Massey Documents by Type

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294

Browse

Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Primary school teaching

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Using an online Learning Management System to personalise learning for primary students : a descriptive multiple case study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Edmunds, Bronwyn
    Personalising learning, digital technologies and Learning Management Systems are ‘hot topics’ in education in 2013. Learning Management Systems, hereafter referred to as an LMS, can personalise learning by encouraging teaching approaches that hold the student at the centre of the learning process (Seiler, as cited in Interface Magazine, 2009). However, there is little accessible research about how the LMS has been utilised in schools (Watson & Watson, 2007), especially primary schools, with some educators questioning the role that the LMS has to play in today’s schools (Downes, 2005; McLoughlin & Lee, 2008). This descriptive multiple-case study set out to explore the role of an LMS in personalising learning for students from the perspective of three primary school teachers. The intention was to provide insight into the role an LMS could play in classrooms when personalising learning. However, it became more about exploring the components of personalising learning and how this transferred into the LMS. The research project involved gathering multiple sources of data from interviews, observations and documentary information from the LMS. The findings from this research suggest that an LMS has the potential to be a key part of a primary classroom environment which is built on the components of personalising learning. The degree to which personalising learning occurs is dependent on the teacher’s overriding pedagogy, knowledge and understanding of personalising learning, school constraints and the perceived capacity of students to be independent learners. For the teachers in this project, personalising learning involved: (a) learning built around assessment for learning pedagogy, (b) a highly-structured approach to learning and teaching that places the needs and interests of students at the centre of learning, (c) learners informed and empowered through student choice and student voice, (d) a core curriculum of literacy and maths and (e) KnowledgeNET (the LMS at the centre of this study) as a tool to support learning. The findings highlight the interconnected nature of personalising learning pedagogy, an LMS and classroom practice.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Making a difference : a comparative study of the rules, responsibilities and perspectives of teacher aides in primary and secondary schools in New Zealand : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Stevenson, Mignon Josette
    Teacher aides are used in the majority of primary and secondary schools in New Zealand to assist teachers in supporting students with many diverse needs. They play a crucial role in the extent to which students with diverse needs are fully included in mainstream schools. The nature of their work has changed over the years, so as to meet the goals of inclusive education. The work of teacher aides is primarily related to the different structures operating within primary and secondary schools. This study used mixed methods methodology to compare the roles, responsibilities and perspectives of 21 teacher aides working in primary and secondary schools in a single geographical area on the North Island of New Zealand. Questionnaires, job descriptions and semi-structured interviews were used to gain an understanding of the roles, responsibilities and perspectives of teacher aides in both types of schools. The study found that teacher aides generally carried out a diverse range of tasks, provided support at different levels and had high levels of responsibility. The main themes that were identified related to teacher aide training and professional development, relationships, personal and cultural factors, challenges, funding and school systems. The study found that there were more similarities than differences between teacher aides working in primary and secondary schools and that the teacher aides’ roles and responsibilities were related to perceived ability to include students with diverse needs. The study concludes with implications for further research, policy and practice. These focus on primary and secondary teacher aide training and the inclusion of a wider variety of perspectives and factors related to the ability of teacher aides to make a difference for students with diverse needs in New Zealand.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    He huarahi kua takahia = The trodden pathways : Kaupapa Maori initial teacher education pedagagy and practice : one teacher's story : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at Massey University, Palmerston North
    (Massey University, 2012) Stephens, Cheryl Elizabeth
    This thesis examines the early career teaching experiences and reflections of a graduate teacher from Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi and draws on recent developments within Aotearoa New Zealand tertiary education to highlight the impact of Kaupapa Maori-based education, taking into account the outcomes of one of those developments, Kaupapa Maori initial teacher education. The study investigates the special attributes and professional practice of a Maori graduate teacher working in a primary school. The aim is to understand the ways in which this beginning teacher undertook initial teacher education within a Maori-centred programme that was grounded in the principles, values and practices of ako and tikanga. This examination of the graduate teacher’s classroom practice focuses on preparation for a Kaupapa Maori programme leading to an investigation of the perceptions of those responsible for mentoring and supervision support in an identified school. The recording of Maori student voices within this context, highlights the significance of culturally based and informed pedagogy and practice in classrooms, creating positive educational outcomes for Maori. Authentic accounts of the teacher’s lived experiences and professional life also provides positive feedback about the Maori-initiated and driven Kaupapa Maori initial teacher education programme. Such reflections are indicative of the revolutionary changes made by Maori since the language and culture revitalization initiatives of the 1970- 1980s. This period cites Maori initiating and taking charge of their own destiny and creating new pathways, therefore contributing directly to the well-being of New Zealand society. This thesis further contextualises issues of cultural diversity, cultural pluralism and cultural engagement with the education of indigenous minority peoples of a First World country.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Strategy instruction and teacher professional development to aid the reading comprehension of year 4 students : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2006) Vosslamber, Andrea
    The ability to understand what one reads is fundamental to much school learning and is part of the school curriculum. The processes used by expert readers to comprehend text can be analysed and used as a basis for comprehension instruction. Such expert readers use particular mental strategies such as rereading, paraphrasing, and predicting, and adapt these to assist them in understanding various texts. This study investigated whether the implementation of reading comprehension strategy instruction to classes of Year 4 students would result in significant gains in metacognitive abilities, standardised reading comprehension, and reading self-efficacy. The quasi-experiment involved a treatment group of 48 students in two classes who were taught by one teacher, a treatment control group of 61 students in three classes taught by three teachers, and a non-treatment control group of 41 students taught in three composite Year 3 and Year 4 classes taught by three teachers. In total, 150 Year 4 students from eight classrooms in three suburban primary schools were involved in the study. Results from 2 x 3 analyses of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures revealed differences between the treatment group and control groups in several aspects of reading comprehension ability. The treatment group performed significantly better than either control group on the Jacobs and Paris (1987) measure of metacognitive awareness of strategies (Index of Reading Awareness). Treatment group students were also more confident about their ability to perform tasks related to reading comprehension than one of the control groups. Though they also made greater gains in confidence than the other control group, these gains were not statistically significant. Gains in reading comprehension as measured by a standardised reading comprehension measure (Progressive Achievement Test of Reading Comprehension) were marginal in comparison to one of the control groups, and not significant in comparison to the other. Secondly, this study also investigated whether intensive teacher training would result in successful implementation of reading comprehension strategies. Teachers need to know how to model their own mental processes for students so that students can see the strategies being applied. They then need to demonstrate for students when and how to adapt the strategies to various texts. In addition, teachers need to know whether to target instruction to only the struggling readers in their classrooms, or to students of varying abilities. A two-year professional development programme was developed and implemented to assist primary school teachers with the implementation of reading comprehension strategy instruction in their classrooms. During the first year a group of 14 teachers participated, and during the second year one teacher remained to implement the programme. This teacher, who taught at the Year 4 level, was provided with additional professional development in the explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies to her entire class of mixed ability students. Results from analysis of qualitative data indicated that the teacher had made significant progress in becoming competent in the teaching techniques needed for teaching reading comprehension strategies. These results suggested that the teacher moved from modelling process into content to being creative and inventive. By the end of the intervention, interviews conducted with the teacher and the students, as well as lesson observations and field notes, suggested that she had a good knowledge of the components of strategy instruction and was incorporating these in her classroom practice. Her students became increasingly aware of the teacher's central lesson aims regarding what she was teaching, why she was teaching it, and how it could be applied to the students' learning. The findings of the present study indicate that students of varying ability may improve their reading comprehension through instruction in reading comprehension strategies, though the marginal gains in standardised reading comprehension do not support this conclusively. Findings also indicate that a teacher can successfully be trained to implement reading comprehension strategy instruction in an entire class of mixed-ability students. Such findings have important implications for teacher and student education.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Teachers and children learning together : developing a community of learners in a primary classroom : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University
    (Massey University., 2006) Sewell, Alison Mary
    This study investigates the development of a community of learners by observing the changes in teachers' and children's participation in four Year 3 / 4 classrooms. The study also explores the teachers' and children's perspectives of learning and teaching and the impact of these on the development of a community of learners. Factors enabling and constraining this developmental process are also identified. These research foci respond to a synthesis of research revealing the importance of teachers and children learning together in cohesive learning communities (Alton-Lee, 2003); a sociocultural approach that is uncommon in New Zealand primary classrooms.Sociocultural theory also informs the generation, analysis and presentation of data. Participant observations, sustained conversations and interviews with the teachers and target children were used to generate data across three cycles of collaborative action research over one school year. Analyses of these data were made by observing the teachers' and the children's transformation of participation through Rogoff's (2003) personal, interpersonal and institutional lenses. The results of this analysis process are presented according to the lens through which the transformation was observed.The findings showed a community of learners as comprising reciprocal connections across cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual and physical dimensions. Transformations of the teachers' and the children's participation in these five reciprocal connections were observed as evidence that a community of learners was developing. These new forms of participation in the classroom shaped, and were shaped by, new identities as learners and teachers, new perspectives about learning and teaching, as well as new culturally authorised values and practices for learning together. Multiple factors constrained the development of a community of learners. The most pervasive constraint was the persistence of teachers' and children's traditional perspectives that prevented understanding of the reciprocity and responsivity of shared activity. A range of factors also enabled the development of a community of learners. The opportunity for professional dialogu in this collaborative action research most enabled the teachers' to develop a community of learners in the classroom: the opportunity for guided participation with teachers and peers in shared classroom activity most enabled the children to learn together.These findings reveal the demanding, complex and mutually constituting nature of developing a community of learners in a primary classroom. The transformation of participation observed in this study provides evidence of the positive contributions sociocultural theory can make to both teachers' and to children's learning. Implications based on these findings are considered for teachers, children, researchers and education providers who together share responsibility for developing and sustaining a community of learners as accepted instructional practice in primary classrooms.