Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Educational practice”

As the incoming academic editor of TEACHING Exceptional Children, I see my role as one to assist professionals in developing knowledge and expertise that applies to their future endeavors as teachers and related service professionals via the review and acceptance of high-quality manuscripts focused on putting the research into practice. Access to quality journal articles highlighting research and providing guidance on how to integrate practices into your own context is part of a comprehensive professional development experience

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of accomplished teaching practitioners by tracing the development of the teaching expertise of participants using a narrative inquiry frame. This allowed time and space for participants to engage in making meaning of the memories of lived teaching experiences. This perspective took into account the influence of the cultures and contexts in which the teacher was situated prior to, during, and after engaging in the National Board process. The implications of the study indicated engaging in continuous reflection enabled teachers to mitigate problems by framing and reframing practices. Educators at all levels may do well to pause, reflect, and reconsider the how the structures of public school might be altered so that teachers have the spaces they need to learn to teach in ways that ensure all students, particularly those with a support system that is significantly different from the backgrounds of their teachers, are provided with an equitable education. School leaders might choose to consider how the disparate cultural history of teachers and students influences the teaching practices in their school and community context, which may diminish the likelihood of equity, access, and fairness for learning by all students. Emphasis on creating pathways for culturally diverse future educators will continue to be of concern as our knowledge of the growing diversity of our students depends on constructing understandings of their actual, not perceived, educational needs.

This exploratory study describes the variation in how evidence-based practice is understood in educational psychology. The study is comprised of two phases, which were both designed, analysed and interpreted using qualitative methodology. In phase one, twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with educational psychologists from eight services in England. A phenomenographic approach to analysis was applied, resulting in a conceptual framework, representing the variation in understandings of evidence-based practice of a group of educational psychologists. In phase two, two focus groups were conducted with a subset of participants from phase one to elucidate the influence of evidence-based practice on decision-making in practice. A framework approach to thematic analysis showed that practice decisions of educational psychologists are influenced by evidence-based practice according to contextual factors, training and practice experiences and personal characteristics. This study gives insight as to how educational psychologists experience and account for the role of evidence and evidence-based practice in their practice and informs how evidence-based practice might be conceptualised in educational psychology. The findings suggest that evidence-based practice is grounded on personal, internalised beliefs while being contextualised by the demands of specific circumstances. The findings have implications for providers of educational psychology training in terms of the curriculum for evidence-based practice and associated learning outcomes.

This mixed-methods study analyzed the effectiveness of the practices and attitudes of selected African American teachers who use culturally relevant and responsive Afrocentric pedagogies as the instructional foundation for improved academic outcomes with their African American students. The theory of Afrocentricity was used as the philosophical framework to study their pedagogy. Afrocentricity is a mode of thought and practice in which in African people are placed at the center of their own history and culture; engages them as subjects rather than objects; and approaches them with respect for their interests, values, and perspectives (Asante 1980, 2003). Concepts employed from this theoretical framework provided a lens for the triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data collected and analyzed. The setting for this study was a private Afrocentric prekindergarten through 8th-grade school. The participants in this study were 3 African American teachers. Data collected and analyzed supported using culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy to produce improved academic outcomes for students of color (Boykin, 1984, 1994; Hale-Benson, 1986; King, 1991; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Shujaa, 1995; Villegas, 1991).

Findings suggested that in selected academic settings improved academic performance occurred for African American students when teachers used culture relevant and responsive pedagogy. The following themes were embedded in the pedagogy: self-determination, academic empowerment, cultural empowerment, and family/community empowerment. The findings implied a need for teachers and teacher-training institutions to re-examine, recommit, and re-institute culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy that respects and addresses the culture, education, and social improvement for positive academic outcomes for all children.

Keywords: Afrocentricity, Afrocentric Pedagogy, achievement gap, culturally responsive pedagogy.

This thesis sets out to add to our understanding of the "what" "how" and "why" of curriculum change in the following ways: (a) it takes a broad view of "curriculum", including the interactive as well as the pre-active; and evaluation and pedagogy as well as curriculum content. By means of the concept of "curricularisation", it forces attention upon the constructed nature of curriculum and the knowledge-constitutive interests it serves, whilst the notion of "evolution" is looked at in the context of cultural hegemony; (b) by focussing upon the "educational project" and its relationships between theory and practice, it renders problematic the rationalism, pedagogy and assessment procedures associated with traditional education; (c) substantively, it takes two sixth-form student projects as case-studies: the "pure" science of Nuffield Biology, and the "applied" science of Cambridge Technology; (d) methodologically, it views their pre-active curricula from both micro- and macro- sociohistorical perspectives, and studies their interactive curricula by ethnographic methods. The former method explores the cultural roots of the curriculum and the major external forces acting upon it, whilst the latter seeks to identify its internal dynamics in terms of linguistic sequences and their associated control. The sociohistorical evidence presented suggests that, contrary to fashionable belief, it is the aristocratid culture with its academic curriculum which is hegemonic. Whilst interactional data shows that, despite opportunities for "practical" curricularisation, it is the "technical" mode which predominates, raising the issue of the limits of curriculum change. Several other issues are raised in the course of this research. Those addressed here concern the problematic relationships between theory and practice in the fields of subject content, pedagogy and evaluation. Whilst underlying all such issues are the assumptions, foundations and curriculum structures which, although problematic, are taken for granted.

The study is located in a Steiner and broader educational context. There has been a shift towards a principal leadership model in Steiner school settings that have been required to meet the contemporary realities of increased regulatory and compliance-driven demands. This is at odds with non-hierarchical Steiner organisational models, which reflect the educational and social renewal ideals of Steiner’s world view. Steiner school principals are caught in the crossfire of this ideological divide. Through an autoethnographic inquiry using the theory of practice architectures as a framing and an analytic tool, I explored the nature of my leading practices as principal in a volatile Steiner school context where I ‘sat in the fire’ of whole school upheaval over a sustained period. My narrative inquiry has revealed that the practice of shared and collective responsibility within Steiner’s republican/democratic ideal is not impossible where there is a principal role in the school’s leadership arrangements. Capable, praxis-led leading practices are not only possible to overcome persistent doubt and uncertainty in the Steiner context, but also crucial in developing both its educational and social ideals. This involves moving beyond simplistic binaries of hierarchy/non-hierarchy to acknowledge multiple authorities in the school, as well as a deep and shared understanding of the role of decision making, pedagogical leadership, and the power of reflective practice in shaping capable, praxis-led leading practices towards renewal. The research findings are highly significant, as the first in Australia which focuses on lived experience as a basis for bringing to light the nature of such leading practices in a specific context.

The purpose of this study was to assess the nature of participation in a hybrid Community of Practice; exploring how teacher efficacy influenced participation; and how participation impacted both technology teacher leadership and technology integration practice. The researcher addressed the following research questions: What is the nature and frequency of the activities and interactions evidenced by participation in a hybrid CoP? What types of knowledge capital were found in a hybrid CoP? Does teacher efficacy influence participation in the online component of a hybrid CoP? How does participation in a hybrid CoP impact teachers’ technology integration and the development of their technology leadership ability? Participants included 31 teachers enrolled in an Innovative Teacher Leaders (ITL) program. The researcher implemented a mixed methods comparative case study, collecting data via participant observations, monthly self-reports, and semi-structured interviews. A survey instrument was administered to collect data on Teacher Efficacy and Teacher Leadership. Frequency data were collected based on interaction logs and face-to-face training observations of the CoP. Findings of this study pointed to the need for time to practice, implementation support, and peer coaching/discourse as necessary factors for successful professional development. Participation in this hybrid CoP was found to have a positive impact on teacher technology integration and technology leadership ability.

