Children's Agency within Emergent Curriculum: A Case of Networked Interests

Children’s interests are often used as a rationale in child-centered approaches to build emergent curriculum that is tailored to young children’s motivations for learning. Against a neoliberal backdrop of standardized learning objectives, emergent curriculum appeals to children’s interests to foster children’s agency through building curriculum alongside teachers. However, research on children’s interests calls for further development of theory regarding children’s interests as the concept may be conceptualized narrowly in research and practice. This study explored the concept of children’s interests within a child-centered preschool classroom at a private university-based school that implements emergent curriculum. I used critical childhoods studies and Actor Network Theory as analytic and theoretical frames for conceptualizing children’s interests as socially and materially constructed among networks of both human and nonhuman actors. The findings are presented as a case study of a Store project that was developed based on children’s interests in money, stores, and ice cream. Fieldnotes and memos from participant observation, artifacts, and teacher documentation were used to map actor networks acting upon one another in the development of the Store project. Through the tracing of the material and semiotic transformations of money, stores, and ice cream, I argue that children exhibited agency through expressions of resistance that were made viable in network with material and other nonhuman actors. Children sought free interests that circulated outside the frames of the Store project’s currency by networking with red shoes, emptied bookshelves, and lollipops. Even as teachers supported and sustained the interest-based Store project toward real learning goals through eliciting children’s feedback and sense of duty, children offered silence as well as critique of the shopkeeper/customer dichotomy as resistance. As such, I propose that children exhibit agency through resistance in the process of redefining their interests within the contexts of their particular childhoods. Implications of the findings explore ways that children’s interests are situated within and propulsive toward particular childhoods and markets of labor futures. Though non-publicly funded child-centered settings that adopt emergent curriculum are partially sheltered from neoliberal demands on proffering real learning outcomes, they are networked within a neoliberal context through their positions within markets of schooling

Teaching pronunciation:a case for a pedagogy based upon intelligibility

This thesis examines the main aim of teaching pronunciation in second language acquisition in the Syrian context. In other words, it investigates the desirable end point, namely: whether it is native-like accent, or intelligible pronunciation. This thesis also investigates the factors that affect native-like pronunciation and intelligible accent. It also analyses English language teaching methods. The currently used English pronunciation course is examined in detail too. The aim is to find out the learners’ aim of pronunciation, the best teaching method for achieving that aim, and the most appropriate course book that fulfils the aim. In order to find out learners’ aim in pronunciation, a qualitative research is undertaken. The research takes advantage of some aspects of case study. It is also supported by a questionnaire to gather data. The result of this research can be regarded as an attempt to bring the Syrian context to the current trends in the teaching of English pronunciation. The results show that learners are satisfied with intelligible pronunciation. The currently used teaching method (grammar-translation method) may be better replaced by the (communicative approach) which is more appropriate than the currently used method. It is also more effective to change the currently used book to a new one that corresponds to that aim. The current theories and issues in teaching English pronunciation that support learners’ intelligibility will be taken into account in the newly proposed course book

Citizenship, community and the state in Western India: the moulding of a Marathi-speaking province, 1930s-1950s.

This thesis examines how ideas about citizenship emerged out of the mutually constitutive relationship between the ‘everyday’ state and society in the specific region of Maharashtra, western India. By concentrating upon Maharashtra between the 1930s and 1950s, it looks to provide new perspectives upon the construction of citizenship in India during this formative period, thereby complementing, building upon and re-contextualising recent scholarship that has been principally interested in deciphering the repercussions of independence and partition in the north of the subcontinent. This thesis suggests that the reasons why Maharashtrians supported the reorganisation of provincial administrative boundaries on linguistic lines were intrinsically linked to ideas and performances of citizenship that had emerged in the past few decades at the local level. Despite the state’s interactions with its citizens being theoretically based upon accountability, objectivity and egalitarianism, they often diverged from these hyperbolical principles in practice. Because local state actors, who were drawn from amongst regional societies themselves, came to be subjected to pressures from particular sub-sets, groups, factions and communities within this regional society, or shared the same exigencies and sentimental concerns as its ordinary members of the public, the circumstances in which citizenship was conceptualised, articulated and enacted within India differed from one location to the next. Perceptions of the state amongst ordinary Indians, and their sense of belonging to and relationship with it were thus formulated in the discrepant spaces between the state’s high-sounding morals and values, and its regionally specific customs and practices on the ground

