überwindung eines Endogenitätsproblems, welches sich durch nicht-zufällige Verwicklung in Gewalt ergibt. Die Ergebnisse der Studie zeigen, dass in Abhängigkeit von der Intensität des Konfliktes die Schuleinschreibung von Mädchen durch eine Verwicklung in Konflikte zwischen sechs bis zwölf Prozent reduziert wird. Der bei Jungen gemessene Effekt beläuft sich auf eine Reduzierung um ein bis neun Prozent. Im zweiten Artikel werden Lohnzuschläge von hochqualifizierten palästinensischen Arbeitskräften in Zusammenhang mit alternierender Intensität im Nahostkonflikt gestellt. Mit dem Ausbruch der Zweiten Intifada im Jahr 2000 führen erhöhte Grenzkontrollen zu eingeschränkte Mobilität. Dadurch gewinnt Der Dienstleistungssektor in den Besetzten Gebieten an relativer Bedeutung. Dieser beschäftigt anteilig mehr hochqualifizierte Arbeitskräfte als andere Sektoren, was den Anstieg ihrer relativen Löhne erklärt. Im dritten Artikel wird die Entwicklung des Geschlechterlohndifferentials in den Palästinensischen Gebieten untersucht. Während der Lohnunterschied zwischen Mann und Frau bis 1999 ansteigt, lässt sich mit dem Ausbruch der Zweiten Intifada die Umkehrung dieses Trends verzeichnen. Die Verlagerung der palästinensischen Beschäftigung aus Israel in den lokalen Arbeitsmarkt erklärt dabei 57,8 Prozent der schrumpfenden Lohnlücke. Die dadurch veränderte Industriestruktur macht weitere 26,5 Prozent der Lohnkonvergenz aus. Die veränderte Beschäftigung zugunsten der Agrar- und Dienstleistungssektoren, welche sich beide durch einen hohen Anteil an Arbeiterinnen auszeichnen, führt zu einem Anstieg ihrer relativen Löhne.
This thesis consists of three essays that analyze the socio-economic consequences of conflict involvement. The first essay studies the effect of the Operation Iraqi Freedom and the following civil war on schooling outcomes of Iraqi children in mandatory schooling age. Several conflict measures which vary over geographic regions are proposed to capture different traits of conflict involvement. A special focus is laid on overcoming the potential endogeneity arising from non-random involvement into conflicts. I find decreased school enrollment of six-year-old boys and girls. Depending on the intensity of the conflict enrollment of girls is reduced by six to twelve percent. The detrimental effect measured for boys ranges between one and nine percent. The second essay examines wage differentials of high-skilled workers in relation to relaxing and tightening conflict intensity in the Israeli-Palestinian case. After the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000 the relative wage of skilled workers experiences a substantial increase. Regional employment shifts coming along with a change in the sector composition are responsible for a higher skill-intensive labor employment which translates into higher relative wages for skilled workers. The third essay explores the evolution of the gender wage gap in the Palestinian Territories. While the male-female wage differential increases till 1999, this trend is reversed with the outbreak of the Second Intifada. The catch-up of the female wages is mainly driven by relative employment shifts across workplaces and sectors. The shift of employment in Israel to the local labor market explains 57.8 percent of the closing wage gap between men and women. The related change in the industry structure explains another 26.5 percent of the wage convergence. I find relative gains of the service and agricultural sectors located in the Palestinian Territories, both of which rely on high shares of female labor input.

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McIntosh, Barbara, and Cheryl Taylor. "Voices of the Civil War: An interactive unit study." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1998. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1674.

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Lincoln, Mary Elizabeth. "Academic rigour in science assessment tasks." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2010. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/33209/2/Mary_Lincoln_Citation.pdf.

