The Decolonization of Northwest Community College

In 1996, the authors of the Canadian Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples concluded Canadian educational policy had been based on the false assumption of the superiority of European worldviews. The report authors recommended the transformation of curriculum and schools to recognize that European knowledge was not universal. Aboriginal researcher Battiste believes the current system of Canadian education causes Aboriginal children to face cognitive imperialism and cognitive assimilation and that this current practice of cultural racism in Canada makes educational institutions a hostile environment for Aboriginal learners. In order to counter this cultural racism, Battiste calls for the decolonization of education. In 2005, the president of Northwest Community College (NWCC), publicly committed to decolonizing the college in order to address the continuing disparity in educational attainment between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal learners. Upon the president’s departure in 2010, the employees of NWCC were left to define for themselves the meaning of decolonization. This qualitative study was designed to build a NWCC definition of colonization and decolonization by collecting researcher observations, nine weeks of participant blog postings, and pre and post blog Word survey responses drawn from a purposeful sample of six Aboriginal and six non-Aboriginal NWCC employees selected from staff, instructor and administrator employee groups. The findings revealed NWCC employees held multiple definitions of colonization and decolonization which did not vary between employee groups, or based on participant gender; however, differences were found based on whether the participants were Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal. Both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal participants thought decolonization was a worthy goal for the college. Aboriginal participants felt hopeful that decolonization would happen in the future and thought decolonization had to do with moving forward to a time when they would be valued, respected, empowered, unashamed, safe, and viewed as equal to non-Aboriginals. Non-Aboriginal participants were unsure if decolonization was possible because it would require going back in time to restore the Aboriginal way of life. When non-Aboriginal participants felt their thoughts were not being valued or they were being associated with colonialism, they felt angry and guarded and were uncomfortable with Aboriginal participants expressing anger towards Colonizers.

HELPING YOUTH WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER DEVELOP SOCIAL COMPETENCE IN COMMUNITY-BASED SETTINGS

The purpose of the current dissertation is to identify the features of effective interventions by exploring the experiences of youth with ASD who participate in such interventions, through two intervention studies (Studies 1 and 2) and one interview study (Study 3). Studies 1 and 2 were designed to support the development of social competence of youth with ASD through Structured Play with LEGO TM (Study 1, 12 youths with ASD, ages 7–12) and Minecraft TM (Study 2, 4 youths with ASD, ages 11–13). Over the course of the sessions, the play of the youth developed from parallel play (children playing alone, without interacting) to co-operative play (playing together with shared objectives). The results of Study 2 showed that rates of initiations and levels of engagement increased from the first session to the final session. In Study 3, 12 youths with ASD (ages 10–14) and at least one of their parents were interviewed to explore what children and their parents want from programs designed to improve social competence, which activities and practices were perceived to promote social competence by the participants, and which factors affected their decisions regarding these programs. The adolescents and parents looked for programs that supported social development and emotional wellbeing, but did not always have access to the programs they would have preferred, with factors such as cost and location reducing their options. Three overarching themes emerged through analysis of the three studies: (a) interests of the youth; (b) structure, both through interactions and instruction; and (c) naturalistic settings. Adolescents generally engage more willingly in interventions that incorporate their interests, such as play with Minecraft TM in Study 2. Additionally, Structured Play and structured instruction were crucial components of providing safe and supportive contexts for the development of social competence. Finally, skills learned in naturalistic settings tend to be applied more successfully in everyday situations. The themes are analysed through the lens of Vygotsky’s (1978) perspectives on learning, play, and development. Implications of the results for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

From Where Do We Teach? Potential Positions in Public Education

This thesis is a conceptual examination of the positions from which we teach in public education. As it is philosophical in nature, it takes no qualitative or quantitative data. It offers a review of selected relevant literature and an analysis of personal and professional experience, with the intent to pose critical questions about teaching and learning. The framework of this thesis represents the following contentions: First, from its inception, public schooling served capital by preparing skilled labour for emerging industrial markets. This history is the hegemonic shadow that hangs over public education today. Second, movements toward the standardization of funding, curriculum, and evaluation support the further commodification of public schooling. The “accountability” that standardization offers, the “back to basics” that it aims for, is counter to the potential that public education might critically inform citizens and seek social justice. Third, movements toward the privatization of public schooling under the guise of “choice” and “mobility”, brought on by manufactured crisis, serve only to widen socio-economic inequities as capitalist neoliberal interests seek profit in both the product of public schools and in schooling itself. If we recognize and understand the power of public education to inform vast numbers of citizens who will, in turn, either maintain or reform society, we must ask: What do we want public education to be? What are the effects of continuing down historically conventional and increasingly standardized paths? What do progressive pedagogies offer? How might teachers destandardize their pedagogy and pursue equitable opportunities for marginalized students? How might students name themselves and their world, that they might play a part in its reimagining? For whom do we teach, and under what conditions? From where do we teach, and why? For educators to ask these questions, and to employ what they discover, will necessitate taking substantial risks. It will necessitate taking a stand and cannot be done alone. Teachers must seek out the collaboration of their students. They must offer students the time and the space to find their own voices, to create their own selves, and to envision previously uncharted paths on which we might walk together.

Las expectativas de los estudiantes y la calidad del servicio ofertado por la universidad de Sevilla

En este artículo se presenta un análisis diferencial de las expectativas de los estudiantes de la Universidad de Sevilla (España), en función de las ramas del conocimiento, agrupadas en las dimensiones personal, universidad, curricular y docencia. Las aportaciones han sido recogidas en un cuestionario aplicado a 1082 estudiantes de las áreas de humanidades, bio-sanitaria, económica-jurídica y científico-técnica, a través de un análisis de la varianza para la comparación de medias (asumiendo varianzas iguales y pruebas de Scheffé y Tukey). Se han contrastado los valores medios de cada rama, con el fin de determinar si las diferencias observadas resultan estadísticamente significativas. Los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto que la dimensión personal y la de universidad son valoradas de forma similar en las cuatro ramas del conocimiento; en cambio en la dimensión curricular, las expectativas son más favorables para la rama bio-sanitaria y, en la docencia para la rama de humanidades. En definitiva, los resultados presentan las fortalezas y las debilidades en las dimensiones consideradas y permiten extraer conclusiones de las que derivan indicadores de interés para la mejora de la comunidad universitaria.

Concept maps as a tool to analyze the ideas of teacher training students regarding what to teach on human nutrition in Primary Education

Concept maps are a technique used to obtain a visual representation of a person's ideas about a concept or a set of related concepts. Specifically, in this paper, through a qualitative methodology, we analyze the concept maps proposed by 52 groups of teacher training students in order to find out the characteristics of the maps and the degree of adequacy of the contents with regard to the teaching of human nutrition in the 3rd cycle of primary education. The participants were enrolled in the Teacher Training Degree majoring in Primary Education, and the data collection was carried out through a training activity under the theme of what to teach about Science in Primary School? The results show that the maps are a useful tool for working in teacher education as they allow organizing, synthesizing, and communicating what students know. Moreover, through this work, it has been possible to see that future teachers have acceptable skills for representing the concepts/ideas in a concept map, although the level of adequacy of concepts/ideas about human nutrition and its relations is usually medium or low. These results are a wake-up call for teacher training, both initial and ongoing, because they shows the inability to change priorities as far as the selection of content is concerned.

Consideraciones alrededor de la Danza-movimiento Terapia y sus aplicaciones en el ámbito social

El artículo presenta aspectos generales sobre la Danza Movimiento Terapia (DMT). Aborda sus orígenes históricos y su evolución en las últimas décadas. La DMT es un modelo de intervención psicoterapéutica, que comparte numerosos elementos con otras terapias creativas, y cuya singularidad se encuentra en la consideración de las manifestaciones no verbales y el movimiento creativo dentro de un proceso terapéutico. Se hace hincapié en su aspecto multidisciplinar y en su creciente aplicación en entornos sociales y educativos como un modo de promover y potenciar la salud. Finalmente, se presenta brevemente la situación actual de la profesión en España enmarcada en el contexto europeo.

La activación de conocimientos previos (ACP): Una estrategia de comprensión lectora

El objetivo de este artículo es presentar un estudio sobre la activación de conocimientos previos como una de las estrategias que los docentes utilizan para trabajar la comprensión lectora con alumnos de segundo y tercero de Educación Primaria. Los datos que se analizan han sido recogidos mediante observaciones realizadas, durante dos cursos, en diversas aulas de la geografía española. Como resultado del análisis, se ofrece una panorámica de las maneras de activar conocimientos previos y cómo se distribuyen en función del tipo de texto y de la finalidad de la lectura.