For centuries, education policymakers have sought to identify the most effective way to assess a potential teacher’s readiness to enter the classroom. These assessments evolved from multiple choice examinations to performance-based assessments focused on teacher actions. The latest iteration of these performance-baed assessments is edTPA.

edTPA’s structure mirrors that of the assessment for National Board Certification (NBC) designed for veteran teachers. The NBC assessment has shown to be educative for teachers who complete it, leading to positive changes in their post-assessment practice (Athanases, 1994; Hattie & Clinton, 2010; Sato, Darling-Hammond and Wei, 2008; Steeley, 2003). This study examines whether edTPA has similar educative impacts on early career teachers.

Since edTPA is relatively new, little research has been completed on its impact on teacher practice. Most of the current literature on edTPA focuses on its implementation or on pre-service candidate perceptions of completing the assessment. This interview study also examines candidate perceptions but focuses on whether they felt completing edTPA was educative and impacted their current practice.

This study includes twenty teachers who participated in two hour-long interviews given roughly six months apart. All of the participants were recent secondary mathematics education graduates from one university. This study is among the first studies of edTPA to include teachers who both completed edTPA and have been teaching for at least two years. Another unique strength of this study is that, prior to the second interview, candidates reviewed their actual edTPA portfolio to help recall components of the assessment and to potentially make clearer connections between edTPA and their current practices.

The study results support the notion that edTPA can be educative and influence a teacher’s current practices around planning, instruction, and assessment. The level of influence that completing edTPA has on a teacher’s practices may be impacted by school or district policies that either hinder or support high-scoring edTPA practices. The results demonstrate how edTPA can not only be seen as a summative tool at the end of pre-service teaching, but also a formative tool that impacts the teaching practices of early career teachers.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of K-12 Educational Administration, 2008.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on March 31, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 273-285). Also issued in print.

Principals have tremendous influence on the schools they lead (Bamburg & Andrews, 1990; Marzano et al., 2005). Certain leadership behaviors impact school level factors (Cotton, 2003; Hallinger & Heck, 2010; Leithwood, Begley, & Cousins, 1990; Marzano et al., 2005; Orr, 2003). To affect high levels of student achievement, school principals must be responsible for uniting diverse groups under shared purposes with purposeful emphasis on others rather than on self (Cotton, 2003; Hallinger & Heck, 2010; Leithwood, Begley, & Cousins, 1990; Marzano et al., 2005; Orr, 2003). Effective programs in educational leadership preparation include cohort-modeled groupings, among other features (Davis et al., 2005). Because cohorts are a feature of effective programs, yet few aspiring school leaders are prepared through cohort-based programs (Browne-Ferrigno & Muth, 2009), a concern regarding a problem of practice is raised.

The purpose of this study was to explore how aspirant school leaders experience the acquisition of leadership practices within their educational leadership preparation program and to contribute to the empirical understanding of how to best prepare school leaders for successful practice. This study was designed to examine: How do school leaders make meaning of their experience in a principal preparation program? In what ways do their experiences support the development of communitarian leadership?

The sample included nineteen school leaders who were alumni of a university-based educational leadership preparation program. Participants were interviewed using a basic interview protocol that followed the semi-structured approach for interview technique outlined by Moustakas (1994). The data analysis was carried out in the stepwise manner, using Atlas.ti 7.0 to code and group significant statements from the interview texts and using a basic memoing process to address any concerns of subjectivity.

Leaders who experienced preparation activities, including activities that gave them practice leading diverse individuals to shared outcomes articulated how preparation influenced the development of communitarian leadership skill, including relationship-building, communication, and values-identification. Communitarian leadership, which includes leadership actions linked to improved school-level outcomes (Marzano et al., 2005), may have utility as a framework for developing aspiring principals through formal preparation programs.

Incorporation of a learning philosophy into an existing learning environment can be challenging to the point of abandoning the process or failing to realize any improvements.
Metaphor, a form of figurative language has the potential to clarify or increase the understanding of an unknown or unfamiliar concept. The metaphoric process accomplishes this through "comparative mapping," where the unknown is understood via an interaction with a known concept in a familiar domain. This can be extrapolated to include understanding a philosophy despite a lack of direct experience, rendering the previously unknown philosophy a known phenomenon.
This thesis promotes the use of metaphor and subsequent metaphoric process for improvement in education by bridging the gap between educational philosophy/theory and educational practice. Resources of the metaphor enable practitioners in education to understand the process of adopting a learning philosophy successfully. Suggestions for construction and incorporation of such a metaphor that will accomplish this are given.

Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs
Christy Craft
Colleges and universities across the United States seek new, creative, and impactful ways to enhance student engagement. The study of student engagement has led to the identification of several “high-impact” educational practices that appear to generate higher levels of student performance, learning, and development than the traditional classroom experience (Brownell & Swaner, 2010). Internships – when done well – are among the recommended high-impact educational practices (Kuh, 2008). This qualitative study investigated internships to address the following research questions: What is the essence of internships that are done well? What are the student learning outcomes of internships that are done well? Utilizing interviews and a phenomenological approach, this study reconstructed internship experiences of 19 undergraduate students. For the triangulation of data collection, 5 faculty members and 5 employer representatives were also interviewed about their observations regarding student internships. After open coding and analyzing interview transcripts, four essence themes and four outcome themes emerged from the data. According to study participants, internships that are done well require commitment, connect the classroom to career, facilitate good communication, and provide a sense of community. In regards to resulting outcomes, internships that are done well develop the competencies of students, produce career-related crystallization, build self-confidence, and generate capital. The results suggest that when internships are done well, they can embody Kuh’s (2008) six elements of high impact practices as they are effortful, include feedback, apply learning, prompt reflection, build relationships, and engage across differences. The findings of this study have the potential to assist the campus community – faculty, advisors, and career development professionals – as they help students fulfill their learning and career development goals (O’Neill, 2010). First, this study’s findings essentially point to the need for students to demonstrate initiative and fundamental skills during internships. Second, employers must continue to be informed about what constitutes a meaningful internship experience for students. Third, universities should “scale up” high-impact educational practices like internships (Brownell & Swaner, 2010) by creating a developmental approach for program implementation. Furthermore, everyone in the campus community must work together to effectively facilitate internships and other high-impact educational practices.