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The critical problem of student disengagement and underachievement in the middle years of schooling (Years 4 . 9) has focussed attention on the quality of educational programs in schools, in Australia and elsewhere. The loss of enthusiasm for science in the middle years is particularly problematic given the growing demand for science professionals. Reshaping middle years programs has included an emphasis on integrating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and improving assessment practices to engage students in higher cognitive processes and enhance academic rigour. Understanding the nature of academic rigour and how to embed it in students. science assessment tasks that incorporate the use of ICTs could enable teachers to optimise the quality of the learning environment. However, academic rigour is not clearly described or defined in the literature and there is little empirical evidence upon which researchers and teachers could draw to enhance understandings. This study used a collective case study design to explore teachers' understandings of academic rigour within science assessment tasks. The research design is based on a conceptual framework that is underpinned by socio-cultural theory. Three methods were used to collect data from six middle years teachers and their students. These methods were a survey, focus group discussion with teachers and a group of students and individual semi-structured interviews with teachers. Findings of the case study revealed six criteria of academic rigour, namely, higher order thinking, alignment, building on prior knowledge, scaffolding, knowledge construction and creativity. Results showed that the middle years teachers held rich understandings of academic rigour that led to effective utilisation of ICTs in science assessment tasks. Findings also indicated that teachers could further enhance their understandings of academic rigour in some aspects of each of the criteria. In particular, this study found that academic rigour could have been further optimised by: promoting more thoughtful discourse and interaction to foster higher order thinking; increasing alignment between curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment, and students. prior knowledge; placing greater emphasis on identifying, activating and building on prior knowledge; better differentiating the level of scaffolding provided and applying it more judiciously; fostering creativity throughout tasks; enhancing teachers‟ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, and providing more in-depth coverage of fewer topics to support knowledge construction. Key contributions of this study are a definition and a model which clarify the nature of academic rigour.

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Byles, Hestie Sophia. "The impact of a board game as parent guidance strategy to reinforce Cognitive Control Therapy in the home environment." Diss., Pretoria : [s.n.], 2007. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-11132007-113100/.

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Ozar, Ryan H. "Accommodating Amish Students in Public Schools: Teacher Perspectives on Educational Loss, Gain, and Compromise." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1531913852929844.

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Thomas, Peter. "Hypermedia storytelling in the middle years of schooling." Thesis, 2010. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/19406/.

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This research is into supporting students to creatively author hypermedia stories. It builds on previous work that focussed on hypermedia as a support to specific content delivery and the development of reasoning with students. The research was conducted using a hypermedia-authoring program with middle-years students at an Australian secondary school. Classroom environments were created in which collaborative and innovative group work built on technical facilities and expertise developed by students outside of school.

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Liska, Ingrid Halina. "A pedagogic analysis: middle years of schooling and the role of creative practice." Thesis, 2013. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/25334/.

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The purpose of this thesis is to identify classroom strategies which stimulate student engagement. It reports teaching and learning approaches which support the development of creativity in the learning of young people in the middle years of schooling. This thesis presents a case study of one teacher who attempted to improve student engagement, collaboration and thinking by changing teaching and learning practices in a Year 5/6 classroom. Phenomenology methods were used to understand the young people’s perceptions of their classroom environment and to reveal their experiences as they occurred. The data collection included photographs, tapes conversations, case writing and interpretive case writing to provide a rich and comprehensive description of teaching and learning in one classroom. Analysis of data is situated in the theoretical characteristics of creativity developed from an extensive literature review. The analysis resulted in the proposition of six points of meta-analysis which map the experiences of the participants. This meta-analysis structured the writing of the interpretive case which contains the findings from the research. By researching the cultural values and mindsets constructed and maintained by teachers and students, it is anticipated that further insight into the challenge of introducing creative strategies into everyday classrooms bound by standards based curriculum can be reached. This study revealed the dilemmas, approaches and small steps towards success experienced in dealing with those challenges teachers face when implementing pedagogic change. It suggests the possible place for creativity in schools can be supported through strategies for improving student engagement, collaboration and teaching and learning outcomes.

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Mills, Kathryn Jean. "An exploration of children in middle childhood`s homeschooling experience." Thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/3308.

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The study explores children in middle childhood’s experiences of homeschooling. The researcher makes use of a qualitative research design in the form of a case study, studying the participants’ experiences of homeschooling in their natural setting. The sample consisted of children in middle childhood who participated in semi-structured interviews exploring their individual experiences pertaining to learning at home, their familial relationships and their social learning in the homeschooling environment. Developmental aspects relating specifically to middle childhood are discussed and utilised along with the views of the participants in this study, those of experts, and literature reviews in order to gain a genuine understanding of the child’s experience of homeschooling.
Sociology
M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

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"Schooling Experiences and Perceptions of Resettled Sub-Saharan African Refugee Middle School Students in a Southwest U.S. State." Doctoral diss., 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.14730.

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abstract: ABSTRACT This study examined the schooling experiences and perceptions of resettled sub-Saharan African middle school refugee students in a metropolitan area of the United States Southwest. The research questions underpinning this study included: What are the schooling experiences and perceptions of resettled sub-Saharan African middle school refugee students in a southwestern U.S. state? 1a) How do they view their relationships with their teachers and peers? 1b) Can they identify a teacher or school staff member in their school community who is a significant resource for them? and 1c) What factors contribute to their challenges and successes in their school community? This qualitative study documented and analyzed the schooling experiences and perceptions of resettled refugee middle school students, who are relatively new to the U.S. educational system. Purposive and convenience sampling were sources utilized in selecting participants for this study. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used to capture the stories of 10 resettled sub-Saharan African refugee students enrolled in 7th and 8th grade, who have lived in the U.S. not more than 10 years and not less than three years. Among the participants, half were male and half female. They came from six countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Somalia. Findings of the study revealed six major themes: teachers' helpfulness, positive perceptions of school, friends as resources at school, disruptive students in the classroom, need for better teachers, and before and after school activities. Overall, the participants in the study expressed a positive perception of their teachers and their schools, yet presented a dichotomous view of their schooling experiences and perceptions.
Dissertation/Thesis
Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2012

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Hamilton, Mauricette Ann. "We grow in the shade of each other a study of connectedness, empowerment and learning in the Middle years of schooling /." 2005. http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp95.29052006/index.html.

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Thesis (EdD)--Australian Catholic University, 2005.
Submitted in total fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. Bibliography: p. 220-230. Also available in an electronic format via the internet.

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Cook, Eloise R. "Rethinking Traditional Grammars of Schooling: Experiences of White, Middle-class, Female, First-year Aspiring Multicultural Educators in Intercultural Urban Teaching Contexts." Thesis, 2018. https://doi.org/10.7916/D8BP1KQV.

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Enactment of social justice education is an important step toward rectifying pervasive discrimination woven into public schools and other American institutions. A social justice educator must develop diverse cultural competencies and also recognize oneself as a racialized participant in a system of racial inequity. The demographics of an overwhelmingly White teaching force and increasingly diverse student body creates both need and opportunity to understand the development of White multicultural educators. This is a case study of two White, female, middle-class first-year urban teachers who had completed a social justice-oriented preparation program. Written reflections, interviews, and focus groups captured teachers’ perspectives on their first-year intercultural, urban teaching experiences. Findings illuminated experiences with cultural disequilibrium, culturally relevant teaching, critical consciousness, learning to teach, relationships, and navigating institutional knowledge. Teachers negotiated cultural disequilibrium by both seeking new cultural knowledge, and seeking or creating experiences more consistent with schooling they experienced as students. Culturally relevant teaching emerged through teachers’ critiques of academic policy and practices that disadvantaged their students, yet were coupled with constraints that inhibited cultural synchronization in classrooms. Student achievement was considered a primary responsibility, but teachers were frustrated by accountability to fill perceived large academic gaps. Teachers simultaneously participated in and critiqued the dominant structures, stereotypes, and narratives in place in their schools Teachers viewed themselves as life-long learners and valued foundational preservice experiences and school-based relationships to build knowledge of teaching. Teachers understood the value of relationships with families and students yet felt constrained in developing those relationships to enhance culturally relevant teaching practices. Teaching in a culture of high stakes accountability and monitoring stifled innovative teaching. Implications for teacher supports during induction include preparing teachers to enter the induction process with an experience bank and foundational critical consciousness from which they can build in new contexts, providing opportunities for teachers to build community- and school-based knowledge and relationships as early as possible, and providing supportive mentoring that guides teachers’ critical consciousness in their new school contexts.

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Jennings, Robert Neville. "Transforming civics and citizenship education in the middle years of schooling : an exploration of critical issues informing teachers' theories of action." Thesis, 2003. https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1238/1/01front.pdf.

