Student-Produced Action Research in Early Childhood Teacher Education

This article describes how preservice teachers accomplish and write up action research projects as part of their teacher preparation at one university in the United States. The paper is divided into four major sections. In the first section, the instructor describes how teacher research is introduced to teacher education students and how they are guided through the processes of conceptualizing, doing, and writing up their projects. The next two sections are the stories of two 1st-year teachers who describe and reflect on what they learned from completing action research projects under the direction of the instructor. The concluding section offers generalizations that synthesize lessons learned by the authors.     

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEACHING SELF‐EFFICACY,WORK ENVIRONMENT AUTONOMY,AND TEACHER COMPETENCY AMONG EARLY CHILDHOOD PRESERVICE TEACHERS

Abstract

In this article, we examine the integration of science and mathematics teaching in early childhood education. We explore the meaning of integration and offer a rationale for integrating science and mathematics methods classes for pre‐service teachers. The case is made that pre‐service teachers should develop an understanding of the connections between mathematics and science so that they can be better prepared to teach with an emphasis on the connections between these two content areas.     

Qualitative studies in the era of scientifically‐based research: musings of a former QSE editor

Ten years have slipped by since Richard Wisniewski and I passed along the executive editorship of QSE. A great deal has changed in that relatively short period. Political power in the United States has shifted dramatically to the right, and conservative politicians and their cronies in academe have legislated a definition of science that effectively marginalizes qualitative studies in education. At the same time, many scholars who count themselves as qualitative methodologists have become so engrossed in a postmodern obsession with deconstruction and critique that they have essentially left the field to the neo‐conservatives without a real fight. If qualitative researchers want to take on the scientifically based research crowd, they should be mounting both offensive and defensive maneuvers. A strong offense would feature the production of high‐quality qualitative studies that make a compelling case for the importance and efficacy of research done in other than the positivist paradigm. The best defense would include incisive resistance to what passes for good work under the banner of scientifically based research.     

A Seven‐category Interaction Analysis for Infant Teachers to Use Themselves 1

A procedure has been developed in which (a) a teacher records her classroom speech on a carried cassette recorder, (b) subsequently replays the recording and codes each utterance in terms of seven categories and the name of the child or children spoken to, and (c) reflects on her classroom practice as revealed by the coding analysis, using evaluative guidelines.

This procedure has been tested successfully with 11 teachers of infant children, working in informal classrooms.

     

Peer and Faculty Mentoring for Students Pursuing a PHD in Gerontology

The Graduate Center for Gerontology at the University of Kentucky incorporates three levels of mentoring in its PhD program. This project assessed satisfaction with peer and faculty mentoring and explored their perceived benefits and purposes. Core and affiliate faculty and current and graduated students were surveyed. Participants seemed satisfied with the mentoring they were giving and receiving, although all groups discussed limitations. Peer mentors were seen as social support and advice givers, while faculty mentors were viewed as responsible for direction and skill-building. These results can contribute to the development of new mentorship programs and the modification of existing ones.     

Pinch my wig or winch my pig: Spelling,spoonerisms and other language skills

Phonological processing skills have often been assumed to play a minimal role in skilled adult spelling despite evidence showing their importance in the development of spelling skills. The present study investigated the relationship between phonological awareness and spelling in adults. It was hypothesised that subjects demonstrating higher levels of spelling proficiency would also show superior phonological processing skills. This relationship was expected to be mediated by sound-spelling mapping knowledge. Given the irregularities of sound-spelling correspondences in English, it was also predicted that knowledge of orthographic conventions would be related to spelling competency. Two measures of each component skill were used on seventy three university students. As predicted, the importance of spelling-sound mapping skills in spelling were demonstrated, as was a relationship between phonological awareness and spelling-sound correspondences. In addition a moderate correlation was found between orthographic tasks and spelling performance. It was concluded that, among university students at least, phonological ability makes an important contribution to skilled adult spelling.