Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Middle Years'
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Paterson, Anthony Mason. "Glasgow Citizens' Theatre 1957-1969 : the middle years." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 1989. http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=21287.
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The early years of the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre were dominated by its founder, James Bridie, and by the influence which his legacy exerted over those who worked there in the time immediately following his death. This period can be said to last from the Theatre's opening (1943) until the arrival of Peter Duguid, the first director not immediately influenced by Bridie's aims and objects (1957). From 1969 until the present day, Giles Havergal and his associates have been in charge, and they have created, in its international-style motivation, something unique in British theatre, famous outside these shores, but totally at variance with the founder's aspirations. These two eras bear their own recognisable stamps, but in between stretch the 'middle years' - twelve seasons parcelled out among seven directors, an extraordinary series of lofty peaks and corresponding valleys, but comprising, in spite of - or because of - their diversity, a remarkable sum total of achievement. And yet thi s is the period when - many believe - nothing really happened. Why were these years so fragmented? Three of the directorships lasted for one season only, and the others had individual styles of their own: Duguid was in sympathy with American plays, Callum Mill with European; Michael Meacham and Michael Blakemore were, on the whole, more English orientated, and the work of Iain Cuthbertson probably came nearer than anyone's, in content, to the Citizens' of James Bridie's vision. Every individual regime of these twelve seasons had its glories, and it is perhaps, the series of 'new beginnings' which give the 'middle years' their lasting impact. Relationships between Director and Theatre Board were frequently difficult; both were true to their principles, but these were times when the whole moral and social climate of Britain, its type of 'media appreciation', were in flux. The ideas of 1943 were no longer valid twenty years later and the problems of adjustment between 1957 and 1969 came close, in the end, to wrecking the whole enterprise. It is only now, with the dust of battle cleared away, that it is possible to see the era in the importance of its true perspective.
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Dickson, Anisah. "International Baccalaureate’s Middle Years Programme: Liberation or suffocation?" Thesis, Dickson, Anisah ORCID: 0000-0003-4063-4457 (2019) International Baccalaureate’s Middle Years Programme: Liberation or suffocation? Professional Doctorate thesis, Murdoch University, 2019. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/55765/.
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While an increasing number of schools worldwide are offering the International Baccalaureate’s Middle Years Programme (MYP), at least 10% of Australian schools that offer the MYP have recently chosen to discontinue it. The reasons why schools terminate the program are not well understood, however. To address this research gap, I examined the benefits, opportunities, challenges and limitations of teaching and learning the MYP at three public and private Australian schools that have discontinued this programme. Using a qualitative case study design, I interviewed 17 participants: four principals and/or deputies, three former MYP Coordinators (one from each school) and 10 teachers. While the small sample is not generalizable, the findings provide unique insight that can guide schools on whether to adopt and sustain the MYP. Analysis identified the following benefits of teaching the MYP: more opportunities for international professional development and interdisciplinary teaching; and more accountability and standardisation within the curriculum and assessments. Teaching challenges included: organisational complications with aligning the MYP with the Australian national curriculum; reduced teaching time; limited leadership support; difficulties with promoting inquiry-based teaching; and assessing with two varying grading formats. Benefits of learning the MYP were: increased inquiry-based learning opportunities; exposure to holistic learning through the development of students’ academic and social skills; and a healthier balance between core and elective learning areas. The challenges for students learning mostly stemmed from operational, systems-level limitations, and confusing MYP jargon and grading styles. While participants identified many benefits and opportunities of the MYP for teaching and learning, the participating schools chose to discontinue the MYP because the organizational challenges that they faced greatly outweighed the positives. Recommendations for action on the part of the IB and school leaders are suggested.
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Scagliarini, Richard. "Reforming the middle years curriculum in an international school: a naturalistic inquiry." University of Southern Queensland, Faculty of Education, 2008. http://eprints.usq.edu.au/archive/00006610/.
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This dissertation reports on the experiences of a small group of teachers and administrators as they endeavoured to reform the middle years curriculum of an international school in Japan. This single case study is based primarily upon the observations of the researcher, a middle school teacher at the school and a key participant in the reform process. This study is positioned in the naturalistic paradigm which allows for the accumulation of sufficient knowledge to lead to a holistic understanding of middle years curriculum reform within this context.Reforming the middle years of schooling has received renewed attention in recent years. A new paradigm is emerging about the nature of schooling in this significant stage of life that is now recognised as crucial to the formation of attitudes, values, and habits of mind that shape the individual‘s identity and development as an adult. Despite the growth and status of international schools, very little is known about the nature and processes of middle years curriculum reform in this context. The central aim of this study was to provide a detailed and authentic account of the process of curriculum reform that can validate, guide and extend the current body of knowledge on middle years curriculum reform and is meaningful and useful to educators in the international school context.Three dimensions of reform emerged in this study: the process of reform, identified as a multidimensional and interconnected process that ventured through six identifiable phases; the product of the reform, the Humankind Curriculum, was found to have its core features grounded in shared understandings of effective middle schooling; and the dynamics of change, which revealed a professional learning community as the catalyst for change, with the interplay of relational trust, leadership, interpersonal relationships and collaboration as empowering the capacity for reculturing the middle school. While the findings contribute to the current body of knowledge on middle school reform in the international school context, they also provide direction for further discussion, exploration and research.
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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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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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Kopanke, Richard J. "Focusing vision for churches in their middle-aged years." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 2004. http://www.tren.com.
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Oladimeji, Chinoyerem Ekwutosinam. "Distributed Leadership in International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program Implementation." ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/5394.
