Suchergebnisse

Given that no extensive study on reading instruction and reading attitudes has been carried out country-wide in The Republic of Cabo Verde, (a ten island archipelago off the western coast of Africa), educational practitioners and policy makers in that nation are left with a dearth of accurate information when making decisions surrounding these constructs in the classroom, in the universities, or in the policy rooms of that nation. In a 2007 article, Commeyras & Inyega published research on reading instruction in Kenya and encouraged researchers to follow their example, i.e. to locate all pertinent literature and to conduct a review of the state of reading education in each of the African countries "for the benefit of all… who are working to promote and improve reading on the African continent." (p.278). In order to collect information on reading instruction and reading attitudes in Cabo Verde (CV), the author distributed surveys to all 2972 primary level Cape Verdean teachers employed in Cabo Verde at the time of the study, visited the nine inhabited islands, and interviewed 116 Cape Verdean teachers teaching in primary schools on those islands. Results from these interviews and the 1071 returned surveys indicate that Grades 1-3 teachers in Cabo Verde most often use a bottom-up approach to reading instruction and teachers in Grades 4-6 most often use a top-down approach. Information gleaned from the surveys and the interviews show that most CV primary level teachers hold to a strict page-by-page use of the government provided textbook, with very limited use of children's storybooks, folktales, children's own authored stories, or narrative text longer than a few sentences or a paragraph. While varying by island and other demographics, few families have novels or story books at home and few teachers have them in their classrooms. A high percentage of respondents indicate that the reading of storybooks either in the classroom or for pleasure outside of school is not common across Cabo Verde. Variations in responses are discussed, and recommendations for future research are presented.

Teachers' positive attitudes towards inclusive education are a prerequisite for its successful implementation. This study surveyed the attitudes of Finnish classroom, subject, resource room and special education class teachers (N = 4567) towards inclusive education. The results indicated very low support for the concept. Its acceptance was strongly associated with the specific teacher categories and the concern that inclusive placements would cause extra work for teachers. Teachers who were confident in their support networks and had sufficient access to educational resources, such as an in‐classroom teaching assistant, were more positive towards inclusion than other teachers. Attitudinal variables, including self‐efficacy and child‐centredness, and demographic variables, including age and gender, were also associated with attitudes towards inclusion. It is argued that vicious circle exists between resources and teacher attitudes. The negative climate towards inclusion prevents the legislation that would guarantee adequate resources for mainstream teachers who have students with support needs in their classrooms. The lack of legal guarantees, in turn, prevents negative teacher attitudes towards inclusive education from changing. Although the overall progress in inclusive education is tied to the development of cultural values, the promise of more inclusion in schools goes hand‐in‐hand with the availability of adequate resources. ; peerReviewed

The principal aim of this study is to examine attitudes and values, through questionnaires, among students and teachers in the last grade of primary school (grade 8) regarding issues related to authoritarianism, democracy, human rights, children rights, conflict resolution and legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A second aim is to explore and analyze the role of the international community in the democratization and education processes in the light of globalization in this country through secondary sources of data, site visits and observations. Analysis of the student sample reveals suspicion towards democracy, especially when democracy was associated with politics and politicians. When the issue of democracy was de-contextualized from Bosnia and Herzegovina realities in the questionnaire, students showed more positive attitudes towards it. Students generally agreed with very strong authoritarian statements. High achieving students were more democratic, more socially responsible, more tolerant regarding attitudes towards religion, race and disabilities, and less authoritarian compared to low achievers. High achievers felt that they had influence over daily events, and were positive towards social and civil engagement. High achievers viewed politics negatively, but had high scores on the democracy scale. High achievers also agreed to a larger extent that it is acceptable to break the law. The more authoritarian students were somewhat more prone to respond that it is not acceptable to break the law. The major findings from the teacher sample show that teachers who agreed with non-peaceful mediation, and had a non-forgiving and rigid approach to interpersonal conflicts, also agreed with strong authoritarian statements and were less democratic. In general, teachers valued students who behave respectfully, have a good upbringing and are obedient. They were very concerned about the general status of education in society, which they felt was becoming marginalized. Teachers were not happy with the overloaded curricula and they showed an interest in more knowledge and skills to help children with traumatic war experiences. When asked about positive reforms, teachers were highly critical of, and dissatisfied with, the educational situation. Bosnia and Herzegovina is undergoing a transition from a state-planned economy and one party system to a market economy and a multi party system. During this transition, the country has become more involved in the globalization process than ever. Today the country is a semi-protectorate where international authorities intervene when necessary. The International community is attempting to introduce western democracy and some of the many complexities in this process are discussed in this study. Globalization processes imply contradictory demands and pressures on the education system. On one hand, economic liberalization has affected education policies —a closer alignment between education and economic competitiveness. On the other hand, there is a political and ideological globalization process underlying the importance of human rights, and the inclusiveness of education for all children. Students and teachers are caught between two opposing ideals — competition and cooperation.

Opinnäytetyössäni tarkastelen vieraiden kielten (erityisesti englannin kieli) puheviestinnän taitojen opetusta ja opettajan kielellistä vuorovaikutusta oppijoiden kanssa siitä näkökulmasta millaiset mahdollisuudet luokkahuoneessa voidaan luoda osallistujien välisen autenttisen dialogin syntymiselle ja miten opettajan asenne oppijoita kohtaan vaikuttaa näiden edellytysten syntymiseen. Tutkimuskysymys perustuu voimakkaasti käsitykselle jonka mukaan dialogin syntyminen edistää oppijan mahdollisuuksia omaksua vieras kieli välineeksi omista kokemuksistaan, tunteistaan ja tuntemuksistaan keskustelemiseen ja vieraan kielen mielekkääseen käyttämiseen yhteisen ymmärryksen luomiseen toisten kanssa. Dialogisuutta käsittelevä kirjallisuus listaa edellytyksenä dialogisen suhteen muodostumiseksi ihmisten välille mm. pidättäytymisen arvioinnista ('evaluation'), luottamuksen osallistujien välillä, toisen huomioonottamisen, vuorovaikutuksen ja osallistumisen molemminpuolisuuden ('mutuality') ja demokraattisen auktoriteetin. Näiden edellytysten olemassaoloa englanninkielen kommunikatiivisen taidon kurssilla olen tarkastellut luokkahuonediskurssin analyysin (kriittinen diskurssianalyysi), etnografisen luokkahuonetilanteen havainnoinnin ja opettajan teemahaastattelun kautta. Kriittinen diskurssianalyysi antaa menetelmänä tietoa erityisesti molemminpuolisen osallistumisen mahdollisuuksista ('dialogicality') liittyen valtasuhteisiin sosiaalisessa tilanteessa kun taas havainnoinnin ja erityisesti haastattelun kautta saadaan tietoa opettajan dialogisuuteen, oppijoihin ja oppiaineen luonteeseen liittyvistä käsityksistä ja siitä miten ne vaikuttavat hänen käytäntöihinsä ja suhtautumiseen oppijoihin opetustilanteessa. Teoreettis-filosofinen perusta tutkimukselleni rakentuu eksistentialismiin pohjaavasta dialogisuuden filosofiasta (Martin Buber ja David Bohm), Carl R. Rogersin humanistisen kasvatuspsykologian alaan kuuluvista tutkimuksista ja Paulo Freiren ja Ira Shorin kriittisen pedagogiikan ja oppijalähtöisen opetuksen käytännöistä ja teoriasta. Tutkielmaani varten olen tarkkaillut ja nauhoittanut englannin kielen kommunikatiivisen taidon (puheviestintä) kurssin tunteja yliopiston kielikeskuksella yhden syyslukukauden ajan. Keräämästäni materiaalista olen litteroinut ja analysoinut tutkimuksen tavoitteiden kannalta relevantteja otteita käyttäen menetelmänä Norman Fairclough:n kriittisen diskurssianalyysin metodologiaa kiinnittäen analyysissani erityishuomiota yleisten dialogin syntymisen perusedellytysten toteutumiseen luokkahuonediskurssissa. Avainsanat: Pro gradu –tutkielma, opetus, kasvatus, dialogi, dialogisuus, englannin kieli, kielet, kielellinen vuorovaikutus, oppijalähtöisyys, diskurssianalyysi