Kultur ist mehr als Currywurst Ältere Literatur im Deutschunterricht : Eine Literaturstudie

With regards to the teaching of German in Sweden this literature study looks into the Swedish curriculum and the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) to compare today’s common interpretation of the goals in language learning to the educational goals in the documents. Critics mean that the CEFR and in extension the curricula in the associated countries focus mainly on measurable practical language skills. This leads to impoverishment of the concept of language learning, which should include broad cultural aspects, encourage the students to develop their personalities and curiosity and foster a livelong desire to study. This work will try to show that blaming the CEFR for the kind of lopsided development towards practical, measurable skills in language teaching does not origin in the document or in the national curriculum. It appears to be the interpretation of the documents that oversees some essential requirements, not only for successful language teaching but also for the use of German as a tool for conversation and understanding. The real understanding of a language is, according to the research referred to in this work, connected to the understanding of culture. This literature study will show that reading older literature in language classes will favour the students´ understanding of culture. Furthermore, this work will try to point out other educational benefits besides the gain of cultural knowledge in working with literature. Students learn to argue and gain understanding of their own world by comparing to the new reality they meet in the literature. In addition, students will, with the help of the text, acquire new vocabulary and get an understanding of the structure of the language. In essence the use of literature in teaching German on one hand meets and fulfils the requirements in the curriculum and on the other hand supports the development of language skills and personals skills.

Affect-Based Effects of Simulation Games on Learning

Empirical evidence has demonstrated the benefits of using simulation games in enhancing learning especially in terms of cognitive gains. This is to be expected as the dynamism and non-linearity of simulation games are more cognitively demanding. However, the other effects of simulation games, specifically in terms of learners’ emotions, have not been given much attention and are under-investigated. This study aims to demonstrate that simulation games stimulate positive emotions from learners that help to enhance learning. The study finds that the affect-based constructs of interest, engagement and appreciation are positively correlated to learning. A stepwise multiple regression analysis shows that a model involving interest and engagement are significantly associated with learning. The emotions of learners should be considered in the development of curriculum, and the delivery of learning and teaching as positive emotions enhances learning.

A poesia promovendo o trabalho integrado e colaborativo na escola: uma contribuição à formação de professores na educação básica

Este estudo, desenvolvido através de uma investigação-ação, busca aprofundar a compreensão sobre o papel da poesia e de sua abordagem associado à integração curricular e ao trabalho colaborativo, em programas de formação de professores, inicial e continuada, visando à mudança de uma prática docente solitária para uma prática mais reflexiva e solidária. Esta investigação desenvolveu-se em uma escola pública de São Paulo - Brasil, com professores de diferentes disciplinas, coordenação pedagógica e estagiários do curso de Letras de duas universidades privadas. Com o propósito de contribuir para o debate, associamos o estudo teórico à investigação empírica, numa investigação-ação, recorrendo à observação participante e às entrevistas semiestruturadas. Elegemos para este trabalho três grandes eixos e suas respectivas referências teóricas: i) formação de professores; ii) currículo e desenvolvimento curricular; e iii) poesia e abordadem da poesia. Com base nesses eixos, elaboramos e desenvolvemos o estudo empírico que nos mostrou sua relevância através dos resultados obtidos: viabilidade de construção e implementação de projetos interdisciplinares nas escolas da rede pública; importância da interação entre professores e restante comunidade escolar; humanização do ambiente escolar; protagonismo de professores e alunos. Mostrou-nos também algumas limitações, especialmente o pouco investimento e apoio das equipes de gestão ao desenvolvimento de projetos integrados, assim como a falta de tempo necessário à construção de ambiente propício à criação da cultura de colaboração docente. Esperamos ter contribuído, através deste projeto, para que um novo olhar seja lançado aos programas de formação, inicial e continuada, de professores, menos tecnicista, mais crítico e reflexivo, mais solidário e integrado, mais humanizado e democrático, bem como à potencialidade da poesia/abordagem da poesia nesses contextos.

A Relação professor-aluno e a afirmação do discente como sujeito do processo projetual: um estudo exploratório sobre a produção do trabalho final de graduação em arquitetura e urbanismo na UFC e na UFRN