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The International Baccalaureate (IB) organization promotes distributed leadership as the ideal leadership model for implementation of all of its 4 programs, and researchers have noted that this leadership model in private international schools with multiple IB programs has been vital to school wide success. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how distributed leadership influenced the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP) in a public middle school that has been successful in meeting academic goals. Spillane's distributed leadership model served as the basis for identifying the organizational structures, routines, and tools that influenced the implementation of the IBMYP and improvement in students' academic achievement. Data included interviews with 2 administrators, 3 teachers, 2 support staff, and 1 coordinator, and documents collected from participants, a district leader, and the school's website. Data analysis entailed coding to identify emerging patterns and themes. Findings from this study indicated that distributed leadership had a positive influence in the implementation of the IBMYP. Major themes included effective distributed leadership practices of positional and informal leaders; collaboration amongst faculty members; positive relationships between administrators and others; shared academic vision; effective organizational structures, routines, and tools; shared learning; and students' behavioral challenges. Positive social change may come from providing leaders in the IB organization, as well as district leaders, strategies for distributing leadership that were found in this study that may increase successful implementation of the IBMYP in public schools and improvement in student academic achievement.
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Kobylinski-Fehrman, Margaret J. "The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme and its Effect on Students in Poverty." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2013. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/eps_diss/104.
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The achievement gap between middle class white students and black or Hispanic students living in low income households continues to be a persistent problem in education even ten years since the authorization of No Child Left Behind in 2001. This study examined the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme and how students from low income households preformed on the Criterion Referenced Competencies Test (CRCT) mathematics and reading subtests when compared to similar students at a school with a traditional instruction program. Analysis of covariance was employed using scores from students’ fifth grade composite Cognitive Abilities Tests as the covariate. The analysis did not detect a significant difference (p=.410) on the eighth grade adjusted means reading CRCT scores, but did detect a significant difference (p
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Emerson, Scott Daniel. "Life satisfaction among middle-years children of various language backgrounds." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/64147.
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BACKGROUND: Understanding the measurement of life satisfaction and its association with social supports among children from diverse language backgrounds is a key step of measuring healthy child development in British Columbia (BC). The Satisfaction with Life Scale adapted for Children is a self-report measure of child life satisfaction and has exhibited sound psychometric properties for a representative population of children in BC. If found to show measurement equivalence (ME) across subgroups, SWLS-C means and correlates can be meaningfully compared across such subgroups. Peer and adult support positively relate to SWLS-C scores for BC children overall but such relationships are unknown for specific language background groups. Using language background as a proxy for cultural background, this thesis examined: 1) the cross-cultural ME of the SWLS-C; 2) cross-cultural differences in SWLS-C means; 3) the cross-cultural ME of peer support and adult support scales; 4) cross-cultural associations of peer and adult support with SWLS-C scores.
METHOD: Participants were 20,119 BC children (Mage 9.2; 50.2% male) who completed the SWLS-C, peer support, and adult support scales as part of a child health survey (the Middle-Years Development Instrument). ME of the SWLS-C, peer support, and adult support scales was examined across eight cultural (i.e., language) background groups. Means and inter-relationships of the SWLS-C, peer support, and adult support scales were estimated across cultural background groups.
RESULTS: Findings supported ME between the English group and: all other cultural background groups for the SWLS-C, three other cultural background groups for the peer support scale, and six other cultural background groups for the adult support scale. Relative to the English group, SWLS-C means differed for several cultural background groups - variation consistent with mean differences for the peer support and adult support scales. Within each cultural background group, peer and adult support scale scores positively related to SWLS-C scores.
DISCUSSION: This thesis provided evidence for meaningful comparison of life satisfaction, peer support, and adult support means across diverse cultural background groups, highlighting differences in life satisfaction between cultural background groups of children, but underscored the importance of fostering adult and peer support to promote healthy child development.Medicine, Faculty of
Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of
Graduate
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Constantinides, Adonis C. "Provision of education in the middle school years in Cyprus." Thesis, Durham University, 1994. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5851/.
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The aim of this study is to examine the type of education offered during the middle school years in Cyprus. At first an attempt is made to define middle school years and relate this concept to the educational system of Cyprus and other countries. The History of Education in Cyprus is briefly surveyed to set the background against which the Gymnasium, a distinct educational unit catering for the middle school years, has evolved and reached its present form. The aims, objectives, structure and content of the Gymnasium are examined in detail. Qualitative and quantitative measures are employed to investigate the role of the Gymnasium within the educational system and the degree to which this role is successfully accomplished. The results reveal that on the whole, content and time span of the Gymnasium are satisfactory. There is, however, a strong feeling that there is scope for improvement in the content of the curriculum in order to make it more effective. On the basis of the findings of the present survey a model of a new educational unit is presented which intends to bridge the gap between the primary and secondary education at its lower end and pave the way to the smooth transition from the free compulsory to the upper secondary level of education. The programme of the new unit is hoped to serve more effectively the primary aim of the concept of the democratisation of education, namely the provision of equal educational opportunities to all according to individualised goals, needs, abilities and talents. Finally certain recent developments in the educational system of Cyprus and their implications for the future of the Gymnasium are discussed. A proposal for the reorganisation of secondary education is developed and its merits are presented.
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Moulthrop, Dorothy Russo. "Retaining and Sustaining Mid-Career Teachers: The Middle Years Matter." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1521788878644674.
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Mallett, Daren G. "Challenging mathematically gifted middle years students: A mastery learning model." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2019. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/129872/2/Daren%20Mallett%20Thesis.pdf.
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Studies reveal that although teachers are extensively in-serviced on how to differentiate the curriculum and instruction for gifted students, many fail to do so. This explanatory case study explored the classroom experiences, achievement, interest and engagement of five mathematically gifted students while participating in a differentiated mathematics program framed by Bloom’s Mastery Learning Model adapted for gifted students. Findings suggested positive outcomes in terms of achievement and attitudes. Hence, this study supports using Bloom’s Mastery Learning model to differentiate learning for gifted students, enabling the effective use of data to guide ability-, and interest-appropriate instruction.
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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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Abraham-Radi, Debra L. "Middle years' teacher practices and attitudes in the teaching of poetry." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape16/PQDD_0005/MQ32043.pdf.
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Mayne, Teresita. "Understanding and improving parent-teacher partnerships in a middle years classroom." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape3/PQDD_0016/MQ54729.pdf.
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Quintana, Robert Charles. "Empowering pre-adolescent second-language learners in the middle school years." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2875.
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The thesis explores sociolinguistic issues facing pre-adolescent English-as-second-language learners. Topics covered include literacy issues, communicative competence issues at the intermediate and advanced English language development (ELD) levels, language and power relationships that affect pre-adolescent English language learners, politeness as a sociolinguistic tool, and the benefits of students acquiring the language of cooperative learning. The implications of these topics culminate in the development of a social studies curriculum unit designed for the middle-school classroom.
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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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Wood, Duncan Michael. "Improvement of students’ scientific writing in a middle-years science classroom." Thesis, Curtin University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/1774.
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This thesis illustrates a mixed-methods action-research evaluating impact of selected intervention strategies on writing skills of Science students in a mixed ability year 6 class. Scaffolding, peer/self-assessment and metacognitive journaling were implemented as part of the students’ scheme of work over 3 months. Using interviews, work-samples and anecdotal records, it was established that the students improved their writing skills and self-efficacy towards writing in Science as a result of the use of these strategies.
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Kidman, Gillian C. "Middle years school students' area judgement rules: A cross-sectional study." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2002. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36667/1/36667_Digitised%20Thesis.pdf.
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This study explored Years 4, 6 and 8 students' understanding of the area concept. In particular, it identified and explained students' intuitive judgement rules, that is, the method by which a person integrates information about perceived stimuli when comparing area of rectangular and near-rectangular regions when no length dimensions were given.
The study was based on the work of Anderson and Cuneo (1978) and the method of Information Integration Theory (IIT). IIT is a technique that classifies area judgement rules as additive, Area = Height + Width, where salient dimensions are added, or multiplicative, Area = Height x Width where salient dimensions are added.
Thirty-six students aged 9 to 13 years, twelve at the beginning, 12 at the middle, and twelve at the end of the area-formulae instructional sequence (Years 4, 6 and 8), were given three exercises. The first exercise involved the students estimating the sizes of rectangular regions on a graphic rating scale. The second and third exercises also involved estimation and the graphic rating scale, but used near-rectangular regions. An additional exercise containing area calculation tasks similar to those found in many text books and classrooms was also presented to the students.
The results of the study found that approximately one half of the students perceived area as being related to the sum of the rectangle's linear dimensions. Such students perceived that doubling the lengths of the sides of a rectangle doubles the area and were referred to as predominantly 'additive thinkers'. In estimating the size of rectangular regions, these students showed a preference for three strategies: vertical alignment of the test piece, use of a ruler (to measure the test piece), and use of the index finger (to measure the test piece informally). They also did not attempt many of the area calculation tasks, and for the ones they did attempt, they concentrated on boundary counting. Boundary counting included either grid line counting around the four sides of the figure or a count of the spaces around the four sides of the figure.
The proportion of additive students remained largely the same across the Years. That is, the students at the end of the area-formulae instructional sequence who had increased levels of instruction had not advanced beyond the students in the middle of the area-formulae instructional sequence. These students in turn did not appear to have advanced much beyond the capability exhibited by students at the start of the area-formulae instructional sequence. It was clear, particularly from the classroom tasks, that many of these students experienced confusion between area and perimeter irrespective of their level of area-formulae instruction. However, the proportion of students exhibiting additive thinking reduced for the near-rectangular regions. These regions appeared to divert some students' attention from the linear dimensions to the surface area of the regions.
Students who think multiplicatively in terms of their judgements of area were equally likely to use a form of perimeter to calculate area as were students who think additively in terms of area. Students who used a predominantly multiplicative integration of the stimulus cues should have been capable of correctly using multiplication to calculate the area of rectangles from the dimensions of the rectangles. This was found not to be the case in the area calculation tasks closely resembling classroom textbook area formula exercises. Over 65% of the multiplicative students were found to add the salient dimensions. They seemed to employ an additive integration of the dimensions indicating confusion with perimeter. Most students who employed multiplicative judgement rules were found to be more likely to draw a diagram and be able to calculate the area than students who employed additive judgement rules.
The majority of students experienced 'intra-individual' rule changes. In the case of the additive thinkers, for one of the three exercises they thought multiplicatively. Similarly for the multiplicative thinkers for one of the three exercises they thought additively. The area calculation task strategies for the additive thinkers and the multiplicative thinkers in this group were the same. They attempted all tasks and these attempts included calculations of perimeter, half perimeter as well as calculations of area through direct 1 to 1 counting of the congruent sub-regions. Computational errors also prevented these students from obtaining a correct area solution. For this group also, there was a lot of confusion between area and perimeter.
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Perry, Ernestine Medcalf. "Women in the middle years assessing internal careers and linkages to work and family /." Access abstract and link to full text, 1993. http://0-wwwlib.umi.com.library.utulsa.edu/dissertations/fullcit/9318177.
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Andrews, Kylie C. "High school learning spaces : investigating Year 6 students' imaginings and representations." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2016. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/101159/1/Kylie_Andrews_Thesis.pdf.
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This qualitative case study explored Year 6 students’ experience and imaginings of learning spaces as they prepared to transition to high school. Analysis of the students’ annotated visual images and interview responses indicated their strong preferences to learn in outdoor, informal spaces that maintained connections with nature. The Year 6 students also identified the impact of environmental factors such as noise and fresh air, and their spatial preferences for both developing autonomy and learning with peers. The thesis will inform researchers, designers and teachers seeking to understand student perspectives about spatial aspects that engage and support learners.
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Arnold, Bradley A. "The Characteristic Mobile Learning Engagement Strategies of International School Middle-Years Students." Thesis, Capella University, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10745617.
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The purpose of this qualitative case study was to develop descriptions of how teenage students remain engaged in learning while using mobile technology. Developments in technology have expanded learning contexts and provided learners with improved capacities to connect with others to exchange, gain, and construct knowledge. Developments in technology have also created challenges for instructional designers to create learning activities that promote engaged learning and complex thinking skills in students. The ability to access, share, and create knowledge through connected networks has thus presented opportunities to reevaluate how learners motivate themselves to engage in learning. The study was guided by the following research question and subquestions: RQ1: What strategies do students in international school middle-years programs use to remain engaged in learning while utilizing mobile technology? RQ1a: What learning activities do these students engage in while utilizing mobile technologies? RQ1b: What actions do these students take to remain connected to their learning environment? Narratives of student actions were framed and analyzed through the lens of reciprocal determinism, which states that learning is determined by the relationships between behaviors, thinking processes, and situational factors. Information was gathered to show how students used their technology tools to interact within their environment, access and analyze information, and adapt to changing situations. A nonprobability sampling of ten international school students aged 13–14 and a purposeful sampling of seven of these students’ teachers was used to select the study participants. Information was gathered through student focus group discussions, student interviews, teacher interviews, teacher observation logs, and network data logs. Transcripts were coded through an inductive approach and information analysis occurred through the constant comparative method to help identify evolving themes and patterns. The narratives that developed provided examples of how students maintain connections to networks and how their learning actions, thinking processes, and learning situations can be influenced by the use of mobile technology tools. The findings suggest that students can identify knowledge gaps and then use technology to devise learning strategies to fill these gaps and develop advanced thinking skills. Further research should look at different demographics, attitudes, and school settings to better understand how students adapt their engagement strategies while using mobile technology to remain connected to the learning environment.
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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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Davis, Heather A. "DEVELOPMENTAL TRAJECTORIES OF EXCESSIVE EXERCISE AND FASTING ACROSS THE MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS." UKnowledge, 2015. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/psychology_etds/80.
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Repeated excessive exercise (EE) fasting behavior, in the absence of binge eating and purging, are important eating disorder behaviors that are not captured by the current diagnostic system. Though they appear to be harmful and distressing for adults, little is known about these behaviors in youth. To begin to understand their development, I studied the course of the behaviors across the three years of middle school (n = 1,195). Both behaviors were present in middle school girls and boys, and youth progressed along different developmental trajectories of engagement in the behaviors. Youth involved in either behavior experienced elevated levels of depression and some forms of high-risk eating and thinness expectancies. Their distress levels did not differ from those of youth engaging in purging behavior or low levels of binge eating. EE and fasting behavior can be identified in the early stages of adolescence, youth differ in their developmental experience of these behaviors, and they are associated with significant distress very early in development.
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Robertson, John Eric. "An analysis of the role of International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme Coordinator." Thesis, University of Bath, 2011. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.555746.
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International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes are increasingly prevalent, yet lack systematic study of their implementation and leadership. This enquiry analyses the role of IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) coordinator in implementing the MYP in a variety of school settings. Empirical research involved interviews with experienced coordinators and case studies of an international private, a national private, and a national public school. It focussed on school setting and its impact on coordination, curriculum implementation, key functions of coordinators, and approaches to accountability and professional development. The research found, first, that a primary aim of MYP coordination, facilitating links between subjects and between middle and high schools, was viewed by coordinators as compelling though ambitious. Second, schools' pre-existing organizational, resource, and external accountability settings often presented coordinators, particularly in national public schools, with difficulties, primarily logistical. Third, the subject-based structure of respondents' high schools provided avenues for disciplinary implementation but also presented structural and cultural barriers to collaborative interdisciplinary planning. Fourth, coordinators typically had much responsibility with little formal authority. They sought therefore to overcome above barriers through key functions, termed 'guide alongside', 'facilitator', and 'professional developer'. These functions were effective in developing trust and credibility with teachers, fostering constructive discourse, and enlisting the authority and structural support of senior managers. Fifth, MYP's approaches to accountability and professional development were viewed as complementary and constructive. The MYP emphasized collaborative partnership with participating schools in the evolutionary development of its curriculum framework. Accordingly, coordinators demonstrated 'creative professionalism' with this nascent programme, taking leadership opportunities within their schools and for lB. This approach differs from many depictions in middle management literature, in which subject leaders struggle with conflicting, externally-imposed, responsibilities for collaborative school improvement and teacher evaluation. Significant implications of this study include: for middle management research, the importance of school setting for understanding structural and cultural barriers to curriculum implementation; for education policy, greater consideration of 'collaborative partnership' as a means for school improvement; and for practice, the value of 'creative professional' development opportunities.
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Jackson, Deborah R. "The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program: A Comparison of the Standards of Learning Achievement Levels by Total Group and Ethnicity." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/26936.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of the study was to examine the Standards of Learning (SOL) test results of students participating in an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP) and compare their achievement with students of similar ability in schools not authorized to offer the Middle Years Program (MYP). It was important to determine if the MYP students, who were learning in a different and more holistic manner, were still competitive with their counterparts on standardized achievement measures.
The study was guided by four questions: (1) To what extent is there a difference between the SOL achievement scores of students in an IBMYP and the SOL achievement scores of students not in an IBMYP?; (2) To what extent is there a difference between the SOL achievement scores for Black students in an IBMYP and the SOL achievement scores of Black students not in an IBMYP?; (3) To what extent is there a difference between the SOL achievement scores for Hispanic students in an IBMYP and the SOL achievement scores of Hispanic students not in an IBMYP?; (4) To what extent is there a difference between the SOL achievement scores for White students in an IBMYP and the SOL achievement scores of White students not in an IBMYP?