This research explored the role of reflective practice (RP) for educational psychologists (EPs). Reflective practice was defined as the process of learning through and from experiences towards gaining new insights of self and/or practice (Boud, Keogh & Walker, 1985). The regulatory body (Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC)) has mandated that practitioner psychologists ‘be able to reflect and review practice’ (HCPC, Standards of Proficiency, 2015, 11.1, p12). Furthermore, RP is identified as central to the British Psychological Society (BPS) compulsory policy on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) (BPS, 2006). However, within the professional guidelines for EPs (BPS, Division of Education and Child Psychology (DECP), 2002) RP is perhaps limited. Nine EPs completed semi-structured interviews exploring the role of reflective practice and a grounded theory methodology (GT) (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was applied. Five main themes and twenty-one sub-themes were identified. The created grounded theory (GT) proposes that RP supports EP motivation (McLean, 2003, 2009) and self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1994). Factors at the individual, local authority (LA) and governing body levels that inhibited or promoted RP were identified. Future development of RP for EPs will require further specific consideration and commitment from all those involved in the profession.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between educational and curricular factors and physician location decisions. As a background to the study, a literature search traced the history of medical education in the U.S., focusing on various influences on physician distribution. In the research on physician location decision, this study is unique in its use of the constant comparative method. This method is an inductive approach developed and refined by Glaser and Strauss, used in this study to generate theory regarding the role of educational factors in physician location decisions. In this research, two groups of physicians who completed training after 1965 were selected for study, based on their locations in distinctly different practice settings in Arizona: urban and rural. An open-ended interview format was developed, and each physician was interviewed, with data analysis beginning during the first interview and continuing through the entire period of data collection. Using the constant comparative method, similar groups (rural physicians) were compared to bring out basic properties of categories, and different groups (urban physicians) were then compared to establish boundaries of applicability of the theory. As the interviews proceeded a basic theoretical framework emerged, enabling development of a grounded theory of physician location decisions. The study presents strong empirical evidence in support of the proposition that educational factors are influential in the decision of a physician to enter practice in a rural area. Four primary influences were identified: faculty role modeling, participation in rural clerkships, preceptorships, or required family practice rotations, service activities related to health care for medically underserved populations, and education in a non-traditional setting, or residency training in a rural area. Curriculum content and requirements take on major significance when these influences are subsumed under the major influence of socialization. The extent to which these educational factors play a role in the practice locations of physicians varies according to educational opportunities available during the training period.

This research was based on a multi-case study design focused on the leadership practice of high school principals and assistant principals and their roles in improving graduation rates. The study sought to answer one overarching research questions: In schools that demonstrate an increase in graduation rates what leadership practices are evidenced in principals and assistant principals and teacher leaders. One sub-question addressed the tools and interventions that the leadership team practices in relation to improving graduation rates and the second sub-question addressed the accountability of changing standards with respect to graduation rates. A third sub-question sought to answer how interactions of principals and assistant principals relevant to improvement in student performance are interpreted by faculty and staff. The purposeful sample from each of the three high schools consisted of one principal, four assistant principals and one teacher leader. Data collection methods included interviews, observations and qualitative document review of high school graduation rates.

The study reveals six major findings: (a) school leaders establish a clear vision, mission or goal to increase graduation rates, (b) identification, management and evaluation of academic enrichment programs are necessary interventions for student success, (c) school leaders build a culture of student learning and achievement through a system of processes, programs and support initiatives, (d) the leadership team is knowledgeable, strongly motivated and devoted to their role as leaders in serving all students, (e) school leaders use data as guiding variables in making decisions regarding at-risk student achievement and success, and (f) school leaders develop and foster positive relationships with students and teachers.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to explore teacher leadership practice in an effort to understand how the behaviors of teacher leaders, and interactions among them, contribute to teacher and collective efficacy for the purposes of increasing student achievement and closing student achievement gaps.

Methodology. A grounded theory approach to qualitative research was used to establish a theoretical foundation among the constructs of teacher leadership, efficacy beliefs, and student achievement. Data were primarily collected through an examination of the perspectives of 33 formal and informal teacher leaders in a county in Northern California.

Findings. A theoretical framework called teacher leadership for efficacy and equity is proposed, which outlines direct and indirect pathways for teacher leadership to improve student achievement. Teachers who improve student achievement and close student achievement gaps through teacher and collective efficacy (a) focus on equity and improvements to teaching and learning; (b) take ownership over the learning of all students and speak positively about them; (c) build relationships with students and show they care; (d) take initiative, are positive, and go above and beyond; (e) collaborate, use data to inform practice, and share ideas and strategies; (f) learn, mentor, coach, and watch each other teach; (g) are flexible, adaptable, customize instruction, and try new things; and (h) experience and celebrate success and share success with others. These practices are guided and supported by shared leadership, collaboration, and school culture.

Conclusions. Existing teacher leadership research supports elements of Facets A, D, E, F, and G of teacher leadership practice. New findings include teacher leaders’ maintaining an explicit focus on equity (A), taking ownership over the learning of all students and speaking positively about them (B), building relationships with students and showing care (C), and experiencing and sharing success (H). New findings are supported by research in other areas.

Recommendations. Teacher leaders who impact student achievement should be considered teachers as well as leaders. Stronger attention should be paid to informal teacher leadership, teacher leadership practice, and fostering equity through teacher leadership. Recommendations include operationalizing this framework in quantitative studies, putting it into practice, and replicating the study in other contexts.

This dissertation explores the need for critical transformative leaders who critique oppression within schools and have a desire for social justice. This study attempts to learn more about the principal practices that maintain or disrupt the status quo and what ritual patterns emerge in relation to the work of principals. Two public elementary school principals were observed over the course of a three-day period to better understand the challenges that critical transformative leaders face in the field of education. Four lessons emerged regarding the ritual patterns of principals studied: (a) an emphasis on solidarity, which creates ends that support status quo practices and restricts the development of dialogue centered on social justice issues, (b) the need to expose the hidden curriculum through praxis and work toward liberation, (c) a limited resistance in leadership practice, and (d) that a theoretical understanding of social justice leadership is not enough for transformation to occur in schools. The lessons learned in this study suggest that the neoliberal influences placed upon public schools and public school principals are a major obstacle preventing principals from doing critical transformative work. Furthermore, the academic coursework that principals are involved in is not a sufficient condition for doing critical transformative work. These themes suggest that there is a great need to find ways to open dialogue amongst principals, school staff, parents, and those who make policy decisions so that these groups can begin examining oppressive conditions in schools. Reflection and action against unjust policies are essential to aspects of praxis for which dialogue can be used as a vehicle for change.

SmartMusic is an interactive, practice software program that allows music teachers to assess students effectively in music classrooms. Many educators and music education researchers question whether SmartMusic lives up to the claims of motivating students to practice more and improving students’ ability to self-assess their playing.

Music education researcher Rodney Gurley concluded that SmartMusic increased motivation to practice in middle-school aged students. In addition, he found that students in all assessed age groups (middle and high school) believed SmartMusic helped them to self-assess and correct their playing while they practiced. This quantitative study replicates Gurley’s results, describes middle-school instrumental students’ attitudes towards the motivational factors of confidence, accuracy, and efficacy of their practicing when using SmartMusic, and shows that students believe SmartMusic can help them practice more accurately and effectively.

Open Educational Resources (OER) provide openly licensed alternatives to commercial instructional materials. Proponents of K-12 OER suggest that their benefits include cost savings, increased access, improved quality, and increased teacher professionalism or empowerment. While the small body of K-12 OER research is growing, perceived benefits of K-12 OER usage have not yet been proven. The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand whether certain potential benefits were being realized by a group of secondary teachers using open science textbooks. In surveys and interviews, teachers were asked to describe their classroom practice before and after adopting an open textbook, including practices relating to openness. Teachers were also asked to rate the quality of open textbooks they were using in contrast to textbooks used previously. Most participants reported changes to practice, and the most commonly cited changes could be attributed to a combination of openness and online format. For example, participants described linking textbook content to other online resources. In comparisons of current to previous practice, however, teachers did not report increases in the open practices of collaboration, revising, or adapting.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Educational Psychology Practitioner Scale (EPPS), which was designed to (a) assess the practices, training, and skills of educational psychologists and (b) determine their utility among K-12 schools classroom teachers. Study participants included 161 K-12 teachers across 21 states within the United States. An exploratory factor analysis yielded a 25-item, unidimensional scale. Correlating the EPPS with the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and the Job Satisfaction Scale (Warner, 1973) provided discriminant validity for the scale. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Across much of the Western world there is a growing movement working to plant the seeds of a holistic worldview that is based on a recognition of the interdependent relationship between self, Earth, and community. One way to nurture this emergence on a local level is through community-based workshops that offer theories and practices in support of such a perspective. The purpose of this study is to create a curriculum that could be used to shape this type of workshop. The design of the curriculum content is meant to offer interior and exterior tools and experiences that catalyze both individual and group development. The primary method utilized in the research was a curriculum advisory board to assist with content development. The ultimate goals of such a workshop are two-fold: (a) to deepen participants’ relationships to self, Earth, and community; and (b) to create and inspire local community groups that can support social justice, environmental stewardship grounded in an ethic of care, and regenerative (sustainable) community development during this time of great planetary need. The findings of the research span the fields of adult development, relational education, community organizing and activism, regenerative leadership, nature connection, and sustainable community development. Tools and practices include but are not limited to meditation, dialogue, shadow work, worldview inquiries, journaling, group development, and community action plans.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Counseling and the Educational Psychology, 2007.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: A, page: 2816. Advisers: Daniel T. Hickey; Sasha A. Barab. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 14, 2008).

Changes in recent federal, state, and local legislation have added increased scrutiny of and pressure on the evaluation systems of educators across the nation. This scrutiny and pressure have prompted significant changes to both the systems and processes for determining and reporting the effectiveness of teachers and principals. One of the most substantial changes is the use of student growth goals in determining evaluation outcomes for educators. This qualitative study examined the practice and impact of student growth goals created by principals. How do principals describe the impact of evaluative student growth goals on their leadership practice? In what ways are teacher-created student growth goals reflected in the student growth goals that principals set?

To examine these questions, the researcher interviewed ten principals and analyzed the data using an open coding and thematic organization of the results. Several themes that emerged from the participant interviews included: (a) principals view improved evaluation as a crucial leadership practice; (b) principal level (i.e. elementary or secondary), rather than experience, is a critical factor in goal-setting effectiveness; and (c) principals must have expertise in collaborative leadership to effectively develop meaningful student growth goals.

The implications of these themes suggested that policymakers and practitioners increase professional development designed to improve the level of learning-focused conversations of teachers and principals, target increased professional development to secondary principals, develop student growth measures that are useful at the secondary level, and find ways to create time in the system for teachers, principals, and their evaluators to engage in these evaluation conversations.

The purpose of the research was to explore the experiences of a group of 3 ELA teachers as they participated in online professional development using a social learning network. Utilizing case study methodology, the researcher examined how an online social learning network could be used to impact instructional practices amongst ELA teachers participating in hybrid professional development during implementation of a writing curriculum. Employing social constructivism as the dominant framework for analysis, the researcher explored the extent to which professional development delivered online combined with face-to-face supports impacted teacher instructional practices in the classroom.

The researcher examined teachers’ actual online behaviors by using data captured by the online social network and compared this to teachers’ self reports of impact and use, concluding that online professional development, delivered through a social learning network was effective in impacting teachers’ classroom instruction.

Findings indicate that in order to be effective, professional learning should emphasize the learning of content and pedagogy and how technology can enhance instructional practices. Features of the online social learning network utilized more frequently were those that enhanced teachers’ goals around writing instruction. The online social learning network was also found to include several aspects of Community of Practice, resulting in the sustained use and integration of the online social learning network for instructional purposes. Factors such as convenience, flexibility and ubiquitous access to resources and peers were cited as benefits to participating in hybrid professional development models.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of higher education organizational structure and institutional quality assurance practices to and the culture of teaching and learning in artistic disciplines from the perspectives of three artist-educators. The research questions addressed by this study are as follows: 1. How do participants view the relationship of the organizational structure of their institution to the provision of quality assurance practices in their disciplines? 2. What barriers, if any, do participants perceive about the implementation of effective quality assurance practice and policy, and if barriers are perceived, why do they occur? 3. What changes or improvements have been made, if any, to pedagogy as a result of the findings of quality assurance practice? 4. In what ways, if any, has the relationship of organizational structure and quality assurance affected the orientation of the participants' disciplinary culture to learning? Quality assurance practices are central to institutional decisions about educational programs, their alignment with mission, and how resources should be allocated. The process by which quality is defined, understood, and evaluated should connect with the domain it is attempting to define, understand, and evaluate in a way that the community surrounding the domain recognizes as useful and authentic. Intended for an audience of students, faculty, staff, and administrators in higher education arts disciplines, this study provides insight into how quality assurance process and product relate to teaching, learning, and assessing learning in the arts. Through a qualitative research study employing purposeful sampling selection, three artist-educators working at three institutions differing in size, scope, and funding structure took part in this study. Findings emerged across a series of themes concerning artists as educators, art as an educational endeavor, the work of the artist-educator, the doing of assessment, and the politics of assessment. The experience of the participants gave rise to three primary implications; the importance of opportunity for creation and risk as curricular and pedagogical imperatives, the acceptance of a subjective ontology and epistemologies of diagnosis to connect the arts to teaching and learning in other disciplines, and a convergence of top-down and bottom-up leadership models to identify and document educational effectiveness. This study suggests a model of artistic learning in which engagement with students is indicative of an ecology that accounts for the many factors connected to successful student engagement. This kind of holistic model, one that considers artistic learning by means of a systems approach, aligns the environment of the discipline in which the student is situated to the relationship of that discipline to a department, school, college for the purpose of student achievement and the development of artistic voice.

Many studies have focused on the importance of the participation of young people in their education (e.g. Todd, 2012), although fewer papers discuss the practical aspects of seeking their views and fewer again on representing them. The current educational reforms including the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice in England (DfE, 2014a) and the draft, indicative Additional Learning Needs (ALN) Code in Wales (Welsh Government, 2015) have highlighted the importance of seeking young people’s views. The benefits of gathering and communicating young people’s views are well documented (e.g. Mannion, 2007), although the challenges are complex (Ingram, 2013). It is argued that EPs are well placed to gather young people’s views and that the methods that they use affect the information gathered (Harding & Atkinson, 2009). A mixed method approach was used to collect information regarding educational psychologists’ (EPs’) practice in obtaining and representing young people’s views. A questionnaire was used to gather data from local authority Educational Psychology Services across Wales and the results were analysed using descriptive statistics. Eight participants who completed the questionnaire took part in an interview to explore their views in more depth. These interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The major themes constructed included ‘accessing a true representation of young people’s views’, ‘gaining young people’s views empowers them’ and ‘child-centred practice’. The implications of the present study for the role of educational psychologists are discussed, together with future directions for research and the limitations of the present study.

This thesis tries to bring together al-Ghazali's thoughts about different aspects of education, scattered in numbers of works of different kinds and aims at presenting his educational theory in its complete picture. His life, his intellectual career, his mental crises, as well as the solution to these crises were deeply influential in the formation of his educational thought; and it appears that al-Ghazali was remarkably successful in absorbing the conflicting schools of thought of his time. The theoretical aspect of his educational thought consists of a psychology that focuses on a series of mental operations by which man attains knowledge. Being a Sufi, al-Ghazali holds that knowledge can be attained through either sensual-rational or purely spiritual ways, believing the latter to be the source of true knowledge. Consequently, in his classification, he places spiritual sciences over the rest of the sciences. The practical aspect of his thought concerning education centers on the duties of student and teacher which must be fulfilled to ensure the success of the learning process.

The thesis develops from the introduction and analysis of an heuristic methodology, to a dedicated chapter that considers the issues raised in respect of minority ethnic citizenship, particularly in relation to identity. This chapter includes questions of semiotics, discourse, and the development of a dynamic model of change incorporating these related concepts. A critical perspective on the Crick Report follows, and examines whether the report does in fact give 'due regard' (CRE, 2001, p7) to issues of anti-racism and minority ethnic citizenship. The data chapters then present the results of field study both from within the Local Education Authority (LEA) as an institution, and from various schools throughout the county. Both contain comprehensive case studies; the LEA chapter introducing a 'typology of engagement' in relation to the issues raised by minority ethnic citizenship, whilst the pupil data returns to further analysis of identity related issues. The concluding chapter endeavours to pull the research findings together, considering the implications for both policy and practice, with attention given to further research that might follow from the findings. At the same time consideration is given to various texts and contexts presented throughout the thesis in order that these may be considered in overview from a more holistic perspective.

Translating research into practice takes 10 to 20 years or more. Evidence-based practice (EBP) integration remains at 10% to 20%, despite recommendations requiring EBP-guided decisions. Up to 30% decreases in health care system spending, improved quality outcomes, and increased staff satisfaction result from EBP integration. Nurse leaders, who rate quality and safety as the highest priority but EBP as the lowest, are accountable for EBP enculturation; a desire to support bedside registered nurses in EBP exists, yet this EBP use knowledge gap supersedes this goal. The purpose of this project was to provide an EBP education program introducing the use of evidence to guide nursing practice. The project question addressed whether an education program for staff nurses on introduction to EBP would increase nursing staff perception of the value of EBP and their interest in implementing EBP. Knowles's theory of adult learning and the nursing process guided this project. The 36 participants completed the16-question EBP Beliefs Scale before and after the education program on introduction to EBP. Results from the paired samples t tests showed there was a significant difference in each response on the survey, indicating an increased understanding of the fundamental value of EBP, as well as the participant's individual ability to implement EBP within clinical practice. The limited findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge, while positive social change implications include resolving public health and safety issues, reversing fiscal irresponsibility, and overcoming resistance to change, which is at the heart of implementing and enculturating EBP.

Medical-surgical nurses at the project site demonstrated a knowledge deficit regarding the care of adult patients with a tracheostomy. Such knowledge deficits could expose patients to higher risks for infection, bedsores, prolonged hospital stays, increased costs, increased caregiver burden, and death. The purpose of this project was to develop an educational program to improve nurses'€™ knowledge and confidence in the provision of evidence-based tracheostomy care to answer the question if the content of an evidence-based educational program developed to improve nurses'€™ knowledge and confidence in managing adult patients with tracheostomy on a medical-surgical floor would meet the expectations of a panel of content experts. Bandura'€™s self-efficacy and social learning theories provided theoretical guidance for the project. Five local nurse practitioners served as content experts and made recommendations about how the program could be improved, as well as suggestions relating to the wording of and the time allowed for the simulation aspect of the program. Content experts used a 5-point Likert-scale survey to evaluate the education at the completion of the program. Results showed that all reviewers strongly agreed that the content of the program was relevant, was based on the best available evidence, and was well organized and easy to follow. This project may promote positive change on the medical-surgical floor by improving providers'€™ knowledge, skills, and confidence in the provision of care based on the best available evidence, which may lead to improvements in the quality of care provided to tracheostomized patients.

Doctor of Education
Department of Educational Leadership
W. Franklin Spikes
As individuals, we rely on the expertise of professionals to help us navigate the complex problems of modern life in areas such as medicine, accounting, social work, teaching, and the law. Although each profession has its own unique knowledge base, lexicon, and culture, they all share the need to keep members’ knowledge and skills current through continuing professional education. Driven by concerns like frequent law change, increasingly complex clients, and eroding public opinion, 46 states have instituted mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) requirements for attorneys. The Kansas Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Commission administers MCLE in the state of Kansas by monitoring attorney compliance and accrediting CLE programs. In this study, the researcher used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate two existing data sets--survey outputs and focus groups transcripts--that were captured during the Kansas CLE Commission’s Education Initiative. The 260 CLE providers completing the survey and 22 focus group members varied demographically by structure (for-profit, nonprofit) and size (number of employees or course offerings). Using quantitative statistical tools and qualitative grounded theory methods, the researcher identified the current program planning and design, delivery, and evaluation practices of CLE providers in Kansas and evaluated these practices against best practices for any learning effort, as established by CPE research and theory. Study findings indicated that most Kansas providers plan, deliver, and evaluate CLE programs using more traditional, didactic, update-oriented approaches. Most participants reported CLE curricula that were focused on keeping attorneys up-to-date, delivering classes in traditional formats using speaker presentations, and evaluating programs with Level 1 reaction methods. Only some evidence existed of providers determining attorney needs using methods such as competency models or performance evaluations, refining course delivery according to learning styles, or evaluating programs at higher levels. Still, evidence was found of providers using creative ways to incorporate some best practices into their programs, such as partnering with the other stakeholders in the Kansas MCLE space (attendees, employers, and regulators) to plan and evaluate programs. Similarly, some providers are finding new ways to incorporate more interactive learning methods into their classrooms such as discussion groups, Q&A sessions, panels, mock trials, and networking. This research also provided important insights into the contextual realities and limitations that influence MCLE provider capabilities, priorities, or choices. Cultural norms of the legal profession such as a preference for traditional educational experiences, fierce opposition to any form of testing, and a focus on billable hours affect which best practices the providers are able to implement. Likewise, the diversity that exists across learning events, law practices, and providers in this space creates challenges to implementing new practices consistently across all programs. Finally, the fragmented, multistakeholder ownership of all Kansas MCLE processes means that providers alone are not able to implement fully the recommended best practices without the help of employer partners. This study added to the general body of knowledge concerning CLE programs with contemporary research, a new focus on providers as the source of data, and a context-specific assessment of current best practices application.