This work deals with teacher-student relationship (TSR), held in a very special moment: the semester of graduation of architecture and urbanism, where students prepare the final work called Graduation Final Work (GFW). That is the last stage to obtain the title of architect and urban planner in Brazil. The text discusses this problem in several ways, emphasing the relationship between graduated student and his/her mentors into the consolidation process of the student as an actor of the planning process, here defined as "autonomy". The work is focused on understanding the TSR in order to elucidate its importance for improvement of teaching bases on development of the GFW, more than the relation between curriculum and institution. Related with the exploratory characteristic of this master thesis, methodologically, the field work happened through: (i) observation of mentorship guidance, (ii) interviews, and (iii) application of questionnaires to teachers and students. Participated 10 pairs of student and mentors of two federal university of Northeast: 05 pairs of the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) and 05 pairs of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). The results presented the development of the GFW as a difficult process / fearful for students, highlighting the main problem situations: the difficulty in choosing the theme, the super-sizing of the process, students' insecurities, and parental relationship with the supervisor process. Summing up, the work indicates that the students has a limited autonomy on the GFW process, which calls for a revision in order to promote the consolidation of the student autonomy, which must be observed for some positions recognition of the role of each actor in the process of orientation

Papel do PCT na diferenciação pedagógica e curricular de alunos com DEA/Dislexia

O presente estudo partiu de preocupações da prática relacionadas com o papel do PCT no desenvolvimento pedagógico e curricular sobretudo de alunos com dislexia. No sentido de se responder à pergunta de partida: “de que forma a diferenciação pedagógica e curricular dos alunos com DEA/Dislexia, é contemplada no PCT?” elaborou-se um quadro teórico onde se começou por discutir o papel da escola recorrendo inclusivamente à sua perspectivação histórica. Esta permitiu perceber a escola actual nomeadamente nas tensões entre os processos de massificação escolar conducentes a uma hegemonia do currículo e os processos de flexibilização curricular. O nosso interesse principal situou-se nestes últimos pela sua importância para a diferenciação curricular e pedagógica na sala de aula necessária para os alunos com dislexia. A formação dos professores desempenha neste contexto uma grande relevância, pelo que lhe atribuímos elevada importância. Utilizando como instrumentos de recolha inquéritos por questionário articulados com a análise dos PCTs inquirimos uma amostra de vinte e oito professores de um agrupamento de escolas do distrito de Santarém sobre a sua percepção face à dislexia e à importância dada à utilização do PCT. Os dados recolhidos e tratados permitiram verificar que nem os PCT são encarados como um instrumento de diferenciação curricular e pedagógica, resultando em algumas contradições entre o que se diz fazer e o que se faz efectivamente, nem a DEA/Dislexia é encarada como um problema, que apesar de real não se vê contemplada, de forma explícita nos PCT. Desta forma, consideramos que o estudo realizado (embora limitado no tempo e espaço) permite desvendar algumas das suas representações mostrando uma forte relação entre a ausência de formação e o impacto que esta lacuna tem nas práticas docentes.

Formação e profissionalidade: um estudo na formação inicial de professores do ensino básico em Moçambique

Visando analisar a Formação Inicial de Professores (FIP) do Ensino Básico em Moçambique, no intuito de captar como concorre para a construção da representação de profissionalidade na atividade docente, este estudo descritivo e interpretativo estrutura-se em duas dimensões complementares (extensiva e intensiva). Através dessas duas dimensões procurou-se explicitar os pontos críticos do objeto de estudo e produzir conhecimento sobre o mesmo. E, nessa linha, nas conclusões do estudo ficarão disponíveis possíveis contributos para a melhoria da sustentação e eficácia da formação inicial. Na dimensão extensiva, em função de descritores de profissionalidade associados ao reconhecimento social de uma atividade como profissional, definidos na literatura investigativa da sociologia das profissões e da educação, analisou-se a noção de profissionalidade que norteia a FIP. Essa análise foi desenvolvida com recurso ao estudo de documentos legais e curriculares, inquéritos por questionário a 289 formadores e por entrevista a 7 agentes-chave da formação de professores (gestores, académicos e formadores de professores). Na dimensão intensiva, concretizada num estudo multicaso (4 estudos de caso) envolvendo, essencialmente, 16 formadores de 4 instituições de formação de professores (polos), aprofundou-se a compreensão da visão de formadores de professores sobre profissionalidade, com recurso à observação de atividade docente e respetiva planificação, entrevistas semi-estruturadas a 4 gestores da Prática Pedagógica e estágio nesses polos, à luz do quadro teórico fundamentador dos caraterizadores de profissionalidade referenciais do estudo e dos resultados obtidos na dimensão extensiva. Os resultados do estudo denotam falta de sintonia entre o conceito de ensinar patenteado nos documentos e discursos dos agentes-chave da Formação de Professores (a indicar que ensinar é fazer aprender) e a prática letiva dos formadores, a denunciar que ensinar é entendido como expôr conteúdos/transmitir conhecimentos. Quanto aos caraterizadores de profissionalidade, discursivamente destacam-se como atributos reconhecidos ao professor: ser educador e profissional; possuir conhecimento específico para ensinar; ter a função e a responsabilidade de ensinar; ser inovador e investigador; e agir de acordo com o quadro deontológico associado à profissão. No entanto, estas representações entram em choque com a realidade, marcada por falta de poder dos professores sobre o currículo e sobre o conhecimento profissional, que não produzem nem controlam; baixas qualificações (possuem nível correspondente à 10ª classe); inexistência de um quadro deontológico específico e por uma prática docente dos formadores inscrita na racionalidade técnica e mais alinhada com uma dinâmica de funcionarização do que de profissionalização. Na esteira do isomorfismo pedagógico, da chamada naturalização das práticas de ensino, e da força da gramática escolar, o tipo de prática docente que marca a ação dos formadores tenderá a ser replicada pelos formandos quando professores. Aliás, os documentos curriculares parecem resumir o ser profissional ao facto de se possuir formação para professores. O estudo fundamenta a possibilidade de, nas políticas, se reforçar uma maior coerência entre discursos e práticas na visão de profissionalidade construída na FIP, aprofundar os pontos de descontinuidade detetados no estudo ou outros relevantes e trabalhar no sentido da clarificação do conceito de profissionalidade pretendida na Formação de Professores do Ensino Básico em Moçambique.