The study was organized into intervention and control groups, which were statistically similar. In order to determine if the groups were statistically similar at the onset of the study, baseline data were established. One group of eighth grade students who were participating in the MYP program (intervention) and a non-participating group of eighth grade students (control) were matched by their Grade 5 VA Standards of Learning (SOL) achievement scores and ethnicity. The SOL data from the spring 2004 test administration were used for the study. Independent t tests were conducted to determine to what extent, if any, was there a difference between the SOL achievement scores of students who were participating in the MYP and the SOL achievement of students not participating in the MYP. Additionally, t tests were used to measure to what extent was there a difference between the achievement of Black, Hispanic, and White subgroups of the MYP and non-MYP students measured by their SOL scores. The effect size was calculated to determine the strength or magnitude of the differences between the two sets of data.
The findings of the study indicated the average SOL mean scores of the total MYP group were higher than the mean scores of the total non-MYP group in all areas although there were no statistically significant differences (p<.05). The results also indicated that no statistically significant difference existed between the average SOL mean scores of Black students who participated in the MYP and Black students who participated in non-MYP schools across the division (p<.05). The results further indicated that no statistically significant differences existed between the average SOL mean scores of Hispanic students who participated in the MYP and Hispanic students who participated in non-MYP schools across the division (p<.05). Lastly, the results indicated that no statistically significant difference existed between the average SOL mean scores of White students who participated in the MYP and White students who participated in non-MYP schools across the division (p<.05).
The content area that showed the greatest difference was English: Reading, Literature, and Research (15 scaled score points). Performance on the History/Social Science and Science SOL tests were virtually identical. For Black and Hispanic IBMYP students, the highest levels of performance were limited to the English: Reading, Literature, and Research test.Ed. D.
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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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Kelso, Katrina. "Identification, profiling, and interventions for “poor comprehenders” in the middle-upper primary years." Thesis, Curtin University, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88695.
Full textAbstract:
Poor comprehenders are a significant subgroup of poor readers who have difficulty with reading comprehension despite adequate word reading accuracy and fluency. Following identification and profiling of a group of poor comprehenders, two interventions were designed and evaluated: the first a novel higher-level language strategy-based intervention, and the second a novel vocabulary intervention. Both intervention studies provided promising preliminary results and direction for future research to inform the theoretical underpinnings of this population.
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Jowers, Esbelle Marie. "Exercise adherence determinants in adults aged 40-79 years /." Digital version accessible at:, 1999. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/main.
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Eggleston, Brandon Patrick. "An Investigation of the Difference in Student Achievement during the Middle School Transition Years." Thesis, Lindenwood University, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3668708.
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Transition years and grade configurations for middle level students have been a topic of debate since the onset of middle schools in the 1970s. With increased educational accountability, some school districts are beginning to change back to K-8 configurations.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in student achievement during the transition year and provide information to school administration as to the optimal year to transition students from elementary to middle school. Transition year achievement was examined among 5th -7th grade students in Missouri and grade configurations were compared by analyzing 8th grade achievement in three separate grade configurations.
Significant differences in student achievement were uncovered during the analysis of the student achievement data. A significant decrease in student achievement was found between two independent fifth grade groups in English Language Arts and mathematics. Cohorts in sixth and seventh grade did not show a statistically significant difference in student achievement during the transition year. Significant decreases were found in English Language Arts scores between the transition year and pre-transition year along with the transition year and post transition year. In both scenarios the transition year score was significantly lower than the post and pre-transition year score. A significant difference in mathematics achievement was found between fifth and seventh grade transition year students with seventh grade transition year students attaining a higher mean score than fifth grade transition year students. Grade configuration and timing of the transition to middle school did not have an impact on eighth grade student achievement.
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Carter, Dennis Bernard. "Peculiar versions of the species song : aesthetic outworkings of language and literature in the middle years of childhood (8 to 12 years)." Thesis, Bangor University, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.332871.
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Moore, John Murphy. "TEACHER MOTIVATION MATTERS: AN HLM APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION TOWARDS THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1501155644984555.
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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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Hutchings, Gregory C. Jr. "Effective teaching practices and teacher efficacy beliefs of International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme teachers." W&M ScholarWorks, 2010. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539618531.
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This study compared the teaching practices and efficacy beliefs of traditional middle school teachers and International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IBMYP) teachers in an urban school district using the framework of Stronge's Model of Effective Teaching (2007), Stronge and Tucker's (2003) Teacher Effectiveness Behavior Scale, and Tschannen-Moran & Hoy's (2001) Teacher's Sense of Efficacy Scale. Recommended practices for effective teaching were extracted from the following four categories of Stronge's (2007) Model of Teacher Effectiveness: classroom management and organization, implementing instruction, monitoring student progress, and construct of teacher's sense of efficacy.;A stratified random sample of teachers was selected from four middle schools in a large urban district. There were approximately 10 teachers selected from each school which gave a total of 40 teachers who participated in the study. There were 20 (n=20) IBMYP teachers and 20 (n=20) traditional middle school teachers who agreed to participate. A total of 18 IBMYP and 16 traditional teachers completed the online TSES questionnaire.;There was a significant difference (p<.05) in instructional differentiation, assessment for understanding, classroom management and encouragement of responsibility for International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme teachers compared to traditional middle school teachers. However, there was not a significant difference (p<.05) in efficacy for student engagement, efficacy for instructional practices, efficacy for classroom management, instructional focus on learning, instructional clarity, instructional complexity, expectations for student learning, use of technology, quality of verbal feedback to students, classroom organization, caring, fairness and respect, and enthusiasm for International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme teachers compared to traditional middle school teachers.
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Nagel, Michael. "Queensland and Saskatchewan middle years students' experiences of environmental education : an analysis of conceptions." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2005. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16008/1/Michael_Nagel_Thesis.pdf.
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This study explores the qualitatively different ways in which the phenomenon of environmental education is understood or experienced by a purposeful sample of year seven students in Queensland and Saskatchewan. In 'directing the activities of the young', environmental education has, since its genesis, existed in an epistemological quagmire surrounding the development of 'responsible' environmental behaviours. Yet, after some thirty years of research and pedagogical initiative, this is one of only a few studies that have looked at the reality of environmental education through the eyes of young people.
Contested and debated, environmental education has received much attention in many countries from educators interested in merging the complexities of the terms environment and education. In the context of this study it is significant to note that environmental education's history bears witness to scholarly discourse and educational initiatives in Australia and Canada. However, while environmental education has continued to expand its presence in pedagogical and didactic endeavour, its history also demonstrates contested ideological foundations regarding its implementation in schools. Queensland and Saskatchewan offer pertinent examples of this contestation.
From a global perspective, the goals and objectives of environmental education have been driven, developed and established around international agendas developed at a number of conferences designed and delivered through UNESCO. These global initiatives were then left to local interpretation that often resulted in very different didactic and pedagogic frameworks. Such is the case with Queensland and Saskatchewan where environmental education is situated within a social science framework in Queensland and a science framework in Saskatchewan. However, the pedagogical structure of environmental education was not the focus of this study per se. Instead, this phenomenographic research project looks at how the phenomenon of environmental education is experienced by a group of Year 7 children in each region. These children's experiences of environmental education can be encapsulated in a limited number of qualitatively different conceptualisations.
The study finds that, regardless of their country of origin, the children conceptualise environmental education in five ways; Environmental Education as:
'Human Being'.
'Human Escaping'.
'Human Doing'.
'Human Complying'.
'Human Distancing'.
Specific components of these conceptions are detailed through 'categories of description' which lend themselves to a structural framework referred to as an 'outcome space'. Through this 'outcome space' it becomes apparent that for the year seven students who participated in this research project, environmental education is, at is best irrelevant, and at its worst depressing. For the goals of environmental education and those who aspire and work towards meeting those goals, this 'cumulative movement of action (environmental education) toward a later result' as noted by Dewey and quoted above, appears to be growing in the wrong direction.
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Nagel, Michael. "Queensland and Saskatchewan middle years students' experiences of environmental education : an analysis of conceptions." Queensland University of Technology, 2005. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16008/.
Full textAbstract:
This study explores the qualitatively different ways in which the phenomenon of environmental education is understood or experienced by a purposeful sample of year seven students in Queensland and Saskatchewan. In 'directing the activities of the young', environmental education has, since its genesis, existed in an epistemological quagmire surrounding the development of 'responsible' environmental behaviours. Yet, after some thirty years of research and pedagogical initiative, this is one of only a few studies that have looked at the reality of environmental education through the eyes of young people.
Contested and debated, environmental education has received much attention in many countries from educators interested in merging the complexities of the terms environment and education. In the context of this study it is significant to note that environmental education's history bears witness to scholarly discourse and educational initiatives in Australia and Canada. However, while environmental education has continued to expand its presence in pedagogical and didactic endeavour, its history also demonstrates contested ideological foundations regarding its implementation in schools. Queensland and Saskatchewan offer pertinent examples of this contestation.
From a global perspective, the goals and objectives of environmental education have been driven, developed and established around international agendas developed at a number of conferences designed and delivered through UNESCO. These global initiatives were then left to local interpretation that often resulted in very different didactic and pedagogic frameworks. Such is the case with Queensland and Saskatchewan where environmental education is situated within a social science framework in Queensland and a science framework in Saskatchewan. However, the pedagogical structure of environmental education was not the focus of this study per se. Instead, this phenomenographic research project looks at how the phenomenon of environmental education is experienced by a group of Year 7 children in each region. These children's experiences of environmental education can be encapsulated in a limited number of qualitatively different conceptualisations.
The study finds that, regardless of their country of origin, the children conceptualise environmental education in five ways; Environmental Education as:
'Human Being'.
'Human Escaping'.
'Human Doing'.
'Human Complying'.
'Human Distancing'.
Specific components of these conceptions are detailed through 'categories of description' which lend themselves to a structural framework referred to as an 'outcome space'. Through this 'outcome space' it becomes apparent that for the year seven students who participated in this research project, environmental education is, at is best irrelevant, and at its worst depressing. For the goals of environmental education and those who aspire and work towards meeting those goals, this 'cumulative movement of action (environmental education) toward a later result' as noted by Dewey and quoted above, appears to be growing in the wrong direction.
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Gynne, Annaliina. "Languaging and Social Positioning in Multilingual School Practices : Studies of Sweden Finnish Middle School Years." Doctoral thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Utbildningsvetenskap och Matematik, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-31774.