The arguments presented in this thesis extend the existing discourse in the field of educational research. With support from empirical evidence and conceptual argument I will contend that the role of the teacher, and teacher beliefs, are central to changing practice and that a fine-grained understanding of teachers’ attitudes is crucial if we are to bridge the disjunction between research, policy and practice. The papers presented in this submission make a significant contribution to our understanding of the complex nature of learning and teaching. Empirical research to date has tended to be carried out in discrete disciplines within education such as psychology, sociology or early years. In contrast the portfolio of work presented here extends this knowledge by innovatively synthesising different fields of research and knowledge and challenges traditional practices where evidence was often restricted within a distinct field of study. There are increasingly nuanced debates in the academic literature about interconnectedness and the research/policy/practice nexus. The work presented here is located within this nexus. This portfolio of publications brings together work I have completed in the field since 2000. The publications are empirical and conceptual and progress knowledge related to teacher beliefs, classroom organisation, curriculum, early years and gifted and talented education. This submission provides a unique contribution to understanding the complex processes of learning and teaching by means of synthesising existing evidence and generating new evidence that not only contributes to the discourse but crucially is disseminated in a way that is accessible and practical in nature. The central claim underlying the work in this research portfolio is that providing for children can best be understood as resulting from three connected perspectives: 1. The complex interactions between teachers’ universal understandings about learning, teaching and ability; 2. The synthesis of previously discrete fields of research; 3. The policy context teachers find themselves working in and practical application in the classroom. This submission includes four jointly authored and four single authored peer-reviewed published papers together with two systematic reviews of literature. A range of work will be presented as evidence of knowledge exchange outputs emanating from the empirical and conceptual work. The submission will be organised under three key themes, each of which contributes to the intellectual development of knowledge and understanding about learning and teaching. Theme 1: Teachers, Learning and Learners The three papers presented in this theme directly address the teachers’ role and interrogate through: a literature review; the development of a model and an empirical study; how teachers might understand their role within the process. The first paper (1) reports the findings of a systematic review of literature about motivation to learn. Paper two (2) reports on a two-dimensional model for motivation. Paper (3) presents findings from a study carried out with teachers undertaking postgraduate qualifications in Special Educational Needs. Synthesising the findings from these papers contributes to discourse in the field by generating overarching patterns that relate to learners and effective learning regardless of their age. Theme 2: Classroom Organisation The four papers in this theme focus on curriculum and the mediation of the curriculum for learners. They demonstrate how the research undertaken reveals similar concerns within the field of gifted education and education generally, thus strengthening the thesis that greater synthesis of discrete fields of research is required. Paper four (4) critiques the current curricular framework being implemented in Scottish schools in relation to pupils who demonstrate high ability. Paper five (5) examines findings from a pilot study in one Education Authority in Scotland. Papers six (6) and seven (7) present findings from a study that examined classroom organisation from the perspectives of both teachers and pupils. Evidence is presented through knowledge exchange outputs in the form of a national staff development pack. Intellectually the papers contribute to the theoretical debates that exist around the organisation of pupils for learning and teaching. The findings corroborate the thesis that no one approach will meet the needs of all pupils. Theme 3: High ability Each of the three papers in this theme provides a unique contribution to the contentious debate around the most appropriate way to educate gifted and talented learners. The field is dominated by arguments for the need for specialised education for this cohort. The papers in this submission challenge this position arguing for the benefits of a more inclusive approach. Paper eight (8) is a literature review of interventions aimed at improving the educational achievement of gifted and talented pupils. Paper nine (9) explores parents’ views about high ability. Paper ten (10) presents initial findings from a study of staff working in one Education Authority in Scotland. Further evidence will be presented indicating how my empirical and conceptual work translates into accessible books and reports for use by teachers, students and Education Authorities, thus demonstrating impact “on the ground” and extending my work to include both an academic and practitioner audience. Conceptually the work submitted in this section evidences the central thesis that it is the implementation of a variety of methodological and pedagogical approaches by a knowledgeable educator that will best support gifted and talented learners. Conclusion It is important that the individuality, personal knowledge, beliefs and understanding teachers bring to the learning and teaching processes are explored, challenged and enhanced from a theoretical and methodological base. The syntheses of findings that are presented in this portfolio provide a critical and fine-grained understanding of teaching and learning across rarely connected disparate and discrete elements within education. It is this critical interrogation of existing practice that offers a unique contribution to the field. Explicitly such insights have yet to pass down into educational practice to produce more critically informed forms of educational praxis. The work presented in this submission offers a distinctive empirical and conceptual base from which to move forward.

Thesis (DTech (Architectural Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016.
This research explores design-build projects in architectural education. The design-build studio is an alternative to the conventional theory-oriented studio. In design-build projects students both design and build real buildings. Internationally, design-build projects have increased rapidly in architectural programmes over the past decade. Literature suggests that design-build projects are relevant for architectural education, but that there is a definite need for more theoretical and critical exploration. Design-build projects in the context of this study are defined as socially responsive, inhabitable, full-scale investigations. The value of this pedagogical construct for educators, students, architectural practice and society in general was an underpinning theme guiding this exploration. Design-build projects are located on the boundary between theory and practice. This research provides a view into my journey across this boundary, immersing myself in both the theoretical and practical. Principles of the designbuild process and design research mapped the research path. The research process commenced with the initiation of and active participation in a number of design-build constructions. Through critical reflection on the construction experiences and the literature, specific pedagogical and practice implications were explored. Cultural historical activity theory provided me with a sense of theoretical direction in this journey. Collaboration as a pedagogical tool and the possibility of exposing students to alternative practice possibilities were foregrounded as being uniquely situated within the design-build project. The value of this research is the contribution it makes to the current international call for a clearer understanding of the pedagogical and practice merit of design-build projects.

School officials in a large district adopted a research-based teacher evaluation system, the Framework for Teaching (FFT). Despite a 4-year phase-in of the FFT, teachers’ evaluation ratings increased while student achievement results decreased. This disparity impacted the school district’s growth targets as set by the State Department of Education. If target growths are unmet, school administrators must relinquish school operations to the state. A bounded, qualitative case study was designed to explore administrators’ and teachers’ perceptions of the FFT and its influence on school administrators’ assessment of teachers’ instructional practices. Social constructivist and andragogy theories formed the study’s conceptual framework. A purposeful sample of 6 K-12 district administrators, who reviewed teacher performance, and 12 K-12 district teachers, who were evaluated using the FFT, volunteered to participate in semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed using open and axial coding. Key results included concerns with lack of time for conferences during the evaluation process, administrators’ skills to provide quality feedback to teachers, and their lack of content knowledge to improve teaching and learning in specific content areas. It was recommended that teachers receive evidence- based, constructive, and individualized feedback from the school administrator. Based on the findings, the Feedback Institute was developed to engage school administrators in professional development to learn how to provide substantive feedback using protocols and structures to support teacher growth and to use content specialists to address gaps in administrators’ content knowledge. These endeavors may contribute to positive social change by restructuring the teacher evaluation process to improve instructional practice, and, thus, enhance school improvement and student learning.

This research addresses the problem of low math achievement of middle school students through the use of a Growth Mindset intervention and related strategies. While the research on Growth Mindset interventions and strategies show positive results in controlled settings, there is a need to better understand Growth Mindset implementation from the perspectives of teachers and students in classroom settings. This study looked at Growth Mindset implementation with 449 students and seven teachers in sixth-grade math classrooms from two middle schools in one suburban school district. This study examines teacher and student perspectives of the effectiveness of four Growth Mindset instructional strategies and achievement results after a Growth Mindset intervention conducted by the classroom teachers. Teachers learned to implement four Growth Mindset strategies through an online professional development series provided by the district and shared their perspectives in an online discussion group and subsequent survey. All the sixth-grade students completed a survey and the researcher conducted two focus groups to identify students’ perspectives of the classroom goal orientation and the Growth Mindset strategies. The impact of the Growth Mindset intervention was measured using benchmark test scores and trimester grades, which assisted the district’s goal to improve mathematics achievement in middle school. The results demonstrate that teachers and students perceive both mastery and performance classroom goal orientations and find two Growth Mindset strategies, celebrating mistakes and providing challenging math tasks, to be well received by both groups. Findings also indicate that after the Growth Mindset intervention student achievement on the benchmark test did not improve, however, students’ grade point average did improve compared to students from the previous school year in the same district.