Total Quality Management and Construction Project Management in Libya

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/647 on 14.03.2017 by CS (TIS)This thesis sought to explore Total quality management (TQM) implementation and barriers that need to be overcome due to differences between societal cultures, which have become a subject of intense discussion in the wake of the globalisation of the world economy. lnter-societal cultural barriers to TQM implementation were contrasted against the accepted organisational cultural barriers, which are well documented in established literature on this topic. A case study for the analysis was taken from the Libyan construction sector, where TQM is increasingly being reported as being adopted by companies keen to solve quality problems in their industry. This research explored the barriers that exist and that have acted to hinder the adoption of TQM practices using an in-depth survey of two Libyan construction companies (A&B). The findings of this research are presented as a conceptual framework upon which proactive measure may be planned to improve TQM adoption and which may also act as a guide for further research. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to obtain primary and secondary data for the research and the TQM model framework was successfully used in a self assessment case study of companies (A&B) in Libya. The survey was able to identify critical barriers that were assessed in relation to other published data on inter-societal and intra-organisational barriers so as to identity a number of barriers unique to the Libyan case study. The overall results indicated that the case study companies were in the early stages of TQM initiatives and that there were large areas for improvement to overcome the barriers

A study of the L1 and L2 writing processes and strategies of Arab learners with special reference to third-year Libyan university students

PhD ThesisA number of studies have attempted to examine the writing processes of skilled and non-skilled native and non-native speakers of English. However, few studies have examined the writing processes of Arab university students, and none has been conducted on Libyan students' writing processes. This study examines the writing processes in L1 (Arabic) and L2 (English) of twelve Third-Year Libyan University Students (TYLUS), as they verbalised and produced written texts in both languages. The study investigates the process and product data separately to see if any relationship exists between an individual subject's process skill and product quality in either language. Observation, think-aloud protocols, interviews, questionnaires, and written products have been utilised to gather data in a triangulated case study. The composing sessions were audio-taped; the tapes were then transcribed, translated, and coded for analysis, along with the drafts and the final written compositions. The investigation into Ll and L2 writing processes was guided by one main and three sub-research questions. The main research question was: what writing processes do Libyan University students use while writing in Ll Arabic and in L2 English? Do they follow similar or different strategies? The first sub-research question was: how is the linguistic knowledge of the students reflected in Ll and L2 writing? The second was: does the Arabic rhetorical pattern affect the students' English writing? And lastly, how does instruction influence the writing processes and products of these students? The L1 and L2 protocol data yielded a number of interesting findings. Most subjects had a purpose in mind while composing their texts, but had little concern for audience. Individually, each subject displayed a unitary composing style across languages, tending to compose in the Ll and L2 similarly, with some variations in specific aspects. , As a group, the subjects' writing process differences were manifested in planning, time and content; writing time was shorter in L1 than in L2; reviewing in L1 focused on organisation and content, but on form, grammar and vocabulary in L2. Similarities were apparent in mental planning and reliance on internal resources as the subjects alternated between writing, repeating, and rehearsing. The L2 compositions gradually emerged with repetitions, pauses, and the use of L1, and seemed to be constrained by the subjects' linguistic knowledge and imperfect mastery of L2. This suggests that the composing knowledge and skills of Ll could potentially be transferred into L2 composing, and the subjects had employed many similar strategies deemed necessary for writing in both languages but were unable to apply accurately them in L2. In addition, the subjects used Ll to facilitate their composing in L2. They tended to comment and repeat portions of texts in words, rehearse in phrases, and engage in other composing activities at sentence level. Translated segments occurred at almost every level but mainly at phrase level. Finally, and interestingly, some subjects made more errors in L1 than in L2. A tentative composing process model showing the locations in which LI was used during the writing process is proposed. Implications for EFL, particularly. for Libyan University students, and suggestions for further research are also provided