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The overall aim of the thesis is to examine young people’s languaging, including literacy practices, and its relation to meaning-making and social positioning. Framed by sociocultural and dialogical perspectives, the thesis builds upon four studies that arise from (n)ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two different settings: an institutional educational setting where bilingualism and biculturalism are core values, and social media settings. In the empirical studies, micro-level interactions, practices mediated by languaging and literacies, social positionings and meso-level discourses as well as their intertwinedness have been explored and discussed. The data, analysed through adapted conversational and discourse analytical methods, include video and audio recordings, field notes, pedagogic materials, policy documents, photographs as well as (n)ethnographic data. Study I illuminates the doing of linguistic-cultural ideologies and policies in everyday pedagogical practices and focuses on situated and distributed social actions as nexuses of several practices where a number of locally and nationally relevant discourses circulate. In Study II, the focus is on everyday communicative practices on the micro and meso levels and the interrelations of different linguistic varieties and modalities in the bilingual-bicultural educational setting. Study III highlights young people’s languaging, including literacies, in everyday learning practices that stretch across formal and informal learning spaces. Study IV examines social positioning and identity work in informal and heteroglossic literacy practices across the offline-online continuum. Consequently, the four studies map the kinds of languaging practices young people are engaged in both inside and outside of what are labelled as bilingual school settings. Furthermore, the studies highlight the kinds of social positions they perform and are oriented towards in the course of their everyday lives. Overall, the findings of the thesis highlight issues of bilingualism as pedagogy and practice, the (un)problematicity of multilingualism across space and time and multilingual-multimodal languaging as a premise for social positioning. Together, the studies and the thesis form a descriptive-analytical illustration of “multilingual” young people’s everyday lives in and out of school in late modern societies of the global North. Overall, the thesis provides insights concerning the education and lives of a large, yet sparsely documented minority group in Sweden, i.e. the Sweden Finns.Denna avhandling fokuserar på ungdomars språkande, inklusive literacy-praktiker, och dess relation till deras meningsskapande och social positionering. Avhandlingen tar avstamp i sociokulturell och dialogisk teoribildning och bygger på fyra studier som blivit till genom (n)etnografiskt fältarbete i två olika sammanhang: inom en skola där tvåspråkighet och bikulturalitet är viktiga värderingar, och sociala medier. I de empiriska studierna undersöks hur interaktion, språkande och literacy-praktiker och sociala positioneringar görs på mikronivå. Dessa fenomen studeras vidare i anslutning till och som en del av diskurser som drivs på meso-nivå. Avhandlingens data har analyserats med tillämpade samtals- och diskursanalytiska metoder och inkluderar video- och audioinspelningar, fältanteckningar, pedagogiska material, policy-dokumentation, fotografier samt (n)etnografiskt skapad data. I Studie I undersöks hur lingvistisk-kulturella ideologier och policys görs i vardagliga pedagogiska praktiker. Den fokuserar på situerade och distribuerade sociala handlingar som praktiknexus där flera lokalt och nationellt relevanta diskurser cirkulerar. Studie II intresserar sig för vardagliga kommunikativa praktiker på mikro- och meso-nivåer samt för samspelet av språkliga varieteter och modaliteter i den tvåspråkiga-bikulturella skolan. I Studie III studeras ungdomars språkande, inklusive literacies, i vardagliga lärandepraktiker som sträcker sig över tid och rum i formella och informella lärandemiljöer. Studie IV fokuserar på social positionering och identitetsarbete i informella och heteroglossiska literacy-praktiker både offline och online. Tillsammans kartlägger de fyra studierna olika slags språkandepraktiker som ungdomarna deltar i och bidrar till både inom och utanför vad som kallas för tvåspråkiga skolsammanhang. Vidare illustrerar studierna vardagslivets görande av olika slags sociala positioneringar och identitetsperformanser. Resultaten visar på hur tvåspråkigheten i skolans värld kan ses som både pedagogik och praktik, att flerspråkigheten är (o)problematisk för ungdomarna och för skolan och att språkandets karaktär som flerspråkig och multimodal är central för social positionering. Studierna och avhandlingen bildar tillsammans en deskriptiv-analytisk illustration av ”flerspråkiga” ungdomars vardag i och utanför skolan i ett senmodernt nordiskt samhälle. Vidare bidrar avhandlingen till kunskapsbasen gällande utbildningsfrågor och vardag för en av Sveriges nationella minoriteter, sverigefinländare.
LIMCUL
DIMuL
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Johansen, Shannon Elizabeth. "School Functioning of Children with Asthma: A Study of the Elementary and Middle School Years." [Tampa, Fla.] : University of South Florida, 2004. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/SFE0000329.
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Branch, Nicholas Philip. "Vegetation history and human activity in the Ligurian Apennines and Alps, Italy, during the last 14,000 years." Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.322191.
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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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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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Goodarzi, Jubin Moazami. "The formative years of the Syrian-Iranian alliance : power politics in the Middle East, 1979-1989." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2002. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1651/.
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The purpose of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive account and detailed analysis of the forces that led to the emergence and consolidation of the Syrian-Iranian alliance during a turbulent decade in the modern history of the Middle East. The alliance between the two states, which has now lasted over twenty years, has proved to be an enduring feature of the political landscape of this troubled region. Moreover, since its inception, it has had a significant impact in terms of moulding events and bringing about major changes in the contemporary Middle East. The thesis sets out to demonstrate that, contrary to prevailing views (due in large part to the authoritarian nature of the Syrian and Iranian regimes and their unpopularity in the West), the alliance between them has been essentially defensive in nature. It emerged in response to acts of aggression orchestrated by Iraq (1980) and Israel (1982), in both cases with the tacit support and prior knowledge of the United States. As a result of the research undertaken for this thesis, three distinct phases in the evolution and institutionalization of the Damascus-Tehran axis can be discerned. One chapter is devoted to each of these phases, constituting the three core sections of the thesis. A brief introduction sets out to provide a conceptual framework for understanding the genesis and evolution of the Syrian-lranian nexus. The first core chapter, covering the emergence of the alliance between 1979 and 1982, demonstrates that, while the initial impetus for the birth of the relationship came from the overthrow of Iran's conservative, pro-Western monarchy in 1979, the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September 1980 served as a major catalyst in bringing Syria and Iran closer together, with Syria providing valuable diplomatic and military assistance to help Iran stave off defeat. The second core chapter covers the period between 1982 and 1985, when Israel launched an invasion of Lebanon and challenged Syria in its backyard. Here, Iran lent its support to Syria to drive out Israeli and Western forces during the period 1983-1985. The third core chapter deals with a critical, and perhaps the most problematic, phase in the development of the alliance. By the mid-1980's, both parties had developed conflicting agendas, contributing to tensions between them. However, continued consultations between the two allies, and their ability to prioritize their respective interests and redefine the parameters for cooperation, led by the late 1980s to the maturation and consolidation of their relationship. Finally, the conclusion looks at the reasons why the alliance lasted beyond the 1980's.