Online education is growing in response to demands of increased access, quality, and affordability. However, implementation and expansion are often challenged by faculty resistance, due in large part to perceived lack of quality and administrative support. This case study sought to determine how the presence or absence of quality elements, as defined by the Online Learning Consortium Quality Scorecard, in institutional structure, policy, and practice influences (motivates or inhibits) faculty decisions to teach online at Frostburg State University, a comprehensive, public university in western Maryland.

This mixed methods, sequential explanatory research collected data from three sources: an online survey of 387 faculty, a review of institutional documents, semistructured interviews with nine key university stakeholders and 13 faculty. To analyze these data, the study used descriptive statistics, logistic regression, application of the Online Learning Consortium Quality Scorecard rubric, and triangulation of data from all sources.

Findings suggest that faculty’s initial motivation to teach online was intrinsic, enhanced by extrinsic institutional factors–those within the control of the university. However, institutional factors played a more significant role in faculty decisions to continue/expand online teaching. Additionally, the findings suggest that faculty were most likely to teach online when their intrinsic motivation was aligned with the institution’s mission of online education and a shared strategic value of online education that balances the shared interests of the institution, students, and faculty.

The key finding in this study was that quality was a significant concern regarding online education. However, administrative support for online education was central to shaping faculty’s definition of quality in online education. These findings suggest that quality in online education is defined by faculty as the presence or absence of administrative support which creates institutional structure, policy and practice to support faculty to deliver quality instruction.

This study examined exceptional student educators’ (ESE) personal practical theories (PPTs) and how they impact complex decision-making when it comes to students with disabilities and their families. A case study methodology was selected to explore how four ESE teachers and leaders developed their PPTs as well as how they planned, interacted, and reflected upon decisions made during one workweek. The guiding questions of this study were: what are the PPTs of ESE leaders and teachers, what factors influence the development of PPTs, and how do PPTs impact special educators’ work with students with disabilities? To address these questions, four participants were selected based on their role within the district, their experiences working with students with disabilities, and their reputation for being high quality educators. Data were collected using a PPT workbook as well as in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The results of this study included five PPTs for each participant and eight common themes. These themes included: care for students and families, safety of students, administration and teacher professional development, ensuring high expectations for students, personal and professional advocacy, mentoring and collaboration, reflection and problem solving, and problems with inclusion. These results are presented in this dissertation in support of an argument for the need for increased pre-service and in-service for ESE educators, increased professional development for administrators, and increased training for inclusion teachers working with students with disabilities. Engaging in a practice of exploring and refining teacher and leader beliefs and assumptions using the PPT process may increase the reflective practice of teachers and perhaps result in a more appropriate form of evaluation for educators.

Evidence demonstrates the health benefits of early breastfeeding for mothers as well as infants. The World Health Organization states, "Breast milk should be given within the first hour of life." This purpose of this project was to develop a breastfeeding educational toolkit to promote breastfeeding in the hospital environment. The question that guided this project was, "Will the development of a breastfeeding education toolkit, designed to serve as a learning tool to support the breastfeeding mothers, be found to be useful and valid by professional staff and lay end-users?" The goals of the project were to provide an educational toolkit aimed at supporting new mothers, and to validate the toolkit with stakeholders from the Mother/Baby unit. The benefits of breastfeeding and breastfeeding research were established through an evidence-based search of peer-reviewed journals. The developed toolkit was reviewed by10 stakeholders from the Mother/Baby unit: 1 physician, 3- lactation consultants, 5 nursing professionals, and 1 layperson of childbearing age. To assess the quality of the guidelines, the Logic Model and the 4 domains of the AGREE II Instrument were used. The descriptive data analysis from the AGREE II instrument led to the recommendations for the toolkit. All reviewers acknowledged the need for the toolkit as a support for the mothers and their babies. The stakeholders provided their support for the developed toolkit. The breastfeeding education toolkit has the potential to support positive social change by improving the health of the mothers and babies through improved breast-feeding knowledge.

The purpose of this research project was to improve the practice of using online lectures at a small private university. Using action research methodology, the researcher worked with a group of five university instructors to refine the use of online lectures through design and pedagogical practice. Beginning with a template or guide based on the literature, the instructors developed online lectures connected with a student activity. Following the principles of the TPACK framework, instructors were urged to develop student activities that worked best for their specific content as well as their desired student outcomes. Two cycles of implementation, analysis, and modification were used to refine the template and the student activities.

Data were gathered from the students who viewed the online lectures and from the faculty through focus group meetings after each cycle. Analysis of both the students’ experience and the instructors’ experience led to minor changes in the template but more significant changes to the associated student activities.

Findings suggest that the effective use of online lectures depends largely on the student activity included with the lecture; in other words, pedagogy is at least as important as design. Other factors, such as practice and experience with developing online lectures are needed to develop the instructors’ expertise with both technical issues as well as pedagogical issues. Although the online lecture template and suggested activities list were honed to a degree of effectiveness, it will take an ongoing process of analysis and modification to keep this tool relevant in the coming years.

The research presented in this thesis focuses on two questions—how academics conceptualise teaching and learning and whether their educational beliefs and teaching and assessment practices are ‘thematically related’. The interest in finding answers to these questions lies in their implications for improving teaching and ultimately students’ learning. Although academic staff development as such was not the main focus of the present research, understanding how academics think about teaching, how they teach and what they value as learning outcomes is a prerequisite for effective staff development. Several literatures were relevant to the present research: phenomenographic analysis of conceptions of teaching (eg. Prosser, Trigwell & Taylor 1994); research focused on academics’ educational beliefs (eg. Fox 1983; Gow & Kember 1993); and research exploring the relationship between beliefs and practices of academics (Quinlan 1997; Bain 1998) and of school teachers (eg. Thompson 1984; Wilson & Wineburg 1988). The relevance of the ‘conceptions’ research lies in a shared research focus on how academics perceive teaching and learning. The relevance of the ‘beliefs’ research in the school sector lies in the methods used and the beliefs described thus far. The present research was conceived within the ‘beliefs’ framework and borrowed the research approach from it. The dimensions revealed by both streams of research were used in devising the interview schedules. Thirteen academics participated in Study 1 and 37 in Study 2, with 20 of the latter also participating in Study 3. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews which, in Studies 1 and 2, ranged widely over such issues as teaching, learning, understanding, knowledge, knowing, and curriculum design. In Study 3 the questions were closely focused on participants’ assessment tasks and desired learning outcomes. Participants were encouraged to exemplify their perspectives by reference to their teaching practices because the aim was to elicit beliefs grounded in practice rather than espoused beliefs (Argyris & Schön 1974). The method of analysis proceeded from global categorisation of the participants’ orientations to teaching and learning to detailed analysis of the similarities and differences between orientations. The initial categorisation process was based on the constant comparison method (Glaser & Strauss 1967) and proceeded on the working hypothesis that beliefs and practices were ‘internally related’ (Marton & Svensson 1979) in thematically coherent ways. Once the orientation categories were stabilised they were analysed for the qualitative dimensions on which their underlying similarities and differences could be arranged. The resulting framework is a matrix comprising orientations (rows) and qualitative dimensions (columns). This framework enables academics’ ‘typical’ and relatively stable ways of thinking about, and understanding, teaching (Studies 1 and 2) and assessment (Study 3) to be described and compared. The results (Study 2) confirm previous findings that academics conceptualise teaching in qualitatively different ways. Seven orientations to teaching, ranging from imparting knowledge to encouraging knowledge creation, were identified. Broadly, academics think about teaching in two major ways—they either orchestrate situations in which students are encouraged to learn (learning-centred orientations) or they transmit knowledge/information to students (teaching-centred orientations). Within each of these major groupings several distinct orientations to teaching were identified. These seven orientations to teaching are described in terms of nine dimensions that reflect academics’ beliefs about: learning, desired learning outcomes, students’ understandings, the nature of and responsibility for transforming/organising knowledge and the nature of teacher-student interaction. Dimensions (and the coding system developed) also provide a mechanism for ordering the categories from simple (less well developed) to complex. Findings (Study 3) show that assessment practices are not belief-free. What is assessed depends on how knowledge, learning and the role of teachers and students in the getting of knowledge are conceptualised. The six orientations range from assessing students’ ability to recall information presented to them in lectures and study materials, to assessing students’ ability to integrate, transform and use knowledge purposefully. The six orientations can be simplified (in an analogous way to orientations to teaching and learning) into two major orientations expressing the two contrasting beliefs just implied: assessing knowledge as presented by teachers and texts versus assessing knowledge (re)formulated by students and used to understand and interpret the world. The orientations just referred to are composites of beliefs and practice (or beliefs grounded in practice), because the relationship between these domains was emphasised in the method of questioning and in the method of analysis. The force of this claim is demonstrated through narrative descriptions of the perspectives of academics selected to illustrate major orientations to teaching and learning. These narratives provide a strong sense of thematic coherence: academics’ beliefs are closely aligned with their practices; there is a compelling sense in which one constrains the other. For example, academics who set tasks requiring students to transform knowledge or to use knowledge to interpret the world believe that students have to ‘do the learning’ and that their role as teachers is to facilitate the learning process. Conversely, academics who test students’ ability to recall information or emulate a decision process believe that reproduction of knowledge and skill are worthwhile learning outcomes and that their task is to provide the knowledge and skill in an accessible form. Finally, investigation of the congruence between orientations to teaching and assessment practice showed a strong relationship between beliefs and practice. The assessment practices of all but three academics (17 out of 20) were congruent with their orientations to teaching and learning. The research presented in this thesis makes a considerable contribution to the literature. First, it extends understanding of the ways in which academics conceptualise teaching by describing their typical and stable ways of thinking about teaching indicative of a disposition to teach in a particular way. In contrast, ‘conceptions’-based research, prevalent in higher education and mostly conducted using phenomenographic methods, identifies possible ways in which teaching and learning can be conceptualised (eg. Dall’Alba 1991; Prosser, Trigwell & Taylor 1994), The two features—typicality and disposition to act in a particular way—increase the usefulness of the findings of the present research for staff development activities. Second, the present research confirms previous findings of Samuelowicz and Bain (1992) that academics conceptualise teaching in two broadly distinct ways (teaching-centred versus learning-centred) and provides no empirical support for Kember’s (1997a) ‘transitional’ category which he conjectured may provide a bridge between the two major sets of orientations. Third, the present research adds to a rather modest literature on how assessment is conceptualised and practised. And perhaps most importantly it advances understanding of the relationship between beliefs and practice by detailed mapping of the patterns of this relationship, providing a firmer foundation for conceptualisation of activities aimed at improving teaching and ultimately learning. And finally, the present research provides the first empirical support for studies (eg. Quinlan 1997; Bain 1998) which have reported congruence between beliefs and self-reported teaching practices in higher education. Further research is needed in several areas. Given the claims (eg. Quinlan 1997) that teaching is framed by beliefs about the nature of academic disciplines, further research is needed into how discipline knowledge is conceptualised and how such knowledge is translated into courses. Efforts to improve teaching are predicated on the assumed link between teaching and learning, but this relationship has to be further investigated since only three articles (Gow & Kember 1993 and Kember & Gow 1994; Sheppard & Gilbert 1991) have been published in this area. The strong alignment of beliefs and practices documented in the research presented in this thesis has implications for how staff development activities are formulated. It suggests that efforts should be directed more at changing beliefs than on altering teaching approaches. Because relatively little is known about effective ways to change educational beliefs further research in this area is needed.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
Full Text

Evidence-based practice is a term that continues to receive a great.deal of attention within the Educational Psychology (EP) profession. Publications within the EP field have suggested that evidence-based practice is unworkable due to its reliance on research evidence and have instead suggested practice, which is based primarily on practitioner experience. This study suggests that EP conceptualisations of evidence-based practice have been too narrow, and adopts a model of evidence-based practice from the field of organisational psychology. This model accepts a wide range of sources of evidence including research findings, practitioner experience and judgement, information from people directly affected by decision and information from the local context. A mixed methods approach is adopted to explore EPs understandings and use of evidence in practice. The study is comprised of three phases: an experiment, an attitude scale, and a focused ethnography with interviews. Findings for this study are mixed primarily at the level of interpretation. Findings suggest that EPs orientation towards evidence-based practice is complex. It is suggested that EPs may currently lack some of the skills to be effective evidencebased practitioners but that a wide range of evidence is already drawn on in daily practice. A major barrier to a more critical understanding and application of evidence-based practice is an underlying assumption that 'evidence' is synonymous with 'research'. An expanded model of evidence-based practice is presented which, it is suggested, will allow for EPs to critically and explicitly engage with many types of evidence within practice. An essential element of evidence-based practice for EPs is their connection and relationship with peers that allows for exposure to challenge, new ideas and ways of thinking.

The focus of this thesis was to explore educational professionals' everyday experience of English educational policies; narrowing its focus to policy which promotes an inclusion agenda. The findings are presented in three sections with the first two papers prepared in accordance with the author guidelines of the journals proposed for submission. The first paper offers a review of literature which represents teacher relationship (see Braun, Maguire and Ball, 2010; Fullan, 2006; Luttenberg, Imants and van Veen, 2013; Luttenberg, van Veen and Imants, 2013; Wexler, 2002) with English educational policies. Teacher perspectives illustrate how the implementation and practice of policy heavily guides practice, both in terms of pedagogy and content, and detail the difficulties teachers have in establishing professional identity whilst trying to accommodate policy into practice. It is suggested that in order for teachers to adopt new educational policies they need to be able to take some ownership of both the policies themselves and of their own professional development; but most importantly, that they need the space to engage in dialogue around their practice to do this. The first paper provided a frame for the second by offering a description of the current climate teachers find themselves in and by discussing what might be needed to bring about the professional development necessary to embed policy into practice. The second paper then presents a description of a collaborative action research project within an English high school; a group of educational psychology, teaching, support and pastoral professionals worked collaboratively to develop person-centred practice through their engagement in an inquiry group. The inquiry group engaged in dialogue around practice; exploring their own personal and professional values as well as the values embedded within person-centred practice. This paper offers an account of the inquiry group's journey, highlighting key themes as identified by the group: ownership of, and confidence in, the learning process; developing reflective practice; and the challenge of engaging others in the learning process. The findings suggest that an action research approach can facilitate the learning and development necessary to embody collaborative person-centred practice. The third paper then offers a critical appraisal of the role that educational psychology can have in disseminating findings and promoting teacher development; in particular through the facilitation of collaborative action research within the school context.