Entre ecos e narcisos: estudo de caso sobre a prática teatral com adolescentes como atividade extracurricular numa escola de nível médio

This masters thesis discusses the studying and the teaching of drama and its implications among teenagers of the contemporary world. This paper also analyses an extracurricular project entitled Drama in the development of citizenship , which was carried out in the public state school Berilo Wanderley in Natal/RN, between 1999 and 2005 with high school students. It comprises a case study that aimed at understanding how and why they chose to take drama classes outside of the school curriculum and even after they graduated, some of them never left the school project and even started participating in the cultural and artistic context of the city of Natal quite actively, both as part of an audience as well as on artistic, political, social and pedagogical performance. The project was high significant for its participants, for the school and for the community, by creating a sense of recognition of the relevance of the pedagogical and artistic production in the public school, as it managed to yield knowledge that helped students to understand the values of group work, sharing information, collaborative assessment and, most of all, to engender actions of protagonism by the teenagers themselves within their social environments. The empirical process developed is placed in a contemporary historical context where educational paradigms shifts occur, and where categories of youth empowerment and protagonism are fundamental to the educational process in the 21st century. The objective of this study is to reflect upon the pedagogical dimension of drama classes for teenagers, aiming at providing further discussions on the role of acting classes in the construction of the personality among youngsters, thus hoping to contribute to other teaching practices, including drama and other subjects of general education

"Je ne vous dirai point, mon très cher fils" Correspondance de Catherine de Charrière de Sévery 1780-1783

This dissertation examines the principles of education imbued in a three year correspondence between an eighteenth century woman and her teenage son from the French speaking region of Vaud, current day Switzerland. Despite her great respect for the literature and ideas of the new pedagogues of the Enlightenment, especially J.J. Rousseau and Mme de Genlis, Catherine de Charrière de Sévery maintained the traditional perspective of education of the Ancien Régime. To explore the concepts of education and instruction through the epistolary practice, this research is based on the corpus of 107 letters that Mme de Sévery wrote to her son Vilhelm between 1780 and 1783. Additional documents - among them Mme de Sévery’s diaries - from the particularly rich archival holdings of this aristocratic family have been used to complement her correspondence. Most previous studies on family correspondence have dealt with mothers to daughters, or fathers to sons, whereas this research is centered on letters between a mother and her son. The location of this family – Lausanne and the Pays de Vaud – provides a particular regional perspective due to two factors: immersion into a region uniformly Protestant, and the dual-influence of Germanic and French cultures. The study analyzes the educational principles that appear throughout Mme de Sévery’s letters by comparison with three literary works of the 18th century: a familiar correspondence, the Lettres du Lord Chesterfield à son fils (1776); the fundamental education treatise by J.J. Rousseau, Émile, ou de l’Éducation (1762); and a pedagogical treatise written by Mme de Genlis as an epistolary novel, Adèle et Théodore, ou lettres sur l’éducation. Using letters as the main tool to guide her son’s upbringing, Mme de Sévery highlights the moral and family values that are most important to her and leads him to find his place in society.