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In the past decade there has been a revival of interest in civics and citizenship education at the national and global level. While the revival of interest has influenced all levels of education, this study has a particular focus on civics and citizenship education in the middle years of schooling. It recognises that classroom teachers are “policy actors” who make individual meaning out of official policies on civics and citizenship education. On the other hand, it recognises that teachers are also autonomous agents who sometimes act independently of “official knowledge”. The aim of the study is to identify critical issues informing teachers’ theories of action as they seek to engage young adolescents in meaningful learning experiences. The study is based on the assumption that young adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14 have specific needs and characteristics that present unique challenges for teachers of civics and citizenship education. The study uses a case study approach based on a selection of schools in Northern NSW and South Eastern Queensland. Participating teachers in an inner reference group conducted action research projects to investigate their theories of action in relation to civics and citizenship education. Data were also collected from an outer reference group of critical friends comprising teachers in other schools, teacher educators, consultants and trainee teachers sharing an interest in citizenship education. The study seeks to redress a perceived gap in the research literature about the knowledge, pedagogical skills and attitudes needed by teachers to make civics and citizenship education more meaningful for young adolescents. The study is founded on a conceptual framework of “critical theory” (Habermas, 1972; Fay, 1987; Carr and Kemmis, 1993). Critical theory provides a basis for understanding the critically reflective skills of teachers and also provides an epistemological base for the critical action research methodology used in the study (Kemmis and McTaggart, 2000). A series of semi-structured interviews with participating teachers over periods of one to three years provides a primary source of data on how teachers approach civics and citizenship education and the critical issues that inform their theories of action. Data are also collected by means of direct observation, keeping of professional journals and content analysis of policy and syllabus documents. Analysis of the data reveals three sets of critical issues: the first resulting from teachers’ self reflection; the second identifying teachers’ response to “official knowledge”; and the third identifying opportunities for transformative action. An analytical model is used to portray the relationships between critical issues that influence teachers’ theories of action when they engage young adolescents in civics and citizenship education. The analysis identifies the critical issues that teachers of young adolescents face as they move from a concern to reproduce society towards a concern to transform society through civics and citizenship education programs. The study contains critical reflections on the research process and on the process of providing education for democracy. A practical outcome of the study is a set of guidelines for professional development programs seeking to develop a critical pedagogy of civics and citizenship education in the middle years of schooling.

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Jennings, Robert Neville. "Transforming civics and citizenship education in the middle years of schooling : an exploration of critical issues informing teachers' theories of action /." 2003. http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/1238/1/01front.pdf.

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In the past decade there has been a revival of interest in civics and citizenship education at the national and global level. While the revival of interest has influenced all levels of education, this study has a particular focus on civics and citizenship education in the middle years of schooling. It recognises that classroom teachers are “policy actors” who make individual meaning out of official policies on civics and citizenship education. On the other hand, it recognises that teachers are also autonomous agents who sometimes act independently of “official knowledge”. The aim of the study is to identify critical issues informing teachers’ theories of action as they seek to engage young adolescents in meaningful learning experiences. The study is based on the assumption that young adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14 have specific needs and characteristics that present unique challenges for teachers of civics and citizenship education. The study uses a case study approach based on a selection of schools in Northern NSW and South Eastern Queensland. Participating teachers in an inner reference group conducted action research projects to investigate their theories of action in relation to civics and citizenship education. Data were also collected from an outer reference group of critical friends comprising teachers in other schools, teacher educators, consultants and trainee teachers sharing an interest in citizenship education. The study seeks to redress a perceived gap in the research literature about the knowledge, pedagogical skills and attitudes needed by teachers to make civics and citizenship education more meaningful for young adolescents. The study is founded on a conceptual framework of “critical theory” (Habermas, 1972; Fay, 1987; Carr and Kemmis, 1993). Critical theory provides a basis for understanding the critically reflective skills of teachers and also provides an epistemological base for the critical action research methodology used in the study (Kemmis and McTaggart, 2000). A series of semi-structured interviews with participating teachers over periods of one to three years provides a primary source of data on how teachers approach civics and citizenship education and the critical issues that inform their theories of action. Data are also collected by means of direct observation, keeping of professional journals and content analysis of policy and syllabus documents. Analysis of the data reveals three sets of critical issues: the first resulting from teachers’ self reflection; the second identifying teachers’ response to “official knowledge”; and the third identifying opportunities for transformative action. An analytical model is used to portray the relationships between critical issues that influence teachers’ theories of action when they engage young adolescents in civics and citizenship education. The analysis identifies the critical issues that teachers of young adolescents face as they move from a concern to reproduce society towards a concern to transform society through civics and citizenship education programs. The study contains critical reflections on the research process and on the process of providing education for democracy. A practical outcome of the study is a set of guidelines for professional development programs seeking to develop a critical pedagogy of civics and citizenship education in the middle years of schooling.

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fen, Mou shu, and 牟淑芬. "A research on the schooling modle of children of Taiwan merchants in Mainland China---based on middle and primary school as an example." Thesis, 2001. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/34120561197519281018.

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碩士
淡江大學
大陸研究所
89
With the rapid increase of Taiwan enterprises in Mainland China, population of Taiwan merchants and their main staff stationing there also grows hastily. Apart from investment problems that must be overcome, all kinds of social and family problems also emerge and children education problem is even a big headache. If children continue their education in Taiwan the whole family has to be separated between two places. If they go to school in Mainland China, what type of school they can go to? What do they teach there and whether children can adapt to these schools? These are all issues causing worries and doubts to Taiwan merchants at the moment. Therefore in the course of this thesis, investigation was carried out in two places - Shanghai and Donguan. Interviews were conducted on five schools including local, international and Taiwan Merchant middle and primary schools that are available to Taiwan merchants. In addition, in accordance with interviews with 15 parents in Shanghai and the result of 444 sets of returned questionnaires from Donguan Taiwan Merchants Children School, the following conclusions are obtained: I. Present condition of local school and its characteristics 1. Relationship is important in order to obtain acceptance to the school. Local major school emphasizes especially on the relationship and background of student to be enrolled. 2. Very often Taiwan students will be requested to be demoted with the reason of low level. 3. School fee is low but local school requires parents to pay a sponsorship fee. 4. Characters and pronunciations of two straits are different that it will cause a certain degree of burden on students in their learning. 5. Generally homework pressure for local middle and primary school students tends to be heavy. 6. When student commits mistake, teacher will not impose physical penalty and instead student will be punished with harsh words. II. Present condition of international school and characteristics 1. Expensive school fee 2. English is the main teaching language that will cause difficulty to student in their learning. 3. Number of students in each class is small and homework pressure is little. 4. Classmates come from various countries and between peers very often racial groups will be formed. 5. Students are from wealthy families and very often there will be comparison between them and even it will generate a self superiority complex. III. Taiwan Merchant School 1. Only takes in students from Taiwan. 2. Taiwan teaching material is adopted and teachers for main academic subjects are recruited from Taiwan. 3. All students must stay in the dormitory. 4. School fee and student homework burden is between local middle and primary school and international school. 5. Interaction between fellow students and teachers is excellent. For these three different types of school, each has its own merits and demerits. It is hoped that the result of this research can provide government related units and parents of Taiwan merchants with a reference and furthermore, it is hoped that this research can contribute a bit of effort to related research.

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Brown, Margaret Anne. "A case study of the implementation of middle schooling in New Zealand : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1402.

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This thesis considers the introduction of middle schooling to the New Zealand education system. It is a case study of a school going through the process of introducing the middle schooling concept. It seeks to identify and explain the considerable challenges that this school faced as it sought to implement this change. This research project began as a study of the factors which hinder and support the implementation of middle schooling structures and practices. It became an analysis of the features of middle schooling that make it such a challenging and problematic innovation. Middle schooling is a set of philosophical concepts, educational practices and structural arrangements for the education of students between the ages of approximately ten and fourteen years. These concepts and practices are based on the premise that students of this age have academic, social, emotional and physical needs which differ from students on either side of this age group. Middle schooling is generally understood to involve integrated curriculum which is delivered through team teaching. This approach to teaching and learning requires high levels of teacher collaboration, flexible workspaces and timetables and high levels of parental support and involvement. Ideally, middle schooling provides a separate school environment for children of this age. A number of school communities in New Zealand have gained government approval to restructure as middle schools and are at various stages in implementing this new form of schooling. The researcher began the study with the intention of developing guidelines to assist school communities to make this transition from the structures and processes of conventional schooling arrangements to those of middle schooling. To this end she initiated a programme of action research in a school that was about to introduce middle schooling arrangements for its middle years students. The innovation began to run into difficulties from an early stage and it became clear that an action research methodology was unsustainable. Instead, the researcher chose to refocus the research problem to a more analytic study of the factors that were impeding the implementation process. The research methodology evolved to that of case study. Observational data were collected in the school over two years. From these data, three factors seemed to be affecting the implementation of the middle schooling changes. These were the way in which leadership was being executed, the attitudes and responses of the teachers and the particularly complex and demanding nature of the middle schooling innovation itself. The data were then re-analysed with respect to these three factors. From this analysis, the researcher came to a number of conclusions about the relative importance and impact of these three factors. In an effort to ascertain whether the experiences of the case school were typical of the difficulties and challenges schools face when implementing middle schooling change, the case findings were cross checked against the experiences of two other schools that were five years or more into the change process. The cross checking found that the experiences of these other schools were very similar to those of the case school. All three found that implementing middle schooling change had been more difficult and demanding than any other innovation they had implemented. This study identified some aspects of leadership and teacher behaviour that may have slowed the implementation process, but these seem to have been secondary to the sheer complexity and challenges involved with this particular form of innovation. An innovation that requires such a shift in values, behaviour, structures and systems from a school community, and one that requires the sustained commitment of the entire staff over an extended period of time, will always prove to be exceptionally challenging. The case study identified five requirements that middle school implementers need to consider in order to implement the concept successfully. Failure to consider any of these requirements is likely to threaten the success of the innovation. The five requirements are: • The need to develop a shared understanding of the concept rationale and principles and how these will be operationalised within the school; • The need to develop a shared understanding of the complex, multi-faceted and integrated nature of the innovation and how this will impact on and influence the implementation process; • The need for strong, visionary, shared leadership; • The need to gain the interest and operational commitment of the entire staff and a high level of interest and commitment from the parent community and to sustain this for the life of the innovation; and • The need to develop supportive and appropriate infrastructure within the school to support the innovation.

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Burridge, Peter R. "A study of the influences on middle years teachers’ pedagogical decision making." Thesis, 2010. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/16107/.

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This study contributes to the understanding of the pedagogical choice of secondary school middle years teachers. The findings support the past research which has reported adolescents having specific pedagogical needs and the difficulty schools have in changing established teaching and learning practices to meet those needs. Exploration of social processes and structural influences from this study reveal previously unacknowledged elements. These elements illuminate the enabling and inhibiting factors of pedagogical change and point to the school structures which can be developed to support successful change processes.

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THE-CHUN, LU, and 呂德鈞. "A Study on the Motives and Difficultiesof Participation From Swimming Contestants Middle Schoolsin Taipei City." Thesis, 2009. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/20374355382524417189.

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碩士
臺北市立教育大學
體育學系體育碩士學位在職進修專班
97
The main purpose of this research is to understand the motivation for, and obstacles to, high school students’ participation in swimming varsity in Taipei City. In this research, questionnaire method is applied. Also, this research applies the research tools such as “Sport Motivation Scale” and “Obstacle Scale” with the assistance of “Descriptive Analysis”, “Item Analysis”, “Factor Analysis”, “Independent Sample T Test”, “One-Way ANOVA, Repeated Measures”, and “Scheffe Method” to find out the variations under different factors. During January 15 to February 9, 2009, with questionnaire method, this research sampled the members of the swimming varsities from the high schools in East, West, South, and West Taipei City, in which 4 to 5 high schools were selected respectively. Totally 500 copies of questionnaire are handed out. 451 copies, among which 421 copies are effective, are returned. The effective rate is 84.2%. Afterwards, the copies are analysed with the Strategy Application Software—SPSS for Windows Version 12.0 and “One-Way ANOVA, Independent Samples” to find out the variations of the motivation for, and obstacles to, the participation under different statistical variables of population. Furthermore, based on the result of the analysis, this research raises some suggestions as the reference to the related organisations and future researchers. This research provides the coaches or instructors of swimming varsities with a reference so that they can understand the students’ motivation for participating in the varsity, based on which the coaches and instructors can inspire and maintain the students’ interest. This research is mainly to find out the background characteristics of the members of the swimming varsities in Taipei City and to explore the variations of the motivation for, and obstacles to, varsity members’ participation in sports. Furthermore, this research is also to find out how the different background characteristics influence the varsity members’ motivation and obstacles. This research finds out that there is a significant negative correlation between the motivation for, and obstacles to, high school students’ participation in swimming varsity in Taipei City. It also finds out that the two factors influence each other. A moderate correlation exits between the overall motivation for, and obstacles to, the participation.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Middle schooling'

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