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Mills, Gregory J. "Beyond the Backlash: Muslim and Middle Eastern Immigrants' Experiences in America, Ten Years Post-9/11." Scholar Commons, 2012. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4166.
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In this thesis, I explore the perceived character of Islamophobia in American society, and how Islamophobia is embedded in the everyday lived experiences and identity negotiations of a sample of Middle Eastern immigrants, ten years post-9/11. Data consist of 13 qualitative interviews with first-generation Middle Eastern immigrants, including Muslims, Christians, and those who claim no religion. Findings suggest that perceived discrimination and cultural hostility vary across both gender and religion. Women who cover with the hijab perceive far more discrimination and humiliating experiences than men or women who do not cover in the sample. Iranians also receive extremely poor treatment, especially from border patrol agents in airports, regardless of religion. Overarching themes of identity negotiation include: (1) a Muslim First identity; (2) the individualizing of the Muslim faith through modified religious practices and diverse social networks; and (3) negotiating the Iranian vs. Persian identity. I conclude that while overall trends of discrimination are perceived to be receding from their peaks in the 9/11 backlash; there is a real possibility for sustained hostility towards those who are visibly Muslim, particularly for women, which has implications for trends in identity negotiation.
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Cochrane, Michael. "The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme : an inquiry into global citizenship in policy and curriculum documents." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2017. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/19894/.
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The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP) is a curriculum framework for students aged 11 – 16 that ‘aims to develop active young learners who are internationally-minded’. It is popular in international schools around the world and is currently used in 1,356 schools in 108 countries, more than half of which describe themselves as international schools. The ‘global’ is ever present in MYP policy and curriculum documents, and discourses around global citizenship feature strongly, yet only one IB publication directly addresses global citizenship education. This study explores global citizenship education in MYP policy and curriculum documents. It provides critical reflection on concepts of global citizenship evident in the programme’s main framework policy document for the MYP, an IB position paper on global citizenship, and two case study unit plans. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is used to examine language structures around global citizenship, investigating configurations of global citizenship constituted within Western, neoliberal-oriented concepts associated with globalisation. Four key findings emerged from the analysis: first, that ‘international education’ may be understood as a platitude for private education; second, the programme has evolved into a curriculum framework that can be used in any kind of school setting globally in which the school can afford to pay the IB’s fees. Third, the programme blends the language of progressive education with the language of neoliberal globalisation in its promotion of global citizenship education. Finally, the study concludes that the IB, by subtly fusing the language of Western oriented neoliberalism with that of global citizenship, orientates its focus towards growth in numbers of schools using the programme, attracting ever greater numbers of customers and expanding its influence.
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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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Estes, Brian Vincent. "VICTORY AT A PRICE: FORTY YEARS OF BATTLING COMMUNISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND ITS AFTERMATH." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/192335.
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Harlacher, Jason E. "Victimization During the Middle School Years: Exploring the Relationship Between Emotion Regulation and Emotional/Behavioral Outcomes." DigitalCommons@USU, 2005. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6181.
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The present thesis examined emotion regulation differences among victims and non victims of bullying and its role as a mediator in the link between victimization and internalizing or externalizing outcomes. Participants from Grades 6 to 8 (n = 240) completed measures that assessed level of victimization, emotions felt relative to emotions expressed during bullying situations, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Weak victim-related differences revealed that boy victims reported feeling more shame and expressing more fear than nonvictims, whereas girl victims reported expressing more shame and feeling and expressing more anger and sadness. A new measure of emotional regulation did not reveal any victim -related differences , nor was emotional regulation found to play a mediating role. Discussion focuses on how antecedent- and response-focused regulation can account for victim-related differences found, and how victims' emotional regulation difficulties may be more attributable to antecedent-focused regulation and poor evaluation of consequences of expressing certain emotions than emotional inhibition during a bullying interaction.
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Wedcliffe, Keren. "The effect of role models on the self efficacy of the child in the middle childhood years." Pretoria : [s.n.], 2007. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09292008-143710.
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Pressland, Amy. "'Still struggling after all these years?' : the representation of sportswomen in middle-brow British newspapers 2008-2009." Thesis, University of York, 2012. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/3155/.
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It is widely acknowledged by scholars of sport media that female athletes are largely under-represented in all forms of news coverage. It is also commonly stated that sports media coverage has a tendency to infantilize, sexualize and marginalize sportswomen and their performances. At the same time there has been a growing number of studies (King 2007; Kian et al 2009; Mackay and Dallaire 2009) in recent years which suggest that sports media coverage is achieving, or close to achieving, gender parity. Such claims are often based on media coverage during major sporting events, such as the Olympic Games. This thesis will explore these claims over a two-year period. The semi-longitudinal approach, not previously undertaken in similar research, will provide the opportunity to investigate whether these claims of gender parity are sustained when investigating day-to-day reporting in selected British newspapers in 2008 and 2009. The thesis investigates the representation of sportswomen in the British print media 2008-2009. Based on archival research of five Sunday national newspapers, three broadsheets (The Sunday Times, The Observer and The Sunday Telegraph) and two tabloids (the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Express), and using content analysis this investigation contributes new knowledge to the field of sport, gender and media with its original timeframe, newspaper sample and findings. 22,954 news articles and 25,717 photographs were collected and constitute the quantitative data set which sets the scene for understanding how sportswomen are reported on, how coverage of sportswomen is organised and dominant themes within the quantitative representation. The qualitative data set of 172 news items explores in greater detail how sportswomen are represented in three thematic chapters on the construction of bodies, the media discourse of inequality and the use of stereotypes.
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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.