Iraq under Saddam Husayn and the Ba'th Party

This work is, essentially, an assessment of Saddam's regime in Iraq, one of the cruellest and most violent regimes of modern times, and the Ba'th Party policies and ideological principles, recognised by Saddam as the theoretical basis for his practices. These policies and practices have had catastrophic consequences for Iraq, "home of ancient civilisations", jeopardising its sovereignty and future and permitting the west and the west-sponsored states in the region to gain favourable concessions at the expense of Iraq's interests. This thesis is divided into nine chapters: The first deals with the Ba'th Party, its founding, ideology, set-backs and seizure of power. The second deals with the founding of the Ba'th Party in Iraq, its political development throughout the Monarchy regime, Qasim's regime and the period during which the Ba'thists came to power on 8 February 1963. The third deals with Saddam's early life and his political activities throughout 'rif's regime. The fourth deals with the circumstances in which the Ba'th Party returned to power. The fifth deals with the presidency of Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr and examines Saddam's role and the nature of the Ba'thist authority during that period. The sixth deals with Saddam's presidency and his assumption of all responsibility for the state and the Party. The seventh and eighth deal with the first and second Gulf wars, the occupation of Kuwait and the results these two destructive wars, embarked upon at the whim of one man, have imposed upon the Iraqi army and people. The ninth comprises a summary of the thesis, in which Saddam's strange and unstable personality will be analysed and a possible solution will be suggested for the future of Iraq - a community different in composition and circumstances from any other countr

The torchbearers of progress : youth, volunteer organisations and national discipline in India, c. 1918-1947

The thesis deals with volunteer bodies in India from the end of the Great War to c.1947. It examines the genealogy of these bodies as a projection surface for ideal citizenship, a space to experimentally put those ideas into practice and as site of a mobilisational drive ‘from below’ rendering these bodies contested spheres of national self-definition. The energies of ‘Youth’, both feared and desired by many actors, were sought to be disciplined into volunteer corps and utilised for the building of a disciplined ‘modern’ nation. ‘Youth’ and ‘volunteers’ thereby become mutually related categories, the former needing to be transformed into the latter. Several groupings of ‘volunteers’ appeared at the time, such as the Seva Dal, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Khaksars, and the Muslim National Guards, all of which were provided paramilitary training and were available for use not only for various ‘social service’ activities, but also political intervention and, when necessary, for displays of violence, the latter feature most evident during the Second World War and the communal violence leading up to Partition and Indian Independence. Three levels of analysis are undertaken herein: the first, of event history, which aims not at a comprehensive narrative but to provide illustrations of the operation and dynamics of youth and volunteer movements. The second is an intellectual history (or genealogy) of the movements, outlining a series of engagements with ideas relating to modernity as well as to organicist ideas of the nation as a body with its citizens as component parts. The third is a structural analysis of volunteer groups with their tendency to resemble one another. Such ‘family resemblance’ also reopens the question regarding the greater ideological formations of the first half of the twentieth century

Managing education in the United Arab Emirates : a case study in school development

The current educational system in the UAE does not reflect the economic and social status of the country. The country is one of the leading oil producers and petrochemical manufacturers in the world, with a proven oil reserve of more than 98 billion barrels. This wealth has been reflected on most aspects of life including an advanced infrastructure, and prepared the country for the new century. However, this wealth has not equally affected the educational system. It is true that the numbero f studentsw as doubledm oret han 10 times in the pastt hree decades, but the quality of education did not change enough to meet the requirements and challenges of the new century. This thesis examines an innovative educational project aimed at bridging the gap between the education system output and the country's future needs. The project is based on a model school that is designed to enhance the students' academic standards more than the other governmental schools do. The thesis covers a number of issues in ten chapters. It starts with an introduction in chapter one followed by a comprehensive background of the UAE as a country and its educational system in chapter two. Chapter three covers a theoretical framework of the education change process supported by a review of the literature. Chapters four to six are devoted to the model school project. In chapter four the origins of the model school are discussed, while the major changes implemented in the model school are presented in chapter five. These changes cover the areas of: teacher motivation, student motivation, time allocated for education, education materials, and teachers' professional development. Chapter six clarifies the method by which teachers are allocated to work in the model school and the way students are selected to join the school. The case study methodology adopted in this thesis is explained in chapter seven. In ordert o evaluatet he models choolp rojectt he thesisi ncludest wo strands. Strand one is the students' achievement test, and strand two is teacher perception of the changes in the model school. Strand one, which is discussed in chapter eight, compares the achievement test results of third grade students in the model school to that of other schools in Abu Dhabi Education Zone. Strand two which is discussed in chapter nine evaluates the teachers' perception of the changes implemented in the model school. Chapter 10 discusses the relevance of current literature on educational change to the educational system in the UAE. Conclusions and recommendations are presented in chapter eleven.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo